Lil Red Machine

For days, we have been bombarded with this “news” piece on ESPN and the like.

My question is, why does it matter if LeBron shook hands after losing to Orlando? Ok, yeah, hockey players do it after hard fought series, and LeBron peers and players before him in the NBA have done it, but does it make you any less of a person if you choose not to? He was pissed. Maybe he should’ve just to save face and so people wouldn’t breathe down his neck about it, but people make mistakes. LeBron certainly isn’t the exception.

Look at the body of work that the man has achieved, both on and off the court. So what if ONCE, he doesn’t follow the script. Say it’s good sportsmanship to do so? I don’t know. Just seems to me that people are making an awfully big deal about this. I think it would be a bigger deal if he had a history of unruly behavior/being a pompous ass.

LeBron was going to have to put together a monster performance, and someone on the supporting cast was going to have to step up in a large way in order for the Cavs to keep their season alive.

Mission accomplished.

LeBron James put together a triple double, totally 37 points/14 rebounds/12 assists, Mo Williams totaled 24 points, and even little used Daniel Gibson–the playoff hero of a few seasons ago, hit some large three pointers off the bench, as the Cavs won 112-102.

I don’t think that Cleveland really unveiled a special plan to counter the Magic attack. Orlando got a lot of open looks from downtown, but only shot at a slightly less than .333 clip from beyond the arc. Those shots normally fall, but not Thursday night. Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard did the job, but they didn’t get much help.

If Cleveland has any hope of winning this series, they have to close down their perimeter D. They can’t count on Orlando struggling like that from long distance again.

At one stretch late in the game, LeBron had a hand in 32 consecutive points. He played outstanding, but expended alot of energy. Will he have to play like THAT for the Cavs to win the next 2 games? He’s certainly capable of it, but it’s a tall task.

I still think Orlando has the upper hand in this series, but I’m glad Cleveland didn’t go out on their homecourt, especially after blowing their big lead like it did. That would’ve left an unbelievably awful taste in their mouth.

Before I put my opinions and give my personal analysis, there’s one thing we need to get straight here:
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The Cavs struggled against Orlando for the past few years for good reasons, and they are getting hung out to dry in this eastern conference finals. I’m trying not to overreact here. Cleveland is only down 2-1. A victory Tuesday night at Orlando, and it regains homecourt advantage.
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The Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons the Orlando Magic are not.

The Cavs have their work cut out for them now. Home court advantage? Gone. Feeling of invincibility? Gone
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These days, everyone is so focused on a LeBron vs. Kobe NBA finals matchup. I’m here to tell you that playing the Nuggets would be quite the juicy NBA finals as well. Sure, it wouldn’t get the ratings that a Cavs vs. Lakers series would get, but there are multiple storylines that the mainstream media aren’t talking about.
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The Cavs must be going crazy.  By this point, they must hate eachother, for they are only getting to play against one another.  Come Wednesday night, they will finally get to face someone outside of the practice confines.  It’s been a LONG layoff.  The rest is good for aging vets such as Z and big Ben Wallace, but is there such a thing as TOO much rest?
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The Cavs have been doing a lot of waiting around. Sasha Pavlovic even found enough free time to get married.

The time for waiting is over. What the Cavaliers have on their hands now is a very athletic, high flying Hawks team. Joe Johnson is the leader and best player on this team. He isn’t very flashy, but he can score in bunches and is just a step below the top tier players in the league. Josh Smith has freakish athleticism, Mike Bibby is a cool, calm customer who has been there/done that. Also, Zaza Pachulia is active and can post up some decent numbers.

However, this team has its fair share of problems. Al Horford and Marvin Williams aren’t healthy. Plus, this team got killed in its 3 road playoff games in Miami. That doesn’t bode well for them as they try to win in the toughest arena for the opposition to win in.

While the Hawks were engaged in that 7 game series, the Cavs were resting. One can never have enough rest this time of year. Any sort of rustiness might last for all of 5 minutes. One you step on that court, you don’t lose those good habits that you spent an entire year developing.

The Cavs have big time goals. I can’t help but think that Atlanta is just happy to be along for the ride.

Cleveland is bigger, more experienced, better defensively, and a more polished team than Atlanta.

Wow, what a sad state of affairs in Detroit.

I think everyone expected the Cavs to make quick work of the Pistons, but ultimately, Detroit provided no real competition at ALL. Their key guys were either too banged up (Prince) or mentally asleep at the wheel (Wallace). Others just are too raw, or just weren’t good enough.
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http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/04/signs_point_to_cavaliers_coach.html

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer, more hardworking guy.  He deserves this honor.  Is Mike Brown one of the elite coaches in the NBA?  Probably not.  He’s not in the same category as guys such as Gregg Popovic, Phil Jackson, and Jerry Sloan.  Did Mike Brown suddently develop skills and strategies for coaching that he didn’t have before?  Nope.
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