It was supposed to be the debate to settle all the debates, the best match up the NBA and its fans had seen since Magic vs. Jordan, there was no way David Stern would allow for Denver or Orlando to win, but at some point the players take over. The refs don't hit three pointers or break shot clocks, David Stern couldn't stop a 16 point comeback if he tried, but most importantly no one in the NBA offices had any kryptonite tonight. After dominating for the first five games and doing whatever he wanted, LeBron finally came back to life and his supporting cast, well, they never awoke. Still, Orlando beat Cleveland in every facet of the game during this series. They outshot Cleveland, they were mentally tougher than the Witnesses, and most noticably, the Coach of the Year was completely outcoached. Mike Brown did not make a single adjustment in the eries defensively, he added no wrinkles offensively to allow for other players to get involved. There has been talk of LeBron's supporting cast not showing up during this series, but they are called the Witnesses for a reason. This team is built for LeBron to do it all and everyone else to watch. Cleveland can be beaten if LeBron scores 40, 50, or even 60, but they are unbeatable when LeBron scores 30 points and has 9-12 assists.
Nevertheless, by focusing on Cleveland's downfall, isn't fair to Orlando. Orlando played fearlessly throughout, and never flinched. After every LeBron big play, Orlando responded with one of their own, there was so much talk about LeBron's shot, Orlando could not have cared less. Some questioned Dwight Howard's maturity, well he's smiling his way to the NBA Finals. Also, who could forget the Master of Panic of a coach Stan Van Gundy is? Throughout this series Van Gundy pushed the match ups to force Cleveland to play their style of ball, only Cleveland couldn't do it. Michael Pietrus came in and owned Cleveland and gave LeBron all he could handle, all while hitting big shot after big shot. Orlando rightfully felt disrespected by all the talk of a Lakers-Witness Finals, but instead of complaining, they did something about it and in the process adding another chapter to the book Cleveland Sucks.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
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