Los Angeles Lakers @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 1/21.. Battle of the MVPs

• hoops23

  

  Hey, does anybody remember the people upset about the contract Andy got in the offseason? I haven't see them around.
• jpake1

  

  If they don't win a championship or trade for a better 4, you'll hear them again and for good reason.
• hoops23

  

  jpake1 wrote: If they don't win a championship or trade for a better 4, you'll hear them again and for good reason.

  hmm.. What would that have to do with Andy?
  
  W/O Andy, this team isn't as good as it is.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Andy is every bit as valuable as his contract. Those people were stupid then and they'll still be stupid if they come out if the Cavs don't win it all.
• jpake1

  

  He's part of the team. He plays the position that many want to update. Fans will find a way to put two and two together. I'm not saying it'll be logical, because I don't believe it would. But I can definitely see a bumbed out Cavs fan saying if we had a 4 to stretch the floor we would have been champs. But no, we paid all that money to Andy.
• hoops23

  

  Yeah, but Andy's money had nothing to do with a stretch 4. I don't think any of us want to upgrade because of Andy, it's just more so an upgrade in terms of shooting. There is no upgrade we can get that would be more valuable than Andy's hustle, rebounding, and head games...
• jpake1

  

  LTrain23 wrote: Yeah, but Andy's money had nothing to do with a stretch 4. I don't think any of us want to upgrade because of Andy, it's just more so an upgrade in terms of shooting. There is no upgrade we can get that would be more valuable than Andy's hustle, rebounding, and head games...

  I agree, hence why I said it wouldn't be logical. There are a lot of Cavs fans that aren't the sharpest tools.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  We don't even need a stretch 4, that's the funniest thing about it with a lot of Cavs fans. They got this idea in their head from somewhere. Andy is perfect. Would I be upset if we got Jamison? No, but we don't need him for his jump shooting ability. We're the best 3 point shooting team in the league, LeBron is shooting career highs, we have shooters all over the place. Andy gives us a great spark off the bench with his energy on offense and the boards, his great defense and his will to do what it takes to win--not to mention the chemistry he and LeBron have isn't something you see on every team in the NBA. Sure we could upgrade our starter, but it's not needed. We don't NEED to stretch the floor, I think we do that pretty well anyways. Hell we have a 7 footer who can hit the three from the corner pretty consistently.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  The Cavs don't have any problems, we don't NEED to make any moves. Maybe something small, temporarily for a PG while Mo is out. But we don't NEED to make any moves. They made the right moves in the offseason, the team is fine as is. This team can win a title, but so can other teams so it all comes down to execution. We don't need another player to take us over the top--we're at the top, we just have to execute in the playoffs.
• devil1197

  Seems to Ferry and the Cavs FO that they want to get a shooting PF, but hell what do they know.
• jpake1

  

  SQ, lemme ask you a question.. just curious. If every team in the NBA plays their A game, who wins the title?
• devil1197

  If Jamison is available for little then imo that is a NEED to go out and get him.
• Trueblue23

  

  After Kobe's 9000 point performance in Tokyo, the most points scored in a Japanese Basketball Shootout, Japanese officials decided to change a name of their city to "Stumasa". This of course meaning "bringer of rape." They also renamed Tokyo to Kobe for his outstanding performance. However, this caused confusion, as there was already a Kobe in Japan. The two cities fought for 15 years over the naming rights, but both lost after the 3 Michaels (Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, and Shawn Michaels) molested and surprise sexed them all to eternal damnation.
• jpake1

  

  Pretend I didn't see that.
• Trueblue23

  

  LeBron James is one of the most intriguing human specimens on the planet. Doctors who were witnesses at birth say LeBron jumped out of his mother's vagina at an astounding 6'3", 235 lbs. Because of this huge mass, Gloria James, James' mother, instantly died. Luckily, an incompetent NBA referee (any of them) was present to assess a Flagrant (2) on the infant James, who proceeded to cry and thus sustain a $25,000 fine. Gloria James is now a zombie, brought back to life by the father of NBA commissioner David Stern, Jesus Christ. After that, LeBron killed Tupac and Biggie with his penis. LeBron's granpa, Yozoroku, makes LeBron scrubs his butthole, because he has athritis. Currently, LeBron James is measured at 6'5". He is also 6'8" tall. Although, his weight remains unknown, as no scale has even been produced large enough to record the mass of his body. He is estimated by scientists at 10x9^7 metric tons, a number which nobody has yet figured out the exact value of. Rigorous testing has shown a body fat percentage of 2, which is penis fat that all black people have, which extends regular penis length a minimum of 3 inches.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Explain to me in terms of the game of basketball why the Cavs need a stretch 4?
  
  jpake--I'll go with the Cavs right now but the Lakers are still stacked. But I do think the Nuggets could push them in the West. In the East it's the Cavs, MAYBE Boston.
  
  Cavs/Lakers is close when they're both playing their A game. Based on right now I'm giving the edge to the Cavs based on better defense and matchups. We match up well with them and they have NO answer for LeBron. We can at least slow Kobe down a bit because we have so many guys we can throw at him. I knew when they did it that the Artest being a better matchup on LeBron than Ariza thing would be false but I didn't think it'd be this obvious. Being physical is not the best way to defend LeBron. An Ariza-type player is who LeBron struggles with the most, Battier is the same way. Good defensive players who use their quickness not their body. Artest vs. LeBron is a mismatch IMO. Guys like Kobe, LeBron, Melo, Wade and a small group of others are unguardablle. But we matchup better on Kobe than the Lakers do on LeBron by quite a large margin IMO. And with our ability to slow down their post game with our own, I like that matchup. But I still won't count out the Lakers because of the fact that Kobe is one of those unguardable players and they're the most stacked team in the league.
• jpake1

  

  The most stacked team that plays their A game doesn't end up winning the championship. Is this a case of giving the Lakers too much respect and not enough for the Cavs... or just something different?
• 2quik4u

  

  SQ_Crazies wrote: Explain to me in terms of the game of basketball why the Cavs need a stretch 4?
  
  jpake--I'll go with the Cavs right now but the Lakers are still stacked. But I do think the Nuggets could push them in the West. In the East it's the Cavs, MAYBE Boston.
  
  Cavs/Lakers is close when they're both playing their A game. Based on right now I'm giving the edge to the Cavs based on better defense and matchups. We match up well with them and they have NO answer for LeBron. We can at least slow Kobe down a bit because we have so many guys we can throw at him. I knew when they did it that the Artest being a better matchup on LeBron than Ariza thing would be false but I didn't think it'd be this obvious. Being physical is not the best way to defend LeBron. An Ariza-type player is who LeBron struggles with the most, Battier is the same way. Good defensive players who use their quickness not their body. Artest vs. LeBron is a mismatch IMO. Guys like Kobe, LeBron, Melo, Wade and a small group of others are unguardablle. But we matchup better on Kobe than the Lakers do on LeBron by quite a large margin IMO. And with our ability to slow down their post game with our own, I like that matchup. But I still won't count out the Lakers because of the fact that Kobe is one of those unguardable players and they're the most stacked team in the league.

  So if both play at the highest level the Cav's are better but the Lakers are the most stacked team in the league? That makes no sense and it shows how much of a homer you are.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  I think it makes total sense. Did you disregard the other 90% of the post?
  
  jpake--Maybe both, I don't know. Probably giving the Lakers too much credit if anything--they just don't seem to mesh like I thought they would or like they did last season--but there is so much season left. I'm not saying the Cavs aren't stacked--this is clearly the best roster they've had since LeBron entered the league. I just think he makes up the difference and it helps that the Lakers have absolutely zero answer for him. LeBron's A game is better than anyone in the league, too bad I don't really see an A game out of him more than 2 or 3 times every 10 games.
• jpake1

  

  Yeah it's probably a bit of both, and some of the other stuff. Lakers aren't stacked like people thought. I'm guilty of it. Bynum just hasn't taken that step forward like we thought, Artest isn't exactly clicking, Fisher has regressed, and the bench is a shell of it's old self. It's safe to say many put the Lakers as untouchable because we got caught up in names. We're now seeing that a couple guys aren't who we exactly thought they were. But hey, they've got time to change it. I think a bit of selling the Cavs a bit short. But I could also understand if you said Lakers have more talent, and even though they play as good as they can, the Cavs could still be better simply because of chemistry. The Cavs play their best together as a team. While the Lakers just don't have enough balls to go around for them to play at their best.
• Skyhook79

  

  "Probably giving the Lakers too much credit if anything--they just don't seem to mesh like I thought they would or like they did last season"
  
  
  They are 33-10 best record in the NBA,they lead the league in 4 different DEFENSIVE categories and they have the largest average winning margin in the League. Gasol has missed 19 games, Artest 5 games and is still learning the "system", Walton 40 games and Kobe is about 80% and yet they have accomplished all that so far.
  Maybe people's expectations are whats out of whack?
• hoops23

  

  Sounds like somebody watched the Lakers - Knicks game where Hubie was basically sucking off the Lakers lol...
• Trueblue23

  

  We're winning but winning REALLY ugly.. which won't cut it when playoff time comes.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Skyhook--I thought you didn't care about the Lakers being the best team in January?
  
  And it figures a Laker fan would flip about what I said. But how can I say any different? All I have to go on is two regular season games with the Lakers. One the Cavs dominated at LA. In the 2nd the Cavs found a way to win without playing well and without their 2nd best player. That's like the Lakers playing without Gasol--and we all know how that goes this year. Does anything I said matter? No. Does it determine how the season will end? No. That's why I still call the Lakers the best team in basketball, they're still the most loaded team but the Cavs have been playing better regardless of who has the best record in the league.
• Skyhook79

  

  LTrain23 wrote: Sounds like somebody watched the Lakers - Knicks game where Hubie was basically sucking off the Lakers lol...

  Which one of those facts are wrong?
  Winning ugly???? Who cares how you win? It's "Professional" Basketball, the other teams are Professionals for a reason. Your not going to dominate every night in the NBA. The Lakers lead in point differential what more could you want at this point? I swear your like the Cavs fans who want to fire Mike Brown everytime they don't play well or lose a game.