I hate to be contrarian… but what I saw last night from LeBron was certainly excellent, but not anything legendary. Don’t get me wrong… for 53 minutes of play, he was outstanding, absolutely outstanding. He is the reason that the Cavs are good at all. But in terms of what he accomplished at the end of regulation and overtime… we were all witnesses to something unspectacular. I rarely disagree with the great Free Darko, mainly because they’re too smart, and they intimidate me into agreeing with them, but… well, today, I beg to differ.
End of regulation: Score is tied, Cavs have some time on the clock and a chance to win. LeBron gets the ball out front, because the Wizards never really had any intention of keeping him from getting it. They show only a half-hearted double team, that will only become a full double-team if LeBron decides to penetrate. He doesn’t. He hoists up an off-balance three, and it doesn’t go in. No big thing, that happens.
End of overtime: LeBron takes the ball on the inbounds play, and Michael Ruffin, to his credit, is only four or five steps behind LeBron while chasing him through a screen, whereas your average Joe off the street would’ve been at least six steps behind. No effort from the Wiz to deny him the ball, or to even make him catch it far away from the basket. LeBron heads to the corner with, again, no effort to push him back towards halfcourt. Ruffin’s still chasing, and Antawn Jamison, who should’ve maybe, I dunno, anticipated this, moseys over at a leisurely pace. He’s too slow to get there, and not particularly aggressive when he arrives, giving the man the baseline, which is something you just don’t do. LeBron gets to the hoop along the baseline, which, I think I mentioned before, isn’t something that a defense should allow. You can blow that off if you want to, and Spiderman couldn’t get through it. Anyway, a third defender is inconsequential, and Michael Ruffin’s block attempt comes up short. LeBron makes a twisting, calm, lay-up, and the Cavs win because Gilbert Arenas panicked and heaved up a contested 60-footer instead of calling a timeout and taking a shot from within 30 feet.
The coaching and execution on that last play by the Wizards was so bad… how are they not prepared for such a situation? No effort to deny LeBron the ball, no effort to keep him away from the hoop… exactly what was the gameplan there? What did Eddie Jordan say in the huddle?
“Okay, guys, here’s what we’re going to do. They’ll probably run LeBron off a screen or two, so hey, there’s nothing we can do about that. Let’s just hope he misses. Okay, Wizards on three. ONE, TWO, THREE, WIZARDS!”
