Cavs-Wizards 1st round playoff series

[WestEnd]

I think you guys are confusing being a legend with greatness. Absolutely, Lebron has yet to achieve greatness. All his resume includes is some ohio state championships, a few Mr. Basketballs, an NBA rookie of the year, and an NBA all-star game MVP. He sure has a long way to go to achieve greatness.

But a legend ... a legend is someone who inspires amazing tales that border on the unbelievable. For instance, Troy Smith's performance on 11/20/04 made him a buckeye legend. If someone would have told you that the kid who could barely run the offense and was turning the ball over left and right just a week before ... who wasn't even the starter at the beginning of the year ... who almost nobody besides the coach and the players believed in ... would come in and turn in the best performances by a buckeye QB in the history of the michigan series, you wouldn't believe it.

The miracle of richfield playoff series ... three games in a 7 game series decided at the buzzer?!?! If someone told you the story, about how the crowds filled the colisuem and literally had the whole building SHAKING half an hour before the game ... you wouldn't believe it.

Legends are made by players that inspire stories that people tell over and over again. If someone told you a story in 1999 of a basketball PRODIGY from Akron, OH who would come along, garner national attention as early as 16, only to be drafted by the cavs and single handedly SAVE pro basketball in cleveland, the proceed to EXCEED all the expectations ... making passes the likes of which nobody has seen since Magic Johnson (one of the greatest passers of all time) and scoring in bunches the way michael jordan did in his prime ... all before he even turned 20, you would be hard pressed to believe it! Then, if this kid were to lead his team to the playoffs, and in his first playoff game log a triple-double, in his first playoff series makes not one, but TWO game winning baskets en route to a series win... you wouldn't believe it. If lebron doesn't play another NBA game, people will still talk about him and the way he played the game FOREVER.

I'm sorry, but there's no way you can say he's not a legend. No matter what happens, Lebron James' exploits will be discussed and rehashed for as long as people are playing basketball, especially when you consider that nobody will ever go straight from HS to the pros again. He may not be accomplished ... he may not have hall of fame credentials - I'll give you that.

But if you understand the cleveland (and national) basketball scene before lebron came along, you get what I'm trying to say. No doubt, he's a LEGEND.

 

[WestEnd]

Anyway, back to this series in general (I'm sorry, but I can't help but be longwinded after such a great series):

Before the series, my main concern was the lack of athleticism and quickness in the cavs frontcourt. I didn't think that Z, Gooden, and Varejeo matched up well with haywood, jamison, thomas.

To offset that, the cavs tried to play a slowdown tempo game, which worked when lebron was shooting well / able to take it to the basket. But as the double teams and the constant pressure on lebron grew, the cavs half-court offense got stagnant, like it did all season, and the wizards were able to utilize their athletic advantage underneath. Drew Gooden really brought it in game two, but it wasn't enough. The wizards ended up seeing this advantage and trying to go small. The cavs countered by reducing Z's minutes and giving Varejeo and Marshall alot more minutes. In the end, it wasn't Andy or Drew that stepped up to neutralize the wizards athletiscism down low ... it was DONYELL MARSHALL. If I were to have to name a series MVP besides lebron for the cavs, it would be donyell. he played a HELL of a series for us. Bron ended up taking Jamison for the most part, which was a much better matchup for us, but damn ... Jamison is a great all around player and he still got his over the course of the series.

The other thing I had hoped, was that Hughes would hound
Arenas to minimize his impact. Well, Arenas is without a doubt one of the best players in the eastern conference, and despite his missed chances late in the game, he is THE MAN. I really feel bad that he had to lose because he's such a great player ... great shooter, great quickness. Hughes played great and did his job, leading the NBA in steals so far this postseason.

Flip was flip. Shoots too much sometimes, but somebody's got to do it when everybody else on the team is standing around. Great series overall for him.

I really liked how Varejeo grew through the series. When Thomas fouled hughes hard early in game 5, it was Varejeo that stepped up and
got fiesty. I could tell he was little scared, but the confidence he gained in this series can't be anything but good. He played great in games 5 and 6, but showed he's still young when he inbounded the ball after arenas' nasty 3 to tie last night.

And what about Eric Snow! He did what he had to do, especially in OT of game 5. For as much shit as the playoff vets Snow, Marshall, hughes, and Jones took over the course of the season, they all helped vindicate their signings this series. Ferry went from looking like a chump to a good GM thanks to their play.

Overall, Lebron, yet again, exceeded my expectations and played brilliant. The team showed it can play the dynamic type of basketball that is neccessary to win a 7 game series, and everyone all the way down to damon jones, made some contribution to help the cause.

Great series. Best I've ever seen.

 

[jlb1705]

I think you guys are confusing being a legend with greatness. Absolutely, Lebron has yet to achieve greatness. All his resume includes is some ohio state championships, a few Mr. Basketballs, an NBA rookie of the year, and an NBA all-star game MVP. He sure has a long way to go to achieve greatness.

But a legend ... a legend is someone who inspires amazing tales that border on the unbelievable. For instance, Troy Smith's performance on 11/20/04 made him a buckeye legend. If someone would have told you that the kid who could barely run the offense and was turning the ball over left and right just a week before ... who wasn't even the starter at the beginning of the year ... who almost nobody besides the coach and the players believed in ... would come in and turn in the best performances by a buckeye QB in the history of the michigan series, you wouldn't believe it.

The miracle of richfield playoff series ... three games in a 7 game series decided at the buzzer?!?! If someone told you the story, about how the crowds filled the colisuem and literally had the whole building SHAKING half an hour before the game ... you wouldn't believe it.

Legends are made by players that inspire stories that people tell over and over again. If someone told you a story in 1999 of a basketball PRODIGY from Akron, OH who would come along, garner national attention as early as 16, only to be drafted by the cavs and single handedly SAVE pro basketball in cleveland, the proceed to EXCEED all the expectations ... making passes the likes of which nobody has seen since Magic Johnson (one of the greatest passers of all time) and scoring in bunches the way michael jordan did in his prime ... all before he even turned 20, you would be hard pressed to believe it! Then, if this kid were to lead his team to the playoffs, and in his first playoff game log a triple-double, in his first playoff series makes not one, but TWO game winning baskets en route to a series win... you wouldn't believe it. If lebron doesn't play another NBA game, people will still talk about him and the way he played the game FOREVER.

I'm sorry, but there's no way you can say he's not a legend. No matter what happens, Lebron James' exploits will be discussed and rehashed for as long as people are playing basketball, especially when you consider that nobody will ever go straight from HS to the pros again. He may not be accomplished ... he may not have hall of fame credentials - I'll give you that.

But if you understand the cleveland (and national) basketball scene before lebron came along, you get what I'm trying to say. No doubt, he's a LEGEND.

EXACTLY. That Rudy fucker from Notre Dumb is a legend - but he wasn't great.

 

[lvbuckeye]

I can honestly call this the worst officiated game I have ever seen.

you said the exact same thing on the first page. LeBron travels ALL THE TIME and they never call it. it's the NBA. officiating sucks. deal with it.

 

[buckeyeboy]

How has Z fallen so far so quickly? That guy went from being considered an all-star snub to riding the bench during crunch time when his team makes the playoffs. Hopefully he'll get things turned around in the Detroit series. We'll need him to offset the athleticism of McDyess and Ben Wallace.

 

[BB73]

I think you guys are confusing being a legend with greatness. Absolutely, Lebron has yet to achieve greatness. All his resume includes is some ohio state championships, a few Mr. Basketballs, an NBA rookie of the year, and an NBA all-star game MVP. He sure has a long way to go to achieve greatness.

......

But if you understand the cleveland (and national) basketball scene before lebron came along, you get what I'm trying to say. No doubt, he's a LEGEND.

You make a valid point about being a legend and having a truly great career. But both topics were being discussed. Somebody mentioned the word 'legend', so that was being talked about.

Separately, the comments of Scottie Pippen regarding the prospects for LeBron's career to match or exceeed Jordan's were brought into the thread as well.

 

[scarletngrey11]

Another Great Tom Knott Article

Cleveland has a team to cry for

By Tom Knott
May 7, 2006


The annoyance of LeBron James has been passed along to Detroit, and so, too, the outcry of those in his cult.
The acrid words of the "Lehovah Witnesses" landed with a fury in the mailbox.
"You are a joke to your profession," one of the gentler missives read.
It takes one to know one, of course.
There are plenty worse sights in life than the whining antics of a basketball player who believes he never has committed a foul or violation in the NBA.
The tortuous facial manifestations of LeBawl are hard to miss unless you are blinded by the halo above his head.
He displays so many faces, some more mournful than others, that it is possible to assume that his starring role with Nike has allowed him to polish his acting craft.
He is both the leading scorer and crier in the playoffs, which is an unusual double-double, considering his enormous basketball gifts.
His basketball wherewithal requires the requisite number of superlatives from those in the idol-making business.
But even sports idols have imperfections. Noting them does not border on the sacrilegious. In fact, it is part of the game within the game.
Raja Bell delivered a worthy critique of an idol more complete than James.
"I think he's a pompous, arrogant individual," Bell said of Kobe Bryant.

And Bryant confirmed the charges by saying, "Do I know this guy?"
Passion is the sustenance of sports. You have nothing without it.
Yet the passion of those who cheer from a distance is often misguided.
Cleveland allowed its panties to get in a wad over anyone who deviated from the worship of James.
So please excuse the interruption to your prayerful mass.
Your parochialism is showing.
Cleveland expressed not one word of outrage over the fan who dropped the N-bomb on Wizards coach Eddie Jordan at halftime of Game 2.
Which of the two are more jolting to the senses -- the Big Crybaby vs. the N-bomb?
An urgent missive landed in the mailbox just after the series-ending shot of Damon Jones.
The wordsmith posed a deep query:
"Me, Damon Jones and all of Cleveland have a question for you: Who's crying now, [bleep bleeper]?"
There was no crying in Tony Cheng's neighborhood, only a tinge of regret that there would be no Game 7.
A Game 7 seemed like a good idea until Mike Brown brushed off the cobwebs and dust that had settled on Jones.
The thinking in Washington was that the series already had been squandered in Game 3, when James was allowed a dribble-free skip and hop to the basket.
In the halls of Abe Pollin's playhouse before Game 6, one member of the Wizards brain trust suggested there possibly was a second violation on the play -- James landing on the floor before he released the shot.
Those are the what-ifs that all basketball teams inevitably come up against in a game so dependent on the officiating.
The what-ifs were more pronounced in a series that featured three one-point outcomes that ended in the favor of the Cavaliers.
As bad as the interior defense of the Wizards was, the defense of the Cavaliers was no less deficient.
One of the quirkier statistics of the series was the Wizards outscoring the Cavaliers by one point in the six games.
The lasting image of the series was not the skip-and-hop maneuver of James that decided Game 3 or his jaunt along the left baseline that decided Game 5.
It was not the 30-foot 3-pointer of Gilbert Arenas that pushed Game 6 into overtime. It was not Arenas missing two free throws with 15.1 seconds left in overtime of Game 6, the second one after James stopped to say, "If you miss this one, you know I'm going to hit the game-winner."
The lasting image was James threatening to take the ball home after a whistle went against him in Game 5.
The Big Crybaby.

This is just ridiculous.

 

[BB73]

Tom Knott-head is just being outrageous in a feeble attempt to bring some attention to himself. I'd recommend just ignoring his drivel.

 

[scarletngrey11]

What do you guys think about what Lebron said to Arenas at the foul line?

I loved it. It was a Jordan moment.

 

[Bucks21]

To even say Lebron was the biggest cry baby is even ridiculous. Hell washingtons coach couldnt even stay off the court not to mention lebron got hammered every single time he took it to the hoop and half the time didn't even get a foul call and then turn around and see arenas get some bullcrap call on the other end of the floor was completely disgusting. Also it wasn't just Arenas every single player on the wizards complained about almost every single call it was pathetic.