https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oItQOeKCr2M

Like a loving parent, Bron had to let Ky fall out of the nest, and then swooped him up after the Cavs went 1-9 sans king, teaching him to fly (and have serviceable court vision).

Now, everybody flying thanks to the wise, responsible parenting from Father James.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/b-s-report-brian-windhorst-on-the-state-of-the-cleveland-cavaliers/

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving openly admit that their relationship has been a rocky one during their first season as teammates. Some people may not understand just how frustrated LeBron was with the former Duke star a few short months ago.

In a recent interview with Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Irving indicated that LeBron told him he needs to pass the ball more following a November loss to the Utah Jazz.

“He came up to me and was like, ‘One, you can never have another game with no assists. You can damn near have just one, two, three, but you can’t have zero.'” Irving explained. “And I was like, ‘All right, cool, it won’t happen again.’ And it hasn’t happened since that game.”

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst further explained LeBron’s early frustration with Irving and former Cavs guard Dion Waiters.

“At the beginning of the season, LeBron could not believe how much of a ball hog Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving were,” Windhorst told Bill Simmons during the latest BS Report podcast. “Their first road trip, they were out rest, Kyrie played something like 70 consecutive minutes without an assist. LeBron could not believe it. The first night, he got so frustrated with a game in Portland that he just basically stood over in the corner.

“The next night Kyrie did it again, so LeBron basically had to step to him. LeBron said, ‘Hey, you can’t play this way. Maybe this is the way you played the last few years, but you can’t play this way.’ To my surprise, Kyrie listened.”

Windhorst said that exchange took place after LeBron took over the role of point guard for the Cavs without consulting anyone, including head coach David Blatt.

The important thing here is that Irving seems to respect James. He has obviously taken LeBron’s advice and the Cavs have benefitted from it. Earlier this month, LeBron was the first to congratulate Irving after Kyrie dropped 57 points in a huge win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Waiters, on the other hand, obviously did not want to buy in. You almost knew he was gone when you saw LeBron’s reaction to a ridiculous 3-pointer Waiters took back in November.

LeBron and Irving being on the same page is dangerous for the Eastern Conference — even if LeBron and his coach aren’t seeing eye-to-eye.
-->

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmyvp2aUwt1qcawqao1_400.gif

Just like he was in my "little rappity raps".

Kyrie's chucking was front and center. Glad Lebron was able to straighten him out. The hope expressed in "If My Point Guard Passed" may now be realized.

nobody fault but his.

It's remarkable how dysfunctional the Cavs are in the sense it doesn't seem LeBron is totally in sync with Blatt yet, at least according to what Windhorst and Simmons said on that podcast episode. They both mentioned that LeBron reports and listens more to Tyrone Lue than Blatt on more than one instance and that Lebron will contradict Blatt in the press as well. It'll be quite interesting what'll happen if the Hawks dispatch the Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals.


They do get a ton of respect for how they turned things around though, especially on the defensive end of things.

Windy 4evs

I remember them talking about Love possibly going to Boston, but what else about Boston did they talk about?

>It's remarkable how dysfunctional the Cavs are in the sense
>it doesn't seem LeBron is totally in sync with Blatt yet,

>They do get a ton of respect for how they turned things around
>though, especially on the defensive end of things.

For sure. What's extremely remarkable (and not talked about enough in the Curry/Harden MVP discussion) is how Lebron has been the engine behind this 180 degree turn. The Cavs were under .500 - people often forget that. Many were calling for a nuclear destruction of the composition --- Bron comes back - they get key acquisitions; buy into Kang brand TeamBall - and all of a sudden Cleveland has been the best team in the league over the past 35-40 games.

Blatt cool, but Kang the real patriarch of the team.


-->

>For sure. What's extremely remarkable (and not talked about
>enough in the Curry/Harden MVP discussion) is how Lebron has
>been the engine behind this 180 degree turn. The Cavs were
>under .500 - people often forget that. Many were calling for
>a nuclear destruction of the composition --- Bron comes back -
>they get key acquisitions; buy into Kang brand TeamBall - and
>all of a sudden Cleveland has been the best team in the league
>over the past 35-40 games.
>
>Blatt cool, but Kang the real patriarch of the team.


Something else mentioned in that podcast was the positive effect of getting rid of Dion Waiters. While the Cavs were on the slide in the beginning of the season, Windhorst said LeBron didn't like the fact both Waiters and Kyrie were effectively ball hogs.

Cue Bags coming into this post any minute now.

LeBron does deserve credit for the Cavs improving, but the trades were huge as well, both in terms of the subtraction of Waiters and the addition of Mozgov, who LeBron loves according to the podcast. Windhorst said Mozgov kind of rejuvenated LeBron and shook him out of the negative feelings he had while they were losing.

>LeBron does deserve credit for the Cavs improving, but the
>trades were huge as well, both in terms of the subtraction of
>Waiters and the addition of Mozgov, who LeBron loves according
>to the podcast. Windhorst said Mozgov kind of rejuvenated
>LeBron and shook him out of the negative feelings he had while
>they were losing.

Oh without question. Mozgawd was such a huge pickup, changed
the whole dynamic of this team and its front-line. JR and Shump are
also each respectively *significant* upgrades from Dion in terms of
team-fit and chemistry.

imagine if Andy was healthy? Mozgawd and Andy is going to be one
impressively crafty front-line.

And yea - cats were right about Dion - he had to go.


-->

>For sure. What's extremely remarkable (and not talked about
>enough in the Curry/Harden MVP discussion) is how Lebron has
>been the engine behind this 180 degree turn. The Cavs were
>under .500 - people often forget that.

curry and harden didn't need to engineer any turnarounds because they
had their ships in order from day one. no way to spin that into a
knock against them and for lebron.

>curry and harden didn't need to engineer any turnarounds
>because they
>had their ships in order from day one. no way to spin that
>into a
>knock against them and for lebron.

Right - they were onboard sturdy ships from day one. But take Curry
or Harden off their squad, and do the Rockets and Warriors go 1-9
respectively or Nah? We all know the answer to that - and that's why
Bron is still the most *valuable* player in the game to any team.

But he won't win the MVP because it generally goes to the team
w/ the clear-cut best record/performance over 82 - and that (rightfully)
can't go to a team that was under .500 through the first 25 games
and on the brink of complete breakdown.

Bron still more valuable than all those guys tho, and everyone knows it.

-->

>But take Curry or Harden off their squad, and do the Rockets and
>Warriors go 1-9 respectively or Nah?

are you familiar with their roster construction, and the injury
issues that they've dealt with this season?

Though they have had injuries, they have a core system that Cleveland is still trying to figure out. Diff. situations.

But it's all hypothetical. Still, Bron's absence and Cleveland's subsequent cellar-dweller performance was telling.





-->

they run their entire fucking offense thru harden. he leads his team in scoring and assists, just like lebron does, and by a significant margin.

ppg
harden - 27.2
ariza - 12.6

apg
harden - 7.0
beverley - 3.4

they'd completely collapse without him. they wouldn't beat anyone.

Houston was handling the East-leading Hawks (who have bodied the West this year)
and Atlanta had to produce a considerable rally to steal that game in the last minutes.
Houston played quite well in that game sans BeardGang.

so that doesn't necessarily indicate that the Rockets would fall apart and be winless without
Harden. You contrast that w/ how the Cavs played against bottom-barrel teams like Philly without Bron, and they looked D-League bound.

-->

a game they lost.

it's statistically insignificant. proves nothing one way or the other.

a much more telling indicator is harden's on/off splits over the entire season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hardeja01/on-off/2015#on-off::none

when he's on the court houston scores 110.1 points per 100 possessions. that translates to a top 5 offense.

http://bkref.com/tiny/ob19j

when he's off? they score 96.2 pts / 100 poss.

worse than the knicks, and next to last ahead of only the 6ers.

Cut it out, Vex....Like come on dog....lol

houston's starting center has missed 40 games. their starting PF has
missed 50. their starting PG is done for the year. their 2 best bench
guys were even on the roster at the start of the season.

propping them up as some exemplar of continuity and stability?

good grief.

>propping them up as some exemplar of continuity and
>stability?

the only claim made was that they have more continuity, stability, and experience as a core squad than Cleveland.

that's a mad-making fact, apparently.


-->

nobody's mad. we're just talking hoop.

#DatSystem

-->

#Stability #Continuity

They've been consistent because Harden is playing out of his mind....He has no Kyrie. He has no Klay. When Howard went down and after their struggles with injuries to their PF's Harden basically had to be Mr. Do It All....His second in command included C. Brewer and J. Smith, two good players. But not guys you would pick out of a crowd to help you win a shit load of games in the West...

What Harden is doing is pretty nuts. Bron is ALWAYS in the MVP discussion because he's fucking Bron...lol

But the race this season is down to Curry and Harden. That's it. And while you couldn't go wrong with either one winning, Curry will win because he's the more lovable, accessible player.

But Harden deserves it more. Dude has done more with less...

>They've been consistent because Harden is playing out of his
>mind....He has no Kyrie. He has no Klay. When Howard went down
>and after their struggles with injuries to their PF's Harden
>basically had to be Mr. Do It All....His second in command
>included C. Brewer and J. Smith, two good players. But not
>guys you would pick out of a crowd to help you win a shit load
>of games in the West...

Can't argue with that.

>What Harden is doing is pretty nuts. Bron is ALWAYS in the MVP
>discussion because he's fucking Bron...lol

yea like i said before, this reminds me of when Malone or Barkley won the MVP when Jordan was in his prime. The years malone and barkley won the award were years where they were so exceptionally impressive - that it was just glaringly obvious how outstanding their seasons were. Harden is definitely having that kind of year - moreso than Curry or Bron.

If Houston had a better record than G.S. - no doubt Harden would get the award. But it seems to me that when they don't give the award to the best player in the game (Jordan, Kobe, Bron) - they tend to give the award to the star on the team who had the best record in the league that year (Rose, Durant, and now Curry).




-->

and also Lebron 'turning it around' coincided with cle getting 2 new starters.

he's not.

My point was simple: (1) Houston has played together as a unit longer than Cleveland, so obviously they can rely on their system more than Cleveland could this year. (2) I highly doubt that Houston would go 1-9 without Harden.

Is y'all mad or..... nah.....is y'all mad or nah?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t46fPGv7vs4

-->

>Houston has played together as a
>unit longer than Cleveland, so obviously they can rely on
>their system more than Cleveland could this year.

6 of their top 10 in minutes played this season weren't even on the team last year. 2 were acquired midseason.

>5 of their top 9 in minutes played this season weren't even on
>the the team last year. 2 were acquired midseason.

all 5 of Cleveland's starting 5 have never played together until this year, and
2 of those 5 were acquired mid-season.

So yes - Houston is a relatively new team learning to mold, but they aren't Cleveland - who has been succeeding completely on the fly with a core composition that wasn't only brand new this year, but brand new mid-season.


-->

it's not some hugely one-sided disadvantage.

Good thing Lebron is there to clean it all up.

I swear this all feels like Year 1 miami to me.
----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

>Good thing Lebron is there to clean it all up.
>
>I swear this all feels like Year 1 miami to me.

I think the fact Wade had the ring from the previous Heat championship and Riley being present made things a bit less disastrous in year one compared to what's going on now.


Were there instances of LeBron tuning Spolestra out or contradicting him in the press in that first year?

>>Good thing Lebron is there to clean it all up.
>>
>>I swear this all feels like Year 1 miami to me.
>
>I think the fact Wade had the ring from the previous Heat
>championship and Riley being present made things a bit less
>disastrous in year one compared to what's going on now.
>
>
>Were there instances of LeBron tuning Spolestra out or
>contradicting him in the press in that first year?


Woj was dropping stories all over the place. By year 2 nobody cared.



----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

>>>Good thing Lebron is there to clean it all up.
>>>
>>>I swear this all feels like Year 1 miami to me.
>>
>>I think the fact Wade had the ring from the previous Heat
>>championship and Riley being present made things a bit less
>>disastrous in year one compared to what's going on now.
>>
>>
>>Were there instances of LeBron tuning Spolestra out or
>>contradicting him in the press in that first year?
>
>
>Woj was dropping stories all over the place. By year 2 nobody
>cared.

Is that Wojechowski (sp?) dude credible? I got the impression dude writes editorials instead of reporting the on objective truth of the matter on subjects from how he is depicted on here.

>>>>Good thing Lebron is there to clean it all up.
>>>>
>>>>I swear this all feels like Year 1 miami to me.
>>>
>>>I think the fact Wade had the ring from the previous Heat
>>>championship and Riley being present made things a bit less
>>>disastrous in year one compared to what's going on now.
>>>
>>>
>>>Were there instances of LeBron tuning Spolestra out or
>>>contradicting him in the press in that first year?
>>
>>
>>Woj was dropping stories all over the place. By year 2
>nobody
>>cared.
>
>Is that Wojechowski (sp?) dude credible? I got the impression
>dude writes editorials instead of reporting the on objective
>truth of the matter on subjects from how he is depicted on
>here.

At the time it felt bitter and petty. But now it looks like this stuff just follows bron around.

All that going home feel good stuff from the summer. Gone. Now it's all these random storylines that have nothing to do with basketball.

----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Teaching Lebron how to be a winner?

Oh, okay.

but things seemed cool once Wade came to grips with Lebron being the alpha the following year so that was good.

and the guy who's holding on for dear-life to get into the playoffs
now that Bron's gone?

K.

Wade lucky to have 3 and he knows it. His Chosen Brother Bronny carried the cross so
he could stunt on Ocean Ave. with a gold-plated "3" chain on his chest.

-->

>and the guy who's holding on for dear-life to get into the
>playoffs
>now that Bron's gone?

the guy with old, hot-ass knees + Bosh out for the year?


>Wade lucky to have 3 and he knows it. His Chosen Brother
>Bronny carried the cross so
>he could stunt on Ocean Ave. with a gold-plated "3" chain on
>his chest.

Bron lucky to have 2. Bosh and Ray rescued Kang from being the Peyton Manning of the NBA.

>Good thing Lebron is there to clean it all up.


-->

The latter aspect is often the most difficult thing with anyone, let alone ultra talented professionals.

Bron is incredibly proud of his son's maturity.

-->

>The latter aspect is often the most difficult thing with
>anyone, let alone ultra talented professionals.


I get what you're saying about Kyrie getting credit for listening given how talented he is, but at the same time it shouldn't be that hard for him to be humble given the circumstances. LeBron has two rings and the Cavs at the time of the LeBron conversation and in the past two or three seasons were a complete disaster, so it should be easy for Kyrie to listen to what LeBron was telling him about having better ball movement.

Emotion trumps logic, more often than not

>Emotion trumps logic, more often than not

This is sad but true. I fully agree with you here. Ego is a mutha.

on if LeBron cares that people will call him a coach killer. It sure sounded like that was the case from that podcast though. Sounded like LeBron and Blatt were of baby mother/baby father status and they two are only in contact because they share custody of the Cavs judging from what Simmons and Windhorst were inferring. Pretty wild given how much the Cavs have improved as of late.

Lue will remain an assistant no matter what.

-->

>Lue will remain an assistant no matter what.
>
>-->

Fuckin bandwagoner tryin talk like he got the inside track,
give it a rest...

nobody knows who you are, and guess what: nobody cares.

-->

>nobody knows who you are, and guess what: nobody cares.
>
>-->

Cornball wanna be trying to make sports agendas like the "cool kids"? Lol

Fuckin fag was just tryina shit on tha Land this summer then you jumped ship when Bron came back, you get no props on anything Cavs related, you aint even make a basketball post, or even cared about the sport until the decision happened,then you hopped on heem hoard, now you're a switch hitter that goes both ways, you're the worst kind of fan, don't even know if you're coming or going. Go. Never post about my team again, no one who has actually followed this team respects any "insight" that you think you have and we never will. Nothing will be you right to claim, no matter what happens this summer. No one will listen or care about what you say just because Lebron wins finals MVP over Ky, you won't get to experience the feeling that we will, no one is going to invite you to the parade, you'll just be posting here on some sorry ass "told you so" shit that won't effect anyone, you're just another culture vulture and appropriator...

you gonna be ok?

You can throw away your Bronny voodoo doll donned in a Miami Heat jersey stained
in your blood. It's ok now - everything's gonna be fine.

I'm here for you if you need to talk.

-->

Clowns like you were saying how unrealistic it was and questioned why he would ever leave the paradise of South Beach for ugly ol' Cleveland..now you'll let a Cavs player take a steamer on your chest...

Bron needed the Cavs just as much as they needed him, we were going up with or without him, he wanted to be apart of something truly special and that's his right(like it was with right to leave the first time, he just did it in bout the worst way), the franchise is damn near his birthright.

But you ain't got no right to lay claim over anything that happens with this team, you just a causal fan with a causal interest, watching from afar. A world part from those of us that's been invested in this rebuild since day one, invested in seeing the Cavs go all the way in Bron's first stint. Since before then, bitch you don't know shit about Ricky Davis and nem. Very different from heads like Radin (R.I.P.) who was a diehard fan, even if he was wrong most of the time.

>Clowns like you were saying how unrealistic it was and
>questioned why he would ever leave the paradise of South Beach
>for ugly ol' Cleveland..

Oh wait, what's that? We've got actual proof of Kang James Version
prophecy foretelling the Cleveland Renaissance, your honor?

http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2291756&mesg_id=2291756&listing_type=search

>Bron needed the Cavs just as much as they needed him, we were
>going up with or without him, he wanted to be apart of
>something truly special

The Cavs are special for two reasons: It's Cleveland and Bron felt a calling to return Home and win a 'chip for Cleveland, Akron, and the entire state whose psyche is obsessed with sports to the point where it makes people forever sophomoric (see: yourself) -- and Kyrie Irving, who has a chance to be one of the all-time greats, and a better supporting star aside James than Wade ever was able to be.

But let's not get it twisted, if this wasn't Cleveland, Bron wouldn't be back. Ain't no superstar coming off 4 straight Finals Appearances looking at a lottery team w/ one of the league's worst records on some: "oh, I BETTER go back there and get w/ that special unit! I need them!'

I have as much of a right to be vested in this team as you do, Corky. A true fan is somebody who sticks with their favorite team/athlete throughout the entire process. I didn't jump off the bandwagon and burn jerseys like you did and then have a party and come out of hiding when that jersey came back - like the fair-weather simp fan you are penalizing an athlete for empowering his own future and not being beholden to Stanny Gilbert's paternalism.

FOH. Cry about it on Cleveland Craigslist local rants.




-->

>Clowns like you were saying how unrealistic it was and
>questioned why he would ever leave the paradise of South Beach
>for ugly ol' Cleveland..now you'll let a Cavs player take a
>steamer on your chest...
>
>Bron needed the Cavs just as much as they needed him, we were
>going up with or without him, he wanted to be apart of
>something truly special and that's his right(like it was with
>right to leave the first time, he just did it in bout the
>worst way), the franchise is damn near his birthright.
>
>But you ain't got no right to lay claim over anything that
>happens with this team, you just a causal fan with a causal
>interest, watching from afar. A world part from those of us
>that's been invested in this rebuild since day one, invested
>in seeing the Cavs go all the way in Bron's first stint. Since
>before then, bitch you don't know shit about Ricky Davis and
>nem. Very different from heads like Radin (R.I.P.) who was a
>diehard fan, even if he was wrong most of the time.
>

Good luck enforcing Vex's right to root for the squad.

Cavs fans won even when Bron left. Every time someone rooted for Lebron we won. But let them continue to make asses of themselves. WE love all of the bandwagoners too. Their worship is really appreciated.

for the early season losing & takes all the credit for the winning?

Yeah cool story.

This been known, ox.

Media-ite up.
-->

They were built in a summer. And all of the pieces weren't there to be successful. And they had a new coach.

The team got more familiar with each other, and they traded for better players that made more sense with the existing players.

That's all there is.

and we shouldn't deny the reason why the ship was turned around.


-->

i swear some of you sit at home like this

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/Bennett-HIMGP5305-LowRez.jpg

and play with bobbleheads of said players with your own made up storylines

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/5617929

-->

Lofl and smdh

Perhaps they feel it's a double negative, and not actually a ""quote""

-->

Hilarious