Too bad he can’t make an open 18-footer with any consistency…
Tag: LeBron James (Page 18 of 85)
A simple reward system has contributed to the Heat’s current run of eight consecutive blowout victories.
If Dwyane Wade grabs a defensive rebound, he has the green light to do whatever he wants offensively. If LeBron James makes a defensive stop, he controls his own game on the other end of the court.
These are the parameters set by coach Erik Spoelstra, and the chance for offensive freedom has helped spark the most dominant winning streak in franchise history.
While this may be working during the regular season, I don’t know that grabbing a defensive rebound is worthy of being able to do whatever you want on the other end of the court, at least not against the best teams in the league. But if freelance by Dwyane Wade or LeBron James is better than the plays that Erik Spoelstra calls, then maybe it is the right way to do things. But that says more about the offensive game plan than it does the value of any reward system that may be in place.
The more I think about this team, given the injuries, I don’t see them getting past the Celtics in the playoffs…but we will see.
At the beginning of the season, when the Heat went 5-4 and then 9-8, it was funny to listen to everyone saying “I told you so” with regard to how the Dwyane Wade/LeBron James dynamic just wasn’t going to work in Miami. Truth be told, I thought that it would take some time to work out the kinks, but I didn’t think that the Heat would be just one game over .500 that far into the season.
But after a pair of home wins against the Wizards and Pistons, the Heat went on the road in a tough environment in Cleveland and pulled out an emotional win. Since then, they beat a decent Atlanta team at home, and went on the road to beat the playoff-caliber Bucks and last night the Jazz, who are currently the #4 team in the West.
Some of the growing pains stemmed from the fact that Wade missed much of the preseason due to injury. And let’s not forget that the Heat lost its fourth- and fifth-best players (Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem) to injury. Those injuries are serious blows to the team’s championship hopes, but both players expect/hope to be back before the postseason.
The Heat are sitting at 15-8 in the #3 spot in the East, just three games back of the conference-leading Celtics. They are #3 in the league in defensive efficiency and #5 in offensive efficiency.
Miami faces Golden State and Sacramento on the road (both winnable), before coming home to play New Orleans and Cleveland. They then face the Knicks and Wizards on the road, so they could potentially push this winning streak to 12 before facing the surging Mavs in Miami on December 20.
Brian Windhorst, ESPN: Before the game several Cavs, including former friend Mo Williams, shunned James as he tried to come over to the bench to greet them. During the first half, James wandered over to talk to the bench only to have several players completely ignore him. Others, including friend Daniel Gibson, treated it like it was 2009 as they chatted James up. By the third quarter, when James was on fire and the game was getting out of hand, the only reaction came from Anderson Varejao, who swiped James’ headband off his head and tossed it aside when James was brazen enough to again step over to his favorite spot. “I really didn’t see that,” Cavs coach Byron Scott said, perhaps trying to be pragmatic on a night when his team had many other problems to examine. It is hard to believe that Scott, a veteran of the Celtics-Lakers wars, could endorse such behavior.
Terry Pluto, Cleveland.com: Cavaliers fans certainly dealt with the return of LeBron James to Cleveland with far more class than the defending Most Valuable Player handled his move to Miami. That’s a credit to this these fans and this city. It’s probably a downer to some in the national media who arrived in town for Thursday night’s game much like that ghoulish segment of fans who attend auto races hoping for a major crash. After all, we are supposed to be the land of the Great Unwashed, where people still live in caves, killing dinosaurs for dinner and then eating them with our bare hands. Beer Night, Bottlegate and general ugliness is supposed to rule in this cultural wasteland.
Israel Gutierrez, The Miami Herald: Cleveland fans got their say, taking their first chance to personally tell LeBron how betrayed they felt. And, for a while, they actually were convinced the whole “One for All. All for One” team motto actually meant something, that this Cavaliers team can survive just fine with Joey Graham trying to replace LeBron in the lineup. It didn’t take long, though, for the fans to recognize what had gotten away, that no matter how much they hate their former King, it doesn’t compare to how much they miss him. By halftime, James wasn’t quietly going about his business. He was smiling for fans with cameras as his teammates warmed up. He danced in the area just in front of the Cavs bench. And once that second half began, he was just as much toying with his former team and showing off for his former fans as he was performing for the Heat. Of his season-best 38 points, 24 came in that third quarter, tying a Heat record for points in a quarter. And LeBron loved every second of it. James left Cleveland showing no loyalty. He came back showing no regrets. Why should he? Look what he left behind.
Mike Wallace, ESPN: James’ night was through after the third quarter, so the only suspense remaining was to see how much he would hear and see from fans from his seat on the bench as the final 12 minutes of the game played out. To James’ credit, he largely ignored the chaos that started when someone threw a battery from the stands that landed right in front of the Heat’s bench. That drew a warning from the public address announcer. The battery was thrown right around the time when a man apparently tried to rush the court from one of the tunnels leading to it but was picked off by a security officer, which led to a scuffle. As the Heat’s lead grew, so did the craziness in the stands. One fan wearing a Heat jersey was showered with cups of beer in the upper deck. He didn’t duck. Instead, he basked in the beer until he was escorted out. Then came towel man. Maverick Carter, James’ business manager, left his courtside seat moments later and had to be escorted through the crowd by three bodyguards. James, meanwhile, was oblivious to his surroundings. Or at least he did a remarkable acting job. The “Delonte West” chants didn’t affect him. The “Akron Hates You” barbs didn’t make him crack. He simply sat, pointed a few times at familiar faces in the crowd and shared some inside jokes with Wade on the bench.
Miami 118, Cleveland 90
LeBron James’ return to Cleveland was a rousing success for the Heat. The atmosphere was electric early on, but a 16-0 run in the first quarter gave the Heat an 11-point lead, and a 24-point third quarter by LeBron put the game well out of reach.
The fans boo’ed him just about every time he caught the ball, but when the Cavs got down by 30, the arena was almost completely void of energy other than pure hate. As the lead grew, I was a little worried that the frustration of watching LeBron have his way with the Cavs coupled with the effects of alcohol might create a bad situation, but the Cleveland crowd handled themselves pretty well, all things considered.
The thing that really struck me as odd is the relative friendliness of the interaction between LeBron and some of the Cavs, even as the game was going on. He went over to Cleveland’s bench several times and seemed to be laughing and joking with Daniel Gibson and a few other players. Maybe I’m old school, but if I were coaching the Cavs, that kind of demeanor from my players would drive me nuts.
In case you missed the postgame interview, there was an interesting moment when Craig Sager asked LeBron if he had anything to say to the fans in Cleveland. Marv Albert, Steve Kerr and Reggie Miller chimed in at the end.
Craig: The fans had their say tonight. What would you like to say to them if you could?
LeBron: Seven great years. I loved every part. I loved every moment, from when I was an 18-year-old kid to when I was a 25-year-old man. Tried our best. As a team we tried our best to bring a championship to the city and just try to play hard every night. [I have] the utmost respect for this franchise and the utmost respect for these fans, you know, just continue the greatness for myself in Miami and try to get better every day.
Marv: That was a nice statement up to the point of LeBron referring to his greatness, would you agree?
Steve: We didn’t need that part. He was good until then.
Reggie: I think the hole has been dug deeper.
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