NBA Playoff Thread

I expect them to try.

 

All I'm going to say is. I told you I'd never believe they could win a title until they did. This is why. Cleveland gets fisted again.

 

I still don't really think he's going to leave. The town is bitter as hell right now, but I don't think it'll cancel out the seven years of coddling he's had in Cleveland from ownership, fans and teammates.

 

I'm not convinced that he'll leave either. But if he thinks he somehow has more to gain by going somewhere else, his image in Cleveland won't stand in the way of him doing so. Modell didn't care about being villified when he realized he could make more money by moving the Browns to Baltimore.

 

I await his appearance in a Kansas City Pacers uniform.

 

Oh yeah, every team that can get him, will push hard to get him.

I feel he "mailed it in" in Game 5 to prove a point to Ferry/Gilbert/Brown that the shit talent they got at the trade deadline was what it was: shit. I laughed when they got Antwan Jamison because he looked like a guy who wasn't interested or happy about being on a winning team that was going to the playoffs. That sumbitch was as disinterested in playing in a big game like he was with the Wizards. To me, he never displayed any passion. He just there to be there. And he's an All-Star?

I do blame LeBron on one thing: not being assertive and demanding better players at the deadline. For him not to walk in there and say "Get me Bosh, get me someone who's hungry as hell for the ring" and for accepting what they got, is inexcusable.

Shaq's gravy-training, Mo Williams got clowned by Rondo, Illgauskas should have never been re-signed. What for? Loyalty and he was better than all of the big men in the league? Varajao is Varajao, that bench is garbage and Mike Brown is a good coach, but holy shit, he has become the 2010 version of Flip Saunders, with the deer-in-the-headlights look.

LeBron needs to leave. That's a no-brainer. All he has to do is look at KG. Got out of the hinterlands of Minnesota and got a ring with Boston. Boston has better players than Cleveland does.

Staying in Cleveland will signal that he's not interested in winning a title. He's interested in winning the branding/marketing game.

 

Every time I see that clip of Doc Rivers saying "I know you all want to win! But you've got to do it . . . TOGETHER!!!" I think, "Great speech . . . to give a high school team."

 

For the Cavs to win, they need to fire Danny Ferry. Then he can become Spurs GM and trade Tony Parker to the Cavs for LeBron's resin bags.

 

I understand the face of the franchise taking SOME of the heat. Sure. But just like it was ridiculous to blame Manning for losing the Super Bowl, it's ridiculous to blame LeBron for this series.
Antawn makes a boatload of money and is a supposed all-star. And he scores five points in an elimination game? Five.
If Kobe plays like shit, the Lakers can - and have - won playoff games. If Lebron plays like shit, or even if he just gives you 27, 19 and 10 like he did tonight, he's going to get torched for his team losing.
You're right. I guess it goes with the territory. Always has. Just a bizzarre way to view a team sport.

 

Perhaps now we can dispense with the notion that adding an over the hill Shaq is a good way to push a contender over the top.

That idea destroyed the Nash/Stoudamire Suns for two years. But now they're back after getting rid of him. The Cavs played their best ball all year during that 21-4 run after Shaq was injured, but then slowed down again after he came back. As far as I can tell, Shaq has hurt his teams more than he's helped for about four straight years now.

 

I don't disagree with any of that, but you know what? In crunch time, I wanted him on the floor.

He doesn't have the physical tools anymore. And he probably wasn't going to help. But he wasn't going to shy away from the moment either. More than anything else with this Cavs team through the years, they've never had guys who weren't afraid to play in the big moments.

Who on that team were you going to trust tonight outside of LeBron?

Mo Williams can't guard anybody and his shooting is streaky at best in big games. Varejao is trying to get the referees to stop the game because he has a boo-boo while guys are whizzing past him. Delonte West used to be a glue guy, but with all the off-the-court issues he's had this year (which still haven't been resolved), God only knows where his head's at. Ilgauskas is washed up. Hickson has no crunch time reps. Jamison was MIA when it mattered.

I'll say this for Shaq: He's past his prime, but he was the one guy in the Game 5 debacle who looked like he gave a shit, and he was the only guy outside of LeBron who didn't look scared shitless tonight.

 

Why do so many people automatically assume LeBron James won't go back to Cleveland? Who is going to offer him anything better, monetarily or otherwise?