Scanning the blogs and beats following the Cavaliers’ 112-102 win over the Magic in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals …

Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer:
"For years, LeBron James has said he doesn’t believe in pressure as a
disarming answer to any question that includes the word itself. Of
course this isn’t true. In fact, he’s somewhat of an expert. With that
understanding, when James was asked to compare the Cavs’ situation
heading into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals down 3-1 to the
Orlando Magic to the stress of trying to win a gold medal in last
summer’s Olympics, he said the pressure levels aren’t close. ‘I
definitely feel the pressure was bigger with the Olympics than it is
here,’ said James, who has been in contact with Team USA coach Mike
Krzyzewski several times during the playoffs. ‘A lot of people may say
different, but when you play for the Olympics team you’re playing not
only for Cleveland, you’re playing for Orlando, you’re playing for Los
Angeles, Denver, you’re playing for every city, every county and every
place in the United States of America. So that was way more pressure
than what is going on here.’"

Waiting For Next Year: "It might seem silly to say, but LeBron seemed to get his swagger back in this game. Granted he was only 11 of 24 from the field, but he made the shots when they counted. He also made sure to jaw heavily with Dwight Howard after driving through the lane, and drawing Howard’s sixth foul. I am not sure what they were saying to each other, but let’s hope Dwight Howard’s jawing has the same effect on LeBron as Chris Bosh’s girlfriend has had on him in the past. Cavs fans better hope too because finding a way to win game 6 in Orlando on Saturday night could prove to be difficult."

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: "The Magic are grits; LeBron is glitz. Can one man, no matter how incredible he is, actually beat five or six or eight or nine? And that’s what has been so refreshing about this Magic playoff run. Everybody — or nearly everybody — on the entire roster has risen up at one time or another. We’re not just talking about the stars like Dwight, Rashard and Hedo; we’re talking about guys like Rafer Alston, Mickhael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat. The Magic have won in every way imaginable and with every player conceivable. They took out the NBA’s defending champions, but they haven’t yet vanquished the NBA’s marquee superstar. Team vs. talent. LeBron’s individual talent helped the Cavs win more games than any team in the league during the regular season, but maybe just maybe it will be the Magic’s teamwork that leads them to a championship."

Ian Thomsen, SI.com: "… James succeeded in showing another side of his leadership. Having gone out of his way all year long to be one of the guys, he turned into the boss Thursday and let his teammates know he needed more than they’d been giving. He didn’t appear to embarrass anyone, but he didn’t indulge Wally Szczerbiak after he had missed an open three at the end of the third and came running back to the bench all fired up; James’ slow gait and incredulous body language made it clear that he was interested in nothing more than bottom-line production."

The Baseline: "… just as in Game 2, when James hit his buzzer-beating shot, if it weren’t for LeBron heroics, this series would be over. (In Game 2, as impressive as that game-winning shot was, it’s something many players, in theory, could have done. What he pulled off in Game 5 might have been something only James could have done.) We’ve seen the Cavs for five games against the Magic, and there’s no reason to think anyone else can step up on offense in the fourth quarter. Williams, even with his big night, was just 1 of 3 in the final quarter Thursday. Nor is there any reason to think Cleveland will be able to slow down Orlando’s offense. Despite falling behind by 22, the Magic were able to close the gap to one point — by halftime. The biggest thing that hurt the Magic was a 1-for-10 shooting night from Rafer Alston. Perhaps not coincidentally, Alston was 1 for 7 in Orlando’s Game 2 loss."

NBA Playoffs 2009: "Perimeter shooting is the jilted lover of basketball … it comes and goes. And the Magic have been hitting a ridiculous amount of their more difficult three-point bombs other than the Rafer Alston shots conceded to him; which were bound to go in. A great three-point shooter, at their peak, will shoot around forty percent. Under defensive pressure and ever-tightening mental and physical conditions, (like say, I don’t know, possibly being the ninth team to give up a 3-1 lead in the playoffs), that number has to drop precipitously. As games get close they will feel the possibility of being on the wrong end of history."

Fear The Sword: "A note to all the conspiracy theorists out there. Once again, the Orlando Magic shot several more free throws than the Cavaliers (41-34). Total fouls were nearly even( 27-25) with a few of those picked up late when Orlando was intentionally fouling. As much as the Magic players and coaches, and fans for that matter, want to play the ‘the NBA wants LeBron James in the Finals’ card, the numbers just don’t support it.  Sorry.

The Official Dwight Howard Blog:
"Ya’ll can look at the TV and tell me what ya’ll saw. I’m straight up
and down on that sixth foul against LeBron and he gets the whistle. I
didn’t even touch Z on my third foul in the third quarter but they say
I hit him on the elbow. I’m not going to lie — I’m frustrated with the
calls that we’ve gotten in this series, but I can’t let it take me away
from my focus. I know there’s nothing that I can do about it and I just
have to stay aggressive even when stuff like that is going against us.
I can’t worry about these calls that just tend to be going against me
and I have to play my game."

Third Quarter Collapse: "Rafer’s poor play had me questioning why he was even on the floor with the game on the line during the fourth period. Either he has it or he doesn’t, and tonight, he didn’t. Quite obviously. The Magic have had some success with Hedo Turkoglu running point-forward, using Courtney Lee as the nominal point guard with Mickael Pietrus in the backcourt. Very, very surprised not to see that lineup on the floor late in the game, and I can’t think of any disadvantages to using it, frankly. Lee can handle either Williams or Gibson, with Turkoglu trying to check the other one as Pietrus works (futilely?) to defend James. And before pointing out that Turkoglu hasn’t the quickness to effectively defend those guys, let me remind you that they’re essentially stand-still shooters in late-game situations, as James gets the ball at the top of the key and goes to work. He’s the one doing the driving and the kicking, not them. Turk, at 6′10", has the size and length to effectively close out on either player. So again, I ask: ‘why didn’t the Magic go point-guard-free at the end of the game?’"

Cavs: The Blog: "Ben Wallace had no points and finished with a -19 in 16 minutes. Joe Smith needs his minutes. Like, right now."

Talk Hoops: "Defensive rotations and free throw shooting failed the Orlando Magic’s opportunity to close out this series and first Finals appearance since Shaq was patrolling the pinstriped paint. Orlando had been doing a tremendous job challenging jumpers and getting out on shooters to contribute to some poor Cleveland shooting throughout this series. But in Game Five, they weren’t able to rotate as crisply and the Cavs torched them for 50% shooting from the field and the three-point line. Throw in the fact that the Magic missed 13 free throws in 41 attempts and Orlando shot themselves in the collective foot far too many times early on to match Cleveland’s energy and scoring."

Sports On My Mind: "For the Magic, the key to the sixth game is Rafer Alston. Should the Orlando point guard play within himself, Orlando will win. He must control the game’s tempo on offense, take shots if he is hitting them, and be willing to settle for simply running the offense if he is not. It is in games like tonight’s that Alston lives up to the criticism of him being a glorified playground baller. After a stellar Game 5, Alston took out of character shots and made poor decisions the entire game. He has never realized that the difference between himself and a great scorer is that the great scorer rarely, if ever, attempts an out-of rhythm shot. Alston, on the other hand, is a streaky shoot, at best, who, even if he is taking good shots, might not convert them. But rather than run the offense and take advantage of the occasional open lane to the basket or short jumper for his points, he is prone to forcing the issue in an attempt to ‘get his’ even if those attempts hurt his team."

Hardwood Paroxysm: "I made this comment on the Roundcast, but it bears repeating. I thought the Magic going up 3-1 would be horrible. This team plays terribly when it’s the favorite. It just doesn’t function well. Throw in the back-to-the-wall mentality, and you have a team shoot 50% from the floor AND the arc while everyone talks about the Magic just being hot in the OTHER 4 games. After Orlando won Game 4, I predicted they’d lose tonight AND lose Game 6. Can’t you see it?"

Read full article…

Related Articles

• No Related Post

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '}' in /home/hotnbavi/public_html/wp-content/themes/gx3-underwater-aqua-10/comments.php on line 1