Cavs-Wizards 1st round playoff series

[crazybuckfan40]

Barkley made a good point that Jamison could have easily cut him off and double-teamed Lebron. What he neglected to mention was that if Antawn had done that, Lebron would have barrelled into him, and would have gotten two foul shots out of it.

DING DING DING we have a winner. I was thinking that the entire time that he was saying that, and the thing that really irked me, was the fact that they didnt once mention that there is maybe 3 players tops in the NBA that would of been able to make that play. They just continued to say how bad the D was on the play.

 

[akronbuck]

:)

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

5/4/06

Star guard has 45; Arenas scores 44

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->CLEVELAND - LeBron James' sense of timing is growing with his greatness.
The Cavaliers' superstar delivered another heart-stopping basket in another crucial game Wednesday, a driving layup with less than a second to play in overtime to carry the Cavs to a 121-120 Game 5 victory over the Washington Wizards.
It saved what could've been a ruinous game in which the Cavs blew a late lead in regulation and were on life support, down by a point with 3.6 seconds left in overtime. James scored 45 points, one-upping his 41 points and game-winning basket in Game 3, which the Cavs also eked out.
His final drive sent him down the baseline, his Nikes nearly touching the out-of-bounds stripe as he slipped past Antawn Jamison. In mid-air, he repositioned and got space for the easy hoop.
It is a moment that will forever be remembered in Cavs lore and will go down in infamy in Washington, because it came so easy. Especially after a battle that saw 28 lead changes.
``It would've been devastating to lose; it could've sunk our ship,'' James said. ``I didn't want to catch and fire up a jumper, I wanted to get to the rim.''
The details and heroes were numerous for both sides.
But what is most important is that the Cavs have fought their way to a 3-2 series lead. Since 1947, when the NBA started playing seven-game series, the team that won Game 5 to break a 2-2 tie has won 107-of-128 times. Friday, the Wizards will have their season on the line back in Washington.
James edged his resilient counterpart, Gilbert Arenas, who played the best playoff game of his career by scoring 44 points. His free throws with 3.6 seconds left in overtime gave the Wizards the lead.
Larry Hughes had one of his best games as a Cav with 24 points, carrying the Cavs with big baskets all game.
Eric Snow scored a season-high 18 points, including the Cavs' first six in overtime. Flip Murray had 10 huge points in the third quarter to keep the Cavs in it when James was on the bench with fouls.
On the Wizards' side, Jamison had a huge night with 32 points. He made 13-of-24 shots. Caron Butler scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime before fouling out.
Uncomfortably ahead by seven points with just 1:18 left to play in regulation, the Cavs let the Wizards work back into the game. Antonio Daniels drove and created a three-point play and Butler hit two layups to complete a 7-0 run to force overtime.
The Cavs didn't get a basket for the final 2:40 and James committed a crucial turnover that led to the tying basket when Butler tipped a pass to start a break. He also missed a jumper at the buzzer that could've won it.
The Cavs' game plan was simple and effective. Instead of settling for perimeter jumpers, a downfall in the Game 4 loss, they wanted to attack the basket.
They found the Wizards' interior defense soft, as advertised, and were able to get easy baskets or draw fouls. The Cavs scored 50 points in the paint and earned 43 trips to the foul line.
It was a grand plan, except they seemed to duplicate the Wizards' effort on the defensive end. Washington was able to get into the lane for easy baskets or kick out for open shots. They also got 50 points in the paint and got to the line 29 times. As a result, the game was played at more the Wizards' speed.
But the game was close, where the Cavs have been dominant of late, having won 15 of their last 17 games decided by four points or less. And the game was at home, where the Cavs have won 12-of-13. In the end, those trends held true.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

5/4/06

Even commissioner comes to see Cavaliers

By Tom Reed

<!-- begin body-content -->CLEVELAND - David Stern was stumped.
The loquacious and polished NBA commissioner thought hard about the question. Stern's training as an attorney has taught him to prepare for almost anything, but not even the deep recesses of his memory could produce an answer to the following query:
When is the last time he attended a playoff game in Cleveland?
``I'm trying to remember,'' Stern said. ``My goodness. It must have been a (Detroit) Pistons game. I'll have to check my records.''
His records will reflect the Cavaliers have never played the Pistons in the postseason. No matter. The important thing is, he showed up Wednesday night for the caffeinated Game 5 of the Cavaliers-Washington Wizards series.
Stern came to town for the biggest game played in Quicken Loans Arena's unremarkable 12-year history.
Stern came here to see LeBron James, the 21-year-old star who has resurrected a franchise and who continues to broaden the NBA's global appeal.
Guess you couldn't quite say the same thing of the Shawn Kemp-era Cavs, huh?
Nobody needed to ask the commish if he is a Witness.
``Obviously, he has come in with an enormous amount of hype and exceeded expectations,'' Stern said. ``But you get judged by your body of work. He's 21 and obviously he's got a lot of work to do. He is no doubt a great player, but Michael (Jordan) wasn't Michael until he won consistently and went deep into the playoffs.''
James and the Cavs probably are a few years from such runs. It hasn't tempered the enthusiasm of three consecutive sellout crowds at the Q, however, or the national intrigue James attracts.
Someone asked Stern if he could gauge James' impact on the NBA in relation to Jordan's final comeback attempt (2001-03) with the Wizards.
Stern cited three consecutive seasons of league-wide attendance records. He also mentioned national TV ratings that have held steady.
Want tangible evidence of the James phenomenon?
On a night the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Pistons played the Milwaukee Bucks, they were made the jayvee game in TNT's doubleheader to a pair of teams with one combined series win since 1993.
``We've got great, great players who have revitalized their franchises,'' Stern said in reference to James and the Wizards' Gilbert Arenas, 24.
``It's good to see Cleveland and Washington. I'm very impressed how (Cavs owner) Dan Gilbert and his ownership group have reconstructed every aspect of the franchise... '' to improve it.
The atmosphere and energy level Stern witnessed Wednesday night are part of the reason Gilbert purchased the Cavaliers a year ago for $375 million. It was a franchise that until James' arrival in 2003 led the league only in losses and empty seats.
The commissioner realizes how much star power means to the NBA. Stern said how nice it would have been to see the Memphis Grizzlies win at least one playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks. He even did it with a straight face.
Stern knows the lack of marquee names in last season's Pistons-San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals helped to contribute to poor TV ratings. Fans might claim to like team basketball, but in a nation fixated on the glorified karaoke that is American Idol, it also needs individual drawing cards.
It's why Stern's office understandably took quick action in suspending the Phoenix Suns' Raja Bell for his hit on Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers during Tuesday night's playoff game.
``There was no basketball play there,'' Stern said. ``You can tell me about the manliness of the act and I would argue the point and say it was an unmanly act.''
Stern observed no such hatchetry Wednesday, but he was in the presence of two teams that have criticized the officiating.
The commissioner said the gamesmanship is not as severe or widespread as it was a decade ago, when Phil Jackson's Bulls and Pat Riley's New York Knicks traded conspiracy theories. But with high-profile players like Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal already drawing fines, Stern concedes the criticism has ``a corrosive effect on fan confidence.''
James is among those who have questioned offensive fouls assessed to him. Perhaps it helps to have selective hearing as commissioner.
What Stern hears from the charismatic James is a player who says all the right things -- however programmed or canned -- to promote the NBA in ``215 countries and 43 languages,'' according to Stern. The commish can quote those figures but can't recall the last time he came to Cleveland in the springtime?
One more victory against the Wizards, and Stern's answer of the Pistons could be accurate after all.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

5/4/06

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT: When going gets tough, Cavs happy to let it snow

Thursday, May 4, 2006


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]SPORTS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER[/FONT]


CLEVELAND - When the old man of the Cavaliers finished lacing up his sneakers for another night in May, it was hard to tell what sparkled more.
Eric Snow’s bald head, or his boyish smile. It was easy to see what beat.
His heart.
Snow’s 33rd birthday was 10 days ago. He knows the basketball gods don’t keep guys on an NBA court much longer.
So Snow went about Game 5 like he has the previous four. Leaving skin on the floor and with an empty tank by the time the game ended. See, he knows what playoff basketball is about.
And when crucial Game 5 went into overtime, it was the old man — not the young man — who took over. Snow scored Cleveland’s first 6 points in overtime and a finished with a season-high 18.
After his key role in Wednesday night’s 121-120 overtime win against the Wizards in Game 5, Snow knees were wrapped in ice.
More than his scoring (13 points above his season average) was Snow’s attitude. When his team blew a 7-point lead in 64 seconds, Snow didn’t hang his head.
He encouraged his teammates. When Cleveland hit a lull at the start of overtime, Snow jump-started the offense.
“Eric Snow has been great the whole playoffs,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “He is talking to the guys and saying the right thing to them in the huddle and practice. He has the most playoff experience on this team.
“We need his toughness and his grittiness. We need his intellect in a game like this. He’s a pro’s pro and he was huge tonight.”
He’s been here. No one on the floor in this series against Washington has as much playoff experience as Snow. During pregame ceremonies, the large screen that hangs in the middle of the court begins a highlight film.
The camera pans in on Snow and fades into a quick shot of McKinley Senior High School.
“Tradition.”
The Cavs are trying to build one.
Snow is teaching the younger players on this team how it’s done.
“More than anything, you have to encourage guys,” Snow said. “When it comes to the playoffs, and as the series goes on, it’s about intensity.
“Who’s going to maintain it the longest? Who’s going to be a little bit better than the other guys? Who’s going to pay attention to detail? It’s the hustle game now. It all the things that people never see in the box score. You win those, you win the series.”
This series turned Wednesday night. They called it the best player (LeBron) against the best team (Washington). That changed Wednesday.
Cleveland became a team.
The Cavs were up 63-62 when James went to the bench for the rest of the third quarter. He sat nearly seven minutes with four fouls and watched the rest of his teammates — Larry Hughes, Flip Murray — walk into the Q and realize playoff basketball had broken out in Cleveland. Cleveland, without LeBron, took an 85-81 lead at the end of the third. (Someone send Zydrunas Ilgauskas a playoff invitation, though.)
“I wouldn’t say guys are playing harder now ... because a lot of them have never been through this,” Snow said. “I know guys play hard all the time, but when you’re playing the same team every night, you have to bring the intensity.”
It’s there. Look at Snow’s eyes in the fourth quarter.
It was there with 4:45 left in regulation when Snow took a charge from Caron Butler. It was there in the second quarter when he laid out for a loose ball.
After the game, after LeBron blew past three Wizards, drove the baseline and laid in the game-winner, Snow wasn’t finished.
He huddled with LeBron. The 21-year-old is learning, still. Snow is teaching.
“Look, I don’t know how many more of these I’ll have left,” Snow said. “This team could decide they want to go in a more youthful direction. But I know while I’m in it, I’m going to enjoy it.”
Before he had to go, though, he added one more thing. “And we’re (emphasis on we’re) going to work hard for it.” Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]


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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

5/4/06

Cavaliers notebook: Jackson to have surgery today

Thursday, May 4, 2006


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Cavaliers notebook MIKE POPOVICH[/FONT]



CLEVELAND - Luke Jackson has suffered another setback.
The Cavaliers guard will undergo surgery today at the Cleveland Clinic to repair a herniated disc in his back. Jackson’s injury is unrelated to the herniated disc that was operated on in January 2005, from which he recovered.
Jackson had complained of worsening right leg and back pain during the past week. Surgery was recommended after X-rays and an MRI revealed a herniated disc.
“It’s just so hard to sit out and get surgery, but it’s something I need to do,” said Jackson, who was inactive during the playoff series against the Wizards. “I’m glad I’m addressing it now.
“The encouraging thing is the first surgery was totally successful. The only other disc I had problems with that we were thinking about operating on the first time was this one. So if this one goes like the last one, I think I’m going to be all right.”
Jackson’s first back surgery cost him the final four months of his rookie year. He also sat out two months this season because of a broken wrist.
The injuries have limited Jackson’s ability to show the Cavs the type of player they were getting after they selected him in the first round of the 2004 draft.
“Hopefully you guys will see a totally different player next year,” Jackson said. “That’s what I’m hoping for.
“There have been tons of guys I played against in college doing so well, and I know I’m better than a lot of those guys. I just haven’t had a chance to prove myself.”
Jackson’s recovery and rehabilitation from today’s surgery will take approximately four months. He is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in the fall.
“It’s unfortunate because of what he has gone through before, but you talk about a guy who attacks rehab the right way and has a positive outlook,” Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown said. “I don’t see any ounce of him doing things differently this time.”

SPECIAL GUESTS NBA greats George Gervin and Clyde Drexler attended Wednesday’s Game 5 at The Q. Earlier in the day, they attended Drew Gooden’s Reading & Learning Center at Cleveland’s East End Neighborhood House for a Read to Achieve Reading Time Out with 25 children. NBA Commissioner David Stern and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb also attended Wednesday’s game.
FINAL TALLY LeBron James finished 20th in balloting for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. He received a second- and third-place vote. Boris Diaw of Phoenix won the award.
SUMMER CAMP Lake High School and the Uniontown YMCA will host a Cleveland Cavaliers summer basketball camp for boys and girls ages 7-16 from July 10-14. The camp curriculum includes shot mechanics, ball handling, passing, defense and rebounding. There will be guest speakers, daily skill competitions, 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 games. Campers will receive a 2006-07 game ticket, a skills packet and a Cavs T-shirt, basketball and headband. For camp information, call (216) 378-0932. To register online, visit:
www.thebasketballacademy.com
or www.cavs.com Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail: [email protected]


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[WestEnd]

LeBron is The King. There's no two ways about it. What an unbelievable move to the basket and what a tought shot to make. I was screaming at him to take it the hole since halftime of game 4 ... he's let the charging calls make him tentative, but not on the last posession.

And HOW ABOUT eric snow. Talk about an unlikely hero stepping up and keeping the team in the ballgame in OT. I'm just going to let the last 4-5 posessions of regulation slide.

Larry Hughes and Flip Murray showed a flash of their potential as a backcourt tandem in the third. I don't think either of them really play that well off the baseline, and when Lebron is on the floor, they are put in uncomfortable positions. In the third quarter they were playing together and really attacking the basket and getting good looks.

Before the series started, I said I thought the cavs were going to have trouble with the wizards frontcourt, which presents matchup problems for the cavs (mostly due to our youth and inexperience in gooden and varejeo and slowness in Z). They've been playing inconsistantly, but they are contributing enough for us to win. How about Varejeo's minutes in that extended stretch in the second when the wizards went small ... those were some good minutes. I also loved the way he stood up to Etan Thomas when Hughes was given the rough foul. I hoped this series would be key in molding Andy into a "man" in the NBA, and he's showing that if nobody else wants to be the tough guy, he'll be the tough guy.

Finally, I have to say that while the whole HD expereince is cool and all, you can't underestimate the potential of well done surround sound. Nothing will ever beat hearing the BULL-SHIT chant grow out of the back right speaker and slowly surround me in my friends living room as it enveloped the arena. I actually felt like I was at the Q.

Great Win.

 

[buckeyeboy]

How 'Bron's winner developed


By Chris Sheridan, ESPN Insider


<!-- template inline -->CLEVELAND -- LeBron James got all the way to the basket for the game-winner for two reasons: Because he's LeBron James, and because his opponents were scared.
The Wizards were not scared of James, mind you. At least not any more scared than they should have been.
But they were afraid of the referees.
<!---------------------INLINE TABLE (BEGIN)---------------------><TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000">Playoff Schedule</TH><TR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ececec" vAlign=top><TD width=194>Western Conf. First Round
L.A. Lakers 3, Phoenix 2
Game 6: Thu., 10:30 ET, at LAL
San Antonio 3, Sacramento 2
Game 6: Fri., 10 ET, at SAC
Dallas 4, Memphis 0
Next: Mavs play Spurs-Kings winner
L.A. Clippers 4, Denver 1
Next: Clips play Suns-Lakers winner
Eastern Conf. First Round
New Jersey 3, Indiana 2
Game 6: Thu., 7 ET, at IND
Miami 3, Chicago 2
Game 6: Thu., 8 ET, at CHI
Cleveland 3, Washington 2
Game 6: Fri., 8 ET, at WAS
Detroit 4, Milwaukee 1
Next: Pistons play Cavs-Wiz winner • The full playoff schedule
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!---------------------INLINE TABLE (END)--------------------->"I tried to get there," said Antawn Jamison, whose failure to completely cut off the baseline allowed James to tiptoe around him and get to the hoop for the layup with 0.9 seconds left that gave Cleveland a 121-120 victory over the Wizards for a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series. "I didn't expect him to catch and then go like he did, and if I would have moved any more closer [to the baseline], it would have been a foul."
Jamison wasn't the only Washington defender afraid of running afoul of an officiating crew that whistled 61 fouls, sent the Cavs to the line 43 times (Washington shot 29) and sent starters Caron Butler and Jared Jeffries to the bench with their sixth personal fouls.
"We set it up that we didn't want the ball go to the baseline, period," Jamison said. "We wanted it to go to the top of the key. It went to the baseline and kind of caught me off guard, and he took advantage of that. But the plan was for the ball to not even get into the corner, and unfortunately we had one of the biggest breakdowns at a crucial point in the game."
Cleveland coach Mike Brown had drawn up an inbounds play to get the ball to James in the left corner, and he credited Larry Hughes with making a superb pass around Brendan Haywood to get the ball into the hands of the player everyone knew would be getting the last shot.
So why did the Wizards allow James to get the ball in exactly the spot he wanted?
"We definitely wanted it to go away from the short corner. That's the easiest place to hit a bucket when they're taking the ball out on the sideline," Haywood said. "But [Hughes] was able to lean to the side a little and avoid my arm and get it to LeBron.
"I wanted to avoid [encroaching on Hughes] out of bounds. The referee was really on me about not crossing that line, or he was going to call a tech," Haywood said.
A savvier player would have known that no official in his right mind was going to call a technical foul for overcrowding the inbounder with 3.6 seconds left in overtime of a critical postseason game. (OK, Joey Crawford might have the guts to make that call, but no one else would).
But that small seed of doubt in Haywood's mind, along with Jamison's caution-fueled decision to set up his defensive position a half-foot from where he should have, gave James both the ball and the opening he needed.
"I had enough time to visualize the best way to get to the hoop. I saw Antawn closing out hard, but I had enough room on that baseline. If I had a size 18 or 19 shoe, I wouldn't have made it. But I wear a 16, and I was able to tightrope and get it in," James said.
James finished with 45 points, going 17-for-18 from the line, to overcome 44 points from Gilbert Arenas, 32 from Jamison and 20 from Butler. The Cavs frittered away a seven-point lead in the final 1:18 of regulation ("We got soft," James said) to give the Wizards an extra chance they never should have had, but Washington responded in kind with the kind of mental softness -- fearing the referees -- that helped give James the two tiny slivers of daylight he needed. • Talk back to... The Daily Dime gang

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-060504

____________________________________________________________

This article irritates me like crazy. The author acts like the refs gave LeBron the benefit of the doubt the whole game, and if they hadn't then the Wizards would have been able to stop LeBron on the last play. That's a bunch of B.S. First, if there's any player in this series that just lowers his shoulder, barrels into a defender, throws the ball up, and gets the whistle, it's Arenas, not LeBron. Second, I don't want to hear anything about LeBron getting favorable treatment, because his second foul (in which he was called for a charge after he drove to the hoop without lowering his shoulder and Arenas slid in front of him, clearly not having established position) and fourth foul (in which he was called for a block even though he had clearly established position and Arenas pulled his patented barreling through the lane totally out of control, lowered his shoulder and slammed into LeBron) were ridiculous calls.

 

[OSUScoonie12]

I wish i would have stayed up to watch this game, but i had a damn job interview at 8am. Oh well, go Lakers tonight!!

 

[exhawg]

Who'd of thought that the most important play of the game (not counting the game winner) was Lebron getting his 4th foul with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. That was the worst call of the game BTW. I really liked what I saw out of Snow, Hughes, and Murray when Lebron was out. It looked like it took Lebron leaving the game to get those guys to play some offense. If they could just play like that when Lebron is in the game the Cavs would be a much better team. I think the offense lags when Lebron is in the game because everyone just wants to give him the ball and let him do something. When he is out they actually run an offense so that the Wizards didn't know who was going to be making the play.

 

[scarletngrey11]

Washington Times Bitch

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At times, crying pays

By Tom Knott
May 4, 2006

CLEVELAND. -- LeBron James skipped down the floor like a little baby after incurring a player-control foul late in the first half of Game 5 last night.
This is the face of the NBA?
This is not a face anyone should have to see.
The only item missing from this sad, sorry spectacle was a stuffed animal.
As wimpy as this display was, there were others.
And these shallow bursts of immaturity seemed to work on the decision-making abilities of referees Bernie Fryer, Mark Wunderlich and Joe Forte in the early going.
The trio indulged every whimper of the Cleveland Crybabies.
It is a wonder the referees did not hold the Crybabies close to their bosoms.
James was the Most Valuable Crybaby, as he employed a wide variety of tormented faces.
He probably would have squirted tears if he thought it was necessary to persuade the referees to see things his way.
James ran over Jared Jeffries just before halftime, and the referees awarded James with a blocking call.
Although this was an atrocious call, it at least did not decide the game.

The referees did not require James to dribble the ball in Game 3, as he covered a vast amount of territory before hitting the game-winning shot.
The Crybabies led the Wizards by one point at halftime because of their never-ending appeals to the referees that led to a startling free throw discrepancy. The Crybabies had 25 free throw attempts to the Wizards' eight after 24 minutes.
Their capacity to find issue with the seemingly innocuous was rich.
James missed a shot at the end of the first quarter and promptly raced to Wunderlich to say how all kinds of physical harm had been done to him.
Referees try not to let these acts of absurdity persuade them. But they are human. Put them in front of a raucous crowd that roars its disapproval after each call it finds objectionable and the referees are apt to succumb to the tide of emotion.
Officiating has come to be one of the dominating themes in this series, perhaps predictably, because of the competitiveness of both teams.
The most significant play in the series remains the non-call on James' traveling violation that decided Game 3.
Make the correct call there and the Wizards would be up 3-2 in the series instead of down by the same.
It would not be surprising to see the referees return the favor in Game 6 on Fun Street tomorrow night.
Even with the shaky officiating, the Wizards found themselves in an unthinkable position with 6:53 left in the third quarter -- down one point and James headed to the bench with his fourth foul.
James sat out the rest of the quarter, and instead of grabbing the moment, the Wizards allowed Flip Murray to be James and reverted to their schoolyard tendencies.
The Cavaliers scored 22 points, 10 by Murray, in the last 6:53 to take an 85-81 lead.
That 6:53 lapse contributed to the demise of the Wizards.
The inability of the Wizards to act with extreme prejudice around a wounded opponent overshadowed the quality shooting performances of Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison.
Arenas scored only two points in the fourth quarter after the Cavaliers made the adjustment to double him at the top of the circle. Arenas attempted only two shots in the quarter.
Yet the Wizards managed to overcome a seven-point deficit with 1:18 left in regulation.
Antonio Daniels converted a 3-point play, Caron Butler had a put-back and layup, while James threw the ball away and missed a 20-footer at the buzzer.
Butler, who struggled in the first three quarters, eventually found his stride before fouling out in overtime.
Arenas first stole the ball from Larry Hughes and converted a layup and then hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left in overtime to put the Wizards up by one.
But it was James who had the final say.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

At times, crying pays

By Tom Knott
May 4, 2006

CLEVELAND. -- LeBron James skipped down the floor like a little baby after incurring a player-control foul late in the first half of Game 5 last night.
This is the face of the NBA?
This is not a face anyone should have to see.
The only item missing from this sad, sorry spectacle was a stuffed animal.
As wimpy as this display was, there were others.
And these shallow bursts of immaturity seemed to work on the decision-making abilities of referees Bernie Fryer, Mark Wunderlich and Joe Forte in the early going.
The trio indulged every whimper of the Cleveland Crybabies.
It is a wonder the referees did not hold the Crybabies close to their bosoms.
James was the Most Valuable Crybaby, as he employed a wide variety of tormented faces.
He probably would have squirted tears if he thought it was necessary to persuade the referees to see things his way.
James ran over Jared Jeffries just before halftime, and the referees awarded James with a blocking call.
Although this was an atrocious call, it at least did not decide the game.

The referees did not require James to dribble the ball in Game 3, as he covered a vast amount of territory before hitting the game-winning shot.
The Crybabies led the Wizards by one point at halftime because of their never-ending appeals to the referees that led to a startling free throw discrepancy. The Crybabies had 25 free throw attempts to the Wizards' eight after 24 minutes.
Their capacity to find issue with the seemingly innocuous was rich.
James missed a shot at the end of the first quarter and promptly raced to Wunderlich to say how all kinds of physical harm had been done to him.
Referees try not to let these acts of absurdity persuade them. But they are human. Put them in front of a raucous crowd that roars its disapproval after each call it finds objectionable and the referees are apt to succumb to the tide of emotion.
Officiating has come to be one of the dominating themes in this series, perhaps predictably, because of the competitiveness of both teams.
The most significant play in the series remains the non-call on James' traveling violation that decided Game 3.
Make the correct call there and the Wizards would be up 3-2 in the series instead of down by the same.
It would not be surprising to see the referees return the favor in Game 6 on Fun Street tomorrow night.
Even with the shaky officiating, the Wizards found themselves in an unthinkable position with 6:53 left in the third quarter -- down one point and James headed to the bench with his fourth foul.
James sat out the rest of the quarter, and instead of grabbing the moment, the Wizards allowed Flip Murray to be James and reverted to their schoolyard tendencies.
The Cavaliers scored 22 points, 10 by Murray, in the last 6:53 to take an 85-81 lead.
That 6:53 lapse contributed to the demise of the Wizards.
The inability of the Wizards to act with extreme prejudice around a wounded opponent overshadowed the quality shooting performances of Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison.
Arenas scored only two points in the fourth quarter after the Cavaliers made the adjustment to double him at the top of the circle. Arenas attempted only two shots in the quarter.
Yet the Wizards managed to overcome a seven-point deficit with 1:18 left in regulation.
Antonio Daniels converted a 3-point play, Caron Butler had a put-back and layup, while James threw the ball away and missed a 20-footer at the buzzer.
Butler, who struggled in the first three quarters, eventually found his stride before fouling out in overtime.
Arenas first stole the ball from Larry Hughes and converted a layup and then hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left in overtime to put the Wizards up by one.
But it was James who had the final say.

=


Nice that there is no mention of Eddie Jordan crying to the media.

 

[scarletngrey11]

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20060428-123144-2378r.htm

Wizards must continue to challenge LeBron

By Tom Knott
April 28, 2006


The Wizards cannot ease up on LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Game 3 on Fun Street tonight.
The Wizards must continue to treat James like the 21-year-old playoff beginner that he is. They must foul him again and again until he returns to safer distances from the rim, as he did in Game 2.
James pretends to be a bad man, but he is only a bad man if he is having his way around the basket. Jared Jeffries fouled James with conviction and made him eat a shot. Brendan Haywood was equally firm in his foul on James.
Now, of course, James has had three days to hear how he backed away after the two hard fouls. He has had three days to process the criticism and come to terms with the news that he is involved in a genuine playoff series.
So you can expect James to renew his sense of purpose around the basket, and the Wizards are going to have to accept the assignment again.
They are going to have to put this man down again; put him down with extreme prejudice; put him down with fire in their eyes and callousness in their hearts. They are going to have to let him know that it is not his time, not now, not in this series, not in Tony Cheng's neighborhood.
The Wizards also would be wise to recall how it was after Game?1, when James fashioned a triple-double and much of the NBA nation decided the series was done.
The Cavaliers were destined to sweep the Wizards at that point. You could have thought the Wizards would not return to Cleveland to play Game 2.
But the Wizards showed up ready to scrap, as you suspected they would. They claimed homecourt advantage in the series, and they exposed the coronation of James as premature.
This series is all theirs now if they continue to beat on James. And Haywood is correct. You cannot merely slap James on the wrist. He is too strong for that. You have to hit him as if you are a linebacker. You have to knock him around until he capitulates and you are inside his head.
That was an odd sight late in Game 2. There was James with the ball, the Cavaliers down three points, and there he was dumping the ball to Anderson Varejao in the 3-second lane.
Now you could make several observations about Varejao, all of it related to his follicles, because he is defined by them. You could wonder if his hair stylist wears a Hazmat suit around him. You also could wonder if both the hair stylist and Varejao believe he is one happening dude after his grooming is completed.
But the one thing you have not observed in Varejao is the ability to be a go-to player with the seconds ticking down and his team in need of three points instead of two. But who knows? Maybe James thought Varejao would rub the ball against his magical hair before completing a three-point play.
That is where James' head was near the end of Game 2.
He passed the ball to the guy with all the hair, and Gilbert Arenas stripped the ball away before the guy with all the hair tripped over his locks and fouled Antawn Jamison.
James probably will not make that mistake again.
Maybe next time he will pass the ball to Eric Snow, who has a lot of peacock in him for someone who averaged 4.8 points a game this season.
No matter what James does at the end of a game, good or bad, Danny Ferry, Mike Brown, the mayor of Cleveland and the governor of Ohio are obligated to say that he is a beautiful human being, the male equivalent of Mother Teresa.
And they are right. His 10 turnovers in Game 2 did look beautiful to Washington.

This guy is the definition of a fuckhead.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

That article is a joke. There isnt any mention of the Wizards crying about the calls. Hell their coach even cried to the media. It isnt our fault that they were fouling us while we were taking it to the rack.

I will agree that they were being nitpicky, but it was going both ways. There were fouls called on us that made me go WTF and fouls on them that made me go WTF.

I am really glad that all news sources will not give credit to LBJ for doing anything.

He made that incredible shot in game 3, and yes it was a travel, but that would of been an incredibly tough call to make watching it live especially when they were trying to watch the body and not a little skip of the right foot. Any ways he still had to hang in the air and make an incredible shot while getting fouled.

Then he makes an incredible drive around the guy last nite, and the only thing we hear is how horrible the D was or that they couldnt play D b/c they were scared to foul.

LBJ gets no respect at all for being the best all-around player in the league.

 

[scarletngrey11]

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20060426-124100-4442r.htm

Tough lesson for LeBron

By Tom Knott
April 26, 2006


CLEVELAND. -- The Wizards ignored the legend of LeBron James and defeated the Cavaliers 89-84 in Game 2 last night.
James let his inner wimp show after both Jared Jeffries and Brendan Haywood delivered hard fouls in the first quarter.
Each time James walked around the court as if he had been assaulted with a bat in a dark alley.
Each time the addle-brained crowd booed as if a crime against humanity had been committed.
And each time James' teammates walked toward the evil perpetrator and let the person know that this kind of wickedness would not be tolerated in this hardscrabble city.
Apparently, no one has let James and the Cavaliers know that these are the playoffs and hard fouls are permitted. In fact, hard fouls are encouraged.
After Anderson Varejao delivered a karate chop to Gilbert Arenas, the two-time All-Star guard did not even acknowledge it. He did not even look in the direction of the player known as the "Wild Thing" because of his crazy-looking hairdo. Why give the mop-topped one the satisfaction? His kind is sometimes hair today, gone tomorrow.
Unlike Arenas, James succumbed to his bad-man pose after each foul.
The poor thing walked around in a snit, making all sorts of ugly faces. He looked as if he was ready to burst into tears out of frustration. He wanted justice served. He wanted the mug shots of the criminals to be hung in the nearest post office.
It was as if James was saying, "How could they do this to me? Don't they know that I am the Messiah and that I discovered fire and then invented the wheel?"
The Wizards saw something important in those moments.
They saw a player who does not like to take a hit if he is not initiating it. They saw a player miss his next four shot attempts and commit two turnovers. They saw a player basically disappear in the second quarter.

All the true believers in the stands undoubtedly had a hard time accepting this. Their team has not been in the playoffs in eight years and they probably have forgotten what grind-it-out basketball is like in the playoffs.
And this was a grind-it-out affair.
Nothing came easy, not even a dunk attempt by James in the third quarter.
Legends are not born easily if the 21-year-old legend misses a dunk with no one around him.
But given the way James is perceived in these parts, it was the best missed dunk in the history of basketball, going back to the peach basket.
Missed dunks do not get any better than the principal trying to be creative in the open court, only to wind up jamming the ball against the rim.
And the legend grew even greater after Arenas dunked on the head of James a few minutes later.
James was stunned anew after he incurred his fourth foul after barreling into Jeffries with 2:17 left in the third quarter.
To see James jumping up and down after the whistle, frantically trying to explain the situation to a referee, he did not mean to be out of control, barely able to keep his balance before running into Jeffries.
The referee should have noted the good intentions of James and let him be on his way, not unlike the way police officers do if someone is driving 60 mph in a residential neighborhood.
This was not the legend's night. James took a number of bad shots. He missed a number of easy shots. He made too many poor decisions.
His worst decision was to try to save a ball from going out of bounds with 1:34 left.
Both James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas reached the ball at the same time, only to blindly throw it to Arenas, who converted a three-point play to give the Wizards an eight-point lead.
It is hard to be a legend in two playoff games.