Let’s be honest for the most part the NBA playoffs have been a massive disappointment. Between all the sweeps, the 3-4 day layoffs between games and the mere presence of the Atlanta Hawks, the 2010 playoffs will not go down as point of pride for David Stern.
Beyond a wildly entertaining Suns/Spurs series the playoffs I can’t think of too many other points of interest.
Of course that could all change tonight.
Boston vs. Cleveland, Game 6 tonight.
Is this the last game that Lebron James plays as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers? Can he rebound from a sub par Game Four and a truly awful Game Five? The fate of a half dozen franchises could hinge on tonight’s outcome.
Now that my friends should make for an entertaining game.
So while everyone has been ripping Lebron for his Tuesday night performance (justified), I think the bigger culprits for the team’s demise is the front office that put together this collection of C students.
Say what you want about Lebron only taking 14 shots in Game Five or his sulky demeanor but can you remember another superstar dealing with as much pressure as Lebron while being strapped with the worst collection of talent since ‘Point Break’?
You can’t win it all with just one star, especially against a superior defensive team like the Boston Celtics.
There is no doubt that Lebron James is the best player in the series. But the second, third, fourth and fifth best player belongs to Boston. Even the Celtics bench guys (Glenn Davis just abused Antwan Jameson for instance) are out producing their Cleveland counterparts.
I just can’t put the majority of the blame on Lebron when I look at what the rest of his team has done:
Moe Williams:
-His PPG are down from 15.8 in the regular season to 13.6.
-His FG% has dropped from .442 to .404.
-Speaking of drops his 3PT% has taken a nosedive from a solid .429% to a miserable .333%
The guy was brought in to hit shots, especially wide open shots, which he has seen plenty of. This is an exact replica of what he pulled last year. Nice regular season than a complete disappearing act once the playoffs get going.
Does he seem like a true #2 complement player for Lebron? Shaq had Kobe, Duncan and Ginobili and Parker, Wade had an extremely motivated Shaq, and Michael had Pippen. The list goes on and on.
So what does Lebron have? He’s got mediocre Moe Williams and these clowns:
Antwan Jameson:
Nice player on a losing team but has never been clutch in the playoffs. He was routinely killed on the defensive end as a member of the Wizards and the same thing is happening against the Celtics.
For a guy who was supposed to bring additional scoring Jameson has certainly disappointed with his 13.2 PPG against Boston.
Shaquille O’Neal:
That fatso just slows things down for the entire Cavalier offense and his playoff “high” 21 points on Tuesday night were meaningless. Twelve of those points came after the midway point of the third quarter when the team had basically checked out.
Anthony Parker:
Here’s another guy that can’t hit big shots and is just murdering the Cavaliers defensively. I’ve seen better ‘D’ from the Washington Generals. Good to see he’s brought to Cleveland all the defensive instincts and toughness he learned in Toronto.
Anderson Varejao:
The best big man on the Cav’s has seen his minute’s mysteriously reduced which explains his drop in scoring (Regular Season: 8.6 PPG vs. 5.7 in the playoffs) but his shooting percentage has plummeted from .572% to .439. Again I hope you are seeing a trend here.
Say what you want about Lebron James but the fact remains for yet another year he has not been put into position to succeed.
I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to leave.