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Spurs vs. Pacers vs. Heat

June 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Will Tim Duncan get his 5th ring?

Will Tim Duncan get his 5th ring?

Who would have thought that the San Antonio Spurs would sweep the series against the Grizzlies and that the Pacers would be tied 3-3 with the Miami Heat. While San Antonio rests, heals, and awaits to find out who they will be playing for their 4th NBA Championship in the last decade, the Heat and Pacers will meet again Monday night. Here’s a quick glance at the advantages each team has over the others and who the Spurs would rather play for the NBA Championship.

The Big Men:
After the Spurs seemingly manhandled one of the best duos down low in the NBA, you would be hard pressed to give any team the big man advantage over the Spurs. Roy Hibbert has been getting a lot of love for his performance against Miami. And is getting even more attention for throwing around gay slurs and calling the media motherf—–s in his post game conference. However, if you were going to ask me whether I’d have a duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph or Roy Hibbert and David West, I’ll take Gasol and Randolph any day of the week.  If San Antonio can deal with Z-bo and Gasol, they can handle Hibbert and West. Hibbert averaged 11.9 PPG and  8.3RPG during the season. Against Miami, he’s bumped that up to 22.8PPG and 10.8RPG. So how has Hibbert suddenly found himself and become an unstoppable threat down low? I’m going to say no.
Miami’s presence down low is abysmal. Chris Bosh has already been having a career low in rebounding, and against the Pacers is getting a whopping 3.7RPG. 3.7! That’s completely ridiculous for a 6’11 All-Star player. Look at Bosh’s RPG this season against teams with reputable centers or power forwards in the league. Against Brooklyn-3.3RPG, Indiana-3.3RPG, Utah-1.0RPG, Philadephia-3.3RPG. Chris Bosh doesn’t shut down opposing big men, he gets shut down and dominated. Possession control wins in the post season. Hibbert’s excellence right now is more a byproduct of Miami’s atrociousness at handling big men. Hell, if the Pacers leave Hibbert in game 1, James probably doesn’t get the game winning lay up at the buzzer and maybe there isn’t even a game 7. I don’t expect Hibbert to keep up this level of play against a team such as San Antonio. He’s a good center, but his regular season numbers speak volumes. As far as Miami goes, it’s not the big men that win games, its LeBron James.

Advantage: San Antonio Spurs
Whether it’s the Pacers or the Heat, San Antonio will have the advantage in the big man category. Obviously they would prefer to deal with Miami down low rather than the Pacers, but when you have the best power forward of all time playing alongside one of the leagues best coaches, you have the advantage. The Big Fundamental and a fundamentals coach made their statement against the Grizzlies. They can play down low against anyone in the league. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, its all about Timmy D, and he’s going to get his.

Small-Forward:
Kawhi Leonard is an ever-growing asset to the San Antonio franchise and seems to just be getting better and better. Paul George emerged this year as an All-Star and one of the best all around players in the league. But NOONE can argue that Miami does not have the advantage in the small forward position. LeBron James is the greatest basketball player on Earth. Both the Pacers and the Heat have the advantage against San Antonio in the Small Forward position, but the Spurs would rather face Paul George than LeBron James against them on the court.

Advantage: Miami Heat
You never want to play against LeBron James. Plain and Simple.

Shooting Guard:
It appears that the NBA gods decided to plague the shooting guards left in the playoffs. Dwayne Wade’s stats this post season are 13.6PPG, 4.6RPG, 5.1APG, Manu’s 11.5PPG, 4.5RPG, and 5.4APG, and Lance Stephenson 9.4PPG, 7.7RPG, and 3.2APG. Look at that again, Lance Stevenson is performing at nearly the same level of Manu Ginobili and Dwayne Wade. Throw that in with the injury worries of Ginobili and Wade, and Stevenson may be the one to fear. He has that NBA Live ‘He’s on Fire’ ability that gets the Indiana crowd going wild when playing t home. While he’s playing well right now, theres no way I’m going to put him above Wade and Ginobili. Both are perrenial All-Stars for a reason. Despite Wade’s abysmal performance these past few games and his knees that seem to aged 30 years, everyone remembers his Finals performance against Dallas that gave Miami their championship pre-LeBron. And Ginobili can go from having a horrible shooting performance, to nailing the game winning shot with no time left.

Advantage: No Team
If Dwayne Wade and Ginobili continue their sub par performances, they are nearly comparable to Lance Stephenson. I never thought he’d be in the conversation for advantage at shooting guard but he’s there. Not because he’s playing at an all star level, but because the other two have fallen. I’m not basing this on the potential or sheer talent of the players, but the way their performing this post season.

Point Guard:

Tony Parker is one of the most underrated point guards in the league. Without Tony Parker, there is no way that the Spurs are in the Finals. The Spurs offense begins and ends with him and he runs the pick-and-roll to near perfection. Parker’s averaging 23.0PPG, 3.9RPG, and 7.2APG, but his team role goes beyond the numbers. He facilitates the Spurs game plan and conducts the team perfectly. He’s carried his team to a championship and won Finals MVP and I won’t be surprised the least if he does it again.
Who would have thought that George Hill could potentially get to the NBA Finals the same year as a Pacer as he could have as a Spur. Popovich may be going against one of the players he mentored, and while he’s a good point guard and can run the offense, he’s no Tony Parker. He’s an efficient player and can do his job, but it won’t be at an All Star level.
We all remember Dwayne Wade yelling “Mario F—ing Chalmers” after his stellar performance against the Thunder last year. If it wasn’t for his potential to randomly go off for 20+ points, hit those game winning shots he’s been doing since he left Kansas, or for his ridiculous outfit in Miami’s Harlem Shake video, I wouldn’t even talk about him. Like Hill, Chalmers does his job and can randomly have scoring outbursts. Neither player though will take the game over and be the reason his team succeeds.

Advantage: San Antonio Spurs
Tony Parker is one of the best point guards in the league while the others aren’t even in the conversation. As far as a game manager goes, it doesn’t get much better than Tony Parker.

Coaching:
Advantage: San Antonio Spurs
I’m not even going to give this one an elaborate explanation. I commend Frank Vogel and Erik Spoelstra for leading their teams to the Eastern Conference Finals but I’m not going to say they are better than Popovich. Popovich is that coach that never seems to panic and always gets the best out of his players. He commands respect from his players and his authority is never questioned. He is one of the main reasons that the Spurs have been one of the most dominant teams throughout the past decade. He’s one of the greatest coaches the NBA has seen and his coaching acumen cannot be questioned. The fact that every player seems to develop and improve under his coaching is testimony to his coaching skill.

Who would the Spurs rather face?
The Indiana Pacers

I don’t think that it’s the question that the Spurs would rather play the Indiana Pacers. Their make up is not much different than that of the Grizzlies. They operate an inside-out game plan with athletic wing players. Paul George may be able to give them some trouble but Kawahi Leonard is a fantastic on ball defender and could potentially contain him. If I hadn’t seen the Spurs perform so well against the Grizzlies and be able to grind out and win those close games, I may underestimate their ability to contain Indiana’s big men. A series sweep against one of the best teams in the West though speaks volumes. Throw that in with Popovich’s time to analyze the Pacer’s game tape the past week along with the Spurs’ players getting rest, and you have a team that can handle anyone in the Finals.
While many would argue that the Spurs may do better playing against the Heat in the Finals, they have the ultimate X-factor. I don’t think that any team wants to match up against the best player in the world. There is just too much that can go wrong. Also, the funk that Bosh and Wade are in can’t continue forever. If those two can turn it on and LeBron plays to his usual level, the Heat rattle off the wins. One of the most important factors though is that these two teams didn’t play against eachother in the season. The Spurs infamously sat Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili right before their away game against Miami, and Miami sat Wade and James away against the Spurs. Both games were close despite the missing All-Stars. While the Spurs would probably rather match up against the Pacers, a Spurs-Heat Finals is the one I’m hoping for.
I want to see the ultimate team ball against the star studded cast of the Miami Heat. A team that announced themselves with a rock concert versus the quiet reserved players of the Spurs. One of the most dominant teams for the past decade going against the team that plans to rattle off “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven” championships. The series could signal the closing of a dynasty or the beginning of a new one, and something all basketball fans should want to see.

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Tye Masters
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How Westbrook Broke the West

April 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It had been talked about too much amongst  NBA announcers and your friends. Whenever people keep bringing something up, things always seemed to get jinxed. But this streak wouldn’t end. With 394 straight regular season games played, 45 playoff games, and inhuman athleticism, Russell Westbrook’s streak seemed it could go on forever. The guy hasn’t missed a game since high school but will sit out indefinitely, 2 games up on the Rockets, in the first round of the 2013 Playoffs. After losing to the Heat in last year’s Finals, Westbrook will not be lining up against them again this season.  I’d be willing to bet everything that Westbrook would rather have lost his streak months ago then  have it taken away from him now.

The news that Russell Westbrook will undergo surgery to have his meniscus repaired is as bad for the NBA and Thunder as Westbrook’s fashion. Westbrook is a top 10 player in the NBA and arguably the best point guard. Westbrook’s speed, athleticism, and skill set force opposing to teams to focus on him and attempt to contain him. Patrick Beverly hit the superhuman point guard with some kryptonite in Game 2 of the series tearing his lateral meniscus. The injury leaves Thunder fans wishing that Westbrook’s punch on the scorer’s table after the injury had gone into Beverly’s face, and hoping that the Thunder can somehow persevere.

Westbrook averaged 7.4 assists, 23.2 points, 1.8 steals, and 5.2 rebounds per game. The Thunder will miss every single one of those statistics. There’s no James Harden to take over the point anymore, Eric Maynor was traded to save a few dollars, so Reggie Jackson will now be lining up in Westbrook’s slot. And if you’re saying the Thunder are stupid for making those moves months ago- shut up now. Shoulda, woulda, and coulda don’t win championships and the Thunder secured the number 1 seed in the West just fine. Bad luck got them in this situation, not bad management. Let’s not kid ourselves though, the team won’t rely on Reggie Jackson or need him to play at Westbrook’s level. We have no idea how the Thunder will play without Russell Westbrook because it hasn’t happened in 5 seasons. We do know that Kevin Durant will have to raise his game to a new level to keep his team alive. The scariest thing is that he’s entirely capable.

If you doubt that the Thunder can make it back to the NBA Finals, you are seriously underestimating Kevin Durant. While Durant may not be the best player in the NBA, he’s the second best basketball player on the planet. In case you forgot, Durant just became the youngest player to join the 50-40-90 Fraternity. He shot 51% from the field, 41% from three and 90% from the free throw line. I don’t know of a much harder pledge process than needing those numbers. A pregnant Kim Kardashian has a better chance of getting in her old jeans than someone does of getting into the 50-40-90 club. So, if you give Durant 10-12 more shots a game at his scary efficiency, its not unlikely for him to average 40 points a game. Durant’s 4.6 assists per game alongside only 3.5 turnovers per game prove he knows how to handle the ball. The team will miss Westbrook, but Durant and company can still get to the Finals. If the Durant and D-Wade Gatorade commercial is true, Durant’s going to give everything he has to get back into the Finals. It won’t be easy for them, but it’s not impossible. The Thunder may be down right now, but they aren’t out.

While the Thunder took a major hit in the defense of their western conference crown, the rest of the Western teams chances to make it to the Finals greatly improved. The Thunder entered the playoffs as the favorites to come out of the west, but Westbrook’s injury has evened up the race. The San Antonio Spurs are rolling over the Lakers behind a Tim Duncan who’s proving himself as the best power forward of all time. If anyone can be considered the new favorites it has to be them. The Warriors and Nuggets are lighting the scoreboard, despite both teams having suffered massive injuries themselves (Danillo Gallinari and David Lee).  The winner of the Clippers-Grizzlies series (who would play the Thunder if they go on to win next round) suddenly seems like a contender to take the west. Everything is up the air and an argument can be made for every team- besides the Lakers and Rockets. At the beginning of the NBA season it seemed destined to end with the Lakers, Thunder, or Heat as champions. The Lakers are all but done, the Thunder have fallen into the pack, and only the Heat remain the favorites. If Westbrook’s injury has shown us anything, don’t count your chips before their cashed. Everything can change on any given play.

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The Betting Corner : NBA Round 1, Day 3 & 4

April 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

NBA Betting Corner Round 1, Day 3 & 4

Bracket

Welcome! To the NBA Playoffs Betting Corner.

4/22/13

8PM ET on TNT

Series 0-1

          Chicago Bulls @ Brooklyn Nets          

 –

10.30PM ET on TNT

Series 0-1

Memphis Grizzlies @ Los Angeles Clippers

—–

4/23/13

7.30PM ET on NBATV

Series 0-1

Milwaukee Bucks @ Miami Heat

 –

8PM ET on TNT

Series 0-1

Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks

 –

10.30PM ET on TNT

Series 0-1

Golden State Warriors @ Denver Nuggets

  –

Our Sunday started out with an easy win as the total in the Indiana-Atlanta game went over. The Lakers-Spurs game (+9) was really close. The Bucks kept it close in the first half but just had a total meltdown in the second half. In the last game of the night, we had the total over 213 and the final score totaled up to 211,If you watched the game, you’re just as frustrated as me.

YTD Season: 3-4-1

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In the first game of the night, the Brooklyn Nets will continue to route the Chicago Bulls. I had the Bulls +5 because the Bulls are still a great defensive team and with Joakim Noah back, things were promising. Apparently not. The most productive center in the league, Brook Lopez, is playing great along with Deron Williams who’s been on a tear since the All-Star break. Noah came back but wasn’t a huge factor. The Chicago starters combined for just 50 points while the Brooklyn starters combined for 78.

Key(s) to winning- Rebounds

1 Unit (Brooklyn Nets -5)

clippers reserve

In primetime comes the highlight reel Los Angeles Clippers who will try to take a 2-0 lead in their series. The Clippers’ bench only scored nine more points than the Grizzlies bench but the difference in the game was rebounding, The Clippers out-rebounded the Grizzlies 47-23. There’s a saying in basketball, you control the board/paint, and you control the game. The Grizzlies just don’t have enough intensity to match up with the Clippers, especially in Los Angeles.

Key(s) to winning- Rebounds + Bench Production

1 Unit- (Los Angeles Clippers -5.5)

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On Tuesday we have the Miami Heat taking on the Milwaukee Bucks in what looks to be a four-game sweep for the King and his gang. Even though Brandon Jennings showed up and played a decent game in Game 1, the picture shows exactly what happened on Sunday. King James took matters into his own hands and flirted with a triple-double as the Heat erased any doubt in Jennings’ mind that the Bucks will win in six. In summary, the Bucks simply can’t handle the Heat. And with another blowout in mind, I don’t see any value in taking either the total points because it could go either way in a blowout situation.

Key(s) to winning- King James leading the way

0 Unit- (No value in either points or total)

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In more Tuesday action we have the still emotional Boston Celtics at New York taking on the Knicks and like I predicted in Game 1, the Celtics did put up a fight and could have easily covered the game, but were held to eight points in the fourth quarter. Boston also turned the ball over several times in the final two minutes. While emotions ran high during the first game, I feel like the Knicks showed the Celtics first hand why they are 31-10 at home this season. With New York’s stellar defense in the second half forcing turnovers, and with Boston lacking a true point guard, the Celtics had plenty of trouble taking care of the ball. I predict that the Celtics will win outright in Game 3 at home for their home crowd, but for Game 2, take the Knicks.

Key(s) to winning- 3pt% & FT%

1 Unit- (Knicks -6.5)

David-Lee-will-miss-the-rest-of-the-season.-Garrett-Ellwood-NBA-Getty-Images

The nightcap on Tuesday features a GoldenState team that is missing David Lee for the remainder of the playoffs. I had predicted that the Warriors would put up a fight and make it a tough series with Lee and Andrew Bogut being paint problems for the Denver Nuggets but it’s not happening now.The Warriors lost their main low-post threat and about 20 points per game to go along with 10 rebounds per game. With that in mind, the Nuggets were lucky to come out with a win via a buzzer-beater by 37-year-old veteran Andre Miller, who came off the bench with 28 points. It doesn’t look like George Karl will have the need to play Kenneth Faried with Lee out of the picture, so were going to keep going with the under for Game 2.

Key(s) to winning- Points in the paint

1 Unit- (Total under 207)

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The Betting Corner: Round , Day 2

April 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

Bracket

1 p.m EST on TNT

Atlanta Hawks @ Indiana Pacers

Series 0-0

 

5:30 p.m. EST on ABC

Los Angeles Lakers @ San Antonio Spurs

Series 0-0

 

7 p.m. EST on TNT

Milwaukee Bucks @ Miami Heat

Series 0-0

 

9:30 p.m. EST on TNT

Houston Rockets @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Series 0-0

 

Pacers/Hawks

At 1p.m. EsT we have the sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks featuring Josh Smith and Jeff Teague visiting the  third-seeded Indiana Pacers with Paul George and David West. Indiana is trying to build on its great season despite missing star Danny Granger. The Pacers are 30-11 at home while the Hawks are 19-22  on the road.

 

11/7/12 Indiana @ Atlanta 86-89

12/29/12 Indiana @ Atlanta 100-109

2/5/13 Atlanta @ Indiana 103-114

3/25/13 Atlanta @ Indiana 94-100

 

As you can see the matchups these two teams have had in the regular season, home court advantage is HUGE and can determine the momentum of the series. I don’t want to sound like a broken record but the NBA playoffs are all about defense and limiting turnovers is a huge key to winning games. The Pacers and Hawks are similar in that category, with the Pacers committing 1227 turnovers while the Hawks committed 1219 for the whole season. While the Hawks are not known for their three-point prowess they rank 7th in the league in three-point percentage at 37.1 percent while the Pacers converted 34.7 of their three-point attempts. Whichever team can take care of the ball and limiting 3’s from the opposing team will win the game. But I do see this game going over the total 185.5

 

Key(s) to winning:Limiting turnovers and three-point percentage

 

1 Unit (Total over 185.5)

 

Lakers/Spurs

At 3:30PM EST comes one of the most exciting matchups we have in the West. The seventh-seeded Mamba-less Los Angeles Lakers visit the playoff experienced second-seeded San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are 35-6 at home while the Lakers are an ugly 16-25 away from Staples Center.

 

11/13/12 San Antonio @ Los Angeles 84-82

1/9/13 Los Angeles @ San Antonio 105-108

4/14/13 San Antonio @ Los Angeles 86-91

 

With and without Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have managed to keep all three regular season meetings close. Both teams know each other very well and without a doubt the key players for this game will be Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard versus Tony Parker and Tim Duncan., Ever since the All-Star break and the passing of Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss, the Lakers have found a sense of urgency and have clawed themselves back into the playoff picture. The Spurs however have been well… the Spurs, despite several injuries throughout the season, with the  managed playing times of his star players, Gregg Popovich has a full squad ready for another championship run. It will be a close game and even though the final score will not show, free-throw percentage will determine the outcome of the game as the Spurs shoot .791 while the Lakers shoot a disastrous .692 from the charity stripe.

 

Key(s) to winning- Free-throw percentage along with  the Gasol/Howard versus Parker/Duncan matchup

 

1 Unit (Lakers +9)

 

 

Heat Bucks

 

Interesting matchup coming in at 7 p.m. EST, the top-seeded defending champions Miami Heat host the eighth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat are 37-4 at home and the Bucks are 17-24 away from home.

 

11/21/12 Milwaukee @ Miami 106-113 OT

12/29/12 Miami @ Milwaukee 85-104

3/15/13 Miami @ Milwaukee 107-94

4/9/13 Milwaukee @ Miami 83-94

 

First questions that comes into mind, how many eightseeds have upset the No. 1 seed to move on to the second round? The answer is five.

 

  • The Denver Nuggets defeated the Seattle Supersonics 3-2 in 1994.
  • The New York Knicks defeated the Miami Heat in 1999, 3-2.
  • The Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks in 2007, 4-2.
  • The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the San Antonio Spurs in 2011, 4-2.
  • The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Chicago Bulls in 2012, 4-2

 

Both teams will be healthy to start their playoff run, and as I’ve highlighted in red above, we have had upsets in the past twp years in a row where an eight seed knocked off a oneseed. Will Miami share the same fate or will it be the Thunder that will be a part of history? Opening games are always hard to predict even more so for this matchup, but 13 is just too much in a playoff game to be favorite by even when you’re the Heat.

 

Key(s) to winning- Big 3 of Miami Heat versus the entire Milwaukee Bucks

 

1 Unit (Milwaukee +13)

 

Thunder/Rockets

No hard feelings?  At 9:30PM EST we have another great matchup between the eighth-seeded Houston Rockets visiting the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are 34-7 at home while the Rockets are 16-25 away from Toyota Center.

 

 

11/28/12 Houston @ OKC 98-120

12/29/12 OKC @ Houston 124-94

2/20/13 OKC @ Houston 119-122

 

If you’re looking for an up-tempo/transition type of game and you absolute HATE defense, look no further, we bring you Houston at Oklahoma City. Why no defense? The Houston Rockets are an atrocious 28th in the league at holding their opponents to 102.5 points per game while the Thunder sit 9th at 96.5 points per game allowed. Knowing that the Rockets can’t play defense, offense will be key to winning this game as the Rockets rank second in the league with 106 points per game and the Thunder just slightly behind at third with 105.7 points per game. Will The Thunder feel the effects of missing James Harden in the playoffs and be the sixth team to lose to an eighth seed? Or will  Harden finally get his revenge on his former team?

 

Key(s) to winning- First team to 100 wins.

 

1 Unit (Total over 213)

 

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Legend of Lebron

February 6, 2013 by 1 Comment
The Legend

The Legend

Sunday night officially signaled the end of the NFL, the most watched sport in America. If you are just starting to follow the NBA season after the NFL’s closure, you’ve missed out on a lot. As CBS cameras caught Joe Flacco saying Sunday night, this NBA season has been “f—ing awesome!” In case you were wondering though, LeBron James is still the best player in the NBA. The Heat took a later flight from Toronto so they wouldn’t miss the Super Bowl but you wouldn’t have known watching James on Monday night. LeBron dominated the Charlotte Bobcats going an insane 13-14 from the field and played with so much energy you would have thought that American Airlines Arena might experience a blackout. As if shooting a career high percentage wasn’t enough, LeBron tallied up 8 boards, 8 assists, and 2 steals to go along with it. It’s just another milestone for LeBron James, and a performance we’ve grown used too. So for all you NFL fans, who only follow basketball once the NFL season is over, welcome to the LeBron James show.

LeBron has put up such ridiculous lines so consistently over the years that we have become accustomed to his greatness. It’s like when you go see a movie with Daniel Day Lewis, if it’s not in the running for best picture, then it’s a letdown. We only expect the best. Critics of LeBron always brought up his inability to play in the post (which he’s fixed), disappearing at the end of games (also been fixed) and his poor handling of The Decision and assumption of the role of villain. When I saw this happen, it became clear that LeBron is no longer the villain many once considered him.

That is LeBron James emotionally celebrating the unlikely success of a man who just won $75,000 hitting a half-court hook shot during the game. James was absolutely thrilled for the good fortune of another — a villain wouldn’t be thrilled. We do not expect NBA players to get so giddy and excited that they jump on another man during a NBA game. That’s LeBron though. He continually does things we don’t expect any NBA player to do and he mesmerizes us.  The scariest thing about LeBron is not only has he continued matching our expectations of him, but he’s exceeding them. LeBron is like the flu. Every year opposing teams and coaches know that LeBron is going to do some damage and you can take precautions and try to contain him (similar to getting the flu shot), but he’s still going to ruin a good amount of people’s day.  You look forward to flu season ending and being healthy, but you know that next year it’s only going to come back stronger and you’re going to have to deal with the whole scenario again.

LeBron James’ fountain of basketball greatness seems never ending as he has again increased his efficiency again during the offseason. With the All-Star break coming up, LeBron is shooting a career-high 55 percent from the field. That’s better than what Lakers’ star Dwight Howard or Atlanta’s Josh Smith can shoot from the free-throw line. Throw this in with a 40 percent success rate from the three, a career low 2.8 turnovers and LeBron is having the most efficient season of his career. With this efficiency has come production as LeBron averages 26 PPG, 8 RPG, 7 APG. The only thing receding about LeBron is his hairline and I think he’ll accept that as long as his game improves. The king is fighting to keep his crown with a growing Kevin Durant chasing him (which will be one of the greatest rivalries of the next decade), but the reigning MVP is proving why he’s considered the best basketball player on the planet.

He can distribute the ball like a point guard, score like a shooting guard, or post up underneath the basket like a power forward. Along with all of this, he’s too big to be defended by a traditional guard and he’s too fast to be matched against a power forward or center. He’s the hybrid, power point guard, basketball monster that can only be described as LeBron. He’s a dominant physical specimen with an extremely developed basketball IQ. It’s like facing a big, extremely athletic Chris Paul nightly. He never stops getting better. Critique something about him or his game, he’ll spend the next summer making sure the fault doesn’t exist. LeBron has even been able to improve his likeability this year. While rated sixth on Forbes’ 2012 list of most hated athletes, everyone knows that Lance Armstrong will dominate the list next year. As long as LeBron doesn’t get busted for PEDs or marry a Kardashian, he’s looking at seventh place in a worst-case scenario.

Beyond his ridiculous efficiency and averages, LeBron has hit some notable milestones this season. LeBron began this season by scoring 20 or more points in the first 33 games of the season. He is only the second player to have achieved this since the 1976 NBA merger, only trailing George Gervin’s 45-game streak. What’s most impressive about this? If you go back to last season, the last game he scored fewer than 20 points was April 13 against the Bobcats when he registered 19 points. After that game, LeBron scored 20 or more points in the next 54 games when including last year’s postseason. The guy operates so consistently that he seems more like a machine than man. This consistency allowed him to become the youngest player to 20,000 points and in LeBronian fashion, he dished his 5,000th assist that same game. For LeBron, one milestone just isn’t enough.

That seems to be the story of LeBron’s career — it’s never enough. A championship, a finals MVP, 3 regular season MVPs and two Olympic golds isn’t enough. He consistently improves his play, maturity and ever-growing legend each year. He’s someone who is constantly pushing himself to get better and has developed into someone who can play or defend any position on the court. He’s by far the best and most complete player. When the other teams only hope to stop you is by you stopping yourself and having an off night, you’ve reached a special level. LeBron is looking at a fourth MVP, another NBA finals appearance and a chance to further his legacy. I’m petitioning to make 2 Chainz poetic “I’m Diffrent” the theme song of LeBron James since no song could describe him better -“I’m different, yeah I’m different, pull up to the scene with my ceiling missing, middle finga up to my competition!” LeBron James is different than any other player in the league and his greatness has no ceiling. If you’re going to try to compete against LeBron James, good luck trying to keep up with the king.

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Tye Masters
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