My impertinent thoughts:
Now, the Clevelands...
1. I'm sorry, but Lebron did not leave it all on the court last night. That was not a superstar effort.
2. In fact, it's difficult to put Lebron's game last night into words. Inexplicable. How can a guy, in a career-defining game, play so...what's the word...distracted? Especially when he knows he was criticized for exactly that just two night ago!
3. How many times did he get the ball and immediately throw it to a teammate (sometimes completing the pass)? How many times did he have a chance to shoot the three and not shoot it? How many times did he fumble the ball? There has to be something physically wrong...if the problem is between his ears, that's worse.
4. How many times did the announcers say 'Time for Lebron James to attack'...and he didn't?
5. I've been the one here saying give Lebron time to measure up to what Michael Jordan did over a career. Based on what we've seen in previous playoff games, Jordan-like (or even Magic-like or Bird-like) performances in big spots were in Lebron's toolbox. Now I'm not so sure.
6. I've also been the one saying Lebron not sticking around for handshakes after being eliminated last year was no big deal. But last night was worse. Why on earth did Lebron feel the need to remove his Cleveland uniform the second he left the court? He knew he was on camera, and he knew what that would symbolize...rightly or wrongly...to a lot of Cleveland fans. Not well-played at all.
Sandra
Not to take anything away from Boston, but I completely agree. I've been criticizing LeBron this entire series. It's been an unpopular stance, being I'm a die-hard Cav fan and all, but I don't see how it can be ignored.
The LeBron that played in this series was not the same LeBron I've known the the last 10 years and I know him well. Probably more so than the talking heads of major sporting networks, I've seen LeBron grow up before my eyes, play in hundreds of games of varying importance and he's never gone out with a whimper. NEVER. The other side will use his triple double as a counter, where I will say it was probably the most infective triple double of his career. And to add to that, he was 1 turnover (9) away from the dreaded quadruple double.
LeBron never dribbles the ball off his feet. His passes are usually spot on. His accuracy is uncanny. Throughout this series it looked like the 7'2" awkward Zydrunas Ilgauskas could've handled the ball better. He had nearly 30 turnovers in 6 games! This from a player who set an all-time record, besting Larry Bird this year for average assists per game. This from someone who's been labeled a better passer than Magic Johnson. Clearly something was wrong. But what was it?
I've come to the conclusion it was one of two things.
1. He really is injured. To his credit, he isn't using this an excuse, but as Sandra says, the look in his eyes, the disinterest at times, the "loopiness" just made me wonder. Was he on some sort of pain medication?
2. Or was he distracted? Was their an internal locker room rift? Did a veteran (Shaq) call him out? Does he already have one foot out the door? He was clearly distracted, by what I don't know. My guess is that we'll find out real soon when medical reports are revealed or free agency comes.
