<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">Have you ever watched any of those old Carolina games, Dean Smith had a system that emphasis on team play not indiviual scoring. And factor on top of that his 1st two seasons at UNC he was playing alongside James Worthy an All-American, & future Hall-a-famer. Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty. And then Kenny Smith came. Those UNC teams had more talent then these Cavs. Plus they played a balnce Dean Smith style. So comparing what one player did in college to what another player did in the NBA holds no wieght. To different envoriments to different systems. Two different train of thinking. Everybody knows that after playing in the UNC system during the Dean Smith year's alot of players go on to expand their indivualism because playing under Dean Smith took that part a wieght from players. I dont think MJ could handle jumping into the NBA right out of high school because the NBA was alot different back then...due to the excessive amount of High schooler's coming out & undergrades period the NBA talent pool has become extremely watered down over the years. Nowadays, just about everybody in the NBA is in Lebron's age bracket 19-25 for the most part. So that allow for more success on this level that wasnt available to a 19 or 20 year old back in the early 80's when MJ would have came out of high school to go into the league. Players are more athletically gifted then back then but very few are better basketball players then back in that era. So comparing a jump from High school back then to now is pretty useless.</div> The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think at age 18/19 Jordan(or anyone for that matter) was at this level. The skills & knowledge of the game that Lebron has at this age is unheard of. I agree we're comparing two different eras in basketball. But the NBA is still the best league in the world regardless of all the young players in the league. Lebron is bigger and stronger than probably any guard back then, but this discussion is simply about performing at the highest level at the youngest age. It takes a special player with not only the skills to perform at this level but also the maturity to handle the pressure.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting heatfan:</div><div class="quote_post">The point I'm trying to make is that I don't think at age 18/19 Jordan(or anyone for that matter) was at this level. The skills & knowledge of the game that Lebron has at this age is unheard of. I agree we're comparing two different eras in basketball. But the NBA is still the best league in the world regardless of all the young players in the league. Lebron is bigger and stronger than probably any guard back then, but this discussion is simply about performing at the highest level at the youngest age. It takes a special player with not only the skills to perform at this level but also the maturity to handle the pressure.</div> My point is the NBA is alot more watered down then it was back then, so you dont have to have the same skill level entering the NBA nowadays as you did back then, so why even compare. Thats like if I said Lebron couldnt excel in a team system like Dean Smith had at UNC back in the early 80's. You dont really know so why even speculate. Lebron enter the NBA at perfect timing, honestly for him to excel. The NBA on alot of levels nowadays isnt that far off from the college game due to the league's talent level being downgraded by high schoolers and college underclassmen. I do agree that the pressure of performing in the NBA is extremely high. But such pressures have decreased over the years in certain ways due to the way the league caters to its star players. And also its less pressure because loosing has become acceptable in the modern NBA. As long as a player puts up great indiviual stats he is viewed as a superstar. Very few players have the pressure of having to be a winner. So I think alot of the on-court pressures have decreased over the years.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">My point is the NBA is alot more watered down then it was back then, so you dont have to have the same skill level entering the NBA nowadays as you did back then, so why even compare. Thats like if I said Lebron couldnt excel in a team system like Dean Smith had at UNC back in the early 80's. You dont really know so why even speculate. Lebron enter the NBA at perfect timing, honestly for him to excel. The NBA on alot of levels nowadays isnt that far off from the college game due to the league's talent level being downgraded by high schoolers and college underclassmen. I do agree that the pressure of performing in the NBA is extremely high. But such pressures have decreased over the years in certain ways due to the way the league caters to its star players. And also its less pressure because loosing has become acceptable in the modern NBA. As long as a player puts up great indiviual stats he is viewed as a superstar. Very few players have the pressure of having to be a winner. So I think alot of the on-court pressures have decreased over the years.</div> There's two aspects of this post I want to touch on. First, I don't think I agree on the league being 'watered down' for two reasons: 1) Even though there's more teams in the league now, the talent is still coming from both the college level as well as the phenoms from the highschool level. Jordan himself popularized the game to such a degree that it got more kids playing. LeBron himself is a result of wanting to be like Mike. 2) Secondly, the game since the mid 80's has gone international, with talent from all over the world making its way into the NBA. There's a heck of a lot more international talent being imported into the league now than ever before in the NBA, and that is concentrating the talent base rather than spreading it out or as you say: 'watering it down'. So, far as the league being watered down, I disagree- however I DO agree with the idea of LeBron and his game arriving at just the right time to get noticed. While all of LeBron's phenom predecessors concentrated almost entirely on scoring, LeBron's focus on a balanced game is what is causing the biggest stir in the league right now. Sure, he puts up points, better than anyone at his age ever- but it's his total approach to the game: vision, sense of teamwork, unselfishness, and leadership at that age that is so important to see. The 2,000 points just came along as icing on the cake. Matter of fact I can't wait to see what happens when more teams try to double him. This guy munches the double-team like I've never seen before. Seriously, I've seen him trick opposing players into moving towards him JUST so he can whip the ball to the open guy for a clean look- often the clean slam. His ability to find the open man and get the ball to him is uncanny, and the more teams try to double him, the more his helper #'s will go up. So, I think you're right- this is exactly the right time for LeBron to be making noise in the league, because in an era of the selfish NBA player, LeBron is the light at the end of the tunnel. THAT, to me, is the best part of it all ... Chip
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">What you say here isn't dumb. But your first post in this thread was. No other NBA player has produced more in the NBA at such a young age than LeBron. That in itself is significant. Does that mean that he's better than other players that came before him at his age? Not necessarily. In fact, it's very likely that Wilt could have easily scored 2000 points in his first season right out of high school. Perhaps Oscar Robertson and a few others may been able to do so as well. But if LeBron continues to average 26 ppg, 7 rpg, and 6 apg throughout the season shooting close to 50% from the field, that would be phenomenal for a 20 year old. Even Kobe, who was considered a prodigy at that age, probably wouldn't have been able to produce those kind of numbers. In fact, Kobe is in a similar situation as LeBron right now in L.A. (number 1 option), and his numbers flat out aren't as good. Anyways, no one is saying that this proves LeBron is the best ever. He has surpassed most expectations, and he'll be a special player. I've probably seen more Cavs games this year than I did all of last year, and it's very obvious that he sees the court extremely well and is a great passer (perhaps the best at his position), both in the half-court and in the open court. And physically, he's more developed than any other player I can recall at the same age.</div> I'm sorry if I mislead anyone with the first post. I thought you guys were trying to clown me for my oppinion.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm sorry if I mislead anyone with the first post. I thought you guys were trying to clown me for my oppinion.</div> Nah, just the way you worded it didn't make much sense. I understand what you're trying to say now, though. Sorry if I sounded harsh.
amazing job dont know how he out did #23 but it will be interesting to see who finishes out on top jordan or lebron
