Lebrons next basket during crunch time will be his first

quote:

---

tomhaberstroh Tom Haberstroh
LeBron in crunch time (<5 min left, score w/in 5) this Finals: 0 pts, 0-7 FG, 0 reb, 2 ast. http://es.pn/l8Z00b

---

Uh, i know he scored once last night, which makes me doubt the rest of this list.

Mavs were up more than 5 when he made his throw away bucket obviously.

Does claym understand the definition of crunch time, defined here as the same thing as the 82games.com regular season stats link that he's been posting everywhere?

I understand stats are only important to you guys when they support your opinion.

I understand that some people will never give Dirk credit - the same people that argued how stupid it is to call him great are the ones tripping over themselves to find stats that show Lebron is better in this series or these playoffs.

Meanwhile, every basketball analyst and columnist in the world is saying that - although he is a better player career wise - he has floundered mightily in these playoffs.

InternetFan - none of them understand that.

Say Dirk is great and they'll talk about how stats don't count - it is all about championships and that is why Dirk can't hold a candle to any "real" players in this league.

Of course, now that Dirk has carried his team and has them up 3-2 in a series where 3 of the top 4 players are on the other team and 2 of those guys are widely considered among the top 3-4 players in the world, stats are important and we can't just "watch the damn game" as Randy Galloway would say.

I mean, sure - Lebron and Wade look like scared children when the game is on the line lately, but hey, they got a couple rebounds and assists early in the 2nd quarter and made some crazy highlight dunks.

That's fine though - I'll give up 2-3 highlight dunks if Dirk is going to turn around and throw down 10+ shots a game that look ugly and "lucky" but get it done.

quote:

---

I understand stats are only important to you guys when they support your opinion.

---

It's basically the same stat you posted earlier as support for Lebron, except this one deals with the biggest stage in basketball as opposed to meaningless regular season games and shows that Lebron is a choke artist.

So really you're the only one who cares about the exact same statistic when it only supports your argument. Fail.

quote:

---

I understand that some people will never give Dirk credit - the same people that argued how stupid it is to call him great are the ones tripping over themselves to find stats that show Lebron is better in this series or these playoffs.

---

Not sure who is not giving Dirk credit? He is a HOF player and will be 1 of 3 in the past 30-40 years, at least, to win a championship as the solo star.

Right now Dirk is the best player in the league.

At the end of the day, the only stats that matter are 4-2. Dirk wins.

Total points in the 4th quarters:

Dirk 62
Wade + Lebron 62

quote:

---

At the end of the day, the only stats that matter are 4-2.

---

That is really great, too.

Wade and Lebron couldn't push it to 7 games with home court advantage.

Mark Aguirre just summarized it best:

quote:

---

"Answer me this: If you switched Dirk with Wade or Dirk with LeBron, would the Mavs be in the Finals? No way."

---

Final PTS+REB+AST stats have Dirk edging out Lebron and Wade for total playoffs stats and Wade edging out Dirk for the Finals. Nobody made the 42 club. Dirk sets a personal career high for PPG

Playoffs:
Dirk 27.7+8.1+2.5 = 38.4
Lebron 23.7+8.4+5.9 = 37.9
Wade 24.5+7.1+4.4 = 36.0

Finals:
Wade 26.5+7.0+5.2 = 38.7
Dirk 26.0+9.7+2.0 = 37.7
Lebron 17.8+7.2+6.8 = 31.8

At 26 (?) Lebron has two finals appearances. What was Dirk doing at 26? And Lebron is only going to get better, albeit with a small chance of throwing it all away.

Having said that, I think the best player NOW won the series.

[This message has been edited by AGSWINAGAIN (edited 6/13/2011 9:18p).]

quote:

---

What was Dirk doing at 26?

---

Leading his team to the Finals

Here are some opinions from people who work in basketball:

quote:

---

4. Is LeBron the best player in the NBA?
Submitted by Eric Black via the @NBAonESPN Twitter account.

Tom Haberstroh, Heat Index: Yes. Even with an inconsistent post game and an average 3-point shot, no one brings it on both ends of the floor quite like LeBron. He is the best player on the planet, even if he hasn't experienced the team accomplishment of winning a championship.

Rahat Huq, Red94: I'm not sure what "best" means, but he's certainly still the most productive, regardless of what happened in June. The numbers back that up. Hold a draft tomorrow and every GM in basketball would use the first pick on LeBron. Every last one of them.

John Krolik, Cavs: The Blog: Yes, with an asterisk. On a night-in, night-out basis, no player gives his team a better chance to win than LeBron does. However, he hasn't come through on the biggest stage like some of his peers have, namely Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

Danny Savitzky, Nets Are Scorching: Without question. He hasn't accomplished the most, but he puts up the best numbers in the league every year thanks to otherworldly physical gifts and unmatched skills. A few brain farts of passivity in the NBA Finals certainly don't undo his utter dominance of the league each season.

Jared Wade, 8 Points, 9 Seconds: Yes. And as much as I love Dirk, Kobe, CP3 and Dwight, I don't think there is another contender for the pedestal aside from the other guy wearing cardigans alongside LeBron at news conferences.

---

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=5-on-5-LeBron-110708

quote:

---

Hold a draft tomorrow and every GM in basketball would use the first pick on LeBron. Every last one of them.

---

Other picks GMs have made in the last 10 years:

• Greg Oden over Kevin Durant
• Andrea Bargnani, Adam Morrison, Sheldon Williams, the immortal Quincy Douby, and 16 others ahead of Rajon Rando
• Marvin Williams and Andrew Bogut ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams
• Darko Milicic ahead of Carmelo, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade
• Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Drew Gooden, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Dajuan Wagner, Nenê Hilario, and Chris Wilcox ahead of Amare Stoudemire
• 27 and 29 players, including Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, and Jeryl Sasser ahead of Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas

One GM also traded Dirk for Tractor Traylor. I'm not sure the "Who a GM would pick" argument is quite the trump card that guy thinks it is in a debate about who the best player is.

[This message has been edited by Mutual_Friend (edited 7/9/2011 12:01p).]

although dirk had the better playoffs its a joke to say he's the better player. he's basically a sf in a centers/pf body who is a great scoring but can't do anything else. he's a terrible rebounder for his size and his defense is horrid. basically he's a one dimensional player who is strictly a scorer and nothing else. i mean he's a beast but lebron is way better overall.

yeah mutual friend but that is drafting unproven players. he's saying if you could start with any player they'd pick lebron which is way different then picking from a list of unproven rookies. your point was terrible

[This message has been edited by CHHS_Aggie (edited 8/4/2011 10:59p).]