[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

 I was talking with some older people about basketball and they mention this:

None of these debates until LBJ came into the league. No one talked about clutch, closer, or even rings to this degree until LeBron became a great player. I never remember these continuous debates in the 90s. It was all about the teams back then.

Back in the day, calling the one play the opposing team and everyone in the world expects in the closing minutes, ie an iso with a supposed "closer", was called stupidity, since it’s the easiest play in the world to defend. Now we like to reward people for taking and making bad shots 33% of the time.

[Anton123Participant]

 Well people did talk about rings and Jordan somehow did often end up with the ball in the closing possesions, no?

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

Part of that was because of defenses that teams played then. With different rules these days 1 on 1 ball is more emphasized and star players are expected to score in the clutch.

 

[ky30Participant]

Everybody talk SHIT about LBJ, because they scared that he might be better than MJ.

 

 

[tytan23Participant]

i think most people wanted him to be better than MJ. They wanted him to lead his home team to multiple titles and become the most dominant player ever. unfortunately he hasnt live up to it.

[JoeWolf1]

That’s because the best player in the game in the 90’s won his first ring in 1991.  There wasn’t that criticism for the best player in that era because he was known for hitting game winning shots and winning titles.

 

[mookieParticipant]

People talk about those things when relating to the greatest player to ever play or who the best player is. You won’t hear those things being talked about good , average or even sucky players.    when d3terming the best player of all time or today, they have to be a complete player in everyway.  Offensec defense, winning, cluth everything.  I think if a player is lacks in a category you can’t count him as the best ever. look at all the greats…they were complete

[bennydabullParticipant]

 I think we can also attribute this to our Internet age and the development of social media. There’s so many more ways to talk basketball nowadays and anyone can be an NBA fan (whether knowledgable or not). With this comes more emphasis on superstar players and the inevitable nitpicking of their every move.

[frogmanParticipant]

I don’t think anyone realistically expected a great High school basketballer to become the most dominant player ever.  Talk about ridiculous expectations.  He came into the league with the highest expectations of probably any sportsman ever and has exceeded them.  We should really give him credit instead of bashing him at every single opportunity.

[tytan23Participant]

i never said people expected him to be the greatest and i wasnt hating on him either, as a matter of fact i think hes the best basketballer on the planet today and probably will be for a long time. all i meant was people want new "heroes" to look up to and to take the place of the old guard. thats what MJ did when he repaced Magic and Bird, and i belive people wanted lebron to be that guy. he was widely popular coming out of high school, had the game to do it and got drafted by his home team. everything was in place for him to take the mantle of being the "greatest", unfortunately it hasnt worked out that way. not yet anyway. still got a long time left in his career  

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I don’t get this thread…

So since LeBron has a reputation of not always coming through in the clutch, we’re now downplaying clutch play?

And being a "closer" isn’t necesarily about getting a clear out and isolating to score the basket. Reggie Miller was a great closer and he almost never created his own shot off of the dribble. Similar to Ray Allen. Players like Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki catch the ball in a sweet spot. Kobe can go off of the dribble, catch it in a sweet spot or move without the ball. The only reason LeBron is always in dribble isolation situations is because playing/moving without the ball isn’t a strength. Most of his game is off of the dribble, which is predicatable in the clutch.

 

 

 

 

 

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

MJ got the ball in a good position to score because the Bulls were running plays to spring him free, he was brilliant in execution, and Phil was excellent in putting him in positions to succeed.  Remember how many last shots Jordan hit… but don’t forget Pax, BJ, Kukoc, Kerr and the centers all hitting open shots thanks to teams overplaying Michael. 

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