Overview: The Boston Celtics outscored the Cavaliers 70-44 in the second half of a 120-88 rout. The Celtics now lead the series 3-2. LeBron James had one of the worst games of his career, going 3-14 from the floor. Ray Allen led all scorers with 25 points. It was the worst home playoff loss in Cavalier history.
Game Summary:
Everything started out nicely enough. The Cavs looked to go inside early, establishing Jamison and Shaq down low and using some outside jumpers to keep the floor spaced for them. With 9:52 to go, the Cavs took an eight-point lead and Doc Rivers called timeout. The Cavs were outscored by 40 points after that time-out. I don’t know what Doc said in that huddle, but it must’ve been good.
After the time-out, the Cavs did not score a point for the next six minutes of play. Shaq turned it over. Delonte turned it over. LeBron missed an open three. Meanwhile, Boston’s big three began to get into a groove on offense. By the time Cleveland finally scored a point thanks to LeBron throwing himself into some defenders and getting a foul, Boston had taken an eight-point lead.
Then Ray Allen took the game over. Cleveland finally started to get some baskets (this was LeBron’s one good stretch of the game), but Ray Allen answered by draining a jumper every time Boston had the ball. He’s one of the best shooters of all time. He does stuff like that.
Here are a couple of key plays from the stretch that was the beginning of the end for the Cavs in this game:
-After the Cavs force Pierce into missing an 18-footer, Big Baby comes up with the offensive rebound and finds Allen for a three. The lead goes from five to eight.
-After Mo (IDIOTICALLY) heat-checks after one made three, Rondo finds Allen for a three in semi-transition. The lead goes from four to seven.
-After halftime, the Celtics open the half by going to KG in the post. He misses a fadeaway, Allen comes up with the offensive rebound, gets it back, and drains a three. The lead goes from six to nine.
-On the next Celtics possession, Paul Pierce misses a mid-range shot. Rondo tips the rebound to Pierce, who finds Allen for a three. The lead goes from nine to 12. The Celtics lead by double-digits for the rest of the game.
After that, it was all misery. The Cavs couldn’t get a stop. The Celtics couldn’t miss a shot. The team waited for a LeBron takeover that never came. Game over. Complete and utter embarrassment.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-I’ll start with this. I’ve had some tough moments as a Cavs fan. I remember how close the Cavs came to beating the Pistons in game six back in 2006. I remember how LeBron was completely overmatched by that Spurs team right after the best moments of his career. I remember how the Cavs just couldn’t get over that hump in Boston in 2008. I remember the Cavs blowing that lead, wasting a career performance by LBJ, and watching that Lewis three go down in game one last year. I remember how close they came to taking game four in that same series. The Cavs have disappointed me. They have made me profoundly miserable.
All that said, this is my lowest moment as a serious Cavalier fan. Why? Because I have never been ashamed to be a fan of this team or LeBron James until tonight. I am now. There’s no excuse for that type of effort. I’ve defended LeBron a lot in the past. I can’t, in good conscience, do so tonight. He couldn’t hit a jump shot. He wasn’t aggressive enough. He couldn’t do anything against Boston when they collapsed on him in the paint.
I don’t know why it happened. Maybe he was just off. Maybe he started doubting himself. Maybe he doesn’t care that much. Maybe he’s already thinking about where he’ll be next season. Maybe it was the goddamned elbow. Maybe he still hasn’t evolved his game enough. Maybe he couldn’t deal with the pressure. Whatever it was, he had maybe the worst game of his career in a huge playoff game. You don’t see that on the resumes of many legends. I still support the guy. I still want him to come back to Cleveland. At the end of the day, I do still believe he’s the best active basketball player. But good lord, this was terrible and inexcusable. He can turn it around in game six at Boston, or he can have this game follow him to his grave. It’s his career. I just write about it.
-Well, Mike Brown pulling Mo for Boobie right as Mo was actually getting in the paint and dropping dimes to Shaq for dunks reeked of desperation, didn’t it?
-This may have been one of Shaq’s better offensive games as a Cavalier. Good for him. Although I’m not sure how he only managed four rebounds in 27 minutes.
-The Cavs’ four best young players combined to go 5-14. Splendid.
Bullets of Randomness:
-I’m really starting to think Ray Allen isn’t going to sign with the Cavs this off-season. I’m also starting to think he’s somehow one of the most underrated players of his generation.
-Glen Davis had as many points as LeBron did.
Alright, that’s all I can give tonight. This was the low point for me. Game six could make everything all better. It’s not over yet, even if it feels like it. Until Thursday, try not to think about basketball. I’ll see you then.
He’s been throwing Mike Brown under the bus in slight, small ways for years now. LeBron essentially runs the team and Brown knows it. He knows it’s a lot easier to get another coach in instead of replacing LeBron, so he lets him do what he wants. The whole organization lets LeBron do and say what he wants.
Brown rightly got angry when they blew Game 2 and LeBron just shrugged it off. Usually a coach will save his anger like that for when it really matters, but LeBron completely diffused it with his comments after that game. “I got this, don’t worry,” is essentially what he said. The rest of the players followed behind him because it’s just easier that way. Well guess what, LeBron doesn’t have it. The Celtics are too good.
And look at Brown after Game 6. Didn’t question anything. He knows he’s a sitting duck.
So the best hope is that LeBron re-signs with the caveat that Brown is gone.
Honestly, I can’t see how this is Brown’s fault. His rotations have been strange, but that’s because there are constantly new players coming in every year. Jamison didn’t really get to play with Shaq, and they are supposed to play major minutes together in the playoffs? Z is supposed to come back and be in rhythm? Hickson starts for most of the year, then gets yanked after five minutes in the playoffs? There were just too many personal changes every year because the feeling was that LeBron wants to win now now now so let’s just keep loading up. Ferry did a great job of that, but look how far it’s got them. It’s on no one but LeBron.
And remember, they could have had Trevor Ariza if LeBron would’ve just said he’s be in Cleveland. It sounds like they could use a shutdown guard that can make threes right now.
If you saw game 3 you know were not overmatched. If Lebron hits his averages, we win this series.
Lebron seems incapable of adjusting his game to deal with the injury. He feeds off the big dunks, so do the fans and his teammates. He’s been reduced to essentially laying it in. I think it’s emasculated him to sone degree. And because he lives in a world where he is bigger than the team, in his mind if he’s not 100%, then were screwed.
I just wish someone could explain Game 3 to me. I’d agree that we were screwed if I hadn’t seen that flawless display with my own eyes.
Wondering what people’s thought are to Woj’s article on Lebron? Not trying to troll, genuinely curious what Lebron fans think.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhF8Dem5Lm5_sgQbqoiLLvi8vLYF?slug=aw-lebroncavs051210
Hollinger posits it’s the elbow in the PER Diem on ESPN.com, and his theory makes sense. The success Lebron has with his jump shot is directly correlated with the number of off days between games. I wish everyone was an ESPN insider so they could read it for those who think Lebron is “not trying.” The only silver lining is that if they can somehow win Game 6, he’ll have an extra days rest for Game 7.
I’m a Magic who has been quietly rooting for Boston during the series (primiarily because Cleveland has more pieces that could get Dwight in foul trouble, in my opinion). I think the Cavs have a few problems primarily associated with the players that surround LBJ. First, there is no defensive stopper besides LaBron in the starting unit. Mo Williams is inconsistant and has disappeared in the series. The offense grinds to a halt when Shaq posts, turning the other 4 guys into well-paid observers. Jamison is as much of a liability against Garnett as Varejao was against Rashard Lewis. Parker can hit 3′s but does little else – I think JJ Redick defends wings better. Boston has more options available to them on offense and is the stronger defensive team.
It’s also funny as to how spoiled Cleveland fans are when LBJ’s game 5 of 15 pts, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal is considered a career low. If the Magic got that from our 3 (Barnes), we’d be celebrating.
Breakdown of what I saw will come later, but I gotta say I’m sad this place has been reuced to ESPN comments. Let this remain a site where people who actually feel like talking basketball are able to talk basketball and not where any troll is able to come in and make any silly comment that he wants.
Jonathan,
Liked the article, was maybe a little too condemning but sums up a lot of how I feel. Ive gone through a lot of emotions since last night. Sitting at the bar I was horribly depressed, then I was angry (had quite a bit to drink after so that helps), and when I woke up this morning I felt very much betrayed. As a Cleveland fan I am accustomed to disappointment, but this feels so incredibly different. I feel like with this team I don’t deserve to be let down, I feel like Ive waited long enough to win, and for the Cavs to mail it in like they have is unfair. I don’t know if Lebron is hurt, or if he really is trying and just not succeeding, but I just can’t fathom that he, the “greatest player in the NBA,” would play as poorly as he is if he were really trying. As a rule I resist conspiracy theories, but how can you not kind of feel like Lebron is shitting the bed to set the table for a justified escape to New York. He has been two different people in this last series, and I can’t even begin to understand why or how. At this point I’m grasping for straws. I have a little hope left, but not much. We’re collectively teetering on the brink, and Lebron is the only one who can save us, I hope he does. I need it, and God knows this city needs it.
Oh good lord. John, if we got those same numbers from Anthony Parker we’d be celebrating too.
Would you be celebrating if Dwight Howard went 3-14 from the field? Plz, tell me how you think that game turns out this late in the playoffs? Not well. Just because Matt Barnes plays the same position doesn’t mean that he has to have the same type of production. YOur star player plays a different position, and if he went 3-14 against the celtics, you guys are losing.
Wow, all it takes are a few games to make everyone start calling the greatest player in the NBA overrated (and I’m not talking about the lame ass trolls that decided to show up and classlessly spit on a man while he’s down, nor am I just talking about people who have commented specifically here — I reference the whole NBA blogosphere). I’d like to echo Todd on the Hollinger article – there’s quite obviously an issue with the elbow that has (rightly or not) taken him out of his game. Compound that with rotation and chemistry issues, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
But let’s not forget that the series is not over yet. For the love of zod, let’s save the LeBron is leaving chatter until mid June at least. And remember that in the classic epics, the protagonist always reaches his low point right about now. The Cavs have hit bottom — they’ll either stay there or rise to the challenge. Let’s stick behind them and LeBron until we know for sure how they react to this adversity.
It could be all you whiners are pissing all over what may go down as one of the greatest playoff comebacks in Cavs history. I’ll piss on them with you if they drop game 6, but please keep your bladders in check until then.
Jesus christ, so we’re supposed to be happy if LeBron puts up the same numbers as a role player? Get that weak stuff out of here.
How would you feel if I could compare Dwight Howard’s box score to Ilgauskas? Would you be “spoiled” and complain about Dwight’s bad game or would you say, gee, I’m glad Dwight (hypothetically) played 10 minutes, grabbed three boards and shot 2 for 6?
I thought the Woj article was good. It’s defintiely harsh, but sums up a lot of my frustrations about LeBron from the past couple years. He does have a sense of entitlement, and gets caught up in his own image when he should be focusing on winning basketball. We’ve all seen it, especially this season.
And I just gott say about this whole supporting cast thing that Chris Broussard argued. Let me break it down like this, if LeBron was on that Chicago team the way it is constructed right now, they would also lose if he decided to just not play in the 2nd round of the playoffs. If he went 3-14 against the Celtics playing for Chicago, they get blown out as well.
Your stars simply can’t disappear in the playoffs. They have to play even better than they did in the regular season. Jordan did it. Shaq did it (In his prime), Duncan did it, Rondo is doing it. Stars step up their games. So when everyone says “Well we shouldn’t ask him to carry his team and produce all of these numbers,” what? Yes we should. It’s what a star is supposed to do in the playoffs. It is how you become a star. It was what seperates you from just being a good player. You raise your game when your team needs it. This team was never designed to be able to beat a team like the Celtics with LeBron taking nights off. NO TEAM IS. If Kobe took the night off against the Celtics, the lakers lose. Same with the Magic and Howard. If Rondo were to totally disappear (had a big 2nd half last night) for an entire game, THE CELTICS ARE LOSING.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is the playoffs. Your stars must play even better than they did in the regular season. This team was built so that the LeBron James of last years Orlando Magic series, who literally dominated the series but had no help, could still dominate a series but get enough extra help that they would win. This team needed that LeBron. If it got that LeBron, it could have won a title. I say could have won, because it’s over people. YOu do NOT lose back to back home games by a combine FIFTY points in the playoffs, and win a title. They could very easily still win this series, they are better than Boston (when LeBron plays his best, which is what we should all expect of him) and quite frankly could very easily hammer them in the next two games. But they cannot beat the Magic and the Lakers with LeBron taking nights off. He has never done this before in the playoffs, but he has now done it 3 out of 5 games in this series.
That brings me to this. The theories I see around here make sense to me, but I have a different one. SOme people say he is throwing the series just so he can make an escape. Well, I’m not sure how that works because how can a player say he doesn’t have enough help if he wasn’t helping his team at all. I mean, that is like JOe Johnson whining about help when Joe Johnson was like the 7th best player in that series against Orlando (that is being generous too, Joe). Hard to complain about help when you personally aren’t playing up (or even close) to your potential. The other one is the elbow. Well, two takes on that. First of all, if you want to be considered great, you push through it and get it done. The other greats do.Jordan had a career game in the playoffs with the flu. Second, he said last night the elbow was perfectly fine, so I’ll take his word for it.
So that leaves me with this theory. It is a hard to one to swallow. It means I’ve been wrong for a long time. It means that maybe the Skip Baylesses of the world are right. It means that mayber Laker trolls have had a point. Maybe, just maybe, LeBron isn’t as good as we think he is. Maybe he really isn’t the best player in the world, andi f he is it isn’t by nearly the wide margin we’ve percieved it as. Maybe he does not have the mental toughness to compete in the playoffs with other mentally tough players. Maybe his knowledge of the game isn’t that great, because clearly he had more than enough trouble adjusting to what Boston was doing last night. Maybe, all of the things we say about him are just a little over emphasized and he isn’t all that we make him out to be. I’m not saying he isn’t a really good player. But maybe he isn’t the best in the world and on his way to being the best ever…….
Rich,
I’ve got to disagree with you on your LeBron theory. All the evidence we’ve compiled on LeBron in the playoffs to-date has been the exact opposite of your conclusion. He has been mentally tough. He’s taken a team full of (mostly) worthless bench players to the NBA championship. He consistently out-performed every great player he came across in the playoffs. I don’t these three games can overturn that large pile of evidence. Go youtube some old playoff performances from 2006, 2007, 2008.
I do believe the elbow is probably an issue. One, you can’t really take his word for it without thinking through the reasons why he would downplay the elbow. I think they are (1) he doesn’t want the Celtics to know he’s injured, though if he really is they probably already know it and (2) he’s staked his reputation on no excuses, so he doesn’t want it to look like the elbow is an excuse. Plus, Hollinger’s point about the off-games coming on quick turn-around nights while the beast games come on long rest suggests it probably is a rest-related (i.e., physical) problem.
While I am saying that the elbow may be a reason why he looks (relatively, for him) like dog crap, I do agree that the elbow is not an excuse, as you’ve pointed out. He’s letting it take him out of his game and not working through it. This is a new hurdle for him, and it came at a really bad time for him to start learning to play through it on the fly. I think if we had the exact same team in the same position next year (assuming none of the player’s experience significant statistical regressions), I think someone like Antawn Jamison would be better prepared to step up and carry some of the beast burden. I don’t think he’s comfortable doing that on this team yet, though, as he’s only been around a few months.
So my armchair assessment: LeBron’s been thrown off his game at the wrong time; the Cavs are trying to reintegrate players at the wrong time; and Boston is experiencing a rejuvenation at the wrong time. I don’t think we can start relegating him to T-Mac/Vince Carter territory until the number of playoff duds starts to pile as high as his playoff masterpieces.
I’m not relegating him to T-Mac status. I still concede that he might be the best player in the world. But the gap isn’t nearly as big as we have made it out to be.
But you bring an entirely different problem that is becoming more and more apparent and sadly was pointed out by a Laker fan earlier. Maybe you can’t win a title w/o a real offensive system. Maybe just giving LeBron the ball and asking other guys to play off of him doesn’t work. Jamison looks so innefective out there but maybe that is because he is being asked to simply play w/o the ball more than he is used to. Everyone is asked to play w/o the ball when LeBron is on the court. Maybe that style simply can’t win anymore in the playoffs. Maybe a coach has to be brought in (btw, unless a miracle occures and somehow this team wins the title, Brown is gone) who has a real offensive system. His main job will be to force LeBron (assuming he stays, who knows at this point) to actually play in a system in which he does not dominate the ball every time down the court. The offense doesn’t always put the ball in his hands and let him dictate every single possession. I dunno how that will play out. It’s why I’m very interested to see what he does this off-season, because if he goes to New York, Dantoni will force him to play in a real system and not what he has been used to. Can he do it? Does he want to do it? I dunno….but I’m starting to believe it is what has to happen for him to be able to win a title, and Mike Brown simply doesn’t know to do it.
BTw, love Mike Brown. Think he’s been great. But he simply can’t coach offense. If LeBron is off, the entire team shuts down and I think to many times we blame that on the supporting players. To me, it’s because of the sytem they run. The system Mike Brown has put in place relys so freaking heavily on LeBron, that when he sucks, or even worse when he has the worst game of his career, the rest of the team is going to struggle mightly because the offense simply runs off of what he does. Isn’t Jamison’s fault or Mo Williams fault. It’s the systems fault for placing that much on one guy..and when that one guy can’t live up to what he is supposed to be able to do, we are oging to see games like last night.
These playoffs support that point. The two best games LeBron has played happen to be the two best games this team hasp layed in the postseaosn. Game 4 in Chicago and Game 3 in Boston. Those were 25 and 30 point beatdowns that came about not because LeBron was scoring all the points, but because his overall game wason and therefore the rest of the teams overall game was on. That offense relies on him to be on all the time and when he is, we see the rest of the team is more than capabale of following suit and not just squeak by, but totally dominate a game. It’s why I still think the Cavs can win this series, even if they can’t win the title. If LeBron goes out and dominates, it seems clear to me taht the Cavs can’t lose. This was not the case last year. LeBron dominated the Magic every night, and the Cavs lost. This year, they have the players around him that when he dominates the cavs as a team will dominate. Last year I felt totally hopeless agaisnt the Magic because I saw LeBron at his best and the team around wasn’t good enough. I don’t get that feeling this year. But this year I am more pessimistic already about their chances to actually win a title because I don’t see the same LeBrom. I don’t see the destroyed of worlds. I see a guy, who has something wrong with him and isn’t doing what he should be expected to do.
Basically, if LeBron plays like the LeBron of the playoffs past, this team can DOMINATE the Celtics the next two games. If not, if he lays an egg, this team and specifically this offensive system does not allow for the other players to pick up his slack. But, that shouldn’t matter, because it is time for him to lay claim to the best player in the world and go dominate. I’ve been down on him, but I still feel he has the ability to flip that switch and go destroy the Boston Celtics tommorow night and watch as the rest of his team follows him into that destroyer of worlds mode.
Funny how Lebron called out the Raptors for their lack of effort when they were trying to get into the postseason.
Now I’d like to hear his words on a comparison between the Raptors play and their effort last night. The effort would be the same, marginal at best, but the difference is Cleveland has one of the highest payrolls in the NBA but they got spanked by 30 at home!
Well, it looks like Celts will win and LB will put his tail betw his legs and run to NY. Start buying Knicks jerseys.
I’ll end with this on LeBron. Very interested to see what he is made of now. This will absolutely be the first time in his career where everyone puts the blame squarely on his shoulders. The team follows its leader, and when its leader goes out and performs like that, the team will follow as well.
The natl. media is going to kill him, they have before. But for the first time ever, his biggest supporters, you and I, are going to kill him. Also, for maybe the first time ever (at least involving a basketball game. We all remember the yankees hat at the Indians game), the local media in Cleveland is going to kill him. He will not have one single supporter throughout today and tommorow. Every single person is going to be lining up to take a shot at im. I’ve been doing it, not that my voice matters, but I have defended LeBron against so many Kobe lovers so many times I’ve lost count. I don’t think I’ve ever really pointed the finger at LeBron for anything untill this series. Even Krolik is pointing directly at LeBron. How do you think the overly sensitive people at the Plain Dealer who still remember the Yankees hat incident will react. It’s going to be a massacre the likes of which LeBron hasn’t known. Will he crumble in the face of it? Will he get his feelings hurt and his sense of self-entitlement kick in which he begins to believe that he should never be criticized (we saw this last night folks. When he hinted that we as fans are spoiled by his unbelievable greatness and that a bad game does happen. God forbid we expect an MVP to not play like complete garbage in the most important game of the season)? Or will he respond like a champion and go out there tommorow night with one goal in mind: to prove all of us wrong and make us eat our words? I dunno, but it will be really fun to watch, because it is going to tell us more about LeBrons mindset than maybe we have ever seen before.
Well said, Rich. LBJ is a POS.
What hurts even most about this whole debacle is that we directly contributed to who we wanted to play in the first and second round. And we couldnt handle it.Am going to be bitter about this for a really long time.
To all you Cleveland Cavaliers fans, Henry Abbott has a word for you. My question is the wame as his: What’s wrong Cleveland fans?
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/15845/forget-lebron-whats-wrong-with-cleveland-fans
Please support your team and your player going forward.
Lebron “Knickerbocker” James
Oh how well you play the game
With your 30 ten and ten
Over and over again
You say you’re better than Bryant
But the stats are defiant
Cause the Mamba’s got you beat
Stats mean nothing in defeat
Rich….”This team was built so that the LeBron James of last years Orlando Magic series, who literally dominated the series but had no help, could still dominate a series but get enough extra help that they would win. This team needed that LeBron. If it got that LeBron, it could have won a title.”
Rich, my boy, the quoted part of what you just said totally blows up your point.
Now, I’m not excusing Lebron for last nights game. He mailed that performance in and stopped caring. But to make the claim you have made based on one game is ludicrous. You just said if the Cavs had the Lebron of last year, they could have won the title. Well, guess what….they did have the Lebron of last year. They had him LAST YEAR and still didn’t win because of what you just said….he had NO HELP.
And that’s the point people disagreeing with you are making, especially me. If they had just ONE person to help him in years past, Cleveland would have won that championship. If they would have had that ONE person to help thru this series, they’d not be in the position they are now in. Jordan couldnt do it alone, Kobe couldnt do it alone, Shaq, Wade, Dirk, isaiah, Bird, Magic, etc etc etc.
Maybe, just maybe, Lebron got sick of it. And again, not excusing him for it. But after 7 years and perhaps realizing this year was headed down the same road in that he still has to do EVERYTHING, he just lost the fight. I think couple that with coaching inability to rotate in players competently, FO attempts to get a good #2 and whatever blowup has occurred behind closed doors between game 3 and game 5, Lebron decided to quit on us. Not excusing it in the least but I think its understandable. Wrong, way wrong to do that but it was human nature.
He has it in him to have another game 3 but as we saw in Orlando last year and game 7 against the Celts 2 years ago, he can’t do it alone and perhaps the will is gone as a Cavalier. He doesn’t lose either of those 2 previous series if there was help. And if that was the case, this FA thing would barely be a blip. In my opinion, his Cavalier career is played out cuz he’s lost the will to fight for it. Should never have come to this.
Cleveland is done for unfortunately.
First time posting here. There are multiple ways to look at this situation. Is it possible to agree both with Woj’s article, and with those citing elbow issues, lack of support? First off, I think I should say, all year, I supported the notion that Lebron would be re-signing over the summer after the Cavs won the championship. That idea is shot – two in the chest one in the head, execution style. The Cavs can’t win the championship playing like this, and the statistics are stacked so heavily against them that I really doubt I’ll even watch the last game(s) in this series.
The more I’ve watched this playoffs, the more I’ve realized that this year’s team is just more of the same Lebron + some other guys story we’ve all seen before. It’s been hidden because of the lower gear most teams play in for the duration of the regular season, and Lebron has taken his game to another level this season, even compared to last year. I really think Lebron is gone to somewhere (not sure where) that isn’t Cleveland. From a basketball standpoint can we really blame him? Think about the major pieces that have been added (Shaq, 38 gotta be one of the oldest players in the league; Jamison, 33; Parker, 34, and Illgauskas; 34 but plays like 54). Then you have a young core composed of Mo, playoff drop off is too large to be ignored; Delonte, will be doing 3-5 in a whole other kind of packed house; Hickson who hasn’t been able to get off the bench and looks lost when he does; and Gibson, who inexplicably can’t get any play even with Mo sucking some really big pelotas.
Compare that to having a legit 2nd superstar/supporting cast like Rose/Noah, No. 1 pick if NJ gets it, or pairing up with wade/bosh wherever they may land. Sure those teams wouldn’t have the cap space for much depth, but really, what’s the difference, as Mike Brown is too stupid to put together a rotation, let alone an offensive set. Which brings me to maybe the biggest reason why CLE will be losing out on Lebron.
Mike Brown is a marshmellowy figurehead coach in more ways than one. Some ways, it’s hard to blame the guy, if you piss off LBJ, it will be you, not LBJ who receives walking papers. But there has to be some sort of an offensive system that allows other players to play to their potential without Lebron having all-timer performances. Most egregious to me is that he is supposed to be a defensive genius but he does nothing to take away from matchup problems that other teams create by using creative schemes or defensive assignments. He also doesn’t seem to be able to make any improvements in anyone’s individual defense. Mo sucked when he came here and he still sucks 2 years later. Some players will never be great defensively, but usually after Mo gets blown by he’ll do a little hop kick or reach around swipe at the guy who just toasted him instead of getting out to defend on the kick-out 3. Things like that go straight into coaching. JJ has been under Brown’s tutelage for 2 years now and still looks lost most of the time. That’s on the coach.
I think Lebron’s elbow is a bigger factor than is being let on, as only game 3 where he had some rest did he look anything like his usual self. I’ve never seen LBJ play like this even as a rookie. That being said, I’m still perplexed at his lack of just bullrushing with his left hand as he did for the first 2 years in the league. Really the guy is in a lose-lose. He either plays through it without using it as an excuse and looks like a shell of himself and a choke artist, or he sits out and gets called out for being soft. Whatever the reason, his poor play highlights all of the other problems with the Cavs who just look bad without him getting 30, 8, and 8 every night. This isn’t getting any better as they have no cap room, no assets for trade, and Shaq, Jamison, Z, etc. just keep getting older.
All of that being said, I’ve always been a LBJ fan and I love how unselfish he is on the court, but like Woj said, these comments are insulting. He feels sorry for…him?!!!? How does that work? LBJ has always, for the most part, said the right things, and kept his nose clean off the court, and with the pressure on him coming into the league, that’s no small feat. But the past few seasons, I’ve grown more and more put off by some of his comments about being a great player, citing his teammates less and less in post-game victory interviews, etc…
Wow, the piling on to LeBron is totally ridiculous. Not just in the comments here and everywhere else, but by people in the media who are supposed to know what they’re talking about.
First of all, the most likely explanation is that LeBron is physically unable to play to his ability. He has exploded in his usual way after three days of rest, and his play deteriorated in the next two games coming after short breaks. We KNOW his elbow is injured. But it’s almost like, because LeBron isn’t talking about it to avoid the perception of making excuses, we’re completely forgetting what we know about his health in order to make him easier to ridicule. This is like when someone says something self-deprecating in an obvious gesture of modesty, and another person chooses to take that statement at face value. A universal jerk move.
But even if the elbow isn’t a factor at all, and LeBron is just failing because of “who he is” or whatever, HE’S STILL THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER IN THE WORLD. You don’t earn or give away that title in one game, one series, or even one playoff run. Forget the regular season, LeBron has consistently dominated and raised his game in the postseason, consistently led his team on long playoff runs, and consistently performed well under pressure–even in losses. This game and series is a huge deviation from his norms, and it’s a tiny portion of his total resume. This is essentially what Henry Abbott, bless him, is cautioning today on Truehoop.
It’s one thing to be disappointed about LeBron’s performance. I certainly am. But to make all these judgments about him based on one or two games is just idiotic. He played like crap in game 5. No doubt about that. But there is absolutely zero reason to take that and say (in spite of everything we’ve learned about him over the last seven years) that he’s a bad guy or a fatally flawed player.
LeBron James has played on two teams that were legitimate championship contenders. We feel that he’s so good that he should be able to win every year that he has halfway decent teammates. And when he doesn’t, we are baffled. But championships are not promised. To win one in any year takes luck, luck, skill, hard work, determination, luck, chemistry, and luck. There are a ton of things about it that are out of the control of any one player. If LeBron ends up 0-for-2 in 2 chances at a title, that still won’t tell us anything about his chances of winning one or more in the future.
Whether these struggles are more on LeBron, his teammates, his coach, or injuries/bad luck, (which none of us really know) we have to take this game, this series, and this year, for what it is. And that’s nothing more than one game, one series, and one year.
you think clevelands cool? i never heard anyone say im going on vacation to cleveland
The whole basketball world seems to be in an uproar over Game 5. I’m not sure why. Granted, James had a bad game, but even the best have bad games. I loathe James because he’s an egomaniac, arrogant attention whore, but the Cavs’ problems are far more fundamental than James not playing well. Who on the Cavs, other than James, is better than half of the NBA players at his respective position? Mo Williams? A streaky point guard who plays poor D and turns in bad games by the bushel, even though he gets a huge number of easy looks? Shaq? Two years ago, it was pretty clear that this guy was one of the worst defensive centers in the league. He can bang with people down low, but anytime mobility is required (e.g., a pick and roll), he is going to get exposed. He’s a danger to finish when he gets a pass under the rim, but he is a pretty mediocre back to the basket player now. Jamison is probably the closet to a second quality player, but he gets overmatched on defense.
The truth is the same as last year: the Cavs just aren’t a very good playoff team. They are the least intimitaing 60 win team you will ever see. I knew the middling Celtics would give them problems, although I thought Orlando would be the team that eventually dispatched them. Cleveland’s size and the greatness of James allows them to do well in the regular season, but their weaknesses get exploited in the playoffs. Allen, Rondo, and Garnett are all better than their Cleveland counterparts, and Perkins is probably even with Shaq. That leaves a lot of work for James to do. The fact that Boston is up 3-2 is no shock. The Cavs and their fans just read their press clippings too much this year.
Maybe LeBron’s elbow is really badly hurt. Maybe something is wrong with his family. Maybe he has decided to leave Cleveland and the locker room knows it. Whatever the reason is for LeBron’s less than stellar performance for all but one quarter during this series, I’m listening.
As a fan of the Cavs, and LeBron, I’d be willing to accept an apology from LeBron. If he came out and stated what the issue has been during this series, I’d give him a pardon. Sure, critics of LeBron would say that it shouldn’t have affected him as much as it has, but as a fan, I’m open to anything at this point. But what I can’t accept is his inability to step up for the first time in his life in what might very well be the most important 2-3 game stretch for any franchise in the history of sports.
LeBron owes it to his city, his teammates, his fans, and himself to show up for every playoff game… but he hasn’t. Boston’s defense is fantastic, but LeBron has seen it SO many times, and he has shredded it SO many times. I’m speechless. Even at the end of game 5, with his team trailing by 25 points, LeBron could be found in the corners watching the offense failing over and over again. I mean, at least try to shoot yourself out of the “funk” you’re in so that you can be more effective for game 6. But, no. LeBron is playing this series like it is over, which it may be, but it is terribly disheartening.
I don’t want to blame this all on LeBron. He has done so much for Cleveland, he has inspired me and many others in so many ways, but he deserves at least 90% of the blame if the Cavs do in fact lose this series. Let’s look at who else needs to take a look in the mirror in the next two days:
Mo: Mo, please just run the offense. No heat checks. No trying to be Steve Nash. Just run the sets. Get LeBron the ball. Get ‘Tawn the ball. Get in the corner. Make open threes. I’ve seen you do it ALL year, so what’s the issue now? You’re no longer the focal point like you were last year… the pressure’s gone… just deliver me 3 3′s next game. AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE AT LEAST TRY TO STAY IN FRONT OF RONDO.
Antawn: Antawn, stop shooting jumpers. Your jump shot percentage is not high enough for this level of playoff basketball. No wonder you’ve never had playoff success. Let LeBron put you in positions to succeed, but other than that, just concentrate on challenging Kevin Garnett for position in the low post. He’s KILLING you there, and that’s where the Cavs defense is starting to breakdown in the first and second quarters. Make him miss ONE FREAKIN’ SHOT, and the game could go completely differently. Seriously.
Andy: Andy… I don’t know if your back is hurting, but I don’t care. Get me 4 offensive rebounds next game. Period. I’ll support you until you retire, so please just do this for me.
AP: Anthony, you should never turn the ball over. You literally have one role: hit WIDE open threes. Stop dribbling, stop trying to make good passes. If you’re not open, just give it up. Other than that, keep up the good defense.
Delonte: Give me the same performance you had in game 3. I’ve seen you do it so many times… do it 2 more times for me.
Mike Brown: look, you’re an awful coach. I mean it, you’re terrible. You clearly can’t motivate this team anymore, and you oughta be fired even if the Cavs somehow win it all this year. For now though, do me a favor, make ONE in game adjustment per game. If we have one more game to watch this year, I’d like to see you change the game in a positive way ONCE during the game. That’s all. Good luck elsewhere.
Lastly,
LeBron: LeBron… sack up. Seriously. Kobe does it. Michael did it. All the greats have done it. Play through whatever is going on, and get this team through this round. If you lose to Orlando, that’s fine, they’re good… but you’re better than this Boston team and you know it. You knew it when you almost came back and beat them earlier this season, and you know it now. Stop shaking your head on the bench, stop looking at your watch during press conferences, and go out and win me a game. If you want to leave after this season, that’s fine… as long as you deliver on what you promised you would: Deliver the Cavs a championship. I spend so much time following you and your team, and exert so much effort making sure I know everything about this team, please don’t let me down. I feel like a ten year old on Christmas day not getting the present I want. You were a boy once, you know what that feels like. Go get me my present, or I promise I will nag you about it until next Christmas…
Alright, that’s all I can stomach for now. I’m heartbroken. I know it’s not over, but it is. LeBron’s disinterested, as is everyone else on that roster. I may not watch Thursday, but I hope you all enjoy watching LeBron’s last game in a Cavs uniform.
Robin, there’s a difference between playing like crap and making it appear like you’ve 100% absolutely quit. And while he’s had bad games in the past, I’ll include game 2 and game 4 of this series….in game 5, he was mentally checked out and didn’t give a flying bleep if the team won or lost.
I can’t understand how you guys came to the conclusion that your stars are allowed to take games off in the playoffs and teams should still win.
Go look up Jordan’s playoff statistics, especially in the championship seasons. How many nights was Jordan taking off? LeBron is supposed to play at a high level people. That is his job. he is the MVP for a reason. I aboslutely SHOULD expect him to perform at the same level he did in the regular season AND THEN SOME. That is how it works. The offensive system isn’t changing over night. There will never be a true number 2 star next to LeBron so long as the offense is always revolving around giving leBron the ball for him to dominate. Bring in Wade and pair him with LeBron and see how effective Wade is at playing an entire game w/o ever getting to create.
Krolik touched on it earlier in the series. Mo Williams has to FORCE his way into the game because there is never anything ran for him. It is all give the ball to LBJ in different positions, and then let him do something and hope other players can find a rhythym w/o ever having a play run for them. Blame that on Mike Brown. Blame that on LeBron’s inability to play w/o the basketball, but don’t blame it on Jamison and Williams. I don’t know if LeBron will ever win a title unless he learns how to play in a system in which he doesn’t get to domiante the ball 95% of the game. As a matter of fact, I’m convinced he can’t. Now, maybe that is all on Mike Brown. But I’m betting LeBron isn’t going to take to kindly to whoever coaches him next year (cause one way or another, it won’t be Mike Brown) when that coach removes the ball from LeBrons hands for a change and allows other players to get involved once in a while.
Anyway, LeBron should be going 30-8-8. That is all there is to it. I should be allowed to expect a superstar to play fully up to his potential in the most important game of the season. A bad game is one thing. Lack of effort is another people. Jim Chones said it last night. Barkley said it last night. Legler said it last night. All of them in one way or another said LeBron wasn’t playing hard…NO EXCUSE FOR THAT and yet here we have people somehow excusing it. No, it isn’t ok for your leader and star to mail it in folks. Dwayne Wade has no help. None. Less help than LeBron had the year they made it to the finals. Did Wade mail it in against the Celtics? Or did he go down swinging? He went down swinging people. He didn’t whine around about not having enough help..he did everything he could to win a series he knew wasn’t winnable. THAT IS WHAT MAKES THIS TERRIBLE. This series was and is still winnable. We blew the celtics on their home court to take a 2-1 lead and homecourt advantage back. It isn’t like we have been constantly fighting against it. LeBron then decides to go out and throw up a 7-18 game with 7 turnovers and you guys are going to point the finger other places? Sorry, LeBron gets ALL of the praise when the team wins..he should get most of it when they lose ESPECIALLY when he plays like he has been playing.
Zeus pretty much hit everything on the head. So his eblow might be hurting…so? The greats push through and perform when it matters. Period.
And i haven’t read the Abbot article but I will. People need to see the BIG picture here. This isn’t about winning a lot of games and making the Cavs revelant like LeBron has. It’s about winning a title for a city that is title starved. Fans of Cleveland sports could care less about winning 61 games, things they had never done before. We (and I say we even though I don’t livei n Cleveland) JUST WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP. Praising teams for having nice regular season went out at least 15 years ago in this city. You can only get happy about a nice regular season so many times before finally wanting to see a championship. The team deserved to be boo’d last night, especially when you throw in the game 2 performance at home as well.
BTW, were the boos aubible on television? I know when you’re at the game it seems like everything is loud, but it doesn’t always come through on tv. There were two times that I can remember that it seemed like the crowd was really giving it to the team ( I was right there with them) and I’m just wondering if you could tell on TV?
You should have seen the Laker boards after game 4 of the Thunder series. It was over, goodbye cruel world.
You people make me sick — all he’s done for you and you’re killing him over one game. Everybody gets it — it sucked & he sucked. But really? After what he’s done over the years now you bail on him? You people don’t deserve somebody like James. You should have Ron Artest.
What exactly has he done for us but consistently disappear in the playoffs, not develop a post prescence, and toy with the head and hearts of the fans who love him the most? Stop deifying this overpaid, overvalued; stop treating him as some sort of basketball iconoclast. He’s a fraud–a businessman with an athlete’s body. A marketer.
Nobody was saying any of this in Detroit. Or last year. Or the year before. I can understand being pissed off, but you guys are essentially going back and re-writing history about “consistently disappearing” and all this other nonsense. If anyone’s a fraud, it’s you people — I’ve never lived in Cleveland & I don’t particularly care about the Cavs but this is nonsense.
This isn’t nonsense–this is Cleveland.
I don’t really agree with squiggles, but someone needs to quickly understand the mindset of a Cleveland SPORTS fan. Simply being really good and winning a lot of games, after 40+ years of 0 titles of any kind, IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Understand that people. Doing this and that for US??? DId you hear his postgame…He feels sorry for HIMSELF? ANd you say he does all of this for us………what?
LeBron has been great. LeBron has been great in the playoffs. LeBron was great last year and had no help. But let me make this clear so everyone can follow me, LeBron HAS NOT BEEN GOOD IN THIS SERIES. Got that? Now, let me expound on said statement with this: LEBRON HAS HAD MORE THAN ONE GAME WITH LACK-LUSTER EFFORT IN THIS SERIES. Under what part of fanhood should I simply stand and cheer a guy who is supposed to be the best player on the planet and thinks of himself as such, when he has a performance like that? I mean, do I not have the right to be upset by that? Again…it isn’t the 3-14, it is the lack of effort. If you watched the game and iddn’t see it, then I dunno what to tell you. He wasn’t trying..and yet I’m being lectured that I should just watch and take it and not show my displeasure.
Now, wtf are suns fans doing here? Lecturing us on what it takes for teams to win titles and what not. Get back to me when the Suns actually get to the finals for a change. Seriously ,getting tired of all of these other fans of other teams coming here to troll this board within the last 24 hours. Where were you people all year? Where was the suns fans earlier this year when Cleveland gave the Suns two beat downs earlier in the year? Were they good enough then?
Just to be clear on my stance. I am not saying LeBron has been bad throughout the years. LeBron played his ass of against Orlando last year and got no help. He was completely outmatched with 0 offensive talent around him against the Spurs in the finals. I HAVE ALWAYS TOOK UP FOR LEBRON AGAINST THE HATERS.
Understand I am pointing out this series in particular. Our team’s leader QUIT on his team last night. How, as a true Cleveland cavalier fan and not a LeBron fan (I do like LeBron, but I support the team first), should I sit here and sing his praises? Please, explain this one to me.
Jimmy: and you can tell that how? Sorry, but that’s total B.S. You have no idea what’s going on in LeBron James’ head.
If I had to interpret his expressions in game 5 and afterward, I would guess that he was upset/sad/scared and struggling to maintain at least a neutral facade. But none of us has any real insight into what his thoughts and intentions were.
“consistently disappear in the playoffs”
This kind of talk is RIDICULOUS. Everyone and their mother is creating a complete revisionist history of everything Kobe and Lebron have ever done, based on this one abysmal effort. This is nauseating.
I agree Todd. Saying he vanishes in the playoffs is wrong. Most of his playoff career he as been great. He has vanished in this series though.
Anyway, the Woj article pretty much sums up my feelings. LeBron has driven on the FA talk. LeBron absolutely has a sense of entitlement. The city has bowed down to him for 7 years and has almost never criticized him, as if he is above all criticism. So now, here we are, finally coming out of or shells and no longer afraid, and people are seriously going to tell us to just be quiet and continue to worship LeBron?
Read the Woj article and tell me where you can disagree with it. Just think about the part where talks about the other greats and interviews. Would they have deflected the blame like LeBron did, or would they have fully accepted it and put it all on their shoulders? For as great as he is, LeBron has never been great at taking the responsibility that goes with being a team leader and league MVP. He is expected to be the best and isn’t upset when he isn’t the best. He should be though.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebroncavs051210
I agree that Lebron should be criticized like crazy for what’s happened this series, and Woj is pretty accurate. I just can’t stand when people make claims that are demonstrably wrong. There’s been more revisionist history in the past day than I’ve ever seen.
I think Rich has it right. A few points:
1. The example of Wade is a good one. Other than their championship, what help has Wade had? Miami’s role players make the Cavs role players look like All-Stars. But Wade never gives up. He fights for everything, and it’s why, on a team that has been decidedly average at best over the past few years, that he’s still in the MVP discussion each season. He doesn’t quit. Bringing us to
2. For everyone who can’t understand the reaction of Cleveland fans, let me try this: we aren’t the most loyal of fans to individuals (we cheered when Tim Couch got hurt, for crying out loud), but we are loyal to our teams. So when the leader of the team gives up on that team, we feel (rightfully) betrayed. Everyone knows that LeBron was the one who was going to bring a championship to Cleveland. We brought in other people to help, but ultimately, it all rested on number 23. And if he goes out and gives his all like he did in Orlando last year, it’s heartbreaking, but we’ll defend him to no end (go read some of the boards after the ECF last year: everyone was down on LeBron, and Clevelanders were/would have defended him to the death). But if he, after everything that has been done for him over the past few years, just decides to give up and get beaten in a series that he should have won (and make no mistake, the Cavs are the better overall team, but they aren’t the better team on the court right now), then yes, I think the fans have a right to be disgusted. If you don’t think a lot has been done for him, I’d like you to enlighten everyone to what you would have done differently if you were Gilbert or Ferry.
3. Another reason the fans are upset: they’ve been blindsided by this. No one was predicting this collapse before this series. Everyone thought the Cleveland had brought in the right pieces; and it wasn’t because they were sucking up to LeBron: again, the ECF last year made everyone second-guess everything the Cavs did. Let’s be honest: the Celtics have gotten some great games from their players; they are playing much better ball than they were during the regular season. But this is not the same as last year. The Cavs are playing nowhere near their potential, and no one on the team (outside of maybe Shaq) seems to care. The coach cares. The front-office cares. The owner cares. And the fans definitely care (hence the booing). But the players? Can anyone who’s watched the games actually convince us that they care? That is stunning.
4. Let’s say it is the elbow. He’s afraid to take it strong because he’s in pain. Fine. He’s one of the best passers in the league. Game 2: 5 turnovers to 7 assists. Game 4: 7 turnovers to 8 assists. Game 5: 3 turnovers to 7 assists. So he’s averaging 7.33 assists to 5 turnovers. When Mo was out and James was running the point in Jan/Feb, he averaged 10 assists per game to 4.5 turnovers. If it was only physical, he could still be doing things like this. But it’s more than just that. What I can’t figure out is why the Game 3 performance? If he doesn’t totally care, why bother at all? And if he does actually want to win, why the 3 “let’s get this over with” performances? Windhorst said (paraphrasing), “LeBron’s always been moody, and it seems like he’s been playing in a bad mood the entire series.” Why?
Sorry, got to rambling. Not many people to share my pain in Minneapolis… I’m still absolutely astonished by how this series has played out.
100% agree with every single thing Sam said. We defended him last year when he gave his all and didn’t have enough help.We will not defend him this year when he is not giving the effort and does have the help. Great post Sam.
Lebron has officially checked out. Game 6 will be another Celtic blowout. Shlt, I’d be suprised if Lebron even physically goes to game 6. I’d be in the NYC house shopping BABY!!!
Hi,
Most of you should be ashamed, the effort and play in the past has been above and beyond, even with a supporting cast that is pitiful. You can see that the elbow is an issue, effecting not only the shooting but passing, even in his usual dribbling motion.
There are things in life that cannot be overcome, playing with a broken finger is commonplace, you see it in HS, NCAA, and the NBA. According to many here, I guess MJ should have not sat out any games with a broken ankle, or some other nonsense…or are we denying that happened also, more myths that every player has not had bad games or injuries that effected them?
Did the Portland fans give the same treatment to Roy, who obviously could not perform, but tried anyways? How will we all feel when the truth comes out (it already is, for those who look), and realize he is a warrior, playing despite the injury.
People are reading their own things into his reaction to this, be it his facial or body language, you think that anyone wouldn’t be lost somewhat realizing that no matter how you try, you cannot overcome something, without 3 days or rest/treatment, and even than it’s a mountain to overcome?
Just sad…
Bob, I see where you’re coming from, but the elbow doesn’t explain the lack of effort. It explains 3-14, but not anything more. It also doesn’t explain his post game comments where he deflects all blame from himself and makes it seem like us, the little people, should have no right to question his performance. That post game conference is what really let me know his mindset let night. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows. But I truly feel his effort was more than lacking last night, and he revealed as much by the things he said in his post-game.
bob-I agree that there are things that cannot be overcome. But LeBron’s elbow is not broken. And again, it’s not the bad game that people are upset about. Roy illustrates our point (instead of yours): he competed. It was clear that he was way less than 100%., you can’t fault him for that. And no one is faulting LeBron for having a(n historically) bad game. It’s the being passive, and not competing. That’s not attributable to the elbow. He’s a grown man: he needs to be about to figure out to deal with something like this. And yes, you very well should read people’s body language: communication is not just words. So when LeBron shows up to press conferences with a nonchalant attitude and not carrying himself like the superstar that he is (as he always has in the past), it absolutely means something.
I don’t think anyone can question LeBron’s physical toughness. But what’s going on in his head?
Rich-are you and I both staking out this board in an attempt to deal with the pain? I’m with you.
Misery loves company!!!Amazingly I’m starting to regain confidence…as if this is the year that Cleveland seems down and out yet again, but this is finally the year that they turn it around when all hope seems lost. I dunno. the Boston Red Sox seem like a good comparison that someone else here made and I’m starting to buy into it.
First off, we need to stop calling him the King. He has not earned the title, he has a very bad attitude and sitting out during the end of regular season does not make any sense. It takes more than just skill to be a great player, it takes attitude as well. He is not the best player in the NBA. Kobe Bryant is the best player and he has the titles to defend this argument. Kobe Bryant is still battling to stay on top, he has passion for the game and for people to call a person who has not earned anything the king is not fare to those players who have earned that title. He is not a leader, he still has a lot to learn and I just feel sorry for the fans of Cleveland who have supported this dude all these years to see someone not even trying to win a game. He’s just waiting for the season to be over so he can move on. The NBA is trying to sale James name; I’m not buying it. Everyone says that he is the best player, that remains to be seen. No one is considered the best until they have beaten the best and earned it. Stop comparing this man to Michael Jordan because he is not in that league or even Kobe Brayant. Allow these players to earn these titles before they are given them.