That was weird. It's one thing when a team gets dejected and quits playing after being thoroughly outclassed (Lakers 2008) but I really thought the Cavs had a decent shot had they started fouling. I think they quit with almost 2 minutes left.
Re: How many non-Cavs fans out there believe LeBron flatout quit for whatever reason
He quit because he didn't believe he could beat the Celts. He should have went down blazing to the final seconds, then no one would blame him for playing his heart out. Instead the dude just quit on his team and kept passing because he was afraid of missing shots. That's what separates Kobe and LeBron. The Killer instinct.
Re: Lets not put all the blame on Lebron. Analysis on why Cavs lost.
He didn't quit. I agree though, he wasn't the same. For whatever reason, I have no idea. His body language on and off the court wasn't the one we were used to seeing from him.
Re: Analysis on why LeBron/Cavaliers lost to Celtics in 2010 round 2
The Cavs have the same problem this year that they had last year: Lebron dominates the ball too much. He gets the MVP type stats and they easily beat the 90% of teams that don't have the personnel to stop him... but they do this at the expense of team versatility. The Cavs offense is too predictable for a good team to not be able to stop in a series. In addition it doesn't even help Lebron's game. Jamal Mashburn said it... he doesn't have a mid range game or a post up game. He is limited as a player and his athleticism merely hides it. When he is hurt he becomes even more limited.
Lebron is the BEST ATHLETE in the NBA... the jury is out on him being the best player.
Re: How many non-Cavs fans out there believe LeBron flatout quit for whatever reason
Quote:
Originally Posted by konex
I don't think he quit but he realized his team was gonna get beat in game 5 and got demoralized.
Except LeBron's effort was questionable the ENTIRE series. In fact, it really started with Game 5 against Chicago, but became more noticeable in this series. Go watch Game 2 and Game 4 again. He half-assed it in both from the get-go and everyone questioned it too(it's now been overshadowed by Game 5). What reason did he have to quit or be demoralized in either game? Both games were preceded by great Cleveland victories. He should've been upbeat and energetic if anything.
LeBron's play, barring Game 3 and 6, was perplexing to say the least in this series. It just does not make sense why he suddenly stopped competing when he had no reason to.
Quote:
LeBron and the Cavs are the ultimate front-runners and they just play better when they have the upper hand...
I don't buy this at all. They have no history of a team quitting when the going got tough. Cleveland under LeBron has ALWAYS been a great come-from-behind team. Led the league in come-from-behind victories in '08 in fact. They have always been among the TOP in close-game win%. Led the league in that category a bunch of times, a testament to their toughness. This season, they almost never got blown out. Adande posted this stat a few weeks ago where more than half of Cleveland's losses were decided by 6 points or less. You have to be very competitive and have a lot of pride for that stat to exist. I'm not buying what Bucher was spewing out on Mike and Mike today at all. Whenever Cleveland has lost, it's always been due to actual basketball reasons - talent, coaching, superior opponent etc. This season has been the lone exception.
Last edited by Indian guy : 05-14-2010 at 12:49 AM.
Re: Lets not put all the blame on Lebron. Analysis on why Cavs lost.
Give some freakin' credit to the Celts D. You saw how the Celts forced them to shoot the jumpshots. Perkins didn't back down to Shaq, who would normally bully his way to the paint. Ray Allen and the rest of the Celts played pretty good D against LBJ. They made sure they didn't get to the paint, and when he did they either stole the ball or make sure he didn't do the AND 1s.
KG owned Jamison, O and D. The Celts hussled to get the ball, for help defensive, and they made adjustments to the game. The Celts just outclassed the Cavs. The Cavs got plenty of chances where they could've got back into the game. Mo Williams went on a run, LBJ made some key shots, and Parker, but the Celts adjusted and put a stop to it. Give some credit to Doc Rivers for good timeouts and put the team back in the game. There were no easy shots in the paint. The shots were contested and they caused incredible turn overs.
And no, talent and bench wise, the Cavs was the best. They were the best on paper, the best in the regular season, along with the best player. Mike Brown throw everything he had at the Celts, but the Celts just knew what to do at the right time. There are no excuses for the Cavs. They just lost to a better and hungrier team. They just got outplayed.
Re: Lets not put all the blame on Lebron. Analysis on why Cavs lost.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Micku
Give some freakin' credit to the Celts D. You saw how the Celts forced them to shoot the jumpshots. Perkins didn't back down to Shaq, who would normally bully his way to the paint. Ray Allen and the rest of the Celts played pretty good D against LBJ. They made sure they didn't get to the paint, and when he did they either stole the ball or make sure he didn't do the AND 1s.
KG owned Jamison, O and D. The Celts hussled to get the ball, for help defensive, and they made adjustments to the game. The Celts just outclassed the Cavs. The Cavs got plenty of chances where they could've got back into the game. Mo Williams went on a run, LBJ made some key shots, and Parker, but the Celts adjusted and put a stop to it. Give some credit to Doc Rivers for good timeouts and put the team back in the game. There were no easy shots in the paint. The shots were contested and they caused incredible turn overs.
And no, talent and bench wise, the Cavs was the best. They were the best on paper, the best in the regular season, along with the best player. Mike Brown throw everything he had at the Celts, but the Celts just knew what to do at the right time. There are no excuses for the Cavs. They just lost to a better and hungrier team. They just got outplayed.
Cavaliers were hardly the most talented team in the league. Get out of here.
For the haters:
The reason is because they are the Cavs, a historically garbage team over the last 40 years, and they have a lame excuse for a head coach in Mike Brown
For the logical thinkers who came into the thread to have a discussion:
Because they will lose their identity.
It's actually a quite simple principal. The Cavs have been on a hot streak and will continue the hot streak leading into the playoffs. They'll face some first round fast food like the Bulls who will have no match for the overpowering Cavs and swat them easy. They'll head into the 2nd round and face a mediocre team like the Hawks or Bobcats, and once again overpower them and put on a shooting exhibition. Then finally they'll get to the Eastern Finals against the Celtics or Magic, and they'll forgot how to win all over again.
See the thing is the Cavs have always been a defensive team. With the acquisitions over the past 1.5 years of Mo Williams, Shaq, and Jamison they will become an offensive team easily outmatching teams with their scoring ability. When they face legit size and defense and versatility in the playoffs, the teams will pick them apart. People are probably thinking, no way Mike Brown being the defensive minded coach lets that happen, but it will.
Re: Cleveland Fans Should Blame Mo Williams More than Lebron
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingwillball
As U can See the series Go on you saw Celtics had Matchup advantages with Rondo and KG and without Lebron at 100% that is what happens. I am not gonna get into it with any Trolls though..I have so many thoughts but son't feel like Writing a Message to every hater out there..I am too Worn down right now.
Re: Analysis on why LeBron/Cavaliers lost to Celtics in 2010 round 2
The problem is... as someone else on the board wrote... "Lebron is too good for the good of the team..."
If you cant see that he is spoiled like a baby, then you must be riding his jock...
When things get too hot in the kitchen you should know by now that Lebron is a ghost...
And speaking as Bulls fan... please don't come to Chicago Lebron...
Re: Analysis on why LeBron/Cavaliers lost to Celtics in 2010 round 2
here' my take... the cavs play at such a high level all season long they don't have another gear to shift into when the playoffs come so we are surprised when they fall short... what you see in the regular season with the cavs is what you'll get in the playoffs..
where say the spurs traditionaly over the years are a team that ramps up for the playoffs, games are lost because pops let them lose games as a learning experience or because the effort to win a certain game would be fruitless.. why kill yourself to win a game that in the grand scheme really doesn't matter, just make the playoffs, make sure everyone is ready to go and on the same page..
to me some of this is the fault of coach brown for micro managing the team during the regular season and using lebron as a bail out to win every game possible...
then when they run into a buzz saw in the playoffs as we have now seen 3 years in a row the team has no clue what to do, who to turn to..
normally that would be lebron, but he's not that guy for whatever reason.. more often than not he has fallen short in the playoffs sooner or later, and tonight i kinda got the, "here we go again feeling" from lebron. like he himself knows that he's not that guy...
after game 5 i really expected more from lebron in this game, i expected to see him go down in a blaze of glory and leave it all on the court
tonight he put up good numbers but were they the type of numbers that impact a game? game 6 was obviously better for lebron but still i didn't see him grab this game by the neck and try and throttle the celtics into submission... he seemed more concerned with making sure he had good numbers to silence the doubters after the game 5 debacle than making sure there was a game 7
Re: The Cavs -- AND LeBron -- just quit.
