the lebron factor

[Moranis]

The Cavs(Lebron) will do what he thinks is in his best interests for a potentially long playoff run.
Apart from Lebron you have j R Smith 29 , the other 7 guys in their regular rotation average age is roughly 25 years old.
It is a bad look if any of those guys rest more than 1 game the rest of the way in my opinion. I don't remember Jordan, Pippen resting too many games in their 2nd three peat, No championship aside Stockton & Malone didn't need to rest.
Every year I hear how long and drawn out the playoffs are and how much time off there is between games etc.
Celtics playoff hopes aside , play your guys, maybe they should donate their game salaries to charity for the games that they sit out, that would change their minds quick smart.

Look how good it is seeing the top teams in the Western conference playing their guys trying to get home court in the first round. If injuries happen so be it, you could blow out your knee in practice, if it happens , well it wasn't in the cards that you were going to win.

Gavin

Jordan and Pippen didn't sit out full games, but they most definitely rested at the end of each of those regular seasons often playing 24 or less minutes in games.  They also both didn't have back injuries like James and Love who both might legitimately benefit from sitting out to get healthier.

[GC003332]

You are correct about the 96 season , the last 5 game minutes for MJ 35,42,24,31,24 SP 41,40,24,30,30 that factors in a 10 game lead in the east and a 8 game lead in the West.
97 last 5 game minutes MJ 44,38,35,39,39 SP 38,39,23 led by 21 after 3, 39,38. They had a 8 game lead in East and 5 game lead over West.
98 last 5 game minutes MJ 35,41,43,39,40 Sp 42,43,DNP,39,33 7 game lead over East , tied with Jazz for overall best record.
So even after after all there long playoff runs and multiple championships they still turned up everyday.
I don't doubt Lebron and Love' injury concerns , it is just all this resting leaves a bad taste in my mouth , they get days off between each playoff game these days sometimes multiple days.

Get out there and play, if it was good enough for MJ and Pippen it is good enough for you, and I am not even a Bulls fan from those days.

Gavin

[jpotter33]

You are correct about the 96 season , the last 5 game minutes for MJ 35,42,24,31,24 SP 41,40,24,30,30 that factors in a 10 game lead in the east and a 8 game lead in the West.
97 last 5 game minutes MJ 44,38,35,39,39 SP 38,39,23 led by 21 after 3, 39,38. They had a 8 game lead in East and 5 game lead over West.
98 last 5 game minutes MJ 35,41,43,39,40 Sp 42,43,DNP,39,33 7 game lead over East , tied with Jazz for overall best record.
So even after after all there long playoff runs and multiple championships they still turned up everyday.
I don't doubt Lebron and Love' injury concerns , it is just all this resting leaves a bad taste in my mouth , they get days off between each playoff game these days sometimes multiple days.

Get out there and play, if it was good enough for MJ and Pippen it is good enough for you, and I am not even a Bulls fan from those days.

Gavin

That was also in the "dark ages" of sports biology. There has been plenty of empirical evidence that shows players would benefit from a smaller number of games and, hence, from resting players down the stretch. Hell, how do you think the Cavs started winning games in the first place? It's because Lebron took a week or two off to rest and heal up, and since he's came back he's been dominant.

[D.o.s.]

i will say, though, that as a paying fan who was one click away from plunking down a sizable chunk of change for some very nice seats for one of the Cleveland/Boston games, the reality that LeBron might spend the whole game on the bench definitely influenced my decision to watch the game from home.

[GC003332]

I guess it is great to be in the eastern conference, I don't see the Grizzies Spurs and Clippers sitting out their main guys the last couple of weeks.Tim Duncan was playing in the those dark ages ha ha.
Win 55 games Cavs , who knows the Warriors might get upset in the West and you are tied with several teams from the west and get home court advantage in the Finals for your efforts.
Lebron had his 'rest' earlier on in the season , it should be full steam ahead from this point on dominating all the way through to the Finals hopefully for him and the Cavs.

Gavin

[Roy H.]

I guess it is great to be in the eastern conference, I don't see the Grizzies Spurs and Clippers sitting out their main guys the last couple of weeks.Tim Duncan was playing in the those dark ages ha ha.
Win 55 games Cavs , who knows the Warriors might get upset in the West and you are tied with several teams from the west and get home court advantage in the Finals for your efforts.
Lebron had his 'rest' earlier on in the season , it should be full steam ahead from this point on dominating all the way through to the Finals hopefully for him and the Cavs.

Gavin

As a consumer, I agree with you.  Fans want to see stars playing.

At the same time, over the last four years Lebron has played 87 playoff games, and has played over 40 minutes per game in those contests.  That's a lot of extra wear and tear.  If he and management think he could benefit from a minor amount of rest, I don't fault the decision.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I guess it is great to be in the eastern conference, I don't see the Grizzies Spurs and Clippers sitting out their main guys the last couple of weeks.Tim Duncan was playing in the those dark ages ha ha.
Win 55 games Cavs , who knows the Warriors might get upset in the West and you are tied with several teams from the west and get home court advantage in the Finals for your efforts.
Lebron had his 'rest' earlier on in the season , it should be full steam ahead from this point on dominating all the way through to the Finals hopefully for him and the Cavs.

Gavin

Grizzlies and Spurs are still fighting to win their division, and all three of those teams are fighting for playoff seeding, and in the West, considering how competitive it is, home-court advantage is that more important than in the East.

That said, the Cavs have the 2nd seed of the East locked and gaining ground on any other team in the West that has a favorable attempt at the Finals will be tough and not worth the hassle vs. getting the proper rest, particularly from a player like LeBron who has played heavy minutes during his career and playoffs.

[Moranis]

I guess it is great to be in the eastern conference, I don't see the Grizzies Spurs and Clippers sitting out their main guys the last couple of weeks.Tim Duncan was playing in the those dark ages ha ha.
Win 55 games Cavs , who knows the Warriors might get upset in the West and you are tied with several teams from the west and get home court advantage in the Finals for your efforts.
Lebron had his 'rest' earlier on in the season , it should be full steam ahead from this point on dominating all the way through to the Finals hopefully for him and the Cavs.

Gavin

The Spurs have been resting players for years.  In fact one could argue the reason that the Spurs are still so good for this long is because Duncan, Manu, etc. have been sitting out so many games throughout the last couple of seasons.  Heck just last year Duncan sat out games 80 and 82 (Manu also sat out game 80 as well as 76) and I'm pretty sure neither one of them played 30 minutes in any game in April (till the playoffs) and both had multiple games under or right about 20 minutes.

[Moranis]

Lebron is already 59th all time in REGULAR season minutes.  He is already 17th all time in playoff minutes.  He will likely end this season in the top ten all time in playoff minutes.  That doesn't count all of the International competitions either.

The man has a lot of work on his body.  A day off here and there, especially when playoff seeding is locked up just makes sense.

[GC003332]

Given the fact that Lebron has played virtually 2 full seasons of playoff on top of 900 plus regular season games give the Cavs a sense of urgency for this season?
Is it the expectation that he is going to be a indestructible force of nature for what another 5 or 6 years? is his body really going to hold up at this level for that long.
Vegas has got the Cavs as equal favourites right now at 9/5 with the Warriors.
My gut tells me that this will be Lebrons best chance to win a title in his second go around with the Cavs.
Who knows how with increase across the board with the salary cap the next couple of seasons how things will shake out.
This is the season for their sense of urgency.

For his sake I hope he isn't playing a game 7 on the road out west and losing it.
It has been called the dark ages but MJ wasn't sitting out games his last year with the Bulls with more age and regular season games games under his belt.
Heck he was probably still playing 36 holes in the mornings before important playoff games.

Gavin

[Roy H.]

It has been called the dark ages but MJ wasn't sitting out games his last year with the Bulls with more age and playoff games under his belt

Well, MJ also took almost two seasons off to refresh his body.  That probably factored into his body holding up so well.  Plus, MJ had a lot less weight on his body. 

I wonder, would we have gotten another year out of Larry Bird if he wasn't playing nearly 40 minutes per game in the regular season for basically his entire career?  It was mentioned earlier, but teams back then didn't take care of their players to the same degree.  Some guys can take it, because they're genetic freaks.  Other guys could use a rest once in awhile.

[Csfan1984]

Cavs should focus on winning all their games as much as possible. It's unclear who will come out West and Cavs still have a shot at having a better record than some of them. Home court in finals better than a little rest.

[Moranis]

It has been called the dark ages but MJ wasn't sitting out games his last year with the Bulls with more age and playoff games under his belt

Well, MJ also took almost two seasons off to refresh his body.  That probably factored into his body holding up so well.  Plus, MJ had a lot less weight on his body. 

I wonder, would we have gotten another year out of Larry Bird if he wasn't playing nearly 40 minutes per game in the regular season for basically his entire career?  It was mentioned earlier, but teams back then didn't take care of their players to the same degree.  Some guys can take it, because they're genetic freaks.  Other guys could use a rest once in awhile.

Jordan at the time he entered the playoffs in his last year had played 35,887 minutes in the regular season.  James right now has 35,711.

James has 158 playoff games.  Jordan had 158 playoff games before he entered the playoffs his final year in Chicago (he had 21 that year to finish with 179). 

So in other words, it just isn't true, at least in minutes. 

[D.o.s.]

Jordan didn't have to deal with best-of-sevens in every round for nearly the entirety of his career, either.

[GC003332]

It has been called the dark ages but MJ wasn't sitting out games his last year with the Bulls with more age and playoff games under his belt

Well, MJ also took almost two seasons off to refresh his body.  That probably factored into his body holding up so well.  Plus, MJ had a lot less weight on his body. 

I wonder, would we have gotten another year out of Larry Bird if he wasn't playing nearly 40 minutes per game in the regular season for basically his entire career?  It was mentioned earlier, but teams back then didn't take care of their players to the same degree.  Some guys can take it, because they're genetic freaks.  Other guys could use a rest once in awhile.

As a fan who flew from Australia to see Larry Bird play his last season in 1992, I am just glad his back held out as long as it did, I actually got to see him play his last 4 regular season games of his career in the old Boston Garden,the next game was his last and was out until that last series with the Cavs.Some bodies just are made better for the long haul I guess , ie Stockton & Malone, I would still prefer to see basketball greatness over a 8 to 10 year period than 15-20 that never made that level.