Football Outsiders projects Browns to finish in cellar of AFC
May 12, 2016Browns running backs, and Shawn and Shelby: While We’re Waiting…
May 13, 2016The Toronto Raptors pulled ahead in their series against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, scraping their way to a 99-91 win in the Air Canada Centre. But while Bismack Biyombo was blocking shots, Kyle Lowry was draining clutch three-pointers, and DeMar Derozan tied a postseason career high with 34 points, LeBron James was tucked inside his home watching a host of movies with his kids, giving the fifth game in the other Eastern Conference series little in the way of attention.
Frist it was Jim Carey’s “The Grinch,” then it was “Punisher,” and finally “Vapire Diaries”—an eclectic mix to be sure, but as James will tell you, his kids rule the household. Had he been watching, James would’ve seen Toronto escape to an early lead only to have Dwyane Wade and the Heat climb back and make it a one score game with just a few minutes remaining, but he also would have seen a pair of small forwards—Toronto’s DeMarre Carroll and Miami’s Luol Deng—leave with injuries. Regardless of who would earn the chance to play the undefeated Cavaliers in the next round of the NBA Playoffs, one of these players would have been tasked with guarding James, a four-time MVP playing at an extremely high level. Now, with the future of both players in the air, there is substantial uncertainty surrounding James’ next task.
“It’s unfortunate. Anybody can have injuries—it doesn’t matter who’s guarding me,” said James on Thursday afternoon. “I didn’t see what happened, and there’s been a few injuries in that series, unfortunately. That’s obviously something I can’t control so I don’t worry about it too much.”
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“In the postseason, you have to grind—period. It’s never a one-on-one matchup.”
Carroll was a defensive force against James in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals, but signed with the Raptors in the offseason. He has averaged 9.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 31.5 minutes in 12 playoff games this season, but has recently stepped up his umbers against the Heat with averages of 11.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 35.7 minutes. Deng, an 11-year veteran, has a history of guarding James each time one of his teams takes to the floor and would be asked to do so in the event Miami were to survive their current deficit. But even with any perceived struggles, or need for either team to rely on a replacement, James says he won’t be taking either challenge lightly.
“In the postseason, you have to grind—period,” said James. “And it’s never a one-on-one matchup. That’s why there are four other guys on their team who help as well and communicate throughout. I’m never guarding anyone one-on-one; I have guys behind me, communicating the system and things of that nature. I’m not a one-on-one guy; I’ve always been about the team.”
When it comes to being off of the floor, James, in an affable mood considering his second media appearance in two days’ time, says he’s been preparing his body throughout the entire season, prepping as if it were a marathon both in exercise and with his diet. While sugar is tough to avoid in a house with three young children—desserts are his vice—this is far from his first rodeo. Having played in the NBA Finals for five straight seasons, James’ 82-game season has morphed into one of roughly 100. Ask him about his diet and James won’t share any details—”I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you.”—but will at least offer up a “maybe” when asked about yoga. When asked about mental preparation, James quickly offers up analogies relating to studying for a single-subject exam as opposed to having to cram a full, regular season comprised of various opponents into a six-month span.
With the Cavaliers looking at a layoff of either one full week or up to 10 days, the ongoing debate of rest versus rust wages on. Following the completion of the second-round series, the Cavs used Monday to recuperate before heading back to Cleveland Clinic Courts as a unit for film on Tuesday and a heavy practice on Wednesday, putting in plenty of work. Thursday was used for cardio and team-wide stretching. The latter to end the day’s practice with the former of which was best described by the 31-year-old James James as a workout that had him “ready to go to bed.”1 Friday, if the team gets together at all, will be a light day with Saturday potentially providing the first day of being able to install the team’s game plan in the event Toronto closes out the series in South Beach.
“We’re going to continue to prepare our bodies, but not get too locked in [mentally] until we know who we’re playing,” he said. “We’re not anxious at all; we’re waiting around, putting in our work.”
- Channing Frye, impersonating Matthew Dellavedova, said it was like “running around with the ‘roos down under.” [↩]
3 Comments
One nice thing about the long break is that it gives assistant coaches and scouts so much time to develop alternate game plans depending on the opponent. Meanwhile, the Miami and Toronto staffs still have to concentrate mostly on each other.
Please tell me there’s video of that Channing Frye quote.
This does seem like it’s taking forever hopefully the wait ends tonight and Toronto dispatched Miami.