He's Not Who We Thought He Was

Now I understand that times have changed.  I grew up in the Michael Jordan era.  The time when he played in Chicago, not Washington D.C.  There wasn't nearly as much media coverage as there is now for LeBron James.  I get that.  I also get that both of these guys play different styles and have two completely different personalities.  

Here's what I don't get.  Why were we lead to believe that LeBron was the same as Michael Jordan?  In what way was LeBron the same as Jordan when he was playing in high school?  Did LeBron even play college basketball?  Last I checked, the answer is no. Jordan didn't even make his high school basketball team the first time around.  Was LeBron given the red carpet treatment when he arrived at his?

This is my problem with this whole fiasco.  The lack of common sense from everyone.  We want to think that there will be another great player to follow exactly what the other one did before him. Unfortunately there is only one and will be only one Michael Jordan.  In my opinion he is the only basketball player that I've seen that doesn't just want to beat you.  He wants to take your soul in the process and shove it in your face.  That's how he played and I personally love seeing that from an athlete.  

Those that have seen him play in his prime know what I'm talking about.  The competitiveness of Jordan isn't seen now a days.  The only one that comes close to it is Kobe Bryant, but it's in small doses.  Have we seen any of that from LeBron James?

Besides us and what we want to see, there's LeBron himself.  I will say that I haven't seen another athlete take the kind of beating day in and day out that he has.  Now some of it is he's own doing. From 'The Decision' to the introductory rock concert in Miami to his 'Karma' tweet directed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, mainly owner Dan Gilbert.  He has completely changed his persona to something that everyone doesn't relate to.

From the beginning he never seemed to get it.  I can't remember the exact words I used, but I tweeted after LeBron's 'Karma' tweet something to the effect that he should just focus on the court and stop worrying about stuff off the court.  Nothing to vilify him in any way.  I found that a certain Miami Heat fan was none too pleased with that and I was told to buzz off.  Don't you just love intelligent people who can't reasonably disagree.

He is an unique athlete.  No one that I've seen has the kind of athletic ability on a basketball court that he does.  He can do it all or so we thought.  What happened in this year's Finals came as a total surprise to us all.  The question is why did he no show through most of it?  No one knows except him.  I'm not going to speculate on that so much, but I will say that LeBron is himself and can't be expected to be the next Michael Jordan.

Truth is he never should have been in the first place.  He's LeBron James first and foremost on and off the court.  If he doesn't want to be the 'man' on the basketball court that's fine.  

Don't start this big marketing campaign to be a global icon and not expect some criticism to come your way when you no show on the biggest stage.  

Don't put yourself on national television for one hour to say where you're going to play without first telling the team you're going to leave.  In fact, don't do it on national television either.

Don't act like you're a rock star with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade during the first press conference.  Then announce that you'll win 'not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5...' championships and not expect a lot of criticism along the way.

Don't tweet anything pertaining to sports for a while.  Or just don't get a twitter account.  That's probably a better idea.

It will be a long summer due to the looming labor issue.  LeBron went out with a bang saying that his haters should get on with their lives blast was misinterpreted.  Forget the fact that he doesn't get it, how do you say that when you're wearing a 'Witness' t-shirt?  It goes back to a previous post of mine entitled, "Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say."  If it's not what you meant, why did you say it?

He still has a lot of time to fix his flaws on the basketball court, but he is starting to run out of time to fix the flaws off the court.  The sooner you figure out that you need to develop a consistent jump shot, the better you will be on the court.  The sooner you figure out that you're not who you think you are the better.

Choose: Coach or Player, New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have a chance to make it interesting in the Eastern Conference. It has been over ten years since the Knicks were relevant in the NBA. In order for the NBA to have excellent ratings throughout the season and post-season the Knicks must be in the playoffs.

In order for the Knicks to make themselves known in the east they need to make a change to the team immediately, either one way or the other. They need to change the point guard or the coach.

Chauncey Billups and Mike D'Antoni are like apples and oranges, it is not a good fit. Billups is a half-court, slow it down, point guard, where Mike D'Antoni runs the seven second offense. Chauncey Billups needs to set up and facilitate the offense.

The New York Knicks are in a decent situation, they can replace either coach or point guard and obtain decent players or coaches.

Chauncey Billups is a player that a lot of teams would like to have to run their offense. Teams such as: Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Sacramento kings. They can also gain good trade materials from any of these teams.

If you get rid of Mike D'Antoni there are a lot of coaches that would love to take the New York Knicks job. If the Knicks want to do something right, they should hire Patrick Ewing to coach this team. He has had some great times being an assistant coach in Orlando, it is time for him to get his chance and the best thing for New York would be to hire one of the best Knicks players in history. He could coach Amare Stoudemire to be a better big man, just like he did with Dwight Howard. It's picture perfect for the Knicks' organization and Patrick Ewing.

2011 Stanley Cup Champions

You wouldn't have any trouble finding a single storyline in this years Stanley Cup Final.  Right after Game 1 you had the biting incident from Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks.  No matter how you look at it he bit Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins.  The NHL was criticized by quite a few people both inside and outside of hockey for not suspending Burrows.  Sure enough he was the hero of Game 2 as the Canucks took a commanding 2-0 series lead.

The Boston Bruins went back home for Games 3 and 4.  Right from the start they lost their best offensive player up until that point, Nathan Horton to a ferocious hit by Vancouver's Aaron Rome in the first period.  Boston was none too pleased and outscored the Canucks 12-1 during those two games in the TD Garden.  Now we had ourselves a series.  Rome was suspended for the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals as to avoid any kind of revenge from the Bruins.  The last three games were going to be very interesting.

Game 5 turned out to be the same story for the Bruins as they were shutout for the second time in Vancouver.  The Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo even went after Boston's goalie Tim Thomas saying that the lone goal Thomas gave up he would've stopped.  He was basing that assessment on their different styles of play.  Unfortunately Luongo made the mistake of giving the Bruins some bulletin board material for the last two games of the series.

Sure enough Game 6 was another blowout as the Bruins scored 4 goals in less than ten minutes on the Canucks to start the game.  Three of those goals were against Luongo who was pulled after the third one.  Vancouver was perplexed to say the least, but Daniel Sedin guaranteed the Canucks would bounce back and win Game 7 back in Vancouver.  Puzzling thing is he actually retracted that guarantee a day later.  My first thought was now you just lost the Stanley Cup.

Game 7 was all Boston right from the start.  They kept playing their style of hockey and it was getting to the Canucks.  The Bruins have a lot of scrappy players and one great goaltender in Tim Thomas who won the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP.  With Nathan Horton out of action after Game 3, Brad Marchand stepped his game up and showed that he is going to be a great player for many years.  

Captain Zdeno Chara was a big presence on defense, even playing goalie from time to time for Thomas.  Veteran Mark Reechi will go out on top as a Stanley Cup champion for the third time in his career.  Thomas had a rough 2009-10 season for the Bruins.  He kept his chin up worked on his craft and was back in net for Boston when they needed him most for the 2010-11 season.  

It goes to show you again that if you have a great goalie and play up to your standards on offense and defense you can wind up hoisting sports greatest trophy.

2011 NBA Champions

They had to wait 5 years to get back to the Finals.  It was well worth the wait.  The Dallas Mavericks were prepared and wanted it more than the Miami Heat.  Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry were with Dallas back in 2006 when they were beaten by the Miami Heat.  Not that this was a re-match of any sorts, but either way it feels so good to Dirk and Jason to finally get that ring.

Say what you want about Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, believe me I have.  He was going to win a championship at some point. What he has done with one of the worst franchises in basketball to get them to be a consistent contender year in and year out.  The culture in that city has gone from being all about the Dallas Cowboys to we finally have a basketball team to proud of.

Cuban made some drastic changes after the 2006 Finals defeat. Avery Johnson was let go as the head coach after numerous disappointments in the playoffs.  Rick Carlisle had the same trouble the last two years in the playoffs.  The big difference this time around is they had a motivated Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry determined to not let history repeat itself.  

Jason Kidd had seen the Finals in back-to-back seasons with the New Jersey Nets.  Tyson Chandler wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through.  Shawn Marion had seen many playoff runs end prematurely with the Phoenix Suns.  J.J. Barea wasn't going to let up at this point of the season after his impressive play against the Lakers and Thunder.

It was a consistent team effort that brought the Mavericks to victory during Game 2 when they were down by 15 with 7 minutes to go. Together they held off the Miami Heat during Game 4.  As a team they came back to beat the Heat to win Game 5 and take their first series lead.  There was no doubting the Mavericks as Dirk had an off night, but the rest of the team picked up their game on the way to victory in Game 6.

History might see this year's Finals as the one the Miami Heat should have won if not for the disappearing act of a certain player. But that is a discussion for another day.  For now what we should take from this is that after 2006 we all thought Dirk Nowitzki would never get another chance.  He was labeled soft and didn't have any post moves to speak of for a guy his size.  He shook both and any other negative labels after this year's performance in the playoffs.  

Dirk Nowitzki is considered one of the most unique players of all-time.  A seven footer who can hit three pointers at will and is nearly unguardable in the post.  He changed his game.  It worked. He has his ring and the Dallas Mavericks can celebrate their first NBA championship.

Beginning of Eastern Dominance, Miami Heat

Today begins the 2011-12 season of the National Basketball Association. After the Mavericks made the Big 3 look like, to quote Charles Barkley, “whiny punks” it’s time to start looking to the future. The NBA’s career will finally start to be revitalized because the Eastern Conference will have teams that can compete for the title. In the last decade the eastern conference has only won three out of the last eleven championships. In order for ratings to rise the east needs to rise. With New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington being the big basketball cities, they will need the teams of these cities to be in playoffs every year. They will also need them competing for championships each year. Thankfully with the trade of Carmelo Anthony to New York it gave the east the power. The Heat has the “Big Three”, Chicago has D-Rose, New York has Melo and Amare, Washington has John Wall, and Boston has the First Big Three. It’s time for them to shine. In order for the east to take the decade, they need a lot of help. Might as well start off with the “Big Three.”

Miami Heat has a great Trio, but that is it. They have no fans, no coach, no point guard, and no center. The heat will need to fix these problems before they win a title. The Heat made it all the way to the finals with great play from the “Big three” but it wasn’t, and never will be, enough. They need to fix the coaching. Erik Spoelstra is a great coach if you want to hear speeches. A person with a Speech Communication degree could coach the Heat, if all they needed to do was give a speech. You need a coach who can direct the “Big Three.” The only coach I see that should get the job is a bald man who coached Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Allan Houston, Charles Oakley, and Larry Johnson. Jeff Van Gundy should take this job and Pat Riley should be talking to him. Jeff Van Gundy coached so many superstars such as: Patrick Ewing, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Steve Francis (Before the meltdown), and Latrell Sprewell. He is the guy to take the Heat and make them a dominant force.

The Heat need to let Mario Chalmers take the point and run the office. He is ready, he needs to prove himself, and he will make them a better team. It took until game 6 for him to finally take the starting position. When the Heat needed shots, he was making his. Mario should’ve never been coming off the bench one of Spoelstra’s many mistakes.

In order to win a championship you need a big man. No team, except the Bulls and Pistons, has won a championship without a Big Man. In the last 20 years it has been the need for a big man like: Shaquille O’neal (LA Lakers 00-02, Heat 06), Tim Duncan (Spurs 99, 03, 05, 07) David Robinson (Spurs 99, 03), Ben Wallace (Pistons 04), Hakeem Olajuwan (Rockets 94, 95) Kevin Garnet (Celtics 08) Andrew Bynum ( LA Lakers 09, 10) and Tyson Chandler (Mavericks 11). YOU NEED A BIG MAN. The heat needs a big man. There will be some centers possibly out in the market this summer they can get for no money at all. Samuel Dalembert is a great defensive center who can play on the offensive side. The Portland Trail Blazers should be smart and release the knee-less Greg Oden. Mr. Oden would be perfect fit for the “Big Three.” He’s as overrated as they are.

These are the second worst fans in the history of sports, next to the Florida Marlins. When you watch game 6 the fans are not even in their seats when tipoff is about to begin. Come on Heat Fans, show some type of passion for your team. Just pathetic.

The heat are close to winning a championship, they just need to work on about five things. Next blog will be about how the New York Knicks can win a championship. Here’s a heads up for you, trade Chauncy Billups, don’t release him.

The Diesel Turns in his Keys

We all have different expectations for sports stars.  Everyone is different, but we always compare present athletes to those of the past.  It's more for a point of reference, but they are all different. Case in point with the recently retired Shaquille O'Neal.  The name alone is different, but fits his personality and what he brought to the game of basketball.

He brought instant stardom as the number one pick out of LSU. The Orlando Magic were put on the NBA map immediately with his size, deceptive speed and tremendous power.  Instantly his name was shortened to 'Shaq' and it stuck.  He's had more nicknames than any other athlete that I can think of.  Most of them were created by him, but to me the best one is 'The Diesel.'  Simple and true.  Anyone and everyone that played with or against him stayed out of his way in the paint when he had position.

Now he had some rough patches through his career.  The way he left Orlando.  The rift with Kobe in Los Angeles.  Wearing out his welcome in Miami.  Not making a difference in Phoenix or Cleveland.  And the final short stint in Boston.  You can say that most people will not remember what happened in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston, but it will leave a mark for his legacy.

It's hard to not like the guy.  He is a charmer.  A funny guy.  He isn't perfect, but he tries.  There are some things that I don't condone that he did.  Rapping about Kobe Bryant after he won his fourth championship with the Miami Heat.  I won't repeat what he said, but it was uncalled for nonetheless.  Of course the way he and Kobe handled their departure was just childish.  

Shaq Diesel the player will be missed.  I cannot wait for Shaq the TV commentator.  Where he ends up won't matter at all.  He will still be a like-able person and an excellent personality as an analyst where ever he is.  I was a big fan of his.  I'll be an even bigger fan going forward.  After all he was the first person I followed on twitter.  

So long Shaq.  We can still re-visit your glory days on youtube. You are definitely in my top 5 for best centers in the NBA.  I won't go any further with my praise as to not offend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  By the way you're in my top 5 too Kareem.  Now we can see who gets a statue first outside Staples Center.  Keep up the good work big fella.  If your Hall of Fame speech is as any good as your farewell one, I can't wait for it.  "Can you dig it!!!"

2011 Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Eastern Conference

3. Boston Bruins

vs

Western Conference

1. Vancouver Canucks

As I've said many times about the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  If you have a great goalie, you will have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. That is true for both of these teams.  One was favored to win the Cup at the beginning of the season.  The other was near the bottom of their conference to start, but worked their way to the top at the end.

The Bruins

Boston has that can do attitude.  Zdeno Chara is a big reason why the Bruins have been so formidable throughout the playoffs.  With his presence on defense he doesn't let anyone get by him for easy goals.  He is also a force in front of the net on power plays for Boston.  Nathan Horton has been a consistent scorer for the Bruins.  Being on the big stage isn't getting to Horton at all.  Tim Thomas, a Vezina finalist, is the reason why the Bruins are in the Stanley Cup Final.  He backed up his guarantee against Tampa Bay in the conference finals.  Now if he can keep Boston afloat against the most talented team in the NHL in Vancouver, the Bruins will be hoisting the Cup for the first time since 1972.

The Canucks

The Sedin twins remained quiet during the conference finals.  Ryan Kesler is still being the disruptive force on the ice.  They are taking advantage of their opponents mistakes.  Goalie Roberto Luongo isn't crumbling under the weight of the pressure.  Everything is coming together at the right time for Vancouver.  But it could all end in the blink of an eye.  If Kesler isn't playing at the same level. The Sedin twins remain quiet.  Luongo gets cold feet.  It could all come crashing down.  One thing that will have to change is that the Sedin twins need to be more involved.  They are their two best players and they must play up to their MVP like level.

Of course what this series boils down to is which goalie will win it for their team.  Tim Thomas has made some iconic saves during these playoffs.  Roberto Luongo was benched at one point during the semifinals, but has put that behind him.  You can't go wrong with either one right now.  I like seeing one of the most iconic franchises in the NHL make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals. However I can't go against my pre-season winner.  The Cup will return to Canada.

Canucks in 6 games