RIPPA Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 The alert I just got makes it appear that his agent confirmed him opting out so... never watch ESPN again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 To be fair, Broussard is saying that LeBron's agent told the Heat about the opt-out. But to your end, it hasn't been confirmed by LeBron's camp in earnest yet. PLAYING THE FENCE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 You know that if true (fuck even if it isn't) - ESPN is desperately trying to figure out how it can bump World Cup coverage today 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I'm not going to criticize LeBron for opting out and I'll reserve my criticisms for where he ends up. Only thing I'll say is does he really want to be known as the guy who had to repeatedly team up with stars in order to get rings? Also, we know he's not going to the West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Maybe he wants to be the guy known for not giving a fuck about what a bunch of strangers think about the decisions he makes in his life and career. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Shouldn't have had a television special called "The Decision" then. "I don't give a fuck what you think about what I do, but I'm going to have a television special about what I'm doing and you should all watch!" 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Shouldn't have had a television special called "The Decision" then. "I don't give a fuck what you think about what I do, but I'm going to have a television special about what I'm doing and you should all watch!" You watched it and got mad didn't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I actually did not watch it and mad would not be the word I would use, mostly because it was pretty obvious he was going to Miami at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Shouldn't have had a television special called "The Decision" then. "I don't give a fuck what you think about what I do, but I'm going to have a television special about what I'm doing and you should all watch!" Players play the game. It was good for business. LeBron "HHH" James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 GIFS EVERY DAY. UNTIL THIS SITUATION IS RESOLVED. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 My point is the amount of time people spend talking about what they think about LeBron and the amount of time he spends thinking about any of the people talking is inversely related. It's his life, it's his career, and if he wants to join a team with a better chance to win a championship I don't think he gives a fuck what anyone else says about it. He wants to win, and he's going to put himself in the best position to win despite what anyone thinks about it. For some reason it rubs people the wrong way, when all of the people talking would switch jobs to achieve their goals if they had the opportunity. I just don't get why people get so emotional about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 So with Melo and LeBron both opting out, what are the odds they go some place together? And where would that place be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 At this point, no one should really care that LeBron had a nationally televised press conference. It's no different than high school football players announcing which college they'll attend with the hat game. And LeBron has actually accomplished something on a professional level I think part of the issue is that LeBron positions himself to be in control of his career at all times. Whatever choice he makes, he has the final say. Some things won't go the way he wants, but at least he's in charge. So many players don't have that luxury. LeBron takes advantage of having it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 What I don't get with Paul Westhead is this: He takes over McKinney's team and keeps the fast break offense and wins a title. Then he slows things down to "put his own stamp on things" which is dumb but I get. What I don't get is why putting his own stamp on things meant slowing it down? Everywhere else he coached, Westhead's teams rank like crazy - Loyola Marymount, the Nuggets, etc. Westhead's system is predicated on each guy on the court running to the same exact spot on the basketball court on every fast break. And then, from the first pass, there are a series of options that can happen, but the first option is to take a jump shot if available. The second is to dump it into the post. It's a ridiculously simple style of fast break basketball. That has its advantages in a lot of ways, but at the same time it's easy to snuff out. The Lakers also had a young Magic Johnson, the most creative passer in basketball history at that point in time (and maybe still), and he was limited because the freelancing of his game on breaks was essentially taken away from him. Getting the ball to Kareem was always a good idea but trying to get him to sprint into position was probably a bit problematic. The success of the Westhead system essentially depends on having enough shooters and a good post player. LMU had that in spades during their glory years. Bo Kimble was a really great guard/shooter/wing. Hank Gathers was an absolute beast on the post/boards. He was so friggin' athletic that he'd beat other teams down the court constantly and/or gobble up any missed jump shot and dunk like mad. They also had a ton of other guys who could shoot like mad -- they had that kid Jeff Ayers who lit up Michigan in the tournament Hank died. That wasn't the first game where he shot like that. Terrell Lowery was also a monster of a jump shooter, too. The Westhead offense also largely depends on a full-court press and getting live ball turnovers. The whole goal is to get shots up as quickly as possible, and running after a steal is a lot easier to create open looks when running to the same spot than even after a rebound and especially after a miss. But that's not really much of an advantage in the NBA because the difference in skill levels between most players isn't all that great compared to college. LMU's athleticism and skill absolutely dwarfed that of 98% of the teams they played -- especially in the West Coast Conference, which wasn't that great at the time. Hank Gathers shot 60% from the field for his three years (he transferred from USC) in college and took a ton of shots at an insanely efficient amount. Bo Kimble shot over 53% his senior year and averaged 35.3 a game. LMU lost five games in Hank and Bo's senior year. Four of those teams had a bunch of NBA-caliber talent -- UNLV's juggernaut, an Oklahoma team that was ranked number one in the country (before getting bounced by an 8-seed UNC team in the tournament), a Sweet 16 Xavier team that had Tyrone Hill, and the Louisina State team with Shaq/Chris Jackson/Stanley Roberts. (That game was 148-141 in overtime. Can you imagine watching that?) Westhead's first college head coaching gig was at my alma mater La Salle. He also taught Shakespeare and a bunch of other English classes. I knew old-time professors who knew him who said he was one of the all-time most interesting, weirdest human beings. La Salle never went too deep in the tournament with him, but the best player in his system was Michael Brooks who won NCAA National Player of the Year in 1980. (You can look it up!) LMU in Hank/Bo's senior year had a Philadelphia homecoming -- they're still absolutely legendary here among high school hoops heads. The two games were absolute thrillers and two of the best games in Philadelphia college basketball history. LMU beat St. Joe's with a half-court bomb from Kimble, who scored 54. Gathers started having his heart problems and had a crap game. He came back in a big game against their next game at La Salle, in which LMU won 121-116. That was La Salle's only loss that regular season -- Lionel Simmons was player-of-the-year and they also had future NBA players Doug Overton and Randy Woods. That Denver team played an insane pace but was woefully inefficient. They shot crap. Their leading shot-taker was PG Michael Adams. He shot 39% from the field. He jacked about nine 3Ps a game (in 1990, WTF?) but shot under 30% from deep. Other dudes who shot more than 10 times a game include Todd Lichti and Blair Rasmussen. They also couldn't guard anyone on the court -- all those missed shots led to other teams having breaks. They were an untalented team playing at an insane pace. That's why they gave up 130 PPG. You can see a lot of Westhead's system in today's game. D'Antoni aped a lot of it in 7 Seconds or less, but threw in more pick-and-roll type stuff. A lot of the Spurs run to their preferred shots on breaks, but then they have these insane misdirections and passing plays that makes it awesome. Golden State also runs a really similar offense, but they don't have the sophisticated secondary sets that the Spurs do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincey Greene Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Well, it's really quite unusual for someone of Lebron's stature to hit the market so it's quite intriguing. Also, no matter how much we front otherwise, we all wish he was signing with our favorite team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Le Bron will become a national hero if he returns to Cleveland. I doubt he will because of Dan Gilbert, but if that dude cares about his legacy beyond titles and stats, then he'll return and try and get that city a ring. They've got Kyrie and the number one pick and Andy V.'s still very good when healthy. They're not a lost cause, especially in the crap-fest East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Gilbert wrote a letter than basically said I OWN YOU, LeBRON! and the fans burned his jersey in effigy. That's a lot of bad feelings to overcome just to play hero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 The great Zach Lowe broke down last week LeBron's best options. I sort of want him to go to either the Hawks or the Suns now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Gilbert wrote a letter than basically said I OWN YOU, LeBRON! and the fans burned his jersey in effigy. That's a lot of bad feelings to overcome just to play hero. He and his wife still have a house in Akron. They never really left in some ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 He will end up going somewhere no one expects, like Sacramento. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, Akron---not Cleveland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 You know that if true (fuck even if it isn't) - ESPN is desperately trying to figure out how it can bump World Cup coverage today Combine them. Listening to Ian Darke go through various Lebron scenarios would probably end up being the best thing on ESPN all year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, Akron---not Cleveland. Less than an hour away from each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I think if LeBron goes to the West, he's in for a rude awakening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, Akron---not Cleveland. Less than an hour away from each other. Understood, but I think LeBron's dedication to Cleveland has always been overblown. He doesn't hate Cleveland, but he LOVES Akron. Big difference. I just don't see him chomping at the bit to play for Gilbert again, unless he gets an under-the-table stake in the team when he retires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts