LeBron to mom, Celtics: “Sit your (butt) down.”
Posted May 12th, 2008 by Brian Windhorst
Cavs 88, Celtics 77
–Last season in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, in the fourth quarter LeBron James came out of traffic and dunked over the top of Rasheed Wallace. Looking back, I felt the series sort of turned with that play, the Cavs were able to get that win and they never looked back. It is possible that LeBron’s dunk in the fourth quarter over Kevin Garnett could have that affect in this series. Maybe not, lots of basketball to go and the Celtics are a different team at home. However, he is starting to figure out where some driving lanes are and his shot is slowly coming around. We’ll see. Anyway, they must have showed that highlight six times over on the videoboard during the timeout after the play.
–Anderson Varejao was a huge difference-maker in this game. His ability to defend Kevin Garnett 1-on-1 down the stretch was huge. Not only did he basically stop Garnett (who was 1-of-7 in the second half) but because he didn’t need double teams it enabled the Cavs to stay at home on their men. The Celtics ran a few iso plays to take advantage of the matchup but Varejao bumped him out of his comfort zone several times. He also made some shots, which helped the Cavs on offense, but that was less important.
–It was a flashback to five years ago late in the first half when Gloria James jumped in from her courtside seat to defend LeBron after Pierce’s hard foul on a breakaway sent him into the seats. When LeBron was a senior in high school he was undercut on a dunk by Roy Hall (who later played football at Ohio State and now plays with the Indianapolis Colts) and Gloria went out on the floor after Hall. She’s been pretty tame since, until this moment. She ran right up to Garnett and got in his face. KG was cool about it, he was telling her to settle down. Then LeBron got up, saw her and he yelled: “Sit your a– down.” Classic. here’s what he said about it after the game:
“Even though that is my mother, you can’t have fans going after players like that. The Commissioner doesn’t care if it is your mother, I can’t afford her not to be at every last one of my games. I told her to sit down in language I shouldn’t have used. Thank God today wasn’t Mother’s Day.”
–The Cavs have held the Celtics under 80 points twice in this series, which only happened to them twice during the regular season. Their rotations and energy level at the defense end is so strong right now. They are really recovering well and are taking advantage of the Celtics not being in a rhythm. For this series the Celtics are averaging just 81 points and are shooting 40 percent.
–The ball movement in this game was again superior. You could really see on several occasions how the Cavs beat the Celtics rotation with the extra pass, which is what wasn’t close to happening in Boston. The Cavs had 24 assists and just seven turnovers in Game 4. Over the last two games they have 63 assists on 74 baskets. That is remarkable.
–LeBron has 10 steals and seven blocks in this series, he’s making an impact at both ends. I also think he’s in Pierce’s head a little bit. Sometimes after LeBron scores you can see in Pierce’s body language that he wants to score. He’s taking shots out of their offense at times and taking a lot of shots with a high degree of difficulty.
Recap:
Pregame
Starting lineups
Celtics: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins
Cavs: Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Officials
Steve Javie, Bob Delaney, Mark Wunderlich
–Anderson Varejao is going to play, he sat out practice yesterday to let his knee recover from the bruise he got in Game 3. Wallace also is a go.
–LeBron got here about three hours before game time to work on his jumpers. The Celtics continue doing a good job keeping him out of the paint, but he’s been allowed 15-18 footers. He’s got to make them or else he’ll continue to struggle. That is what he was working on.
–David Stern is in the building, for whatever that is worth. Perhaps he can meet with O.J. Mayo, who is supposed to be here as well. I’ll bet they could have some interesting conversations.
–The Celtics had an intense practice yesterday, so much so that they skipped shootaround today. They were working on their defense, which slipped big time, in Game 3. I think you will see a much more focused Celtics team across the board tonight. They know if they win tonight the series will basically be over.
–The Celtics felt they overplayed LeBron and Z in Game 3. The Cavs adjustment was to run more of a high post offense with the two to free up space in the corners and blocks. That’s why Z got so many assists (6) in the last game. So look for the Celtics to maybe loosened up their double teams.
–Kevin Garnett has not gotten many shots in the last two games. The Cavs have been double-teaming him more in the post. Also, Delonte West has been cheating off Rondo to help clog the lane. Perhaps some more isos for Garnett and some different spacing from the Celtics will be employed tonight.
Halftime — Cavs 45, Celtics 43
–This is the type of game many expected, very tight. The Cavs got hurt a bit with LeBron having to sit the last four minutes with three fouls. But he hadn’t been out of the game yet and he needed his rest no matter what.
–Cavs are playing excellent defense. They are just leaving Rondo alone and living with it. Pierce has hurt them with Sasha Pavlovic guarding him a little, but he’s still making him work. Garnett is just being masterful, the guy is having a big time series. He’s playing like an MVP. Though I thought Andy Varejao did a pretty good job bodying him in the post in the second quarter.
–The Cavs only have four turnovers in the half, which has been key because they are not getting second chance points. They continue to get outrebounded in the series, which is largely due to Garnett.
–LeBron’s jumper isn’t falling again but he’s been able to find some lanes to the basket. You have to figure this game is going to come right down to it so his ability to create is probably going to be vital again.
Postgame
Stars
LeBron, 21 points, 13 assists
Szczerbiak, 14 points,
Varejao, 12 points, six rebounds
Garnett, 15 points, 10 rebounds
Quotes
Mike Brown on the dunk: “I wanted to flex my muscles but I don’t have any muscles. So I just flexed by jaw and gave LeBron a five.”
LeBron: “We held down homecourt, they held down homecourt. The better team has to win on road to win the series.”
Doc Rivers: “You think LeBron is struggling? You only look at the field goal percentage, we don’t. We look at the way he’s playing his total game and he’s making plays. Clearly no one right now is shooting well from the field, but let’s give him some credit.”
May 12th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
[...] On the Mets beat placed an observative post today on Cavs-Celtics, Game 4Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
May 12th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Yikes! Lebron laying more bricks so far tonight in the first quarter. He’s going to have to make his living attacking the basket tonight and getting to the free throw line. Two old fashioned three-pointers in the first quarter. I like that.
Excellent defense so far. And I like the 7-2 run to close out the quarter.
The Cavs are going to have to earn this one though. Boston has come to play
May 12th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Wow. Timeout with 5:50 to go in the second quarter and the Cavs up six. It looks like Lebron is going to play the entire half.
Makes sense I guess. Brown knows this series is over if the Cavs lose this game.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Steve Javie, Bob Delaney, Mark Wunderlich = the 3 stooges. This has been the worst one yet. Charges on LeBron with the defender’s feet moving, LeBron getting hacked all over the place, no whistles. This is ridiculous.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
What the hell did Lebron do to pick up his third foul?!?!?!?!
The broadcast team totally glossed over that!! That is a huge storyline.
And there was no replay.
GOD!!! I wish these guys would quit trying to fill up the entire broadcast with pap and just call the damn game!!
May 12th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I think its time for Lebron to order BetterBasketball.com’s jump shot DVD. Brick city the last couple games. Whats up with dat?
May 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
i’m glad lebron got his third foul because he is looking more like ricky davis lately. the offense in this game has been typical stand around and dribble crap. maybe the best thing that could happen is they lose the game and potato gets his well earned s**tcanning when boston finishes.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Lebron picking up his third foul is huge for Boston. This means James won’t be able to attack the basket as agressively in the second half.
Booby Gibson and Delonte West have to recognize this and pick up the slack by attacking the basket.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
The REFS are color blind. They don’t call obvious fouls on anyone wearing green. Yet they see fouls that don’t even exist against our white jerseys. They Cavs didn’t finish the first half off well, but they should have been up by a dozen or more. It’s only half time, but the game doesn’t seem like it’s being called fairly.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
“LeBron James with no regard… for human life!”
All the bad commentating on this game was justified by this great statement. (Sorry if someone already said this, the blog updates really slowly).
Absolutely sick dunk.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
You may have one this game but my plan is still a possibility. Don’t expect to get any calls Wednesday night. MWAHAHHDHSHAHAHHAHHHHHAHHWHHAH…
May 12th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Aside from the fact that the Celtics are choking on those Gregorian chants in Garnett’s commercial (which I’m sick of), has ANYONE observed Mike Brown coaching circles around another playoff opponent AGAIN?? If Mike Brown is a bad coach (which he is not) Doc Rivers couldn’t coach 10 year-old girls shooting nerfballs at a lampshade! Great adjustments! Wonderful defense (without the dirty tactics of our opponents). LeBron is ice cold from the field. And we still outflank the presumptive media favorites with the three superstars and the 66 regular season wins! We’ve overcome injuries and a massive trade to a night like this where great coaching and execution on both ends of the court delivers a quality series tying victory. This is the best basketball this city has ever seen! Yes, better than Lenny’s beloved Choir Boys.
The Celtics are CHOKING. If our King finds the range, they are dead! Thank you, Mike Brown!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:13 am
How strong is Lebron throw down on KG while KG shoves him in the gut? That dunk was one of the better moments in Cavs history. Just a sweet moment. And a bit of redemption for when the Celtics homered a good Cavs team. Every time Nate Thurmond breathed, he’d get whistled at the Garden. What a friggin’ dunk!!!!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I’ve watched the replay of LeBron’s posterizing dunk on Garnett like 8 times on both TNT and ESPN, and not one commentator even mentioned the fact that the dunk was on Garnett.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:41 am
tuck, can you tell us how incredible rajon rondo is again? It used to be your mantra during the regular season to tell us how we were lacking someone like him. Seems you never bring him up this series though. maybe you’re focused on marbury’s incredible shoes again.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:04 am
No one on TNT or ESPN talked about anything other than what the Celtics did wrong, how they lost the game. Did not talk at all about how the Cavs won it. What an absolute great game.
Andy, Joe, Boobie, Wally all played big (besides Lebron of course). Defense was fantastic thru out the game. Celts get all the glory for their defense, but the Cavs defense has been just as impressive.
Take their heart out in game 5.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Anyone notice the slomo replay before a commercial break in the 3rd quarter (about 2:26 left) where KG appears to glare at the Cavs fans and call them “f—ing f-gs”? Maybe I misread his lips but it looked pretty clear to me
May 13th, 2008 at 1:38 am
No that jerk did call the fans f—ing f—ots. What a loser. I can see why Wally hates the guy. First off he is a loser. Cant win the big one as they say and sound ever since he got to Boston he thinks that he is a god now. The dude is good but a little humalithy would be nice. F him and F Boston. Cavs in 6
May 13th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Uhhh … tpds, or whatever, what I said before the season was I thought Rondo would be one of the most improved players in the league. And he was. I also said the Celtics were a great team for him, since he wouldn’t have to carry the load and could make mistakes during the season without making the team around him crumble. Which turned out to be true. Somebody with his speed, pure point guard skills and individual defensive skills would look terrific on the Cavs, so long as a guy was able to make full use of his abilities. Get rid of Ilgauskas and some of the other slow-pokes, speed up the game, and this would be a consistently entertaining team to watch during the season. It would be fun to watch a Golden State, Denver, Phoenix (former) brand of ball with James, so long as defense was included in the playoffs. So what’s your point? No pun intended.
Why can’t any of these teams in the league win any away games? I don’t get it.
By the way, when Kevin Harlan went into his outrageous bombastic bit about James having no regard for human life, it brought back fond memories of how delighted I was when Reghi got himself canned.
May 13th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Great game by just about everyone. LeBron with the no look pass, LeBron to the hoop, posterizes Garnett. Joe Smith always solid. Boobie shooting. Andy hitting jumpers? Ha ha what a game. TNT and ESPN are anti-Cleveland. Dumb Barkley had nothing to say except oh well Boston don’t have to win on the road. Actually someone will beat them at home and they will have to, the Cavs perhaps? Boston is falling apart, look no further than this game. Rajon freaking Rondo is taking way too many shots. Pierce is doing what he does best in the playoffs; choke. Ditto for Garnett. Besides KG looking like he wants to kill someone he has not done anything of note since Game 1. Not one player on Boston beside James Posey and the alien Sam Cassell ever won anything. SO the biased media needs to get ready for a possible upset and major choke job. Go Cavs!
May 13th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Man, nothing beats that “no regard for human life” comment. SO AWESOME!
BW, does LBJ have any reaction to that line?
May 13th, 2008 at 9:20 am
That”no regard for human life” line, as great as it is, is Kevin Harlan’s signature call. He uses it all the time. So as cool as it was, he didn’t just come up with it on the spot to describe Lebron’s posterization of KG.
Also–last I checked, KG finished ahead of Lebron in the MVP voting. Why does this guy get a free pass for disappearing in this game? I know he was ripped early in his career for never getting past the 1st round but ever since the trade to Boston the media has corronated him the perfect teammate and clutch player. Meanwhile, everyone and their grandma is scrutinizing Lebron’s game. I don’t get it The guy is 23, led his team to the Finals last year (something KG hasn’t done in 10 years) and by all accounts is a great teammate. Suc BS.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am
The amazing thing to me is the polar extremes in the level of play that Cavs have demonstrated in this series. If you compare game 2 with last night it’s like the twilight zone. The level of play (passing, team defense, ball movement, shooting, aggresiveness, etc) comapred to to Washington series or the first two in Boston is crazy. Maybe we have found a groove, and have finally figured out how all of the parts fit together. if so, I can easily see this team going back to the finals. The question is,will we revert back to the regular season Cavs or the game 2 Cavs tommorow night.
For all the talk of the Boston D, the cavs D looked damn sticky in the finla 6-8 minutes of this game. Boston was completely rattled, and nobody wanted to touch the ball.
I also think Brown is starting to figure out how use the best guard combinations in real time. If Booby, Wally, and Delonte can stay agressive and keep hitting open shots, we have a real chance to take this series.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:58 am
That posterization of Garnett was almost as good as Lebrons posterization of Duncan!
This series is over. I can’t wait until we play Detroit.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:23 am
In Kevin Garnett’s defense, there was a very inconclusive camera angle late in the third quarter. I’m fairly certain he was screaming something about “flaming figs.” It’s a Mediterranean fondue, quite healthy and great for constipation.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Just curious, but why was no foul called on Garnett when Lebron posterized him with 1:45 left (you can clearly see Garnett putting his forearm into’s Lebron’s chest)? Was it because the refs were so impressed with the dunk, they forgot to blow their whistle? Were the refs just embarressed for KG and did not want to add to his embarrassment. Not that it mattered at all, but it was so clearly a foul.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I just hope the Cavs pull out one on the road, so that we don’t have to pull our hair out about game 1 all off-season.
Lock-down 4th-quarter defense brings back good memories.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
“flaming figs”, man im good, don’t you guys wish you were hot like me…here is my prediction, whoever win game 5 will win this series…. simple as that. I think “et cassell” will get more playing time and also watch out for some changes in the way they play from, “the doc’s not in,” Rivers, yeah how did this guy manage to be a coach in “Boston” out of all places for so long, talk about “affirmative action”, hey, “ask not what your coach can do for you, ask what you could do for your coach” thats my ode to JFK
May 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
[...] Cavs assistant coach’s has Hendricken roots Beacon Journal Cavs Celtics even in series LeBron to Mom: Sit your (butt) down Bleacher Report Why David Stern is destroying the NBA Fox Sports Lebron rises, Celtics shrink in [...]
May 13th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Did Rondo get better or did the players around him make him look better?
Also, with Reghi, he does get irritating when he uses three adjectives to describe something:
LeBron James is playing an immense, colossal, gigantic game tonight.
Reghi is better when he cuts out the garrulity and is enthusiastic.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Thoughts on the Cavs win over the Celtics in Game 4:
- LeBron’s dunk was the catharic release of all the frustration that he and the fans have been feeling all series, and all season. LeBron knows he’s great, and he knows that any team he is on will be good. Unfortunately, holdouts, injuries and inconsistency have cut the legs out from under this team throughout the season. But for that moment, the Cavaliers and their star rose up over the Celtics and their star, and slammed them down with authority. It was downright poetic.
- Really solid efforts by all the of the supporting cast last night, especially the guys off the bench. While we’ve watched those guys be incredibly inconsistent this year, they all put together a good, but not spectacular, game last night. And just a good game from the supporting cast is enough to take this team back to the Finals.
- Half of the Celtics who got into the game last night had 0-fers. Wow.
- To all the people who were killing Mike Brown after Game 2: If you were stand-up men, you’d apologize. All Mike Brown has done is expose the Celtics, who won 66 games this year, as a bunch of Robins without a Batman, a team full of semi-stars who don’t have the cajones to take and make big shots down the stretch on the road. Maybe the Celtics will just win the home games, and maybe one of the Big 3 will turn into a Batman, and the Celtics will win the series. But Mike Brown has exposed the Celtics, just like he has exposed the Wizards, Nets and Pistons over the last two years.
- Meanwhile, Doc Rivers is slowly going insane, losing all of his cool while his team is falling apart. For all the people who have called for Mike Brown’s head, remember that you would have to replace him with someone. And as I’ve said before, the only coaches available are ones who have been even bigger disappointments than Mike Brown in recent years, and none of them have won championships.
- I’ve criticized Mike Brown myself, but I’ve never called him a bad coach. Coaches, like players, have bad games, and they deserve to be criticized when that happens. But Mike Brown has had more good games than bad games, especially in the playoffs. His decision to leave Varejao in there to make Garnett’s life harder was a stroke of brilliance.
Go Cavs. Can’t wait to finish these guys off on Friday.
Mike C.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Also, bringing up Michael Reghi:
- Reghi was doing his radio show on Saturday morning. And he was ripping into LeBron, saying that he now wasn’t sure that LeBron was the type of player who could make his teammates better, that he wasn’t willing to do those things. This was, admittedly, coming after the two losses in Boston, but it was way too reactionary for a guy who has watched LeBron exceed expectations time and time again. I was never a Reghi fan, but he has become the most pessimistic, dreary, holier-than-thou postgame host in the city.
- Not that Fred Mcleod’s “the Cavs can do no wrong” spiel is much better. And it all pales in comparison to Joe Tait, who I listened to last night, knowing what would happen on my tv 6 seconds later.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I agree with Mike C on that dunk. It was like all the frustration came out on that one play. Also agree with Reghi, he has become a very bitter man and now he does his show with Greg Brenda who has the most annoying voice in radio. Mike Snyder does real good post game shows though. Out of everyone I love Austin Carr and Joe Tait because they tell it like it is. Btw some clown on ESPN said LeBron’s dunk was overrated which may be the most asinine statement ever. Come on Cavs we all want Round 3 with Detroit!
May 13th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Jay, i disagree with you, “munch” on wknr as the most annoying voice on radio.
May 13th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
doc rivers sucks. but don’t start thinking mike brown is a good coach because he can one-up that fraud of a leader. as far as i’m concerned it is a wash with those two. doc and brown are both confused about rotations. what the hell is pavlovic doing out there? that was just as dumb as some of the line-ups doc threw out there last night. i am so tired of mike brown only talking about the defense after a win. yeah, good defense potato. but your offensive sets look worse that the ones in an 8th grade pick-up game.
mike brown sucks people. you are watching a series with two pretty piss poor coaches.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
wow, mike brown sucks people, hey terje, you are on the wrong board, you better take that kind of conversation on a triple x board, this is sports talk only…..damn, im alan tucker and i am good. by the way where is my mental midget? did i scare him off…..boo!!!!!
May 13th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
wow, Reghi said that, i am disappointed, but not surprise, these guys will say anything to get the calls coming in, he has been a big lebron jock from day one….He is just trying to stir up controversy.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I forgot about Munch he is pretty bad too
May 13th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Reghi is great. I don’t think McLeod is that bad, but I do miss Reghi. He was an outstanding play-by-play guy and there was no reason to get rid of him.
Here’s how I would rank the local announcers/radio hosts:
1. Joe Tait — does the best job with the hardest gig
2. Michael Reghi — tells it like it is
3. Kenny Roda — tells it like it is
4. Austin Carr — normally I don’t like homers that much, but he makes it fun for some reason
5. Fred McLeod — not a bad play-by-play guy, but I don’t like how he builds up the opponent before every game. It’s almost like he’s setting up an excuse in case the Cavs lose.
6. Greg Brinda — too condescending at times, but I respect his sports knowledge
7. Munch Bishop — annoying voice and WAY too much of a homer
8. Mike Trivosonno — I don’t even count him as a sports host but many others do for some reason. 95% of his show is just him babbling about something that’s not even sports-related.
I’m sure I forgot a few, but oh well….
May 13th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I wish I could have said, “Sit your ass down!” to my mom.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Tuck, just how dense are you? I realize the majority of us on here have years more education than you, but Rondo being one of the most improved players in the league? Have you not seen how the Cavs treat him like an Eric Snow clone? They don’t even send anyone to defend him, as the announcers have pointed out a million times already. I guess if you call moving up to an Eric Snow level being a significant improvement, it’s the same way you feel like semi-formed stool is a big improvement over diarrhea. And your logic of him being able to “make mistakes during the season without making the team around him crumble” applies to every single player already on the Cavs. Hell everyone on the cavs can screw up everything, and they don’t have to worry because they’ve got LeBron to carry them. It’s not that difficult to display “pure point guard skills” when you’ve got 3 all-stars you’re passing to. So to simplify it so that even you might comprehend it, Rondo has sucked, you touted him more than your prom date with your sister, and you look all the more foolish for it. But keep wearing your Starbury’s to bed, they’ll soon be collector’s items.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Yeah, good comparison, kj. Rajon Rondo. Eric Snow. What’s next, are you going to compare and contrast a jar of Skippy, Jif and Peter Pan to a jar of monkey crap?
Anyway, if you actually want to learn something, here was the actual voting. As I stated, Rondo was deemed to be one of the most improved guys. But nobody needed the media to vote on anything to notice the obvious. For me, it was one of the benefits of paying for a satellite when it wasn’t down and I had to resort to my old cable, I was able to watch a ton of Celtics games. All in HD. I was able to repeatedly see all of the evil wizard hairs on the bottom of Garnett’s chin in crystal clear clarity. If memory serves, the Akron Beacon Journal’s beat writer himself said he gave Rondo a 3rd place vote.
Anyway, if you really want to learn something instead of shoving a footsy in your mouth, here was the complete voting. You do realize that teams play 82 games prior to the playoffs, right?
http://www.nba.com/news/hedo_mip_080428.html
May 14th, 2008 at 8:17 am
as awesome as Lebron dunk was, it will not mean anything if they do not win tonight…If everybody show up they can win tonight and then on friday they could play on emotion again and win that game. but if one piece of this dismal puzzle is missing you could kiss the playoffs goodbye…the key to tonight game is wally’s scoring and defense on ray allen, ben’s and andy defense on kg and boobie scoring off the bench with help from joe smith, that is the key in my opinion, hell what do i know, im just alan.t…..yeah baaaaaaaaaaaaaby.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:20 am
by the way do anybody know what the next guy look like on this board. has a friendship arose from the posting and yall met at a local sports bar or even jullians, i bet some kind of fred and barney relationship came out of the posting on bw’s sports blog, not that is surreal stuff.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I wonder if Windy gave Shaq that second place vote for most improved. He may have figured no one else would.
Wishful Thinking Dept.: I think the Celtics might start out tight tonight, then come storming back and make it white-knuckle close at the end. LeBron will break out of his shooting slump with 40+ pts. and win it with a tough layup over Garnett in the final seconds.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Thanks so much Tuck for telling me about shoving a footsy in my mouth (something you’re all too familiar with given your past experiences with neurological disorders). And thanks too for the revelation that there are 82 games–I don’t know what I would do without you! I thought the season just started in May–I wondered why these scrimmages were running since last fall. I don’t know who KJ is, but i’m guessing this is once again your narcissistic ego taking over thinking there is “one” single poster who thinks you’re an idiot, who dawns a million aliases. That preserves your fragile self-defenses so much better, doesn’t it? And I really feel humbled to see Rondo was voted 6th most improved player, somehow above Chris Paul. It doesn’t matter if he was voted first, when the fact is he’s doing jack for the Celtics in the playoffs, and the Cavs still don’t have to pay him any defensive attention. He’s taken 38 shots against the Cavs while Ray Allen has only taken 36. But you keep believing it isn’t the fact that the Cavs purposely just leave him wide open to shoot himself down. Because I’m sure the Celtics truly planned to have him be more integral to the offense than Allen.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
One more thing about Rondo, and then I’ll let it go … When Garnett was out hurt, that kid played absolutely terrific. That proved to me that it’s not just the people around him, this kid has real skills. Even his shot improved to nearly 50% during the season. Once he develops a long-range game instead of just a short and mid-range game, like Rip Hamilton eventually did, and combine that with his defense and rebounding, he is going to be tough to handle.
By the way, larry, I’d noticed that Shaq thing, too. It does have that Windy/Pavlovic “I’m going going to vote for him because nobody else will” scent to it. What a wasted vote. LeBron himself deserved a most-improved vote more than Shaq, so you have to wonder what that voter’s intent was. But I do enjoy watching and listening to everything that big guy does and says. In a perfect world, LeBron would swear at that munchkin Michele Tafoya instead of swearing at his mom and screwing restaurant staffs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-BoeBedZ3k
May 14th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Somehow I do believe that if the this Rondo dude was on the Cavaliers roster, and voted 6th in a useless most improved category, our beloved yet utterly moronic comaguy would be berating him every chance he got, which would be about 20 times a day on this blog.
But because he plays for another team and the Cavs are playing this other team, this Rondo dude is like the best thing since last years coma emergency that he was brave enough to live through.
Give it a rest coma coma, we all know that the Cavs and their players and their coaching and their ownership and their fans and their dining habits and their travel plans and everything is always wrong in your sorry excuse of a life. Yet, some insignificant useless tool who wouldn’t make the Cavs roster (not just this Rondo dude but countless others whom you’ve put on a pedestal just for the mere fact they don’t play for the Cavs) is your answer to improving the team.
You still are living in a comatose world.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I’m not putting him on a pedestal, you disruptive twit. In fact, I didn’t even raise this point, no pun intended, since before the regular season started. I simply responded to what somebody else directed at me, which was yanked straight out of the clear blue from their very own tooshie. Before the season, I said I liked the Celtics’ point guard situation, that Rondo would really improve once they got rid of Telfair. He did. I said Gibson wasn’t a point guard. I still believe that. What’s your point?
May 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
from what i have seen in this series i’m not so sure rondo is a point guard either.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
The inconsistency of the Cavs between road and home games is ALMOST as staggering as the night and day act of the ‘fans’ on this blog. If the Cavs win, everyone is sunshine and roses. If they drop one, the world is coming to an end, Mike Brown should be secretly murdered, and the whole team needs replaced. The worst kind of fan support. We got your back as long as you win every game. Disgusting.
Ya know, Alan just might be mentally handicapped, it’s utterly possible at this point, but at least he’s consistent. Some of you with this jekyll/hyde crap are ridiculous.
Alan, come on, the Cavs thoroughly outplay your beloved Celtics, Mike Brown coaches circles around Doc, and all without the help of LeBron’s scoring prowess, and you give us a weak argument about Rondo being an improved player? You’re such a joke.
Here’s the reality of this series, which I outlined long ago during the regular season. Other than Kevin Garnett, who on this Celtics team would you really say is better, by position, than the guys the Cavs have? Allow me to break it down:
- Rondo/Cassell - West/Gibson… Cleveland has more scoring punch, better outside shooting, and I would argue that West is every bit the defender Rondo is. While the other 3 are very quick, Cassell almost needs a wheelchair to get up and down at this point. Adv. Cleveland.
- Allen/Posey - Wally/Devin/Sasha… The Ray Allen and Wally matchup thru 4 games is a draw, although Wally is averaging 17 ppg in this series and deserves some serious credit for Allen’s disappearing act in this series. Posey is a better player than either Devin or Sasha, but it’s hard to grade this matchup because Devin and Sasha have been glued to the bench. Wally has been the best of the bunch, so this is a ‘push’.
- Pierce - LeBron… Come on, be serious. Pierce can carry LeBron’s golf clubs this summer, and that’s about it. BIG ADV. Cleveland
- Garnett/PJ Brown - Wallace/Joe Smith… Obviously Garnett has been huge, and he’s the ONLY future HOFer on Boston’s team as far as I’m concerned. With that said, Ben has been lights out other than his little nasal flare up, and Joe Smith has been sensational. Only because KG has been so good, slight adv. Boston
- Perkins/Powe - Z/Andy… This one is funny when you think about it. Perkins, and any other Boston center for that matter, has been pretty much non-existent in this series. However, Z is one of the few pure centers left in this league, and a damn good one who’s dominating this series inside, and he gets all this heat in Cleveland. I’ll never get it. Andy was superb on Garnett in game 4, now let’s see him do it again. Adv Cleveland
- Doc Rivers - Mike Brown… I’ll take the guy with the matching glasses and the spit cup. The adjustments he made the last 2 games, OFFENSIVELY, have paid huge dividends. Time for some of you to man up and admit the guy does a great job in the postseason. Adv Cleveland
The series? Cleveland in 7. Like I said all along.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Doc Rivers is so inept. We complain far too much about Mike Brown, but Doc Rivers is truly a sorry excuse of a coach. Man… the only reason that the Hawks series went to 7 was because Doc was stupid enough to tell his guys to close out on the three point shooters and defend them tight. If he just tried to shrink the middle, the Celtics would have won in 4 or 5. At least Mike Brown can coach well on defense.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I don’t even think Rondo’s short-midrange game is average. I’d call it below-average. When the pressure is on he can’t make 15 footers. I’d leave him open any day, a la Eric Snow (albeit not quite as bad as Snow).
May 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Josh … My beloved Celtics? Since when? The only thing Irish Catholic about me is my love of baked potatoes with salted butter.
And how have the Cavaliers thoroughly outplayed the Celtics? People have such short memories. The Cavs sucked the first two games, the Celtics sucked the latter two games. Or don’t you remember Game 2? Seems to me the only thing that sucks is how all the NBA teams, with the exception of the Pistons, are performing on different courts.
I still think the Celtics will win in 6 or 7, just as I originally wrote. My mind hasn’t changed. If I end up being wrong, then I end up being wrong. When Brown took James out of the game in Game 4, the Cavs fell apart. The Cavs aren’t outplaying the Celtics, James is just too damn good. If Ferry signed J.J. Redick, then Redick could do the exact same thing as the Cavs’ guards. Good grief, they’re wide open.
And Mike Brown “coaches circles,” although not at all your intent, is actually a very apt description of the way that guy coaches. I don’t think they’d perform any differently if James was their player-coach, like a latter-day Bill Russell or Lenny Wilkins.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
“I still think the Celtics will win in 6 or 7, just as I originally wrote. My mind hasn’t changed. If I end up being wrong, then I end up being wrong.”
No comaguy, you are wrong here. If you end up being wrong, like last year, you may just lapse into a coma again until its safe to come back out and start bashing next season.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I just have to pass this on. It is pure comedic genius by Bill Simmons (man, does he hate Doc Rivers). Yeah, I know he is a Boston homer, he is also an outstanding writer and this is one of his top 5 columns of all time in my book. Guarantee you will laugh a lot, no need to thank me.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080514
Go Cavs!
May 14th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
LeCavalier, Rondo shot almost 50% during the season. That’s not below-average. Regardless, he doesn’t have a long track record of good shooting, so it does make sense for the Cavaliers to double-team a better guy while he’s on the perimeter, and chance that Rondo will take the open shot and clang it. But that’s why Cassell is now there. It’s also worth it to Boston to play the odds and let James take open three-pointers.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Rick, you disruptive twit. Much like jock itch, you never seem to go away. Don’t they make an ointment?
May 14th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
This forum is like KG with all the name-calling and chest-beating. It seems like some of you guys hate the Cavs. If you do, why watch? Even more important, why go onto the comments section of a blog and spout the venom?
This team may be flawed, but they sure are fun to watch when they hit on all cylinders.
come on cavs! gotta make it happen!
May 14th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Alan, take a look at this detailed hot zone for Rondo:
http://www.nba.com/hotzones/popup.html
This is from 2006-2007 (nba.com discontinued it for this season). While it may not be this season’s chart, i think it’s a fair indication of what kind of shots he typically takes.
His fg% improved from last year (41) to this year (app 49). I’d venture to say the increase in percentage is due to more shots in the paint.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
[...] Brian Windhorst, Akron Beacon Journal: "It was a flashback to five years ago late in the first half when Gloria James jumped in from her courtside seat to defend LeBron after Pierce’s hard foul on a breakaway sent him into the seats. When LeBron was a senior in high school he was undercut on a dunk by Roy Hall and Gloria went out on the floor after Hall. She’s been pretty tame since, until this moment. She ran right up to Garnett and got in his face. KG was cool about it, he was telling her to settle down. Then LeBron got up, saw her and he yelled: "Sit your a– down." Classic. Here’s what he said about it after the game: "Even though that is my mother, you can’t have fans going after players like that. The Commissioner doesn’t care if it is your mother, I can’t afford her not to be at every last one of my games. I told her to sit down in language I shouldn’t have used. Thank God today wasn’t Mother’s Day." [...]