Theres nothing david said there that wasnt an accurate portrayal of how things have been on these threads in title runs past and figure to be in the future. Get over yourself and off your high horse about other peoples biases. But im speaking to a guy who "doesnt find lebrons 2 title runs impressive", and 90 percent of the time is throwing water on every accomplishment hes ever achieved
I love the guys without the self awareness to see their own biases casting stones
no matter what Miami does, something always gets cherry picked to diminish their accomplishments. Spurs are impervious to criticism from the pundits and fans. Miami basically did what they set out to do this postseason so far, and they beat the teams they're supposed to beat by rather handily. Hardly anyone brings up the fact that the Spurs needed 7 games to get rid of Dallas. I know the West is loaded, but SA should have put Dallas down much earlier in the series.
I could say the same thing about you and Peyton Manning.
don't throw water on his accomplishments! He's an all-time great! 5 time MVP! I don't think you're actually doing that, by the way, as previously discussed. You're merely considering the nuance(s) of his career which in my view is perfectly legitimate. Heavy forbid that same standard is applied to your King.
Yes, the sucking off of Lebron has reached the point where now he must be preemptively defended.
Quote:
Funny thing is that if Lebron 3-peats, the same group will be picking apart at his legacy with a fine tooth comb
He's a sensational player and I've never said otherwise. My "bias" is that I don't like a bitter conference rival filled with ring chasers and with shitty fans. To return to a previous point, I also didn't like the early/mid 90s Cowboys. Did you? I mean they, like Lebron's Heat, were dominant (3 rings in 4 years) so maybe you did find them seductive.
Why? There is no doubt that having RW hurts KD's game. RW will always have an impressive stat line, but his bone head decisions and shot selection cripples OKC in just about every series.
Im open about that though. And I dont think ive ever said anything about him that wasnt fair. He is the greatest regular season qb in nfl history, and has a very sketchy postseason career. Didnt even play well in his sb winning playoff run. All that is accurate. And without caring to get into a peyton discussion at length, there is way way way more red meat to critique in regards to him than lebron. Hes closing in on arguably the best pre age 30 career in his sport, he is only compared to ghosts. Theres not much to come at him with that doesnt sound petty, biased or misinformed
I can enjoy the series, take jabs at the Miami players I hate (Battier, Chalmers, Bosh), take some shots at Parker for being absent when it matters the most. I am going to ooh and ahh when Lebron is special. I am going to nitpick if he doesnt play to his capabilities.
I am going to go all nostalgia when Duncan makes some fundamental play, and just shake my head when he put his hands when he cries he didnt commit a foul.
The reason this series is great to me is that I could give a flyin' rats ass who wins/losses. But if Lebron has a shitty series and the Spurs win, I will refer to this series on his legacy. If Duncan loses again, retirement talk should be coming.
I am going to enjoy all the banter.... haha
Again I'm glad you agree that the record of superstars
like Peyton should not be unimpugnable merely because they're superstars. And I agree myself on Peyton - although a fair assessment would note that much of his prime was spent up against the best coach/QB combo in NFL history (with a nod to Bill Walsh). He just objectively has had much tougher roads in the post-season than James.
I was a huge fan of Lebron on the Cavs, by the way. I just really do not like the Heat. That's my "bias" for which I'm being upbraided. Sue me. Also hate the Eagles.
the roads traveled are an apples and oranges comparison
Plus theres not many "roads" traveled when 8 of your playoff losses are one and dones, most at home against clearly inferior teams with his all world offense failing to score 20 points. Thats not a road traveled, thats walking up the block and getting bitchslapped, each and everytime by a team not led by brady and belichick, who got him just twice in his 50 year career
theres really not much of a comparison. And if you think the road to two titles has been easy for lebron, you havent been paying attention. Because there has never been a player who had to shoulder a wider array of responsibilities during a similar run, and even if you want to bash the east he is still going through loaded teams in these finals. Powerhouses who emerged from the deepest conference in league history, with hall of famers all over the floor. The heat arent even favored in the finals. Werent in 2012 either
And for all the east bashing, you take lebron off the heat they dont come within an eyelash of winning it anyway like the bulls did with jordan playing baseball. They probably dont even get by your nets. Thats why its always rich when these competition arguments are formed under some pro jordan angle as you often do. This isnt the watered down expansion crazy 90s and lebron doesnt have the 2nd best wing player in basketball on his team, coupled with great interior defense and rebounding and the best coach ever
I'd have to say I think Lebron is a tremendous player until you realize that I think Lebron is a tremendous player.
You keep bringing it back to Jordan, not me. I've never denied he had major help winning his rings. Not just Pippen, obviously. The Worm was still a monster in his mid 30s during the 2nd 3-peat. I do, however, think it's factual to state he wouldn't have been caught dead conspiring with other stars in the league. I think that's a knock against Lebron. Clearly you do not. w/e...opinions.
these are teams that lebrons postseasons ended against
Teams who held him shy of titles and teams who he went through to get his titles. The list relative to peyton isnt close, though admittedly football is more prone to randomness
06- a pistons team who won it all in 04, went to a finals game 7 in 05, and was in the middle of a stretch of 6 straight conference finals appearances. Lebron took them 7 as a 21 year old with a bunch of nobodies
07- a spurs dynasty in progress in a series lebrons cavs had no business advancing to anyway, duncan gets his 4th ring vs a 22 year old lebron
08- a celtic team who was very arguably a top 12 to 15 team in league history, and arguably the GOAT defense. Won it all that year. Lebron struggled with his shot at times in that series but led an undermanned cavs team to a tight 7th game, where lebron scored 45 in a loss
09- lost to a very good magic team who admittedly is not historically memorable by any stretch. But you literally could not play better in the series than lebron did. Best performance in a best of 7 losing effort of all time. Averaged 38 pts, 8 boards and 8 assists and his 2009 playoff player efficiency rating is still the best in nba history
2010- a celtic team who came within a couple timely buckets of winning it all that year. Had a 13 point 2nd half lead in game 7 of the finals. Lebron had one terrible game in the series but was otherwise brilliant
2011- lebrons biggest failure. But the mavs did win it all that year and in the process swept the lakers in a postseason where l.a. was chasing a threepeat
2012- won a title against an okc team with durant, westbrook, harden and ibaka without homecourt, was a vegas underdog in the series against them. Okc had just ended the spurs 20 game win streak in the playoffs by beating them 4 straight to close the series
2013- beat a spurs team with a post peak but still first team all nba version of duncan, and the deepest supporting cast he has ever had.
2014- will play those same spurs who are 4 wins away from being put into the discussion as the best spurs team ever. Theyve never been this deep and well rounded, and duncan is still playing on an incredibly high level
I dont see any jay fiedler dolphins or chad pennington and mark sanchez jets there. No 8-8 charger teams. I could go on
this is pointless anyway because the sports are different as are their responsibilities
But he's already passed Peyton in my mind. Equal to Peyton in the regular season, FAAAR greater than Peyton in the playoffs.
Over-defending LeBron is so 2012. He has a big boy resume now with the rings. Haters will say blah blah decision, but you are an idiot if you deny LeBron's greatness at this point. I like LeBron but I've always been a "Michael Jordan is the GOAT athlete in American Sports history" type of guy. There are a lot of candidates in that argument but I'd go Jordan.
I've always wanted to see LeBron succeed. He had the GOAT expectations of any NBA player since Kareem, and he exceeded them. I always respected how great he was and thought all the LeBron hate over the years was annoying. So I rooted for him to see the idiot haters eat shit.
But for the first time I'm starting to feel worried about Jordan's legacy. LeBron is mounting a legitimate run at the crown and the Jordan fanboy deep inside of me is finally starting to get scared. Peak vs. Peak is an argument that Jordan may forever have. And that will keep him in the mix no matter what. I'd take Peak Jordan over Peak LeBron. But Peak LeBron is clearly a Top 5 Peak ever, arguably Top 3. And with the way he is improving his offense in the half-court, who knows if he has reached his most lethal form yet.
For the first time those Michael Jordan retirements are looking important for his resume. He was the GOAT even with those 2 early retirements but LeBron looks like a player who could finally make MJ pay for ditching his team early a couple of times.
MJ: 11 full regular seasons with the Bulls (what Wiz years?)
LJ: 11 full regular seasons after 2014
After 11 seasons, MJ has the lead on LeBron. But LeBron isn't too far behind. BTW, LeBron isn't 30 yet.
LeBron's longevity could potentially be a huge edge for him over Jordan. He may never attain the Pure Peak title, but the overall GOAT title is starting to get within his reach.
So I'm rooting for the Spurs just to make things harder on him. But more than anything I'm just rooting for another classic 7 game Finals.
Jordan was handed a better and way more balanced supporting cast by his management than lebron currently has by free agent choice. From a pure basketball standpoint, its silly to hold one guy in high regard while knocking another one. If jordan had been in lebrons shoes, who knows how he reacts. If he doesnt seek help he absolutely never becomes the michael jordan mythic figure of today. Hes not winning 6 rings with a cast like lebrons cavs.
I honestly don't recall any. He was effectively an underdog for 7 years, a one man show a la Allen Iverson in 01.
I find it a little odd that you don't get why people dislike Miami as a team. Nothing personal against the players (okay, maybe Battier) but in a Yankees-esque "evil empire" sort of way.
One can respect the hell out of Sydney Crosby and admit he's the best all around player since Lemieux while also hoping the Penguins fail. They're a bitter rival. Fuck em. Seems like a normal competitive streak to me rather than irrational "hate".
Hate the heat all you want. Thats not the point. But when you trivialize their accomplishments to the point of absurdity, and then accuse others of being biased, come on now. You hate them, thats fine, but pot meet kettle with regards to bias. Lets not act like most of these rants (I think my favorite was last years title deserves an asterisk because of a substitution poppovich made with duncan late in game 6, something he often does to defend a three) stem from anything other than a raging, absurd bias. Certainly not from a coherent thought process
after a heart-breaking loss and I really wanted to see a game 6 at Barclays. I'm sure you were pissed after Desean ran back Dodge's punt.
But, yes, I do think it's interesting to consider how some of these championships were won. I, for instance, think Eli's SB42 victory was way, way more impressive than Peyton's SB victory over the Bears. You would no doubt point out that such a rant stems from a raging and absurd bias, that rings are rings, and who cares how they were won. Just count em up.
I just disagree. However that in no way "trivializes" how great LBJ is as a player. Though I do think his brilliance would be better highlighted were he not in a disaster of a conference. Will be interesting to see how he fares against this Spurs team.
but this is going to be a very interesting battle between the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals. Rangers fans shouldn't give a shit about ratings and I'm sure they're annoyed by the mere mention of it. But this is NY vs. LA. The last time the NHL had the Rangers in the Finals, they were on the same level as the NBA ratings wise. Going to be really interesting to see if the big markets help the Stanley Cup actually get close to the Finals in terms of ratings.
The NY area ratings will also be interesting. It would be embarrassing if the NHL lost in NY to the NBA. I'm guessing that won't be the case.
This really would've been interesting if Indiana made the Finals. The ratings would've suffered bigtime with no LeBron and Miami.
I think it will be interesting to see the LA and NY ratings...
how people could watch the NBA playoffs and enjoy them more than the NHL.
These NBA finals, outside of the first round, have been a complete snoozefest. Add in that the NHL has very little stoppage, you don't have the final 2 minutes of a game interrupted by 10 different commercial breaks.
The Finals will be entertaining to watch, but the flow of these games gets destroyed by TV and timeouts. You are rarely ever on the edge of your seat watching an NBA playoff game, mostly because the stoppages don't allow for it.
I know a big part of it is because minorities really dont play hockey and dont watch it but its just a much better playoff product. You are truly on the edge of your seat for 45 minutes watching an NHL playoff game because they have very little timeouts in a period.
The NHL will never compete with the NBA in ratings but I personally feel in the playoffs its a much better product to watch, especially considering in the NBA playoffs a lot of the time you can guess the finals teams before the playoffs or hell even season begins
would be destroyed without LeBron. He's their meal ticket. If the NBA ever went through a long stretch without a true dominant player the ratings would suffer big time.
I find the NBA far more watchable than the NHL because it is a better sport. I watch the NHL playoffs and enjoy all the awesome 3rd period and OT action. But basketball is just the far more visually aesthetic sport in my mind.
Hockey's excitement is easy to get. That's the reason so many chicks who know nothing about sports prefer hockey to any other sport. There's always action going on. And Goals provide a moment that the NBA can't really match. (Football has TDs, Hockey has Goals, MLB has runs/Home Runs, NBA has nothing like that). But overall I find basketball to be the more enjoyable sport and the NBA playoffs to be the better product. But again, that's my opinion.
The NBA needs to fix the late game situation stuff. It really destroys the entertainment value of critical late game situations. A lot of games you have 5-6 timeouts in the final 2 minutes, sometimes more. It's absurd, they need to fix it somehow. I like the advancement of the ball, I think it provides more potential excitement, but maybe instead of 2 extra timeouts for a team, give them 2 extra "ball advancements". They can use them when they want to, but only get 2. A lot of teams call timeouts just to get the ball advanced, I know they like to talk strategy but these stoppages at the end of games have to stop. It makes the game painful to watch
- The East SUCKED. It looked like a 2 team race in the East all year until the last couple of months when Indiana got in a funk.
- OKC vs. LAC/SAS series were good not great, Game 7s would've helped a lot
But the NBA is about the best of the best. It's always been that way. The difference between the #1 and the #5 player in the NBA is often times just as big as the difference between the #5 and #20 player. That's what happens in a 5v5 sport where you play both sides for 80+% of the game as a star. So yea the NBA is predictable. But it gives us Heavyweight matches.
David vs. Goaliath is probably everyone's favorite matchup. And I love to see it too. But sometimes I just want to see Goliath vs. Goliath. If you want to see David vs. David you are an idiot lol.
On basketball, I'm curious what happens if LeBron wins his third straight. They've managed DWade's knee incredibly well this year (given his playoff performance). But overall, that's a losing battle. I don't think LeBron steps away from a squad that's just three-peated but that might be wishful thinking, since my secret hope is that he leaves after next year when a certain big city team is flush with cap room.
another very predictable sport. There is a clear hierarchy at the top and the gap between the #1 player and the #5 player is massive just like it is in the NBA. But people still watch it because watching those top players dominate is just fun to watch. And watching those top players end up in wars against each other is fantastic TV.
I've been following this year's French Open. But there's only one matchup that I truly want to see. It's the only matchup most of us really care about. Nadal vs. Djokovic. Those 2 are the class of the sport. A Final between those 2 would be an epic matchup.
bounced back after a lackluster clay court season (by his standards) is pretty silly. Yea he's faced an easy draw, but he's skull****ing players out there. It's as if Philippe Chatrier rejuvenates him. I think it's Rafa and Novak in the final, but if current form holds, Rafa wins.
I don't know. Djokovic just humiliated Tsonga. I'd still lean Djokovic as the slight favorite but this Nadal vs. Ferrer matchup will tell us a lot. If Nadal dominates Ferrer then I think he becomes the favorite again. It feels like Nadal is slowly getting better and better on clay this year which is cool to watch. There is just so much on the line for both Nadal and Djokovic.
The men's game recently has been exceptionally good. With a dip in Murray's form and Fed's continued decline, the notion of a top 4 is less believable, but there's a lot of good players and two legends at the peak of their powers at the top.
were the two best players in the sport and they were American. That goes a long way when it comes to marketing Tennis or any sport.
But I think tennis has still remained relevant. Federer and Nadal were really big for the sport. And Djokovic turning into a historic player against all odds has made this era that much more interesting. Murray is also a nice sidestory.
The way tennis works just reminds me of the way the NBA works.
The nba will destroy the nhl finals. We are going to see the absolute ceiling the nhl has in this series, and it will still fall well shy. Its not a fair fight. No cup finals game has ever even done a 5 rating. If they average a 5 theyd be thrilled and gary bettman will take bows every year. The nba finals are going to do double digits easily. Pacers vs spurs would have beaten a cup final too, it would have been closer, but theyd still win decisively
I can enjoy the series, take jabs at the Miami players I hate (Battier, Chalmers, Bosh), take some shots at Parker for being absent when it matters the most.
Luke that time when he won the Finals Most inVisible Player award?
were the two best players in the sport and they were American. That goes a long way when it comes to marketing Tennis or any sport.
But I think tennis has still remained relevant. Federer and Nadal were really big for the sport. And Djokovic turning into a historic player against all odds has made this era that much more interesting. Murray is also a nice sidestory.
The way tennis works just reminds me of the way the NBA works.
Substance wise Osi, you are the best poster on BBI. You can break down the NFL, NBA, MLB, Tennis, and Nascar. That's impressive.
people in LA don't care about hockey. I think I read that game 7 of Kings-Blackhawks only got a 4 in LA, while getting a huge number in Chicago. The NHL would have much preferred Rangers-Blackhawks.
I agree a lot with what Mook said about LeBron being the leagues meal ticket, but that is nothing new. The league has always been dependent of stars, it's a star league. If the NBA ever went through a drought with little star power, ratings would take a huge hit. The only sport that is immune from that though is the NFL, so it isn't any wild revelation.
But the NBA threads for the most part have a lot of well versed intelligent posters when it comes to talking sports. I feel like the NBA threads really cut a lot of the fat off from the "NFT superstars" and cliquey groups that don't contribute much to talking sports that populates most of BBI. The same could be said for the hockey and baseball threads, but I wouldn't know. I never open them up being that I'm not a fan of either sport. Ironically, I just feel like this football forum has a lot more quality sports discussions on the NBA threads.
but that's secondary to wanting to see a good series. I'd prefer a Miami Heat win in 7 games over a Spurs win in 5 games. But if it gets to a Game 7, right now I'd be leaning towards the Spurs.
I'm really interested in the inevitable "LeBron Wars" that are going to occur on this thread during the Finals. We're at a point where certain anti-LeBron opinions are just too stupid to even debate. So hopefully the LeBron discussions should be of higher quality than in the past couple of Finals.
My one suggestion. Please limit the amount of times you use the word "Legacy" in a post during these Finals. I use that word a ton too so I'm not talking about anyone in particular. Let's just worry about this year before we worry about legacies. I really hope we get another classic 7 game series. Spurs need this game more tonight.
I love the guys without the self awareness to see their own biases casting stones
Yes, the sucking off of Lebron has reached the point where now he must be preemptively defended.
He's a sensational player and I've never said otherwise. My "bias" is that I don't like a bitter conference rival filled with ring chasers and with shitty fans. To return to a previous point, I also didn't like the early/mid 90s Cowboys. Did you? I mean they, like Lebron's Heat, were dominant (3 rings in 4 years) so maybe you did find them seductive.
Why? There is no doubt that having RW hurts KD's game. RW will always have an impressive stat line, but his bone head decisions and shot selection cripples OKC in just about every series.
I am going to go all nostalgia when Duncan makes some fundamental play, and just shake my head when he put his hands when he cries he didnt commit a foul.
The reason this series is great to me is that I could give a flyin' rats ass who wins/losses. But if Lebron has a shitty series and the Spurs win, I will refer to this series on his legacy. If Duncan loses again, retirement talk should be coming.
I am going to enjoy all the banter.... haha
I was a huge fan of Lebron on the Cavs, by the way. I just really do not like the Heat. That's my "bias" for which I'm being upbraided. Sue me. Also hate the Eagles.
theres really not much of a comparison. And if you think the road to two titles has been easy for lebron, you havent been paying attention. Because there has never been a player who had to shoulder a wider array of responsibilities during a similar run, and even if you want to bash the east he is still going through loaded teams in these finals. Powerhouses who emerged from the deepest conference in league history, with hall of famers all over the floor. The heat arent even favored in the finals. Werent in 2012 either
And for all the east bashing, you take lebron off the heat they dont come within an eyelash of winning it anyway like the bulls did with jordan playing baseball. They probably dont even get by your nets. Thats why its always rich when these competition arguments are formed under some pro jordan angle as you often do. This isnt the watered down expansion crazy 90s and lebron doesnt have the 2nd best wing player in basketball on his team, coupled with great interior defense and rebounding and the best coach ever
You keep bringing it back to Jordan, not me. I've never denied he had major help winning his rings. Not just Pippen, obviously. The Worm was still a monster in his mid 30s during the 2nd 3-peat. I do, however, think it's factual to state he wouldn't have been caught dead conspiring with other stars in the league. I think that's a knock against Lebron. Clearly you do not. w/e...opinions.
06- a pistons team who won it all in 04, went to a finals game 7 in 05, and was in the middle of a stretch of 6 straight conference finals appearances. Lebron took them 7 as a 21 year old with a bunch of nobodies
07- a spurs dynasty in progress in a series lebrons cavs had no business advancing to anyway, duncan gets his 4th ring vs a 22 year old lebron
08- a celtic team who was very arguably a top 12 to 15 team in league history, and arguably the GOAT defense. Won it all that year. Lebron struggled with his shot at times in that series but led an undermanned cavs team to a tight 7th game, where lebron scored 45 in a loss
09- lost to a very good magic team who admittedly is not historically memorable by any stretch. But you literally could not play better in the series than lebron did. Best performance in a best of 7 losing effort of all time. Averaged 38 pts, 8 boards and 8 assists and his 2009 playoff player efficiency rating is still the best in nba history
2010- a celtic team who came within a couple timely buckets of winning it all that year. Had a 13 point 2nd half lead in game 7 of the finals. Lebron had one terrible game in the series but was otherwise brilliant
2011- lebrons biggest failure. But the mavs did win it all that year and in the process swept the lakers in a postseason where l.a. was chasing a threepeat
2012- won a title against an okc team with durant, westbrook, harden and ibaka without homecourt, was a vegas underdog in the series against them. Okc had just ended the spurs 20 game win streak in the playoffs by beating them 4 straight to close the series
2013- beat a spurs team with a post peak but still first team all nba version of duncan, and the deepest supporting cast he has ever had.
2014- will play those same spurs who are 4 wins away from being put into the discussion as the best spurs team ever. Theyve never been this deep and well rounded, and duncan is still playing on an incredibly high level
I dont see any jay fiedler dolphins or chad pennington and mark sanchez jets there. No 8-8 charger teams. I could go on
this is pointless anyway because the sports are different as are their responsibilities
Over-defending LeBron is so 2012. He has a big boy resume now with the rings. Haters will say blah blah decision, but you are an idiot if you deny LeBron's greatness at this point. I like LeBron but I've always been a "Michael Jordan is the GOAT athlete in American Sports history" type of guy. There are a lot of candidates in that argument but I'd go Jordan.
I've always wanted to see LeBron succeed. He had the GOAT expectations of any NBA player since Kareem, and he exceeded them. I always respected how great he was and thought all the LeBron hate over the years was annoying. So I rooted for him to see the idiot haters eat shit.
But for the first time I'm starting to feel worried about Jordan's legacy. LeBron is mounting a legitimate run at the crown and the Jordan fanboy deep inside of me is finally starting to get scared. Peak vs. Peak is an argument that Jordan may forever have. And that will keep him in the mix no matter what. I'd take Peak Jordan over Peak LeBron. But Peak LeBron is clearly a Top 5 Peak ever, arguably Top 3. And with the way he is improving his offense in the half-court, who knows if he has reached his most lethal form yet.
For the first time those Michael Jordan retirements are looking important for his resume. He was the GOAT even with those 2 early retirements but LeBron looks like a player who could finally make MJ pay for ditching his team early a couple of times.
MJ: 11 full regular seasons with the Bulls (what Wiz years?)
LJ: 11 full regular seasons after 2014
After 11 seasons, MJ has the lead on LeBron. But LeBron isn't too far behind. BTW, LeBron isn't 30 yet.
LeBron's longevity could potentially be a huge edge for him over Jordan. He may never attain the Pure Peak title, but the overall GOAT title is starting to get within his reach.
So I'm rooting for the Spurs just to make things harder on him. But more than anything I'm just rooting for another classic 7 game Finals.
I find it a little odd that you don't get why people dislike Miami as a team. Nothing personal against the players (okay, maybe Battier) but in a Yankees-esque "evil empire" sort of way.
One can respect the hell out of Sydney Crosby and admit he's the best all around player since Lemieux while also hoping the Penguins fail. They're a bitter rival. Fuck em. Seems like a normal competitive streak to me rather than irrational "hate".
your bias is an equal but opposite force. Own it.
But, yes, I do think it's interesting to consider how some of these championships were won. I, for instance, think Eli's SB42 victory was way, way more impressive than Peyton's SB victory over the Bears. You would no doubt point out that such a rant stems from a raging and absurd bias, that rings are rings, and who cares how they were won. Just count em up.
I just disagree. However that in no way "trivializes" how great LBJ is as a player. Though I do think his brilliance would be better highlighted were he not in a disaster of a conference. Will be interesting to see how he fares against this Spurs team.
The NY area ratings will also be interesting. It would be embarrassing if the NHL lost in NY to the NBA. I'm guessing that won't be the case.
This really would've been interesting if Indiana made the Finals. The ratings would've suffered bigtime with no LeBron and Miami.
These NBA finals, outside of the first round, have been a complete snoozefest. Add in that the NHL has very little stoppage, you don't have the final 2 minutes of a game interrupted by 10 different commercial breaks.
The Finals will be entertaining to watch, but the flow of these games gets destroyed by TV and timeouts. You are rarely ever on the edge of your seat watching an NBA playoff game, mostly because the stoppages don't allow for it.
I know a big part of it is because minorities really dont play hockey and dont watch it but its just a much better playoff product. You are truly on the edge of your seat for 45 minutes watching an NHL playoff game because they have very little timeouts in a period.
The NHL will never compete with the NBA in ratings but I personally feel in the playoffs its a much better product to watch, especially considering in the NBA playoffs a lot of the time you can guess the finals teams before the playoffs or hell even season begins
Hockey's excitement is easy to get. That's the reason so many chicks who know nothing about sports prefer hockey to any other sport. There's always action going on. And Goals provide a moment that the NBA can't really match. (Football has TDs, Hockey has Goals, MLB has runs/Home Runs, NBA has nothing like that). But overall I find basketball to be the more enjoyable sport and the NBA playoffs to be the better product. But again, that's my opinion.
The NBA needs to fix the late game situation stuff. It really destroys the entertainment value of critical late game situations. A lot of games you have 5-6 timeouts in the final 2 minutes, sometimes more. It's absurd, they need to fix it somehow. I like the advancement of the ball, I think it provides more potential excitement, but maybe instead of 2 extra timeouts for a team, give them 2 extra "ball advancements". They can use them when they want to, but only get 2. A lot of teams call timeouts just to get the ball advanced, I know they like to talk strategy but these stoppages at the end of games have to stop. It makes the game painful to watch
I think the finals will make up for that and the first round was great but these haven't been the best NBA playoffs compared to years past
- OKC vs. LAC/SAS series were good not great, Game 7s would've helped a lot
But the NBA is about the best of the best. It's always been that way. The difference between the #1 and the #5 player in the NBA is often times just as big as the difference between the #5 and #20 player. That's what happens in a 5v5 sport where you play both sides for 80+% of the game as a star. So yea the NBA is predictable. But it gives us Heavyweight matches.
David vs. Goaliath is probably everyone's favorite matchup. And I love to see it too. But sometimes I just want to see Goliath vs. Goliath. If you want to see David vs. David you are an idiot lol.
On basketball, I'm curious what happens if LeBron wins his third straight. They've managed DWade's knee incredibly well this year (given his playoff performance). But overall, that's a losing battle. I don't think LeBron steps away from a squad that's just three-peated but that might be wishful thinking, since my secret hope is that he leaves after next year when a certain big city team is flush with cap room.
I've been following this year's French Open. But there's only one matchup that I truly want to see. It's the only matchup most of us really care about. Nadal vs. Djokovic. Those 2 are the class of the sport. A Final between those 2 would be an epic matchup.
But I think tennis has still remained relevant. Federer and Nadal were really big for the sport. And Djokovic turning into a historic player against all odds has made this era that much more interesting. Murray is also a nice sidestory.
The way tennis works just reminds me of the way the NBA works.
these are two differet weight classes
Luke that time when he won the Finals Most inVisible Player award?
But I think tennis has still remained relevant. Federer and Nadal were really big for the sport. And Djokovic turning into a historic player against all odds has made this era that much more interesting. Murray is also a nice sidestory.
The way tennis works just reminds me of the way the NBA works.
Substance wise Osi, you are the best poster on BBI. You can break down the NFL, NBA, MLB, Tennis, and Nascar. That's impressive.
1. How much will SA having home court this year matter?
2. Will the new 2-2-1-1-1 format have much of an impact, if so, who will benefit more from it?
Substance wise Osi, you are the best poster on BBI. You can break down the NFL, NBA, MLB, Tennis, and Nascar. That's impressive.
Can he break down Nascar as well as this guy?
NASCAR coach reveals winning strategy: drive fast - ( New Window )
I agree a lot with what Mook said about LeBron being the leagues meal ticket, but that is nothing new. The league has always been dependent of stars, it's a star league. If the NBA ever went through a drought with little star power, ratings would take a huge hit. The only sport that is immune from that though is the NFL, so it isn't any wild revelation.
However it is a little annoying at the same time to see guys get chosen as the next so and so based on a sily highlight reel
I'm really interested in the inevitable "LeBron Wars" that are going to occur on this thread during the Finals. We're at a point where certain anti-LeBron opinions are just too stupid to even debate. So hopefully the LeBron discussions should be of higher quality than in the past couple of Finals.
My one suggestion. Please limit the amount of times you use the word "Legacy" in a post during these Finals. I use that word a ton too so I'm not talking about anyone in particular. Let's just worry about this year before we worry about legacies. I really hope we get another classic 7 game series. Spurs need this game more tonight.