Yoda

The swamp held many secrets, Yoda among them. He recognized those mysteries from the second his small escape pod landed on the desolate planet of Dagobah. The little creature sat silent on the shore of the swamp. All around him, the natural chaos of animal and plant life danced in a never ceasing pattern. Since arriving on the planet 19 years before, Yoda had fallen in line with the pattern.

His green hands, cracked and bruised, swayed out over the water. Yoda spent most of his days deep in mediation with the Living Force. 

Different is the Living Force, he thought, reminiscing on the vast understanding he'd gained during his years of self imposed exile. Yoda discovered that the Force was deeper than Light and Dark. There was also Living and Dying. Living Force grew, Dying Force destroyed. The Jedi, in all of their wisdom, never fully understood the Force.

Their need for order, as much as the Sith's need for chaos, clouded their judgement. Their reasoning that Midi-Chlorians dictated an individual's connection to the Force was misguided. Their dissociation with love was in error and their desire to protect the galaxy was incorrect. There was no good or bad. No Jedi or Sith.  There was only living and dying. Growth and decay. Beginning and end. Dagobah was full of both. 

Yoda exhaled deeply, traveling further into congress with the binding nature of the Galaxy. Here on Dagobah, the force was so thick around him he could walk upon it as if it were solid ground. He stepped out and shifted his slight frame onto a pocket of energy that bounced gently yet sustained his weight. Now in the late stages of his life, the old Jedi Master relied on the Force for most of his movement.

He let his fingers reach out toward a gathering of rocks and called for them to join him. He sensed the Force leave his hand, surround the rocks, and lift them off the swamp shore. The 900 year old being flicked his wrist and sent the rocks in different directions. He then brought his hands together and floated back to a cross legged position.

Why do you still train, a viperous voice said from his subconscious. Your failure has ruined everything you ever knew.

Yoda shook the thought away. Long had he pondered the arrogance of the Jedi and all of the problems it had caused the Galaxy. Long had he known they should have never established the temple on Coruscant... so far away from the Living Force. These regrets did him no good now.

Suddenly, a loud crash tore him out of his meditation. Yoda's eye shot open, dilating quickly. The Force found his cane and brought it to his hand. Sensing the direction of the crash, he ran across the swamp on bubbles of Force energy until he reached the other side.

Is LeBron too good?

The following question occurred to me today in anticipation of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers.

Is LeBron's versatility a problem?

I know that sounds like madness, but when you think about it the question has merit. King James's ability to play every position is amazing and sounds too good to be true. Who wouldn't want a player on their team who could do everything?

But therein lies the true issue. When you have a player as superb as LeBron you can't put him in a position where he has to do everything. Sure LeBron CAN pass, shoot, defend, rebound, block, steal, and move without the ball better than any player who has every played. HOWEVER, he shouldn't have to do all of those things. LeBron, like most great basketball players, is at his best when he allows the game to flow through him rather than having him work against the game. Being a natural distributor, James wants that ball to move around the court and organically find its way into the basket. Now if that organic way happens to be by a monstrous dunk than so be it. James intensely wants to win and at times during this postseason his teammates have appeared tentative, reluctant, and too concerned with what he was doing on the court rather than what they should do.

So if you're a General Manager or President of Basketball Operations, how do you build around a player who can do it all? How do you add teammates to a roster in which you have a superstar who can comfortably play serious minutes at all five positions? Well here's the deal, you don't. This whole situation is unprecedented. The Miami Heat are struggling in these East Conference finals, just like the Cleveland Cavaliers did during James's tenure there. There is no system, no metrics for this. No GM can look back at a team of yesteryear and say "that's how they did it, we'll do the same thing."

What to do then? I think if you have a player like LeBron your only option is roll the dice, hope his teammates respond to his intensity, and hold on for dear life. And if all goes well, you'll be raising the championship banner and kissing the Larry O'Brien Trophy. If all goes wrong, you be praying he doesn't bolt when his contract is up.

I Love this Game

The 2013 Eastern Conference finals is unique for me. Born in Indiana and growing up during the 90s, I was a Indiana Pacer fan. Make no mistake, I've always been a fair weather fan at best, so when in the early 2000s the Blue and Gold starting losing I started losing interest. But before I sold out and started paying more attention to talent over teams, I watched Pacer squad after Pacer squad repeatedly lose to a certain team from Chicago. Guys like Reggie, Rik, and Detlef couldn't get around those guys named Michael, Scottie, and Toni. And now almost 20 years later, it's crazy how cyclical sports can be. The up and coming Pacers of today face a similar behemoth in the Miami Heat. Here's a quick match up breakdown.

Mario Chalmers vs. George Hill - Both guys run their offenses well with Chalmers holding the edge only, because he's been to the promised land once before. Hill is a solid starter, distributes the ball well and has a good stroke from behind the arc.

Dwayne Wade vs. Lance Stephenson - Wade's got knee problems, but is still Dwayne Wade. He finds ways to get to the basket, but finds it tough due to the middle being clogged with bigs. Aside from the fact that he is hurt, this series has shown that Wade should've developed his outside shooting earlier in his career and is staying hurt due to his game being so reliant on slashing and driving. Stephenson is the wild card for the Pacers. He takes risks that make Hoosiers hold their breath. When he's confident he's amazing, when he's scared he's a liability.

LeBron James vs. Paul George - The MATCHUP. Following classic back and forth offensive possessions in which George posterized Chris "Birdman" Anderson with a definitive dunk and James nailed a deep three to end the 3rd quarter, the two prize fighter's fist bumped igniting the series into an instant classic. I guarantee you that fist bump will be used in NBA marketing for years to come, because Paul George is that next superstar who will challenge the throne of King James.

Chris Bosh vs. David West - So far in this series West has owned the Power Forward position. Being of a fan of his since his days as a Hornet, it's great to see him get a new lease with this team. Bosh has struggled, because he isn't a traditional post player and is playing against his nature when facing West. Bosh's role has been mostly limited to spacing the floor for LBJ.

Udonis Haslem vs. Roy Hibbert - Until Game 5, Haslem has been invisible in this series. He hasn't been a force at all while Hibbert is quickly approaching household name status. Dominant in the paint, Roy has done everything Coach Vogel has requested of him. From pulling down boards to knocking down hook shots. This series has started and stopped in the middle and the Pacers have Roy to thank for that.

The benches for both teams have been even, if not underwhelming in this series. The Heat's stable of shooters have been absent while the Pacers really rely on their first unit for scoring. To be the honest it's really been the LeBron show for the Heat and a balanced attack for the Pacers. But I guess when you have the best player in the world on your team you can approach every game the same way. Get LeBron the ball and get out of the way.

So after 5 games the Pacers are down 3-2 and are heading back to Indy to try an even the series one last time. Will Paul George take over the game as everyone hopes he will or will LeBron be LeBron and hold court with a borderline quadruple double performance?

As a fair weather fan, I'm primarily interested in seeing great performances, but also watching the Blue and Gold during this post season has conjured up old feelings. Feelings I haven't felt since the days of JNCO jeans, playing Goldeneye on the N64 until 3 a.m., and a wicked case of acne.

So I guess the better question is who will show up in my living room on Saturday night? The turn coat fan of King James or the middle school kid who spent too much time trying to shoot threes in his driveway like Reggie?

Who are we kidding... Let's go Heat!