Recap: Celtics 94, Cavs 85 (Or, The End)
2010-05-13
Overview: The Boston Celtics dominated the Cavaliers with defense, holding the Cavs to 38.4% shooting en route to a 94-85 victory. LeBron James led all scorers with a line of 27/19/10, but missed 13 shots from the field and turned the ball over nine times. Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Game Summary:
The game started out with some bad omens. Mike Brown’s defensive adjustment for game six was to switch Shaq onto Kevin Garnett to stop KG from destroying Jamison in the post. Garnett adjusted to that move by taking some tough step-back jumpers from midrange, which he calmly swished. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce tossed in contested mid-range jumpers of their own, and it was 8-2 Celtics after the first four Boston possessions. Once again, the Cavs found themselves playing from behind early.
When Varejao replaced Shaq in the first quarter, Cleveland started playing defense like they haven’t done all series. Boston’s first eight possessions after Varejao came in the game resulted in one made basket, no free throws, and five turnovers. However, that momentum was lost when LeBron went to the bench with his second foul, one of the first times he’s been in foul trouble all season. During the two minutes LeBron sat, the Celtics pushed the lead from three to seven.
The Cavs were able to keep the game competitive throughout the second quarter. That was mostly due to the fact Mo Williams was playing like a man possessed. He scored 20 points in the first half alone; I don’t think I’ve ever seen him take the ball to the hole that aggressively as a Cavalier. Mo earned a lot of points with me tonight. He didn’t have all that many coming into the game, but he left it all out there.
In the third quarter, the Celtics tightened the screws defensively. Every time the Cavs drove to the basket, there weare two or three defenders waiting for them. When they tried to drive and kick, the Celtics rotated effortlessly and instantly. LeBron tried to work pick and roll with Varejao, but the Celtics were a step ahead of whatever he did.
With that kind of defensive dominance working for them, all the Celtics needed to do to break the game open was hit a couple of shots. With 4:39 remaining in the third, they got their run. Paul Pierce hit a pair of free throws, followed that up with a three, and Kevin Garnett hit a deep jumper to put the Celtics up nine and the Cavs officially on the ropes. After a timeout, Rasheed and Pierce hit threes to put the Celtics up 12, and from there it was just a matter of time. The Cavs got it close a few times in the fourth, but every time they did the Celtics had an answer. After giving up three offensive rebounds in the final two minutes, the Cavs conceded the game and ended yet another disappointing season.
For me, the (in-game) story of the game was Boston’s defense. The Cavs were aggressive throughout, attacking the basket at all times and looking for home run plays. The problem was that every time the Cavs tried to go at the basket, the Celtics were waiting for them. Playing from behind, the Cavs didn’t have enough options or confidence to mix things up, allowing the Celtics to sit in the paint. The Cavs turned it over 24 times in game six, and most of those turnovers came from being overly aggressive rather than nonchalant. It was like watching a drunk throw haymakers and a karate expert calmly moving out of the way and countering. When this Celtic team plays defense like they’re capable of doing, there’s no way a one-dimensional attack is going to work. Absolutely dominant performance by Boston’s D.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-LeBron James. This may well have been his last game in Cleveland, and you can’t fault his effort. He was trying to make everything happen, but he didn’t mix his game up enough to make it work. He tied a career-high in rebounding and got his triple-double, but forced way too many plays and always seemed a step behind what the Boston defense was doing. When he looked to drive, the defense was in between him and the basket. When he looked to pass, the defense was hawking the passing lanes. When he looked to shoot, they didn’t let him step into a good look. He finished 6-14 on shots at the basket and had 9 turnovers, all products of the fact he was playing on tilt.
He dominated game three with his jump shot; when he wasn’t hitting that jumper, there wasn’t much he could do against Boston’s defense. If it wasn’t clear in 2007, it should be now: it would be in LeBron’s best interest to develop a post game or some go-to moves from midrange to succeed against defenses like Boston without having to rely on the long jumper. Not a strong series from LeBron, and one that will haunt him until he gets that ring.
-Antawn Jamison and Shaquille O’Neal is the perfect frontline — for an Orlando series. Shaq would have done a good job against Howard defensively, and Jamison would have been able to guard Lewis on the perimeter. The problem is that the Cavs didn’t get to play Orlando, and Boston absolutely murdered this frontline. The KG/Jamison matchup was a disaster, and in game six Antawn didn’t come close to making up for it on the offensive end. Shaq had his moments offensively, but Boston doesn’t run anything through Perkins, he got beat to rebound after rebound, and he got shredded defensively more than a few times on the pick-and-roll.
I don’t know what the attitude in the locker room was; all I know is that from a team-building point of view, this team looked past Boston. Instead of making sure Shaq was ready to go against Orlando, this team should’ve spent time developing confidence in some small-ball lineups featuring LeBron at the four. By the time they realized their lack of athleticism was hurting them in this series, it was far too late.
-Varejao made some great hustle plays, and really changed the game when he came in early. That said, Boston rotated to contest what are usually easy layups for him in the regular season, and he had no idea how to adjust. Guys whose only job offensively is to convert high-percentage looks should not have nights where they shoot 2-7 from the floor.
-I loved Mo Williams’ aggression, but he still finished with a fairly pedestrian line. At some point, you have to wonder if he’s talented enough to be a top-three player on a championship team.
-I Â cannot envision a scenario that involves Mike Brown and LeBron both returning to the team next year.
Bullets of Randomness:
-KG’s still got it — the Celtics are now 6-0 in playoff series when KG plays. That mid-range game is insane.
-Rajon Rondo. What a series. Unquestionably the series MVP. Very interested to see what he’ll do against Orlando.
-Paul Pierce and Rasheed Wallace’s box scores don’t look great, but they hit all five of Boston’s threes, and each one was big.
-I bet Rasheed has been waiting a long time for this.
Well, that’s all for me tonight. There will be much more on all of this coming in the future. For now, I just want to say I’ve had a great time writing about this team this season. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat. Thank all of you so much for reading and commenting. If this was LeBron’s last game in Cleveland, it’s been a great run.
Jordan played in the triangle offense and he put up the best numbers of all time.
Rich, getting Dirk to come to Cleveland and play with Lebron sounds awesome in theory. But I’ll wager a weeks paycheck (my paycheck, not Lebrons) that in practice, Dirk turns into another Jamison. I mean, all the players we’ve picked up since Mo have sounded exciting, have sounded like a difference maker but Mike Brown did not know how to get them to play together. Lebron needs the triangle offense or something radically different than the current offense to get others involved and have them do their thing. Mike Brown needed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of his own… Read more »
I agree with squigg. We need a guy who simply puts his foot down and is rough with the players..and mainly rough with LeBron. He can no longer be allowed to call the shots and get his own way all the time. Coaches coach, managers manage, and players play. For to long LeBron has done all three, and it will never work unless your name is Bill Russell.
Hire Bill Lambier! We need a mean son of a bitch. That dude will locker check underachievers.
Yeah, I guess it was Mike Brown’s fault in the end.
Well jonathan, I’m just not sure if I can blame a player when that is the coaches job to design a scheme and plays for that scheme. If LeBron really is allowed to run the franchise, then again that is on the coach for not being strong enough to say no. Simple as that really.
So, imagine you are Dirk Nowitzki, desperate to win a title. Imagine LeBron James comes to visit you and says “Listen, come to Cleveland, take less money along with me taking less money. We have the talent that if the two of us play together, we will for sure win a title.” DO you do it? No1 is talking about it, but I truly think Dirk is going to bounce. For all of the times we talk about players not having the team around them, Dirk has talent around him but his team shrinks time and time again w/o fail.
@ Steve and Rich – Your points are all true, but I think that Lebron should take a good potion of the blame for the inefficient offensive scheme. We all know that Lebron basically runs that franchise, and if he wanted something to change it would have. For all his being a great passer and a good teammate, Lebron is very much preoccupied with his stats, and he knows that a iso offensive leading to a large number of drive and kicks is the best way to put up huge numbers. But as we’ve all seen the last two years,… Read more »
Mike Woodson was let go today. Let’s hope another Mike hits the road.
2:30 p.m. people–book it.
Eh, if I just waited 3 more minutes I could have just read Steve’s post, as it is the exact same thing I just typed. Lol.
Well Juni, I agree with that, but I think that problem falls directly on MIke Brown too. Mike Brown is the one who sets the offense up to run right through LeBron at all times, and because of that the other guys on the team who actually have some offensive skills are left to fend for themselves on offense. Sam, totally agree. It’s so funny that Mike Brown makes panic moves against Rondo, like bringing in a guy who hasn’t played in months, but refuses to do what everyone else can see against Garnett. Why did he not simply start… Read more »
I agree that Mike Brown is gone, but I don’t know if all of the hating is justified. He’s a very young coach in his first coaching job, and he took a team that didn’t care a bit about defense and made them very good defensively. He was simply outclassed on offense. All of the defense problems that were exposed in this series (mo vs rondo, antawn vs kg, ap staying with ray) were all directly caused by Brown trying to stimulate the offense. He made switch after switch trying to fix the defense, when the reality is that he… Read more »
Ouch. I hate to be moving into wait-for-next-year mode so soon. Thanks John, Mark and Tom for all the good work on this blog. The regular season was a fun ride.
I’m also looking for that glimmer of hope to get me through the off season … wonder if Eyenga or Kaun will be playing in the World Championships.
Mo is actually really good. You just can’t tell while Lebron’s on the floor because Lebron sucks in the ball so much. A prediction; if Lebron goes to Chicago, Derrick Rose’s numbers will also go down. Take our win against the Spurs- Lebron didn’t play. Mo had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists. No Lebron against the Magic, our loss late in the season. We lost that game (We didn’t have Shaq, for starters) but Mo’s numbers? 19 points, 9 assists. 5-13 shooting. This is against a strong Orlando defense. Against the Chicago Bulls, still no Lebron- (it was a… Read more »
LeBron’s is just a guy being given the keys to a car he doesn’t know how to drive yet.
John, as always, delivers great work. And yes, Mo is not good enough to be the 2nd or 3rd best player on a championship team. He’s basically Jason Terry, but not as clutch (and not as streaky). Neither is a 33 year-old Jamison (hell, Jamison might never have been… his teams have never done anything in the playoffs). The ’95 Rockets didn’t have a supporting cast, apparently, except they had a young Cassell, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Vernon Maxwell, all guys from a previous championship year. Add that to two alpha dogs, one of them being the first or second… Read more »
Mike in Boston good post and I complete agree with you about Mo. Last night he was much improved but generally he isn’t a pure enough point guard which is what this team desperately needs.
Sure people will argue that with the offense running through Lebron so often that a point guard like Mo who is a shooter and scorer is the perfect fit but the past two postseasons have shown that the Cavs need a distributor at the position and Mo just isn’t good enough.
Here’s the other thing that frustrated me about the playoffs: Mike Brown was a defense coach. And for much of the past two years, the Cavs were a good, if not great defensive team. In the fourth quarter, if they needed to, they really tightened things down. Holding opponents to under 20 points in the last period was routine. But in this series, the only time they really locked down in the fourth was in game 1. They gave up 100 ppg on average throughout the postseason, 5 more than they averaged during the regular season. And it’s not like… Read more »
Hey guys, another celtics fan here. I’ve been reading this blog for purely schadenfraude reasons, and I know the universe will punish me, but alas. The Cavs have Bron and so many great role players. You guys literally could start a line up to play ANY STYLE of basketball. You could have a big defense set, a small offensive set and everything in between. This team was built to win a championship and compete against any team. But, maybe the problem is exactly that, it seems to me that the Cavs can’t IMPOSE their style of play on a team.… Read more »
Big LOL at p for talking to himself like the no life loser he his and also at the retard Joey thinking that Olajuwon and drexler (two in prime HOF) don’t count as a supporting cast to each other. What a moron.
Jamario Moon: a team-high +5 in less than 10 minutes. He should’ve played 35 minutes in every game of this series. The Cavs should’ve tried to win this series by winning four games by the score of 85-80. If they played small in the paint – no Shaq, no Z – and played Moon for 35 minutes a night, they would have done it. Mo, Delonte, Moon, Jamison, Lebron. With Gibson and Varajao getting huge minutes off the bench. I would’ve loved to have seen it. Dare Kendrick Perkins to score 25 points. The best part is, those seven guys… Read more »
thanks JK, you are the best sport writer i know hands down. It has been a good run and I believe there will be more in the future
Celtics fan here – please ignore the classless fans of any team posting. If they are celtics fans, I’m a little embarassed – gotta be a good winner as well as a good loser. I’ve enjoyed every time the Celtics and the Cavs have played each other – they’ve had good battles, and I’m hopeful for your team and your city that LBJ stays and there are more good ones between the teams in the future. JK – great blog, even for a fan of an opposing team. Best of luck with the offseason – I sincerely hope it works… Read more »
JK: “For now, I just want to say I’ve had a great time writing about this team this season.”
I’m sure. If there is anything one can say about the Cleveland Cavaliers, it is that there is always much to write about them…
are you kidding mark???? the 1995 houston rockets (6th seed) won the championship without a good supporting cast!! gimme a break! olajuwon and drexler just had HEART! Which is more than i can say for Leblock head and Shaq-gimme-more-pizza O’neal.
Cavs were lucky this even reached 6 games. Shoulda been a sweep in my opinion! Oh, and please re-sign Jamison to a max contract! He’ll be your next marquee player! lolz!
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Lepussy!
eat shit cleveland!!! where’s the trash talk now???? huh?? what a sorry bunch of losers! screw your city and screw Lepussy! Redemption for boston!! Redemption indeed! How sweet it iz… i don’t fuckin’ care if they lose to orlando!! i’ll still be happy they took down the biggest cry-baby mvp of all time! the queen is dead!! hahaha!
mo williams? aggression? ha ha ha
lebron wanted this team, he dominates the ball like A.I. and no one can play with him, sure he gets triple doubles all the time, BECAUSE, he always has the ball. he cant shoot!! he makes an occasional nice pass, but he also turns the ball over a lot. dont compare him to magic or mike. he has shown he is not there. he is all hype. he is the nike commercial mvp. ya all bought it. not me ha ha ha
“-I loved Mo Williams’ aggression, but he still finished with a fairly pedestrian line. At some point, you have to wonder if he’s talented enough to be a top-three player on a championship team.” Well John, I would have to say that after the past two postseasons the answer has proven to be a resounding no. Anyway Boston was just flat out the better team in this series and I honestly don’t understand all the hatred and vitriol coming at Lebron from all angles. What more do you want the guy to do? Bottom line is that a team with… Read more »
lebrons bad elbow is sore just his bad vagina. quit making excuses about the king who has no heart and no jumper. the chosen one who is chosen to lose every series. the most valuable puppet. oh well im sure he will be happy he still has millions and millions of dollars
I’m highly dissapointed by the Cavs loss, but I’m not surprised. From the begining of the season many fans and sportswriters etc, thought that the Celts were the best team in the east IF they were healthy – well guess what – now they are healthy. The Cavs don’t have any cap space but I see them going even further over cap to bring in another significant talent to play with LBJ. If they don’t, LBJ will be in Chi-town next season. Although I don’t think he wants his last games in a Cleveland uniform to go like this, I… Read more »
yeah mike brown sucks. his only job is to placate Lebrown. its not his fault. he was married to lebrown and if he ever tried to do anything other than let him ball hog and show boat he would have been out!!!! where were the fake pictures and ass grabbing this year? that would have made this humbling loss even sweeter!!!! go cavs champs in??????? nevermind
Three other things that go on Mike Brown: (1) force-feeding the ball to Shaq all playoffs (except for Game 6). Even with Lebron limited, trying to run offense for Mo and Jamison, while getting Shaq a few open looks near the rim in the flow, was a viable option and one Brown rarely explored. (2) Not playing Varejao as many minutes as possible in this series, even if it meant he picked up six fouls every game. and (3) I’m not one of the people who thinks Anthony Parker is “completely useless” — but SO MANY minutes for him, and… Read more »
boooooooo!!!!!!! boooooooooooo!!!!! those are the only 2 fans at the q next year.
To some of the comments earlier about Mike Brown: I think the biggest indictment of Brown for this season’s failure isn’t so much “in-game” adjustments, it’s the decisions he made before the playoffs even started: (1) Giving away the last 4 regular season games. It’s obvious now that they were trying to rest Lebron’s elbow, and after Bogut got hurt Brown was understandably even more worried. But to essentially not play serious basketball for two weeks really took away this team’s edge. Though if someone had gotten hurt, Brown would have been crucified for that, as well. (2) Changing the… Read more »
mo williams!! mo williams!! how many of you sorry punks own a jersey? man up
While LeBron should be working on his jumper and his post game, he’ll be starring in a movie this summer. Give me a break.
IF LeBron stays, Ferry and Brown will be gone and hopefully the next coach will open up the offense some.
Hopefully Z and Shaq are gone. It’s time to let JJ go wild out there and see what happens.
The worst thing about this is that the media is going to eat up this story until July 8th. I feel like Stringer from The Wire right before they shoot him.
hang your heads in shame today cleveland!!!! just remember darker days are ahead!!!!!
first off.. thanks cavs fans for being so ignorant.
I know the big question is if LeQueer will resign with Cleveland or steal money from the Knicks and not deliver like he did with the the Cavs. ha ha ha Please resign with the Cavs so we can keep losing in the first two rounds. Just my 2 cents…
First off..thanks John!!!! I enjoied the Blog all season!!! I know the big question now is if LeBron will resign with Cleveland or go somewhere else. Ther are tons of debates of why he should go or why he should stay. The one thing I just can get past is why people think he would go. Why would anyone pass up money and security for a chance to win a championship somewhere else. My thinking may be erroneous but the best thing for LeBron to do for himself and his family would be to sign a contract which offers more… Read more »
wiggum!!!!!! wiggum!!!!! where ya at?????
p.s. ha ha ha to everyone who said mo williams was a baller!!! he is a scrub. i am embarrassed for all the other all stars ever! mo williams!!! mo williams!!! shame on all of you cavs fans for believing in his game!!! REALLY!!!!!!!!!!
i told all you cavs fans you were sorry. lebron is a punk and your city is a sad excuse for a sports town. now you will learn not to pin your hope and misguided dreams on a savior who is all hype and no action. mvp mvp? its a cute puppet and thats all you have….. and 27 different lebron james jerseys in your garage sale!!!! your city is a sewer and your teams are soft and pathetic. i hope you enjoyed your last breath of optimism!!!!
@kevin:- aside from Karim or Wilt, you can’t name one perennial player who didnt win for the team that drafted him..They flet themselves “owed” to the organization that drafted him. Otherwise kobe or MJ would have also played for the Knicks or the Clippers. LBJ should feel owed. Otherwise I personally will question his morality.
Coach Brown should be fired. The front office spends more money and acquires more talent each of the last two years only to see earlier exits. There’s an inverse relationship between talent/payroll and results and that falls on coach.
The ‘Race for the Rebuild’ begins today. Collectively the Shaq, Antawn and AP acquisitions didn’t pan out. Or did the team never jell due to injuries and poor coaching? Regardless people will start talking about LeBron in terms of Karl Malone and Charles Barkley, not MJ and Kobe.
Will he stay or go? It’s Cleveland. We’ve been through this before and the answer is ALWAYS, ‘I have to do what’s right for my family.’ Translated, ‘get the hell out of here.’
if lebron went to another team and ended up winning championships, no, it would not look bad “for his legacy” that he didn’t bring cleveland a championship. Sure, its worse than having one, but the fact that he left cleveland will not be significant for people outside cleveland. Shaq’s legacy is not hurt by the fact that he left orlando. Even if lebron leaves, clevelanders shouldn’t be anything but thankful that you got to watch him for 7 years. Lebron doesn’t owe anything to the fans or the organization, they owe him
I just want to echo what some other people have been saying. I really appreciate the work you do on the games, John. Thanks for giving all us fans a home on a daily basis. Every year, we say the role players failed Lebron, but I’m pretty sure now that being a superhuman basketball player affects the clutch mojo of the players surrounding you. I’ve followed Lebron his entire career, and yet I still don’t know what KIND of player he is. He can play four different positions, but which position does he TRULY want to play? If he’s a… Read more »
John – great post, as always. I think this hand-wringing on Mike Brown is wrongheaded. Sure, he could have had Jamario guard Pierce and put Lebron at point but Mo is his point guard. Its his guy. Its HIS job to guard Rondo. Or anyone. And he couldn’t. Against Miami, Rondo had two great games but for the other three, he had great PASSING games but he couldn’t score, so he didn’t cause too much damage. Another defensive point – on KG, it may not have mattered, but given Tawn’s poor scoring, maybe Hickson would have been a better matchup.… Read more »
Good luck against the Lakers. The basketball world is rooting for you.
Sorry guys. Its always tough to swallow. I know how you feel, I’m a Suns fan and not until this year did I finally feel any sort of redemption. My bet is LeBron stays and eventually takes you all to the promised land. But, i just wanted to say, from an outsiders opinion, Shaq and Coach Brown killed the Cav’s. I watched Shaq look like an all star in Phoenix but it kills all penetration for your offense plus he is a horrible pick and roll defender. (My opinion) It looked like he did to LeBron the same thing that… Read more »
I too will add my compliments to John and Tom and the commenters on here. This has been one of the highlights for the season for me, so thank you. Here’s hoping LeBron’s hometown loyalty outranks everything else in 6 weeks… sigh…
lebron should not leave…not after all this…no way..he has more to prove this time around…if he wants to go down as one of the greats like MJ or Kobe or Magic/Bird, he should win at least his first larry o’ brian here, in cleveland. He cant leave. he just cant. Kobe didn’t leave. Mj didn’t leave. Bird/Magic didn’t had to…its only fitting for LBJ’s legacy to win a trophy for the team that drafted him…..to win a trophy for the team that he has played in since the dawn of his career…
It starts with the coach. It goes to LeBron signing a deal and being ok with going into a mini-rebuilding mode. This team can’t contend next year unless they pull off some huge trade. If LeBron resigns though it can contend within 2-3 years.
Great work as always John. Even if I wasn’t a Cavaliers fan, this would still be my favorite blog because you manage to talk about this team objectively, and you are never one to bash an opposing team or player for no reason. You’re a true class act, and you definitely have a bright future. I look forward to reading this blog next year, and hopefully, many years to come. Keep up the fantastic work. Now, as far as this game is concerned…. man if this doesn’t feel like the end of the world’s best summer camp. Whether LeBron comes… Read more »
HMC, we had a size disadvantage because of trying to cover up Mo. Mo should not have to guard Ray Allen, but he did because he couldn’t guard Rondo. You go smaller in the paint, not on the perimeter. You play Jamario Moon in place of Mo and let leBron run the point. I’m ok with being smaller with a guy like Hickson playing Perkins, because Perkins simply doesn’t have the offensive skill set to take advantage of it. When I say small ball, I mean small ball in the paint..aka no shaq and no Z…guys who can get out… Read more »
KG’s size advantage over Jamison and Ray Allen confidently stroking jumpers over the shorter Mo Williams were the staples of the C’s offensive success. Rondo played big, but he couldn’t beat us by himself. Size disadvantages hurt us in a few key areas, and BOS did a great job pounding us with them. Turnovers were an issue as well. Can one of the smarter armchair coaches tell me how going small, and creating even more size disadvantages plus having a slow-paced, halfcourt team play out of character and run more, thus likely creating even more turnovers…would have been a good… Read more »
Well that is the adjustment…adjusting the game plan. Going small and fast was the advantage. He NEVER did it. Hickson is weak on defense, we all agree. But you can hide him on Kendrick Perkins so long as the team rebounds collectively. To me, making Kendrick Perkins move around and chase HIckson on one end was the big thing. Also, Moon? Athleticism anywhere is what kills the celtics and we saw little to no Moon. Small ball. Hickson at the center, Moon in instead of Parker…these are the things that he could have done but never did. Second, your point… Read more »
I don’t think this team has enough talent to warrant LeBron re-signing. Of course, I want him to come back and the chances are better because this series was his fault, but I don’t believe they can win with this roster. I think it’s too hard to ignore that Mo, Delonte, and Andy had 2 straight years of playing below their regular season standards. Mo and Delonte got a pass because it was their first time, but now, maybe those guys just aren’t cut out for playoff basketball. I usually think stuff like that is nonsense, but 2 years in… Read more »
@Rich – honestly I don’ t know. As an NBA fan, I’ve never really seen evidence that it is a coach’s league. Guys win COTY and the next year they are fired. Happens all the time. But maybe that’s the point – players maybe stop trusting their coach after enough losing. If Brown has to go he has to go. What adjustments could Brown have made? Ironically, I believe the GAME PLAN was flawed, not the adjustments (or lack there-of). From my point of view, the Cavs advantage in this series was LeBron handling the ball, penetrating, and kicking to… Read more »
I think LeBron stays in Cleveland. I think that Mike Brown will be looking for another job this summer.
That is all.
Tom, do you agree Mike Brown has to go? Does this team not need a real offensive system that can utilize the talents of the team as whole? More importantly, do you think this team needs a head coach that can adjust in the middle of the game? To me, if nothing changes at all besides Mike Brown, I’d be fairly happy.
How fitting:
Cavs sign Mo williams to help them beat Boston – can’t get past Orlando.
Cavs sign Shaq to help them beat Orlando – can’t get past Boston.
Personally, I don’t think LeBron leaves, I really don’t. He has unfinished business. His legacy is on the line. Dan Gilbert is the owner. LeBron stays. I think the team will look very similar next year. don’t think there will be a big shake-up. Cavs didn’ t lose because of talent or matchup problems imo. The reasons they lost can be rectified with a year of playing together.
Great job this season, John. I’m assuming the gang will still be around when John reports that LeBron is being tried for murder in the death of 5 of his teammates, so I’ll see you guys then.
Agreed, Rich. You make a valid point once again.
I will miss the defense, but I look forward to actually doing something at the other end of the floor.
Way to be kind to Mike Brown Krolik. Clearly, his stubborness to go small and to develop a small ball line-up was the real problem in this series. Going big against a team who has a center that can’t score, and the back-up center just shoots threes, makes no sense. Yet again, another post season in which Mike Brown fails to adjust. Athletic bigs kill Boston, and yet Hickson saw the pine the whole series while Ilguaskus saw a renewed number of minutes. What a horrible decision. Good bye Mike Brown. It has been fun, but it needs to end.… Read more »
Trivisonno was right — I am a boob!
Thanks JK. It’s been real. Good post, as always.
The Orlando match-up comment is way too true, and it will haunt me all summer. Demoralized doesn’t even begin… f*ck it.
It’s been fun everyone. I hope everyone has a great summer and we’ll be back next year.