Everybody hurts

Tweet

The press today about LeBron and the Cavaliers is absolutely amazing. And totally deserved. And totally perplexing. I wonder if we will find out exactly what is going on with LeBron right now.

I'm not piling on, I'm not hating. I'm confused, and hurting.

Breakdown of Game 5.



Horribly true analysis from Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst, too.

Game 6 - it's kinda big

Tweet

Sports Guy thinks it's huge. 

(Game 6 will be...) a game in which LeBron James and the Cavaliers will have more pressure on them than any team in the history of the second round, and also a game that could determine how the next 12 years of NBA titles unfold and possibly assassinate professional basketball in Cleveland

Game 5 Catastrophe

Tweet

I am still too much in pain to put much thoughts into words, but guest Todd sums it up pretty well:

_____________________

that game was bullshit.

1. jamison cannot guard garnett. Varejao is the only option, but he's a good and proven one. I still think Jamison should play the 3 and guard Pierce
2. Parker blows anything that walks near him. He's a 25 cent hooker.
3. Moon should be playing until Mo can make a jump shot, drive, or not turn the ball over
4. Shaq can get the entire celtics team to foul out by the third quarter if Brown gives him the minutes.
5. LeBron needs to pull his head out of his ass and drive to the basket. The problem is that the celtics know that Mo and Parker can't shoot for shit, so they all sag off and double/triple him. This is why Moon, Varejao, and Gibson should be used more to bring energy and to keep the defense honest.
6. If Ray Allen doesn't have to play defense or rebound, he saves all his energy to run off screens and shoot 5-6 from 3 pt range. See item 2. Parker and Mo couldn't guard me, and combining that with Jamison on Garnett and it all makes sense.

This is a match-up series and Brown refuses to accept that his beloved Parker and Mo are not getting the job done. They aren't bad players, they're just horrendous match-ups in this series. Jamison is good against most 4's, but Garnett is just too long for him. He's got to adjust and start wearing those old bastards down with some young legs running them all over the floor. At least Moon, Gibson, and Varejao run like crazy. They cut to the basket. They get in your face on defense. They are annoying to guard and to score against. That counts.

Of course all this is irrelevant if LeBron shoots well, but it would be nice to get a tactical win in this series instead of having to rely upon LeBron to just dominate all the time. How many fast breaks did Cleveland have? Steals? How much did they press the ball on either end? How many horrible box outs did Mo and Parker have? At least if Booby misses a box out he is capable of hitting an open 3. The turnovers...puke. Those were a symptom of the horrible spacing and lack of respect that Boston had for Parker and Mo/West to hit open jumpers.

Starting 5:
Shaq
Andy
Jamison
LeBron
Moon

How annoying would it be to have to play against those 5? You've got long, quick defenders around Shaq. They have mismatches all over the floor. Allen gets Moon or LeBron. Pierce can try and post up Jamison. Andy will annoy the crap out of Garnett. Moon or LeBron gets Rondo, both of whom are quick enough and jump high enough to give him trouble shooting. That saves Mo/West/Parker/Z/Hickson to come off the bench. If you only have one of those guys in at a time it won't kill you. I think Z is a good fit in this series as long as Hickson or Andy is out there with him to take Garnett.

The good news? LeBron has to be really pissed off at himself right now and the winner of game 6 wins the series. Boston is not going to go into Cleveland and win a game 7 if the Cavs play like they should in game 6. The bad news? If they lose game 6 it takes LeBron from 90% back in Cleveland to 30% back in Cleveland. That's a lot worse than a stupid playoff game.

A Game One to Remember

Tweet

Everyone's blood pressure was rising during Game One, and it was an amazing game to be sure. Even in the first half, I was never panicky, because it seemed the Cavs missed a ton of layups--and that is a lot better sign than missing a ton of jump shots, because you know that layups are eventually going to fall, and the fact that the Cavs were getting good looks was a good sign. Not as good a sign, that Rajon Rondo was absolutely unstoppable--again against the Cavs. I don't know what the secret is to stopping Rondo, but my gut says it's initials are D.W.

Anyway, so many amazing moments, from Delonte's swinging dunk, to LeBron's 3rd quarter ending shot, to Shaq's takeoff and throwdown. But of course, it was "Air" Mo Williams huge dunk that got the game totally turned around. It was so unexpected that I didn't realize what happened--it was too loud for me to hear the announcers and I couldn't tell if the layup that I figured Mo was trying to get off actually made it to the rim. But wow--that's the Mo that we wanted to see last year, and the Mo we know we have.

This might be a collection of highlights we want to see for a long time...

Round Two

Tweet

Well some are playing this up as a possible payback for 2008, where the Celtics knocked the Cavs out in 7 thrilling games, on their way to a bought NBA title.  Me, I think it's just payback to a team that the Cavs hate as much as their fans.  Between the mindless trash talking of Kevin Garnett, the peskiness of Rajon Rondo, the thumb-twistiness of Glen Davis, the old man camped out shooting threes, and everything else on that team, LeBron can't stand them as much as I can't.  So here we go.  Twelve to go.