Tag: LeBron James (Page 51 of 85)

Someone please buy LeBron a dictionary

Last year, after losing to the Orlando Magic, LeBron served up this gem when asked why he didn’t shake hands with the Magic:

“I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor. That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”

Um, LeBron, I hate to burst your bubble, but that’s exactly what being a poor sport means.

On Wednesday, when asked if he was disappointed in his brutal performance in Game 5, he said the this:

“Me? Personally?” he said. “Nah, I’m not disappointed. I’m never disappointed in my play. I feel like I could do more, but I’m not disappointed at all.”

Sorry to pull the dictionary out here, but this is what Merriam-Webster has to say about the word disappoint.

to fail to meet the expectation or hope of

In other words, if you think you could do more, then you failed to meet your own expectations, and you are therefore disappointed.

Now, no one says that you have to wallow in that disappointment, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are at some point disappointed with your own play. LeBron said himself that he is never disappointed in his own play. That’s impossible.

This reminds me of that line from “The Princess Bride,” when Inigo Montoya is talking to Vizzini and the latter says his favorite word: “Inconceivable!”

Montoya’s response?


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How much of the “LeBacle” is due to the elbow?

John Hollinger re-watched Game 5 and wrote a good piece about what may be going on with LeBron James. (Insider subscription required.)

James couldn’t make a jump shot. He tried 11 jumpers and made only one of them. Every miss was short — most of them well short — and a couple drifted off to the right. I suppose this could have happened just by chance, but a far more likely cause is that his elbow was bothering his shot.

I counted several others in which James had a clear opening for the jumper and turned it down. One could argue this was a reaction to his cold shooting, but that has never stopped him before. Instead, I would surmise that he knew his elbow limited his effectiveness as a jump shooter.

We have one other data point to support us: his track record in this series. Since Game 5 of the Chicago series, James’ effectiveness has correlated directly with how much rest he had between games.

Witness: Games 2, 4 and 5 came with just one day of rest; in those three, he shot 0-for-13 on 3s and 17-for-47 overall. Games 1 and 3, on the other hand, had an extra day of rest beforehand, which seemed to allow his elbow to feel much better: In those two contests, he was a one-man wrecking crew, making 26 of 46 shots from the floor and scoring 73 points. Needless to say, those were the two Cleveland wins in this series.

What it all means for the Cavs is rather worrisome because Thursday’s must-win Game 6 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) comes on one day’s rest again.

If rest is the key for LeBron, he’s going to have a tough time performing well in Game 6, and that gives the Celtics the advantage. It’s funny — heading into these playoffs everyone thought that a grizzled Boston team would play better with more rest, but with LeBron’s injury, the opposite seems to be true, at least in this series.


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Look at what’s riding on Game 6…

With Boston’s impressive win in Game 5 on Tuesday night, the series has once again swung the Celtics’ way, and they have a chance to close out the Cavs in Game 6 on Thursday.

Has there ever been more riding on a conference semifinal playoff game?

While there are those that believe LeBron James is more likely to leave Cleveland if the Cavs were to win the title, the general consensus is just opposite. If the Cavs suffer another pre-Finals flame out, most NBA fans believe that LeBron will sign elsewhere this summer.

But it’s not like LeBron had one of his monster near-triple-double games and his teammates let him down. The other Cavs shot 46% from the field, 45% from 3PT and hit 18-of-22 free throws. Shaquille O’Neal posted 21-4 (hitting 7-of-10 free throws) along with four blocks.

Meanwhile, LeBron shot 3-of-14 from the field (0-4 from 3PT) and scored just 15 points. For the first three quarters, he settled for long jumper after long jumper and missed most of them. Once again, his unwillingness to go in the post limited his options in a game when his jumper just wasn’t falling. Two of the game’s great wings — Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant — made/make a living on the block, especially when they were having trouble scoring elsewhere.

Defensively for the Cavs, it was another story.

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Celtics drill Cavs in Game 5

It’s not quite over yet, but the C’s are leading by 27 points with 3:01 to play, so I’m going to go ahead and call Game 5 as a Boston win.

What a performance by the Celtics! Ray Allen hit 6-of-9 three pointers (25 points), Kevin Garnett (18 points) abused Antawn Jamison on the block, Paul Pierce (21-11-7) had his best game of the series and Glen Davis added a crucial 15 points off the bench.

If the Celtics manage to close out the series in Boston, this may very well be LeBron James’ last game as a Cav, and if it is, it might be the worst of his career. He went 3-of-14 from the field, settling for jumper after jumper and didn’t start attacking the rim until the fourth quarter. Once again, his lack of a post up game (or unwillingness to play on the block) limited his options in a game where his shot was not falling.

The Cavs have their backs against the wall now. They’ve proven they can play well in Boston and they’re going to need a great performance in Game 6 to stay in this series.


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LeBron wants to guard Rondo

On the heels of Rajon Rondo’s 29-point, 18-rebound, 13-assist effort in Game 4, LeBron James has made it clear that he wants to cover Rondo in Game 5.

In fact, according to one courtside observer, James and Cleveland coach Mike Brown got into a heated discussion about whether James should cover Rondo at the critical moments of the fourth quarter. Brown ultimately decided against it, but that could change moving forward.

“I would love to,” James said after Rondo had eviscerated the Cavs with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. “It’s something we maybe should explore because Rondo is definitely dominating this series at the point guard position. For me, I don’t have a problem taking Rondo or guarding Rondo throughout the course of the game. If the coaching staff or the guys want me to do it, I will.”

The issue here is Mo Williams. He is not a good defender, and he can’t hang with Rondo. So the Cavs have Anthony Parker on the Celtics’ point guard and Williams on Ray Allen. If Mike Brown elects to put LeBron on Rondo, then he’ll have to put Parker on Paul Pierce, who has been very quiet in this series. Pierce is averaging just 12-3-3 on 32% shooting, likely due to the fact that LeBron has been up to the task defensively.

Pierce (6-7) has about an inch on Parker (6-6), but he probably has 20 lbs on him as well, which means he could get his game going in the post. The C’s need to be ready to use Pierce on the block if the Cavs elect to put LeBron on Rondo.

What’s amazing about Rondo is how productive he is despite his inaccuracy from 16+ feet. Of the 40 point guards who averaged 25+ minutes, Rondo has the fourth-lowest FG% from 16-23 feet. (By the way, the third-lowest clip belongs to Tyreke Evans, so it’s not unheard of to dominate play with a poor jumper.) Only Andre Miller and T.J. Ford are worse from 3PT range than Rondo.


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