Is there anything more overrated than LEBRON taking Cleveland to the Finals?

[Ne 1]

The Pistons were nothing to sneeze at. LeBron had to play out of his mind in G5 in Detroit to get past them.

Calling a depleted Pistons squad without Ben Wallace "nothing to sneeze at" is being generous. They were a poor mans version of the 2003-2006 Pistons squads. They made a huge mistake not resigning Wallace.


The '07 Cavs didn't have the best names on paper, but they were an elite team defensively and on the boards. Not to mention the 2007 East could very well go down as the worst conference in the history of the NBA. Iverson, Kidd and Howard also made the Finals as well in the East with casts that weren't very talented. Putting things into perspective, it's not this incredible accomplishment some people like to believe.

Don't let one stunning game fool you. LeBron was actually not all that impressive in the 2007 ECF. He played poor that series. I laugh at people who clearly forget this or never bothered watching. He was terrible the first two games of the series. Like really, really bad. And even in the clinching game of the series, it was Boobie Gibson's clutch shooting for something like 31 points that sealed the deal. LeBron didn't even play well in that game.

Let's break down the games the Cavs won:

Game 3: Lebron carried the load with 32/9/9, but a big key was also Cleveland's defense holding Detroit to 82 points, funny how you ignore that and act like basketball is just one side of the game. So with Cleveland's defense doing such a great job, Lebron didn't need that much offensive support, having 3 teammates in double figures(Big Z- 16, Pavlovic- 13, Gooden- 12) was more than enough.

Game 4: Lebron had 25/7/11, but again, Cleveland held Detroit to just 87 points and Daniel Gibson scored 21 points on great efficiency(4/7 from the field, 12/12 from the line) and Gooden also had 19/8.

Game 5: This is about as close as a player can come to winning a game by himself, we all know about Lebron's phenomenal performance

Game 6: Lebron had 20/14/8, though his efficiency was horrendous (3/11 FG, 14/19 FT), but again Cleveland's defense shut down Detroit. The Pistons scored just 82 points and Daniel Gibson led all scorers with 31 points on amazing efficiency(7/9 FG, 5/5 3P, 12/15 FT).

The only legitimate team he face, in 2007, the Spurs stuck Bowen on James alone. All he did was sag off James, and let the dude shoot jumpers and he ended up having the worst Finals showing I've EVER seen for a player of Jame's caliber.

[SilkkTheShocker]

Ne_1, why aren't you posting on your MJForever account?

[PrettyCool]

Lebrons game 5 explosion against the Pistons was one of the greatest moments in NBA history.

[Nebraskanball]

Ne_1, why aren't you posting on your MJForever account?

Man, you're getting destroyed in this thread. Not a good showing for you.

[dh144498]

Ne_1, why aren't you posting on your MJForever account?

Silkk, why aren't you posting on your

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accounts?

[Sarcastic]

Winning a title with Wade and Bosh is close to being as overrated.

[SilkkTheShocker]

Winning a title with Wade and Bosh is close to being as overrated.

Yea, its not like Wade/Bosh weren't 100% or anything like that. LeBron had made you real butthurt, son.

[Dengness9]

Nobody besides maybe Jordan could have taken that team to the Finals. Shaq needed superstar help basically every year he ever won a title.

Kobe? LeBron led that Cavs team past a Pistons team that not too long ago shut Kobe down in the Finals to the tune of 38.1 FG%. And that was when he had maybe the most stacked team ever in prime Shaq, Malone AND Payton! No effing way would Kobe get them to the Finals. He needs prime Shaq and/or prime Gasol/Odom/Bynum to reach the Finals.

Washed up old ass Malone and Payton?!

Somebody is reaching way too hard over here. Frontrunner bandwagon ho's know so little.

[2010splash]

Washed up old ass Malone and Payton?!

Somebody is reaching way too hard over here. Frontrunner bandwagon ho's know so little.

Malone who averaged 21/8/5 the year before and Payton who averaged 20/4/8 the year before? So he had two all stars and the best player in the league and still lost. Owned.

[hitmanyr2k]

Nobody besides maybe Jordan could have taken that team to the Finals. Shaq needed superstar help basically every year he ever won a title.

Kobe? LeBron led that Cavs team past a Pistons team that not too long ago shut Kobe down in the Finals to the tune of 38.1 FG%. And that was when he had maybe the most stacked team ever in prime Shaq, Malone AND Payton! No effing way would Kobe get them to the Finals. He needs prime Shaq and/or prime Gasol/Odom/Bynum to reach the Finals.

Stop being ignorant. The Pistons in '07 (3 seasons later) weren't quite the same Pistons team that shut down Kobe and the Lakers in the '04 Finals. The '07 team didn't have the same hunger or discipline, had a different (and inferior) coach in Flip Saunders instead of Larry Brown and finally their 4x DPOY defensive anchor in Ben Wallace was gone.

[SilkkTheShocker]

Malone who averaged 21/8/5 the year before and Payton who averaged 20/4/8 the year before? So he had two all stars and the best player in the league and still lost. Owned.

lol this. I love when people pull the "washed-up" card about Payton/Malone

[SamuraiSWISH]

More overrated than that?

Easily Dirk being the SOLE reason for the 2011 Mavs winning a ring.

Faced a un-motivated defending champion Lakers squad, sans their 2nd best player. Then faced an un-motivated LeBron and the Heat in the Finals.

He was surrounded with players who provided substantial help, but because they're not all big names or superstars, we act like he dragged scrubs to a ring.

DMAVS41 will have a fit, but it's the truth.

[hitmanyr2k]

Nobody besides maybe Jordan could have taken that team to the Finals. Shaq needed superstar help basically every year he ever won a title.

Kobe? LeBron led that Cavs team past a Pistons team that not too long ago shut Kobe down in the Finals to the tune of 38.1 FG%. And that was when he had maybe the most stacked team ever in prime Shaq, Malone AND Payton! No effing way would Kobe get them to the Finals. He needs prime Shaq and/or prime Gasol/Odom/Bynum to reach the Finals.

Stop being ignorant. The Pistons in '07 (3 seasons later) weren't quite the same Pistons team that shut down Kobe and the Lakers in the '04 Finals. The '07 team didn't have the same hunger or discipline, had a different (and inferior) coach in Flip Saunders instead of Larry Brown and finally their 4x DPOY defensive anchor in Ben Wallace was gone. And don't get me started on the 04-05 rule changes that killed defense just in time when Lebron came into the league.

[dh144498]

Stop being ignorant. The Pistons in '07 (3 seasons later) weren't quite the same Pistons team that shut down Kobe and the Lakers in the '04 Finals. The '07 team didn't have the same hunger or discipline, had a different (and inferior) coach in Flip Saunders instead of Larry Brown and finally their 4x DPOY defensive anchor in Ben Wallace was gone. And don't get me started on the 04-05 rule changes that killed defense just in time when Lebron came into the league.

this. Lebron stans like to change history to make lebron look better.

[DMAVS41]

More overrated than that?

Easily Dirk being the SOLE reason for the 2011 Mavs winning a ring.

Faced a un-motivated defending champion Lakers squad, sans their 2nd best player. Then faced an un-motivated LeBron and the Heat in the Finals.

He was surrounded with players who provided substantial help, but because they're not all big names or superstars, we act like he dragged scrubs to a ring.

DMAVS41 will have a fit, but it's the truth.

Well, Dirk didn't carry scrubs to a ring. So I won't have a fit with you saying that he didn't...I actually agree.

Disagree on the strength of the competition...I'd like for you to point out which years you thought the road to the title was more difficult than playing two series as huge underdogs (on the road)...a healthy Thunder team...and a Blazers team that everyone agreed before the playoffs was super dangerous.

I'll be waiting...you won't find many. Just like you won't find many championship teams without much better help than Dirk had.