LeBron: Greatest Letdown Of All-Time

It's another dark day for basketball. It's like watching Anakin turn into Darth Vader but worse--cos we all knew that was going to happen, but not this one. I'm sure casual fans--the same ones who cheered for the Lakers last June--are ecstatic. Why? Cos they don't know a tad about basketball. They don't understand that having LBJ and Wade together means that we'll be deprived of LBJ vs. Wade. Basketball is all about big rivalries. Russell-Chamberlain. Magic-Bird. Jordan-everyone else. The decision is bad for the game. Only one word to describe it, really: Cowardice.

Saying that winning a championship is the main reason is utter bull. For crying out loud, LeBron's only 25. MJ didn't win his first until he was 28. LBJ would have gotten his chances. And lest we forget, Cleveland had the best record the past 2 years; it wasn't as if the Cavs were whipping boys in the league. And what about Chicago? That would've been more acceptable. A young All-Star guard, two tough big men and several quality role players. I've always said that championship-wise--no, dynasty-wise--it's the place to go. And then he chose Miami. Yes, they'll have 3 superstars in Miami; but then what? They have no cap space to sign any more quality players. It's gonna be the Big Three + 9 minimum salary guys. Does anyone really think that would be enough? Hell no. They'll make the playoffs, maybe even win a series or two, but I doubt they'll even make it to the finals. And how do you distribute scoring? Who's gonna be the alpha dog? Ooops, I already know the answer. LeBron's not alpha dog material.

I think this decision would go down as the worst free agent move of all-time. LBJ has been blinded by the high premium placed on the number of championships. MJ is partly to blame due to his success and popularity in the 90's. Casual fans are likewise guilty, because they equate number of championships with greatness. It's all about quantity for them. But true hoops fans know that it's about quality. That's what made MJ so great. He built his own championship team in Chicago. He was the unquestioned leader of the Bulls dynasty. The fact that it took him 7 years to finally bring them over the hump only made it sweeter. And that's why Kobe, even if he wins his 6th next year, will never be equal to MJ; cos he was on Shaq's team the first three rings around. And so even if the Heat wins 7 titles during their run, it would never mean as much had LeBron won it in Cleveland. He took the easy way out. He quit. Now, he's on the team of the 2006 NBA Finals MVP. As Broussard wrote last week, 4 championships in Cleveland would have put him close to MJ as G.O.A.T., considering the talent-level of the Cavs' roster. The number of rings doesn't define greatness. Of course, you have to win a couple but it's not all about the sheer number. Bill Russell had 5 more than MJ but we all know who's the greatest. Wayne Gretzky only had 4 Stanley Cup titles while others have 8-11, yet he's still considered the greatest. Johnny Unitas is regarded as the best QB of all-time despite winning just one Super Bowl. So the rings=greatness equation is a fallacy. And so "the decision" is actually "the mistake." All that discussion about G.O.A.T. would have to be flushed down the toilet. Jordan's Air Apparent isn't playing in the NBA yet.

Which brings me to my next point, LeBron has now become the Greatest Letdown of All-Time (G.L.O.A.T.). How a candidate for G.O.A.T. turns into G.L.O.A.T., no one knows. Ask LeBron. I've been raving about LeBron since 2002, during his junior year in high school (right, Roy?). I even have his Slam mag cover (with Telfair). This guy was simply the next Michael Jordan. Check out his stats from his first 2 seasons and compare it with MJ's last 2 with the Wiz, and you'll see the similarities--I even thought that LeBron's career would be MJ's backwards. His 2006 playoff debut against Washington justified the comparison. His superior athleticism during the series reminded me of how MJ was circa 63-point Boston Garden game. 2007 Game 5 against Detroit. "The Shot" in Game 2 against Orlando last year. Damn, we were all witnesses. Then there's the stats. Easily 30-5-5, even more. Reminiscent of MJ. Hollinger's player efficiency rating even proved it; best in the league since Mike. This kid had all the tools. And then he chose to be on Wade's team. LBJ chickened out when greatness looked him in the eye. He let us down with the Lebacle. He let us down by not joining the slam dunk contest. He let us down by choosing to be Robin rather than Batman. Imagine if Jack did not take on the role of being the Island's protector. Letdown. Or imagine Tiger Woods. Major letdown. The decision is the complete anti-thesis of MJ's "I'm back" announcement in 1995. The saddest part is we might never see that kind of talent again in our lifetime. My generation was fortunate to have Jordan. But for my brother, LeBron was the closest thing. No matter what he does in Miami, no matter how many championships he wins, it wouldn't change the fact that he copped out. He would never live up to what he could've been. In the process, he deprived us of the chance to watch a great career unravel. The chance to tell our grandkids how we witnessed the birth and rise of a legend. I was planning to watch a LeBron game at least once in my life. Not anymore.

Perhaps the worst part of it is that I believed. Even with the Lebacle back in May, I was still a LeBron guy. It was simply the elbow. It was simply bad coaching. When Bill Simmons wrote about LBJ not having MJ's competitive DNA, I kinda half-believed it. But then I remembered the Detroit game in 2007. So I convinced myself that it's just the elbow. It had to be. Fast-forward to today. It turns out Simmons was right (which I know he kind of wishes he wasn't). Jordan never teamed up with Barkley or Drexler or Malone or Ewing. Jordan decimated those guys. And he enjoyed every single moment of it (even up to the point of his Hall enshrinement). LeBron's decision affirmed that he didn't have the MJ DNA. That the Lebacle was not because of the bad elbow. It was simply LeBron being LeBron. Dr. J 2.0. Grant Hill without the injuries (except that GH wouldn't stab his home team on the back; more on that later). That the Detroit game was the exception rather than the norm. I suddenly had a flashback of Game 6 versus Orlando in 2009. He didn't want to shoot the ball in that game, too. Damn, I was blinded by all the stats, by Hollinger's PER. Well, stats lie. Turns out LeBron is more Pippen than Jordan; now he's going to be a glorified Pippen to Wade's poor man's Jordan. Simmons (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons%2F100708) summed it up perfectly, "In May, after the Cavs were ousted in the conference semifinals, I wrote that LeBron was facing one of the greatest sports decisions ever: winning (Chicago), loyalty (Cleveland) or a chance at immortality (New York). I never thought he would pick 'HELP!'"

And it's not just the decision. It's the way he announced it. A one-hour show on ESPN. What for? To break the hearts of Cleveland fans. It's the single cruelest thing a sports athlete could do to his former team. It's worse than Bett Favre going to Minnesota and torching the Packers--at least Favre had a reason to; Green Bay didn't want him. But everyone in Cleveland loved LeBron and wanted him to stay. This announcement was a calculated way of stabbing Cleveland in the heart. In law school parlance, it was attended by the aggravating circumstance of alevosia (treachery). Unforgivable. I had this conversation with my Ateneo friends during a simposio back in June (mostly LBJ-haters, by the way; and Laker-haters, too), and Jek was telling me what an ass LeBron has become. I was a staunch LBJ defender then. Not anymore. This is betrayal at its most sadistic. Calculated. Premeditated. Selfish. Narcissistic. It's utterly disgusting.

His penultimate game as a Cav (the Lebacle) and this decision would define LeBron's career. Total letdown. His place in basketball Valhalla has been sealed. He can't escape the fact that he shirked his date with greatness--no matter how many titles, no matter how many MVPs, not even if he averages a triple-double for a season. He'll be right there with Dr. J, maybe with Oscar. But never with Mike. Never with Bill and Wilt. Never with Magic and Larry. Heck, not even with Kobe.

Game 3

And so there will be a Game 3. As much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong with my prediction. Well, it was a blowout, alright; except that it was Ateneo on the wrong side of it. So where did it all go wrong? The laconic me would proffer only three words: law of averages. UE waxed hot in the 2nd half and Ateneo couldn't keep up. Case in point: Espiritu kept on hitting jumpers with Baclao right on his face.

But the critic in me knows better. Even if UE was on fire, the game could've been won (and my 460 bucks would've been worth it). So here's a breakdown of what went wrong and what needs to be done come Thursday:

1. Eric Salamat is a choker. The former NCAA juniors MVP is averaging a measly 3 ppg in the 4 Finals games he has appeared in since last year. For the season, he is the only other Blue Eagle who is averaging double-digits and was even named PSBank Maaasahan Player of the Season. In fact, he is the main reason why Ateneo had been so dominant during the eliminations--he filled in the shoes of Chris Tiu nicely. But the Finals has been a different story for him. If Ateneo are to dominate Game 3, they need him to be his usual self. We need to see more penetrations. He can't rely on outside shots if he's on a slump. He needs to draw fouls to manufacture points. Show us those mile-high salutes again!

2. Not enough isolations for Ryan Buenafe. This guy is a scoring machine. Just give him the ball and he will drive, draw contact, and finish. He is like Danny Seigle without a consistent outside shot. Problem is, he doesn't have the green light from Norman. You see him playing point forward most of the time but he ends up dribbling the ball and running down the clock, without making anything happen. What we need to see him do more is drive to the basket and either go for the shot or dish to an open teammate--because he is not only a scorer, he is also an underrated passer. This way he can create plays instead of just dribbling idly. Also, UE sometimes matches him up with Paul Lee, a guy who is at least 2 inches shorter than him. We need to see him post up and exploit the mismatch. And oh, not enough minutes for him, too. Austria and Long are eating on his minutes a tad too much, Mr. Black.

3. Lackadaisical defense. The Game 2 loss was not just about UE waxing hot, it was also about Ateneo playing poor defense. They had trouble fighting through screens, the help-defense was a step too slow, and the interior defense was soft. The Eagles gave up way too many layups. I remember a fastbreak play where Monfort tried to take the charge instead of giving up a hard foul, and ended up getting called for the block on an and-1 play. Way too soft. Don't let the refs try to bail you out.

4. Way too many 3-point attempts and, I hate to say this, not enough touches for Al-Hussaini down low. Ateneo jacked up around 30 threes in the loss, which is too much. The Eagles didn't dominate the season because of 3-point shooting, so there's absolutely no need to rely on it that much. Sure, Ateneo is amongst the league-leaders in 3-point field goal percentage, but shooting 3s is not Ateneo's game. They do not live and die with the 3. Ateneo's game is to dump the ball to Rabeh and score points from the paint. Of course credit goes to UE for good defense down low, but Rabeh should be able to get some touches in the paint and get UE's bigs into foul trouble. The thing is, Rabeh is settling for outside shots, and although he is making most of them, is not the way to take control of the game.

5. Stagnant offense. I know Ateneo's game is basically a half-court set. The problem in Game 2 is that the players just stand on the floor waiting for the pass. We need to see more cutters. Also, Ateneo needs to run a bit more. Fastbreak points were virtually non-existent in the loss. And this is from a team that has good fastbreak finishers and bigs who run the break well. We need to speed it up a bit.

6. The five on the floor forgot about the 6th men. We didn't see enough emotions last Sunday. The team didn't try to get the Ateneo faithful into it. Everybody wearing blue wanted the balloons to fall that day. The team should've shown that they wanted it, too. That they wanted it badly. Bring out the guns and the salutes this Thursday. And the Blue Crew will cheer you on like the game is the only thing that matters. Like the Sesqui celebration is not complete without the UAAP basketball crown. Oh, I can feel the drumbeat right now... Go Ateneo!

I am still predicting an Ateneo win this Thursday... as a belated birthday gift. Dare I say by 25, on my 25th.

Hot Ticket

With the UAAP Finals about to tip off in a couple of minutes, I just want to give my two cents' worth. First off, people (guys from Hard Ball, in particular) are always saying that UE is the hottest team in the league right now. A fallacy. UE has won 8 straight. Ateneo has won 11 consecutive. So how do you define "hottest"? Second, people keep bringing back the ghost of 2006, when Ateneo, then the #1 seed, lost to the #3 seed UST. They say that Ateneo was a heavy favorite then. I beg to differ. The 2006 team was good, but it was not dominant. I admit that I was surprised that Ateneo performed very well that season. Be reminded that that team lost to UST in the 2nd round; so the Finals defeat wasn't a rabbit out of the hat. The King Eagles were JC Intal, Doug Kramer, and Macky Escalona. Not exactly legends in college hoops. Meanwhile, UST, although denominated as underdogs, were talent-laden, with Jervy Cruz, Jojo Duncil, and Dylan Ababou, which also featured a solid supporting cast. So call it an upset if you like, but the teams were more closely matched than pundits would have it. On the other hand, this year's Blue Eagles have dominated the league. Discounting that fluke loss to UP (which they avenged with a blowout), nobody has even come close--except for La Salle in their first round meeting. But then again, in every Ateneo-La Salle, you throw out the season stats. Ateneo already drubbed UE twice this season, with the second round margin being wider than the score suggests. The Blue Eagles have superb offense, anchored by Al-Hussaini, Salamat, and Buenafe (this guy, as Luigi Trillo says, is a big-game player), all of whom can create for themselves. Then there's the perimeter shooting of Jai Reyes and Eman Monfort They've got great defense, with Baclao in the post, plus Salamat and Long in perimeter. The bench is deep, too, with Salva, Buenafe, and Monfort playing the roles of super-subs. So c'mon guys, don't make too much fuzz about it. Don't fall into "analysis paralysis." We all know how it'll turn out. Ateneo will sweep UE in the Finals.

Game 1 will be close though. UE is on an emotional high, no doubt about that. This will carry them through most parts of the opener. But they are undermatched, both in size and talent. So once the emotions wane--which will, come 4th quarter--the difference will be apparent. Ateneo's experience will overcome UE's emotions. So my prediction? Ateneo by 5.

As for Game 2, well, after a heart-breaking defeat in the first game, I expect UE to come out flat. It's going to be a blow out. At least 15 points. An anti-climactic end to an anti-climactic season. That's how it is, at least for me, all because of that loss to UP, which took away 15-0 in 150.

The Pilot

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After a long hiatus, I finally felt the urge to write something again. As the great Michael Jordan said in his 2nd comeback, "there was an itch that needed to be scratched." Maybe it's the political maelstrom brewing on the lead up to next year's presidential elections. Or maybe it's the UAAP Finals. Or maybe it's because the NBA season is less than 2 months away. Or maybe I just need an outlet cos law school is too damn stressful. In any case, Geocities would be closing down on October, which means fptensai.cjb.net--something I created back in 2004--would be buried in the rubbles of online history (moment of silence...)

So why 'Morning Glory'? The answer's a gimme, for people who know me. But just for the benefit of those who don't--having stumbled upon this site like a little girl lost in the woods--it's from Oasis' groundbreaking album "What's the Story (Morning Glory)?" released way back in 1995. Best album in the world. Ever. With the band's breakup a couple of weeks ago, it was almost a no-brainer that I'd choose this as my blog name. Note: almost.

You see, when I seriously started thinking about writing again about a week ago, the title was a toss up between 'Morning Glory,' 'The Eye of My Mind,' and 'Unclogging the Pipe.' The first 2 were throwbacks to Oasis--the album and the first line of "Don't Look Back in Anger." The 3rd choice was a line from the movie "There's Something About Mary." If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've gotta watch the movie and watch out for that line. Anyway, 'Morning Glory' stuck, and so it is.

"In this town the jury is always rigged but the people know. They know the truth. Believe. Belief. Beyond. Their morning glory."

P.H in the summer of '95.