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02-17-2013, 11:01 AM | #1801 |
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By the way... I've said before that LeBron is basically Peyton Manning. Then somebody threw in that Peyton Manning was a horrible playoff performer. That's not what the statistics say:
http://www.bsports.com/statsinsights...yoff-struggles Even if the stats say that Peyton was a great playoff performer, we all know that he isn't nearly as good as these stats say. LeBron is the same way (although LeBron has rarely had off games in the playoffs. But in terms of the last 5 minutes of the game... he doesn't dominate the same way Jordan did). To me, Jordan is like Marino with the clutchness of Joe Montana. LeBron is Peyton Manning. |
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02-17-2013, 11:05 AM | #1802 | |
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02-17-2013, 11:52 AM | #1803 | |
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He shows a reluctance to be that guy in that situation more than I've seen from an MJ, Kobe, Dirk, or Durant. Nobody expects that kind of all-world 4th quarter performance every night, but to be in the conversation with Jordan, he has to be unapologetic about going in Detroit mode and demanding he get the ball in those moments. If there's one thing we learned from his reaction to "the decision," it's that he's a bit too self-conscious about what other people think. He shouldn't care if he's viewed as a ball hog in big moments and he shouldn't care how people react if he takes a big shot and misses. When it was a close game with 1 or 2 minutes left, in Chicago, you knew that ball was going to MJ and you knew he was going to pull it off for you. With LeBron... you really don't know who's going to be taking shots. |
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02-17-2013, 01:17 PM | #1804 |
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MJ: 50
I just can't tell anyone how much MJ meant to me as a kid. He was my absolute hero. I'm sure that is the same way for many 24-30 year olds right now. I remember being in Lenexa, KS...everyone knew I was a huge MJ fan. I was 8 years old and I used to wake up at 6 AM and go to the curb to get the KC Star and memorize the box score...I kid you not...we'd share current events in 3rd grade and I'd always recite MJ's numbers...clock work. I'd watch the first half on WGN and my dad would make me go to sleep so I'd wake up super early to get the Star for the box scores...I'd watch SportsCenter too...I was obsessed. At 8. I didn't watch cartoons or Nickelodeon...I watched SportsCenter and memorized box scores. MJ was SO POLARIZING...when he announced his retirement I was in 3rd grade at Rising Star in Lenexa and EVERY CLASSROOM had one of those roll-away TV's WHEELED into class so every student could watch his retirement speech... IN LENEXA, KANSAS...Michael Jordan was that big of a deal...that elementary kids watched his retirement speech... me? I couldn't handle it...my teacher (I forget her name) had to take me into some sort of office because I was bawling uncontrollably and I had to be sent home...at 8...during his retirement speech. I didn't get it. It's a memory that will never fade. in 5th grade, MJ announced "I'm back" and it was the best day of my life...my parents were divorced and at the time I lived with my dad in Lenexa (like I said)...he came back right around my 10th birthday...I came home from school ready for MJ and his return at Indianapolis and I ran home from school and on my porch there is a package for me... I'm confused but whatever. I open it up (from mom) and it's an MJ #45 jersey...best present I've ever gotten in my entire life. I couldn't believe it. It's funny...when I was 19 or 20 my mom showed me a storage closet and it had all of my MJ jerseys over the years...from 8 to 18 (Wizards being the last)...there had to be ****ing 50 MJ jerseys (away red, home white, black...all of 'em) that pretty much was a barometer for me growing over the years...it was hilarious. All hanging up...from little Rick to big Rick. I'd go to school and recite his high school stats...his FG % from 1988...it was basically the outline for what kind of Chiefs fan I turned into as a teenager/now. Now all I care about is the Chiefs. It has turned into another unhealthy obsession... but back then...15-20 years ago...during my formidable years...it was all MJ...and I miss it. |
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02-17-2013, 01:19 PM | #1805 | |
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Two years ago, the game where the heat came back from like 15 down in the last 3 minutes, after wade scored that initial 4 point play, I think Lebron scored all but one basket, including the 15 foot dagger over luol deng to seal the win. Right before that series, in the closeout against boston, lebron scored the last 11 points of the game, 2 huge threes, a tough layup and foul, and the steal from pierce that he hammered home. Boston was up in that game until Lebron happened. Last year, even if you ignore the 40 point 20 rebound game against Indiana and the surgical destruction of game 6 against boston, you still have the HUUUGGGE 3 in game 7 in the 4th. Game 2 or 3 of the finals, Thunder making a comeback, lebron hits a tough bankshot from the left side with a minute left that I believe was the last shot either team made that wasn't free throws. Game 4, when Lebron came back the cramps and hit that 3, that pretty much killed the thunder right there. The thunder didn't score any more meaningful points after that. That was the dagger. And that's just what I remember off the top of my head for Miami. ------------------------------ TL;DR: The whole Lebron isn't clutch/can't play in the 4th quarter thing is as ridiculous as the idea that kobe IS clutch or that Dirk isn't clutch. |
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02-17-2013, 01:28 PM | #1806 |
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and I probably over-exaggerate or Roger Clemens' misremember it...
but my God...I remember at SEVEN YEARS OLD the Portland game. I do. The 6 threes...it was fascinating. Truly heroic. I was sold then and there. At 7. Couldn't believe what I was seeing. and then when memories truly started being memories it was always MJ. I spent entire summers with my mom so every NBA Finals was with mom and stepdad...HUGE BULLS FANS... I remember them all...the shot in Phoenix...MJ scored the last 14 points before Paxson nails "the shot" and played PERFECT basketball against a GREAT Suns team...he single-handedly willed them to be able to be in that situation...32 seconds...Bulls down 4...what does MJ do? Takes the in bounds..makes a move...gets RIGHT TO THE HOOP...lay up..3 seconds...his basketball IQ was off the charts. 1998...my little brother was born on 1/7/97...he's a baby. MJ's MOMENT. Against Utah. 1998 where Pippen is DEAD and Rodman is washed up...Utah is the vastly superior team. What does MJ do? He knows game 6 is do or die...lose game 6 and lose the Finals. What does he do? He uses every ounce of his energy and wins game 6 by himself. All MJ. There was nothing Utah could do. Utah up two...MJ scores...tied...drive down...pick and roll to Malone...MJ leaves his man...steals the ball from Malone...the rest is history. When he made the shot our living room all jumped from the couch in unison. We had seen it before...Kerr, Paxson...MJ. It was always MJ. When the game was on the line...everyone knew what was going to happen. And no other athlete can ever claim that...that was MJ. When he had the ball in his hands, in an important game, everyone knew what the outcome was going to be. There was no hope from the opposition...just a "great, here it comes"... and that's why MJ was the best. And will always be the best. after the 98 game I went into my baby brother's room (less than a year) and I felt bad because I knew he'd never get to experience what I got to experience from 7-13... he's not a diehard sports fan like me...not even close. I can thank MJ (and Derrick Thomas) for that...my childhood was all sports, all the time. I used to spend hours on the driveway pretending I was a teammate of MJ and Pippen and just dreaming for the stars... I was working out and watching SportsNation top 50 MJ moments and I was pumped...just remembering all of the great moments and my childhood and everything...easiest workout I've ever had... I miss MJ. Nothing compares anymore. Until we get that Chiefs Super Bowl...then maybe I'll remember how it feels. |
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02-17-2013, 01:29 PM | #1807 |
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it's unfair...
you can't compare LeBron or Kobe to MJ. LeBron is amazing. He makes amazing basketball plays. We were all spoiled by MJ and want another MJ where when the game is on the line we know player A will take the shot and the shot will go in no matter what. That'll never happen again. MJ was once in a life time. Let it go. Enjoy LeBron, but don't forget MJ. |
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02-17-2013, 01:43 PM | #1808 | |
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02-17-2013, 01:53 PM | #1809 |
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MJ got away with a very clear offensive foul in the Utah game.. but when you GOAT you get away with stuff like that.
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02-17-2013, 02:03 PM | #1810 |
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Hootie's post is solid, but it's also why people get nostalgic about the NBA. Although there is a lot of great basketball, there was a level of magic and theater that for some reason or another, just doesn't quite exist today. Hootie talks about Jordan that way, but he doesn't realize that Bird and Magic were probably just as clutch as Jordan, if not moreso. They used to routinely do things on the floor you don't see today.
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02-17-2013, 02:06 PM | #1811 |
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02-17-2013, 02:15 PM | #1812 |
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I rooted against Jordan so hard back in the day.
He always, alwaaaaaaaays broke my heart. Now I get weirdly defensive of him when anybody, over the past decade, has suggested that Kobe or LeBron are as good. Such a dominant player on both ends. I do think that Jordan's image would have been completely different had he taken off in 2012 as opposed to the 90s, when there was still a distance between players and the rest of the world. In 2012, with social media, we're in these guys laps 24/7. LeBron is the perfect child of this movement because while he isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, he is legitimately a nice guy who everybody in the league really likes. Koby's seen as chippy and difficult for the most part. Both of these guys would have paled in comparison to Jordan's sheer dickishness in the name of winning. Jordan was an unrepentant asshole, driving every one of his teammates to work his ass off and play better/smarter until he got what he wanted. Where LeBron just shrugged and tried to be the good guy in Cleveland, where Koby would be whiny and petulant in LA, Jordan was the Bad Cop in Chicago, and he might have become an anti-hero in today's media. A prickly asshole who didn't give two shits about anything, not even himself, but winning, winning, winning. All the Space Jam stuff, Larry Bird and him in those McD's commercials... none of that would have happened (it probably would have all gone to Magic, who's probably the most charismatic b-baller in NBA history). I love Jordan, even when I rooted against him. But I remember reading about a practice of his -- just a practice -- where he started breaking shit courtside and told the media to **** off (they were hanging around for an interview) because his practice team lost against Pippens, I believe. And I remember the Dream Team blowing out Lithuania by 30 points in the gold medal game, and half-way into the second half, with the game already decided, Jordan is getting incredibly physical with this little Lithuanian that's decided to guard him close -- just to send him a message -- even though they were never going to play each other again. Jordan is the embodiment of a winner on the court, but he would probably be reviled by so many people now because of how hard he pushed, how personal he took the sport, and of how unforgiving he was in his mission. I mean, god. We got onto LeBron when he lost against the Mavericks a couple years ago, saying stuff like "my critics will have to go back to their sorry lives" or whatever. Jordan was routinely more brutal. |
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02-17-2013, 02:41 PM | #1813 |
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Hootie's got me watching old footage on YouTube now. I could watch Magic and Bird pass the ball all day long. Can you imagine if guys could do this stuff in the SportsCenter era today.
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02-17-2013, 02:50 PM | #1814 |
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Hootie of all people should hate MJ, seeing as how MJ didn't tip anyone, ever.
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02-17-2013, 03:11 PM | #1815 |
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Here's another hilarious one. This was Bird and the Celtics at the height of their powers in 86. They'd won 14 of 15, McHale was hurt, and Bird was looking to challenge himself. So he shot as many shots as he could left handed. Finished with 47 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, hit the shot to send the game to OT, then hit the shot to win the game in OT.
He scored 22 points with his left hand. |
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