Tonight is the biggest game in Cleveland Cavaliers history. I don’t care that it is only the second round and that they have been to the East finals the last two years and the NBA finals the year before that, tonight is D-Day as far as Cleveland is concerned. Everybody knows I’m a fever-pitch Indians fan, so I understand the urgency and the sense of dread a Cleveland sports fan gets when seeing a potential heartbreak in the making, like tonight.
Every writer with any inkling of NBA knowledge has written something in the last two days about the importance of this game or the Cavalier collapse in game five. This isn’t revolutionary thinking on my part. I do think there are people out there like myself who are Indians fans or Browns fans who don’t necessarily love the Cavs, but understand the importance this team has in Cleveland right now. This is a cursed city. The public schools suck. The economy sucks. Downtown is in decline. I got lost downtown once, was only a couple blocks from Jacobs Field and was scared for my life. I was so low on gas I had to stop at a gas station, prepaid for $5 of gas, didn’t pump the last 30 cents where it slows down because I was already asked for money twice and was frightened. The Browns suck. My Indians suck, as evidenced by the 10,000 fan a game average. The other Cleveland poster boy, Grady, is sucking real hard right now. The two things the city of Cleveland has going for it is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Cavs. I’ve see the giant “WITNESS” billboard. Cleveland is a Cavs town right now.
LeBron is Cleveland right now. The guy is only 25, so his legacy still has a lot of time to be built, but this Cleveland/Boston series could be his Jordon-over-Ehlo moment, or it could be his Griffey to the Reds moment. One thing is for sure, this has to be LeBron’s moment. Mike Brown has won the award for the “Worst coaching in the 2010 playoffs”, although he can appeal his victory, and give the award back to Mike Woodson by doing something crazy in game six: Give the Fu**ing ball to LeBron.
Let’s go back to game five. A couple problems I had with this pile laid by the Cavs. One, why did LeBron only take 13 shots? Kobe, Iverson, and Jordan were and are masters of inefficiency, but they also were willing to put the team on their shoulders and take the shots. They may have taken 30 shots, but they got their points. LeBron needs to adopt this attitude. He needs to be the man in game six, not the 13-shots-per-game LeBron from game 5. Celtics announcer Sean Grande summed it up nicely when he said that LeBron looked like a college student who showed up for his final, got the test, and realized he didn’t study any of the answers. LeBron better have studied on Wednesday.
The other problem I have is where is Antwan Jamison? Nine points and six boards in 31 minutes? I hate to say it, oh how I hate to say it, but Cleveland would have been better off with trading J.J. Hixson for Troy Murphy. Hixson, who was supposed to be their wing-mate in waiting, only played four minutes in game five, yet they wouldn’t trade him to Indiana for Murphy. Seemed like a smart move at the time, but now it looks like Murphy is the better player than Jamison, and Mike Brown has decided Hixson is not ready for the big time.
Also, Mike Brown, you’re telling me Delonte West and Anderson Varejao are only going to play 26 minutes COMBINED, while Anthony Parker and Shaq are going to play 67 minutes combined?!? Why is this happening? I understand Parker played alright Tuesday night, and statistically so did Shaq, but West and Varejao could do much better, while playing up tempo against an aging Celtics team, and not clogging up the lane like Shaq who only grabbed four boards despite never being more than five feet from the basket. While we are on the rest of the Cavs, Mo Williams better show up at some point tonight. His playoffs the last two years have been very T-Macish.
These game five failures leave us with game six. The biggest game in Cavaliers history, and a game that could potentially change the NBA forever. First things first: will David Stern have the refs favor the classic Celtics or the face of the League in LeBron? Maybe he wants LeBron to leave Cleveland for the lights of New York or Chicago so the refs will be Celtic-friendly. Maybe he just can’t resist a possible LeBron vs. Kobe finals so they will be Cav-friendly. Ah, who am I kidding, they will call it right down the middle, like always. Right Phoenix?
The second question, and the biggie in the minds of Cleveland fans: Will this be LeBron’s last game as a Cav? I don’t think so but many people do. Chicago seems more likely every day. Although if it meant Deng or LeBron they might stick with Deng like they did a few years ago instead of going after Kobe. That worked out Chicago. New York is an obvious possible destination. The Nets new Russian owner just got approved. Cuban always throws money around and is not happy with his teams stink bomb from the first round. Maybe Ted DiBiase will buy a franchise and lure him with the money, money, money, money, who knows. There are a lot of potential suitors for LeBron. We will find out soon enough what type of man he is. If LeBron blows this series and flees Cleveland I will not be a LeBron supporter anymore. I’m telling you right now, I won’t like him anymore. I've always been a huge LeBron supporter. Some of this stems from the fact that I don't like Michael Jordan and want someone to take his title as "Best Ever". Some of it comes from me having a long subscription to SLAM magazine as a kid and following King James since he was like 15 years old (This also had the unfortunate ide effect of me being a Sebastian Telfair fan for a few years). Some of this stems from me liking the city of Cleveland, and liking the fact his teamates like him. Whatever the reason, I will turn on LeBron faster than Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Janetty if he sells out on Cleveland after not delivering a title. It says something about a player to spend his whole career with the same franchise. If LeBron blows this series and stays, that tell me he has taken some responsibility and wants to get Cleveland a championship. This series will tarnish his legacy a lot more if he doesn’t return to Cleveland. If he returns, then the Cavs, and the Cav fans can regroup and focus on next year. The obvious answer is just to come out tonight and win this game, then go to Cleveland and win game seven. That would let the LeBron offseason questions sit on the shelf for another couple weeks.
Also, Mike Brown, you’re telling me Delonte West and Anderson Varejao are only going to play 26 minutes COMBINED, while Anthony Parker and Shaq are going to play 67 minutes combined?!? Why is this happening? I understand Parker played alright Tuesday night, and statistically so did Shaq, but West and Varejao could do much better, while playing up tempo against an aging Celtics team, and not clogging up the lane like Shaq who only grabbed four boards despite never being more than five feet from the basket. While we are on the rest of the Cavs, Mo Williams better show up at some point tonight. His playoffs the last two years have been very T-Macish.
These game five failures leave us with game six. The biggest game in Cavaliers history, and a game that could potentially change the NBA forever. First things first: will David Stern have the refs favor the classic Celtics or the face of the League in LeBron? Maybe he wants LeBron to leave Cleveland for the lights of New York or Chicago so the refs will be Celtic-friendly. Maybe he just can’t resist a possible LeBron vs. Kobe finals so they will be Cav-friendly. Ah, who am I kidding, they will call it right down the middle, like always. Right Phoenix?
The second question, and the biggie in the minds of Cleveland fans: Will this be LeBron’s last game as a Cav? I don’t think so but many people do. Chicago seems more likely every day. Although if it meant Deng or LeBron they might stick with Deng like they did a few years ago instead of going after Kobe. That worked out Chicago. New York is an obvious possible destination. The Nets new Russian owner just got approved. Cuban always throws money around and is not happy with his teams stink bomb from the first round. Maybe Ted DiBiase will buy a franchise and lure him with the money, money, money, money, who knows. There are a lot of potential suitors for LeBron. We will find out soon enough what type of man he is. If LeBron blows this series and flees Cleveland I will not be a LeBron supporter anymore. I’m telling you right now, I won’t like him anymore. I've always been a huge LeBron supporter. Some of this stems from the fact that I don't like Michael Jordan and want someone to take his title as "Best Ever". Some of it comes from me having a long subscription to SLAM magazine as a kid and following King James since he was like 15 years old (This also had the unfortunate ide effect of me being a Sebastian Telfair fan for a few years). Some of this stems from me liking the city of Cleveland, and liking the fact his teamates like him. Whatever the reason, I will turn on LeBron faster than Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Janetty if he sells out on Cleveland after not delivering a title. It says something about a player to spend his whole career with the same franchise. If LeBron blows this series and stays, that tell me he has taken some responsibility and wants to get Cleveland a championship. This series will tarnish his legacy a lot more if he doesn’t return to Cleveland. If he returns, then the Cavs, and the Cav fans can regroup and focus on next year. The obvious answer is just to come out tonight and win this game, then go to Cleveland and win game seven. That would let the LeBron offseason questions sit on the shelf for another couple weeks.
For all the complaining I and everybody else has done about LeBron’s supporting staff and Mike Brown, game six is LeBron’s make or break. This game is so important to the Cavalier franchise, Cleveland, and the NBA in general, that I am going to go out on a limb and say it is the most important round two game in NBA history. The Celtics are playing with a lot of confidence, and let’s be honest; this is not some scrub team. They are only two years removed from a title, and have three potential hall of famers on the team. Cleveland needs to bring it at the TD Garden tonight. LeBron has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Everybody is wondering if he will take the next step and put Cleveland in the Eastern finals, or if he will be bombarded with questions all summer if he can win the big one. What are you gonna do LeBron? The world is watching. We are all witnesses.
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