No not an Acie thread.
From Simmons' columns yesterday:
You can see an 8 seed in the NHL ride a hot goalie to a title; you see a .500 NFL team suddenly get hot in December and win the Super Bowl; you see an MLB team rise from the dead in September and ride the momentum to a title.
Not in the NBA, With few exceptions, NBA Champions have to go through years of disappointment and learning before winning. They have to have an elite regular season, and usually great seasons in a row leading up to it. There are no shortcuts. All of my fellow NBA Elitists and Historians should be proud of Lebron and glad that a team led by Durant/Westbrook/Harden is not ready yet.
The Law of the NBA is related to the Secret (players on championship teams must stop thinking about themselves and completely focus on winning together). I don't know how this exactly applies to Lebron and the Heat - maybe Simmons will tie it together tomorrow. Here's what he wrote about Lebron:
[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 6/21/2012 11:50p).]
From Simmons' columns yesterday:
quote:This is why the NBA is the greatest league in the world. This is why the Larry O'Brien Trophy is the most difficult to obtain out of all the leagues, and why so few franchises have won it.
Once upon a time, the Heat were seasoned by the 2011 Mavericks and the 2012 Celtics, both savvy contenders with a ton of pride, experienced teams that forced you to beat them. The Heat beat themselves in the 2011 Finals, learned from it, then finally exorcised those choking demons two weeks ago. Now they're pulling a similar trick on the young kids from Oklahoma City. This is the law of the NBA. You learn from the team that keeps beating you, and eventually, you do it to someone else. Welcome to the 2012 Finals.
You can see an 8 seed in the NHL ride a hot goalie to a title; you see a .500 NFL team suddenly get hot in December and win the Super Bowl; you see an MLB team rise from the dead in September and ride the momentum to a title.
Not in the NBA, With few exceptions, NBA Champions have to go through years of disappointment and learning before winning. They have to have an elite regular season, and usually great seasons in a row leading up to it. There are no shortcuts. All of my fellow NBA Elitists and Historians should be proud of Lebron and glad that a team led by Durant/Westbrook/Harden is not ready yet.
The Law of the NBA is related to the Secret (players on championship teams must stop thinking about themselves and completely focus on winning together). I don't know how this exactly applies to Lebron and the Heat - maybe Simmons will tie it together tomorrow. Here's what he wrote about Lebron:
quote:
Just don't blame Westbrook for what happened. When you're judging the best players (not just now, but all-time), Barkley's four-word assessment matters more than anything else. Nobody had more "that boy competed tonight" games than Jordan. That's why we revered him. It's the same reason Bird picked Kobe as the current NBA player who would have been his favorite teammate. It's the same reason so many of us were disappointed in LeBron's curious lack of urgency during 2010's Boston series or last year's Finals, or why we kept wondering if he would ever "get there." LeBron didn't fully figure out the magic formula until Game 4 of the Indiana series, when he started playing every game like his life depended on it. He's been playing 45 minutes a night and cresting at a nearly inconceivable level ever since.
Last night, he even pushed himself a little too far, with his legs cramping in the final minutes of another "that boy competed tonight" game. Turns out LeBron isn't an indestructible cyborg sent from the future. No matter. He somehow managed to eliminate that 10 percent; for about five weeks now, he's played basketball without any visible holes. It's been relatively astounding to watch — just like it was astounding when Wilt put it together for one unforgettable season in 1967, or when Jordan finally figured everything out in 1991. There comes a moment when you say, "Oh, ****, we're all in trouble now," and then you hold on for the ride. LeBron officially hit that point in Boston during Game 6. Only his body can stop him now.
[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 6/21/2012 11:50p).]
nce upon a time, the Heat were seasoned by the 2011 Mavericks and the 2012 Celtics, both savvy contenders with a ton of pride, experienced teams that forced you to beat them. The Heat beat themselves in the 2011 Finals, learned from it, then finally exorcised those choking demons two weeks ago. Now they're pulling a similar trick on the young kids from Oklahoma City. This is the law of the NBA. You learn from the team that keeps beating you, and eventually, you do it to someone else. Welcome to the 2012 Finals.