ESPN Reports: LeBron James Talks To The Cleveland Media Sunday

Filed Under ESPN Reports, NBA PLAYOFFS | Leave a Comment

May

31

Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser!

Filed Under NBA Analysis, NBA PLAYOFFS, SDC COMMENTARY | 24 Comments

There are many in the sports media and quite a few NBA fans who are quite upset at Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star and Association MVP LeBron James at the way he handled himself after losing to the Orlando Magic Saturday to send the Magic to the Finals and the Cavaliers home for the season. Instead of attending the Post Game press conference, LBJ plopped a set of headphones on his head and after checking out okay for a pre-boarding security scan James had left the building.

I can empathize with every media member there. Every reporter’s Editor, Program Director and Sports Director wanted James’ words on the air or in print. I have been stiffed by other pro-players who would not do interviews after big games. MLB Players are the worst they will just hide in the shower room until the locker room is clear of any reporters.

Already the talk is starting about how LBJ should have been more of a gracious loser. Sorry, I have to say I totally disagree! If I am a fan of a player at the professional level who handles losing well; I’m not down with that. If my player loses a chance to go to the NBA Finals I don’t want him happy or docile! I want him angry, especially if he leads a team that was the odds on favorite going into this series and are eliminated in just six games.

If my player loses I do not expect a kind genteel soul who takes losing with a big smile and a hug for his opponent. I want him angry and bitter; I want that moment to resonate in his mind all summer so that it motivates him next fall. I want those emotions to fester within him so that he despises being a loser and never wants to experience that pain again!

Children should be taught good sportsmanship; it is a great life lesson. That is fantastic for T-ball and soccer games and I think it should be encouraged at that age. Shake your opponents hand and then gather in a circle and hold hands and sing We Are The World! I would be all for that throughout student athletics all the way up to a Division One College Program.

I do not, however, want to see it in the pros! A gracious loser is still a loser no matter how you cut it! You are paid to do a job; that job is to win games. Every year you don’t win a Title you have failed; it is really quite that simple. I can only speak for myself but I hate to fail; it does not make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It gets me angry that I was not good enough to get the job done. Perhaps if more people felt like that in the USA in 2009 we would not be in the dire straights we are now in as a Nation!

I am not saying to fight with your opponent after you lose, or to insult them or call them names. But I truly am bothered when an opponent hugs his rival after losing. Sorry, I don’t want to deal with my opponent after losing! There is no way in the world I want to hug them.

This hugging trend started in the eighties; it bothered me then and it still does today. You are asking an athlete that was trying to knock the stuffing out of his rival minutes before to be sweet and docile after they lose?

That to me just reinforces that it is okay to lose. It is not; that should be your prime objective during the season! Personal numbers should be secondary, your main goal is for your team to end the campaign at the top of the mountain. If you do not reach it I want my player seeing red!

So enough with this talk about how to lose gracefully! Play Clean and Play to Win and never think that losing is just fine and dandy! If I was LeBron James Saturday night I would have been just as angry and just as bitter. And I would not hug a soul!

May

30

Magic Heads To Finals As Cavs Head Home After 103-90 Loss

Filed Under NBA Game Recap, NBA PLAYOFFS | Leave a Comment

Only In Cleveland words that haunt sports fans of Northeast Ohio every day of their lives. This time it was going to be different as the Cleveland Cavaliers just a little over a week ago were just waiting for their coronation as Kings of the NBA. The Cavaliers were expected to sail through the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic after sweeping the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the Playoffs. But somebody forgot to pass the memo to the Magic who won the series in six games defeating Cleveland Saturday night 103-90.

The Cavaliers ended the season with a whimper not a bang after a spectacular regular season and two series sweeps against Detroit and Atlanta in the first two rounds of the Playoffs . Orlando is heading to the “Big Dance” for the first time since 1995. And the Cavaliers once again leave their city without a Championship in professional sports since 1964. And once again the cry throughout Northeast Ohio is “Wait till Next Year.”

For the Magic this victory gave them their second consecutive series victory in which they were the lower seed coming in. They defeated the defending NBA Champions the Boston Celtics in the previous series in a hard fought seven game set. However Orlando drew first blood in the Conference Finals beating Cleveland in game one which seemed to set the tone for the series.

Orlando did not have to come back from a deficit in this contest as they had for most of this series. Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao got into early foul trouble picking up two quick ones sitting him down early in the first and Dwight Howard played like a man unleashed. The Magic came up on the top side of a 30-25 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Cleveland went cold during the second quarter while Orlando kept their offense flowing. Superman would end the half with 21 points and the Magic walked into the locker room at the half feeling confident with a 58-40 lead.

The Cavaliers started the third quarter with an urgency that had been missing in the first half and they got back to within 9 points early in the third as Mo Williams hit two key treys. Orlando though would answer with shots from Hedo Turkoglu and Mickael Pietrus outside the arc and soon had the lead back to 14 points ahead 77-63. The third quarter would end with frustration visible on the face of MVP LeBron James as D-Howard had 31 points and the Magic led 86-70. Neither team could get anything to drop for the first two minutes of the fourth but a Mickael Pietrus trey followed by a bucket by Superman put the Magic on top 91-70. The Cavaliers were never a factor the rest of the game.

In the end the better team won, no matter the regular season record or the first two rounds of the Post Season. The Magic dominated this series from the jump and displayed the mental toughness that the Cavaliers suddenly found lacking.

Dwight Howard recorded yet another double-double with a game high 40 points, grabbing 14 boards, 4 assists and 1 block while Rashard Lewis added 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Mickael Pietrus had 14 points coming off the bench, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while Rafer Alston knocked down 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Hedo Turkoglu scored 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

LeBron James scored 25 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and had 1 block while Delonte West had a strong performance with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Mo Williams had 17 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds while Anderson Varejao added 14 points and 8 rebounds. The NBA Finals begin Thursday night at the Staples Center as the Orlando Magic will take on the Los Angeles Lakers.

May

30

Kobe’s 35 Help Lakers Return to NBA Finals, Crush Nuggets 119-92

Filed Under NBA Game Recap, NBA PLAYOFFS | Leave a Comment

The Denver Nuggets, if you include the regular season and postseason, have definitely overachieved as they were not picked by most NBA “experts” to even get to the Western Conference finals. Yet here they are as they took on the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of this best-of-7 series at Pepsi Center.

But not surprisingly, the Nuggets had the “deer’s-eyes-in-the-headlights” type of game as Kobe Bryant scorched them for 35 points, leading Los Angeles to the easy 119-92 win over Denver, sending the Lakers to the NBA Finals for the second straight year.

The Nuggets had very little momentum going for them as they held a one-point lead after a J.R. Smith tip-in; however, the Lakers would respond with a 21-7 run, capped by a Lamar Odom jumper – which would give them a 53-40 lead at halftime. Denver would narrow their deficit to 79-67 but Los Angeles replied with a 9-0 spurt; the Lakers would grab hold and not let go as they sported a 101-82 lead – essentially icing the game.

Bryant led all Los Angles scorers with 35 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and a block while Pau Gasol and Odom added 20 points each – with Gasol grabbing 12 boards, dishing out 6 assists along with 3 steals and a block while Odom grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out an assist. Trevor Ariza chipped in 17 (including three 3-pointers) with 4 rebounds and an assist.

Denver was led by Carmelo Anthony with 25 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Smith added 24 (including four treys) with 2 rebounds and a steal. Los Angeles will now advance to the NBA Finals and host either Orlando on Thursday or travel to Cleveland should the Cavaliers prevail in their best-of-seven series in the Eastern Conference finals.