Mark80

Well then, most Knicks fans are stupid! I don't agree with JR on one point though, I don't think a decent team will improve his defense at all. He has always been a subpar to terrible defender. That's just him in my opinion and I don't see him improving significantly in that respect at any point. However, his offensive skills are undeniable and if you pair him with a guy or two that are excellent defenders down low, then you got something brewing.

Really? Who? I've only seen him called a bust or a question mark at best. Seriously, it's not that I don't believe you, I just haven't heard anyone say that as of yet.

Gonna be hard to tear it up in SF when he's will most likely be the 4th passing option. I liked him, I respected his rise from where he was selected, he put up very good numbers all things considered, and I certainly appreciate how he re-signed with us for less than he could have got on the open market. I just feel like we have obtained two better receivers in the off season in Watkins and Williams and, quite frankly, I got tired of the drops in absolutely vital situations. I won't crap on him, but I don't miss him.

Honestly, haven't even thought about him in over a month. So I would answer your question with a simple no.

I don't think anyone blamed him for last season nor will they blame him for next season.

I like it too. The NBA (and all sports really except football!) is always better when the New York team is relevant. Whether you love them or love to hate them, it makes it more fun. They will be a train wreck again next season, but once that money clears out Phil should be able to make them interesting at least. Not a Melo fan personally though, I think he is atrocious as a defender.

Can't argue with that!

Ha! Your criticisms are so thoughtful, logical, well-reasoned, objective, and "sound" too!

Well, at least I can respect someone's opinion who has actually met him on numerous occasions and had bad experiences with him. Everyone else who's been negative has been saying vague things like I've read that he did bad things without providing any specifics whatsoever. Also, let's be clear here, I am not a Cavs or LeBron fan. I just like what he did here and think / perhaps thought that he got a bad rap for only one bad PR mistake that he made. I root for the Pacers after having lived in Indiana for the 5 years until I just recently moved back to Buffalo. It was the first area I ever lived that had an NBA team nearby so I picked them up after previously being a Super Sonics fan (loved me some Schrempf and Perkins). As far as Ryan's post. He could have easily said what he wanted to say and made valid points without saying "LeBum," "keeps leaving teams and crying for calls," "loser," and the Mavs whooped his arse just the like the Spurs or whatever non-sense he was spewing. He's flat out the best player in the game right now (sorry KD, but he is), he's won 2 titles, took a team that to a finals that one just 19 games two years later (the year after he left) when they won 60+ the previous two years with LeBron. That shows you the kind of talent that was around him there. When Jordan left mid run to play baseball, the Bulls won 55 games and made the Conference Finals without him the next season. That shows you the kind of talent he had. And if you don't think Jordan every pleaded for calls, then you didn't watch basketball in the 90s. They just didn't have dozens of cameras recording every angle and non-stop sports coverage like they do now back then. And Jordan did abandon his team for his "dream" of being a baseball player for whatever reason, he did. I'm not saying this scars his legacy at all, and he's amazing, but if Ryan is going to point the finger at LeBron for leaving and use Jordan as a reference, then I'm sorry, I don't respect his argument. And to your point of Bird and Magic. How many other hall of famers were on those squads? Kareem, Worthy, McHale, Parish, Dennis Johnson, McAdo, and Wilkes. 7! yes 7! LeBron never played bad in any finals that appeared in. His team may have got smoked a few times, but he was never the problem. The guy had to carry the weight so much the last two years in Miami that one of the most finely tuned athletes in the world couldn't even walk at the end of two games because he had exerted so much energy during the course of the season, the playoffs, those games that his body simply broke down. Some call him a wuss, I would argue that this is a guy that gave his absolute 100% he had to give. It he wants to link an article from 3 years ago that points out a few games and a few shots that he missed, whatever, so be it. He's made plenty of clutch shots during those years and plenty more since then. Nice objectivity though buddy. Perhaps he'll read this article to see what i'm talking about, but I doubt it. (can't post link but just google lebron james clutch performances and there is a nice bleacher report article on it, with some breakdown). The Dirk comments, sure a stretch, no doubt. But one could also say if he was loyal to his first team and country, why didn't he stay and help build an NBA caliber team / league over there? Another stretch, yes, but similar to saying why didn't LeBron stay in Cleveland and just build the Championship caliber team there? The answer to the questions are the same, at the time it was simply impossible. The rest of the Mavs I brought up was just to show that pretty much every NBA player moves around (including a hall of famer that was very important to their team that year who was on the Mavs, left and came back in Kidd) and his high and mighty Mavs certainly were no different than everyone else. I will never bad mouth Duncan as I went to Wake Law and I love him and everything he stands for and is. A true gentleman on and off the court in every walk of life. Bringing Ripken is was just completely out of left field as he doesn't even play basketball. Apples to oranges in my opinion. Thanks, I've made all the points I care to and am done with this debate.

Also, isn't Sherman more of a zone coverage guy than a man-to-man guy like Deion and Woodson (in his prime) was? Man to man is infinitely more difficult than zone coverage and if you got someone that can shut 'em down like those guys and Revis a few years back, it really allows your D to run some nasty schemes and blitz packages.

Someone substituted their coffee with haterade this morning huh? Jordan, Duncan? OK. Ripken (a baseball player out of nowhere) and Dirk? Well, they each only had one title. LeBron has two and I'm willing to venture a guess that he'll add at least one more before it's over. So every player needs to play for only one team their entire careers for you to respect them? Guess you don't know much about Dirk then for a guy that has him as his user pic, huh? The guy abandoned his entire country where he was playing professionally for DJK Wurzburg from 94-98. But I guess selective memory is OK when you're trying to make a ridiculous point. 2011 Mavs: Jason Terry - Atlanta Hawks draft pick Caron Butler - Miami Heat draft pick Shawn Marion - Phoenix Suns draft pick Tyson Chandler - LA Clippers draft pick Jason Kidd - Left Dallas for the Suns and Nets before returning to Dallas again Once again, selective memory my friend. Oh, and Jordan, he abandoned basketball all together, in his prime for a couple seasons, remember?

http://profootballta...partner=ya5nbcs Love that he still has some swagger after all these years!

Definitely got chills when I read it. I agree with your sentiments 100%.

Well, I'm just going to have to respectfully disagree here. I think Bosh will be back in old form and return to being an offensive force. Battle for a scoring title? No. But give them 22-25 PPG, yes. They didn't want him posting up the last few years and clogging up the middle, that is going to change. If it doesn't Spoelstra is an idiot. And I don't think Spoelstra is an idiot at all (in fact I think he's very underrated). There is no way Wade is signing for max money, somewhere around $10 is going to be the number, they will have money to add more pieces. Obviously though, I'm not convincing you and you're not convincing me though so I'm going to let it rest at that. We'll just see how it plays out! (Let's not forget that Rondo is most likely available right now and certainly over the course of the season). I like Monroe though and think he could be a very effective big man in his next contract. He's just been hidden on a horrible team.

If the Love trade goes though they would be a contender immediately. Their best player is Irving right now a nasty PG who is young but struggles on D. I think LeBron will help whip that aspect of his game in to shape. They just drafted Wiggins #1 overall, a very raw but very talented player. If he stays (and is not dealt for Love or some other superstar level player) he will take at least a couple years to be really effective. Triston Thompson is a decent forward that is young and could achieve 15 pts 10 board type numbers. Verajao is their big man. LeBron absolutely loves him. He plays all out all the time, but he's not that really that skilled. 10 / 10 type of player but he gives an effort that is on par with anyone. He probably makes the most sense to get rid of in a Love deal because of his high cap number though. Last years #1 is the question mark, Anthony Bennett. Injuries really slowed his development and he didn't really do anything last year. Surely he would be moved in a trade if they can get that other superstar. Oh, and Dion Waiters is their 2 guard. Again, very young, but he's progressed in his two seasons. 16pts last year, but his shooting has room for improvement. I'd expect their lineup to be as of now Verajao C, Thompson PF, James SF, Wiggins SG, Irving PG. Dion 6th man. Wiggins is just too small at this point to play SF in my opinion. Could be conference winner, wouldn't hold up against the west though. With Love - Love C, Thompson PF, James SF, Wiggins or Dion SG (if Wiggins Dealt), Irving PG. That's a conference champion type team right there and a contender for the title. Especially if Allen and Miller join in.

I think you are confusing how they wanted to Bosh to play with LeBron on the team and how he will be utilized without LeBron on the team. I see him going back to his playing style with the Raptors (his last season there he was 24 PPG, 10.8 Boards, and 2.4 Assists. That's pretty impressive), and if so, well worth max money in my opinion. With LeBron they wanted a spread out floor to set up his and Wade's penetration and kick outs. A great coach will coach to their teams strengths, and I believe we'll see a different philosophy next year. I wouldn't completely discredit Granger's skills as of yet either. As I stated before I'll defer to Riley's knowledge and the fact that he's built winners over and over and over again. Let's wait to see how it pans out when all is said and done this off season before we proclaim it a failure. I doubt they are done. And remember, I only said playoff caliber this year and I think they are well on their way to getting there now.

Yeah, he definitely was saying that before he was drafted by us. He would say how he loved playing the Bills in Madden and grew to love them because of it and has been a fan ever since. I think he said something about Peerless Price, Bledsoe, and Henry specifically, this would put it at around 2002 or 2003 for the game, right around 10 years old for him. That's the perfect age to find and fall in love with "your team" forever.

Man, you must have got a slap on the wrist or something today! I combine the not 1, not 2, not 3 with the decision in general. Certainly the low point of his career. As far as interviews, I always here him say "I," "me" sort of things when he is talking about the bad things (like losing) and I hear him saying "we," "us," "team," sorts of things when they are talking about good things. That's been my opinion on it and that's what a good leader should do, take the fall for the bad, and spread the praise for the good. That's always been my perception of it at least, I'm sure there are times when he has gone the other way especially talking about the team as "we" when they lose. "We all need to play better" sort of thing and I think that's fine. I can definitively say that I've never heard him single any teammate out and I've never heard him say something like "I did everything I could to win but the rest of the team didn't do their fair share." Never.

Bosh agrees to max deal with HEAT. See fellas, what I tell you. GreggyT I'm talking to you! Riley had something up his sleeve after all as a plan B! I'll certainly admit that I'm surprised it was Bosh though. Thought he was HOU bound for sure. I think people forget how good Bosh was in Toronto when he was the main man and not the 3rd fiddle. How great would it be if they could add one or two more impact guys (assuming Wade returns as well) and they were able to battle the Cavs in the Conference finals this year? Especially if they got Stephenson with how he and LeBron battled this year. That would be a very interesting series indeed.

I just ignored it, but yes, it was in very poor taste. Thank you for realizing and apologizing.

I agree that Tom is a good actor and most people have declared him crazy because of Scientology and some other incidents, but still a good actor. However, he lacks a certain goofyness, nerdiness, awkwardness, perceived intelligence that Robbins was able to nail in the movie. It made the character IMO. And yes, I'm glad we are not debating Harrison as Red, that would have been a terrible idea. I don't find him to be that great of an actor (except in the Fugitive, he was great in that and the Jack Ryan roles). Everything else he's been in I always think to myself "man he looks like he's acting." That's a sure sign that you are not that great of an actor! I vividly remember loving Air Force One when I was younger, then I watched it again in the last year or two, I could hardly get through it he was so bad in it.

Ha!

That's great!

Wow, completely different movie.

Yep, evidence certainly supports that notion.