Cavs vs Celtics: Game Six Open Thread
May 13, 2010While We’re Waiting… Shaq’s Impact, Jamison Over Amare, and the Future
May 14, 2010There is certainly disappointment of another season without a title. There are numerous questions about match-ups and strategy that certainly need to be addressed, especially if Mike Brown and the core of this team return. But what can you do? How much disappointment and heartbreak can a fan or fan base endure?
To me, the blow of this series loss is somewhat cushioned because I’m certain that LeBron is injured. Yes, there are other theories and rumors in play, but tell me which is more likely. Is it more likely that LeBron decided during the postseason, that he was finished with Mike Brown and wanted to throw his best chance at a title to get him fired- or that he was dealing with an injury that limited his mobility with his shooting arm? LeBron James could have had Brown fired at any point. Any time he wanted I believe. Why throw away a chance to win just to spite a coach?
Is it more likely that LeBron was hurt and unable to feel the ball like normal, or that he just played carelessly with passes and dribbling in the biggest game of his career? Given what you have seen from this man for the last seven years- the blood, sweat and tears; do you really think that he said I don’t care about winning anymore? Is it more likely that he “has his foot out the door and his mind in New York” or that he just doesn’t know how to play with this type of injury? He had 19 rebounds. Guys that aren’t trying don’t get that many rebounds.
So what about the rest of the team? Poor efforts? Maybe. Let’s not forget that this was a starting 5 playing for the first time together all season. Mike Brown said after the game “We never got into a rhythm.” I concur. There was no rhythm offensively and no cohesiveness defensively. Now, who is to blame for that is certainly up for discussion. Think Brown would like to have those four games back at the end of the regular season? But would four games make a difference against a Boston starting five that has been together for years now? Boston plugged in new role players. Cleveland was trying to plug in new components and make things work on the fly. It caught up to them.
And if I’m correct about LeBron’s injury, the rest of team had no idea how to react to LeBron. The entire offense is predicated on James making shots, driving to the rim and finishing, and setting up open looks for teammates. Sure, when LeBron is out of the game they can improvise for a few minutes at a time. When he’s in the game and not himself? They don’t know what to do. Look at how many times LeBron passed the ball to someone who was covered and can’t create shots for themselves. Why would he do that if he wasn’t able to finish the play himself? And why would the rest of the team expect anything different from LeBron while he is on the court than for him to be his usual self? I think Mo started to see tonight that he had to do more, and he just couldn’t get it done.
You may think I’m making excuses. I’m not. I choose to use the past seven years of LeBron’s career to help explain what we just saw. I believe that we will find out soon the extent of LBJ’s injury, and that it seriously affected him. If I’m wrong then I will certainly admit that. I believe Coach Brown will be fired. Unless LeBron makes his staying a condition. He won’t. His in-game decisions in the playoffs over the years warrant it.
In the end will LeBron return to the Cavaliers? Like Lebron said in his press conference, I really don’t want to think about that right now.
62 Comments
I would however allow that there could have been some sort of divide between Shaq and LBJ. But not to the point that the team quit on LeBron.
You are absolutely right. Something is physically wrong with him which was also affecting him mentally. I’ve played basketball, and you have to have confidence in basic things like dribbling, footspeed, and energy levels to get into a rhythm. When you start doubting yourself, it’s all over. Lebron clearly doubted his abilities in this series and it’s not something we’ve seen before.
ZERO chance he purposely tried to get anyone fired. Did anyone see game 3? he would not have played like that in game 3 and then played 3 horrible games in a row if he was perfectly fine and just wanted to send a twisted message. NO CHANCE.
LeBron will stay in Cleveland because he has unfinished business. He will stay in Cleveland because he is already the most hated athlete in the NBA (thanks to Kobe fans, Wizard fans, Orlando fans, and Celtics fans). He understands basketball history and he understands legacy. His legacy would be forever tarnished if he went someone else after THIS performance.
LeBron will stay in Cleveland because the Cavs DO have a bright future. JJ Hickson has a high ceiling, Varejao, Williams, West, Telfair, Williams, Powe, and Moon are all either on the up-tick or in their NBA primes. Jamison will fit in much better next season. And Ferry has proven time and time again that he will pull something off.
Most importantly, LeBron James will stay in Cleveland because Dan Gilbert has a HUGE EGO and is 100% committed to the Cavaliers. He will not go down as the man who lost LeBron James. 0%.
Keep the faith, Cleveland. LeBron will be here next year – ready to work. His injuries will heal, the chemistry will solidify, they will fly under the radar all season as a “regular season team” and they will eff some teams up in the playoffs.
Honestly, it seems like his heart is in Chicago. They have the best team, and if they are able trade Deng for Bron, they will still have the room for Bosh, Wade, et al. He could have easily endorsed the Cavs in his presser. It’s over. It was fun while it lasted.
rick i 110% agree with every word you wrote. those that think lebron isn’t injured are kidding themselves. and as i said in the open thread, i think he’s staying for next year.
âi want to win, that is my only concern. it is all about winning for me and i think the cavs are committed to do that.â
nuff said.
Well said. I agree, something’s obviously very wrong. I think the guy played his heart out tonight. Other than that, I really don’t know what else to say.
Rick I’m with you I believe LBJ is hurt and to his credit he never used it
as an excuse. But even still it doesn’t stop these so-called fans from
attacking him. He puts up a triple double and all you hear is the
turnovers and 8-21, incredible.
Call out Mo, Delonte, Parker, Varejao the real problems. Oh and a
head coach who should only be an assistant.
LeBron did play the best he could, but something wasn’t right. I don’t think his injury caused it though. He was still standing around half-court in the second half at times. I’ve never been a top level athlete, so I don’t know what goes on in their minds when they know their entire team lives or dies with them. But I still love the Cavs, and I still love LeBron. I’ll love LeBron next season too.
Mo Williams really proved A LOT to me tonight. He really showed up and played his heart out. Left it all out on the court. I was thinking he was for sure gone this off-season in some sort of sign and trade for a big name player. That could still very well happen. But I think if Mo was in a good offense with a coach that could put him in better position to succeed then it could work with him.
Jamison CHOKED big time tonight. BIG TIME! Bill Simmons’ buddy house said on a podcast after game 2 that Jamison will choke on us. And he certainly did. I don’t think he needs to be around next year. If he is a piece that can land us someone in a sign and trade then we need to do it. He can’t defend some people. BUT, he also has no real defined role on this team. No true identity as a player. He needs plays run for him and they never really were. the screen and rolls were sometimes run, but not enough.
I love Bron, I hope he comes back so I don’t have to get these $85 jerseys altered. If he stays, they stay. If he leaves. I’ll have 2 #32 jerseys with CLEVELAND on the back.
I’m only 21….But this is another heart break……I’ll be waiting though. What else is there to do?
If LeBron wasn’t injured, he would have played so well in game 3. This loss goes way deeper than LeBron’s elbow. It’s Antawn’s poor defense on KG, Shaq’s inability to at least attempt to disrupt the pick and roll, Brown’s awful decision to put Shaq on KG, Mo Williams getting torched by Rondo, then disappearing in the second half tonight. This team has problems that are by far worse than LeBron’s elbow.
Nice to see you joining the LBJ is injured fan club. I wish you would have subscribed to the “LBJ had fantastic games on three days rest. LBJ had pedestrian shooting games on one days rest” newsletter.
I’ll tell you what I saw during game 6. To me it looked like there was a disconnect between LBJ and his teammates. He would make a shot and the team would barely acknowledge him. When LBJ made that layup leading to an And one, Andy didn’t even run up to him and give him a bear hug from behind. That was odd. I saw Mo and Shaq walking back to the huddle during a timeout and ignore LBJ. JJ gave LBJ love after the back to back three pointers. other than that I can only think of one high five between LBJ and Mo and one butt slap from AP. It seemed like the Cavs were tired of LBJ. It reminded me of Kobe in LA. Kobe is the best player by far on the Lakers, but he doesn’t have the comradeship LBJ has with his teammates. This was evident the entire game. I saw it, maybe somebody else did. When I mentioned it to my peoples they started noticing it as well.
I have two conclusions of why that may be.
1. Somebody got into LBJ face because of his lack of effort in game 5. I think it was Shaq. I think Shaq called LBJ out in the locker room about his lack of energy/effort/drive from game 5. This would explain why Mo stepped up in the first half. Mo maybe thought LBJ was tanking it. It would also explain why Mo and Shaq basically ignored LBJ. Shaq drew a line in the sand and the team chose Shaq.
This would also explain LBJ’s performance tonight. The one day rest killed his shooting (8/21) but he showed more effort than anybody else in the arena. I have never seen LBJ crash the boards that hard in 7 years. He was trying to get things going on offense and the balls weren’t bouncing the proper way for a Cavaliers win.
2. My second theory about the lack of love from LBJ teammate’s is… They know he is abandoning them for NYC, NJ, LAC, CHI, MIA.. fill in the black on any scenario for this summer. This one is more of a conspiracy than anything. But maybe the players know something we don’t know. Maybe LBJ gave some kind of hoo-rah speech in pregame about the last chance. I don’t now. I don’t really believe this is plausible. But it would explain Mo stepping up and saying “We don’t need you” in the first half.
I seriously believe it was number one and LBJ did try his butt off tonight and his stat line showed. He played with energy (18 REB) He played with drive and passion (9 TO) he was trying to make things happen.
“When heâs in the game and not himself? They donât know what to do.”
This has clearly been the case since the Chicago series, and there’s one person who is supposed to be responsible for dealing with that.
And his name isn’t Lebron James.
I’ll put it this way, something was wrong, but it’s foolish to put it on LeBron’s elbow more than the systematic problems of the Cavs. We got beat at every position. I saw this somewhere on twitter. LeBron and the Cavs weren’t playing to win, rather playing to not get embarassed. The whole season I thought the team had an attitude problem, and it manifested itself in a decistatibg manner tonight.
I’m shocked that any of you are capable of rational thought right now. Ow. Head pounding. This is not going to be a good night.
A lot of great points Rick. Wouldn’t surprise me if LBJ ended up having to get an operation or something on that elbow in the offseason. The team definitely didn’t have time to gel with this group of starters and LBJ’s inability to play like himself made that problem worse.
As for Mike Brown, his time has come and gone. Is it completely his fault that they lost? No, the players did a poor job of execution – you can’t blame Brown for 23 turnovers – but Brown is not a championship caliber coach. His offensive “gameplans” lack any sort of imagination and fail to put his players in a position to succeed. He panics with in-game rotations and clearly has lost the ear of his players at this point. More importantly, he never tried to attack the Celtics biggest weakness – a lack of athleticism. Absurdly, the Celtics were far superior to the Cavs in the transition game. Even in game 6, with the season and likely his job on the line, Brown had a true center (either Shaq or Z) on the floor about 80% of the game. If that’s not cluelessness I don’t know what is.
As for what’s next, who knows. But I guess (once again) it just wasn’t meant to be.
I hope that LeBron returns because his pride won’t allow him to leave with such unfinished business left on the table, but if he didn’t have actual ties to the NE Ohio region, I’m not sure this decision would be all that hard from a basketball standpoint. Chicago seems like a logical destination with two players – Rose and Noah – who are more talented than anything Cleveland has to offer. LeBron could also pick his own coach there as well. That’s a pretty appealing situation. I’d say New Jersey would also be in the mix with the new billionaire owner, the eventual move to Brooklyn, and young studs like Lopez and Lee in the fold. Ultimately though, I think that’s too much of a rebuilding project. Knicks seem like a longshot to me, because even though they can bring in a second max deal, there won’t be enough cap space to surround LeBron and the other max player (Bosh?) with enough talent.
If LeBron just signs as a free agent, I think it’s between the Cavs and the Bulls. However, we should all remember that LeBron could work to orchestrate a sign and trade deal as well, which if he was determined to leave, I feel like the Cavs would have to agree to.
I hate having this conversation before the Eastern Conference Finals even begin.
Oy.
@8 are you serious? Talk about speculating, wow. If half of
what you think is true I wouldn’t blame LBJ for walking.
@MattFos —
Your theory number one is very interesting. Hard to see the team turning their back on a long-time leader in favor of a one-year rental, though. I think it’s a stretch.
@Tom Pestak —
I love you right now.
to give credence to the lbj injured thing.. have any of us seen him dribble the ball off his foot as he did at about the 5 min mark? it’s never happened before. so yeah, i can buy that.
unfortunately. the surrounding cast, though good players, weren’t killers. mo showed up tonite (tho he deferred to lbj in 2nd half)… but his resume is poor in the playoffs. i was hopeful that antawn would step up but he [sorry] ‘choked’ when he could have been a difference maker. delonte has been cold-blooded historically, but clearly his demons limited him this series. love z but he’s soft. shaq is .. ten? years past his prime.. cant bank on him.
i’ve been saying that you need someone with the ego to step up in these series. but seriously, who has the ego to say ‘i’m going to pick up lebron james?’ robert horry, eddie house, john paxon… any clutch role players would think twice before taking the ball out of lbj’s hand. it’s a hard thing to manage.
tthis wariness to take charge extended to the coach. why is dick lebeau such a stud d-coordinator? because he trusts his gut and makes the calls and engenders confidence in his team. mike brown? the supposed video junkie/genius? he coached scared. didn’t want to piss off shaq or harm mo’s confidence. hey mike… tell shaq/mo the reasons why you’re putting in AV on KG, tell mo that you like moon on the perimeter… i bet they’ll roll with it. it’s basic management.
enh… enough. plenty of time to slice this up later. hope lebron stays.
Good points AMC, and I’m glad to hear your Cavs fandom didn’t cloud your judgment about Z being on the court. I would have had Z picking up the warmups JJ threw on the ground as he ran onto the court. I love hating on Z. Mike Brown is 100% absolutely totally to blame for this debacle.
Why did we sign JMoon and AP? Why did we trade for Shaq and Atawn?
MATCHUPS
Why didn’t Mike Brown use the deepest bench in the NBA to create matchup problems for the Celtics?
It is absolutely unforgivable. I’m glad to ehar Windy asked LBJ about matchups and the rotation in the post game interview. Thank God I’m not the only person who thinks JJ and Andy give us better matchups against Boston and Chicago. Even playing small with Mo, Dwest, JMoon, LBJ and Andy/JJ would have been better than having Z on the court.
Mike Brown will be fired. I am actually surprised Brown has a plane ticket home.
My coaches for hire. Hubie Brown, Larry Brown, Avery Johnson.
ESPN wants Phil Jackson or John Calipari to come. I think LBJ gets who he wants. But if we’re going to hire a first time coach, again. I kind of hope it’s Eric Snow. Didn’t we groom him for a coaching job his last two years here?
I want Hubie though.
Well Boogey, obviously you didn’t notice the body language between LBJ and everyone else.
Turk- We’re not talking about a normal one year rental. We’re talking about a 4 time NBA champion who won with Kobe and Wade. I think when it comes to playoff knowledge and experience playing with stars Shaq has a very loud voice.
Matty- you are trying to say that Shaq has Andy Varejao’s ear more than LeBron? Varejao owes his career and big fat contract to playing with James. I don’t buy that at all.
Lebron for Luol Deng in a sign and trade. Thanks Glen, I needed that.
@matty – i did not pick up on the no love for lebron thing. but the fact that you saw it is scary. i thought this team, last years team, and the team before had great chemistry and that that would help carry them.
going from great chemistry to infighting would explain a lot. (and was also a concern regarding bringing shaq in the locker room.)
Agreed, Rick
Again speculation and LBJ played harder than anybody else tonight.
You’re telling me if you were sitting on the bench for game 5 and you saw LBJ put no effort forth. At the same time you saw Shaq put up 21 points and play til the final buzz that you would still follow LBJ off of a cliff if he asked? We’re not talking about a nobody. We’re are talking about a guy who will finish his career as a definite top 20 NBA player. With extensive experience playing in clinching and must win games.
Oh and Rick, is my theory about LBJ’s performance on short rest compared to three day rest crazy too?
I bet you thought it was when you first read it prior to game 5.
Lol, this guy wants Hubie Brown!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!? (Dicky V voice) The guy is so old he might die on the sidelines, You might as well ask Dr. Jack Ramsey to coach. Also, he hasn’t had a job in years because he can’t get in touch with players. He’s been around the game a VERY long time. But, that doesn’t mean he can reach today’s players. Most coaches are great X’s and O’s guys (accept JVG). I guarantee Mike Brown forgot more about basketball than ANY ONE of us will ever know. Doesn’t mean they are fit to be a head coach.
My theory – he started doing meth with the Birdman.
Ok, now I’ll read your theories.
Maybe LBJ was in the “zone” tonight and the players knew enough to stay out of his way. That would explain the diconnect. But if you recorded the game, please just watch it again, this time looking for what I’m saying and you will see it.
There could be any number of reasons about why LBJ was “getting no love”
Maybe it wasn’t Shaq, maybe Mike Brown grew a pair and started trying to coach LBJ.
But we need to ask these questions. We need to know why LBJ was a lone wolf tonight. Especially if he signs somewhere else in 48 days.
Did anyone else think Lebron just looked hollow in his eyes? Like he wasn’t there at all? Maybe he is on some major pain relief medication. But he looked loopy and distant for the past two games. Extremely out of character.
Not even a question that Mike Brown is gone. Doesn’t even need to be said.
And to be honest- the rest of the team still just sucks. All the teams that are left have real talent at more than one position. We are still just a one man show with roll players- thats it. Who cares about what Hickson can bring? Efficiency need to be brought, immediately. Lebron needs a true co-leader with a similar age and dominance at the PF or C.
@3 Glen- His heart is in Chicago? Drink more of the Chris Broussard Kool-aid buddy. What has Lebron ever said/done to indicate that his heart is in Chicago?
@ Kensha, chose the number 23.
-Not I need to change my name on here, we have a Glen !
Matty – Go back and watch those TOs. A lot of them were really sloppy and horrible. I don’t call that playing hard.
I agree, the triple-double (that you would have no idea about if you were just listening to television broadcast on ESPN) was awesome. The boards were great. But the turnovers were totally unacceptable.
I love Cleveland.
“You packed your bags
and left today.
You turned your back and walked
away.
You tell me
that your heart is blind.
You tell me
that you’ve changed your mind.
Nothing’s gonna change my mind
not now, or ever.
And even if it takes me life
I’ll wait, forever.
Yeah, eh-eah.
WHY WON’T YOU STOP
AND PLEASE EXPLAIN
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK
THAT IT’S SO PLAIN?
You tell me
love is just a lie.
You tell me
’bout these tears you cry.
Nothing’s gonna change my mind
not now, not ever.
And even if it takes my life
I’ll wait forever.
Yeah-eah.
Oh nothing’s gonna change my mind
not now, not ever.
And even it it takes MY LIFE,
I’LL WAIT FOREVER,
YEAH-EAH!
Forever!
Yeah-eah
Forever!
Yeah-eah!
Forever!
Yeah-eah!
FOREVER!
BELIEVE IN CLEVELAND.
Oh great and mighty S-Dub. Please oh please tell all of us witnesses who you would prefer coaching this team. Because youthful coaches are really getting these teams to the NBA championship. Mike Brown has so many rings I lost count. Eric Spoelstra has gotten the Heat running on all cylinders. I just love how these youthful coaches relate to these players. I do recall Hubie Brown turning the Griz around in the span of a season.
mydogsnameisbuckeye- When you saw sloppy play. I saw the first glimpse in two games of LBJ trying to make the tough passes for wide open threes. Trying to cross over the less talented opposition so he could get to the rim. You see sloppiness. I see effort.
Maybe Lebron is hurt but maybe he’s t. He didn’t play like the Lebron I watched all season. All our players are practiced to play with Lebron as the leader if he falls they all fall like dominoes. Maybe our drinking water was contaminated like in Cabin Fever 2 or…
How bout we change the name of this site to “nextyear.com” and give lbj something to look foward to. Damn I’m tired of of all this negative nancy bs. Think positive for once cleveland!
The pain meds theory might explain the dribbling off the feet-itis.
Heart in Chicago? You think this guy’s having a hard time living up to the “next MJ” tag now, try driving by his statue before every home game.
Mike Brown should have found his own way home tonight.
The only reason I’m coping with any of this is because I think a part of me died last ECF.
at least alcohol can never leave in free agency.
I agree with the writers take, Lebrons subpar performance had to be one of 3 things.
1. The elbow
2. He quit on his team and/or Mike Brown
3. He choked under pressure
LeBron could have had Brown fired at anytime, if he had gone to management after the Orlando series and demanded Browns head on a platter, he would have gotten it. Lebron runs this team, not Dan Gilbert or Danny Ferry or anyone else.
And as competitive as Lebron is, there is not way he would tank and/or quit and let the Celtics celebrate at his expense AGAIN. Even if losing this series now gives him an excuse to bolt to New York or wherever.
Given his past playoff performances, I have a hard time believing that he simply choked. Lebron was incredible against a superior Magic team last year, you dont go from that performance to this one without something being wrong.
I too gotta believe it was the elbow.
Maybe we will get lucky and the Lakers will be stupid enough not to retain Phil Jackson. That should be enough to get LeBron to re-sign. Ok probably not but a guy can dream, right?
Really? So the no look pass to the Celtics bench was effort? The foot dribble was effort? The bounce pass to Andy with 4 Celtics legs obviously in the way were all effort? (Those happen to be the ones I can remember due to the fact that they were shown over and over). I still don’t accept tat effort = turnovers. Stupid passes and mis-dribles near halfcourt that lead to a fastbreak isn’t effort.
I’m the only Cavs fan I’ve met outside of my family and some chick that happened to be wearing the same 23 jersey I was when they played the Nuggets. I can’t wait for all the shit I’m going to get for defending my team. While I’ll still stand up for Cleveland sports, it’s tough.
However, I still maintain the idea that 23 heading for NY or NJ makes no sense. He would be further from a championship, even if he had Bosh. Two guys can’t carry a team, or add 30 wins alone. Sorry. And now more than ever, he will be called out because he couldn’t do it. Now more than ever he has something to prove. But Miami or Chicago do look intriguing, and if he doesn’t resign with Cleveland (and not try to revive his image), I’d rather it be in any state that doesn’t have ‘New’ as it’s first word.
Just had to prepare myself for my talking points before I get blacked out drunk tomorrow night.
Good article, man. Bummed out today, but I look forward to Lebron returning next season. Whatever his issues in the post-season, he is still fun to watch most of the year. I think he comes back.
I feel like LeBron just walked into my living room, looked at me and said, “I think it’s best if we see other people for a while. It’s for the best.”
Text I sent last night:
“I just want to see that fire from Lebron in a Cavs uni one more time…that look of determination, flexin, struttin, staring the crowd down!…@$%#!”
Where was the emotion? I think the team and Lebron himself feed off that energy and mood of intimidation. He showed nothing of the sort (nor the team, reflection of Lebron)!
They lacked the same energy and in game attitude that they had all season.
đ
Trade Jamison!! He is not a POWER forward… he hangs around the 3-point line and grabs garbage rebounds and is a liability defensively…. Garnett owned him in this series
LeBron is 100% hurt. He gave his all in game 3, and couldn’t recover after. Watching his post game, you could tell that something was wrong…
Now, I just wish July would get here, so that we can move on.
So how about that Tribe?
That sucked. Great piece.
at least alcohol can never leave in free agency.
Hilarious. I will remember this every time I start to feel like an alcoholic.
Oh, hey there Bron Bron
No one really wants you gone
We love you please stay
The comments regarding team chemistry make a lot of sense to me. Shaq returns the day before the playoffs after being injured for months, and the rest of the team is resting for the final week of the season, when Jamison has only been there for a month or so. If the team had had any chance to gel, maybe they could’ve coped with James playing a sub-par game or playing injured.
Unfortunately, the enticement of going to NYC or Chicago, where he could be playing with another TRUE, young, top tier player (or two) is going to be too much, in my opinion. Cleveland can’t offer him that… only more Mo Williamses and Shaqs and Jamisonses.
I agree fully that he’s hurt, Rick.
He couldn’t dribble well. He moved to his left hand a ton. He couldn’t snap the passes that he normally threads. He was a bit on the ropes, and the rest of the team followed. Mo stepped up in the first half, but couldn’t carry the team forever.
Even though there’s surely blame to be placed on LeBron (more for not admitting that he’s very hurt in his presser than anything else – season’s over dude, it’s OK to admit it), that doesn’t mean there aren’t others to blame.
Mike Brown kept starting Jamison and Shaq when it was clear they were being devoured by Perkins and KG. Delonte didn’t show up. Parker didn’t play well. There were two matchups that were constantly exploited all series – Rondo v. Cavs, and KG v. Jamison.
Lots of blame to go around, but it’s clear as day to me that LeBron’s been playing hurt.
Just got done reading Windy’s blog and found it interesting that he not once mentioned LeBron’s elbow. I find this hard to believe really as clearly something is affecting LeBron. We have all seen this guy over the last seven years and I don’t ever remember anything remotely close to this series. Here’s why I really think it is the elbow:
1. LeBron Dribbling – He could barely even control his dribble. This revealed itself even more so when he got into traffic.
2. LeBron’s Shot – It was hitting front rim and often bouncing wildly off the side of the rim. Very clearly he has no feel and it almost looked like he was pushing the ball.
3. LeBron’s Passing – It was marginal at best. This is a guy who can thread a needle with the best of them…on the run, off balance, you name it. Yet his passes were sloppy and lacked any real crispness.
4. LeBron’s Demeanor – LeBron has not had to deal with any type of significant injury in his career. He is an only child and used to things going his way. I really think the injury affected his demeanor and he let it get the best of him in games 2 and 5. Not justifying him here but think this may be the case.
I don’t know…time will tell but I agree with Rick and Craig and everyone else that truly thinks LeBron is not even close to being right. I just hope he knows this and is committed to stay and take care of this unfinished business.
BTW…Get Jamison the F out of here!
BTW # 2…Get Mike Brown out of here. How can you go 73 games starting JJ Hickson and yet in the playoffs the guy can barely sniff the hardwood?
No matter how you try to justify this decision (Shaq back, lack of Defense, experience)…It is the type of coaching (or lackthereof) that will affect the team’s overall demeanor. And not in a good way. It just simply cannot NOT affect a team that got used to playing with JJ. Crazy.
Matty I’m not a psychologist all I know is I saw LeBron doing as much as he could which has been the case for 99% of the season. The guy puts up a triple double
but so what he didn’t smile enough. Perhaps 7 long years of having to carry a team and city on his back with 1 1/2 arms finally took it’s toll.
The reality is, like others have said, is that the Cavaliers roster other then LBJ is a mish mosh of role players. Add in a coach who is over his head and presto.
I’ll always be a LeBron fan period.