[No coincidences]

To answer your question nasher, yes, it's true.

And Indiana is the better team. This isn't even really debatable at this point. They're more well-rounded, meaner, hungrier, tougher, etc.

But Miami has LeBron James. And LeBron makes all of that other stuff go away. Remember that before you go with the Indiana ML tomorrow or the Spurs to win the NBA title. LeBron is still LeBron. He's the best player on the planet, the best we've seen since Jordan, and he'll do what it takes to drag this piece of shit team of his across the finish line.

[stevenash]

Indiana needs to get real physical on LeBron tommorrow.
Bang him around if you have to.
Pacers need to get him off his game.
Do that, Pacers will go to the finals.

[No coincidences]

Indiana needs to get real physical on LeBron tommorrow.
Bang him around if you have to.
Pacers need to get him off his game.
Do that, Pacers will go to the finals.

Easier said than done, given LeBron's built like a fvcking tank.

[hotelis]

they are a great team. coaching is WAY off. they are static, no ball movement, therefore - no open shots. i dont think Pacers defence is THAT good.

[No coincidences]

they are a great team. coaching is WAY off. they are static, no ball movement, therefore - no open shots. i dont think Pacers defence is THAT good.

I actually think Spo's a better coach than a lot of people give him credit for. I've completely changed my tune on him over the past year or so.

I also think he's having a hard time getting his players to "buy in" this year. They're fat and lazy off last year's title. He's referred to the "hunger" factor quite often in press conferences all season long.

[El Sol]

That's just it, LBJ shouldn't have to shout at his teammates to get them motivated.
Bird never yelled at McHale and DJ.
Magic never yelled at Rambis.
Isaah never yelled at Vinnie or Rodman.

Magic yelled at everyone, even Kareem. He was an ass on the court, especially if you dropped a pass.

Might be something said about that. I played a lot of sports growing up, and some of the most successful teams I was on had at least one player who was an azzhole and hated to lose. I honestly was more afraid to fu*k up because of him than my coach.

Might be something to be said about that, regardless how much Ratzz hates Kobe and calls him a Cancer. He loves to win and pushed the Team to a bunch of championships. Maybe LeBron hasnt been tough enough, and needs to be more of an azz like other past champions

[fitguy67]

a really good-reading thread so far...

let's switch the focus now from interesting discussion to "rubber meets road" (aka. betting) considerations

5dimes now has
*Heat win Championship at -140
*NOT Heat win Chmpnship at +120
`
two-sided coin: They do -140/They don't +120

_______

from a strictly value perspective, NOT Heat +120 seems the play...

in 1000 identical parallel universes, does NOT Heat win in at least the 455 of 'em to make this bet "the right play"...I say yes

NOT Heat to win NBA Championship +120 = risking 0.833 units to win 1 unit


"i don't care how great LBJ is an individual player and how hard he tries to drag the rest of his team along...they get taken out...sooner (by the Pacers)...or later (by the Spurs),...
either way...it'll be by a better-rostered/better-coached team"

I give the above paragraph a considerably better than 45.46% shot to be the way things turn out...and the "ESPN spin" paragraph (you know...Lebron...Lebron...prevailing in the face of adversity...Lebron...2nd championship ring to silence his detractors...etc.) considerably less than that...

do I try to quantify the subjective adjective "considerably"=to quantify my perceived "edge"...no...it's just gotta be "enough" more than the threshold implied odds to make it "worth a shot" to add an extra unit to your roll

for me nothing is a pound play...everything is to win a unit...just because this one may take from 1 day to two weeks don't make it worth anything more than an MLB game this afternoon...a play is either "worth a shot" or not...betting against the Heat to repeat at +120 is definitely worth a shot

[Menses]

That's just it, LBJ shouldn't have to shout at his teammates to get them motivated.
Bird never yelled at McHale and DJ.
Magic never yelled at Rambis.
Isaah never yelled at Vinnie or Rodman.

That is exactly what LJ should be doing....The Celtics and the Lakers were loaded...those guys did not have to yell...LJ is playing with like 6 guys over the age of 30 and a Chris Bosh who has seemingly forgotten how to play basketball....Jordan punched Steve Kerr in practice...imagine what he would have done in a real game.....and had he been Lebron in Game 5 and his team was playing like that, he might have choked D-Wade until his knee felt better...

[El Sol]

That is exactly what LJ should be doing....The Celtics and the Lakers were loaded...those guys did not have to yell...LJ is playing with like 6 guys over the age of 30 and a Chris Bosh who has seemingly forgotten how to play basketball....Jordan punched Steve Kerr in practice...imagine what he would have done in a real game.....and had he been Lebron in Game 5 and his team was playing like that, he might have choked D-Wade until his knee felt better...

This is an example of creating and assumption to feed your ignorance of the situation. I highly doubt you were even alive during the Bird / Magic era. Becuase if you were, you would be aware of both Bird and Magic shouting at there team mates constantly. They were extremely competitive on the court and would let everyone know publicly on the court when they weren't performing.

[Art Vandelay]

To answer your question nasher, yes, it's true.

And Indiana is the better team. This isn't even really debatable at this point. They're more well-rounded, meaner, hungrier, tougher, etc.

But Miami has LeBron James. And LeBron makes all of that other stuff go away. Remember that before you go with the Indiana ML tomorrow or the Spurs to win the NBA title. LeBron is still LeBron. He's the best player on the planet, the best we've seen since Jordan, and he'll do what it takes to drag this piece of shit team of his across the finish line.

Exactly - well said! Won't be pretty, but Heat win Monday night by half a dozen...