As a LIFELONG cleveland Cavaliers fan, he and Kobe are the greatest talents I've seen since Jordan. Just wondering what u FCPers think of King James.

ima spurs fan but i love watching anytime lebron is on tv great talent love watching him develop into a super star

Not very clutch just like Kobe

Kobe is pretty clutch. He's definately had his share of game winners. As for Lebron he had one not too long ago, but people dont realize it's hard to be clutch when you are the only good player on your team (ok maybe not the only), but players like lebron and kobe are always getting double teamed because teams can afford it.

Yea cause no one ever double or triple teamed MJ. All things considered, I'd rather have Wade on my team than LeBron.

I liked Lebron a lot more when he was more like Magic than MJ. He was a great passer from the moment he came into the league, but he seems to be a shoot-first type of player now. Probably because his teammates suck, but still...

Agreed

He's teammate's are horrible. Typical cavalier offensive play: LeBron dribbles for 20 seconds while his teammates stand around with their heads up their asses, LeBron takes fadeaway 20 ft(he somehow makes about half of these, AMAZING). And he STILL somehow averages 7 assts. AND 7 rebs. a game. Z can score, but he is really slow and uncoordinated and has no stamina, so he's usually on the bench the whole 4th quarter.

Actually LeBron's teammates arent horrible. Way too much has been made of that. His teammates arent the greatest but they are at least ok. I think the reason sports writers metion this so often is because they are looking for a reason why James isnt taking this team to a title and dont want to say its James fault. It's actually not James fault but his teammates arent the reason. A good reason is that James is still very young and still learning how to run a team and control games, but people dont want to hear that. With the given talent and how long the team has been together (which hasnt been very long), the Cavs are right where they should be. If James teammates were horrible, this would be a lottery team.

And James isnt shooting too much. He's one of the best scorers in league and the Cavs need to take advantage of that. They would be stupid not to. And James is still passing the ball and getting teammates involved. He just hasnt learned exactly when to pass and when to shoot, but almost every star player has trouble with that early in their career (and some never get it). James is doing extremely well. Fans just need to be patient. He's only 3 years out of high school!

I've only seen the nationally televised games, but it sure seems like he's forcing a lot of shots early in the shot clock.

james is good but not on kobe's level~

actually, right now, no one is on kobe's level~

as far as championships goes, i can see james, hughes and zydrus competing in the finals in a year or 2~
by then, shaq would be older, and if the pistons lose some of their starters, the cavs will be the power in the east

To play at the level he is playing at compared to how young he is, is amazing. I wonder what the Cavs will do to keep him when his contract is up. I'm sure he will be compensated very well for his work.

biggest problem I see with his teammates is the guard play. They brought in Damon Jones to be a sharpshooter, and he's been horrible. Eric Snow, well, yeah, he sucks too. With LeBron's ability to get to the basket, and his passing ability, they should shoot so well from 3 point range. Flip Murray seems to have helped somewhat. With Hughes, both him and LeBron can control the ball, so they really just need some 3 point shooting from the point guard and they'd be a pretty good team (even though they're one of the 4 best teams in the east already).

I've watched almost everygame. Trust me, he's teammates are HORRIBLE. Drew Gooden is hot and cold, Z is good for about half the game and then he bottoms out, and the rest are horrible. Varjero brings alot of energy and rebounding off the bench, but is still very raw and not ready to play siginfigant minates yet, imo. Flip murray can create his own shot, but is way to streaky. Marshall and Jones were brought in to improve the outside shooting, but for all the games they contribute, there are 4 or 5 that they don't contribute ANYTHING. Larry Hughes looked like a keeper till his injury, and his injury was a backbreaker.

As for if his teammates were that horrible they would be a lottery team, LeBron has been OUTSTANDING and has carried this to team to every win. For a 21 year old kid to be as good as LeBron, well, it's never been done before. Its a pleasure to watch and he has somehow SURPASSED all the hype, imo.

Well I gues it depends on how you define horrible teammates. I still dont think his teammates are that bad. IMO, James is great player with a bunch of average teammates. Ilguaskas is certainly an above average center, and Hughes injury really hurt them this year.

If you look at Kobe with the Lakers and Pierce with the Celtics, their teammates are far worse than LeBron's, and its not even close. And if you look, both of those teams are doing worse than than the Cavs. The Celtics are a lottery team, and the Lakers should just barely make the playoffs (due to Kobe having one very good teammate in Odom). Seriousely, LeBron could have a much worse team than he has now.

The bad for the Cavs is that they have absoltuely no depth (their average guys are only about 6 deep). Even worse, Lebron is so good (and the East is a little weak) that the Cavs should avoid the lottery for the next few years. This means that they will have to improve the team through free angency which is much harder to do nowdays. I hoping the fans have some patience.

BTW, I agree with you about how good Lebron has this year. He has been outstanding.

I guess in the thick of things, yeah they are better than the celtics lol. I guess I am just use to the old school nba when the teams had more than just one great player and a bunch of stiffs, which is about 2/3 of the nba now.

Lebron should either go to Houston and replace McGrady, or go to Orlando and team with the best big men combo of the future Howard and Milicic. Yao is REALLY starting to dominate...and I think him and Lebron would be flat out dynamic. Same with Howard/Milicic and Lebron...as those two young big men are gonna be tough.

LeBron on the Magic would be really scary in a few years. I don't know how good Nelson is, but with a deadly 3 point shooter they'd be one of the scariest teams in the league for quite a while.

Based on recent numbers, Nelson seems to be doing fairly well.....I never get to see any games, so I don't really know...but it seems that that team is heading in the right direction and will be a potential playoff team next year..Howard and Milicic are flat out monsters.

Howard is a monster. Milicic, his fault or not, has not proved ANYTHING. And if the Cavaliers EVER let LeBron James walk, They might as well move to another city, because NO ONE in cleveland would ever be caught dead watching or going to game ever again.

Well actually Darko has proved one thing: That he wont be a complete bust. A lot of people left that guy for dead, and he's now showing that he can at least play a little. He'll be in the league for while. Exactly how good he will be is undetermined.

Next season is very important for Darko, and I'll wait til then to pass final judgement. So far I'm impressed. In Orlando, his block shot numbers are great and his shooting percentage is high. I'd to see better board numbers at this point, but thats being picky. Like coach Hill said, "The guy hasnt played real basketball in over 2 years." I'll give (and he deserves) one more year.

And BTW, there was a very simliar situation with Jermain O'Neal years ago. He was a young post player out high school who rode the pine in Portland for 4 years. He never produced there because the Blazers were loaded up front and he couldnt get on the floor. He then went to the Pacers and became a star. And Darko actually got fewer minutes in Detroit than O'Neil got in Portland (which is hard to believe). So dont give up on Darko just yet.

not sayin' Darko isn't talented, just he's basically played significant minutes in about 25 or less nba games in 3 years. No one knows what to expect.

Ever since Milicic got to Orlando...he has been a very solid back-up player..putting up some pretty decent numbers in 20ish minutes per game. For example..in his last five games...here are his numbers.

-32 minutes, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 7 rebounds (2 offensive), 2 assists and 13 points.
-19 minutes, 1 block, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and and 11 points
-26 minutes, 1 block, 5 rebounds (3 offensive), 3 assists, and 13 points
-27 minutes, 4 blocks, 8 rebounds (2 offensive), and 12 points
-24 minutes, 2 steals, 5 rebounds (2 offensive), 2 assists, and 12 points.

Also, for his 20 games in Orlando, he is averaging 21 minutes per game, 7.9 points, 4.7 boards, 2.5 blocks, and is shooting 55% from the field....and all those numbers keep going up as he keeps getting more playing time.

I am not saying this small sample size proves he is gonna be a "star," but this is the first time he has EVER gotten decent playing time, and he is already proving that he can play pretty well....including scoring, rebounding, and defense. If he was starting and getting 40 minutes a game, he'd probably be putting up 15 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, and 3.5 blocks a game AT LEAST. All that in his first EVER playing time.....and he is only 20 years old. So...I don't think you can say he has proven "nothing," I mean....he has a long way to go, but the kid CLEARLY has talent and is playing well in his very first opportunity to play in the NBA. Next year he is very likely going to be starting and him and Howard are gonna be a force.....Milicic may never be a 25 ppg type guy....but he is gonna put up good scoring numbers and dominant defensive numbers as he gets more aggressive and confident.....

not knockin the guy. He may as well be a monster, in the future. Just thought it was a bit premature to call him a monster now...

I don't think he is a monster now..but I think he will be. These are pretty solid numbers for a kid getting his first ever playing time off the bench...and he wasn't a top-draft pick for nothing..I mean....the kid has a ton of talent. Just wait until next year...he's gonna have a breakout year next year and people will be sorry they ever called him a "bust."

I would agree with this statement

being a solid backup player your third year in the league is hardly exciting when you were the 2 pick in the draft and picked ahead of Dwayne Wade

He might develop but really the odds of him ever being better than carmello or dwayne are basically 0

It is his third year in the league...but the past twenty games are the ONLY chance he has EVER had to play. Big difference. I am not saying he's gonna be better than Wade or 'Melo....I'm just saying he is gonna be a pretty good player, and thus not a bust. Kwame Brown..that is a bust. He has had plenty of chances to play....and he just sucks. Milicic is playing well in his first ever opportunity and he keeps getting better. It isn't his fault Larry Brown REFUSED to let him play.

he did get screwed by larry brown
although i did hear that he had other problems in detroit

i've probably just read too much bill simmons who has kicked him unmercifully - which was funny but not really deserved

How old was Darko when he entered the league? Kobe only averaged 7 ppg his rookie year...

i think 18 or 19

Kobe was a stick when he entered the league which just makes you marvel even more about le bron's body

i still can never get over the fact that he played football as a junior in high school despite the fact that he would have been the no 1 pick in the nba that year

alan iverson was also both the best football and basketball player in his state his senior year

Darko has just turned 18 when the NBA season started. He's only 20 right now...people who rag on him are just ignorant...I mean, what is he supposed to do when he NEVER gets a chance to play in a game other than a garbage minute here and there. From everything I've ever heard, he worked hard in Piston's practice against Rasheed and Ben Wallace and all of them and did his best..but there is zero chance he is taking time from those two.....he is getting his first ever chance to show what he can do, and he is doing just fine and clearly getting much better. Don't know what else he can possibly do until he gets to start (hopefully next year).

The LeBron thread has been derailed into the Darko thread, but oh well, this is a much more interesting topic, and if Darko ends up being any good (which I think he will be), his early career with Detriot will perplex basketball people for a long time.

I completely agree that Brown flat out refused to play Darko, but the argument that the Pistons were so deep that he couldnt play isnt completely accurate (I'm not saying Koop said this, but it is an argument often used).

First, Rasheed Wallace wasnt even with the Pistons a full season during Darko's rookie year (the Pistons championship year). They traded for Wallace because they needed to get stronger up front. Even before Wallace got there Darko still couldnt get minutes. I had first attributed that to Darko's age, but facts after that have lead me to believe otherwise.

Two, after that championship season they still felt they needed help up front. Did they turn to their young number 2 pick from last year? Nope. They went out and got McDyess. I mean come on! They drafted the guy number 2! Give him a chance! I have felling Dumars knew that Brown wasnt going to play Darko no matter what, and decided not to rock the boat and try to win a second championship.

By the time Flip became head coach, the damage had been already been done. By all accounts Darko did work hard during those first 2 years, and IMO now felt that no matter what he did, he wouldnt play. He resented the Pistons (not just Brown) for what happened. They're lucky he didnt postal on that place.

I'm also convinced that Brown has completely gone nuts these last few years (at least more so than before that time). In the 2004 Olympics, he refused to play young players for the sole reason that they were young. He also refused to compromise his style considering the team he had. Once it was too late, then he played the young guys. In this CURRENT season with the awful Knicks, his handling of Channing Frye (who Thomas calls untouchable right now) at time has been questionable. Frye has gotten minutes, but his minutes were inexplicably cut in the Month of March (until he got hurt) and other times during the season. The Knicks suck! Give the young guys more minutes and prepare for next season! Frye averaged 24 min/gm. On that Knicks squad he should be over 30 min/gm easy.

Exactly whats gotten into Brown regarding young players I have no idea.

I think I agree with most of this. I am by no means saying that Darko was a "perfect" person while in Detroit or anything....he probably had some confidence issues due to the way he was treated and being in a new country and b/c of his age....but I just think it is stupid to call him a bust just because his coaches refused to let him play anything other than one garbage minute here and there..I mean....what is he supposed to do, throw up 10 points and 5 blocks and 8 boards with 25 seconds left to play???

Darko is finally getting a chance to play...and he is doing pretty well. Is he ready to be a star?? No. Needs more work/time. But he is contributing in his first ever chance to do so...and Orlando has been a noticably better team since he got there (not saying this is only due to his presence...but he has served his role and seems to be the first sub off the bench). I bet he'll be starting next year and end up posting something like 15 pts a game, 8 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks a game.....which would be pretty solid.

Oh....and to be on the topic....Lebron is a monster. If he ever gets a dominant big man as his sidekick.........that could be a sick combo.

Larry hates young players always have - he wouldn't even play lebron at the olympics even though he was the only one moving the offense

Orlando up on Detroit by 15 points at halftime. Bet Darko is enjoying that so far.