Saturday, May 3, 2008

Poetic Justice



Now that Ryan and I have sort of come to an "understanding" about Mike Brown, let's move onto Game 6. What a performance. It's almost more satisfying that Lebron closed out the Bullets in superstar triple-double fashion in their own building in front of those idiotic D.C. fans who had been chanting overrated and crybaby all series. Overrated - how'd that feel D.C.? Stevenson backed up his talk in superb fashion didn't he?

I saw two signs that really annoyed me. Crybaby! and Overprotected!. Let's address each one:

  • Crybaby - Crybaby? Brendan Haywood mocking Lebron and saying MJ didn't complain? Are you serious? First of all, MJ DID complain. Secondly, is it me or did Lebron pretty much take all the hits like a man. Get up, go to the line, move on. Sure, he got pissed a couple times... that's human. He said, when asked, that they were trying to hurt him. That was obvious. The Bullets said they were going to hit him before the series started. Mike Brown defended Lebron a few times, "complaining" about the hits... but that's the coach's job - protect his players. Brian Windhorst says in his blog–After all the talk about the officiating in the series, the Cavs were called for 139 fouls, the Wizards 137. The Cavs shot 175 free throws, the Wizards shot 174.
  • Overprotected - This could have been the single dumbest sign I've ever seen. Overprotected? Neither Haywood or Stevenson got suspended. Sangaila didn't even get ejected. Then the league decides to suspend Sangaila as a message to the Bullets to cut out the crap. If anything Lebron wasn't protected enough. I get rooting for your home team, but please, at least make sense. Then again, look at the team that these fans root for.

I have to give props to Wally. He still shot a lot, but this is what we've been waiting for. Combine his shooting with Boobie's and opposing teams have a ll sorts of trouble. Throw in an inside game with Z and the court becomes Lebron's oyster.

Also, give Mike Brown some credit (Ryan). He confused the Bullets with defensive switches and full court pressure. And he didn't call off the dogs. They were pressing when they were up 15. Brian Windhorst gives Coach Brown some credit:
–Mike Brown and the coaching staff get points tonight for making some fixes in the offense, especially with where the 3-point shooters were positioned. Washington had a hard time finding them after really doing a good job in Game 5 of protecting the corners because they knew Gibson and West would always be there.
–The Cavs defense in this series may have been overlooked a bit since there were three blowouts. They ended up giving up just 92 points a game, four times holding the Wizards to 88 points or less, and just 43 percent shooting. Tonight after the first quarter they really cut down the Wizards’ drive-and-kicks. By using crisper rotations, the Cavs forced lots of late shot clock shots and many were low percentage. Also, double teams on Caron Butler were effective.

Ryan, is he wrong too? And please don't tell me I'm saying he's a great coach... I'm saying give him some credit.

This doesn't compare to beating Detroit to win the Eastern Conference last year, but as far as pure satisfaction, it ranks up there at the top. After all the talk, it was just poetic justice for Lebron to triple-double against Stevenson in front of the D.C. crowd. Lebron is at his best when the odds are against him. How's that for overrated?