Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGramuel
Champ....
People aren't saying MJ sucks for losing in the first round. They are saying that losing in the finals is better than losing in the first round.
Ok killer?
Low seeds lose in the 1st Round - the first time Lebron had a low seed (21'), he lost in the 1st Round.
The only reason Lebron never had low seeds before that is because he waited 3 years to develop a veteran, high seed and good coach before entering his first playoffs in 2006.. Accordingly, his 3rd-year high seeds can't be compared to Jordan's 1st-year 8 seeds..
And by "development", I mean that Lebron and Zydrunas became all-stars in 05' -
that's development... This all-star duo added a HOF coach and 22/5/5 all-defender before the 06' season -
that's more development.. So these teams from 06-10' cannot be compared to Jordan's rookie & sophomore teams (85-87').. Jordan didn't get this 3-year development journey to high seed before entering his 1st playoffs - he was throw in right away with no cast or coaching.
Ultimately, Finals teams are almost always high seeds/good teams relative to their conference - that's why Finals appearances are conference-dependant and matter little - winning the whole league is obviously what matters, which means winning the Finals..
Losing the Finals
badly means the player wouldn't make the Finals from the other conference and are simply benefitting from a weak conference.. In this case, it was a weak conference that 1-star teams were routinely winning (01', 02", 03', 07', 09'), yet Lebron took the top 3 options and put them on 1 team (the:"decision") - he remarkably got credit for winning the conference after that.. But ultimately, no one cares about Lebron beating Rose and DeRozan when he should be facing Bosh and Wade.