Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  264 responses

LeBron James, Cavs’ Game 5 Collapse Shocks Everyone

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

LeBron’s performance last night in his team’s biggest game of the season was, above anything else, confusing.

The reigning 2-time MVP played a passive, almost disinterested game (15 points on 3/14 shooting), and as a result, his Cavs are now on the brink of elimination.

While most of the blame for the shocking collapse falls in James’ lap (and rightly so), team owner Dan Gilbert is wondering about the rest of his employees. Speaking to the Plain Dealer in the wee hours of this morning, Gilbert questions Cleveland’s resolve and will to win:

“Our entire franchise has done everything in its power to put all of our players and its coaching staff in the best possible position to execute when it counts,” Gilbert said. “And to deliver to the highly supportive fans of Cleveland a proud, intense, impassioned all-out drive to achieve a championship.”

“The last two home playoff losses and the manner in which we lost these games does not come close to being anywhere near the high expectations all of us have of our organization. Our fans and supporters deserve more. Above all, the fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as the entire franchise, deserve and need our players and coaches to dig deep within themselves,” Gilbert said.

Despite his disappointment in the losses, Gilbert, who is known for his optimism, said he’s confident his team will be able to rebound in Game 6. “We have to ask ourselves two questions,” he said. “Will we remember who we are and choose to impose our will on our opponent for the remainder of this series and beyond? And how much do we want it? I believe in our players, our coaching staff and our entire franchise. This series is not over.”

During an equally bizarre performance during the postgame press conference, LeBron said he’s not worried about where his team stands at the moment, and Shaq pointed out the obvious by saying the Cavs just need to win the next two games.

The entire state of Ohio is in shock right now. Starting Thursday night, LeBron James and the rest of the Cavs need to give them reason not to completely jump off the ledge.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Comments
  • http://slamonline.com CB 34

    I can’t believe all of theb fair weathered fans here. You aren’t real fans. Everybody’s turning on Bron because of this 1 bad game. Sure, it happened at the worst possible time but it happened. Deal with it. Bron hasn’t changed and i think he will pull off game 6 and 7 with monster games and all of you will be jocking his d!ck again. It’s bullsh!t how easy you guys can turn your back on him. I’m disappointed hearing anton, allenp and countless others bashing Bron. Pick a side and stay loyal. Don’t jump ship at the first sight of blood. If all of you truly feel this way then just don’t root for Bron ever. I’m as disappointed as the next cav fan but i still got his back. It’s a bump on the road and he’ll still get his. Remember detroit being down to NJ 3-2 and coming back to win that series and the title? Y’all acting like the cavs have lost already. If you can’t be with Bron through thick and thin then just get down on your knees and start polishing Kobe’s knob. It’s 1 bad game! Pull your heads out of your a$$es.

  • http://slamonline.com CB 34

    @truthteller: You’re an idiot. I’ll bring kobe in the conversation whenever i please since these two are talked about regardless of the article. The series isn’t even done and you’re preaching like Bron should get shot. Kobe’s had numerous bad games. Remember when he mailed it in in that game 7 just to prove a point that he should be shooting. Who does that? Bron played bad the other day no doubt but Mike got a pass when he played terrible. Why shouldn’t Bron? He’s earned that right. What i meant by he comes through even when they lose is he practically tries to carry the load by himself but he comes up short sometimes because it is a team game. Mo is our number 2 guy and every year he doesn’t deliver so Bron picks it up. Was never a fan of Jamison and he’s done nothing to change my mind.Don’t think for 1 second that it’s over cause the cavs will win this. At least he doesn’t give games away just to show the coach and the world that he’s the man. You’re the retard here! I may be loyal to a fault but not delusional.If by some twist of fate the cavs lose, then so be it. I’ll be crushed but you won’t hear me blame him for his poor game 5. You have Phil, we have Mike effing Brown. Think about it objectively for once and stop touching yourself when you see Kobe.

  • Elias

    @CB 34 The difference between Kobe’s game 7 vs Suns and Lebron’s game 5 vs Boston is that the Lakers barely made the playoffs that year, had a far worse team than the Cavs have, and the Cavs are a contender, and everyone expected them to win Boston pretty easy. In the Lakers-Suns series everyone thought that the Suns would sweep them or go like 4-1. I’m dissapointed of Kobe for doing that, but this is different, the Suns were a contender, and the Lakers were pulling off a major upset, and Boston is pulling off an upset. This was supposed to be the year that Lebron turned everyone in to witnesses, but looks like he’s doing the opposite. Lebron isn’t a good leader ot me, if he doesn’t win the title this year or atleast make the finals. I’ll give him the best in the world title if he wins the championship, but looks like it’s staying with Kobe. Winning matters.

  • http://sfdjklf.com Jukai

    Joel O: Job sucks right now, I work NOC hours… meaning whenever the hell I’m called in. Meaning overnight shifts. Money’s good, girls at an internship in Florida so I’m keepin it for now, but yeah, I’m on very weird hours.
    What’s funny is that during the Wilt v Russell days, Russell was generally considered better because of his titles… it wasn’t until no one was breaking Wilt’s statistics, or even coming CLOSE to breaking them, that people began to realize “holy crap… you know, this guy was immensely good.” People figured others would come along and average 50 and score 100, etc. etc.
    Plus a bunch of Celtics went on to become all-stars and even LEGENDARY players (no one figured Hondo was that good until Russell and Cousy left and he got the keys to the team) so yeah… Wilt got the bum end of things during that time era.
    Really didn’t help Wilt would go out and skip practice and bone everything that moved too.

  • BostonBaller

    I’m hating the media right now!!! They keep pissing LBJ off and he might explode for 80 tonight! Why are people questioning his “legacy” already? Yes, I believe he kind of gave up last game and not just b/c he was playing for free agency..Maybe he wants a challenge and coming back and winning 2 straight would be a challenge. Seriously though, leave the young fella alone, he has many years ahead of him and this series is not over!!! Stop pissing him off!! Please!!! with all that said, if my C’s continue to play great team D we will be fine, if everyone plays their role we will be fine. Now can we wake up the BRUINS!?!

  • vtrobot

    256th!

  • BostonBaller

    I absolutely loved the comments MJ made during the video on the post Michael Jordan Scores 43 Points at Age 40. He said something like My efforts, desire to win and love for the game will always be young. All players should feel that way, especially young players.

  • http://theurbangriot.com/ NUPE

    Since prior to the begining of the season a lot of people said IF healthy the Celts were the best team in the east. Well, now they are finally healthy and people seem surprised that they are ‘upsetting’ the Cavs. Despite his last bad game, LeBron is the best player on the court – the problem is the next 4 best players are all on the Celtics. I’m not sure why this is worthy of 250+ post, yest it’s surprising by how badly they lost and yes the MVP had a horrible game but 250+ post?

  • bashmo

    Being absolutely honest, Cleveland has a better chance of winning against Orlando. The matchup in the middle with Perk/Howard is a deciding factor when it comes to Boston, and this time around our guardplay is superior. Rather than have a veteran Rafer Alston who was acquired midseason start(albeit he played excellently) and a rookie, we have our All-Star level starting PG Jameer Nelson, and of course VC, who can still create his own shot. How Matt Barnes defends Paul Pierce and how well we can deny Rondo oppurtunities will hold the fate of the series..because boston’s offense haa changed a considerable amount from two years ago..oh and they arent the same team defensively either.

  • bashmo

    as for the cavs, the reason they acquired shaq was, simply to body Dwight. And rather than have Varejao attempt to guard Lewis, which obviously didnt work out to well, they’ve put the more versatile, and similiar antawn jamison on him. Finally, they have anthony parker, a decent defender, at the 2 guard. In my eyes the guardplay and Howard’s play wel determine whether or not we move on….Lets go Orlando! Btw these two posts were for those talking about the conference finals.

  • Pingback: SLAM ONLINE | » LeBron Confident, Defiant

  • http://shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ Tariqُُ

    Jukai:
    You paint me as a Nash-hater, when all I’ve ever said is that his legacy is skewed. I never said that Nash wasn’t a great player. But he damn sure ain’t at the level a lot of people say he is. I’ve formed this opinion based on years of watching the man play + watching how he gets portrayed in the media. You may disagree and see him on the level of other 2-time MVPs. I don’t. I don’t think that’s the same as this collective sh*t on LeBron just because of ONE GAME, no matter how bad his performance was. And the thing is, EVERYONE who’s shi*ting on him now will do a 180 if Bron bounces back. I think this reflects the desire some people have to build people up just to tear them down.

  • JoeMaMa

    @Jukai: If Lebron averages 34 points a game, 16 off Wilt’s 50 ppg, then I’ll consider thinking about the potential for a comparison. But yeah…stats do matter somewhat. Wilt dominated like no one else. There’s no comparison to him. It just so happened that he came up against the best dynasty to EVER PLAY PROFESSIONAL SPORTS. The Celtics’ run will never EVER be replicated. Who does LeBron compete against? No…..Wilt beasted the league, and we’ll NEVER see someone like that again. I understand your comparisons, I do…but LeBron, and I think he’s great, holds NOTHING to Wilt. Remember, you can only truly compare someone against their peers. And he just killed them all.
    P.S. – Thanks for calling me cool beans. It actually sounds kinda nice!

  • http://evans.linnaze@yahoo.com nazie bell

    well first of all he aint noooo drama qween and you hattas need to fall back cuz every body got problems dont just point him out every body makes mistakes think about if you were in his sitiuation how would yhu feel…!!! let the man be he is still human…

← Older Comments
Advertisement