Recently Lebron James scored 52 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out 11 assists to lead his team to a win against the New York Knicks. One would think that this would be a blowout but it was only a five-point victory. This started my belief that the Cavs are a one-man show that cannot win the NBA’s championship. Yes, Lebron James has led his team to 40 wins this season and yes they have the third best record in the NBA. It is true that Lebron scores the most points a game in the league at 28.5. However, Lebron has scored 30 plus points in 19 of the teams 40 wins and under 30 points in seven of their losses. Without ‘Bron ‘Bron knocking down shots this team has holes because the cast of clowns around Lebron can’t hit shots in the clutch or support Lebron. No other player on the team is averaging 20 points a game and the next best players Zydrunas and West are both sitting out with injuries. Some of the other notable players like Mo Williams (whom should not have been on the all-star team), Anderson Varejao (who is a flopping Argentinean), Booby Gibson (overrated three point shooter) and Sczerbiak/Wallace (washed up) are all insufficient to back Lebron in a run to the championship. Additionally, Lebron is the Cavs leading scorer at 28.5 a game, but also in assists with 7 a game and 7.5 rebounds a game. There is no balance within this teams attack and must rely on Lebron to be huge every game or they will suffer.
On another note Lebron’s attitude can be suspect at times. A few weeks back when his team lost to the Pacers he committed the final shooting foul allowing Danny Granger to hit a few free throws to win the game. In disgust Lebron walked out off the court with time left on the clock. What a joke! Why would he do this? What message does it send to his teammates? I am Lebron and I am leaving for New York soon whether or not I single handedly win a championship.
To put Lebron’s current team in perspective let’s take a look back at the 1995-1996 Bulls and the 2008-2009 Celtics…
I know many of you out there will say that Michael Jordan had similar squads to Lebron but this is not true. In the 1995-1996 championship season the Bulls had Scotty Pippen whom led the team in assists with 5.9 a game, Dennis Rodman was a king on the boards with 14.9 a game and of course Michael Jordan led the team in scoring at 30.4 a game. Role players like Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr and Luc Longley helped to round out the team. If Lebron wants to win a championship then he better start looking back at Jordan’s days and take a page from his playbook, get some help and don’t take every shot or make every pass.
Now take the Celtics who have Pierce leading the team in scoring at 20 a game, Rondo with at 8.5 assists a game and Garnett with 8.9 rebounds a game. Ray Allen is very close to historic numbers in field goals, free throw and three point shooting percentage at .50, .90 and .40 respectively. With these balanced numbers they do not rely on one player each night to carry the team to victory. They don’t have Posey or Brown on the bench any more but Powe, House and Big Baby fill in nicely. The Celtics are far superior to Lebron’s Cavs, it’s a no brainer, balanced scoring, passing and rebounding, not to mention maturity and class separate the Celtics!
Look I am not negating how good Lebron is as a player. He is fantastic, stupendous and will go down in history within the same breathe as Jordan, Johnson, Bird and Bryant. However, the Cavs are overrated and Lebron won’t win a title until he gets some help and at this rate it won’t be in Ohio!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Andrew Bird @ Orpheum Theatre January 30, 2009
On the evening of Friday, January 30th I attended my first Andrew Bird concert at the Orpheum in Boston, MA. It was one of the most unique live performances that I have ever witnessed. Being a fan of more rocking guitar lines and rowdy crowds I had my hesitations. The crowd didn’t dance until the beer started to buzz them and to my surprise the show was dominated by knowledgeable, intent and respectful fans. The music of the night was based around both complex and poppy violin folk music. By the end of the evening I was pleasantly surprised by the enjoyment I received from Andrew Bird.
Bird’s band was a bass, guitar and drums that created backing rhythms and textures. The songs had a many acoustic guitar intros and finger strumming sections on the violin. The drums range from brush stick rhythms to rim shots but never exceed their boundary of simple backing Bird and his songs. Keys trickle in and out during the show and sprinkle another element to the show. The guitar and bass were mere backing instruments that allowed Byrd’s talent to shine through with colorful violin sounds.
Andrew Bird is driven by his ability to write songs and play multiple instruments such as violin, guitar and glockenspiel. He also sings and whistles through many songs. He rolls in and out of bowed rhythms, solos, riffs and acoustic guitar. He even tapes his violin lines through pedals in order to solo and create depth to his songs. His influences run deep in rock and roll, classical, country and folk. At times you feel as though his violin is bringing you back to another era in time.
His most recent album which was released on February 2 is called Noble Beasts and is his 8th studio album, including his Bowl of Fire records and excluding his live albums. During the show he showcased songs that spanned his career and much of his new album. It was a raw show in the fact that he started a few songs over after botching the intros. He said that they were “starting tour rough around the edges”. As well as making several comments about the fact that he would remember this show due to some of the miscues that occurred. His lyrics are sweet, drunk and filled with passion. At times I felt he sung like Thom Yorke and the entire wall of music had hints of Radiohead.
He played quite a few catchy tracks from his new February release, Noble Beast, including “Oh no” and “Anoanimal”. He played a track from his old band Bowl of Fire which I am not able to place at this time. He played the classic “Table and Chairs” from the album Armchair Apochrypha in which I have listened to quite a few times and was one of the only tracks that was familiar to me. He played “Fake Palindromes” from The Production of Eggs, which is an album that one should absolutely pick up.
This gentleman has risen in popularity over the years and is finally gaining a following that suits his excellent talent. He frequents festivals such as Coachella and Bonnaroo and as recently as last summer played in front of a crowd in excess of 10,000 people. Noble Beasts may bring him to new heights because of its accessibility and his label even doubled the cash spent on marketing from his last album! Andrew Bird is definitely catching on and if you haven’t given him a listen then please do, whether you love him or hate him it will be an interesting listen!
Bird’s band was a bass, guitar and drums that created backing rhythms and textures. The songs had a many acoustic guitar intros and finger strumming sections on the violin. The drums range from brush stick rhythms to rim shots but never exceed their boundary of simple backing Bird and his songs. Keys trickle in and out during the show and sprinkle another element to the show. The guitar and bass were mere backing instruments that allowed Byrd’s talent to shine through with colorful violin sounds.
Andrew Bird is driven by his ability to write songs and play multiple instruments such as violin, guitar and glockenspiel. He also sings and whistles through many songs. He rolls in and out of bowed rhythms, solos, riffs and acoustic guitar. He even tapes his violin lines through pedals in order to solo and create depth to his songs. His influences run deep in rock and roll, classical, country and folk. At times you feel as though his violin is bringing you back to another era in time.
His most recent album which was released on February 2 is called Noble Beasts and is his 8th studio album, including his Bowl of Fire records and excluding his live albums. During the show he showcased songs that spanned his career and much of his new album. It was a raw show in the fact that he started a few songs over after botching the intros. He said that they were “starting tour rough around the edges”. As well as making several comments about the fact that he would remember this show due to some of the miscues that occurred. His lyrics are sweet, drunk and filled with passion. At times I felt he sung like Thom Yorke and the entire wall of music had hints of Radiohead.
He played quite a few catchy tracks from his new February release, Noble Beast, including “Oh no” and “Anoanimal”. He played a track from his old band Bowl of Fire which I am not able to place at this time. He played the classic “Table and Chairs” from the album Armchair Apochrypha in which I have listened to quite a few times and was one of the only tracks that was familiar to me. He played “Fake Palindromes” from The Production of Eggs, which is an album that one should absolutely pick up.
This gentleman has risen in popularity over the years and is finally gaining a following that suits his excellent talent. He frequents festivals such as Coachella and Bonnaroo and as recently as last summer played in front of a crowd in excess of 10,000 people. Noble Beasts may bring him to new heights because of its accessibility and his label even doubled the cash spent on marketing from his last album! Andrew Bird is definitely catching on and if you haven’t given him a listen then please do, whether you love him or hate him it will be an interesting listen!
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