NBA 2009-10 Season

[xtop]

who are you guys expecting to win it all this year?

i'll be hopeful and say the cavs like usual, but won't be surprised if the lakers repeat

 

[Tek-1]

The #1 scorer for the knicks since getting traded by the Boston Celtics and a product of Kansas State University.

I don't think being the #1 scorer on the knicks is a hard thing to do.

 

[BlueCali]

never heard of him wonder if he'll even start once the knicks pick up their 2 super stars

he scores like 26 points a game...

 

[xtop]

and the knicks are terrible. just sayin

 

[xtop]

when does he score 26 a night? his nba page says he's averaging 10 points a night with the knicks, and basically nothing else with his 2 rebounds and 1 assist

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/bill_walker/index.html

 

[Tek-1]

My hopes and dreams for Lebron

#1: Playing for the Brooklyn Nets.
#2: Staying in Cleveland.
#3: Chicago Bulls.

The Knicks are a dumpster fire.

 

[xtop]

even if i wasn't a cleveland fan, i would want him to stay. i don't want to see kobe play for anyone else, and even though the heat suck, i wouldn't want wade to leave (tho i could see why he'd leave)

just nice to see players stick with one team...maybe i'm old fashioned? lol

 

[Horhay]

when does he score 26 a night? his nba page says he's averaging 10 points a night with the knicks, and basically nothing else with his 2 rebounds and 1 assist

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/bill_walker/index.html

I am wondering the same thing, he is not even consider a top rookie.

 

[BlueCali]

when does he score 26 a night? his nba page says he's averaging 10 points a night with the knicks, and basically nothing else with his 2 rebounds and 1 assist

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/bill_walker/index.html

His first couple of starts were good. I didn't keep track of him after that.

 

[BlueCali]

I am wondering the same thing, he is not even consider a top rookie.

He's not a rookie.

 

[Wreck]

even if i wasn't a cleveland fan, i would want him to stay. i don't want to see kobe play for anyone else, and even though the heat suck, i wouldn't want wade to leave (tho i could see why he'd leave)

just nice to see players stick with one team...maybe i'm old fashioned? lol

+1 ... stick it out and ***** to upper management to get you some help! Too bad the NBA isn't like that anymore ... they give away great players at leisure now.

 

[Tek-1]

+1 ... stick it out and ***** to upper management to get you some help! Too bad the NBA isn't like that anymore ... they give away great players at leisure now.

To Clevelands defense they've been busting their ass trying to get lebron some help. But one major disadvantage that every NBA player takes into account is location. Cleveland is not an ideal destination for people. This is completely hypothetical but "Hey D-Wade, come play with me in cleveland."

or

"Hey Chris Bosh, let's go play in New York City, the mecca of basketball." Cleveland is just a hard place to draw big names. Obviously money talks so it is possible but it is harder than it should be.

 

[Horhay]

That's exactly what I was saying a few posts away tek, money talks sure and it will make people come, Cleveland isn't the first place people think of going to when you got NY after you.

 

[xtop]

Lebron > Jordan?

Normally at this time of year, we would be writing breathless articles about the MVP race, rallying our support behind one candidate or another and sifting through torrents of angry e-mails supporting that player's rivals.

Not this year.

The MVP race has been over since about mid-January. LeBron James has run so far away from the pack that he could shoot 0-for-100 from the field over his final eight games and still win the award going away. (For fun, I fact-checked this: Even with 100 straight misses, no assists and no rebounds in his next 200 minutes, he'd still lead the league in PER.)

Only two items of interest remain. First, will some sycophant homer screw up what should be a unanimous decision with a completely indefensible vote for his local guy? And second, is this the best individual season a player has ever had?

As you might suspect, today's topic deals with the second of those questions. Some of this may sound familiar, as this time a year ago I mentioned that James was en route to one of the best statistical seasons in history.

Here's the thing: This season, he's been better.

Once again, a hallowed record (at least in my world) is in play for James as we enter the final eight games: He could surpass Michael Jordan's 1987-88 campaign for the greatest single-season PER in the modern era. I have to add the "modern" qualifier because the league didn't keep track of things like blocks and individual turnovers before 1973-74, rendering the PER exercise a guessing game for players from previous eras.

James' current PER of 31.81 is second best in "modern" history, and with eight games left (of which he'll probably play only five or six), he retains an outside shot at breaking Jordan's all-time mark of 31.89. At the very least, he's going to be within hailing distance.

Top All-time PER Seasons
Player Year PPG RPG APG MPG PER
Michael Jordan 1987-88 35.0 5.5 5.9 40.4 31.89
LeBron James 2009-10 29.8 7.2 8.6 39.0 31.81
Michael Jordan 1990-91 31.5 6.0 5.5 37.0 31.79
LeBron James 2008-09 28.4 7.6 7.2 38.6 31.76
Michael Jordan 1989-90 33.6 6.9 6.3 39.0 31.31
Michael Jordan 1988-89 32.5 8.0 8.0 40.2 31.29

Regardless, James will almost certainly set another record: The best two-year PER stretch of any player in history. James was no slouch last season, finishing at 31.76 for the third-best PER ever (well, until he bumped it down to fourth this season); combined, that gives him a two-year average of 31.78. The best Jordan mustered was 31.55.

Obviously, the larger James versus Jordan argument won't be much of a debate until LeBron picks up some hardware in the postseason. Nonetheless, I can't emphasize enough what an extraordinary accomplishment James' past two seasons represent. We've flinched at comparing current players to Jordan after several previous "next Jordans" were found wanting. But that has put up a mental barrier to a declaration that the numbers see as obvious: In terms of regular-season performance, we're watching the next Jordan.

I'd argue that we can extend that comparison further. When Jordan was at the same stage of his career as LeBron, the press treated him almost exactly the same. Like James, he was a wondrous regular-season performer who had never won anything important and thus couldn't be compared with the likes of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Looking back, that whole notion seems laughable, if not downright quaint … yet we're falling in the exact same trap. Jordan, remember, didn't win a title until his seventh season. As luck would have it, James is in his seventh season, and his odds of winning a crown have never looked better. With the Lakers faltering down the stretch and the Celtics succumbing to age, only James' nemesis from a year ago -- Orlando -- would rate as an even-money proposition to stop him from winning the trophy.

That part of the James-Jordan comparison won't be settled for another two months, his regular-season one in a little more than two weeks.

James leads the league in scoring, at least for the moment (Kevin Durant is only 0.2 behind, and if James rests the final couple of games, Durant will have a number to shoot for, David Robinson-style, in the season finale). But LeBron is not just scoring. He's getting his 29.8 points per game with incredibly high-percentage shots. James' true shooting percentage of 60.4 ranks in the league's top 25, and most of the players ahead of him are snipers with much smaller offensive roles.

Yet for me, his passing is the most amazing part. In fact, for a wing player, it's eye-popping: James has cracked the league's top 15 in pure point rating even though he plays small forward. (Except for James and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili, every player in the top 40 plays the point).

Or try this one on for size: No forward in league history has ever averaged more than eight assists per game until this season; Larry Bird's 7.6 assists per game in 1986-87 came the closest. James is averaging 8.6, even though he's playing in one of the slow-paced eras in league annals and averages a relatively modest 39.0 minutes per game. Put him at Bird's pace in 1986-87, and he'd be averaging a whopping 9.3.

The same applies to most of James' numbers. On a per possession basis, his triple-crown stats of 29.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.6 assists crush Oscar Robertson's triple-double season in 1961-62 … or Jordan's 32.5-8.0-8.0 season in 1988-89 … or just about any statistical season in history.

All except one, that is. James' output still trails Jordan's peak campaign in 1987-88 by a whisker. He has a chance to glide past him in the final two weeks but, with Cleveland throttling down to coast into the postseason, probably won't.

Nonetheless, it's a season for the ages -- and his second of the like in a row. We've held off on comparing James to Jordan for some good reasons, especially since he hasn't won a title yet. But at this point, there's nobody else left to whom we can compare him.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-100330

 

[Wreck]

man, I need to buy some Lebron James memorbilla

 

[xtop]

its insane to think he's putting up jordan like numbers

 

[Wreck]

its insane to think he's putting up jordan like numbers

This will probably bring a **** storm, but to me its not that insane as their isnt as much competition. imo, there are plenty of talented guys and tons of competition but the NBA is so much more business than guys sticking with the same teams trying to win championships. Team wise their isnt much comp as teams are always switching peeps and f'ing up chemistry.

Look at Golden State from a few years ago ... they were getting some killer chemistry going and then Baron Davis leaves among others.

Back in the day, you had Malone and Stockton and Hornacek on their forever trying to win a championship. Barkley hung out in Phoenix for like ever too trying to get it done with KJ, Thunder Dan among others.

The Bull just kept building, The rockets ... everyone just kept building around their star players and developing their draft picks around that.

Now, owners have a luncheon and take a hidden check (I suppose) then drop people like Pau Gasol for frickin Kwame Brown .... Marion gets traded left and right now ... Cavaliers are one of few times trying to build something up until the recent shake up but not really a bad one ... so its no wonder they are tearing through comp. just like LA and Celtics .... difference is, $$$ got them their current line ups more than anything esle for the most part. More so LA and Boston though.

 

[Horhay]

Championships speak for themselves

 

[xtop]

if it were that simple, guys like wade and kobe would be doing it too.

 

[Wreck]

Championships speak for themselves

Your right, they do. However, you cant take away the fact that before Gasol Kobe was over there bitching and demanding a trade and couldnt get it done ... then, he gets some support and gets another Championship and their team is a contender. Without the $$$$$$ you had nothing.

if it were that simple, guys like wade and kobe would be doing it too.

Kobe is in the West, the West has had better teams/opponents to go up against for like the last 10 years damn near. Hence why he isn't doing it.

Wade has no supporting cast, so even if he has easier opponents for the majority of the season he wont be dishing out all these assists or getting open more as teams can double team him and his teammates arent hitting the shots.

So same thing I just said.

Most teams are weak these days and couldnt stand a chance against teams of the 90s ... those squads were loyal most the time and had more experience, were better weathered and thus had better chemistry and more role players.

There was overall more well rounded competition than there is today day in and day out. There fore, it was a harder feat for MJ than LB in my opinion.

 

[xtop]

i don't buy it for a second, i think you're totally underselling what lebron is doing. and if you're going to play that game, then jordan bird and magic weren't nearly as good as russell, wilt, robinson, etc because back then those guys were much tougher, and didn't have the 3 point line....