Dwyane Wade arrived at the United Center for a meeting with the Bulls on Thursday morning. http://twitter.com/KCJHoop
This is the guy the Bulls should pursue. Wade is a closer. Sign Wade and work a S&T for Melo or Bosh and call it a day.
Kobe's not a closer, neither is Wade. Stop dude. He's actually a T-Mac type of player that can't get into the second round of the playoffs without a Chris Bosh type of player. Wade can't close the Atlanta Hawks. He's rightfully #2 on everyone's list except Miami.
LeBron 2009-2010 in clutch situations 48.8 FG% 34% from the three 66.1 points 15.9 boards 8.3 assists 4.1 turnovers 151 minutes Wade in 2009-2010 in clutch situations. 38.8 FG% 29% from the three 32.6 points 6 boards 10 assists 4.3 turnovers 144 minutes http://www.82games.com/0910/CSORT11.HTM
I read that the meeting went REALLY well. A Bulls fan quoted a source http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1026375&start=180
http://www.82games.com/0809/CSORT11.HTM Wade is definitely a closer as is Kobe. Watching LeBron choke two seasons in a row after finishing with the best record in the NBA and #1 seed has me doubting him.
Explain in words how this "choking" occurred on an individual level. They lost because James played well, and his second and third option shot 40% on 12 points a game. LeBron had 38-8-8, 59 TS% against the #1 defense, choking is what Kobe did against the Celtics, Pistons, Spurs, Suns, Suns, Sixers, Pacers, and what Wade did against the Bulls, Hawks, Pistons, etc. Lol you're honestly pulling the points per game card? Look at the percentages. Honestly Shape, it makes me a little sick reading that. So I won't let it go until you answer exactly what did he do wrong against the Magic? And he was operating above Kobe already, Kobe has never met that standard. By the way, that's the same year Wade choked in the playoffs. So what have you proven dude? Kobe "choked" against the Magic that year, that's what shooting 10-33 in the fourth quarters is. What can't you comprehend that Wade shot 38% in the clutch this year and is T-Mac now? Explain how over the course of his career he has been a closer if he can't beat a terrible playoff team by himself, or a good playoff defense by himself? Doubt him, he's 25 you're going to look bad in the future. That's an immature position, sorry. I'll continue to shred it apart if you want, I have no problems destroying Kobe because I've watched him play for several years now. Being in Miami I know Wade quite well from all the local coverage and free broadcasts. I won't let you use hypocritical statements without exposing them. Applying LeBron standards 1) LeBron has the best clutch numbers there 2) Wade choked against the Atlanta Hawks. 3) Wade hasn't touched the secound round in 4 years. 4) Kobe choked against the Magic, since he shot 30% in the fourth quarter and had a supbar series for James' standards. 5) Kobe choked against the Celtics. 6) Neither are closers, your analysis is unfortunately laughable.
The clutch God: Kobe in the Finals. KB : 37 games - 25.3ppg - 5.7rpg - 5.1apg - 1.8spg - .412 FG% - .314 3P% - .848 FT% Get through this and then we can talk. I'm sure you'll just use the magical powers card again though.
I hope Forman, Paxson, and Reinsdorf were off somewhere else and they had Pippen conduct the meeting. That would have been fantastic.
I'm not the hypocrite. You want to give LeBron all the credit, but when he loses you blame his teammates. Do you watch the game or do you just look at boxscores and read the online play by play? All you do is recite numbers, but those numbers are just a small piece of basketball. Maybe you like using them because they are easy to quantify and stats support your position about LeBron being the best player. Statistically he is the best player I've always agreed, but as the best statistical player why can't he get out of the East? LeBron's teammates feed off of his confidence and when LeBron sets the tempo these guys perform at a high level. LeBron lost his confidence at the most crucial time in the playoffs this year and Boston bounced them in the second round. Cleveland led the series and dropped the last 3 games. The Celtics broke LeBron after his Game 3 performance. It's one thing to struggle like Kobe did in Game 7, but at least he was competing hard. He was just pressing in that first half. LeBron threw in the towel and didn't compete the way he's capable of like he did in Game 3. Mental breakdown. Let's wait and see what he does and if he can win a title. He's had 7 seasons of a franchise handed over to him and failed each time. At the end of the day that's on him for not bringing a title to Cleveland. No one knows what LeBron will do in the future. He'll get better and hit his peak at 28 or 29 if he can learn how to win under duress. Let's see how his health holds up because the closest thing to an injury he dealt with was his sore elbow. What happens when his knees start aching, the back gets tight and he loses the explosiveness? Every player goes through it at some point. Kobe has closed the deal 5 times and Wade has done it once. LeBron zero.
Quote my "tangibles" and explain how they are not applicable in these instances. If you can not do that you are just spewing subjective nonsense like any Kobe homer. And keep in mind I was the Lakers mod, what exactly is your angle? That I haven't watched Kobe? You can't seriously be saying that, if not you're having some memory issues. Except when Kobe gags against the Suns you blame his teammates. But when LeBron's teammates don't play well you blame LeBron, you're a hypocrite. I'll continue to call you out on it. First, Kobe has two titles as a first option. Honestly no one gives a damn if Kobe won with Shaq. Shaq was averaging 35 and 14 when Kobe was choking against those same defenses. You're saying if LeBron doesn't have the greatest season of all time he isn't Kobe, that doesn't make any sense and you sound ridiculous and misinformed. He doesn't have a player of prime Odom's level on his roster, what makes you so preachy in this instance? You're literally on one of the densest rants I've seen. Kobe choked in game 7 and almost every fourth quarter the past two years. The Celtics play in the East, in case you forgot. No they can't get to the Finals in 2008 because they're in the same conference. Kobe choked, LeBron carried a 45 win team to Game 7. Kobe choked again and won a title. Wade choked and proved nothing. Shape I question your basketball knowledge. I watch, and I look at the numbers, nothing you say makes sense. Kobe is a career choke artist against a SOFT Suns defense. What is your point? He choked against the Pistons and he had Prime Shaq on his roster. He's choked in almost every Finals game he's played in and he had amazing teammates every time. Explain when LeBron lost his tempo having one of the ten best playoff games of all time in 2009, and his team lost? If not the greatest playoff game of all time because it was against the #1 defense, but his team lost. It's on you if you can't provide a specific argument. You're saying he "failed" but then you're allowing these other fake closers and choke artists to choke and run on the coattails of their teammates. Shaq carried Kobe, and Wade can't get into the Second round in his prime FACT. Wade was not in his prime in 2006, your argument is atrocious.
Poor Shooting vs. A Defensive Game for the Ages Let's put that 6-24 into perspective, shall we? In Game 7, Pau Gasol shot 6-16 (and was 3-12 at halftime). Ron Artest, the hero of the hour, was 7-18 from the field. Andrew Bynum played limited minutes, but at 1-5, he also struggled while he was on the court. Lamar Odom was 3-8. Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic combined to shoot 0-6. Only Derek Fisher, at 10 points on 4-6 from the field (and 2-2 from distance, including a huge three late in the game), had a good shooting night for the Lakers. For the Celtics, Paul Pierce was 5-15 from the field. Rajon Rondo was 6-13, which was actually pretty decent in this game, but nothing amazing. Ray Allen was a dismal 3-14. Nate Robinson missed his only shot. Rasheed Wallace's percentage from the field isn't bad, especially considering he took four three-pointers, but the 11 shots he needed to score 11 points puts him about on par with Kobe with regards to offensive efficiency. Glen Davis was good, but his efficiency (4-6 from the field) didn't come in high enough volume (only six points in 21 minutes) to really have much impact for the Celtics. Only Kevin Garnett had "a good game" offensively for the Celtics, shooting well over fifty percent and scoring 18 points on only 13 shots. The criticism of Kobe's offensive output in Game 7 is that he needed 24 shots to get his 23 points. However, the same is true of just about every player in this game. Virtually every player listed above took essentially as many shots as he had points. In fact, that is true of both teams overall: The Celtics took 71 shots to score 79 points (1.1 points per shot), while the Lakers took 83 shots to score their 83 points. At this point, here is the question that needs to be asked: Why are we holding Kobe Bryant to a different standard? The point is that this game was characterized by truly incredible defense, from both teams. In fact, from a defensive standpoint, I don't believe I have ever seen anything that compares, or even comes close. Expecting a player to score every bit as efficiently against that Game 7 Celtics defense as he does against far inferior defenses is simply asinine. It's like expecting a cyclist to ride as quickly up the steep slopes of the Pyrenees mountains, and into the wind, as he does on flat land with the wind at his back. It's like expecting a swimmer to swim as quickly against the current of a raging Atlantic sea as he does in an indoor lap pool. It's like expecting a car to drive as quickly and handle as smoothly on sand as it does on asphalt. It's— well, you get the point. It's absurd. Michael Jordan would have struggled to score against that Celtics defense. So would Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain. LeBron James did struggle against them. This was a Celtics team that played some of the best defense that anyone has ever seen, and in that Game 7, they took it to yet another level. Kobe wasn't the only player to struggle with his shot; in fact, if you remove his statistics from the Lakers' box score, the Lakers' shooting percentage is virtually unchanged. So let's not pretend that Kobe's shots were hurting the Lakers; the rest of the team was struggling just as much as he was. Is 6-24 a pretty number? No. It certainly wasn't one of the greatest offensive performances of all time. But those interested in evaluating the game based on real insight, rather than nearly useless box score clichés, will recognize that 6-24 had fairly little to do with bad offense from Kobe, and a lot more to do with defense for the ages from the Celtics. And that defense affected everyone on the court for the Lakers (except, of course, for Derek Fisher), not just Kobe.
Simple question HK. If LeBron is as great as his stats are why no ring? Why hasn't he made it to the Finals the last two years despite having the best team?
What is wrong with you, seriously? http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=2607 http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=2725 Anderson Varejao is their second best player, who can't defend Howard and played 20 minutes against the Celtics. Additionally Jamison had -3 SPM against the Celtics, lower level than Derek Fisher. Because he shot 40% and had 11.8 points a game. Stop skimming over my points and you wouldn't be asking these things again.
Shaq didn't play poorly in the first four Finals. Kobe's also been off in 2 out of his last three Finals, and never efficient. And his team still won with him playing like trash. He's shot bad in 37 Finals games, and the last 12 fourth quarters. Then he choked against the Celtics and Pistons before that...
How come you can't answer a simple question? LeBron & teammates were the best team in the league and he was the MVP. How come he couldn't make it to the Finals? I'll address your other points later.
