I think the All-Star game and the ankle thing are completely unrelated. He's been on the injury report pretty much every game all year. I think there's been soreness with the ankle all season that he's been able to play with, but he had some treatment for it after the All-Star game to try and get it in better shape for the stretch run and they told him to lay off it for a few days. Plus it was a back to back.
Very sound and reasonable arguments. Maybe if LeBron hadn’t already crowned himself the GOAT, his ego would allow for it. That being said, I understand why the top tier players don’t ever feel like they should take less because of how much the owners make. However, this would only hold weight with me if there weren’t a salary cap, large penalties for going over it, and billionaire owners of other teams. Considering all of that, I completely agree that if an over the hill player can only play one side of the floor, he shouldn’t ask for the max amount.
Regarding the All Star “game,” it’s not even close to basketball anymore. It’s unwatchable, to any fan that has witnessed what real competition looks like. It’s completely up to the individual, whether or no to participate, but when that individual is missing the next real game because of an injury, it’s a bad look. I don’t care if it’s a back to back situation- it’s still a bad look that sends mixed signals.
We're not a good rebounding Team, not a good Defensive Team & not a good 3 Point Shooting Team... I like most of our Players, but that's gonna be a lot to overcome in the Playoffs.
Refs were s*** today Especially Natalie Sago. Still think we lose even if they call a fair game, but they were awful.
I’m honestly pretty worried post-LeBron. We were really bad before he came, and have remained iffy around the margins even with him. We could legitimately be bad for a long time. Jeanie is never selling though, and even if she did, grass is not always greener on the other side
It seems we can't get the right mix of players and the right coach to extract the maximum from them. Injuries did not help, of course, but it is surprising to see how bad the team has been during the regular season over the years. I am afraid that this can only be remedied with the ownership change.
not to go all slick on ya, but the main reason is that lebron and AD have both missed like 25+ games every year but this one. this year, we lollygagged the entire first half of the season while the coach tinkered in ways that made little sense (and make less now that he's been forced to go with one of the original lineups everyone expected). i think the team was poorly built the first year lebron got here. the title team was well-built, as was the title defense team (imo, that was our very best squad on paper--injuries killed us). then the russ trade killed a year and a half. this year's team was well-built, but our big offseason pick up died, and that was important because he replaced our big offseason loss. i think with the exception of the magic months and the russ trade, i've seen enough to make me pretty confident that the FO knows what it's doing. the fact that we can't/won't spend like the big dogs will be an issue going forward. i also think all the love for some of the smaller market gms ignores how little pressure they're under, internally and externally. we maybe burned one draft pick in jhs, and the fans talk about it incessantly, whereas magician presti just had to cut his #17 pick from a few years ago. just a small example, but other teams screw up as much or more than we do, all the time. and yes, it's clear teams hate us and actively work against us, but at least for now, players still work to get here, and that counteracts it a bit. finally, lebron and AD's leadership has definitely contributed to the team's mediocrity. they just don't bring it all the time, and that sets a culture. the pursuit of a third star that does is kind of a condemnation, right? anyway, i don't want lebron to walk, but i think we can finish 10th without him, tbh.
With the Suns debacle I'm losing hope that this team has what it takes to make a final push in the standings and crawl out of the playin. Or for that matter to win their way out of the playin if we get stuck there. The door isn't closed but it's definitely closing. We've got a pretty brutal schedule coming up and I thought that we would have: A. Cam back by now - without his D there is little chance for us to win against tough competition unless we just flat outscore the opponent; B. More concerted effort like we saw just before the All Star Game; C. Wood or in his absence more Hayes on the court. I'm definitely soured on Ham. His strategy to leave three point shooters open all year has been trash. Our defense really sucks. I'm hoping he at least continues to start Rui as it's the only good move he's made. I'm also hoping Dinwiddie settles into his backup PG role. He's a natural fit for us but he's going to have to get up to speed quickly if we want to do anything. We just have so much ground to make up in a very tough conference. All the playin teams are over .500 unlike the East where you can be truly middling and still sneak in. 23 games left to prove we belong in the post season. At this point I'm tempering my hopes. If Cam actually returns maybe I'll feel better about our chances. And I'm not expecting him to be a cure all to the defense, just to provide some very needed help. We have to win at a very high rate in order to move up. Maybe just maybe if we do, Vando might be able to come back for the post season (very wishful thinking).
While missing the playoffs would stink, if it caused us to really clean house and get the organization in shape from top to bottom I'd say that would be worth the setback. But I feel like we will just end up replacing Ham with Rambis or someone else from the family tree with the same people making decisions and continue with the same strategies that have largely failed during the Jeannie era.
i wonder if ownership will open the wallet and chase a bigger fish for ham's replacement. not sure who it would be right now, though. i don't think the upper administrative structure will change until jeanie sells or moves out of that role, so you're stuck rambis, etc. note that we've barely heard about him lately, though, which is positive. i would like to hear that we're beefing up the front office and medical staff, though. for example, the mavs added dennis lindsey to their front office last year, and i think it has already paid dividends for them. rob needs to find an experienced assistant who has better relationships around the league. i actually trust rob's decision making, but i concede that he doesn't have the kinds of relationships that help grease the wheels on deals.
For me, if we lose early on in the playin there isn’t much silver lining except maybe firing Ham which he would deserve. It would just be a wasted year of a relatively healthy Lebron and a VERY healthy AD. Upper management won’t change as abeer3 said. We just badly need a competent coach. Still can’t believe we are stuck in 10th place at this point. Total underachievement and misuse of our players.
Not having the best in the front office and medical staff is really aggravating and inexcusable to me. There's no cap or anything like that. We can hire as many people and pay them whatever we want. We will have to back up the Brinks truck with any coaching candidate IMO. I've also got no clue who we would target. No names really sway me right now. But that's why we need to use an actual search firm instead of limiting ourselves to only people who have been here in some capacity before. Wonder aloud if the front office is willing to open up the wallet for a new coach while also having to pay Ham. We will see, but I can see us bringing Ham back for one more year.
I can, too, Elgin. They will probably just do a trade for a third "star" such as Trae Young (the only one I think we might have a chance at) and roll the dice with Ham even given his awful coaching this year, and hope that it magically makes the team better. If we were to get someone like Donovan Mitchell I'd think it could possibly work just because he's that good. But I see no reason at all for him to leave the Cavs right now or the Eastern Conference.
