This will be the last we speak of LeBron’s pass, I promise, but Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal makes an interesting observation on his blog:
LeBron was not double-teamed when he made the pass, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince were caught by surprise when James attacked so quick and both were out of position. But that’s not the point. Yes, Marshall was open, but that’s not it either. Looking at it live and then at the replays, it seems pretty certain to me that when LeBron started going down the lane he had no intention of shooting the ball. Based on the angles I saw, I’m not sure he even looked at the rim even though he had good position to finish the play. Marshall said after the game the play was not drawn up for him. Mike Brown said it was James’ decision. His decision, not his read, was to pass. And that is the difference between this play and all the others when he passed instead of taking the last shot. It certainly looked like he didn’t take the last shot because he didn’t want it and I’ve never before held that stance.
Combine that with his thoughts after the game which included this: “We always want to win the ball game, but we always say if we play as hard as we did tonight for 48 minutes, we’re not satisfied, but we can look back and say we’re OK with this loss.”
LeBron isn’t looking to shoot and is OK with the loss? Yeah, I’m fine with that, too. Here’s to hoping he keeps it up for three more games — because that’s all this series will last barring a change of heart and more productive (read: selfish) play on his part.
Even if he did tie the game with a dunk, who’s going to say the Pistons were going to lose in overtime? Exactly. We had this game the whole way.
This is totally random, but imagine if the Cavs still had Carlos Boozer? He’s tearing it up out west.
A bit late to the table, but here we go: it was the right decision by James.
First off, the play worked perfect and Sheed reacted like Sheed and whoops, open 3 pointer for (quite probably) the win. Maybe people trained by ballhogging NBA stars think LeBron passed the buck, be he very well could have made the game winning pass if it fell.
Second off, the more I see the replay, I’m almost certain Tay would have altered the shot and caused a miss. So it wasn’t a gimme like some seem to think.
I think the Cavs did the right thing. They went for the win on the road - and you have to at least split the road games if you want to be competitive. If you look at all the championship teams, yeah, you got guys who could “take the game over,” but that’s really not what happens. Teams win games. And teams lose them. Bron didn’t lose. The Cavs lost.
To me it wasn’t even about going for the win or going for the tie. It was who had the better shot. And what is better than a WIDE open shot?
Whether you think the “play” was right or wrong, the fact remains that Donyell Marshall, who gets paid millions to be a three point specialist, had a WIDE OPEN look from the corner, his favorite spot.
The pass was on time, right on the money, and all Marshall had to do was stick it….
LeBron is damned no matter what, unless the Cavs win, so debating it is a practice in futility….
FTS
http://www.fearthesword.com
Hmmmmm….a shot a couple feet from the basket with a guy that is beat….or a wide open three pointer? I am guessing the percentages would back me up…take the close shot. Even Little Ben Wallace could not have missed that one.
Well, I’m pretty sure Ben Wallace could have missed it- just think back to all the missed dunks and lay-ups we watched. That said, if Donyell had made the shot, I’m sure everyone would have been talking about how great a decision it was, blah, blah, Chosen One, blah. I think the larger question about LeBron is the lack of aggression throughout the entire game.
I’m pretty sure I can hit a wide open 3 from the corner and I’m not even paid to do it!
Detroit’s not playing like a team that wants to win a championship!! Prince, Billups, and Hamilton are stinking it up!!!! Cavs will probably win this one if these guys don’t start playing with some pride…….C’MON DETROIT LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!