Why does Lebron need so much help?

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by svendrell

I'll come at this from a different angle than the others.

LeBron doesn't need help at all. Let me explain. If anything, there is too much talent on the Cavs roster. I mean, if you look at them on paper, you're almost like wtf.

What the Cavs need are team building and spirit building. Some nights when I watch the Cavs (the recent Raps game for example), the team is just going through the motions. You could take the early 90s Dream Team and if they just went through the motions and didn't have heart or hustle, they'd struggle. They lost to the college players in practice, remember that craziness?

All the metrics in the world and all the talent in the world aren't going to explain it away when the Cavs don't pull it off in the playoffs this year. They better find their hustle or drive. And the Raps game was yesterday.

And I'm not hating on the Cavs. So much potential on that team. But all I ask is watch them play. Don't pay attention to metrics or stats. Watch them. You'll see that "going through the motions" that I'm talking about.

Their defensive ranking seems to support your assertion by most measures they are just out of the top 10 while GS and the Spurs are both top 3 or so.

Keep in mind that Love and especially KI were not well regarded as defenders and on top of that KI has IMO not returned to full form yet (we'll see if he recovers completely).

[smileallday8]

Lebron better ask Jesus if he is available to play during the playoffs.

[PDF]

Originally Posted by weezerfan84

I'd have to say the Sixers team that made it to the Finals was pretty dominant with Allen Iverson at the helm, even though they got killed by the Lakers. The 2011 Mavs were Dirk and a bunch of guys who played well with the Mavs, but not equally as well with any other team they've landed on since then.

Statistically, every winning team in the Finals has at least two guys that are number 1 & 2 on their team. I grew up in the Jordan and Pippen era, and Jordan wasn't Jordan without Pippen. Pippen proved that by taking the Bulls, without Jordan, to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Exactly. Even Jordan wouldn't have been able to do it by himself. Look at how much LeBron had to do in last year's finals, and look at Iverson back when they played the Lakers.