Interspersed with our artist’s interpretations of it, here are Sam the Instant Question Answerer’s responses to the Cavs-Heat game last night – the one where CLE gave away a ten point lead in the fourth quarter.
You know, the one we turned off at the half even though they were up. You could just see it.
1) What was the team’s effort level on a scale of 1-14? Explain in two sentences or less.
Effort was a 5. Yes a 5. I don’t care how many points you go up by, if you open the door, the other team will take the opportunity. If they tried to win then they would’ve done it early in the 4th quarter.
2) What was the estimated ratio of times “Coach Mike spit into that cup” to “times Coach Mike said something that looked halfway motivating”?
How bout the ratio of how many times Coach Mike has seen his team up by 10 or more late in the game and said nothing like it was all gonna be ok, to how many times he lit a fire under their asses to keep up the tempo? 273672376472:0
3) Did LeBron care tonight or not? Don’t tell us his stats, because he can put up a triple double without even concentrating.
No he didn’t care. There was no killer instinct, no desire to win the game, no concentration at the line. We are all witnesses, and LeBron is too because tonight he witnessed his team blow a lead late in the game instead of willing them to win.
4) Did Daniel Gibson play? Details please.
Daniel Gibson was one of the few players I had [no] problem with tonight. The dude can stroke. a few rookie errors but its all excusable because he dropped 19 and actually showed some concern for the game.
5) How many times did you find yourself muttering and/or screaming, “Stop
taking so many freaking jumpshots!!!” or something of that ilk? Please
explain briefly.
So many times I can’t even count. LeBron and Larry were hoisting all night. LeBron barely goes inside anymore, he just gets the ball, runs down the clock, and puts up a jumper. Chucking the ball around the key until someone gets a halfway open J is not offense.
Bonus: YES. (Cough, LeBron cough.) Why can’t we just put the game away? Why does it have to be a dogfight in the last 2 minutes? Steve Kerr summed it all up towards the end of the game. He said that you have to wonder if a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers is really a contender. They don’t put games away, and they don’t run an effective offense. They’re a good team, but they still have a lot of growing to do.
[End of Sam]
We just wanted to add that Dwyane Wade had 12 turnovers tonight, the Cavaliers were up 10 with like 8 minutes left, everyone in the entire arena had their head on South Beach, and CLE lost. It’s a shame, because the “let’s try and have a scoring PG” thing actually seems to be on the path to being solved after 3.5 years.
{ 6 comments }
why do you keep saying “last night” when it is still tonight? is my space-time continuum broken again, or did I drink too much and lose a day again….
Becky – why do you wear that stupid man-suit?
I have decided I hate the Cavs. I was one sheet to the wind when I made this decision (early in the 4th), after 2 sheets, I decided it was officially time for Indians fever – be a believer!
This is not why they lost the game, but is thinking about fouling Wade a foul? He launches himself into the defender and the ground and ALWAYS gets the call. If I were in the NBA, that’s what I do. And then I’d make a commercial about how I fall down a lot and am bad at counting.
When you play a superior team, or even inferior, and get up early, you have to break their backs. That is actually the time for the coach to be aggressive and scream at players–not when the team’s down and struggling to get their heads back in the game. It’s a little secret of coaching that makes a big difference.
FG% – Down
FT% – Down
3P% – Down
Hey, welcome back LeBron.
Sasha played great last night, too. When he came out of the game and LeBron went in, Wade started getting to the line every 3.7 seconds and the Cavs lost it. LeBron is certainly allowed to have a bad game, but I’m in agreement with everyone that the effort is lacking. In one respect, the guy is only 22, but we’ve come to expect so much to the point where we can’t excuse meltdowns like last night. Wade certainly has the killer instinct fans are upset they’re not seeing from LeBron, but LBJ has shown he has it too.
In the end, the buck stops at “the current coach”, “Coach Mike”. If he can’t consistently get effort out of his players, including his star, Gilbert needs to find someone who can. Sure, Kobe’s a dick, but you don’t hear Kobe talking about Microsoft and becoming the world’s richest man during the season. The only knock on Kobe is that he wants to win to the point that he’s too selfish with the ball. He’s overcoming that this season.
The worst part of last night was having to see Pollard. Someone didn’t get enough attention as a kid or something. Scot Pollard, you are a douche.
Wade flopping to the Playoffs
There is little defense for the flop, lebron should fake a flu, pretend he has injuries, and learn to make that whiner face Wade has when he throw a turnover (like 12 the other night) when he was trying to karate kick the opposing center and get freethrows.
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