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!”
jerloma Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
It wasn’t great defense but the biggest thing with LeBron on that play is that he knew he was going to the hoop as soon as he got the ball. He didn’t know where the defense was gonna be but he made up his mind he was going there and didn’t hesitate for a second. He was just gonna get there. Jordanesque, really.
Bouj Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
That was NOT Jordanesque. MJD is right, and I am sick of everyone canonizing Lebron over this. The Wizards put such a half-ass effort on defense on that last shot, I could have scored.
Everyone needs to get their lips off Lebron’s manliness for five minutes. Yes it was clutch, but it was by no means MJ-on-Ehlo.
Zack B Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
This was exactly my point on Yaysports, admittedly not the best place in the world to make it, but still. It was a good game, but the fact that it was won on a layup is anticlimactic. The finish had a lot more to do with a poor performance by the Wizz than Lebron doing anything particularly extraordinary.
Adam Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
It was bad defense, but that was hardly an easy shot that anyone could make. He blew by the defender, tightroped the baseline, and made a crazy twisting layup. That’s not easy. Not only that, it’s the second time in the series he’s made a game winning shot. Oh, and of course there’s the small fact that he’s 21 FUCKING YEARS OLD. He can barely drink legally, he shouldn’t be expected to be Jordan yet. The fact that people even make the comparison at this point is incredible.
shoals Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
i’ll admit that the defensive effort was somewhat lacking, but what seems more likely:
1. in an overtime playoff shootout, three wizards suddenly decide to just not guard the league’s second-best player on a game-deciding possession
2. the most freakishly talented athlete sports have seen in a long time does some thangz to made this shot possible. maybe the wizards didn’t seal off the baseline, but it’s not like james didn’t have to twist, turn and make several adjustment to get his. or that anyone could’ve taken advantage of that opportunity.
then again, that failure to call timeout out the end doesn’t exactly have me believing in the sanity of the wizards today.
jerloma Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
I’m the last guy to casually throw around Jordan proclamations. I’m just saying that that play was Jordanesque. I think MJ over Ehlo was in fact a good comparison. If LeBron goes on to have the same type of career that’s gonna be one of the early plays they show in every highlight reel to the point where it becomes iconic. Ehlo didn’t exactly have a hand in MJs face. MJ just abused him. Just like LeBron abused 3 guys last night.
Dan McGowan Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
I agree with jerloma… If he does go on to have the career everyone expects him to have, this will be on of those moments we will all remember.
insomniac Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Something we will all remember? By “all” do you mean all Cavs fans? Because I’ll be honest- if that ends up being one of the greatest plays of LeBron’s career, then something will have gone very wrong along the way.
Bobby P Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Jordan on Ehlo, was that the one where he pushed off? Or was that a different one? Dude is 21 and drops 45 in a playoff game plus the game winner and people are bagging on him because the defenders looked bad.
Fellas, kid makes the defenders look bad. That’s what he does.
Bouj Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Jordan NEVER pushed off of Russell!!! That’s what the revisionists at Nike made me believe after that last set of Jumpman commercials!
dj2fly4u Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
There’s no need to compare to Jordan. Enjoy what Lebron brings, he’s writing his own book. I miss watching Jordan play, but I’m not gonna miss Lebron, because he’s here today. If you always have to put a comparison to what he does vs past legends, you’re gonna miss all the great things Lebron does in his career cuz you’re already looking towards the end. Lebron has delivered the last 2 games, and we are spoiled cuz we have seen it before. But it is still a great feat and people are missing out on what is in front of their eyes.
Doc Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Didn’t the Wizards use their last timeout the play before Bron’s layup, hence why Gilbert didn’t call one? It would have been shades of CWebb for him to call one.
Adam Says:
May 4th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
No, Jordan pushed off Russell, not Ehlo. As a Jazz fan (yeah we exist outside of Utah) I’ll never forget it, though 90% of the population (or at least the sports media) seems to have. Bob Costas even mentioned the push when he was calling the game. Listen for it next time the game shows up on ESPN Classic. I change the channel everytime I see it to avoid further emotional damage but I vividly recall him bringing it up.
Also, the Jordan/LeBron comparison bugs me not because I don’t think LeBron is as good yet (though obviously he’s not), but because it doesn’t make any sense from a basketball standpoint. With his court vision and size he’s more like Magic or Oscar Robertson than Jordan.
Critical Fanatic » Archives » Caffeinated Conjectures - 5/5/06 Says:
May 5th, 2006 at 9:29 am
[…] In keeping with the Betting theme … over/under on points by Lebron/Gilbert tonight — taking from ESPN’s Daily Quickie, let’s go with 90. Anybody willing to take the over? I will. Might MJD argued Lebron’s performance Wednesday night was less than stellar, and while I can agree with some of his points … anytime you drop 45 points and carry your team to a win, no matter how pourous a defense — its impressive. And I bet he brings his A-game again tonight. Who is having the better postseason - ‘Bron or Kobe? […]
Toku Says:
May 6th, 2006 at 2:56 am
Speaking of LeBron…
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/spo/med/2006/05/ipt/1146887179.jpg
Who knew he felt that way about Damon Jones?
-T