I dont get why this isn't being talked about more, to me it was so obvious.
Lebron James and his "Team" of advisors had a plan, and they executed it. The plan was to form a justifiable escape route out of Cleveland. A way to get out of Cleveland without everyone killing him for "not caring about winning". A way for him to say "My team just wasn't good enough in Cleveland, I had to go elsewhere where i felt i had a better chance to win"
They pulled it off.
THE PLAN:
Force your team to win the game (which they can't) But do just enough to make it look like its not TOO obvious your throwing the game, but when momentum is on the line. Throw it.
Executed PERFECTLY. Watch the tape.
Game 5 - Lebron comes out dishing, not attacking at ALL... But they were at home so his teammates were actually getting it going. His only option was to get off the ball, totally uninvolved, so that his team would not be able to surge off him and make the game too close. What does he do? Watch Lebron in game 5, he spent more time STANDING in the corner away from the action than I've ever seen him spend in a game. many NBA experts have already said the same thing, not only was he STANDING AROUND off the ball more than ever (what does an ELBOW injury have to do with that?) but when he DID get the ball, he would swing it to a sometimes completely surprised teammate who was in no better position to create a shot than Lebron was when it left his hands. This is not Injury, this is more than that. Injury, your taking the shots, but they just aren t falling. By the way did you notice in game 5 when he DID take shots they were Vince Carter Esc... Fading back for no reason (which he never does) and missing by a foot.
THE PLAN: Ok everyone is suspecting you. What do you do? Make sure you stuff the stats so that its not too obvious, but when it COUNTS... Make sure Boston gets the momentum play.
EXECUTED PERFECTLY
Game 6 - Lebron comes out with a few dunks to quickly quell the notion that something is "up"... ok.. he's gunna try tonight.. cool. Lebron starts driving to the basket in the first half to show he's being aggressive.. But what happens on 50% of the drives? He gets tied up, stripped, etc. This almost NEVER happens to Lebron. He was fumbling the ball so much on drives, what does that have to do with an Elbow? Sure credit the Celtics D... But Lebron was CLEARLY not going as hard as he usually does to the hole, he was simply leaving the ball out there for people to strip. 2nd half boston starts to pull away. Every time the Cavs had an important possession, Lebron would throw the ball away. One play in particular where he threw a CROSSCOURT pass to Anthony Parker coming off a screen CLEARLY coming out to the top of the court, but Lebron threw the pass to the corner. There was NO WAY Parker would have gone to that corner, That was the most clear example of throwing the game of the night. That was not a turnover on accident, Watch the tape I don't care what anyone says.
Ok but its getting obvious again... Lebron is fading, its time to show a little fight... What does he do? Come down 2 straight possessions and hit 2 straight 3s to pull his team back. That elbow sure did look bad on those perfect shots! Riiiight.
NOW if you notice Lebrons body language after those shots was TOTALLY bizarre. What do you expect from Lebron after plays like that? Firing up his teammates? "LETS GO!" etc, excited, "we can do it!" right? No. Not at all. ACtually Lebron looked Nervous as FUCK... his hands were damn near shaking, like he was thinking "damn that might have been too much, we are really close now" watch the tape. What do you do next time down the court? Turn it over. Cuz if you really want to WIN you got to make the next play, or at least attempt to.. But if you turn it over and Boston scores, the momentum and game QUICKLY shifts back to Boston.
Mission Accomplished.
Also did Lebron look like he was upset to any of you last night? Not to me, not at all. He SPOKE the words he was supposed to speak, but there was no feeling behind them. Also interesting that before his press conference, he called for his "Team" of advisors to meet with him in a closed off locker room. I wonder why? Prolly feeling some nerves after what he just did, and needed some advice on how to approach the media, what to say etc.
The PLAN is to become a billionaire, and THE PLAN is to go to NEw York to do it.
Anyone questioning Lebron's ability to win playoff games after these performances is a damn fool. If he wanted to, he could have single handedly dismantled the Celtics in both these games. But he has a different agenda, he wants to win.. but he wants to do it on the BIG STAGE. He knew winning a title in Cleveland this year would not allow him to leave, that is why he wanted to win one SO BADLY last year. He could still have won a Chip for his city and justified leaving after loosing this year. Remember how MAD he was after the game last year???? He didn't even shake Oralndo's players hands... That's the type of competitor Lebron is, think about it folks.. It's so obvious it's not even funny.
Welcome to New York Lebron.
5/14/2010 1:49 PM
