Best Team for LeBron James

LeBron is amazing. He's a great person on and off the court. I love everything he stands for and hope the best for him. I think a lot about what he should do and where he should go. After watching the Allstar game last night, I've come up with the 5 best places for LeBron to go. So here they are (in no particular order):

1. Stay with the Heat. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Here you get to stay in the East. You have probably the best GM in the game in Pat Riley. Miami is a great place to live and has good weather. Stay with your BFF Dwyane Wade, keep riding your bike to the games, and keep enjoying yourself.

1. Clippers. CP3 + LeBron would be the best duo in the history of the NBA. You get Doc Rivers who is the 2nd best coach in the NBA. You'll be in Los Angeles so you get a ton of extra money with advertisements. And the L.A. press will turn you into G.O.A.T.

1. Wizards. Here you have a team that have been really bad for a long time. However, this year they're a bit underrated, lead by their underrated leader John Wall. After watching Wall in the Allstar game, I've decided I REALLY like this kid. I think he is better than Irving or Lillard right now. Great ball handling skills, good passer, and he's amazing at getting to the rim. If LeBron joined this team, he wouldn't be going to a BAD team he has to carry on his back. The world would see LeBron as the G.O.A.T. because he turned the Wizards into an NBA title team. The fans there would love him forever. D.C. is also a pretty good city to live in if you're trying to become the best ever.

1. Knicks. Another great city to live in if you want to be known as the Greatest Of All Time. If LeBron wins just one championship in NYC, he'd be the GOAT and the King of New York forever. Carmelo Anthony already said he'd take less money to stay in New York and win. When Melo plays with LeBron, he scores a lot and sets records (see: This Allstar game and also the 2012 summer olympics). When LeBron is demanding double/triple teams and driving to the hope, that leaves Melo wide open. Nobody is a better wide open, catch and shoot scorer than Melo. And nobody is better than driving to the hoop and finding the open man with a perfect pass than LeBron James. This would also be the greatest NBA duo of all time.

1. Eagles. Joe Theismann thinks LeBron would be a great QB and has volunteered to be his agent if James wants to try it out (LINK). James has recently said "I wanna play one NFL game before it's over (LINK). I've been pro LeBron to the NFL for a few years now, and the Eagles would be a perfect fit. They would be in contention for the playoffs right away. They have a great RB (McCoy) and athletic WRs. I knew Vick wouldn't last. And now they even have Chip Kelly and his offense that would suit LeBron perfectly. However, now that Nick Foles has emerged, the Eagles won't be so willing to take a flyer on LeBron. But maybe another team that has good talent and needs a QB would want him (Texans?). If LeBron went to the NFL and had success, he'd be known as the greatest athlete of all time.

2 places not to go:

The Cavs are a huge mess right now, both with the players and with the front office. I know Irving just won the Allstar game MVP, but I think Irving is very overrated right now. And besides Irving, this team really sucks. Cleveland is also a sucky city to be in if you're a basketball player.. Unlike LA or NYC, LeBron will not get very much help from the press or the advertisements. The living conditions are nothing like LA or Florida. No-one will want to go there with him. He should not go back to the Cavaliers.

Lakers. Going to the Lakers would be a big mistake. Many fans love LeBron for who he is and what he stands for. He's a great guy. He's earned everything he's won. He's a team first, selfless player. He's becoming the best ever and he's doing it on his own terms. Going to the Lakers would mold him in with everybody else. Abdul Jabbar, Magic, Wilt, Karl Malone, Shaq, Kobe... LeBron would be best served staying away from the Lakers. For the Lakers, winning a few championships is nothing. The Lakers always win, no matter who they have. LeBron would have to win at least 4 or 5 more rings if he goes to LA to be considered the best. The Lakers would be a bad move for LeBron.

In conclusion, LeBron should either stay where he is now, or go to a good basketball city (LA, DC, NYC, etc...) if he wants to be known as the GOAT. He should go somewhere that hasn't won a championship for a while. The fans there would love him forever and build a statue of him. He should go somewhere with potential so he can win, and somewhere with another good player so he doesn't get stuck like he did in Cleveland.

Or, now would be as good as time as any to try out being a QB in the NFL...

BONUS TEAM - http://keelesports.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-dark-horse-team-for-king.html

Russell Wilson: The Biggest's Factor

Tomorrow, we'll see this years best defensive team verses the best offensive team. It should be a great game.

Who's going to win?  Think the biggest factor will be the guy that has flown under the radar these two weeks.

There's been a lot of talk about Denver's offense vs Seattle's defense. Richard Sherman vs Peyton Manning. But I don't think the biggest factor will come from the Seattle defense or the Denver offense.

Russell Wilson has done everything he's needed to this post season. He's been smart and efficient. He has looked very comfortable and made few mistakes.

However, no game Wilson has ever played is anything like this game tomorrow. This is Wilson's second year. He is young and inexperienced, and I wonder it this Superbowl will be too big for Wilson this year.

We all know Peyton will be comfortable and handle the pressure well. This is his 13th playoff appearance, 23rd playoff game, and 3rd Superbowl. Wilson, however, will be way out of his comfort zone. How will he perform?

Let's look at Wilson's 4 playoff games.
2013
1 - at Washington. This is Wilson's only road playoff win, against a Redskins team that lost RGIII early in the game. Washington was not a good team without RGIII and Seattle would have won that game despite Wilson.

2 - at Atlanta. This was Wilson's biggest game of his career to that point. He and his team fell down by a lot of points early. Wilson and the Seahawks did rallied at the end but it wasn't enough to win.
2014

3 - vs New Orleans - This was at home. Home field advantage really helps calm down the nerves and helps you feel comfortable. Also, the Seahawks had already played the Saints at home this year, and destroyed them. Wilson knew they could beat them because they already done it. The stress and pressure was not very much.

4 - vs San Francisco. Again, this game was at home, against a team Wilson is very familiar with. Again, they had already KILLED the 49ers in Seattle so they knew they could do it again. Wilson was again comfortable and under little pressure.

Russell Wilson's 5th playoff game will be a most different story. This is his first Superbowl game. This will not be in Seattle but at a neutral (at best) field. Wilson is not as familiar with the Broncos. The only times Wilson has ever played the Broncos was in the early Preseasons. Wilson is going to be out of his comfort zone and under a lot of pressure in the biggest game of his career on the biggest stage in American sports.

If Wilson plays scared or if he tries to force things, the Seahawks are done for. If you give this Broncos team a lead like they gave Atlanta last year, they will lose. The Broncos are too good. If you throw picks or have too many 3 and outs (like the Bears did in 2007), you'll give this loaded offence lead by Peyton Manning short fields and tons of possessions (again, like 2007). Now, I don't care if you have the number one defense (like the Bears did of the Seahawks do); you're going to lose is you do this. I don't care if you have the NFC all-star defense coached by the Ryan brothers. You're still going to lose to this Broncos offensive if you give them tons of possessions and short fields.

Now I'm not saying Wilson can't do this. He's a smart and talented player. I'm saying there is more pressure on Wilson in this game than he's ever had before (and possibly more than he will ever have again). Every quarterback's dream is to get to and win the Superbowl. He doesn't know if he'll ever get another chance to play in the Superbowl. He's not playing at home. He's playing a team that he's never played against in the regular or post season. His counter part is Peyton Manning. 

I don't think the Broncos are the clear favorite. But If I were a betting man, I'm not putting my faith in the inexperienced Seahawks lead by their sophomore QB. I'm putting all my money on that loaded offensive lead by one of the most playoff experienced QB of all time.

Home vs Visiting

Two great games coming up this Sunday. A lot of people are talking about the similarities between the NFC teams and the AFC teams. There are, however, similarities between the home teams and the away teams that are not being talked about. Let’s have a look:

Either game this Sunday:

(This game is a big rivalry.)

Home team - This year: The number 1 seed. The home team. This team has been the super bowl favorite since before the season started. This team went 13-3. Before their first loss against the Colts, this team looked unbeatable. People were saying it is this team vs “the rest of the league” because of how much better they were than everyone else. They have been best team in their conference since the beginning of the season.

Home team - Last few years: This team has been number one all year. However, the last few years have not been so great. They lost last year in the divisional round and didn't do any better they year before.

Visiting team - This year: The opponent (the away team) didn't look very good at the beginning of the season. Many questioned if they would be any good this year. However, this team finished strong and still managed to end the season with a 12-4 record. Playing their best football of the season right now, this team is expected to give the home team a run for their money.

Visiting team - Last few years: This team has had the most success in their conference over that last three years: including going to the conference championship game all three years and one super bowl appearance.

We have the same game twice this Sunday. Same story line. Either the Super Bowl favorite will flex their muscles and finish like they started: dominate. Or the away team, who struggled earlier in the season, will use their late momentum and their playoff experience from recent years to knock off the juggernaut and make their 2^nd Super Bowl appearance in 3 years.

Takeaways and Thoughts Mid-Divisional Round

Here are my takeaways from today's game and my thoughts and predictions on tomorrow's match-ups. 

Also, a shout out to Gordon Hayward at the end.

1. Seahawks vs Saints

               Marshawn Lynch loves playing the Saints. There's not a single Saints player that can tackle Beast Mode one-on-one.

               Russell Wilson is getting scary good. He gets smarter every day. He's a good thrower and a great runner. I think he could be an all time great. If I had to choose a "new school" QB to build my franchise around (Cam, Kaep, RGIII, Luck, or Wilson) , it'd be very tempting to pick Wilson. 

               Poor Percy Harvin. He got hit hard on the head on a catch he wasn't even going to complete the left the game. Then he came back and got hit hard again on another catch he wasn't going to complete and didn't come back. This was all in the 1st half. He left with 3 receptions, which lead his team. This is a talented guy that could be the difference between winning if he plays next week and losing if he doesn't.

                Jimmy Graham didn't have a catch until the 4th quarter. Jimmy Graham is the MVP of the league if you exclude Quarterbacks. He lead the league in caught touchdowns and he's a TE. The Saints are a much worse team without Jimmy Graham, and it sure showed when he wasn't getting the ball today. He finished with 1 catch on 6 targets. You've got to get Jimmy more involved if you want to win a big game like this.

                 Drew Brees is the Peyton Manning of the NFC. He's played in a Dome all his life. Therefore, his numbers (stats and wins) are inflated, and it shows when he plays in bad weather. A great QB? Yes. Top 5 ever? No way for both.

2. Patriots vs Colts

                Bill Belichick is an amazing, fantastic, incredible, awesome, super good head coach. Remember when nobody wanted pre-Patriot BenJarvis Green-Ellis? The the Patriots signed the Law Firm, and he tore it up in New England. The Patriots didn't resign him, and the media called it a really dumb move. Then Ellis signed a big contracted with the Bengals and wasn't good. He doesn't even have the starting job anymore. Belichick made Ellis look way better than he actually is.

                 This year we are seeing history repeat itself. LaGarrette Blount was the THIRD string running back on the Bucs. He was a third and short RB only. A big body that couldn't even be counted on to move the chains. Now the Patriots have him and Belichick has him looking like Marshawn Lynch. When his contract is up, some team will give him way too much money, and he will become average-at-best again.

                   Andrew Luck. I love him. He'll be great. But those of you crowing him the "King of the AFC" (Collin Cowherd) or anything close to that, stop it. He probably will be in a few years, but right now he is still not there. He threw 3 interceptions against the Chiefs and was a big reason they were down so much in the first place. And today he threw 4 picks against the Patriots. That's 7 int's in 2 playoff games. Like I said, I love him and I love his potential, but he's not Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady yet.

                Never bet against Tom Brady. You'll usually lose.

3. Tomorrow's Games and Predictions

3a. Broncos vs Chargers. 

Peyton Manning losing a 1st round game when he is heavily favored has become laughable. It's almost as laughable as Tony Romo throwing an interception in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line.

Manning better win this game. This Charger team shouldn't even be in the playoffs. The Chiefs were a blow call away from beating them. The Steelers should have been in the playoffs with the Dolphins and Ravens would have finished ahead of the Chargers.

This Broncos team is loaded. Demaryius Thomas made Tim Tebow look good. Thomas is one of the best WR in the league. He's fast, tall, strong, good hands, etc. Peyton also has Welker, Decker, and Julius Thomas. All 4 of those receivers are better than anyone that Phillip Rivers has to throw to. Better than anyone Tom Brady or Andrew Luck has to throw to as well. 

It's not even going to be that cold in Denver. I heard yesterday that it's going to be 50 degrees for this game.

Do you know what's not an excuse for losing? That Von Miller isn't playing. Tom Brady is missing his entire defense due to injury and his only good receiver (Wlfork, Mayo, Vollmer, Kelly, Spikes, and Gronk) and still got it done against the Colts. (He also got the job against Denver in the regular season.) Winners find a way to win.

Broncos SHOULD win by 20+ points, but given Manning's history, I'll be a little conservative on my pick. 31-21 Broncos win.

3b. 49ers vs Panthers

Great defense vs great defense. Kaepernick vs Cam. This will be a good battle.

I've got the 49ers to win a good game. The 49ers have better receivers and their team is much more experienced. If the 49ers win, it will be Harbaugh's 3rd straight year going to the NFC Championship game. (And last year they went to the Superbowl.) 

The 49ers defense is proven to be great over the last 3 years. Kaepernick's been there, done that. Harbaugh knows what he's doing.

The Panthers, on the other hand, don't have the experience. Over the last few years, the Panthers defense has been bad. This year is the first year they look good. And they've looked really good. Is their defense really that good? We won't know until after tomorrow's game.

Since I don't know how good the Panthers really are, and since I know the 49ers really are that good, I'm pick the 49ers to win 17-9.

Bonus: Shout out to Gordon Hayward.

Hayward is the Jazz' best player, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Hayward is getting assists, rebounds, scoring, and playing great defense. A lot of people are saying Hayward sucks because his field goal percentage is low. Then that same person will say Trey Burke is the best player on the team and that Burke is such a great shooter. News flash. Hayward is shooting .415 (career low) but Burke is shooting .388. So... Hayward has been a better shooter the Burke this year. Add on top of that the defense, the passing, the rebounding, etc... Hayward is a great all-around player.

Did anyone see the last game the Jazz played against the Cavs? The Jazz had been playing great lately. They had won 3 of their last 4 (including a win over KD and the Thunder). Then the Jazz hosted the Cavs in Utah without Hayward and they got BLOWN OUT. The game was over mid third quarter. Hayward is the best player on the Jazz right now and the Jazz are probably the worst team in the NBA without him.

PS - I was totally right in week 5 when I stood alone and said the 4-0 Patriots would go to the AFC championship game and the 4-0 Saints and the 4-0 Chiefs would not. http://keelesports.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-underrated-4-0-patriots.html

LeBron James and his "3-point shooting weakness."

LeBron James is the most complete player to ever play the game. He passes like I've only seen Magic Johnson pass. He shuts down the other teams best player with his stellar defense (just ask Paul George or Derrick Rose). He recently passed Larry Bird and Gary Peyton on the all time scoring list and is 29th overall. He sees the floor so well. He's a scorer, team player, clutch shooter, passer, rebounder, defender... 

Haters are dying to find a fault in his game. So they say he is bad at shooting three point shoots. I've looked up the best three point shooters in the top 20 all time scoring list (plus LeBron) and here is what I found - 

Reggie Miller             -   39.47 %

Dirk Nowitzki            -  38.18 %

LeBron James           -   33.91 %

Kobe Bryant             -   33.50 %

Michael Jordan          -   32.68 %

Dominique Wilkins     -  31.87 %

Allen Iverson             -   31.30 %

LeBron James through his career is a better three point shooter then Michael Jordan or Kobe were. Uh-oh, there goes that argument. I guess we have to go back to THIS argument since it's the only one left.

Sources - 

http://www.landofbasketball.com/all_time_leaders/points_total_career_season.htm

The only argument against Peyton Manning for MVP

Peyton Manning is going to get his fifth MVP trophy this year. And he probably deserves it. He has already broken the record for most touchdowns thrown in a season, and he still has one more game to go. If he wins next week, the Broncos get a first round bye. Here is the argument only against him:

MVP stands for the "most valuable player." The player that is most valuable to his team should get the MVP award.

Right now the Seahawks have all but clinched the first seed. The NFC is a much more difficult conference than the AFC. And the NFC west is by far the best division in the NFL. What would the Seahawks be without Russel Wilson? Probably not even a playoff team.

Same goes for the Panthers. If the Panthers win tomorrow, they clinch the 2 seed. Without Cam Newton, this team also would miss the playoffs.

And the Patriots. Before the season even started, many ESPN writers and analysts were saying Tom Brady will have the least amount of talent he's ever had. Expectations for the Patriots were at an all time low. They had a bad defense, Gronkowski was hurt, and all of Brady's other receivers had go to other teams (or gone to prison).

Then the season started. Brady's new number one target Amendola got hurt for a while. Brady started throwing the ball to Aaron Dobson a lot, then he got hurt. Gronk came back for a few games, then they lost him for the rest of the season.

Their four best defensive players all sustained season ending injuries early in the season (Wilfork, Mayo, Kelly and Vollmer).

Yet here the Patriots are. One game out of 1st place in the AFC. Against the Broncos, Tom Brady overcame 3 fumbles in the first 3 drives when they played Peyton Manning and won.  (HIGHLIGHTS)

Also, the season could have been even better. All 4 of the Patriot loses have come down to the last play. (INT on the 3 yard line against the Bengals; rare, weird 'push in the back of your own teammate' call against the Jets; the bear hug on Gronkowski against the Panthers that was a pass interference but then it wasn't but it actually was; and Edelman's dropped pass in the endzone with 12 seconds left against the Dolphins)

What if we replaced these players?

Let's hypothetically replace all these players with a quarterback. Let's pick a quarterback that is so bad, no NFL team even wants him as even their back up. Let's pick Tim Tebow.

Put Tebow on the Seahawks or the Panthers, that team goes misses the playoffs. Probably goes 6-10 or 7-9.

Put Tebow on this Patriot team. They'd be lucky to go 4-12.

Put Tebow on this Broncos team. Oh wait. He WAS on the Broncos. He was on this Bronco team before they got even better with additions like Wes Welker, Julius Thomas, and others.

Replace Peyton Manning with Tim Tebow. With Tebow, this team went 7-4 (he didn't start until week 5), made the playoffs, and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in his first Playoff game. Last year, with Peyton Manning instead of Tim Tebow, the Broncos lost their first playoff game. In wins/loses, Peyton hasn't been very valuable replacing the "horrible" Tim Tebow.

So is Peyton Manning  more valuable then Wilson, Newton, or Tom? No. However, he is setting records and he is Peyton Manning. We should have just saved time and given Peyton the MVP award when he threw 7 touchdowns in his first game against the Ravens because that's when he already had it won.

PS - Shout out to Jimmy Graham. I think he is the most left out player when discussing MVP candidates. He is such a game changer for Saints. Second on touchdowns behind Jamaal Charles and a good blocker too.

Why Kobe Bryant is Overrated

Kobe Bryant is one of the great basketball players to play in the NBA. But when people actually try to make an argument he's the "best ever?" Kobe tricked us into believing he was better than he really was.

The Lakers

When you play for the Lakers, you play for the greatest sports franchise in United States history (or second behind the Yankees). Wilt played for the Lakers. Karl Malone and Gary Peyton went to the Lakers to end their career. Magic Johnson, Kareem, Shaq, Etc. Probably a third of a fourth of the great players all time put on a Laker jersey at one time or another.

When you play for the best franchise with the biggest fan base in Los Angeles, you can often appear better than are. Above-average players become stars and star become superstars.

Few players have played their entire career with the Lakers. Kobe was the chosen one. And ever since Shaq left town, Kobe's been the best player on the team. In the minds of Laker fans (by far the biggest NBA fan base), the best player on the Lakers is also the best player in the world.

Without a great team, he's had bad seasons. 

 "He has 5 championship rings." .... OK? Kobe had a ton of help those 7 years he got to the finals.

What did he do in the middle of his prime the three years in between Shaq and Pau Gasol? Missed the playoffs (finished 11th in the West), knocked out of the first round playoffs (finished 7th in the west) and knocked out of the first round of the playoffs again (finished 7th in the west). No other all-time great player ever did so poorly for 3 straight years in the middle of their primes.

He always had the best coach in basketball - Phil Jackson.

He wasn't the best player on his own team for the first 3 rings out of 5. Shaq won all three finals MVP awards. He wasn't even the "clutch" player on the team. "Big Shot" Robert Horry was making the game winners.

After Shaq won 3 rings for the Lakers, he was traded to Miami for Lamar Odom, Butler, Grant, and a first round pick. How did Kobe do without Shaq that first year? Missed the Playoffs. (Let me point out that a young LeBron James carried a worse team in 07 to the NBA finals.)

After missing the playoffs, they got Andrew Bynum in the draft. The Lakers has a great team. Still, Kobe could not have success. They lost in the first round of the playoff the next two years in a row.

Now a Question. What happens when an already good team trades Kwame Brown for all-star Pau Gasol? Exactly. Despite Kobe, the Lakers went on to win two more championships.


3 - Kobe gets to (and chooses to) shoot the ball ALL THE TIME.

Kobe has a lot of career points. He has a lot of game winning shots.

Kobe also has missed a ton of shots. He has also missed tons of game winning shots. Of the top 10 scorers all time, he has the lowest FG%.  And of all the Finals MVP's (he has two), he set the record for lowest FG% (both times). It took Kobe five extra seasons to catch Michael Jordan in the alltime scoring list (19 seasons to catch what Michael Jordan accomplished in 14 seasons).

In conclusion - Kobe is a great player. Take out Kobe and insert a different great player like Dwayne Wade or Russell Westbrook into the same situation. I truly believe that player would be considered just as good or better than Kobe. Had Kobe been drafted by a different team, he would be in the same group with Isaiah Thomas, Tracy McGrady, and Allen Iverson. Just "great."

If you take any great shooting guard (Wade, Iverson, Thomas, Westbrook, etc.) and insert him into Kobe's situation; If you give him an entire career with the Lakers, give him Phil Jackson, Shaq, Jerry Buss, and everyone else, and let him shoot as much as Kobe has - Then that shooting guard would have been seen as just as good if not better than Kobe. (Insert shooting guard here) would have 5 championships at least and an easy 32,000 career points.

Links: Kobe is NOT clutch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y5jwt0brqk

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/1/3/7485611/kobe-bryant-clutch-lakers-data