Where have you gone Pronk?
March 5, 2008There’s Only One Randy Lerner
March 6, 2008
The “L-Train” as Cavs color man Austin Carr calls him, was on a collision course with the 50 point plateau Wednesday night. In his first game since Kobe dropped 52 points in 51 minutes, LeBron answered back with 50 in 44 minutes. Don’t think for a second that this was a coincidence.
After his performance on Sunday, multiple media outlets were declaring Kobe Bryant the league’s clear-cut MVP. I bet LeBron didn’t notice. I bet nobody told him all over the radio waves talking heads were saying Kobe had pulled ahead of him. I’m sure his pals Jay Z and Spike Lee, (whom LeBron had a running conversation with during the game) didn’t entice him to show something a little special at the Garden in response.
On a night when the Cavaliers (35-26) needed LeBron to be more than his 30 point self, he was 20 better. The Knicks shot a ridiculous 51.5% for the game. Many of those were contested baskets that New York simply made great plays on. Many however were a result of sloppy and tired defense by the Cavs. Since the trade Cleveland has shown flashes of defensive brilliance, but cannot sustain it. Having Zydrunas out isn’t helping either.
Andy Varejao was again forced to start. Andy may not be 100% yet from his ankle injury, but playing the Z role on the team is not what Andy does best. Instead of providing energy, hustle and defensive intensity for short bursts off the bench, Varejao is having to concentrate more on the offensive end. Mike Brown, if you’re reading this please, for one game DO NOT play Varejao and Wallace together. Seriously. Use Joe Smith. Use Szczerbiak at the 4 if you have to. I’m serious, Wallace and Andy shouldn’t be on the floor for more than 10 minutes together the whole game.
The Cavaliers won this game (119-105) by shooting 53%, 17 of 32 from 3 point territory. LeBron led the way with an absurd 7 for 13, Damon Jones was 5 for 8, including a goal tend at the end of the game. That was a shot that Damon never should have taken. The game was over and Damon was just trying to pile on the points. Not good form.Delonte West played well, just making it back from a family funeral. Wally Szczerbiak returned to the team after spending time with his wife and new baby.
LeBron (wearing his NY inspired shoes) finished with 50 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. In the political race for the league’s MVP, I believe the edge may have swung back to LeBron. The LeBron to New York in 2010 campaign might have gotten more ammunition as well-
“I’ve dreamed about playing well in this building and it’s overtaken of how I could ever dream about,” James said. “To get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world, it was a dream come true for me. It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
And because I mentioned the song in the title…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psP1bKKEtHg[/youtube]
8 Comments
Just watched Major League – I’d like to quote Bob Uecker here:
“They don’t call him the best color-man in the league for nothing!”
Here’s to AC!
The highlight of this game, for me, came after the game when AC “interviewed” LeBron. I put interviewed in quotes because he only asked one or two questions before he couldn’t contain himself anymore and started to just throw praise on LeBron and informed LeBron that he truly is “the man”. It was vintage AC. Good stuff.
James said he was never afraid when he saw the fan coming.
“I’m 6-9 and 260,” James said. “I’m all right.”
I saw that Joe, that was funny…
You’re right about LeBron coming to NYC is 2010, but you’ve got the wrong borough. Bron-Bron may love playing in MSG but his New York affiliations aren’t with the Knicks but rather his pal Jay-Z’s team the (by then)Brooklyn Nets.
New York has been Basketball Mecca for years, but with the Knicks lackluster play the last few years the hoop scene has lost a lil of it’s mojo. The best player in the world coming to Brooklyn to play for his good friend and singlehandedly reviving the greatest basketball city in America…as a guy who grew up in Brooklyn and recently moved back home to NYC I cannot wait for the ’09-’10 season to roll around.
Thanks for the comment JD, no I completely understand the Nets/Jay-Z connection, the link there to Jay-Z is an article from this site.
From Newsday: One of the most famous Yankees fans, who often is linked to the Knicks because of his 2010 opt-out and his connection to Nike, who would love to finally get a megastar in the Mecca, was then asked more tactfully if he finds it amusing that people are already talking about the possibilities of something two years from now. “You don’t think about it,” he said. “For me, I’m in a great situation. I’m home, my family gets an opportunity to see me play every night. The organization has been nothing but great to me and my family so, I have no reason to even think about going anywhere else at this point. Just trying to win ballgames and win a championship.”
JD, the odds of LeBron leaving Cleveland are still only 50% at best. If Cleveland is able to build a contending team around LeBron, those odds will shrink. It’s far from a foregone conclusion that LeBron is going to Brooklyn in 2010.
Nice job, the only negative taken from last night’s game was the breif moment in which the cameras caught James chatting it up with Jay-Z. I say that only b/c that’s all the local talk show people wanted to talk about all damn day! I couldn’t change the dial at work and was forced to deal with listening to the whole “the sky is falling!” banter once again from not only the fans…but the hosts themselves.
The game was a great watch though.