I don’t know what was going on with LeBron James in game five of the Cavaliers and Celtics series the other night but he had better wake up.¬† He wasn’t decisive and focused on what he was doing.
He seemed to shoot with an attitude of indifference.¬† I felt like telling him, “If you’re going to shoot, then shoot.¬† If you’re going to pass then pass”.¬† There’s no excuse for James giving that kind of performance in such a big game.¬† Losing isn’t the worst thing that can happen.¬† Not giving yourself a chance to win is far worse.
He’s confident they can win tonight in Boston and ultimately come back to win this series.
“It’s win or go home at this point,” he ESPN yesterday. “All these guys understand what’s at stake and we look forward to it.”
My biggest criticism on the Cleveland squad is for Cavaliers’ coach Mike Brown.¬† He has done a terrible job of putting James in position to succeed.¬† First of all he shouldn’t take a 6’8″ physical monster like James and give him the ball some 30 feet from the basket.
It’s not a problem if he did this some time, but not play after play.¬† Why run a play that gets him the ball so far from the basket, when you could do that any time because the defense wants keep him away from the basket?¬† You’re doing them a favor.
Why doesn’t this guy post up sometime?¬† He’ll be able to get to the free throw line rather easily, if he gets the ball in the post.
The Cavs should be running plays and pounding the ball inside to James.¬† They also have one of the most dominant low post players in history in Shaquille ONeal on the roster.¬† Run an offense and don’t just run isolated plays for James.¬† Get the other guys involved in the offense.
Even if they’re not hitting from outside, they can get to the free throw line by pounding the ball inside and down low.
People crticize the Lakers great head coach Phil Jackson and say that he wins just because of his great personnel.  We can see by what is happening to the Cavs that Jackson is a big part of the Lakers winning ways.
He doesn’t simply isolate Kobe Bryant on a side or out on the top of the key.¬† They run their offense and Bryant is a part of it.¬† He can take his guy any time he wants, but most of the time he doesn’t unless he has to.
This allows his teammates to get involved.  They get their confidence and make their contributions.  If anything he helps them by restraining himself early in the game, then when the second half and the fourth quarter arrives, he starts taking it on his own more often, but they still run the offense.
Jackson did the same thing with Michael Jordan when they were with the Chicago Bulls.  He convinced Jordan that life would be easier for him if he ran the offense and allowed his teammates to get a chance to contribute.
Once the second half and fourth quarter arrived, Jordan took out his cape and played the Superman role, but only when it was necessary.  This kept his teammates involved and in the flow of the game.
If the Cavs lose the series to the Celtics and wind up losing LeBron, the guy they have to blame is Mike Brown.¬† He’s one of the worst NBA coaches I’ve ever seen.
James needs to make sure he gets a championship coach on his next stop.
I do agree that they run too many isolation plays with Lebron. Boston eliminated that buy double teaming him as soon as he got the ball at the top of the key. They didn’t wait until he gathered some steam. I always thought Mike Brown really didn’t coach like he should have. He needs to find a way to put Lebron in better position and not just say “here Lebron, go win us the game”.
Lebron should go to Chicago to play with Derrick Rose.