Sunday, May 31, 2009

Torture. Agony. Anguish. Frustration. Sadness. Misery.

Those are the feelings we're left with, yet again, as the Cavaliers just could not match up with the Orlando Magic and fell 4 games to 2 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

There will be a lot of time to discuss what went wrong. LeBron James, uncharacteristically, walked off the court and out of the locker room without addressing reporters. He's been called out today for mild unsportsmanlike behavior, and maybe rightfully so. People will certainly draw many conclusions from his behavior after the game, and the meaning of it as it pertains to LeBron's future in Cleveland. But again, there will be time to worry about that.

One thing this series was not was a "choke." Or even an "exposé" of the Cavaliers weaknesses. A team does not win 66 games, including 8 straight playoff games, if they are a one man team. The Cavaliers just ran into a team playing on all cylinders, who posed grave matchup problems with the Cavs. It wasn't The Shot, or The Fumble, or anything that could have gone either way. It was just The Execution that the Magic could do, and the Cavaliers could not, when it counted.

I can only mourn in haiku:

Confetti falling;
LeBron walks from the building;
"Wait Until Next Year."