Lebron wants to win, thinks he is doing great

[celticsclay]

"Do I look tired?" James said at the Cleveland Cavaliers' shootaround Wednesday in advance of Game 3 against the Golden State Warriors. "I feel great. I'm averaging a triple-double in the Finals. I'm pretty good, I would think."

"They are playing exceptionally well, and I don't get involved in what's going on in the summertime or things of that nature. I'm too far removed from those talks and communications and all the things that go on. So at the end of the day, I want to win just as bad as they do.

Gotta say I fully on board with the Sweep. It would certainly represent the most humbling moment of Lebron's career.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19570331/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-says-wants-win-much-golden-state-warriors

[mahcus smaht]

I think this is largely manufactured confidence. He knows he is in trouble.

That said, I think the Cavs steal a game at home here. That would go a long way to saving face.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

HE is playing well but his team isn't as good as GSWs. The thing is, KD is nearly LBJ's equal when last season he didn't have to face that. So now LBJ's impact is almost a wash and GSW's others are better than Cav's others, that means advantage GSW.

I don't see a sweep coming but this season G3 is a must win b/c it will end that way this time. Cavs win tonight.

[max215]

How would this be the most humbling experience of his career? He's played well against the greatest team ever. His team was expected to lose badly. Thus far, his team has lost badly. He's met expectations.

[Donoghus]

I have issues with some stuff that Lebron says but this really isn't one of those instances.    He is playing extremely well.  I do think there is some false bravado there but what else do you expect him to say when the series is still going on?

[Ilikesports17]

Most humbling moment of his career is getting beaten by the Mavs in the finals.

His destruction at the hands of the Spurs and the Celtics upsetting him in the ECSF are 2nd and third.

[Moranis]

This is just a silly post.  Is James not supposed to be confident?  They lost the first two last year by a wider margin and ended up winning.  Obviously GS added Durant, but until GS wins 4, you would expect the best player in the world to believe his team will especially when this is his stat line through 2 games.

28.5 p, 13 r, 11 a, 1.5 s, 1.5 b, 6 t, 3 f while shooting 18 of 29 from two, 3 of 9 from three, and 12 of 17 from the line.  The turnovers are bad and his three point shooting is a bit lower than normal (his FT shooting is always lower than it should be but that is about normal for him), but other than that he has played incredibly well.  His team however has not played well, especially the role players.  And it has been shown time and time again role players play better at home then they do on the road, so I would absolutely expect Thompson, Smith, Korver, Jefferson, Shumpert, Williams, and Frye to play a lot better and similarly Pachulia, McGee, Livingston, Clark, and West to play a lot worse.  Now will that be enough to give the Cavs the edge, who knows, but I'd be surprised if the Warriors pulled away in any game in Cleveland (they might win, but it would be a dog fight).  I do think the Cavs win tonight, game 4 will be the one that will be an interesting pick (if the Cavs do win game 3). 

[Ilikesports17]

^ yes but his defense has been dissapointing.

[celticsclay]

How would this be the most humbling experience of his career? He's played well against the greatest team ever. His team was expected to lose badly. Thus far, his team has lost badly. He's met expectations.

I don't think when the playoffs started his team was expected to lose badly to the Warriors. They definitely were not expected to get swept, so if that happens, extremely humbling. This is definitely moving the goal posts on expectations from what they were at the start of the playoffs and even what they were at the start of the series where almost everyone said a 6 or 7 tough fought series.

Also, while it isn't necessarily a 100% fair, this is what comes with the territory of marketing and discussing yourself as the greatest ever and greatest player in the league. You want to wear witness shirts and compare yourself to MJ and openly discuss your legacy you better believe people are going to comment back if you go out in a sweep to anyone.

For the record I don't think it is a given they get swept. They are only 3.5 point underdogs tonight.

[celticsclay]

This is just a silly post.  Is James not supposed to be confident?  They lost the first two last year by a wider margin and ended up winning.  Obviously GS added Durant, but until GS wins 4, you would expect the best player in the world to believe his team will especially when this is his stat line through 2 games.

28.5 p, 13 r, 11 a, 1.5 s, 1.5 b, 6 t, 3 f while shooting 18 of 29 from two, 3 of 9 from three, and 12 of 17 from the line.  The turnovers are bad and his three point shooting is a bit lower than normal (his FT shooting is always lower than it should be but that is about normal for him), but other than that he has played incredibly well.  His team however has not played well, especially the role players.  And it has been shown time and time again role players play better at home then they do on the road, so I would absolutely expect Thompson, Smith, Korver, Jefferson, Shumpert, Williams, and Frye to play a lot better and similarly Pachulia, McGee, Livingston, Clark, and West to play a lot worse.  Now will that be enough to give the Cavs the edge, who knows, but I'd be surprised if the Warriors pulled away in any game in Cleveland (they might win, but it would be a dog fight).  I do think the Cavs win tonight, game 4 will be the one that will be an interesting pick (if the Cavs do win game 3).

I for the most part just shared James own comments from a front page article on ESPN. My only comment was that I thought it would be his most humbling moment if he was swept. What part do you disagree with? Was it stupid of ESPN to post the article? Do you disagree it would be humbling if he was swept? I do admire your going down with the ship approach Moranis. I'll give you that.

[CelticsElite]

"I'm averaging a triple double in the finals"


Lol. That only counts if you win buddy. We didn't even notice !

[ETNCeltics]

If he'd played as well as Durant, they might've stolen a game. Ultimately they have no chance, but Lebron's been outplayed by KD. They don't have a chance to win the series, but they might've had a shot in game 1 if not for Lebron's avalanche of turnovers.

If that isn't a humbling experience, it should be.

[max215]

How would this be the most humbling experience of his career? He's played well against the greatest team ever. His team was expected to lose badly. Thus far, his team has lost badly. He's met expectations.

I don't think when the playoffs started his team was expected to lose badly to the Warriors. They definitely were not expected to get swept, so if that happens, extremely humbling. This is definitely moving the goal posts on expectations from what they were at the start of the playoffs and even what they were at the start of the series where almost everyone said a 6 or 7 tough fought series.

Also, while it isn't necessarily a 100% fair, this is what comes with the territory of marketing and discussing yourself as the greatest ever and greatest player in the league. You want to wear witness shirts and compare yourself to MJ and openly discuss your legacy you better believe people are going to comment back if you go out in a sweep to anyone.

For the record I don't think it is a given they get swept. They are only 3.5 point underdogs tonight.

Completely untrue. Analysts worth listening to did not predict a tough series. Myself, I officially predicted Warriors in 6 with the caveat that that was out of respect for LeBron and I actually believed it would be 5. I said I would be surprised, but not shocked by a sweep. I still think that's true, Cleveland takes one game. People who dismissed the Warriors' greatness are surprised right now, blaming LeBron for losing a series he was always going to lose. The fact of the matter is that LeBron is great, truly great. He is, in my mind, the second greatest player ever, but he ran into a buzz saw. It's unfortunate, but it doesn't diminish him.

[celticsclay]

How would this be the most humbling experience of his career? He's played well against the greatest team ever. His team was expected to lose badly. Thus far, his team has lost badly. He's met expectations.

I don't think when the playoffs started his team was expected to lose badly to the Warriors. They definitely were not expected to get swept, so if that happens, extremely humbling. This is definitely moving the goal posts on expectations from what they were at the start of the playoffs and even what they were at the start of the series where almost everyone said a 6 or 7 tough fought series.

Also, while it isn't necessarily a 100% fair, this is what comes with the territory of marketing and discussing yourself as the greatest ever and greatest player in the league. You want to wear witness shirts and compare yourself to MJ and openly discuss your legacy you better believe people are going to comment back if you go out in a sweep to anyone.

For the record I don't think it is a given they get swept. They are only 3.5 point underdogs tonight.

Completely untrue. Analysts worth listening to did not predict a tough series. Myself, I officially predicted Warriors in 6 with the caveat that that was out of respect for LeBron and I actually believed it would be 5. I said I would be surprised, but not shocked by a sweep. I still think that's true, Cleveland takes one game. People who dismissed the Warriors' greatness are surprised right now, blaming LeBron for losing a series he was always going to lose. The fact of the matter is that LeBron is great, truly great. He is, in my mind, the second greatest player ever, but he ran into a buzz saw. It's unfortunate, but it doesn't diminish him.

I mean, as I pointed out, even after getting completely stomped 2 games in a row Cleveland is still only 3 point underdogs in Cleveland tonight. If they played this as the first game of the series it would be a pickem or possibly even Cleveland by a half a point. The smartest people in the world basing this stuff on math thought the Cavs would have a 50-55% chance of winning games at home and a 30% chance of winning games in Oracle. Oddmakers also every year slightly adjust the odds in a lot of situations that extend the series 1 game because history has born out this often happens.

 You do all the math out on that and 6 games is pretty reasonable expectation for this series. Acting like it was supposed to be a sweep before this series started is 100% moving the goalposts.

The biggest revelation this series has been Durant actually outplaying Lebron for most of this and secondly Irving playing well below some of his past playoff performances.

[Moranis]

This is just a silly post.  Is James not supposed to be confident?  They lost the first two last year by a wider margin and ended up winning.  Obviously GS added Durant, but until GS wins 4, you would expect the best player in the world to believe his team will especially when this is his stat line through 2 games.

28.5 p, 13 r, 11 a, 1.5 s, 1.5 b, 6 t, 3 f while shooting 18 of 29 from two, 3 of 9 from three, and 12 of 17 from the line.  The turnovers are bad and his three point shooting is a bit lower than normal (his FT shooting is always lower than it should be but that is about normal for him), but other than that he has played incredibly well.  His team however has not played well, especially the role players.  And it has been shown time and time again role players play better at home then they do on the road, so I would absolutely expect Thompson, Smith, Korver, Jefferson, Shumpert, Williams, and Frye to play a lot better and similarly Pachulia, McGee, Livingston, Clark, and West to play a lot worse.  Now will that be enough to give the Cavs the edge, who knows, but I'd be surprised if the Warriors pulled away in any game in Cleveland (they might win, but it would be a dog fight).  I do think the Cavs win tonight, game 4 will be the one that will be an interesting pick (if the Cavs do win game 3).

I for the most part just shared James own comments from a front page article on ESPN. My only comment was that I thought it would be his most humbling moment if he was swept. What part do you disagree with? Was it stupid of ESPN to post the article? Do you disagree it would be humbling if he was swept? I do admire your going down with the ship approach Moranis. I'll give you that.

This is another in a long line of posts you have with respect to James in a negative light.  It is clear you only posted this to follow along with your long narrative of bashing James.  that is apparent by picking and choosing only parts of the article and then adding your nonsense about it being a humbling experience.