And … We’re Done Here
Uncategorized June 13th. 2007, 12:58pm
Did anyone ask Anderson Varejao WTF he was thinking with 12 seconds left in the game and his team down two? We’re going to guess that Brownie didn’t authorize the wild-haired Brazilian power forward to go all spin-o-rama in the lane. His shot bricked, LeBron looked bewildered, and general managers everywhere said, ‘ok, he just lost himself $3 million with that shot.’
The Cavs lost, 75-72, and you can turn out the lights on the NBA season. The Spurs lead 3-0, and as we said in the Fanhouse recap, there are about 8,328 things we’d rather do Thursday than watch Tim Duncan collect his fourth title. Forgive us for not putting ‘rent Predator‘ on that list. Our prediction of Cavs in six is obviously not coming through, and that was a terrible pick. Go ahead and kill us for that … but then remember all those prescient Cavs-Pistons calls. Bitch.
Few quick notes we scribbled last night in the fourth quarter:
* ABC kept pumping up the fact that LeBron had increased the value of the franchise by $158 million. If that’s the case, he should definitely have a say in what free agents are brought in to help him out next season
* Can anyone name a player in the annals of NBA history who has perfected the art of the bank shot better than Tim Duncan?
* Thanks to slow-motion, we can now all admit that LeBron doesn’t get all the calls, and there’s no conspiracy theory
* Who else really wants to see Fantastic Four? And how many of you want to see it just for Jessica Alba?
* When you lose a game because Brent F’ing Barry and Bruce Bowen are raining three’s like it’s nobody’s business, it just wasn’t meant to be
God damn you Beno, you forgot to pack Manu’s magnets (Pounding the Rock)
Poor Shot Selection (Yahoo)
The Party’s Almost Over (Cavs Blog)
31 Responses to “And … We’re Done Here”
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June 13th, 2007 at 1:12 PM
Kareem had the skyhook, MJ (later on) had the fadeaway, Timmy’s got the bank shot.
I agree it was a foul and after seeing it in slow-mo and hearing Wilbon, I agree it was a shooting foul. At first glance I thought it should have been a foul on the floor and the ref did a good job letting it go to allow Lebron a chance to tie it. If it was called on the floor, that’s it, game over unless the Cavs rebound a free-throw miss.
Even though I think it was a foul, I’m not surprised that the ref didn’t call it. That late and on that stage, the ref isn’t going to call something that small, Bowen would have had to mug him for it to be called a shooting foul…not that Lebron could make three free throws anyway.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:12 PM
I would see it for the Silver Surfer. The g/f would see it for whoever plays Johnny Storm.
LeBron might not get all the calls, and I’m a hardcore NBA conspiracy theorist (“How many fouls does Shaq have??”) but you have to admit that bad officiating and the star system is one of the things hurting the NBA.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:13 PM
Did anyone ask Anderson Varejao WTF he was thinking with 12 seconds left in the game and his team down two? We’re going to guess that Brownie didn’t authorize the wild-haired Brazilian power forward to go all spin-o-rama in the lane. His shot bricked, LeBron looked bewildered, and general managers everywhere said, ‘ok, he just lost himself $3 million with that shot.’
—
Direct quotations from myself and my buddy during that sequence:
“Varejao…Varejao…WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING VAREJAO?!?” – Me
“WHAT THE F*CK?!?” – King
June 13th, 2007 at 1:35 PM
NBA officiating is terrible. Inconsistent doesnt even begin to describe it. But when the face of the league gets grabbed like that between the circles on an obvious foul and the ref standing a few feet away chokes on his whistle, Im still amazed.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:35 PM
Did anyone hear the crowd collectively grown/wimpishly yell “NOOOOOOO!” when Varaejo started to make his “move” in the paint? I laughed out loud.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:50 PM
I agree with Marshall that they should have called a foul on that play. But the Cavs only have themselves to blame as they should never have put themselves in a position to where they depend on the refs to bail them out.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:59 PM
How about this:
Let’s say LeBron makes the 3 to tie. And the Cavs go on to win. Are the Spurs complaining because Bowen was trying to foul?
June 13th, 2007 at 2:06 PM
It was definetely a foul, but it was not a shooting foul.I don’t care what Wilbon says.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:20 PM
Wade is better
June 13th, 2007 at 2:27 PM
Consider this: There will be no MJ or Kareem or Magic or Bird EVER AGAIN. Those players willed their team to wins ALL YEAR LONG, not on selective games. With the distractions of todays society (Greg Oden blogs, Melo Myspaces, Lebron witnesses) players are incapable of devoting the attention needed to will their team. The closest players, BY FAR, that consistently will their teams to victory are Kobe and Nash. Lebron isn’t even close…would Jordan EVER pass the ball to an Ewing-guarded Cartwright for a last shot???
There will only be MJ Moments from now on, and the media should recognize that…unless someone can come along and completely devote himself to relentless domination.
Lebron doesn’t even seem too upset at losing HIS games (this series was his to own if he wanted) at the press conferences…
June 13th, 2007 at 2:57 PM
I seem to recall always being amazed at the consistency of Scottie Pippen’s bank shot.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:58 PM
Think it’s a bad omen that the last Cleveland team to make a championship (the Indians) are currently playing the team that beat them ten years ago (the Marlins) in that championship?
And last night, the Marlins won. If I was a Cleveland fan, this would be like cutting myself and pouring salt on an old wound at the same time.
June 13th, 2007 at 3:14 PM
Please forward this line to Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry:
“* ABC kept pumping up the fact that LeBron had increased the value of the franchise by $158 million. If that’s the case, he should definitely have a say in what free agents are brought in to help him out next season”
June 13th, 2007 at 3:35 PM
Yes Jordi, thank you. Thank you for pointing that out.
June 13th, 2007 at 3:48 PM
In a watered-down league, Lebron is good enough to will his (and my beloved) team to the Finals. But the chasm between the Eastern and Western Conferences might be as wide as ever. The Cavs are still paying the price for so many terrible drafts and free-agent decisions: Dajuan Wagner, Luke Jackson; trading picks for Jiri Welch, f’ing up Carlos Boozer, blowing millions on Hughes, not trading for someone like Mike Bibby this season, et al.
Lebron isnt so good that he can overcome all of that AND his penchant for playing passively in big games at times.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:00 PM
“Wade is better”
Take a look at the Heat’s record without Shaq and compare it to the Cavs record without Shaq. Go ahead. Look it up.
Then tell me Wade is better.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:42 PM
$158 million should get the Cavs 2-3 good players but no guarantee return to the big game. Of course, they may need to save the money to supplement the contract James will want when he’s up for free agency.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Ok.
Wade is better. He was far more impressive in the playoffs the past 2 years than Lebron has been this year (one 48 point game notwithstanding). Yes, his team is better, but so is he.
June 13th, 2007 at 5:37 PM
Did someone just say that Shaq is a factor in ANYTHING anymore? Are we still using that “it’s all about Shaq” argument? I love the guy…but he’s pretty worthless at this point. And the Cavs have good players–they just acn only play defense and offensive rebound. I wish Kobe had the Cavs role players–at the very least, he would’ve taken those wide open threes LeGlobal is too scared to shoot.
June 13th, 2007 at 5:57 PM
Since you want us go into the annals of NBA history, Sam Jones must be mentioned as an all-time bank shot artist.
Also, as good as LeBron is and as amazing as game 5 vs. Detroit was, he needs to be in that mode all the time, especially in crunch time. There is no excuse for passing the ball to Varejao in that situation. Don’t want Varejao to freelance and fuck up? Don’t pass him the ball!
June 13th, 2007 at 6:12 PM
I would never see that crap movie even with Alba in it… movies based on comic books are for losers. And there are a lot of losers out there, so I’m sure this movie will do just fine.
June 13th, 2007 at 6:29 PM
The Lakers role players are better than the Cav’s. Lamar Odom is much better than any of the Cav’s role players. Larry Hughes is terrible, Z is old and incosistent, Gooden is average, oh, and the Lakers have Phil Jackson.
As far as the Wade argument goes, do you really think LeBron would be double an triple teamed if Shaq was on the floor with him. no way. and let’s not even talk about all the times Wade went to the line in last years finals. LeBron gets knocked over and doesn;t even get the call.
oh, and the mavericks have proved to be huge choke artists (again), and if that was Wade taiking the last shot last night he would have been headed to the free throw line, probably for his 18th, 19th, and 20th free throws of the night.
June 13th, 2007 at 6:45 PM
The Spurs can’t even get called for fouls when they are intentionally fouling at the end of the game. Unbelievable
June 13th, 2007 at 7:36 PM
Wade was double and triple teamed in the finals last year. Did you even watch them? As was he in the conference finals. Shaq was a non factor in the mavericks series. He was a liability. And Wade went to the line a lot last year (granted, yeah, maybe too much) because he attacked the basket. Something Lebron still hasn’t realized he needs to do when he settles for bad jump shots. Plus Wade knocks down his jumpers. I don’t think it’s even that close to be honest. Again, Lebron is a physical freak and if he matures as a player he will blow past anyone in the NBA, but right now, Wade is a better player, and imo, the best in the league.
Right now Lebron is just a very gifted player physically and talent wise. He doesn’t have that special something when it counts, like Wade and Kobe do.
As for the Lakers role players vs. Cleveland role players, I’d take Cleveland’s any day. Gibson is better than any laker Guard, even if he is a rookie. Pavlovic is better than any Laker wing player. Gooden and Z and Varejao are very important players with rebounds and put backs, which the Lakers have none of. Odom is a gifted player who rarely performs consistently. He’s always been that way. Talent doesn’t equal better performance.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:38 PM
And if you think Wade has some conspiracy to get more foul calls than Lebron that is just hilarious. I’m sure they don’t want the “future” of the NBA to get any calls. Yeah. Ok. Lebron just isn’t agressive. That was a terrible shot he took at the end of the game last night, foul or not.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:44 PM
I don’t think it was a terrible shot. He was intentionally fouled, so, naturally, he figured the refs would call it. So he tried to get a shot off in time to make it 3 free throws. The refs missed a call where Bowen was fouling on purpose. I still can’t get over that…how is that even possible?
June 13th, 2007 at 7:46 PM
Granted, it is a bit fishy, but it wasn’t THAT blatant. It didn’t affect his shot. If it was a foul it should have been on the floor, which would have negated the shot anyway. It’s a dicey situation all around.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:50 PM
Yea, I agree it was unclear whether it was a shooting foul. But Lebron thought “they are going to try to intentionally foul me, might as well get a shot off and see if maybe I can get it in the act of shooting.” So I just don’t think Lebron can be at fault for the last shot, where he made a very reasonable assumption (that the refs would make the call on an intentional foul) and acted accordingly. Overall though, definitely a disappointing game from him, everyone is right in claiming he was not aggressive enough throughout the game.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:55 PM
I know what you are saying. But yeah, it shouldn’t come down to that at home in the finals if you are “the man.” Hoping for a fishy shooting foul on a three at the end of a game? I don’t know man. Not to mention he would have had to hit all three free throws.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:08 PM
Varejao will be the first athlete to have a web inspired nickname.
“WTF”
June 14th, 2007 at 4:00 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RKVmVmRKQ8