The Slippery Soapbox

[Moviebugg88]

Nahh, my Houston Rockets baby! This they year. But on the real, we all better be more worried about Lebron James and the Cavaliers....Seriously, it doesn't look like he's gonna let his team lose now.....Did ya'll not see what just happened tonight!?!?....Another buzzer beater for King James! Like Come on, Dang! Lol! If rockets end up against them, well all I can do is pray.    

[alienmem]

How about them Celtics taking it to the 76ers in their house!

 :-$  :-$

Get your broom out Alien...

Loved every second of it. At the beginning of the series everybody was saying Phila in 5 or even demolishing the Celtics. yeah right. In basketball I've never seen a more resilient team that this Celtics team. never. They are the definition of tough and I cannot express this any more: Brad Stevens is a genius coach. He's a step above everybody else. Even Pop.

[alienmem]

Nahh, my Houston Rockets baby! This they year. But on the real, we all better be more worried about Lebron James and the Cavaliers....Seriously, it doesn't look like he's gonna let his team lose now.....Did ya'll not see what just happened tonight!?!?....Another buzzer beater for King James! Like Come on, Dang! Lol! If rockets end up against them, well all I can do is pray.  :-=  :-$

No way Houston gets past the Golden State Warriors. no way.

Houston's been struggling in the postseason compared to what they did in the regular season.
Golden State in playoff mode are just unstoppable. Forget about Lebron. No chance against GSW and they might even lose to the Celtics(I hope so).

[ctaulbee]

Agreed, the Raptors have blown up in the playoffs too, they have given the Cavs two games now.

Were it not for injuries the Cavs would not have beat the Warriors for the only title they have, they got slammed the following year.

LeBron is way overrated he's got two rings with the Heat but he had a lot of help from Wade and Bosh, then he has not carried the Cavs like he was supposed to, he's been playing fifteen years, been to the playoffs eight times and has three rings, he is "big" more than he is "talented", I'm not impressed by him like the legions of "bandwagon fans" are...

Breaks down like this, being the best "currently active player" is not the same as being the "greatest of all time" quite a few fans need to come to grips with that little fact.

Compared to Jordan who played fifteen years, went to the playoffs six times and brought home six rings, Mr. James is just a wanna be.

Or compared to another big man, the great Bill Russell who played thirteen years for the Celtics and put eleven rings in his jewelry box, LeBron is not even in the same ball park...

James is simply not in the same class as those guys or many other great players from the past and never will be, the press just likes to fawn over him as they need to focus on someone and now that other greats like Kobe and Shaq who used to dominate the press are retired, he is what they have left, and those of us who were around back then know when they played LeBron was not mentioned nearly as much on sports channels or shows.

People in general have a short memory beyond what happened the last game they saw or what was said on SportCenter last night, sadly those are the ones who claim to be real sports fans yet they know very little about sports beyond that last snapshot they got from watching ESPN.

[alienmem]

I agree. I disagree with you only in one point. I do think Lebron is up there, maybe top 5, maybe even top 3, in the list of the greatest ever. That being said; whenever there's a new guy dominating any sport, and this happens for any sport, there's always people tossing around the GOAT thing. Tom Brady? GOAT. Messi? GOAT. Lebron GOAT? And so on and so on. When Lebron retires or his body doesn't let him play at the same level he's been playing and another player comes along and dominates the game breaking all kind of stats(and records are always broken..always..) the GOAT thing will come up again and again and again. It'll never stop.

People like to live in the now and think in the now...so now Lebron is the GOAT...in a couple years time, player X is the GOAT. Lebron? Those who say he's the GOAT now will say: No way. this guy is much better...


It's stupid actually

[ctaulbee]

Yup, that is the size of it and my point exactly.

[ctaulbee]

Now let me bitch a little bit about my Celtics and Brag on the Cavs some as I'm fair even if biased lol.

The Celtics are a young team and missing two key leaders but they played like a over-confident group of boys the other night becasue they were up 3-0 in the series, when your 3-0 in the playoffs you are suppose to play like you are 0-3, especially on the road, they did not, they lost, it was good for them to lose even if I didn't like it, they will learn, they have a great coach, I'm sure they have already heard about that from him.

The Cavs on the other-hand up 3-0 on the road played like the whole series was on the line and it was game seven 3-3, and they beat the number one team in the east at home, bad, made them look like amateurs, which they are not of course you don't get to be #1 ranked team in the NBA on luck. Still  that did not save them from the onslaught the Cavs brought to them on their own floor.

Much of the credit for that victory goes to #23 not becasue he set records on his stats, he really does not do that as much as other great players have, notice I said other great players.

LeBron is a great player, he would make my top ten list, probably around 7ish all-time, but where he shines, the thing most miss about him, and no it is not his personal talent, it's the "passion he plays with" that is what makes him great, his #1 contribution to a team is the fact he makes those around him better, they just play harder around him, it's becasue he sets the effort bar so high, many teams in the NBA have talent but often they lack that consistent fire he brings.

[alienmem]

On the road the Celtics have been lacking. They're missing key players but gainst Cleveland(assuming we wrap up the series againg philly today) we can't just rely on having home court advantage.

We have to play with the same kind of intensity we play at home if we want a chance against Cleveland. The two first games at home are vital. I think If we lose any of them we're done for.

That being said just look at next year's starting five:

Kyrie irving, Gordan Hayward, Tatum and Brown, Horford. This is a team to fight for the ring.

[ctaulbee]

They played on a mission tonight, was a very close game in the end but a W is a W, I'll take it.

Now where is the Big Bad Bron... LMAO.

[alienmem]

Wasn't the perfect game but the W is what matters. Let's go C's. I hope Brad Stephens can come up with a plan to stop Lebron. If we can stop/guard him well it's half way to success. Everyone expects the Cavaliers to win easily so I just wish our guys don't feel intimidated and just give them a go for it. We're the Celtics after all!! I hope we win but rationally my mind tells me Lebron is too determinant, especially when we don't have Kyrie. I think with a healthy Kyrie on the floor we'd win the series. For sure. At least that's what my mind tells me and my mind tells me a lot of stuff...hehe

[ctaulbee]

How about dem Celtics!!! Game one in the books.
Boston leads 1-0 in the series, I'm a happy camper.  

[alienmem]

Perfect game one. We made Lebron and company look like a vulgar team. Completely dried Lebron and without him making a killer game it gets easier.

Hope we can protect home court in game 2 and put pressure on the road. Let's hope.

Just imagine this team with Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward? I think not even Golden State would stop us.

I mean, Irving, Hayward, Tatum, Brown and Horford? That'll be the starting five next year? Is there any starting five better in the world? I don't think so

[bankska22]

L James better than Mike? Yea, right!!!! ha ha

[alienmem]

L James better than Mike? Yea, right!!!! ha ha

He is a great player though. Everything he has accomplished and all the records broken isn't for anyone.

That being said I hope Celtics keep playing like yesterday. If they do they have a chance. Let' also not get ahead of ourselves. It was just one game. I wish it was game 4 and we,the Celtics had 3-0. It's only 1-0. Nothing has been won or lost.

Let's not, just because we blew them away, think it's all gonna be smooth sailing. This can be tunred around very quickly.

Hope not, just think it's not a reason to think we're gonna demolish them or even win. One game a ta time. In the end we'll see

[alienmem]

Who do we have today? I already bet on Golden State.

[ctaulbee]

Yeah the Rockets will probably give them the most competition they have had in the play-offs but I don't think they can stop the train.

The Warriors are a force to be reckoned with.

[alienmem]

Won the bet. GSW won.

Today is a crucial day for the Celtics. If they can scratch a win today and put the series at 2-0 the pressure will be all on Cleveland.

Hope we win.

[ctaulbee]

The Celtics on a roll!!! Game two in the books.
Boston leads 2-0 in the series, I'm a very happy camper.  

Trivia fact the Celtics are 37-0 in playoff series when they start the series 2-0.

James added 42 and it was not enough, Cavs are a one man team, where the Celtics are deep with lots of young talented and very hungry players, imagine if they had all their weapons on the floor.

Better yet imagine if the Cavs had to play without LeBron, I don't think they can beat any team without him, we may get to find out next year, James goes FA end of this season they may not make him a big enough offer to stay after all he is getting old, fifteen years is a long time in the NBA.

   

[alienmem]

Yeah, Lebron scared me a little in the first quarter but we never lost our composure and we're tough as nails. Marcus Smart isn't a very talented player but the guy is a lion.
If he wasn't so determined I don't think he'd be playing in the NBA at all. I like where we stand.
It's gonna be difficult to get a win on the road. Boston has been horrible on the road. It's like they're another team. Let's hope we can scratch one in Cleveland. Let's hope.

[ctaulbee]

Haha yeah he scared me too, I just don't think he can play at that level for entire games anymore, did you notice most of the last half he just more or less stood in the corner on defense? I don't think he has the same stamina he used to have, running up and down the court is hard on big guys anyway, add age to that, well lol.

And I agree the Cavs will be on a mission at home and we do suck on the road, mathematically we can beat them in the series without winning a game in Cleveland but then we have to play seven, they can't beat us unless they get a win at the Garden.

Big game tonight if the Warriors beat the Rockets again on their home court I think they will be done, going to Oakland gives them little hope for a win anyway but being down 0-2 they could well get sweep in four.

[alienmem]

He's 33 or something. Look at his class of rookies. Wade is contemplating retirement. He's not 50% of what he was.

Carmelo is a joke. Chris Bosh doesn't even play anymore(Ithink he has a bad heart or something).


Look at all the guys in his draft class. They're all either retired or secondary role players.

Let's face it. lebron has matures over the years but as he matured his age got older, of course. If he could play like he can now at the age of 23, 24...he'd put up record numbers. Every player goes through this. It's life. look at how he manages himself on the cout. he plays almost all the minutes but he's the player on the team that runs the less(it's a fact. I saw this on ESPN the other day. he's the 3rd player in the NBA that covers the less distance in a game in average)

33 years. He has 2 years at the most in the top. At most. If he gets eliminated by the Celtics he'll probably leave Clevaland and just enjoy life.

[ctaulbee]

Well that was a horrible game to watch, the Warriors looked sad, Rockets were on fire seemed like they could not miss, I think it will all be for naught in the end as I predict the series will be 3-1 Warriors when they return to Houston for game five... time will tell of course but the Rockets will needs lot of things to go their way to get a W in Oakland.

[alienmem]

The crowd is nuts in Oakland. It's very difficult to play there but the Warriors got demolished yesterday. Had it been 0-2 for the Warriors it'd be over..as the levelmof confidence in Houston would be dismal.

Now, having crushed them in game two they know they have the chops to win the series and confidence level is gonna be super high..it's the Warriors that have to win the two games at home. One win by Houston and home court advantage is again Houston's. I'm not so sure Golden State's gonna getbthe two home wins. Houston can't just depend on Harden playing iso. They have to do what they did. I actuallybthink CP3 should organize the attacks and Harden be agressive after the pass

[ctaulbee]

[alienmem]

He has to be the winner. He's leagues above the rest in the NBA