I didn't watch, but did they mention that Florida has no state income tax?

by jazzchic on 07/09/2010 02:29:36 PM EST

I'm more interested in the entire phenomena. Building these "superteams" isn't really that new. When the Lakers acquired Wilt from the Warriors and Kareem from the Bucks, to go along with Jerry "the Logo" West (and incidently a young Pat "Riles" Riley a few years later) they were building a superteam to contend with the Celtics who'd won what was it 8 championships in 10 years or something, under Red and then player coach Russell.

The problem is the affect it has on the rest of the league. The Knicks get rid of David Lee? What are they thinking? They were all-in for LeBron, they get second fiddle matching up Ama're with his former coach, and then the Dolan's start looking at their checkbooks again. They had a case of, as Allen Greenspan would call it, irrational exuberance.

It is going to be interesting to see what Shaq does. You know, sometimes an old dog like that has one good year left in him. If he goes to the Celtics and Big Baby Davis continues to improve and Perkins rehabs quickly, I mean you never know. Shaq returns to form only having to play 10 or 20 minutes a night, no pressure to produce, comfortable in a half court system, the Celtics with Shaq, KG, Ray Allen, da Troof, and Rondo with Davis off the bench could be the best six man rotation of all time.

I think a lot has to do with who coaches the Heat, if Riley decides to drop down from GM and who they keep or attract. Do they keep players like Udanis Haslem, the real soul of the team, or does he get lost in the shuffle. Does Carmello get signed in a swap, sign and trade deal with the Nuggets, maybe involving three teams, perhaps say Washington (that might be looking to shop a rehabbed Agent Zero minus the gun) with Chauncey on the block to boot? I don't think the wheeling and dealing is done. I think the Heat have to finish building their team and I think every team in the league, Dallas, the Spurs, maybe every team outside of the Lakers, not just eastern conference teams, is going to have to tweak things to try and deal with the new reality.

I think you have a valid point, though, about Cenk. Just to play devil's advocate for the moment, and I didn't hear Cenk's comments, I'm taking this out of context, there's been a lot of negative reaction, calling LeBron a selfish person, saying it is no good for the league, a lot of hate. So he might just be taking a contrarian view of the situation, that if he were in LeBron's shoes he might have done the same thing? Don't know.

On the other hand, LeBron and Wade are both exciting to watch play because they play the game the right way, they are both dazzling players but both are unselfish as well. People are putting together the team on paper saying that their points all add up to x and y. But a good question is will they work well together, they might take shots away from each other, they don't have a facilitator like Rondo to dish to all that talent, and a player like Skip to my Lou or whomever they have at point now, a player at that level, just ain't cuttin' it (no offense to Alston who I like, I think he with the Magic now anyway, right, or is he in Hotlanta, man moves around more than Greyhound) compared to Fischer, Rondo, CP3, DeRon Williams.

But on the other other hand, you look at LeBron's assists, how many more would he have had if his team mate's converted at a higher rate, in other words had better shooting percentages? Granted, Wade scores a lot of points at the line converting on slashes, or coast to coast on the break, and he's a playmaker himself who can create, not a set-up shooter like a J.J. Reddick or a Stoyakavich that needs the feed. But still, Wade and Bosh will increase LeBrong's assist total. I wouldn't be surpsised to see Wade's defense improve with Bosh and LeBron behind him and to see him lead the league in scoring. I'd be surprised if LeBron's scoring doesn't fall off a bit, but he might average a triple double this year and Bosh's presence will enable him to get a few more offensive rebounds on second tips.

Unless Shaq goes to the Celtics and returns to form, and all their players stay healthy, a lot of big ifs, Heat Lakers finals seems a lock. Of course there is still the outside chance of some other blockbuster three team deal, say the Spurs and Mavs and Jazz or something unlikely which creates yet another superteam, Dirk and Duncan for instance.

Whatever you do, don't click this link (studies show you're more likely if you shouldn't)

by tiggerporn on 07/09/2010 03:14:40 PM EST