Smack / Jun 13, 2007 / 1:06 am

Brick City

The Spurs had no business winning that game last night, and yet they’ve got Cleveland in a 3-0 “Million Dollar Dream” sleeper hold because the Cavs couldn’t shoot, Anderson Varejao joined the Earnest Byner Memorial Hall of Fame, and Mike Brown borderline shouldn’t be coaching at this level … Seriously, Brown couldn’t have been worse in crunch time. We’ll let Jed take this one: “How are Varejao and Snow even in the game for that final offensive possession where Varejao $&@% himself? Normally LeBron does exactly what he did and kicks that to Ilgauskas instead of AV for Ilgauskas’ bread-and-butter little face-up jumper. They had two timeouts! Call one and get your best guys in the game!” … But players are the ones who are supposed to make plays, and the bigger story (after Varejao’s colossally boneheaded shot) was Cleveland’s atrocious perimeter shooting. Honestly, the 36 percent from the field and 15 percent from three doesn’t even tell the whole story. The Defensive Player of the Game? The rim … Was LeBron fouled on the last shot? Yeah, there was contact, but even LeBron said in the press conference that it didn’t affect his shot. And even if he gets a continuation call, does he make all three free throws? Nothing has happened in this series to indicate he would … It was the possession before that, though, that will go down in Cavs infamy: ‘Bron driving with a chance to tie gives it up to Varejao, and instead of AV doing what everyone else would have done and pass it right back (”Miscommunication,” LeBron said afterwards), he takes this turnaround scoop layup that doesn’t even draw rim. Unbelievable turn of events … In fact, to make up for all those ugly bricks, here is some Dimepiece eye candy for your troubles: One, Two and Three. You’re welcome … As much as the Cavs gave the game away, you have to give credit to the Spurs for taking it. They overcame a bad first half, Tim Duncan’s foul trouble, arguably Manu’s worst playoff game ever (3 pts, 0-7 FGs), a cooled-off Tony Parker (17 pts, 3 asts) and LeBron’s first LeBron Game (25 pts, 8 rebs, 7 asts) of the series and still managed a win … Didn’t we say before Game 1 that LeBron should be put in the post? Believe the exact phrase was, “We’re not asking for anything too abstract — it just wouldn’t be the worst idea to post LeBron up a couple times or have him work the baseline, anything to mix it up and give the Spurs defense different looks. Ultimately, it will open up more doors for ‘Bron and his teammates.” LeBron went to the post early and often last night, and what happened? He was abusing Bowen when he got it down there, and when he wasn’t scoring he was hitting teammates for easy buckets … Everyone had been begging Brown to start Daniel Gibson, so Brown finally does it due to Larry Hughes sitting out, and Boobie rewards him with 1-for-10 from the floor and 0-for-5 beyond the arc. Rookies. At least the kid was oozing confidence in the first half, even if he wasn’t hitting. Most importantly, he didn’t get destroyed by Parker … How sick were the Cavs intros? Backed by Nike’s “Second Coming” song, even the corny sword slicing up the Spurs logo was kinda cool, and the highlight video tried its best not to be 100 percent LeBron clips … Drew Gooden finished with a solid 13 points and 12 boards, but his start was terrible. On his first touch he fired one off the side of the glass, then got his own rebound and was swatted by Oberto. The next time he got the ball, Gooden took a layup that hit nothing but glass … Mike Breen, with about 3 minutes left: “Snow calls out a play.” Everyone else: “The Cavs have plays?” … You honestly didn’t think we were getting through this series without a “Cleveland sports misery” halftime feature, did you? … Despite “The Horrible Shot,” you have to give Varejao props for being so annoying. He was clearly getting on Duncan’s nerves, which led to TD’s initial foul trouble … Sasha Pavlovic’s jumper was off, but he did his thing on drives and played monster D on Manu. After getting carved up two games in a row, Sasha kinda got his swagger back … Did Damon Jones really run at Jacque Vaughn and clap when Jacque was shooting a jumper? How third-grade is that? … Greg Oden, Peyton Manning, Jim Brown and Eva Longoria (of course) were in the crowd. You know, when the announcers are making fun of the steady amount of Eva camera shots, maybe it’s time to fall back … Grant Hill, moments before the tip: “Cleveland has no chance. The Spurs will win a close one.” Now, if it’s a close game, how does one team not have a chance? But once the game was over, you kinda understood what Grant was saying … We’re out like the series …

42 Responses to “Brick City”

  1. kowtz says:

    It’s not the rook’s fault… It’s his coach’ fault…

    Damn kid doesn’t get any tick in the regular season, then you start him in the most crucial game of Cavaliers history… sweet move…

    It wasn’t even Larry Hughe’s fault… he is just scheduled to be injured at this time every year…

    25 pts. 8 rebs. 7 asts. is a King’s game? and you call him arguably the best player on the league… If that’s the stat line of the next NBA Icon in a great game, then I better start appreciating Football and Baseball…

  2. Bobby B says:

    No mention of the foul on LBJ at the end?!

    A more important question: who the F was the dude in the leopard-print outfit on the sidelines?!

  3. Derek says:

    Its nobodys fault, the cavs are outclassed from top to bottom. Quit crying dime.

  4. Justin says:

    Wow… I’m surprised you guys didn’t even mention the Bowen no-call on LBJ on the last shot attempt…

  5. Tim Falk says:

    What happened to Manu? Off Game?

    www.jumplikevince.com

  6. TheJed says:

    I think its easy to look at the no call at the end, but honestly, even if they do call that foul, they call it on the floor. Bowen was trying to foul there and it really wasn’t in the act of shooting (I know what the announcers were saying). Cleveland is going to offer chauncey every cent they have this off season.

  7. Kyle says:

    Varejao should be cut immediately. He hasn’t made a shot all season, then on the most important possession of the Cavs history he straight ignores Lebron and throws a brick at the backboard.

  8. bron42 says:

    AV shouldnt have had the ball anyway, lebron was make 5 feet away from the basket with 10 seconds left when he dropped it off to Varejao instead of just takin the shot. Thats like jordan givin the ball to bill cartwright in a game 7 against the knicks with 5 seconds left. Said it before “real” superstars raise their game and want the ball…Yea lebron had ok stats this game but OK doesn’t cut it in the playoffs when everyone and their momma knows you have to carry the team..his stats should almost jump to 30,10,10.

  9. TheJed says:

    I love it that you just called out a dude who carried his team to the NBA FINALS as not a “real superstar.” Question for you - is T-Mac a real superstar? What about KG? Yao? Nash? Ray? You want me to keep going? These guys have hit a big regular season shot or two right? I’d say so. LeBron is a real superstar with a supporting cast that is just not strong enough and a coach who is still a very young coach.

  10. Frank F says:

    Sometimes I wish that Lebron would just man up, hog the rock, and literally take at least 50% of his teams shots. I would rather see Bron jack up every shot possible then to see some Brazilian dude with a fro fling up garbage-brick layups every time he touches the ball. Cavs would have a much better chance in this series if Lebron took the Kobe mindset and threw up at least 30 shots. Anything is better then Varejao in crunch time.

  11. seth says:

    Worst. Finals. Ever. Will someone other than me get pissed off already about the Spurs? They are disgusting to watch. Manu Ginobli makes me want to puke. As for the Cavs, they couldn’t have beaten one playoff team in the West in a best of seven, outside of maybe the Lakers. For the love of god, pray the Suns get to the finals next year and save our sport.

  12. Kudabeen says:

    Greg Anthony had it right. Cavs should have started eric Snow and brought Gibson in and gave him the bulk of the minutes from there. Snow was staying in front of Parker when matched up on him too. Imagine that. A veteran pg and proven defender, is able to play defense and make the right play on the floor when given minutes… In a game like last night Eric Snow couldn’t have been any worst shooting then anyone else.

    **This just in…Damon Jones hit a meaningful jumpshot in an actual game this year, that then proved to mean nothing, because they ultimately lost**

    LeBron just looked too timid too much of the game. He was beasting the spurs down low, but keep going away from it. How do you play shook at home?

    This does set the stage for LeBron to trump Wade and do the “impossible” by winning 4 straight after being down 3-0. I don’t see it happening, but I’m not fully confident LeBron isn’t capable of rallying and grabbing momentum.

    Mike Brown is either learning major lessons now to become a great coach later or cementing his future as an excellent Assistant coach…

    Drew Gooden is a ‘nugget’… He and AV don’t look like they think at all on the court. They have to be spoon fed through the entire game. You can’t have guys with that kind of dependency on the floor for the bulk of the game. you need ‘heady’ players over just hustle player and talented players. Gooden has the capacity to be a very good starting forward, but he negates all the positive things he bring to the table and by the end of the game he didn’t produce anything positive, despite numbers. Same for AV.

  13. Kudabeen says:

    Just a Philly fans perspective:

    It’s funny how people hated on Iverson (after the fact of course, the way of the monday morning QB) for taking a lot of shots and forcing the issue on a team of reluctant scorers, but we are begging LeBron to do the same. I guess he is just a ‘likable’ kind of guy.

    I true competitor will not wait for his team to meet him at the top of the mountain. He will fight his way to the top and pull his teammates up with him. LeBron is staying on the same level as his teammates, when he needs to raise the stakes and show them what excellence, pride, and determination looks like. He did this against Detriot two years in a row. I thought he would do better against Spurs, but the window of opportuntiy is damn near shut.

  14. JTB says:

    In about four years or so the Cavs will be like the 90’s Bulls - steamrolling over everyone and piling up rings. Lebron needs a Scottie Pippen-esque type of player to divert some of the attention away from him. But until then, we’ll probably be watching a few more boring Spurs victory parades…

  15. Mace says:

    Let’s not forget LBJ’s natural game is more like Magic than MJ - the man needs a player or two around him, otherwise several of his talents are going to waste - good god, look at that roster he’s playing with: pathetic! (Even the supposedly decent ballers on that squad (the Big Ill, Vertebeard) become useless at the end of games.) The Spurs are good enough and smart enough defensively to force LBJ to dish or take a bad shot.

  16. MacMittens says:

    The Cavs would win the Finals every year if they:
    1.Get ride of everyone but Bron
    2.Get a new Coach, Mike Brown only got the job off the strength of being with the Spurs
    3.Get Kapono, Vlad Rad, Matt Carroll, Mike Miller, and maybe JJ Redick (Lebron would avg. 20 dimes a game)

    Is it that hard for a GM to see?????????

  17. bron42 says:

    The cavs would lose every year with the changes u made just on defensive liabilites alone..who would they stop?

    and like i said…lebron is a superstar..yes her carried his team through the easiest playoff run known to man and had one good game against the pistons. But lets not make it like he raises his game..his stats (minus the one game) are pretty similar to the regular season and his team is gettin handled..this is when other “SUPERSTARS” that we compare him too..would of took over…iverson at least won a game by himself against the lakers..kobe at least made us think the lakers had a chance to beat the suns. Lebron is just playin as lebron when he should be crankin it into 5th gear. You named guys liek tmac, kg, etc..when they raised their games..yes their teammates still sucked and they loss but look at their stats. Tmac went for 29 and 13 in a loss. He did everything in his power to win. Obviously everday lebron isn’t gonna cut it to the spurs, they need a playoff version that is CONSISTENT and can dominate…as odd as it may sound, puttin up 25/6/6 isn’t going to be enough obviously..thats why hes makin 90 million and is supposly the second coming of jordan,bird,magic, all in one, but has yet to earn those comments..magic went for like 42/7/7 as a F’N center in the finals his rookie year (lebron needed 2 overtimes). Superstars rise to the occasion, thats how you weed out the wanna bes. I’ll leave you with the perfect example..Sixers vs Raptors..both carter and iverson went to higher levels to keep their team on top. Lebron has to push the spurs to the limit and bein his normal regular season self isn’t gonna do that…so cavs fans, keep livin off that dunk when duncan took the charge.

  18. Terrell James says:

    Bron 42,

    Lebron trusted that he would get the ball back (the same way he did from Eric Snow a couple plays earlier) so no way should he take the blame for that. Futhermore, Lebron made a strong move, was double-teamed and there 15 seconds left when he gave it to Varejao, which was ample enough time for him to pass it back.

  19. Faris in Tdot. says:

    In about four years or so the Cavs will be King-less and back to being the Clippers of the East.

  20. SWAT says:

    You know what I’m tired of everyone hating on the spurs. Sorry if winning is boring JTB!! I’m a Houston fan but living in Austin Tx, being a hop away from San An, you have to appreciate them…or maybe Hova said it best “You can’t knock the hustle!” They may not have a vocal superstar or a slick-haired coach but this is the team all should strive to be like. They can dominate teams from start to finish and even on the off nights they come thru in the clutch. Big ups Tim with the late free throws! I said it before-Bron just isn’t ready. I saw the media reports a couple of weeks ago talking about how Kobe should be more like Bron’ but in last nite’s situation do you really think Kobe would’ve handed that off? And least of all to sorry ass Sideshow BOB!?! Now you guys want him to be like Kobe? He’s not Kobe…he’s a kid who’s still gonna make mistakes. The real mistake was Ferry and the Cavs signing all those garbage ass players…I mean when they signed Damon Jones from the Heat I never understood their reasoning with that. HE’S TRASH! SPURS WITH THE SWEEP!!
    ps. Dime-I’m not sure of the girl’s name but you guys had her modeling in a boxing robe. That would’ve been a good pic to show!! Peace!

  21. Terrell James says:

    Macmittens,

    If the Cav’s roster is as terrible as you say it is (and I agree with you that it is atrocious)then Mike Brown deserves credit (and to keep his job for that matter) for taking his team this far.

  22. bron42 says:

    Terrel thats true but at the same time…ALL of lebrons game revolves around 2 things. The crossover step back at the top of the 3 AND him cupping the ball like marbury and just runnin like a juggernaut down the lane.. Not really hard to guard when its going to be one of the 2. You gotta know your cast. He REALLY thought AV was gonna hesistate, pause, then find a open lebron for the game tying shot? nah man, AV is there for one thing, rebounds,flopping and generally annoying people. Never, should he have the ball with the game on the line. Like i said, you would have never seen jordan toss it off to jud buchler as he 360′d down the lane stumbling into people. Lebron is the franchise player, team leader and proclaimed savior of basketball, so its his job to make judgment calls in times like that, not mike brown cuz we all kno brown is only there as long as lebron wants him. Ask paul silas. Lebron should of managed the clock better and found a more efficient shot.

  23. TheJed says:

    I could see Matt Carroll being a cheap option for next year.

  24. djKianoosh says:

    Now that this series is over, everyone is going to start looking at what Cleveland needs to change. The problem is, with any change you ruin the chemistry and rhythm you’ve built up over the several years in which this team was assembled. Back to Philly experience, that team that AI took to the finals was largely together for about 4 years. Only at the end did they make a (dumb, in hindsight) move for Mutombo over Theo. The point is, they played well together.

    What do the Spurs, Mavs, and Suns have that make them the true elite teams right now? Stability. They don’t have a ton of roster changes even though a couple of the past 4 years they didn’t even get to the championship. They tweak slightly but largely stay the same. They just out-execute and out-work you. Cleveland doesn’t really need to change all that much. Sure, it looks bad being down 3-0 and the way they’ve lost, but the difference is really a thin line. They’re not that far off.

    They really need to learn how to execute well enough to get any shot they want on offense. They’ll get that with another year with the same coaching staff. Watching the Spurs all playoffs, it seems they get a good shot on every freaking possession. They almost never take bad shots. They always work through Duncan first, Parker next, and Ginobili third. All the other role players know what they have to do, know when and how to set screens, spot up for corner threes (Bowen, Finley, Barry), and those 3pt shooters are just cold blooded as they come because they’re in their comfort spots.

    The Cavs D is actually decent enough when they are healthy. The showed they can slow down Parker enough when Hughes finally admitted he was hurting his team more than helping them and sat out the game. Those same shots they missed will be there and have been there. They will knock down more of them more often than not.

    I say don’t make any drastic changes, add another couple nice pieces through the draft (they seem to know what they’re doing there with guys like Gibson) and just reload and build on the foundation you got.

  25. Jax says:

    There is so much to agree with here in regards to the Cavs “dumm-ness”. I do blame AV for that shot, but I blame Mike Brown for having him in the game in that situation. He had 2 timeouts, TWO!!!!! You have to sub Z and Gibson in the game for AV and Snow. Don’t know if you all really saw it, but Z made that shot at the end when the buzzer sounded. How high are the chances that he would have made a much better decision or hit the shot had he been in the game instead of us having to watch AV toss up that Gervin finger roll on crack!?

  26. Ian says:

    thejed

    of the group u mentioned only nash is a superstar
    maybe yao

  27. Ian says:

    matt carroll lol
    they wont be winning shit anytime soon

  28. dank says:

    dont worry everybody, when i go back down to Argentina this july, ill make sure i kill Manu Ginobili.

    as horrible as these finals are, and as much as i love to hate the spurs, they have done a great, classy job doing what they do best…WINNING. all credit goes to the big fundamental and mr. Longoria.

    and last but not least, Steve Nash is not a superstar. YOU people made him a superstar by sucking him off every 5 seconds.

  29. bron42 says:

    you’d easily call tmac,kg and nash superstars before yao lol…what has yao done that they havnt? they’ve all carried/led teams by themsevles, yao alone on the rockets wouldnt be a good team. Talk about low balling the other guys lol yao more of a superstar then KG? lol crazy.

    And Dank, i would count nash as a superstar, I don’t think hes as hyped as everyone says since his whole career hes been with other superstars but I at least admit hes on the level. I still think hes interchangble with a few other elite guards though which lowers his respectablity (chris paul, chauncy, parker, jason kidd, etc..)

  30. TheJed says:

    We’ve made Nash a superstar? Right. We’ve made him. Not his two MVP’s.

  31. dank says:

    i was talking about the people who praise him every 2 seconds about how he belongs with the league’s elite (not just point guards either). the annoying Suns fans, the entire ESPN cast, the biased MVP award voters, all the idiots who fail to recognize that Steve Nash is nothing minus Stat, Matrix, and the rest of the suns. where were his 2 MVP’s in Dallas? shouldnt 2 players that are sleeping together (Nash and Nowitzki) DOMINATE if they have 3 MVP trophies between them? what happened there??? i didnt see any championship banners at AmericanAirlines Arena.

    come back to me when Nash leads his team to a trophy, and they do it without altering their “so successful up-tempo style”.

  32. Bron42 says:

    Again you forget Dank, not only has nash never wont a championship, hes never been to the finals and hes been with other superstars his whole career. Couldnt even get to the finals when him and “MVP” dirk where on the same team…neither could carry a bad team, neither will win with star studded teams.

  33. Dank says:

    thanks for making my point even stronger Bron

  34. kowtz says:

    Agree with dank and bron 42… NBA fixed nash’s two MVP’s… trying to bring back the high octane, high scoring, exciting UP-TEMPO Style…

    So that the Finals between the Spurs and Pistons (the most boring finals ever) won’t happen again….

    Yet these two teams epitomize teamwork…

    Put Nash in a Lakers uniform without KOBE, and I doubt that they would even get 30 wins…

    peaace,,, ;D

  35. Leoni says:

    Watch again and laugh, maybe cry, cause this is the worst play of the year.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=_RKVmVmRKQ8

    Lets launch a new stat at NBA, Floppies per game.
    Anderson will lead the league. Is the only thing he can do well.

  36. Ian says:

    bron
    sorry but tmac isnt a superstar
    and pleaseeee kgggg a superstar when u cant get into the playoffs in a league where more than half the teams make it u are NO SUPERSTAR
    name me another one that has missed the playoffs a couple of times in a row in his prime
    kg is the worst of the group and the most overrated player in the nba

    hes done nothing even less than tmac
    and btw yao is the best center in the nba which is more valuable than any other position and hes what like 26 best years still ahead

    tmac has had a lot of chances and failed

    kg lol
    trade straight up kg for duncan and watch the wolves hit the playoffs easily every year

    nash is a tad overrated but back to back mvps makes u a HoFer

  37. Ian says:

    another thing bron
    kg will never win a ring being the best player on his team

  38. Terrell James says:

    Ian,

    KG has never had a decent supporting cast with the exception of when Sprewell and Sam Cassell were in Minnesota. Yeah, they lost to the Lakers that year, but t he never had the opportunity to play with guys like that again. Instead he’s been given guys like Wally Szcerbiak and Ricky Davis. These guys are third options on good squads.

    Duncan is arguably the best player in the N.B.A. but even he would need more than Ricky Davis to get the Wolves to the playoffs.

  39. Terrell James says:

    Ian,

    The only time KG has had a decent supporting cast is when he played with Sprewell and Cassell. Yeah, they ended up losing to the Lakers but he hasn’t had teammates like that again. The best players he’s had since then are Wally Szczerbiak and Ricky Davis–two guys that would be third options on good teams.

    Tim Duncan is arguably the best player in the game but even he would need more than Ricky Davis to lead the Wolves to the playoffs.

  40. bron42 says:

    And Terrell to the rescue. First off, yao has done nothing…NOTHING…Funny how the rockets still have the same flaws the blaimed on steve francis, and now their blamin on tmac. Yao is the best OFFENSIVE center, but hes a stiff on defense and couldnt jump over a phone book so he isn’t intimidating..plus this is the first year hes even look someone dominante..well first half a year.. Tmac at least carried the magic and the rockets when hes had to by himself. Yao wouldnt do that. 90% of the reason the rockets lost this round was cuz yao couldnt guard boozer OR Okur.

    Secondly, I don’t care how good duncan is by himself, hes a system player and has (while i think manu is overrated) a supporting cast made perfectly. If u take duncan off the spurs and KG off the timberwolves and played 4 on 4, the wolves would STILL get destroyed. So its not all KG. yea hes overrated and could easly rearrange his contract so the team has more $$ to spend on help but hes still done way more with less than yao. Last time I checked yao hasn’t done much in the playoffs either and hes been with another All-star his entire career. His lack of aggression and dominance pretty much killed steve francis’ career.

    Soi enlighten me on how tmac (who has carried teams to the plays, won scoring titles, put up 13 in 18 seconds to get his teams wins) isn’t more accoplished than yao who has, lost in the first round WHEN he gets there, and so far has had only one good half of a season. You switch yao with dwight howard and i think the team would be better just because of the fact yao is a stiff

  41. Ian says:

    “couldnt jump over a phone book”
    LOL LOL LOL

    be he doesnt have to hes li 8′9 isnt he?

  42. Ian says:

    but like u said bron u also think kg is overrated
    and yes the wolves get destroyed if the play 4 on 4
    but yet i dont see teams with shaq (not now) or duncan missing the playoffs

    of all dynasties (3 championships in 5 seasons is a dynasty) tim duncan has the worst supporting cast of all of themhe doesnt have another superstar when all others had two three and even 4. hes a system player but hes the best in the league and doesnt have the best cast in the league

    about my tmac comment if you would make a draft with everyone in the nba today i dont see tmac going ahead of yao

    peace
    terrell sorry my man playoffs at least if u r a superstar which kg to me isnt

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