Just a couple points--this game was tough, and Brian Windhorst wrote at halftime that LeBron was way too into the trash talking. Maybe that was fixed a bit in the second half but if the hard fouls keep coming, I'm going to be worried about LeBron keeping his cool.
In my opinion, LeBron has been way too involved. He needs to cool down, he is
the guy who says he doesn’t need trash talk but he’s been more active than
anyone. After getting whacked twice in a row by Andray Blatche, LeBron hit him
with an elbow after a foul in a play that I think may be turned into a flagrant
foul by the NBA after this game. Then at the end of the half he got a technical
foul for jumping up and into Brendan Haywood after he stood over him after an
offensive foul. At the end of the half, LeBron also said something to DeShawn
Stevenson as he walking off the floor. I believe Antawn Jamison and Z got into
it as well. My point is, I just mentioned LeBron way too many times. He is the
leader, but he’s got to preach control, that is the way the Cavs play.
Well my solution: if anything happens, just send Anderson in with fists flying. I don't think I can stand watching him. If he ever gets the ball more than 5 feet from the basket when he isn't sprinting toward the basket, he needs to know to pass it immediately. I can see the wheels turn in his head, and the minute he puts the ball on the floor I know something bad is about to happen. I wonder what the percentage of times he dribbles the ball toward the basket result in a hoop. My serious guess: less than 10%. I should start keeping track of it.
Oh well Cavaliers won this afternoon, not a great win, had some grittiness which I liked, but an offensive game plan would be nice for game 2. There were a few instances of a game plan (the LeBron moving without the ball twice in a row segment in the second half comes to mind) but for part of the game today the thought on whether Mike Brown would be fired should the Cavs lose this series actually crossed my mind. Just looked defunct at times. But maybe there's hope. And that one handed alley oop dunk was as spectacular as you can get.