I feel like this is becoming a recurring theme here, but: I hope I’m wrong.
I desperately hope I’m wrong, but I just can’t shake the feeling that last night we were all “Witnesses” to the death of professional basketball in Cleveland.
We Were All Witnesses... To Game Five
Maybe “death” is too strong a word. I do not think the Cavaliers will leave Cleveland. Perhaps the phrase “the plunge back to below-average-at-best-mediocrity” is better. Odd, it doesn’t make me feel all that better.
Lots on my mind. Need to ramble. Time for some quick thoughts.
Quick Thoughts:
I know, I know. Game Five was historically terrible. Maybe even insulting. But I will try not to dwell on it. I’ve already written my two cents. But if you want more on it, I’ll recommend stories by Brian Windhorst and Bill Simmons. Great reads with some great points.
Now onto Game Six…
We’re down, but not out. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. The more I sit back and watch everything unfold in the media and the sports blog world, the more I cannot help but think we are all overreacting a little bit. Seriously, teams come back from down 3-2 all the time. The Hawks already did it this season.
All we need to do is win tonight. If we do that, it’s back even and it all comes down to one game, and it’ll be in our house. I know the Cavs haven’t taken advantage of home court so far this series. But if the game comes back to Cleveland, that means the Cavs had an attitude change tonight. Momentum suddenly swings in our favor.
In the world of the internet, sports fans have become so engulfed with media coverage. Things get blown out of proportion all the time. You hear the same story on SportsCenter three different times, read about it on websites, then get exposed to it yet again on twitter… Suddenly, you start believing its that big of a deal.
Because of all the instant and hounding coverage, we live in a “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” world now more than ever before. It only took one horrid loss to turn Cavalier fans’ world upside down. It will only take one win to put it back in perspective. It will only take two wins to get back to everyone’s goal: winning a championship.
How can we beat the Celtics? Here’s my unprofessional opinion that means diddly-squat: Read the rest of this entry »
Game Five was such a let down, it took the sports blog/forum/commenter world by storm. Everyone and their mother had written some sort of reactionary piece expressing their frustration with the Cavalier performance. Myself included.
Such hotheaded venting, combined with the audible boo’s from the home crowd, led many from outside of Cleveland to wonder:
You know about King James... Meet King Windy.
a) Are the Cavs fans spoiled? b) Is he not allowed one bad game? c) Have they turned on LeBron?
The answer to those, hopefully, are: a) No, you jerk. b) Of course he’s allowed to have a bad game and c) No. At least I hope not.
In a special to ESPN.com, Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer perfectly captures what is bothering Cavalier fans:
“Those numbers [LBJ's Game 5 Statline] are not why James’ performances have been shocking. Is it his nonchalant attitude that mixes with tentative play when he is trying to make something happen? That is what will be remembered for years and what has thrown so many of his supporters off guard. Read the rest of this entry »
I hope LeBron James and the Cavaliers prove me wrong. I would want nothing more than them to win the next one in Boston, come back to Cleveland and win game seven for all those fans they disappointed tonight.
Hell, the Atlanta Hawks did it after losing game five at home to the Milwaukee Bucks. So there is still a chance, right?
But as optimistic as I like to be, I just cannot shake the feeling that there is a better chance of Spencer Pratt becoming a likable human being. (For those fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with Pratt, you’ve got a better chance of finding a monkey typing Hamlet.)
LeBron James and the Cavaliers played with little heart and even less regard to the hopes and dreams of city of Cleveland. They mailed it in this game. Gave up. And it was inexcusable.
This was a six point game at half time. Six points. At home. How were they not fired up to come out, play some dominant defense, take the lead and pump up the crowd? Six points was all it had to take.
What happens?
Six points — for the Celtics, courtesy of Ray Allen within the first 30 seconds to open the second half.
All it would have taken was a measly six points to get back into the game. Unfortunately, all it took was a measly six points to completely deflate the Cavaliers. Read the rest of this entry »
LeBron James promised fans a “different monster” this post-season. Since this proclamation, fans have only caught glimpses of said monster.
The 2010 post-season has been more of a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde act, with unfortunately more of the easy going Dr. Jekyll showing up at tip-off than the fearsome Mr. Hyde.
"I'm lookin at the Man in the Mirror. I'm hoping he can change his ways."
The monster, or Mr. Hyde, has shown its face in just three games. Games 1 and 4 of the first round, and then Game 3 of the second round. Each time, there was an extra source of energy coming into the game.
Game 1 was the first playoff game and the Cavaliers were tired of answering questions about the effect of resting players — so they came out and dominated. The other two games followed losses which aided the Cavalier sense of urgency.
In each of those games, you could see the potential of this Cavaliers team — the “different monster” that LeBron had alluded to earlier. It’s just too bad that this “different monster” has a Hulk-like need to be agitated in order to reveal itself. Without any increased pressure before a game, the tame Dr. Jekyll comes to play. Read the rest of this entry »
If it looked pretty flat and smelled pretty flat. Then by golly, the Cavs played flat.
It was as if Rajon Rondo took a galion roller to the Cavs roster. To provide a visual, Rondo played the role of Austin Powers while the Cavs embodied the absent minded security guard in the following clip:
Terrible. Cleveland fans deserve better.
If the Round 1 Game 3 loss to the Bulls served as an innocent wake-up call to the Cavs, this Round 2 Game 2 loss should serve as a disrespecting slap in the face. I was glad the Cavs lost that third game to the Bulls. I’m terrified that they lost this game 2 to the Celtics.
The Bulls were a young team with little veteran leadership, and the Cavs lost an away game. Minor bump in the road. On the other hand, the Celtics are a team full of veterans with playoff experience and a championship ring to their name that just beat the Cavs in their house. They also head back to Boston knowing that they just out dueled the Cavaliers in 3 out of 4 halves played. And in Cleveland, nonetheless.
Tonight, the Celtics stole both the momentum and the home court advantage for the series. This is a big deal.
The Cavs started slow and finished slower. Sure, they had a decent run at the end. But it was too little too late. The message had already been sent: They took this team too easy, and the Celtics made them pay.
After a sluggish start in the first quarter, the Cavs went on a decent little run to pull within 1 before a Rondo 3 to end the quarter put Boston up 4. Second quarter? Same thing. Slow start, Boston begins the quarter with a 9-0 run followed by a Cleveland run that pulls it back to within 4 going into halftime.
I was already worried at this point. It seemed obvious that the Cavs were taking the Celtics lightly. Sure, we started off slow and they might be winning now. But we can turn it on later and get the victory. No big deal.
I think this overconfidence will prove to be the Cavs Achilles heel. That, and free throw shooting.
They don’t seem to play with a sense of urgency unless they have a fire lit under their butts. In Game 1, it was Mo Williams dunk that sparked a Cavalier comeback. In Game 2, it was a “Holy Sh*t, we’re down 20 with only 8 minutes left.” As we all unfortunately know, that “Holy Sh*t” moment came too late.
With home court advantage now in the favor of the Celtics, hopefully the fire is aflame under the collective Cavaliers butt. The sense of urgency begins now.
Cleveland fans deserve a better performance than they saw in Game 2. We are a proud, championship starved city that sticks with their teams through thick and thin. Regrettably, its usually a lot more thin than thick.
But with this 2009-2010 Cavs, they are the thick. Thickest team we’ve had in a while. All Cleveland fans want is to see them play with heart for 48 minutes.
We don’t deserve an “Ah, we can get ‘em later” attitude and halves that are effectively mailed in.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this Cavs team should win a championship. Now its up to them to hold a blowtorch to their rears, play with some heart, and win one for the City of Cleveland.
With about 5 minutes left in the third quarter, the Cavs trailing by 11 and playing even worse, Cleveland needed a lift.
Enter Mo Williams.
After stealing an errant Rajon Rondo pass, Williams raced down the court with LeBron James to his left and Paul Pierce ahead ready to go up for a block. I don’t know about you, but as this play unfolded I was thinking: “Alley-oop to LeBron. Alley-oop to LeBron!” But Mo Williams had a different idea in mind. Completely disregarding the taller Pierce awaiting him near the basket, Mo Williams rose up and threw down a dunk, effectively posterizing Pierce.
It pumped up the crowd, it pumped up the team, it even pumped up Mo himself, who decided to go on a tear that third quarter by putting up 14 points. Most importantly, it sparked a Cavaliers comeback to beat Boston and take the series opener.
Actually even more importantly, it triggered one hilariously unintentional comedic response from Mike Brown. Seriously, Cheech and Chong could have come up with a response that sounded less stoned. Check out the dunk + Mike Brown reaction here:
Now when this play happened, I knew it was a big deal. But I didn’t grasp how big of a deal it was. Here are some cool tidbits about the Mo dunk:
It was only Mo Williams second career dunk. As in ever. As in he’s only dunked twice in the NBA. Ever! I couldn’t get over that. It’s also his first career dunk as a Cleveland Cavalier. It couldn’t have come in a better time.
Not only did the dunk feel like the turning point of the game, it literally was the turning point of the game. For proof, I’ll provide this little stat bubble, courtesy of ESPN.com:
Via ESPN.com: Mo Williams Dunk proves to be the turning point of Game 1
That little box really says it all. Before the dunk, the Cavs were shooting poorly, playing bad defense and were down 11. After the dunk, the Cavs played better offensively, defensively, and outscored the Celtics by 19.
Mo’s stand out performance in Game 1 wasn’t limited to one play either though. He played well throughout and put up a pretty solid statline: 20 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assists, 1 steal, and only 1 turnover.
Interesting note about Mo’s night: Zero. That’s the number of 3 pointers Mo Williams made in Game 1. That’s right. The three point shooting point guard had that big of an impact while going 0-3 from beyond the arc. Normally when Mo has a big night, he is on fire shooting threes. Saturday night, he found other ways to do it. Impressive.
Now, I normally could care less about the +/- statistic, but Mo had an impressive +23 on the night. I couldn’t ignore that. It was more than double the second highest +/- number (Antawn Jamison had +11), and was more than triple of LeBron (+7)!
In my Round One in Review, I wrote that Mo Williams needed to step it up. In Game 1 against Boston, he answered the call. He didn’t just step it up, he bought a stairmaster.
With the Cavs set to take on the Celtics tonight in the first game of Round 2, I wanted to put down some quick thoughts on the series as well as LeBron’s second MVP award and those who did not vote for him:
Quick Thoughts:
This Celtics team can be very dangerous. If the Cavs slip up and take one or two games lightly, especially at home, that could leave the door open for the Celtics to win the series.
Again, the Cavs should win a championship this year, which means that they should beat the Celtics this round. But that does not mean the Celtics are not a dangerous team. Indiana Jones had the talent to avoid the booby traps and retrieve the golden idol in the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. He should have been able to do it. But one slip up, and he’s a goner.
It’ll be interesting to see how Mike Brown decides to go about this series, whether he opts for the bigger, half court game, or the younger, more athletic small ball. Against Chicago, he kept trying to force feed the half court game and get Shaq involved even though it wasn’t working. I was fine with this then, because playing small ball played to the Bulls strengths. They had young, energetic and athletic bigs in Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah, so they would excel in those fast pace, running the floor games.
I believe we should come in with the opposite strategy for Boston: play small. The Celtics have aging farts, err… veterans in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Michael Finley, and Rasheed Wallace. Yes, they have younger energy guys in Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, and a young stud point guard in Rajon Rondo. But aside from Rondo, this team isn’t best suited for a fast pace game. Garnett’s knees are weaker than a Kevin Durant bench press. The Cavs should run them into the ground.
But knowing Mike Brown, you just never know. If the Cavs play to the Celtics strengths, and go big. I could see this going 6-7 games. If the Cavs play that athletic small ball, the series should be over within 5 games.
My Prediction: Cavs in 6.
Why 6? I just don’t see it going 7, but I can see the Cavs slipping in one game and Mike Brown slipping in another. So there’s my reasoning for six. Steel trap logic, I know.
More Random Thoughts that were brought to my attention from others:
Brian Windhorst tweeted today that the since the Cavs and Celtics met in the 2008 Conference Semi-Finals, the Celtics have the exact same starting five (Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins), while the Cavs have exactly one same starter. I’ll give you three guesses as to who that is… Guess yet? … Okay … Trick question: Damon Jones.
Seriously though, that type of continuity is what makes the Celtics a very dangerous team.
The Cavs starters, other than LeBron, in that ’08 series? Delonte West, Wally World, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas.Tonight, the Cavs will start Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Antawn Jamison and Shaquille O’Neal, with West & Z available off the bench. Nicely done, Ferry.
Final Thought on this series:
Simply put: this series should be awesome. I’m giddy for it. Ever since their last meeting, I’ve been hoping the Cavs and Celtics would meet in the playoffs. There is some bad blood between these two teams. You all know that last game on Easter Sunday: the Cavs making a 20+ point comeback, LeBron hoisting the ill-advised 3-pointer for the win as opposed to taking it to the rack and into overtime, Garnett grabbing his crotch and yelling at LeBron, Tony Allen talking trash to LeBron (yes: Tony Allen talked trash to LeBron. Idiot.) Combine that with “Big Baby” messing up the Diesel’s ability to hitchhike, several playoff meetings, and you have yourself a heated rivalry in Round 2!
Oh Yeah! LeBron won the MVP!
LeBron will be named the leagues Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, becoming only the tenth player in league history to win the award back to back.
This may have been the most anticlimactic MVP announcement in recent memory. ESPN.com writer, Bill Simmons, scrapped his favorite article of the year (his MVP countdown) because it appeared to be such a foregone conclusion. LeBron was viewed as the preseason pick for MVP by many pundits. And ever since the first month came and went, he left little doubt he would be named MVP until the announcement became official.
Seriously, LeBron’s season was just absurd. He averaged 29.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 8.6 apg. He nearly swept the Player of the Month awards! And most importantly, he was the best player on the best team in the league.
LeBron had such a convincing MVP performance this year, it was like a bizarro health care issue: there was no debate. He may not have won the award unanimously, but I had yet to see someone publish an article putting LeBron 2nd or below. I think that’s because they know that if they let anyone know they didn’t vote LeBron as MVP, they’d develop a reputation of having an IQ lower than Sloth from the Goonies. And deservedly so.
Here’s how I imagine a conversation going with someone who didn’t vote LeBron as MVP:
– “Wait. You didn’t vote LeBron as MVP?! Who did you vote for?”
- “BA-BY… RUTH!” – “Huh? Babe Ruth? He’s a baseball player. And he’s dead.”
- “BABY RUTH!” – “Oh, Baby Ruth! As in the Chocolate Bar. OK … Wait, that makes even less sense!”
- “Choc…..co…..late.” – “…”
Last night the Cavs beat the Bulls in Game 5 to win the series 4-1. That’s a good thing.
Then why do I feel so unsettled?
LeBron promised everyone that they would see “a different monster” come playoff time. Or as I like to consider it, he pulled a Liam Neeson and vowed to “Release The Kraken.”
I think we caught a glimpse of the Kraken in Games 1 and 4. But in each of those games, the team had an unusual burst of energy. Game 1 was the first game of the playoffs, so they were obviously going to be amped. In Game 4, I think they were still pissed off from the Game 3 loss that served as a wake-up call.
But in Game 5, the Cavs rolled over and smacked the “snooze” button to that alarm.
They started off strong but failed to close the game out. I was fortunate enough to attend the game last night, and I can’t tell you how many times I thought we had a comfortable-15-point-ish lead when we were really only up by 3 or 5. I made the mistake based off of the overall lack of concern of those on the court and all the smiles and joking around coming from the bench. Yes, the Cavaliers were just a little too cavalier for my taste last night.
This cavalier attitude can probably be simply explained by the fact that the Cavs knew they were superior than the Bulls and knew they didn’t have to play 100% in order to get the victory, especially at home. Obviously, I wouldn’t be happy if this were the case. When all it takes is 16 wins in the post season to get a championship, I want the Cavs to focused for all of them. All it takes is one slip up to turn a series — and all it takes is Game 1 of last year’s conference finals to find a perfect example.
Jesus Shuttlesworth, #20, Boston Celtics
They were able to let it slide in the first round against the lowest overall seed in the playoffs. Maybe they’ll even be able to coast just a little bit in the second round, but I wouldn’t risk it.
Boston can be dangerous, make no mistake about it. This team is built for the playoffs and has a ton of veteran leadership — who won’t let their team take it easy for a playoff game.
And if that doesn’t scare you, they still have Jesus Shuttlesworth.
But if they want to beat Orlando and win an NBA Championship. They have to treat each game like they did in Game 1 or Game 4.
Every game, they need to bring the Kraken.
…
Quick Thoughts:
Mo Williams needs to step it up. Last year, he dominated in the regular season and struggled in the post season, particularly against Orlando. And on a team where he was the number 2 guy, the team couldn’t recover.
This year, either Mo, Antawn, or Shaq can be the go-to guy after LeBron. That takes a lot of pressure off of Mo… But the Cavs still need their starting point guard playing better than he did last night.
I’m not sure if it looked this way on the telecast, but inside the Q, Mo looked tentative. There were multiple times I remember him getting the ball and never looking to create, instead, he just looked to make the easy pass and not screw up. That needs to change.
On the flip side, Antawn Jamison had his coming out party last night. Ever since the trade, I had the feeling that Jamison has been a little nervous. He was “the man” on a team going nowhere with no pressure. Then overnight he was the “final piece” for a championship run in a city hopelessly desperate for a championship. This pressure and nerves resulted in some pretty timid play at first — none more obvious than his horrific 0-12 debut with the Cavs.
Don’t get me wrong, after his timid start, Jamison began to come out of his shell and play the type of basketball we had all envisioned. But none of his big statistical games came in any “big” games.
Last night, he was the player of the game in a clinching playoff game. He had his patented awkward midrange floater on point and he stepped into 3′s with confidence. He wasn’t afraid to create his own shot when LeBron was on the court. He came into his own.
LeBron’s elbow is something that could make me lose my sleep. But LeBron says not too worry about it, Brian Windhorst says not to worry about it, team doctors say not too worry about it, and Lebron’s elbow says not to worry about it. So I’m not going to worry about it. Plus, he shot his one free throw righty and nothing about that shot seemed funky.
Personally, I think he just wanted to shoot a free throw lefty for a cool little blip on his career highlight reel and needed an excuse to do it. Sort of like how Michael Jordan has the “eyes closed” foul shot, LeBron would have had a “lefty-free-throw-to-put-the-dagger-in-the-Bulls-in-the-playoffs-when-his-right-arm-was-hurt” foul shot. Classic.
Wait. Back track. Did you say LeBron’s Elbow said not too worry about it? Oh yeah. Making an early run at “Tweet Of The Week“, a fan came up with the twitter account @LebronsElbow and has left some pretty funny messages to Cleveland:
“Please tell the Cavalier nation I am fine. LeBron is sleeping and I’m playing Call of Duty. I will be ready for Boston.” – @LeBronsElbow
There's no question. The Questions were Sam's favorite basketball shoes in gradeschool.
Back to random thoughts.
Derrick Rose is filthy. He is going to be dominant in this league if his jumper continuesto improve at the rate it has. I didn’t fully appreciate how quick the guy was until I saw him in person last night. Last time I saw a crossover that quick, I bought Allen Iverson’s shoes for three basketball seasons in a row.
There is nobody in the NBA that I’d rather kidney punch than Joakim Noah. That’s all I’ll say about that.
…
Like the article? Think its annoying? Feel free to send questions or comments to lebrontourage@gmail.com … We’d love to do a Cleveland mailbag some day.
I know what a lot of you might be thinking: “Game 4 was yesterday, why are you writing about Game 3 now, four days later?”
Answer: about 10% can probably be accounted to laziness, while the other 90% can be explained by my utter fear of jinxing the Cavaliers come playoff time.
It may sound sacrilegious at first, but part of me was glad they lost in game 3. They needed a wake up call:
The Cavaliers are going to win this series. I thought that Derrick Rose might be able to win a game on his own in Chicago if the Cavs took them lightly. And in Game 3, that’s exactly what happened. But it is also exactly what the Cavs needed in order to achieve their ultimate goal: winning a championship.
In the 08-09 season, the Cavs had won an impressive 66 games and secured the first overall seed. And because they had only lost two games at home all year — one of them being the last game of the season with the back ups playing — clinching home court advantage seemed to be all they needed to finally bring a championship home to Cleveland.
As we unfortunately know all too well, that did not happen.
After cruising to 66 wins in the regular season, the Cavs cruised to a perfect 8-0 start in the post season. There was talk if they could be the first team to go 16-0 en route to a championship. I was never anywhere inside the Cavs locker room, but I’d be willing to bet my Shawn Kemp jersey that there was an aura of invincibility there heading into the Magic series.
And what happened? The Cavs lost the opening game by one, which cost them the home court advantage they had fought so hard to secure. They played on their heels the rest of the time and lost the series in Orlando in game 6.
While Cleveland may not have won 66 games in 2010, this Cavs team is better than last year. We traded a Sasha Pavlovic/Ben Wallace tandem for Shaquille O’Neal. And then midseason, we acquired Antawn Jamison for a first round pick (that would be sure to be playing in Europe this time next year) and a free 30 day vacation to Washington D.C. for Zydrunas Ilgauskas. As a result, we added veteran leadership, size, and scoring options to our front court, which was our weakest area last year.
I hope GMs Steve Kerr and Ernie Grunfeld got my fruit baskets in the mail expressing my sincerest thanks.
Now back to the topic at hand.
The Cavs should win a championship this year. They have some of the best depth in the league and they have the best player in the world, LeBron James. It is a talented, veteran crew. And their “best” is better than anyone else’s “best.”
But a championship will only come if they refuse to take an opponent lightly and play the inspired defense they’re capable of playing.
In Game 3, they acted as if it was a game between the top overall seed and the lowest overall seed and tried to coast. They played passive defense and relied too heavily on the outside jumper. It resulted in the Cavs getting outplayed and the final scoreboard reflecting it. And I’m glad it happened.
In Game 4, you could tell they woke up. They splashed some water on their faces, came out and made a statement to the Bulls: “We’re better than you. You can’t score on us if we don’t want you to. Now watch us prove it.”
