Forgive Me, But LeBron’s Not Alone
3 comments so far
June 6, 2007 by
I realize this goes far afield from our mission here at the Big Red Network. Nevertheless, I’m tired of hearing how LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers has done it all by himself and the team around him is poor and I need to vent. I also want to get on the record before the NBA Finals begin.
Let’s look at LeBron’s supporting cast:
Larry Hughes - Borderline All-Star when healthy (though granted, that's rare)
Ilgauskis - In a league where almost no one has a true center, he's above average.
Drew Gooden - 11 points and 8.5 boards are good numbers for a power forward (which is another position where most teams are lacking).
Andeson Varejao - Averaged 7 boards in under 24 minutes. Also good numbers for a big man who they don't need scoring from.
Gibson - Shoots 42% from 3-pt range. Game 6 against Detroit was no fluke.
Donyell Marshall - Aging but would get minutes on any team in the NBA. A legitimate rotation player.
Eric Snow- See Marshall.
Damon Jones - 39% 3-pt. range would get you minutes on most any team. Another good roster spot.
Pavlovic - 41% 3-pt range would also get you minutes anywhere.
That's 9 guys I count around LeBron that belong in the NBA. Probably not one of them is as good as Tony Parker or Manu Ginobli but it's still as good top to bottom 1-10 as you'll find in all but a few cities.
The other thing to mention is that the Cavs have played good team defense all year. That’s not LeBron, that’s every player on the floor working together to slow their opponents down. Guys that can play defense and shoot three’s are extremely valuable in the NBA. There’s a reason Robert Horry’s on the verge of winning his seventh championship. The Cavs are loaded with that kind of role player.
The Cavs won both games against the Spurs in the regular season and they did it with defense. Duncan and Parker got their numbers but Ginobli and the rest were kept quiet. Meanwhile Hughes had 18 points in each contest. I can see the Cavs pushing this to 7 games. They could steal game 1 (I think the Spurs may be rusty from sitting so long), and then grab two of three at home. I don’t see them winning games 6 and 7 in San Antonio, but they could make things very interesting.
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Jason Jun 06 07
But Duncan's supporting cast doesn't end with Parker and Ginobili. The Spurs simply have better personnel top to bottom. If the Cavs aren't really a one man team compared to most teams in the league, they still look like one in comparison to a deep team like the Spurs.
Consider:
Bruce Bowen - First team All Defense. Shooting 46% from 3pt range in the playoffs
Robert Horry - Ageing, but unmatched smarts and clutchness in a roleplayer (you think he would have missed that three if he took Marshall's place in Game 1? )
Michael Finley - Former All-Star, shooting 46% from 3pt land in the playoffs, perhaps hungrier than anyone else on either team
Brent Barry - hasn't shot the ball well in the playoffs, but is a career playoff 40% 3pt shooter. Regularly tries and makes shots from 26 feet out.
Fabricio Oberto - shooting 67% from the field in the playoffs. Smart, if slow, defender
Francisco Elson - erratic, but very fast, blocks shots, shooting 53% for the playoffs
Jacque Vaughn - steady veteran, tenacious defender
Finally, Larry Hughes isn't going to be healthy. That's torn plantar fascii he's got. It isn't going to heal without a month or two of rest. There goes your borderline All-Star.
AustinHusker Jun 07 07
He isn't doing it by himself but like Jordon he sure seems to make the players around him a lot better. True superstars do that. Reminds me of Crouch, yea he had some good players around him but not great and he made them all better with his speed. I remember sitting at the Rose Bowl thinking 'this is 11 on 1' Crouch is the only one with the speed to play with Miami. However some of the other great NU teams had more than one superstar and it lead to titles, not title games. Same thing for Jordon when Pippen showed up. Titles not title games.
'sa blang thang Jun 10 07
Lebron's a great talent and I have alot of respect for that guy. He is amazingly fundamentally sound for not ever having played in college. It's arguable that he has accomplished more, sooner, in the league than MJ did. But it is correct, no man is an 'island' in sports. Obviously he has some excellent players around him since the Cavs made it to the finals. But w/o James, I doubt they would have.
Hopefully he'll stay somewhat humble.