Recap: (6) Short.
2009-05-31
‘
Overview: With The Cavs having no answer for Dwight Howard or consistent flow on the offensive end, they were blown out in Game 6. The Season is over.
Bullets:
I started writing about basketball in November of 2007. I started my first blog in June of 2008. This blog was started in January of 2009. These are the hardest words I have ever had to write as a basketball writer.
This was our year. We won the most games. We had the best player. Orlando and Boston both had major injuries. You don’t get many years in the NBA. This was one of ours. And we lost. It still hasn’t sunk in for me yet, but it’s just so painful. The Cavs won’t get many more chances like this.
So, what happened? Nobody thought we would lose this series. Nobody. Here are my thoughts, in order, although there’s really not much I can say right now.
Game 1 was our Waterloo. It was. We knew coming into the playoffs that our advantage was that we wouldn’t have to win a big game on the road so long as we stayed strong at home. We didn’t. LeBron had an incredible game. We could’ve won. We should’ve won. James gets an and-1 on Howard. Varejao bites on a down-fake and gives up a three. James gets doubled on the drive, gives it to Mo, swings it to Delonte, no basket. That’s a sequence that will play in my head over and over and over and over and over again for at least a year. Game 4 was winnable, too. But really, it’s the loss at home that was the cause of the Cavs’ demise. That’s the one to remember.
A thought branching off of that: this team was good enough to win a championship. Absolutely. They couldv’e beat this team. Rashard Lewis misses one end-of game three, it’s headed to Cleveland for game 7. Rashard misses two end-of game threes, Cleveland wins. LeBron had the game-ender too, but I see that as more of an averted choke than a steal of a 50-50 game, but maybe I’m just a homer. In any case, you can’t afford to give a team this good two 50-50 games. Period.
This was a tough matchup for this team. All the talk will be about what else the Cavs could’ve done offensively, with LeBron accounting for nearly half the offense and all, but the problem was the Cavs’ defense getting cracked. The Cavs had nobody to defend Dwight Howard, and that opened up this insane perimeter game. Everyone was ready to make the extra pass and the open shot, and that’s just ridiculously hard to defend when you have one guy who demands two defenders.
And the Cavs couldn’t answer on their end. They’ve got one trancendent player, one 80th percentile scorer, one solid scorer, and grinders in the frontcourt. There was nobody other than LeBron ready to take the game, take the responsibility, be the man, make the defense react to them.
As for this game, LeBron looked human. Dwight didn’t. He was so big, so strong, so fast. Even when the Cavs tried to double, he was into his move so quickly. He couldn’t be stopped. One good rotation from the Cavs and it was an open three. Four good rotations and there was still the extra pass and a good shot. This team simply cannot be defended without a post stopper. And the way this Cavs team is set up, they can’t out-score people.
I don’t have much more to say, right now. This should be a magnum opus, but I don’t have one in me. We should’ve won. We were supposed to win. We didn’t. We couldn’t handle this team. They’re a great team, and play beautiful basketball. They cracked our defense, and our offense wasn’t good enough under pressure. Few are.
I’ll have many off-season posts that deal with this, but for now I’m just out of gas. What a season. 66 wins, 8-0 in their first 8 playoff games, one of the greatest seasons ever, an MVP, so much attention for the first time. There’s at least one more go-round with LeBron and Co., and all signs point to many more. But you get so few years. So few.
I don’t know what else to say. I want answers. I want vindication. I want validation. I want a smoke. I even want to see my ex again. I’m going to get none of those things. There will be lots of things said about this team. The trick is to not listen to them. This is a great player. This was a great team. They did great things. They brought so much joy. The memories they made will last forever.
Last of all, I want to thank you guys. In one of the all-time phyrric victories, we crossed 100,000 total visitors today. That’s amazing. A 20-year old little kid getting that many people caring about what he says. You guys have been the best readers on the planet, and I appreciate it more than you know. Stick around for the off-season, and get ready for next year. It’ll be great. Until next season, guys. Peace.
-John Krolik
So instead of having logical discussion, apparently we’re just smack talking and trolling like 10 year olds. Hey Perk, I wonder if you noticed that not only did we absolutely destroy you at the end of the season, but we made it farther than you. And at least we can say we have a legit shot next year. What do you have? KG’s old broken down knees, Ray Allen’s on-again, off-again shooting, Rondo’s thuggish play, and Paul Pierce’s “old man carrying the load” routine. DETROIT BASKETBALL…. SUCKS AGAIN. You traded your best player away, barely hobbled into the playoffs, and… Read more »
Dear Mistake by the Lake,hahahahahahaha! From the rest of the country, Cleveland; pleaseee stop with the Witness crap! Witness WHAT?!? A city that hasn’t won a championship in ANY sport in how long???
P.S. To LeGONE, At least let Superman know that you are not his kryptonite.
Happy Summer Cavs, LOL!!!
Front runners get their just desserts. No sympathy for you or your city. Your only consolation is that Boston didn’t get to take a giant crap on you once again.
That’s what you get for the Easter Day B-S. Enjoy that sinking feeling of knowing you were once again so close…but, alas…..nothing.
No Nelson!! And still!
The cavs where blown out of proportion by the media!! The same media that have LJ as “The Chosen One”. You will get HIGH expectaion out of that. The record of the Cavs againts elite team was horrible, 3-6 i think. The Cavs where never ready for elite team!
Not saying that they were the worse, but a regular season record dont said all. If Orlando play the Piston in the 1st round, we might be gone in that round too!! even the 76sr make us sweet. Orlando have there best basketball again the elite teams!
I honestly don’t get all the “LeBron to NYC” crap. Do people not realize that he fired his business manager guy (whatever he was) and he hired his HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES. He went back to St. V’s to recieve his MVP trophy. The guy built a ginormous house in Akron. And honestly, the small amount that the Knicks could pay over the Cavs is nothing. He’s making money from endorsements and advertising more than he ever will from his basketball contract. I would also like to second Scott’s post. Congrats to the Magic on a great series, because it was… Read more »
Janonny- excellent point about the cavs FO having the ball in their court now. what i sort of don’t get is why lebron doesn’t seem to be a very big part of the process of luring a bosh or what have you. with title teams that involve superstars who didn’t begin their careers with the team (so not looking at duncan, parker, kobe, wade, etc), that’s often how it works. allen convinced garnett to come to boston, things like that. so why is the question “what is ferry going to do to help lebron?” and not “what can lebron do… Read more »
@Larry- What city and team is going to be more hungry than Cleveland and the Cavs? This team has been waiting for the playoffs since last season.
Unfortunately they were not ready, and personnel wise unable to compete. Game 1 set the tone for this series, had Delonte nailed that 3 at the end of the game, who knows what the rest of the series would have looked like. The confidence that the Magic gained from that victory could very well lead to an NBA Championship, but don’t count out those Lakers. Phil, Kobe, and Co. are hungry too.
The GM of the cavs will have to give LJ 80% of what is brought in each night of a home game to keep him even thinking about staying in a poor city like Cleveland. Why is he not in Boston or perhaps that big apple. You read it here first he will be traded to more hungry city and team.
anyone who thinks magic are going to beat the lakers this year are fucking stupid and ignorant. lakers in 6.
Dwight and the rest of the Magic were probably as sick as I was of the hype surrounding the projected Kobe/LB match up. I like LeBron too, he seems like a nice person, and he is a terrific player, but there can always be too much of a good thing. Same goes for Kobe. I hope Dwight doesnt make the same mistake. Those talking heads will have to throw out all their scripts now, maybe they can eat some of their words. I knew from Game 1 that the Magic were the better team. I know nothing about basketball except… Read more »
Josh-you won your first three of the first four games by outscoring the cavs by 2 points. Cleveland missed two very make-able shots to lose the first game. Cleveland fans are being more than gracious in congratulating the Magic on an outstanding series, but to be honest, the Cavs could have swept those first four just as easily as the Magic. Mo Williams was severely inexperienced under playoff pressure, and if he makes just one more shot, still far far below his average, the cavs are headed to the NBA finals. Rashard Lewis saved two games with last second shots.… Read more »
All of this being said, I have to give some love to Lebron.
I have a much greater respect for his all-around game now. He is both a good shooter and rim finisher, AND defender.
He gave valiant effort for the Cavs and is a stand up guy. I would love to have him on my team.
Joe, your problems go further than just Howard. Your team does not shoot the ball as well as the Magic all in all. Lebron is an obvious bright spot, hands down, and no-one shot as consistently as him. Williams and West could have their stretches, but overall, the Magic are the obviously deeper team by several roster spots. That will change as more of the Cavs players mature and develop over time, but just simply getting somebody to “guard Dwight” won’t do it all. Dwight brings alot on the defensive end, which also gives Cleveland trouble. But look at Boston.… Read more »
Sorry Krolik. You are just a homer. This series was not as “close” as Cavs’ fans want to make it seem. I think the Magic came in with a healthy respect about what the Cavs had accomplished against the rest of the league, but knew they had the better team than the Cavs going in, as they proved in our 3 regular season meetings. The national media did a disservice to your city and fans because they led you all to believe the Magic were huge underdogs, and everyone drank the kool-aid. I hope it isn’t that big a surprise… Read more »
Would have been nice to have General Kinsey in the rotation for this series, huh? And either one of Jackson or Hickson to bang in the paint. Wonder if the panicked stretch run for homecourt (and the subsequent removal of those guys from the rotation) played a bigger part than people think in this series loss. I know was in the Kinsey camp, too. Defend their wings a little more closely in a couple of key situations and things may have turned out differently. Congratulations to Orlando.
John – To what lengths should the Cavs be willing to go in this off-season to find someone who can guard Howard (or the equivalent sort of player)? If they can correct that (in hindsight, exceptionally glaring) matchup issue, doesn’t it seem like this team is talented enough to beat Orlando in five, maybe six?
Well, let’s not get crazy here. LeBron far and away deserves the MVP award. Howard may get his someday, but this season was thoroughly dominated by 23. The term “force of nature” barely covers it.
You’re absolutely right, bitmatt. Lebron in NYC would be suffocating. And I concur about the credit…I don’t think any player has ever gotten more credit than Lebron. He’s a phenomenal talent, but to give him this unprecedented praise before he’s actually won anything is premature. And I think it was evident to anyone watching that Dwight Howard was the MVP of the series, probably of the NBA
Oh, and it should be said also that LeBron gets plenty of credit for leading the team. They gave him an award for it and everything.
You’re totally right they need more defensive help for the guy. I’m sure they’ll get somebody.
Oh certainly, I agree we should not overlook LeBron’s impact. Obviously they don’t get where they did without him. But the 3-6 record is more an indicator of the fact that those particular elite teams are loaded with balanced talent than any real indictment of Mike Brown as a coach. Those teams all featured players who are as good or much better than their Cavs counterparts at pretty much every position except small forward. Clone Phil Jackson, and have the clone Phil coach the current Cavs against the current Lakers (coached by original Phil) and I think you’d find the… Read more »
@bitman. I think they 3-6 regular season record against the celts, magic and lakers is a little more telling than the 66 wins. I will admit it is impressive for the someone to take a team of lebron and several bench players turned starters and pull off a 66 win season. I just think a bit too much of that credit was given to Mike Brown and not enough was given to Lebrons leadership and ability to help raise up those players to new heights. I think it was his admission that his strategy was to give the ball to… Read more »
@Heat fan- Just think how bad it will be if LBJ actually does go to play for the Knicks. They’ll have to start an ESPN23. There will be so many damn puppets and so much more Stuart Scott. Nobody wants this. @Janonny- Look at it this way. Mike Brown was able to take a team with one elite player and a bunch of gritty cast offs & hard nosed afterthoughts and win 66 games with them. Dude can coach- don’t sell him short. He was just massively outgunned in this series, there was no room for effective adjustment. People can… Read more »
For me, seeing Delonte on Turkoglu and Andy and Rashard for a majority of the game said it all… They had no chance last night. The cavs have ONE player who can guard wing players… ONE! – Lebron. And he was guarding Alston to save himself so he can score or assist every single basket on offense… and some how, that’s supposed to lead to a victory. You need another athletic wingman who actually stands taller than 6-3, and you need a big man. You don’t have a guy in the paint. Andy is just a complementary player, and let’s… Read more »
The unfortunate thing for me that I discovered was how strongly I was rooting against Lebron James, and yet he actually seems like a pretty good guy. Why? The media. The constant Lebron Lebron Lebron coverage, with the puppets, the witnesses, the ESPN headlines of “can Lebron play football” and the 10X increased enthusiasm for a Cleveland win over Orlando. Seriously, Game 5 got more run than Orlando’s series-closing Game 6. And the more I think about it, it makes me sad. Lebron should be likeable everywhere. I wish the media wouldn’t make it so insufferable to root for the… Read more »
First off I would like to say as a Magic fan it has been a pleasure to read your blog all series. You are an extremely talented writed with a bright future. You are a well grounded fan and as objective as I think any true fan can manage. As far as my thoughts on this team I think that the belief that this was the year is a little off base. I can see where the stars seemed to be aligning for the Cavs but a lot of out of place pieces went unnoticed till this series when they… Read more »
Are you really a 20-year old kid? Your writing and analysis is much more mature and objective than that. This blog became my first stop to learn about how Cavs’ fans think and feel after each game in this series. Keep up the good work.
Although you are right about championship opportunities being rare in pro sports, don’t worry. LeBron will get his ones eventually and I’ve a hunch he will not leave Cleveland. So today’s bitterness will make the future ones much more sweeter.
Wow. Tough, tough loss. I think Jordan has made everybody feel like LeBron was destined to come in and win a title this year. Like John says, it was his year. But that’s not how sport works. And it makes losing very tough. On a side note, I’m not a Cavs fan, but like everybody else I’m a LeBron fan, and the guy lost a little of his shimmer for me this series. It wasn’t that he couldn’t overcome the Magic, no shame there, but the way it felt like so many drives were about drawing a foul and not… Read more »
Hubris. No title next year means no Lebron.
Thanks Billy- those other Cleveland teams will take any luck you wish on them. I’d try to come up with some joke about how the Browns and Indians take luck and turn it into fertilizer for their grounds crews, but I just don’t have it in me today.
Bitmatt, it is good to see a fan be gracious. As a Magic fan, I was nervous every game because of LeBron and what he could do, and for the first five games that was shown to be warranted. The entire time though, I did think that the Magic were the better overall team, and they especially matched up well with the Cavs (who were probably pretty upset to see the Magic get past the Celtics). It breaks that way sometimes, and it was nice to see at least Delonte showing good sportsmanship after the game. Good luck Cleveland with… Read more »
@Adam- You’d use all of LeBron’s energy and fouls on the defensive end to negate Howard, eh? Cool- we’d still lose the series, only with somewhat lower scoring games. At least the Cavs would certainly score less- the Magic would rain threes like a spalding tsunami. At least your way would have been trying something different. We did not have the personnel to win this series. The writing was on the wall in the regular season when the Cavs couldn’t beat this team on the road, and after game one all that writing got italicized and underlined. I’m saddened that… Read more »
Wow. Tough, tough loss. I agree John – this seemed like our year. In the NBA, or in any sport for that matter, you can’t take opportunities like this for granted. Just ask Dan Marino. He got to the Super Bowl in his rookie season, lost, but figured he’d be back again tons of times. He never got back to the championship game, though. I’m not saying that’s going to happen with LeBron and the Cavs, I just mean you can’t take anything for granted. We’ve got a good nucleus here, but I think we need to get younger. Maybe… Read more »
Okay, so Ilgauskus and Varejao couldn’t guard Howard. That’s clear. If Mike Brown had an ounce of coaching creativity and ingenuity (which he doesn’t, and he should have NEVER won COY), he would have tried LeBron on Howard for stretches in this series. His best defender for Howard was not Ilgauskus or Varejao or Wallace–it was LeBron. Same mass, a couple of inches shorter, more athletic. “But LeBron is a small forward!” is a likely response. Garbage. The man has the body to play as a post PF and could have allowed the Cavs to stay home on three-point shooters… Read more »
“Nobody thought we would lose this series. Nobody.” Are you serious? You don’t know much about basketball. There is no such thing as being destined to win a championship in any sport.
“Nobody thought we would lose this series. Nobody.” Are you serious? You don’t know much about basketball. There is no such thing as being destined to win a championship in any support.
[…] If losing is a disease, it is a beautiful one. […]
Success is how we measure ourselves from failure to failure?
It just breaks your heart.
Keep up the good work!
My favorite line was from a Detroit/Cleveland reg season Sunday game where you alluded to sasha being a vampire.