💬 Since we're in the NBA finals...just a thought here.

[PhillyGirl]

I don't follow the sport. Let that be clear. I do follow the news.

This "super team" narrative catches my eye. I don't like it, but it doesn't have to do with being a fan of a specific team.

Remember the teams the Lakers had? The Celtics? Those teams were drafted. Developed.

Today's game hits me as one where you've got a few guys sitting around having a few drinks and saying, "Let's do this."

Your line here reminds me of Kurt Russell's ending monologue in Miracle when he was lamenting how the Olympics started using professional athletes instead of the college players. Back in the 80s, I LOVED the Celtics like I do Chelsea. Couldn't get enough of them. Drafted. Developed. (At least Bird, McHale, and Ainge were) My beloved Penguins...Sid, Geno, Flower, LeTang...drafted and developed. At the hockey and baseball trade deadlines, teams bulk up and bulk up. Half the time that works; half the time...not so much (Pens' trade for Brassard ultimately killed them in the playoffs this year).

But those super teams that are crafted all have one goal in mind: $$$. Trophies are nice; their huge contracts are better. Owners go right along with them because those caliber teams will at least go far in the playoffs, which means they're easily selling triple-digit price tickets...and then they're making money.

I don't know. I guess I'm an old curmudgeon, but sometimes the short term doesn't connect as well with me as the long term.

I'm with you. I love watching teams be built and seeing chemistry form. It's sad to see common the "plug and play" narrative is. Like, I understand why, but it's kind of .. blah.

Some of my fellow Sixers fans are gunning for a big signing this offseason but really, I'd like to see them continue to build around the core and continue with "The Process."

 

[TUSKtimes]

Some of my fellow Sixers fans are gunning for a big signing this offseason but really, I'd like to see them continue to build around the core and continue with "The Process."

When you guys got Ilyasova and Belinelli late in the season through free agency the team took off. With the 3 point line stretching the defense it stopped all the inside packing with Embiid and started opening the lane even wider for Simmons. JJ Redick was also a nice get. But if Philly is going to take the next step it needs another superstar. The "process" counted on a ton of lotto picks, that the 76ers messed up on aplenty. The lotto days are over.

 

[planomateo]

I only watch the playoffs these days.

 

[JoshB]

I only watch the playoffs these days.

NBA is so soft these days it is really hard sometimes to watch.

 

[planomateo]

I only watch the playoffs these days.

NBA is so soft these days it is really hard sometimes to watch.

Confirmed when they forced Sterling to sell the Clippers...

 

[JoshB]

I only watch the playoffs these days.

NBA is so soft these days it is really hard sometimes to watch.

Confirmed when they forced Sterling to sell the Clippers...

I'm talking about the play on the court, not the rantings of a racist piece of crap.

 

[planomateo]

 

[TUSKtimes]

Lebron has done his part to get to the finals for the 8th straight time. Incredible talent and truly the all-time greatest to play pro basketball and pro sports, period. What a season and as he flexed his might and all-around game one more time, even after his 15th year in the league, after playing every second of game 7 at 33 years of age, missing the second best player on the team on Boston's home court, he is everything that the imposter that will win the NBA MVP is not.

I have watched as James Harden year after year shrinks in the biggest playoff moment. Tonight he once again gets his game 7 in Houston. No Chris Paul that has been really the heart and soul of this playoff drive and everything that Harden hasn't. Let's see some semblance of a true MVP Harden that has so far flopped around in these playoffs like a fish out of water. Are we going to see some crunch time, some timely defense, some will and heart that transforms your team and the scoreboard instead of the paper tiger that always shows up and simply melts away?

 

[planomateo]

I don't understand why people can't recognize Lebron for his abilities.

I'm hoping for a Cavs and Warriors final.

 

[planomateo]

Some people are twitter were suggesting the game was rigged. Horseshit.

Celtics had a chance to put that game away and failed to run away with it.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Some people are twitter were suggesting the game was rigged. Horseshit...

Right, pretty much any explanation but what you see. To watch sports is to watch the best and worst that people have to offer. I will say, the same state of denial that people have for Lebron seems to be some of the same stuff Alabama has to keep hearing. Haters gonna hate.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Just a quick update on the MVP and the Rockets who are now on vacation. They missed 27 3point shots in a row. Is that even possible? What happened to Harden and the Rocket's deadly pick and roll game? Game 7 is what happened.

 

[BamaFan334]

Lebron has done his part to get to the finals for the 8th straight time. Incredible talent and truly the all-time greatest to play pro basketball and pro sports, period.

Pro Sports? Doubtful. Basketball can be a one man show, unlike a lot of other sports where athletic talent might go overshadowed. Soccer folks will say Ronaldo and Messi are the best, baseball will say Mantle, Williams, or Ruth is the best ever, Gretzky for hockey, Ali in boxing etc. Basketball fans can't even decide who the best ever to play their sport is, and usually have a difficult time getting it down to five. They say hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports, so one would imagine that excelling at that would propel one to the top of the mountain. Mike Trout is killing the ball at a record pace, but doesn't get the clout due to World Championships, but it is waaaaaaaaaay more difficult to win a World Series than a NBA title just due to the moving pieces, long season, and overall difficulty.

I'll fully admit that I have never seen a guy shoot the ball like James, maybe other than Kevin Durant. When those two guys put the ball in the air, I would bet my mortgage that it's going in, and more times than not I'd be winning some money. I also heard in the broadcast last night that they think Kevin Durant is the best one on one basketball player in the NBA. Proven by his length and ability to just pull up with you all over him and bury it from anywhere on the court. That's saying something. What James has done is simply short of amazing, but I also see it as he has had some damn good players beside him throughout it all. Still, eight straight Finals appearances is beyond impressive. If he can win it this year, I'll be more of a believer, because what he did to the Celtics was very impressive, so let's see if he can do it against another team of superstars, which he has used himself to propel his legacy. One would think Tom Brady could go down as the best ever, or even a Peyton Manning with their intelligence of the game, winning with new players every year, and doing it for as many years as they have.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Pro Sports? Doubtful. Basketball can be a one man show, unlike a lot of other sports where athletic talent might go overshadowed. Soccer folks will say Ronaldo and Messi are the best, baseball will say Mantle, Williams, or Ruth is the best ever, Gretzky for hockey, Ali in boxing etc. Basketball fans can't even decide who the best ever to play their sport is, and usually have a difficult time getting it down to five. They say hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports, so one would imagine that excelling at that would propel one to the top of the mountain. Mike Trout is killing the ball at a record pace, but doesn't get the clout due to World Championships, but it is waaaaaaaaaay more difficult to win a World Series than a NBA title just due to the moving pieces, long season, and overall difficulty.

I love sports and I would say I have an affinity for people who do it better than most. This thing we've been doing the last few decades about how many championships have you won or it doesn't matter doesn't sell for me. Unless people want to put Robert Horry's trophies up there with the greatest skillset that has ever played? Once upon a time you could even be a great player on a lousy team and win the MVP, imagine that? Unless you are in a one-man sport. Boxing, golfing, tennis, it's all up to you, otherwise, it shouldn't be the end all for greatness.

I'll fully admit that I have never seen a guy shoot the ball like James, maybe other than Kevin Durant. When those two guys put the ball in the air, I would bet my mortgage that it's going in, and more times than not I'd be winning some money. I also heard in the broadcast last night that they think Kevin Durant is the best one on one basketball player in the NBA. Proven by his length and ability to just pull up with you all over him and bury it from anywhere on the court. That's saying something. What James has done is simply short of amazing, but I also see it as he has had some damn good players beside him throughout it all. Still, eight straight Finals appearances is beyond impressive. If he can win it this year, I'll be more of a believer, because what he did to the Celtics was very impressive, so let's see if he can do it against another team of superstars, which he has used himself to propel his legacy. One would think Tom Brady could go down as the best ever, or even a Peyton Manning with their intelligence of the game, winning with new players every year, and doing it for as many years as they have.

It's just not that one thing he does best with Lebron. It's the categories that he is now dominating. It's the clutch in him that is bewildering to me. I've never seen a man stand over difficult putts in the most pressurized situations and just keep draining them as Tiger Woods did for over a decade. I've never seen a golfer get a lead and then squeeze the life out of the competition over and over like that man. I mean the game is harder than he made it look, much harder

I've never seen a man keep coming up large, whether it's a score, pass, or a crazy block in crunch time, over and over. I mean there are regular season stats and there are 4th quarter playoff stats that transform the team to greatness. People talk about points like they are all created equal. The NBA, like many other sports, don't know how to make the distinction and they often end up honoring the lesser accomplishment, shame on them.