LeBron James doing it alone as usual

Image details: Cleveland Cavaliers v Boston Celtics, Game 1 served by picapp.com

Don’t the Cavaliers know they are only renting LeBron James, that his destiny is bigger than Cleveland?

The Cav’s are in round two of the playoffs dueling with the Boston Celtics and Kevin Garnett. No, make that Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. See, that is the problem with Cleveland. It is still just LeBron James, the King.

There are those that say James should stay in Cleveland. He went to high school in Ohio. He is an Ohio boy. Never mind the market is so small.

The Cavaliers deserve to keep James home for the core of his prime. They’ve already landed him in one NBA Finals. They’ve already honored their commitment to competing for a title by making the in-season deal for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West, taking payroll and luxury tax hits along the way.

source

Cleveland has only one chance to survive and that is to find star number 2. Kevin Garnett has two star number twos. Tim Duncan has Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Kobe Bryant has Pau Gasol. Dallas tried with Jason Kidd to Dirk Nowitzki. Phoenix tried with an aging Shaq to Steve Nash.

Wally, Joe, and Big Ben Wallace do not qualify as the number 2 that LeBron needs. There are no Scotty Pippens to LeBron’s Michael Jordan in that group.

Cleveland needs to find this number two star before 2010, the LeBron free agent date, the sooner the better or LeBron is out of here.

Where will he go? To a bigger market, most likely New York, most likely the Knicks.

In fact, Donnie Walsh wouldn’t have accepted the presidency of the Knicks if he didn’t think it was feasible that the team could get far enough under the salary cap to wine and sign James.

The Nets are also expected to join the bidding, as minority owner Jay-Z is a close friend of LeBron’s who has made no secret of his desire to see James someday pack the new arena the Nets are supposed to be putting up in Brooklyn.

New Jersey may struggle to get LeBron, because it is not the storied franchise that the Knicks have been.

And we know that LeBron loves Madison Square Garden.

James wants to go in as a Yankee, which is precisely why he wore the team’s cap — much to Cleveland’s dismay — during last year’s Division Series. He has big-city dreams, LeBron does. The lifelong Yankees fan is also a lifelong Madison Square Garden fan. Back in March, after managing 50 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds on the Knicks’ home floor, James beamed as he said the following:

“This ranks really high, just because of the point of where it happened, the mecca of basketball. I’ve dreamed about playing well in this building. To get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world is a dream come true for me. It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

Better get busy Cleveland. LeBron appears to just be a loaner right now.

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LeBron James career scoring leader for the Cav’s at the tender age of 23

LeBron did it in 168 less games than Brad Daugherty.

LeBron James now has 10,414 points.

Oh, and his team won, too.

Cleveland 90 Toronto 83

Coach Mike Brown pointed out LeBron is only 23.

The sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena immediately rose to give James a thundering ovation and when Brown called a timeout, the All-Star forward first walked to the bench to receive high-fives and hugs from his teammates.

Then, he walked to the center of the court to acknowledge Cleveland’s fans, who serenaded him with “MVP” chants throughout the evening.

“These fans have watched me go from zero points to 10,000” he said. “They’ve seen me go from a young man to a man now. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had. To be the all-time leader is something that I never dreamed of. But now that it’s here, it’s an unbelievable feeling.” source

Perhaps Joe Smith said it best.

“It took me 13 years to get 10,000 points,” Cavs forward Joe Smith said. “It goes to show what kind of talent he is. I know he has at least 30,000 more in him.”

Long live the King, LeBron James.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will LeBron someday get to 30,000 points?

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Raise your hand if you think LeBron James will be the next Cavalier to shoot

For Cleveland it was a test drive of sorts of just how will the new players work out in the playoffs.

For Detroit it was game 68 of the regular season. Not a time to get worked up about anything.

Cleveland tried LeBron James on Chauncey Billups. They tried Ben Wallace on Rasheed Wallace.

The Pistons just watched and played. They did not even double LeBron.

The Pistons kept their poker faces.

“They look very similar, and that’s not a bad thing,” point guard Chauncey Billups said. “I don’t see too much difference.”

For one thing, problems No. 1, 2 and 3 haven’t changed — LeBron James, LeBron James and LeBron James, who scored 30 Wednesday.

“The big horse,” shooting guard Richard Hamilton said, “is still LeBron.” source

Did the Pistons learn anything?

“We pretty much want to feel out and see how they play with their new guys,” Billups said of the Cavaliers. “Obviously, you still want to come out with the win. But you learn some things about how they like to play with the new guys and what the new guys can do.”

Hmm, they are not speaking.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Were you excited or panicked over the Piston’s loss to Cleveland?

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LeBron James can do all the shooting. He needs defense from his teammates.

Detroit and Boston are on top in the East.

Even though Cleveland went to the finals by getting past the Pistons, this is a whole new Cleveland team, although still led by LeBron James.

Cleveland wants bad to beat Detroit.

Cleveland Cavaliers 89 Detroit Pistons 73

A newcomer to one of the NBA’s fiercest rivalries, Wally Szczerbiak didn’t need long to understand Cleveland’s hatred.

“All my buddies, all the fans, everybody, all they want to do is beat Detroit,” he said. source

The new guys can play some defense and that made the difference.

“We’re still in search mode,” Brown said. “We’re using these games to win and to get better. Against Orlando [on Monday night], we played [good defense] for 24 minutes. Wednesday night, we played the right way for 48 minutes and that made the difference.”

In resounding fashion.

The night after the Detroit Pistons shot lights out, the Cavs shut their Eastern Conference rival’s offensive lights off in an 89-73 victory at The Q. source

NBA Basketball Big Ben Wallace Quote of the Week – Talking to Ben Wallace before the game, a radio reporter asked him if the key to dealing with the Pistons is handling “Rasheed Wallace’s BS.”

“What is the BS?” Ben Wallace said. “Big shots?” source

So, nobody is confusing one game with getting your defensive stuff together and maintaining dominance over the Pistons, but it sure feels good.

LeBron and the new boys are headed in the right direction.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can LeBron lead them back to the NBA Finals?

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Ok, don’t take this the wrong way, but that was an easy 50 points if there ever was one.

LeBron James is awesome. There is no question of that and he is the front runner with Kobe Bryant for MVP of the National Basketball Association.

But come on. The Knicks?

Happened to catch the Sports Center Highlights of the 50 point barrage.

What was that the Knicks were playing? You could not call it defense. One gets the feeling that LeBron could have scored all the points if he wanted to. It looked that easy.

The Knicks are so bad that rumors began that James is coming to New York to play for the Knicks, rather than worry about how sad their team is now.

“Because how bad New York [teams are] and they’re looking for a guy who can help change things around and because how close I am to Jay-Z [part owner of the Nets], there are questions about that every day,” James said.

James said the rumors will continue until — and after — he becomes a free agent. source

Just how does Isiah Thomas keep his job?

How does David Stern keep his lunch down watching one of his biggest markets stink up the joint night after night?

Anyway, not to denigrate James, but maybe he felt sorry for New York and that is why he did not get 60!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will LeBron win the MVP over Kobe Bryant?

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LeBron became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points in the history of the National Basketball Association.

With LeBron coming out of High School scoring like crazy it is no surprise.

Kobe Bryant made 10,000 points at the age of 24 years and 193 days.

LeBron James made 10,000 points at the age of 23 years and 59 days.

Hey, we are getting a numberish here, but you get the idea. Both of these players are great star players and scoring machines.

James did it in 368 games, the ninth fastest in NBA history.

It should be mentioned that the Cavaliers lost this game to Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics. Oh well.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points with 11 rebounds to help Boston win its third straight and improve to 2-2 for the season against the defending Eastern Conference champions. The Cavaliers were playing their third game with four new players, including Ben Wallace, acquired in an 11-player, three-team deal at the trading deadline. source

Unreal Records

Here are some other scoring records by the great Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain.

Most Points Per Game
50.4 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Most 50 Point Games
45 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Most 40 Point Games
63 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Most Field Goals Made
1,597 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62 (50.6 FG%)

Most Field Goals Attempted
3,159 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Highest Field Goal Percentage
72.7% by Wilt Chamberlain, 1972-73 (426 made in 586 attempts)

Most of these records will never be broken.

Maybe LeBron’s will not be broken with the current have to be a freshman in college rule.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Does scoring 10,000 points quickly impress you?

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Cleveland beat the Memphis Grizzlies.

108 – 89.

And all the new guys played and played well.

LeBron thinks it will work out just fine.

Coach Mike Brown cautions them to take it one game at a time.

Still, even though it was only the Grizzlies, it was a victory and everyone was excited from the beginning.

“It brought some energy to the building,” Brown said. “It was energy from the fans because of the new players.”

Ben Wallace, who started at power forward, scored 12 points, tying his season high, and had 10 rebounds, while Delonte West, the starter at point guard, scored five points with six assists.

The other two players picked up in the deal, forward Joe Smith and guard Wally Szczerbiak, came off the bench late in the first quarter. Smith scored 14 points while Szczerbiak had 10. source

For Big Ben it was especially pleasing to have the crowd at his back like in the old days with the Detroit Pistons.

Wallace, the target of criticism by Bulls fans, enjoyed his new home.

“The crowd was great,” he said. “I didn’t get booed. That’s new for me.”

James was pleased with Wallace’s contributions.

“He showed it tonight, his ability to get up and rebound and his ability to throw down dunks,” James said. “And he made free throws, too.”

It didn’t take long for the newcomers to make an impact. Wallace brought the crowd to its feet with a dunk less than 2 minutes into the game and West hit a 3 midway through the period.

There were even T-shirts.

His arrival even was celebrated at the souvenir stands, where T-shirts proclaiming ”BIG BEN A CAVALIER” were on sale. source

Well, it was only one game and Coach Mike Brown is probably right about taking it one game at a time, but LeBron is happy and that means a lot!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Big Ben make the Cavalier difference?

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The quiet notes will take quick looks at what is going on in the NBA.

The top teams are:

(in no particular order)

San Antonio Spurs (now with Kurt Thomas) until proven otherwise in the playoffs

Detroit Pistons now with added youth

Boston Celtics with the 3 amigos

The hottest team:

Houston Rockets with an energized T-Mac and best center Yao

Biggest question?

Who will play better? Cleveland with Wallace or Chicago with Gooden?

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This is a monster trade by Cleveland, Chicago, and Seattle.

Cleveland gets Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago and forward Wally Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West from the SuperSonics.

Danny Ferry, the Cleveland GM, immediately announced they were good enough to win the title.

Hold on, there.

All four players were underperforming, especially Ben Wallace.

Now as a huge Pistons fan, your intrepid author likes Ben Wallace a lot, but he is 33 years old. His best years are behind him. You also gave up Dwight Gooden to get him. Expect Ben to play excellent defense, but will he be able to rebound like days gone by? Most likely not.

Here is a rundown on the trade.

In an 11 player three-team blockbuster trade, the Cavaliers acquired Chicago’s Ben Wallace and Joe Smith, Seattle’s Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West before the trade deadline closed on Thursday, two league sources confirmed.

The Cavaliers sent Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons to the Bulls, and Donyell Marshall to the Sonics. Seattle also gets the expiring contracts of Chicago’s Adrian Griffin and Cleveland’s Ira Newble. source

LeBron James

Still LeBron James has to be happy. His current cast was going nowhere and Ben is an intimidator, Smith and Szczerbiak give you scoring, and West is young. It will help LeBron to have more outside shooting around him than Daniel Gibson.

Danny Ferry is happy to be out of Larry Hughes contract.

Much like Wallace, Hughes didn’t deliver as the Cavs had hoped. They signed him to a five-year, $60 million free agent deal in 2005, but he struggled with injuries and his jump shot.

Hughes had become a target of abuse at Cleveland home games as fans grumbled with every miss and every mention of a contract—he’s making $12.8 million this season—that seemed untradeable. source

Still, Danny Ferry was trapped. His Superstar, LeBron James, was unhappy and that is not good.

He’s dead serious, though, about getting the Cavaliers their first title. James, who led them to their first finals appearance last season, had publicly campaigned for Ferry to do something before the deadline.

James got his wish. Ferry overhauled the Cavs, trading 60 percent of the starting lineup Brown used Wednesday night.

The deal caps a busy month of trades as several stars, including Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Pau Gasol, all were dealt to new teams. The Gasol swap triggered an arms race of sorts among the Western Conference’s top squads, while this one could have a major impact atop the East.

Will Ben Wallace bring Cleveland the NBA Title?

Probably not, but the mix makes James happy and gives them a shot and that is all he wanted.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can you break down this trade to make LeBron happy?

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LeBron James All Star MVP – Time to get out of Dodge err Cleveland!

With David Stern happy to have NBA Marketing Icon LeBron James as the MVP of the 2008 All Star game, the world can move on.

If you had to lay odds, it had to be James as MVP.

The NBA is a marketing organization, not a sports organization. Right now the future of the NBA seems secure, with possible expansion out of the USA and many stars in the league, but it can change fast and David Stern knows that.

Don’t get me wrong, LeBron is so good he probably would win the MVP of the All Star game anyway, almost every year.

It wouldn’t be long until these pulsating final minutes of this fabulous All-Star Game ultimately belonged to the genius of its Most Valuable Player with 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. It wouldn’t be long until commissioner David Stern passed him his second trophy at 23 years old, and the world would see who the star of stars was again at New Orleans Arena.

“LeBron is a freight train when he goes to that basket,” West coach Byron Scott sighed. “He’s so big, and so strong – so quick and so powerful. It’s hard to stop him when he gets the momentum going like that.” source

Now it is time to plan for LeBron to leave Cleveland.

The Cavaliers will have a hard time putting together consistent teams in Cleveland.

Over the summer, LeBron, Bryant and Jason Kidd were grumbling teammates with Team USA. Bryant wanted out of Los Angeles. Kidd wanted a trade to Cleveland. And James just wanted someone to share the burden with him. Well, the two point guards whom Cleveland GM Danny Ferry had tried to obtain for two years – Kidd and Mike Bibby – are on the way to Dallas and Atlanta.

The NBA needs to keep LeBron on the highest stage possible. That stage would be the NBA Playoffs and probably at least the Conference Finals. Hopefully the Championship series itself.

You can’t market Tim Duncan.

As much as it hurts your intrepid author (a huge Pistons fan), the League does not want anymore San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons series. To fans outside of those teams, it is boring. They play defense.

Think of Kevin Garnett’s Boston Celtics vs. Kobe’s Lakers.

Think of Steve Nash and the Shaq bringing the Suns in to play LeBron James when he is on the Knicks (without Isiah).