I have been given a self awareness of one thing since starting this blog, I could not be a sportswriter. Sure I could report the story of the game, but I don't think I could handle being a columnist. Honestly, how could you watch a game like last nights, double-overtime, Cavaliers, game five, victory on the road, which ended around midnight, and spit out an article before press time that truly captured what you had just WITNESSed? I am writing this before I read anything about the game so that I can assure myself and you that these are my thoughts, and not stolen from someone qualified to write them. However, it's ten hours later and I'm still not sure I can do it, the gravity of what occurred last night is deserving a novella to truly do it justice. Except that it would fall into the truth is stranger than fiction category. I mean are you kidding me with Lebron's performance last night? I am sure there are some that will say, “Well if he hits a free throw in the 4th, none of that is necessary.” Okay, I admit I am one of those people. But at the same time how about he misses his 4th quarter charity shots and refuses to let the team lose because of him. Of course if you look at the the rest of the teams stat lines, they would have only won because of King James. Not only did he score 29 of the last 30 points, he had 7 of the teams 13 assists.
Z helped with 16 points and Boobie Gibson had 11 with another strong showing at the line and big 3 at the end of the 3rd quarter, but both fouled out in OT and beyond them no one else did much. Larry Hughes looked early on like he might give the CAVS at least one of his sporadically seen big games, draining 2 threes, then he went on to miss clutch free throws and turn the ball over 4 times, (although I swear it was more like 15 times). Anderson and Gooden certainly made me miss Carlos Boozer last night when they failed to combine for a double-double, earning only 16 points and 9 boards between them. Varejao did take the clothesline tackle from Antonio McDyess which lead to his ejection, and Nifong-hole Chauncy Billups saying:
| "That was big, man, that was big. Dice has been playing great for us, and they know that kid flops every time. For him to exaggerate - that's probably what got him tossed.” |
Unfortunately when the wrestling match broke out LBJ also got T'ed up for running over to stand up for AV. After all was said and done nothing changed, Pistons made their free throw, Anderson split his pair and the CAVS failed to score on the possession that followed. These performances and a few other forgettable stat lines is why I actually giggled on the car ride home when LeBron said, “I give all the credit to my teammates tonight.” Okay Bron we get it, you are unselfish, you play the game the way it was meant to be played, you always say the right things, but COME ON IT WAS 5 ON 1 OUT THERE!
Now, to what I really want to talk about, LeBron James' performance. I do not know how to describe it because I am not sure where to cap the accolades. I guess I will stop short of “Greatest Playoff Performance Ever,” although I can't remember one better, and just insert “One of the...” before that title. He scored the last 25 points, spanning half the 4th and 2 OTs, he did it with no one else doing anything offensively, with the exception of Sasha's 3 straight failures. He did it with every Piston knowing he was going to do it, and not one of them being able to stop him. He did it all, dunks, lay-ups, jumpers, threes, fade-aways, floaters, and-ones, free throws, and even a big steal late. Even his air ball was perfect, the play started with 30 seconds left and Detroit got the ball back with 6.6 left, meaning even though he missed they used up almost all of the 24 second shot clock.
This game actually got to the point where I was no longer rooting for the CAVS, I was rooting for LeBron. The thought of him doing all this and them still losing made me sick to my stomach. To have to remember this game as a loss would have been just one of a myriad of heartbreaking Cleveland sports memories.
Unfortunately, Skip Bayless is off this week, so he will have to eat his crow on a beach somewhere rather than in front of the ESPN cameras. In fairness, he has been far from alone in his criticism of, “Prince James.” Well Skippy to paraphrase the immortal words of Dennis Green, “He is who I thought he is...You wanna crown him, go ahead and crown him.” He is King James, ruler of Cleveland and conqueror of Detroit.
LONG LIVE THE KING!
****Editor's Note Cleveland went 7-0 against Detroit in the last 7 days. 3 wins for the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. 4 straight for the Tribe against the Tigers, which has served to create some breathing room a top the AL Central.
4 comments:
While the thought of you "giggling" in the car is utterly ridiculous, I will agree that LBJ was superhuman in the latter stages of that game. Even though the CAVS now have a great shot to head to the Finals, I just can't picture them as a Championship team for some reason. They remind me more of, say, the A.I.-led Sixers of a few years back, or Jason Kidd's Nets team of the same period. Both squads reached the finals, but were disposed of by the more talented Western Conference team. I can't see them ousting the mighty Spurs without another top-tier star on the roster. More LBJ performances like last night would help their cause, however.
Well it was late and I was exhausted which I will blame for the giggling. I seriously lost it though, all the credit to his teammates for playing D and disappearing.
Just remember 2 weeks ago you couldn't imagine them beating the Pistons, and they haven't but now you are talking about them facing your mighty (boring) Spurs.
Fans on the Spurs forum are worried. They were swept by the Cavs this season, they don't match up well against us, and our GM & coach know their system inside and out.
I was surprised to see the shot stats for LeBron's late-game run. While he went 9-of-11, the rest of the team was 0-for-7. Do you remember the rest of the team taking seven shots?
I immediately thought of Magic's playoff game at center and Michael's game against Portland where he couldn't miss from behind the arc when I heard "best game ever." I'm with you on "one of ..." though.
As a former sports writer, that game was a nightmare because it went late and was TIGHT. Your article's lead changed every time the game's lead changed. Combine that with an editor riding you so they can start printing the paper and you have a perfect storm. Every 15 minutes the paper is late (deadline extended), money is flying out the window.
On the other hand, the sports writers had great seats and were witnessing greatness.
After I wrote my article and read the papers I realized most of them had very little about the game. The Star Beacon picked one up from Chicago of all places and the guy had most of his facts wrong. "LeBron scored the last 5 buckets," and had the "21 last points." Both are true but not the whole story.
I have decided it is the best game ever. The D knew he was going to be the only one to score and still couldn't stop him. I heard all the other games that were talked about and none were as impressive.
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