They lost to the Celtics because no one other than Lebron could score, but they lost to the Magic the year before because of defensive matchups. They averaged nearly 100/game in that series and still lost in 6. It wasn't Brown's fault either. Their only perimiter player taller than 6'3 was Lebron, and their centers were either undersized or really old. They couldn't match with Dwight and a bunch of 6'10 guys launching threes

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by bomber77

Member since Aug 2008

14783 posts

Posted on 5/4/11 at 6:50 pm to BayouBengals03

quote:
The fact that they turned down a trade that would have acquired Amar'e Stoudemire because they didn't want to give up J.J. Hickson tells me all I need to know. LeBron/Stoudemire make the Finals last year.

They would have made that trade if James would have committed to stay, he wouldnt. Amare was on the downside of his career with knee problems. Adding him on a max deal with James gone made no sense. JJ will be a better player in 2 or 3 years imo. Once again, thats on James.

I dont think many thought that Amare would come back as strong as he did this year. He had an awesome year.

quote:
LeBron/Stoudemire make the Finals last year

Very very debatable. Amare wasnt exactly on top of his game at this time last year.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by BayouBengals03

lsu14always

Member since Nov 2007

99999 posts

Posted on 5/4/11 at 6:58 pm to bomber77

quote:
They would have made that trade if James would have committed to stay, he wouldnt. Amare was on the downside of his career with knee problems. Adding him on a max deal with James gone made no sense. JJ will be a better player in 2 or 3 years imo. Once again, thats on James.

How come everyone was getting the hint that James was going to leave after last year if they didn't put a better team around him but them? That's not all James' fault. Not at all. If they want to keep him, go out and get players around him. Newsflash: If James leaves, they're going to suck for 3 or 4 years anyway (no matter how much Cleveland fans don't want to admit it). So they might as well have Amar'e Stoudemire there to help them suck a little bit less. By the way, he had an awesome year in New York this season (which I know you acknowledged). And even still, if LeBron would have still gone to Miami, Stoudemire would have just left too. So it's not like the Cavs would have been stuck with Stoudemire's contract for a long time. Either both Lebron and Stoudemire would have signed an extension on the spot, or neither would have.

To be successful, you have to take some chances sometimes.