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.
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Wake up LeBron! Your time is now, go get it son!!
“LeBron James doesn’t know how to win.”
Maybe you need to revisit that ECF game against the Pistons a couple of years ago. You know, the one that propelled a very average team to the Finals?
danny and mike brown must get the f**k out this summer
Lechoke said: i’m scare
In the past, after and embarassing and shocking loss, if another team’s fan came on here gloating and hating, or if other fellow fans started freaking out and saying they were done with this team, I would have blown up at them and told them to get the F out.
Not now. I don’t know why…. I totally agree with anyone expressing those feelings, and almost don’t care.
This is the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced. One single game has single handedly alienated an entire fan base, the media formerly supporting them, and destroyed the legacy of a player who possibly had the chance to surpass Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time.
Rumors behind the scenes have it that LeBron has had it with Mike Brown is making a statement to get him fired. This is quite possibly the biggest douche moment of all time. Does he man up in the post-game interviews and take responsibility for his lazy play? Nope, just a jovial laugh, referring to himself in 3rd person and generally not giving a sh*t.
I just figure that as a person who has poured my heart and soul into following this stupid f*cking team (read LeBron), both financially and emotionally… I’ve reserved the right for myself to be heard once or twice. I’m done with this franchise once the inevitable happens this off-season. (Flame away) This whole thing has put in perspective for me how important other things are in life than following a team and a player who in reality…doesn’t know or care about who their fans are. Rather than focus on whether LeBron’s coming back, giving any effort whatsoever in a playoff series, etc…why don’t I direct my focus to other things? Players who care?
Done and done. Thanks LeBron.
So anyways…below are my thoughts on what should happen this off-season and the only way the Cavs can right themselves. Flame away…but as mentioned, (much like LeBron) I feel entitled to vent in a spot where a decent amount of people who feel the same way can read it.
You do NOT want to let him walk. You have to get some kind of sign and trade together or this franchise starts from scratch once again.
I, for one, will not put up with that kind of sh*t. Hell, as a fan I’m not putting up with the kind of sh*t LeBron is currently pulling. Unless it comes out that one of his children is dying, he is dying or Gloria is dying…then this guy can go wherever the f*ck he wants. He’s the loser and the self-centered prick that everyone’s been telling us he is all along.
But you can’t let him win by getting nothing out of him. I’m not sure what kind of quality we’d get for him, but this off-season they need to explore every possibility out there.
Best case scenario in some order or another:
(1) Nets grab Calipari
(2) Cavs S/T LeBron to the Nets for Lopez, sh*t contract and first round pick(s), including 2010
(3) Get John Wall or Evan Turner
(4) Break up the team to assure a poor record
(5) Fire Mike Brown
(6) Tank for a year to get the highest pick possible
(7) Tank again for another high first rounder
(8) Oklahoma City Thunder Part II
I have no idea how realistic any of that is. In any case…
God knows I’m not going to sit around and watch that sh*t again, but that’s your best case scenario there. In any case…LeBron can go f*ck himself. I’m done sticking up for that panty-waste loser and I just pray the Cavs can get something for him that gives fans some kind of hope for the future.
I also hope that he gets a lot of batteries thrown at his head when he returns to Cleveland and gets knocked unconscious. Regardless, I want the guy to lose for the remainder of his career and get raked through the coals every year for it. I hope that Kobe, Wade and Durant go down as better players than he ever was because of the championships Kobe and Wade have won, and because of the championship I’m rooting for Durant to win.
I hate to say all this and I’m sure I don’t mean half of it, but that’s how you feel when you think a team is that close to finally redeeming your city and your superstar tanks the series like a titty-baby c***sucker piece of sh*t.
Done.
That was pathetic.
But, this performance from Bron was on par with the huge dumps Kobe has taken in the playoffs in the past, with the biggest difference being that Bron does not have the right to get pissy and rest on his laurels BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE ANY RINGS.
I’ve long considered Kobe a horrible teammate and Bron to be what you wanted in a superstar teammate. Now that’s all changed. Bron is quitting on his team, not taking responsibility in the press conference, and generally acting like a primadonna. WITH NO RINGS.
This is inexcusable. I can’t believe he played so passive in such a big game. I mean, almost every other Cav had a bad game, but you could clearly see them pressing and working to try to get going. They were constantly looking to Bron for some sort of cue, for him to take control and be the leader. And he was content with jacking long jumpers.
I don’t know if it was the Celtics defense (because this reminds me of what happened to Kobe in the Finals two years ago) or if it was a lack of fire in Bron, but right now I can no longer consider him “different” from Kobe. They are the same, and that’s not a good thing.
Basically, if you coach the same way Mike Brown has coached in the past two playoffs, regardless of how you look during the regular season, then you aren’t a good coach and I can no longer defend you as such.
More shocking that Brons performance.
Yeah, I agree that there are possibly two more games. Like I said, if Bron turns into a stone-cold killer, kind of like he did in Game Three, then I will feel better about defending him this past year in Kobe versus Lebron debates, or in the debates after last year’s playoffs. But, if he does not go off, if he just plays “all right” and if he gets up at the press conference and acts like it’s no big deal and not his fault, then all bets are off. He will forever be branded in my mind.
Last year he played as hard as he could, and his team was just overmatched and undercoached. This year he isn’t even close to that effort and it’s disturbing.
But, I will admit that Boston looks like the Boston of old right now. Their defense is stifling and they have that little swagger, particularly last night.
Lebron needs to nut up and accept responsibility. And Mike Brown needs to realize that you cannot play two horrible defenders on the court at the same time against a team with players who can exploit them. Bottom line, Mo and Twan cannot guard KG and Rondo. At the beginning of this series I said that it was all about which KG showed up, and it’s been the KG with two good legs, not the gimpy one we saw during the regular season that’s come to play. That, combined with Mo’s inablity to figure out how to stop a player with no jumpshot, has the CAvs looking horrible on defense. And honestly, that’s on MIke Brown. He needs to figure that out. This is just like the freaking Orlando series except at least during that series he had the excuse that nobody could guard Dwight Howard one-on-one and thus it was hard to provide help on the pick and rolls with Shard and Turks. This series he has enough players to mix and match and find a way to combat what Boston’s doing, while getting buckets. The Cavs have very good talent
If you watched that Magic series last year, you would know that Lebron damn near killed himself every game. The entire offense was clear out for Lebron on the elbow and hope for a bucket. Nobodyc ould question his effort last year.
The real issue is that his team cruised during hte regular season, looked great early against Chicago, and now looks like crap. Same thing happened last year when they looked good early and looked like crap on the big stage.
I agree that Lebron has had some amazing games in tight situations. But, I also must admit that his team should be able to beat Boston if they are playing correctly, and that Lebron has not played well enough. Period. The Cavs have the talent to beat the Celtics if Lebron is playing at his full potential. He’s not and it shows.
since when did Owners Can’t lecture their employees..????
That is hilarious. Freaking hilarious.
MJ remains one of the biggest losers as a human being that basketball has ever seen. He is not a ringing endorsement of college players and I can think of many other former college players who are just as horrible.
And honestly, what exactly has KG done off the court? From all accounts, he’s been a model citizen.
If we’re dealing with percentages, the numbers would be skewed by the fact that so few players come from high school straight into the league. But, honestly, going to college doesn’t seem to have much impact on whether you suck as a human, from what I’ve seen.
I think the biggest difference between people who skip college and those who go used to be the fundamentals thing. But now, going to college doesn’t even give you good fundamentals becuase most coaches are sleazes who don’t teach anything but their system. And, of course, the most fundamentally sound player in the league is a cat who skipped college.
I think the biggest difference between people who skip college and those who go used to be the fundamentals thing. But now, going to college doesn’t even give you good fundamentals becuase most coaches are sleazes who don’t teach anything but their system.” i know what you are thinking and i partially agree, college doesn’t make up for luck of character (that has to do with family,early childhood environment,culture,etc) but for various reasons, people who finish a good college are ON AVERAGE (put it with bold letters) better at handling certain situations and behaving on stressfull circumstances.I repeat ,ON AVERAGE(that’s why i always use percentages, you can find many exceptions to anything). This “rule” has been also demonstrated on the NBA repeatedly. Now, the fact that the most complete player (i say KOBE you propably say Lebron,doesn’t matter) skipped college has mainly to do with natural talent (that has a straight correlation with his ability to skip college when this was possible). You can find equally(or even better) fundamentally sound players(Nash,Billups)who could never attain that level of play because of luck of physical tools.
Anton, AllenP – your comments really seemed to come from the heart. Genuinely appreciated your sincerity.
1- Against the Bulls, I said “this team isn’t playing like champions… they’re really not playing at all… They’re not going to beat Orlando, and they may honestly have trouble with Boston”
2- After game one, I said “Okay, either Mo has to sit or Jamison has to sit. They can’t guard the Celtics starting lineup, so start Delonte or start Varejao/Hickson… and play Jamison at the three for chrissakes!”
3- FOR TWO YEARS I’ve been sayin’ Mike Brown is awful (gimme some props here Allenp). I’ve ever said his DEFENSIVE coaching was horrendously in question because he never makes adjustments or defensive rotations. People give him credit where nothing
But… what I didn’t expect was Lebron’s absolute crap of a game, and generally, of the series. I want to take credit for also saying Lebron had to overdominate the ball to win against the Celts, but with his mindset in game 5, I’m not sure that would do anything. It’s been upsetting to say the least.
Lebron is looking more like a Bernard King than a Magic Johnson/Dr J hybrid right now.
A better comparison, RIGHT NOW, would definitely be Wilt Chamberlain.
Dominant in the regular season…. and still easily the best player in the playoffs… but the mindset isn’t there, there’s still a “you know, I have teammates, why should I give it 110% every night, lemme let the game come to me” moments that shock you as a fan… and the fact that both never really took blame for blowing KEY games. Blah.
2nd: i think people need to lay off the choke artist label on Lebron. to me, a choke is when one tries but fails miserably; lebron didn’t even put in the effort to try. nick anderson blowing those 4 freethrows in 95 Finals was a choke; the 2000 blazers blowing the WCF game 7 4th quarter lead was a choke. lebron didn’t choke, he gave up. that’s way worse than a choke.
Police Report: Michael Scorn has been found hanged by a LeBron headband. Investigators say subsequent comments must be ignored so that the world can keep spinning.
Okay, cool beans, thanks for clarifying!
I mean, if Lebron leaves or is traded from Cleveland to another team and wins a title, the comparison is flawless.
Then again, I see someone else (either Russ or Myles, forget which) may have at least hinted at a Chamberlain comparison well before I did in another section of the site which I didn’t read at the time… but I’m still taking credit for this.
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.
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.
P.S. – Thanks for calling me cool beans. It actually sounds kinda nice!
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