LeBron James is giving you a quarter
Published by The Cavalier May 18th, 2007 in NBA, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, WNBA, Detroit Pistons, New Jersey Nets, Rasheed Wallace
We know it’s Jack Cobra’s day and all, but we’d feel a little weird if we didn’t put up some kind of sour-puss post regarding tonight’s Cavs-Nets Game 6.
Fear the Sword asks if the Cavs “have the stones”. Umm…no, they don’t. If they did, there wouldn’t be a game six at all.
Our own Jack Cobra asks if LeBron will play hard tonight. Since Shrek the Third will hopefully be in his “already saw it” column by this evening, and Pirates 3 doesn’t come out for another whole week, we expect at least a little focus.
We say he’ll actually turn in a nice fourth quarter, but not much more. Won’t stop everyone from gushing over the 27/6/7 stat line, while lambasting us for complaining about it at the same time.*
Anyway, you’re looking for our prediction, and that last paragraph should clue you in. Cavs will take it, but it’ll be more of a “got it” than a “took it”. We expect another horrible evening of pseudo-basketball, wherein fans on both sides are screaming things like, “They’re trying to give you the game!! What’s wrong with you?!?”
One bright beacon of hope is shining across in the wake of the Lasers’ series victory over the Bulls, however.
“The game has changed, and it’s not like you can just go out there and hate a team. It ain’t the same game,” [Lasers assistant coach Ron] Harper said. “[Animosity] is still there some of the time, but it isn’t there all the time.”
So, Ron, who do the Pistons hate?
“Cleveland. We don’t like Cleveland. That series is going to be fun.”
That gets us a little charged up - just a little. Regardless of the Cavaliers state of mind/play, DET is a fun team to hate, especially when their bloggers are already looking ahead to the Finals.
Cleveland over Jersey tonight - final score 36-27.
*We don’t get the CLE fans who are just happy to be in the second round (and clearly don’t actually watch the team play OR don’t understand basketball). We finally have an (alleged) player who can bring a championship one day - let’s strive for the championship, huh? If this were the Terrell Brandon/Chris Mills Cavs, we’d be happy to be in the second round.
(Hey - the WNBA is starting soon. Check out this awesome promo pic - doesn’t it just make you rush right to the ticket office? No, really - she’s pregnant. Awesome.)
H-h-h-ey Ro-Ro-Ron,
Sh-sh-sh-shu-shu-sh-shu-shut th-th-th-the h-h-h-hell up!
Can’t believe I defended you from mockery in the past.
Hey Cavalier, how about this one: it took seven seasons for MJ to get to the finals. Took him four just to get to the second round.
Also, Jordan didn’t actually win anything until he was given…
-another Hall of Famer to play with (Pip)
-a Hall of Fame coach
And there were some pretty good role players in those Bulls squads too. Whereas the current Cavaliers have…
*a slow jump-shooting center
*no NBA players to play point guard
*a trigger-happy shooting guard trying to play point while shooting 4-19 every night
*a coach with a “I only need to teach them defense” coaching style
*a guy named “Sasha” as their third best player
Considering these limitations, Eastern finals isn’t THAT bad for the Cavs, huh?
I don’t remember Jordan ever not trying his hardest.
Um, I think I can take this one. First of all, Jordan never missed the playoffs as a Bull. I can’t remember, but has LeBron made it every season? I’d say averaging 30+, 7 and 6 while carrying your team to the playoffs constitutes ‘doing something’. Keep in mind also that when MJ came in to the league the Celtics were ‘the Celtics’ and then the Pistons were ‘the Pistons’. Essentially, they each were in their respective ‘Dynasty’ mode. Can you say that about the East now? No. I’ll now take the rest.
a) Pip didn’t become a Hall of Fame player until much later in his career after the team started to follow Jordan’s lead (whether some of them liked it or not). Initially, Pip couldn’t hit a jumper, run the offense or play defense. I’m not exaggerating, you should look at some of the early tape.
b) If I remember correctly, and I believe I do, Phil Jax had put in his application at a University for a Master’s Program when the Bulls hired him as Head Coach. He wasn’t exactly a ‘hot number’ among teams looking for a new coach. This information can be found in his book, ‘Sacred Hoops’.
1) Ever hear of Luc Longley or Bill Cartwright? They weren’t exactly fleet of foot and full of ‘on the block’ moves. We can also toss in there Bill Wennington, Robert Parish and James Edwards; they were there too. When the Bulls were winning they would start out nearly every game running a play for their Center to shoot a jump shot.
2)John Paxson - shooting guard, Ron Harper - shooting guard, B.J. Armstrong - wanna be shooting guard. These were MJ’s point guards. They were all SG’s prior to coming to the Bulls. Figured you would know that with Harper playing for the Cavs.
3) See #2. How do you think things started out? Took a long time to learn the triangle.
4)Phil initially focused on defense. Remember when they said the Bulls were like ‘doberman’s roaming the floor’? That was Phil. You’ll remember Tex Winters, he was the guy with the Triangle offense. Remember all that whistling Phil did while the Bulls were shooting free throws??? Yeah, he was setting up the D.
5)No ‘Sasha’ but we had ‘Horace’, ‘Toni’ and ‘Dennis’. All had certain skills that they were very good at but certainly not excellent all around players. Kukoc was the closest but he was very soft (physically and mentally).
Yeah Jordan got guys like Jud Bueshler (sp?) and Will Purdue multi-year deals. Jordan would kill with the talent the Cavs have, if not necessarily the coach.
Whoa! So much history, my brain is spinning. Still, my basic point remains - the Cavs, with a not particularly great roster, are a 50 win team going 8-2 in the playoffs and reaching the East Finals. And they did that while not giving a fuck - imagine if they WERE trying.
Also, I tried to fact check Jordan’s career at Wikipedia, but got bored. Still, I learned a fascinating little fact. His Airness’s middle name is “Jeffrey”.
Somehow, “Jeffrey” doesn’t sound right. It’s a CPA name. A law degree name. A businessperson name.
LeBron’s middle name? Raymone. Draw your own conclusions.