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Ryan the Magic Fan

"LeBron's moment of truth awaits" Great article

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loved the article, as i am a LeBron Hater...

 

but one thing i gotta say... IF Lebron was winning and cavs were up 3-2... this kinda shiit wud never come out and ppl wont be writing this **** showing the hatred towards him...

 

the media changing faces like anything... thats why.. i hate the Media more than i hate LeBron....

 

but anyways.. thats the truth I GUESS... god knows...and the fact is, the series aint over yet....

 

GO CELTS.

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John Hollinger on Lebron's game 5:

 

quote:
Actions speak louder than words.

 

And although the words coming out of Cleveland in the wake of Tuesday night's crushing 120-88 Cavaliers loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals haven't been terribly revealing, a rewatch of the game tape shows what might have caused what my editor, Royce Webb, calls the "LeBacle."

 

quote:

Let me start by saying that the Cavs have several problems right now other than LeBron James. They gave up 70 points in the second half Tuesday, for crying out loud. The frontcourt pairing of Shaquille O'Neal and Antawn Jamison is defensively suspect, a problem exacerbated by their limited playing time together (just four games before the playoffs.)

 

quote:

With all that said, if James had gone off for his usual 34-8-7 in Game 5, we'd be having a very different conversation this morning. The primary reason the Cavs looked so awful is that the man who dominated the league in the regular season did virtually nothing of note Tuesday night. (In a testament to how dominant he'd been coming into the game, he still ranks first in playoff player efficiency rating.)

 

quote:

The obvious question is: Why? Was his elbow bothering him that much? Was he sick? Did he just check out of this one?

 

We haven't been given many answers, so instead of words, let's look at actions. And what the actions scream from the hilltops is that both LeBron and his opponents knew something was wrong right from the opening tip.

 

When I rewatched the game this morning, several things stood out to me.

 

First, James couldn't make a jump shot. He tried 11 jumpers and made only one of them. Every miss was short -- most of them well short -- and a couple drifted off to the right. I suppose this could have happened just by chance, but a far more likely cause is that his elbow was bothering his shot.

 

Two other data points buttress that conclusion. First, James passed up several other opportunities to shoot open jumpers. Most notable was an isolation against Paul Pierce in the second quarter. James jabbed, and Pierce flinched backward a step and a half, leaving a clear opening to rise up for the uncontested J from 18 feet. Instead, James froze. He reset; Pierce got back into position; and James eventually drove into traffic and nearly threw away a pass.

 

[+] EnlargeLeBron James

David Liam Kyle/NBAE/Getty ImagesLeBron's elbow injury has created a world of hurt for Cavaliers fans.

 

That was just one play, but I counted several others in which James had a clear opening for the jumper and turned it down. One could argue this was a reaction to his cold shooting, but that has never stopped him before. Instead, I would surmise that he knew his elbow limited his effectiveness as a jump shooter.

 

It appears the Celtics knew this, too. What stood out while watching LeBron's screen-and-roll possessions, particularly in the second half, was how far under the screen Pierce was playing. It was far enough that he was just meeting James at the other side near the foul line to cut off his driving lane. This should have led to a profusion of wide-open J's that even an average outside shooter like James could have easily exploited. Instead, he went 1-for-11 on jumpers.

 

James didn't shoot, but he didn't drive, either. Rather, he passed up a lot of opportunities to make plays. What really stood out in the rewatch was how many pick-and-roll plays ended with James creating no advantage and ultimately passing the ball to a teammate who wasn't open. By my count, this happened a whopping 13 times.

 

This, to me, was the most disturbing part about James' Game 5 performance. The pick-and-roll should be able to create some kind of opportunity for James to either score or pass to a wide-open teammate, but when the Celtics offered him jumpers, he reacted by giving up on the play entirely. Cleveland's supporting cast members aren't good enough to create plays on their own without LeBron first creating an advantage for them -- everybody knows this. But too often Tuesday night, a play ended with somebody such as Anthony Parker or Delonte West trying to score one-on-one against a set defense.

 

quote:

Thus, the most logical conclusion is that the elbow was a major factor and that it affected LeBron mentally as much as physically. We have one other data point to support us: his track record in this series. Since Game 5 of the Chicago series, James' effectiveness has correlated directly with how much rest he had between games.

 

Witness: Games 2, 4 and 5 came with just one day of rest; in those three, he shot 0-for-13 on 3s and 17-for-47 overall. Games 1 and 3, on the other hand, had an extra day of rest beforehand, which seemed to allow his elbow to feel much better: In those two contests, he was a one-man wrecking crew, making 26 of 46 shots from the floor and scoring 73 points. Needless to say, those were the two Cleveland wins in this series.

quote:

What it all means for the Cavs is rather worrisome because Thursday's must-win Game 6 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) comes on one day's rest again. The silver lining is that Cleveland would have two days off before Game 7, which means it probably would have something closer to a 100 percent LeBron for a potential rubber match. Unfortunately, the Cavs won't get past Game 6 unless James either attacks the basket with much more conviction or finds a way to sink a few jumpers despite the balky elbow.

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http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_...n_ligament_in_elbow/

 

quote:
A medical professional close to LeBron James is suggesting James is suffering from a torn ligament in his right elbow, according to a report from Fear The Sword.

 

"Lebron has a torn ligament in his elbow that should keep him out 6 to 8 weeks," said the source. "He's trying to play through it and not complain, so the media doesn't know it's that serious. Before game 4 he had a shot in the elbow to numb it. You can only get the shot once every 10 days, so last night he couldn't do it."

 

Read more: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_...elbow/#ixzz0nk6DrkPb

 

 

 

Wouldn't take it too seriously since it IS realGM.

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So? Is he trying to be a hero? If anything he's hurting his team with this "Is it or isn't it injured" distractions everyday. Add the fact that if it is true he's not playing 100% and it's no wonder they are down 3-2.

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I think he dug himself into a hole he can't get out of. I mean, he and the Cavs have employed the whole "no excuse" deal... once the game was over, he shot that free throw left handed... maybe he was trying to one-up Jordan's FT with his eyes closed.. maybe he really was trying to bring attention to it, and then play through it like the hero. I mean, he WAS really having problems with it earlier in the season and for the Bulls series, but no one really knew how bad it was.

 

 

Now, maybe he realizes that he really can't play through with the elbow. Problem here is that the effect he was trying to get with the whole "playing through the injury" did not work in the first place, and everyone's waiting for him to say his elbow's bothering him so they can jump on him and say he's using it as an excuse blahblahblah.

 

After game two he said it was fine, after game 3 (when he went off) he called the whole elbow thing a circus, and after game 5 he again said his elbow was fine, and there was nothing wrong with it.

 

 

Now, he's either lying because he knows at this point he really cannot just say it's the elbow, because not only would the media jump on that, but it would make him a total hypocrite.

 

On the other hand, maybe his elbow really is fine and he's really just tanking it to get Mike Brown fired... maybe he's pushing his teammates to a position where they actually have to do something and not rely on him so much.

 

 

 

I don't think he has ever had to play through an injury and that can be really tough... if they do lose and he goes for surgery or treatment, then perhaps his elbow really was hurting badly. But that does not excuse the lack of effort he's showing, so I think it's more than that.

 

 

 

I guess we'll all find out either tomorrow or Sunday... the Cavs could get embarrassed again or LeBron and Co. could win the next two in dominating fashion.

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Caption from the picture:

quote:
LeBron James is one loss from falling short of the NBA Finals for the third straight year.

 

WE STILL GET NO RESPECT!

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