Can the King Reign?

Posted by Mike Giardi May 6, 2008 at 1:27 pm

Here we go. Cavs and Celtics. Game 1 of Round 2. Who ya got? Says here LeBron’s good for two wins this series, minimum. He’s the single most dominating force in the NBA, strong, fluid, intelligent. At yesterday’s C’s practice, one of my favorite newspaper guys compared him to Paul Pierce. I forgive the questioner. Sometimes we try to outsmart each other, or ourselves. But no way am I buying that. Not for a second.

The only similarity is the two men’s ability to get to the rack, but even then, Lebron gets the edge. We’re talking about and watching a player who could be one of the Top-5 or 10 of ALL-TIME! Not of this decade, or since Jordan. ALL-TIME. Does Pierce fall into that category? I think not. In fact, only once in his career has he played like a Top-10 player for a full season. Not trying to hammer the man, but let’s have perspective here.

LeBron’s only problem in this series is the Celts are just deeper, and while I was tempted to pick an upset, I can’t do it, not when Wally Szczerbiak and what’s left of Ben Wallace are forced to play such important roles for Cleveland. We saw enough of Wally here to understand what his game’s all about, and his best days have long since come and gone. Ditto for Wallace, one of the worst free signings of my lifetime (think Chicago would like a do-over on that one?). So I say C’s in…7? Yeah, 7 will do.