Itchy Trade Finger?
April 27, 2008When A Rivalry Isn’t A Rivalry
April 27, 2008
Reporting that LeBron James scored 30+ points yet again is barely news. But only one game after Delonte West and Daniel Gibson combined to go 3-for-9 with nine points, the two guards were absolutely huge during Game 4, combining for 33 points including nine three-point field goals. West drained one with 5.4 seconds on the game clock to put the Cavs up by three…for good.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas encountered foul trouble early, and only managed to play 28 minutes in this one. Thankfully, Ben Wallace earned his game check by pulling down 12 rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks. In fact, the Cavs out-rebounded the Wizards by 20 (51 to 31) thanks to 12 boards from James and eight from Joe Smith.
Something bound to make news come Monday morning was DeShawn Stevenson’s flagrant foul on James late in the second quarter. I have no issue with the foul, as it happens. What I do take issue with is Stevenson’s response after the foul went down. Washington fans, this is the big difference between the fouls committed by your team and those by the Cavs. Anderson Varejao fouls Andray Blatche, and nothing is said afterwards. Stevenson chops at the head of James and finds it necessary to mouth off afterwards?
For instance, BulletsForever had this to say during the Live Blog:
Cleveland fans will be pissed at the Lock Smith’s swipe, probably calling it cheap head-hunting. He did look to be going to for the ball, but the motion can definitely be taken as an act of aggression as LeBron’s headband went flying.
And just to be clear. It wasn’t the foul I have an issue with. It’s the punk-ass jawing after the fact. Take responsibility for your foul and walk away.
It’s great that Stevenson been able to find his 15 minutes of fame thanks to verbal media barbs, but when you’re going to act like some goon on the floor, things take a different turn. The Plain Dealer did a pretty respectable piece on Brendan Haywood for today’s publication. It’s a shame that his “character” is portrayed so poorly. However, if he wants to help the perception, perhaps he shouldn’t taunt the opposition by standing above them after a foul? Just throwing it out there.
This series will now come back to Cleveland for Game 5. Arenas had the final shot of the game – a situation which he typically thrives on. Too bad that the lasting image of this one will be West burying the game-winner right in his grill.
2 Comments
It should be about time that nobody cares about DeShawn Stevenson anymore. Not even his own mother. He is quite possibly the dumbest person of all time. I’m going to just skip over all the stupid stuff he has done in his life. His game is just not worth any of the attention that we give him. He had a good game 3. Way to go, you got hot and for the first time in two years in the playoffs you did something. He plays dumb; every time he shoots he starts hopping back on one foot like he knows he made it, it happened at least 3 times today, but he bricks it almost every time. He is too busy running his mouth and acting like an idiot to actually realize that he is TERRIBLE. if he is a wizard next year, I’ll be shocked. I wonder what excuse the Wiz will bring out this time after losing AGAIN to the cavs. They wanted the Cavs, they got the Cavs, but they still can’t beat the Cavs.
(This comment has been edited. Family friendly around here please. Any questions or problems with the policy email rick, I’d be glad to talk about it.)
Yes, it appeared to be a swipe at the ball, but his fist was closed and the ball was no where near LeBron’s face. That changes the situation greatly in my opinion. Just because he’s trying to disguise his intentions, doesn’t mean we have to believe that going for the ball was his intent.