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Originally Posted by fallguy
^^^ that's completely disqualifying because MJ was 30-30 with no cast at the same age in 2002... He obviously would do amazing with a Westbrook/MJ backcourt - yikes - goat intensity and competitiveness plus great fit with MJ off-ball....... plus AD?... it's over..
Disqualifying compared to what? MJ didn't finish out the season, he was the GM who built the team, he was playing for the minimum opening up lots of cap flexibility to sign guys around him, it was his chosen coach, and they didn't come near the playoffs in the end. And MJ himself was hugely inefficient, just chucking up tons of shots.
In 2022 LeBron and AD managed a total of 96 games
between them, and Westbrook is now a non starter who earns $4m a year who was on the buyout market in 2023.
There's nothing "disqualifying" around 2022.
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But this isn't the only disqualifying thing... There's so many things in Lebron's career that are disqualifying, such as 22 on 35% vs Spurs in 2007 - this worst-ever performance is disqualifying... Ditto the 26 on 35% vs 08' Celtics... Then the historic meltdown in 2010.... All of this is disqualifying... Then his team gave up on national television mid-series in 2014 Finals - a joke - completely disqualifying... He was lottery in his prime in 2019 - disqualifying.... He lost 3 times with multiple all-star teammates - completely disqualifying.. So we don't even need to mention 2011 because we have the 07' Finals, 08' ECSF, 09' ECF, 10' ECSF, 14' Finals, and also the 2019/2021/2022 seasons - all this these are disqualifying.
Jordan never got his equivalent teams of the 2007 Cavs to the Finals. And he never played a team in the finals near as good as the 2007 or 2014 Spurs. They were just awesome basketball teams.
The 2007 Cavs are universally understood as one of the worst teams ever to make the finals. You are the only person I've ever seen trying to talk up the average NBA starters and sub replacement level rotations on that roster.
Then in 2014, the Spurs were awesome and Wade was done.
Again, "disqualifying" compared to what? These are entirely incomparable situations.
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right and the Heat were poorly constructed.... and so were the Cavs...
The 2022 Lakers were objectively horrendously constructed. Again, nobody other than you disputes this. Westbrook was a terrible addition as a third "star" around LBJ / AD. Their lack of health mitigated against this team doing a huge amount anyway, but Westbrook's time as a high usage top 15 player was over. Again, this is not a matter of debate, based on him being on the buyout market the following year and earning a relative pittance as a depth player now.
Like this is a key aspect of the entire debate as far as I am concerned. Wade and Bosh did nothing after LeBron; Love did nothing after LeBron; Kyrie didn't prove to be the no.1 option he felt he was; Ingram, Caruso et al from the 2019 Lakers have all proven to be decent NBA starters at best; and Westbrick is a decent depth player. The 2014 Heat and 2018 Cavs were at the end of the road. They could not be fixed, and there's no way to say in hindsight that those teams should have been expected to beat those magnificent Spurs / Warriors teams. And all of these teams had horrendous cumulative records without LeBron on the floor.
Meanwhile, the 1994 Bulls without Jordan (playing a sub replacement level player in his stead) remained 6th in defense, won 57 games and lost a close second round series. And post Jordan, Phil Jackson proved himself the GOAT coach and Pippen led a Blazers team to a 7 game conference title loss to Jackson's Lakers.
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why are all his teams "poorly constructed"... why is it nearly impossible to build good fits around him?
we know the answer - his abnormal ball-dominance for his size/position imposes spot-up roles that prevents good fits and elite chemistry.
The continued tone of your posts remains ridiculous - LeBron has won 4 titles and gone to 10 finals, including 8 finals in a row. That requires good fits, good chemistry and great teams. The 2011 finals is the one that got away (losing a finals as favourite). The rest of the years have their explanations, whether it be teams being outmatched or injuries - but he never lost another finals as a series favourite.
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based on this hoops 101 regarding ball-domination, we know that SGA and Luka's team will both flame out in these playoffs - both teams need WAY more help to offset the crap brand of ball they play... Minnesota is more for real but the reality is that Ant lacks half-court dominance, so their team struggles in a lot of halfcourt situations.. They will also flame out despite having a better overall combination of players and less ball-dominance than OKC or Dallas.
More "the passion of the Mike" bollocks. Luka and SGA's teams (and Ant's) will likely flame out in these playoffs because Denver may be one of the better all time teams, and Boston have had a ridiculous net rating all year, including a 10+ net rating
with Tatum off the court.
It's not 1 or 0, there is an ocean of nuance that explains the difference between championship seasons, playoff seasons where you eventually lose a series, and seasons where you can't hit .500
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Centers don't hold the ball for 5 minutes per game and run a bunch of high-screen rolls... only point guards do... Yes I understand that the announcer introduced Lebron as the starting center, but as soon as the tip-off happened, he returned to his normal primary ball-handler role, hence the horrific fit with Westbrook.
the question is - are YOU trolling with your delusional post?
I'm sure Jokic doesn't play Centre like your narrow prism understands, because he certainly doesn't play it like people understood the position in the 90s. But like it or lump it, LeBron's positional allocation is the record and assigned using the same rules that apply to every basketball player season.
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The reality is that Lebron uses up the Lakers offense to get his stats, which is why they don't win - he really needs cookie cutter situations to score and sometimes this takes some set up time... Of course his defensive intensity rubs off on the team too - it would be night and day with a goat-level defender like MJ on Lebron's teams for the last 10 years (the years Lebron wasn't all-defense).
"They don't win", except the season they did win, and excepting last year's great underdog run to the Conference Finals.
And as others have said, the biggest determiner of the Bull's great defense was coaching and stuffing the roster with great defenders, as per them being a great defensive team during Jordan's first retirement.
You remain full of ****.