When
you win games they love you but when you lose games they loathe you.
Welcome
to the world of professional sports.
In Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Finals between the Miami
Heat and Dallas Mavericks,
Lebron James was held down to eight
points – his worst ever output in all of his playoff history.
So
suddenly speculations arise – did someone bought Lebron to mess up his game?
First
of all, I am not a Miami Heat fan and while I hate the #8 version of Kobe Bryant (I love the #24 version of Kobe except during tiffs against my Boston Celtics), I hate the #6 version of LBJ even more. This LBJ
version didn’t want to play second fiddle for Shaquille O’Neal or this LBJ version didn’t have spats with Phil Jackson or this LBJ version didn’t
go to Denver to put his junk on a
hot cleaning lady.
This
LBJ version left his hometown and those who love him to play for a contender.
He did
the move by putting his face on nationwide TV for 15 or so minutes of arrogance
dubbed as The Decision. Nevermind if
LBJ’s intentions are pure – at least Kobe wanted to own Laker superstar status
to help the Lakers win championships! Stating your intention to play for
another team on a national special is simply uncalled for. This is why Cleveland Cavaliers owner Paul Gilbert
tried to hex Lebron James saying that Cleveland will win a title first before
Lebron. I don’t believe Gilbert has superpowers but if Miami loses – Gilbert
will have a field day.
This
is why Lebron James will try his best to NOT
lose.
It
will be fucking stupid for Lebron to even dare contemplating of burying his
dream for a wad of dough. He has already a buttload of money. Even when he
retires... he’ll still have more though.
Despite
the insistence of many, I am still bent on saying that Lebron James is the main
man of the Heat. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will continue to have
superstar treatments but Miami is Lebron’s team.
Look
at the Big Three’s stats if I’m not getting through your skulls.
GAME 1 – MIAMI WINS
GAME 2 – DALLAS WINS
GAME 3 – MIAMI WINS
GAME 4 – DALLAS WINS
With
Lebron constantly double team and pressured, Wade and Bosh are given more
opportunities to create. This is why when Lebron baits the double team, Wade
and Bosh needs to score. Wait... they HAVE to score! They have three superstars
for crying out loud. They started the whole “batch all the young stars in one
team so the rest of the teams will go bankrupt”! When LBJ gets the flak, other
people need to step up. This is a bitter pill for everyone to swallow but Wade
and Bosh are Elgin Baylor and Jerry West compared to LBJ’s Wilt Chamberlain.
By the
way, Jerry West is the only NBA player to become the Finals’ MVP even if he was
playing for the losing squad.
Just
saying.
La...
la... dee...
I am
beginning to think that Dallas couldn’t care less if Wade and Bosh get those
big numbers as long as Lebron is grounded.
Also,
if you notice – with Lebron in this kind of shit – Wade and Bosh’s numbers
wouldn’t matter as much as it was then. They will always have those numbers. With Lebron stuck in the 8 to 20 range, it makes difficult for Miami to justify the lack of scoring outside the Big Three. Unlike in 2006, the current
team do not have Antoine Walker, James
Posey, Gary Payton, Jason Williams, and Alonzo Mourning eager to grab one
last crack of superstardom. In Games 1 and 3, the Heat saw the answer in Mario Chalmers. Because of the
pressure, Chalmers was pushed to the spotlight but he is inconsistent at times (whenever Chalmers scores in double figures, Miami wins).
Mike Bibby had his moment in Game 2
but with almost 75 percent of the shots coming from the Big Three, he is
contended in playing chief relief to Chalmers. Chalmers and Bibby’s plays
reminded me of when Chris Childs and
Charlie Ward were still playing for
the New York Knicks where one would
explode while the other would struggle. Unlike the Knicks though, Miami has three
star players so more often than not, they are contented in shooting the
occasional rainmakers and orchestrating the ball... when Lebron doesn’t feel
like acting as a point guard.
Lebron
James is Miami’s game changer. This is the reason why DeShawn Stevenson is getting more minutes and Peja Stojakovic is rendered useless on the bench. At first I was
wondering when the hell Rick Carlisle
would use the Serb but now I got his point. Lebron James plays more than 40
minutes every night and with him around Peja lasted 14 minutes in their first Finals
encounter to two seconds in Game 4. This is not good for me since I am a Peja mark. This reminds me on how Barangay Ginebra's Ronald Tubid averaged less than 10 minutes per game during the 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup because Tubid can't match up with Talk N Text's import Paul Harris.
YES, I was able to insert a Philippine basketball reference!
Game fixing in professional sports is not
new but it would be ridiculous to call a game such because your team lost and
the star player struggled.
But if
indeed Lebron James is the team’s star player – Dallas needs to get wary of him
in the coming games. James is an egotistical performer who wants to say to
everyone that he is the most watched player in all of professional sports! With
the world watching, the last thing he’ll want is to be embarrassed for the
second straight game in front of a global audience. He will devour the
pressures and think deep in solving the Dallas defense so he wouldn’t return to
Akron after the postseason
humiliated.
My
buddy Jorge Cosgayon said it right
when he said:
“To everybody laughing at/hating on Lebron right now: Ease up.
It's not
his fault he's not the best basketball player in the world.
Just because
everybody overrated him doesn't mean he can live up to your expectations, so
cut the guy some slack!
3/of 11 FGA, 2/4 FT, 9 rebs, 7 assists, 4 T/O, 4PF...
Brian
Scalabrine would kill for those numbers!”
Well
said, you Lebron hater you.
See,
even if we hate Lebron James, we know that he is the biggest threat to Dallas
championship hopes. I would rather have Dwyane Wade score a ton of shots and
possibly get the game winner than having Lebron James score the living shit out
of Dallas.
Besides,
the only reason why Miami Haters aligned with the Dallas Mavericks is because
of our disdain hate towards the league’s 2-time
MVP.
Hell,
because I somewhat like Wade, I wouldn’t say anything bad at him...
Chris
Bosh? Well... the guy looks like an ostrich but he needs to raise his numbers
to above 20 to cancel out Lebron’s miniscule scoring outputs.
This
will be a hit or miss for Heat fans on Friday. With the way the blogosphere is
ranting at James’ lackluster performance, the idea of him doing everything to possible
quadruple his Game 4 production is at hand. Hopefully this move wouldn’t be
disruptive of the team’s performance because that idea could launch the fact
that Lebron would head hunt the rim and hog the ball instead of looking for
better passing opportunities for his open teammates.
But
here’s the thing – Dallas’ defense will still be Lebron-centered.
The more
they frustrate LBJ, the bigger non-factor he becomes.
For
Miami fans, save your Lebron insults at the end of the Finals because at this
stage of the finals, you need all the help you can get.
Game
over!
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