The King

Orlando 107, Cleveland 106
Cleveland 96, Orlando 95
Orlando 99, Cleveland 89
Orlando 116, Cleveland 114 (OT)
Cleveland 112, Orlando 102
Orlando 103, Cleveland 90


the King. ( not the horse from entourage )


With the elimination of the Cleveland Cavs from the postseason sinking in, more and more questions continue to be raised. Mostly, "How?" The simple answer is that Orlando was better but that topic is boring. Here are the questions I am interested in.

1. Is Mike Brown the single worst coach of the year in sports history?
- For the NBA it is tough to argue this fact. Sam Mitchell won three seasons ago with Toronto with only 47 wins and a first round loss to the nets but i guess the argument is that he took a bad team, and came out on top in a bad atlantic division. With that exception every other coach has a good resume. The NFL certaintly picks deserving coaches of the year, every year. Baseball has a great history of picking the most deserving managers with the least emphasis on record. Joe Girardi, depsite how confused he looks in New York now, won the award in in 2006 with Florida with 78 wins, and a fourth place finish in the NL east. But what he did that year with a payroll similar to that of a McDonald's staff was unbelievable. Mike Brown won 66 games this past season, the best in the NBA, followed by two sweeps in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He was a great actor pretending he knew what he was doing this entire time, but then came Orlando. In game one we pretended that no one came to play except Lebron. In game two Stan Van Gundy literally gave away the game by not having Rashard lewis 6'10 in the face of Mo Williams 6'1 while leaving Lebron to come off a simple screen in single coverage to hit an open shot. Once again, Mike Brown blew a big lead, but still, no one noticed. Once Orlando got home, they played very well and took some close games, and went up 3-1 in the series. Still, Mike Brown is off the hook. Game five however, despite winning will be the demise of this coach of the year forever. In a close game at the start of the fourth quarter Mike Brown said to his guys, "Listen, i have this idea. We're gonna go one on five for the next twelve minutes." Of course Mo, big scary white guy, my hair is my ego Varejao, and old herpie face had no problem with this plan, since none of them want to shoot under pressure. Somehow Lebron won the game by himself, with Mike Brown standing in awe. So how does Cleveland and Mike Brown feed off the momentum? By giving up in game six. Lebron couldn't even score 40! The 2008-2009 Cavs may have had the most talent any team Lebron will ever have, but the lack of a coach cost him a championship.

2. Is Stan Van Gundy actually a good coach?
- We will find out alot more in the finals, but this is slowly becomming a fact. The Magic are a good team, but they don't have what past championship teams do have. It seems like the magic just launch threes all game, and this is actually a true statement, but even though it's fourty of so threes, they all have something in common. They are open threes! Game time adjustments are one thing but coaching is a 24-7 job that Stan is on top of. When cleveland was down two with a second left, the whole world knew who was getting the ball. Same scenerio for Orlando in game four, and I guarentee that only Stan and five Magic players knew what was going to happen. Van Gundy may make a mistake here and there but the big picture is that they are going to the finals. Final answer, Van Gundy has proved himself.

3. Does Lebron deserve this heat for not shaking anyones hand after game?
- Well the first thought clearly is yes, but then after you think about it, you have to still say yes. I understand that he is a "competetor" and "passionate" but this is two years in a row now. When you loose you congradulate your opponent. No one enjoys doing it, except Delonte West, but that's mostly because he likes taking his shirt off on TV. The critizism may be a bit blown out of proportion but he certaintly deserves most of the heat.

4. With this being the most dissapointing loss of Lebrons career, does it guarentee an exit from Cleveland after next season?
- Obviously next years outcome is important but I think this is it. Loosing is bad enough, but now that teams know how to beat him, Cleveland isn't going win. The magic didn't just take Lebrons best chance for a ring, but now, possibly his only. You let Lebron do his thing, you just shut down everyone else. This new defense that Van Gundy established perfectly means Lebron needs more help. However this talent isn't out their because every other star needs the ball in the fourth quarter. Lebron being as immature as he is probably won't understand that Cleveland is the best fit for him. That Organization will do everything to make a winner but Lebron doesn't care. He actually thinks leaving will make things better. Cleveland has a great sports history with greater dissapointments, so loosing this year wasn't the end of the world for the city. Once Lebron tries to pull these loosing stunts in New York, he will be eaten alive by the media. Short answer, he's gone, the question is where?

5. How long are Lebron appoligists going to defend him?
- For ever. Lebron isnt just a legend to some people, hes a way of life. You have to defend your team as a fan, but you can only go so far. Pierce shouldn't have sat on a wheel chair in the finals. I said it. Your turn Cleveland.

6. Will Quentin Richardson change his number 23 for Lebron when he goes to New York? If not, what will Lebron wear?
- My last question is clearly the most interesting. This clash can easily go either way. Will Lebron fight Q? Di antoni will probably make Q sit out the entire year and then buy out his contract if he doesn't give up his number. I can actually see the Knicks cutting Q just because of this situation. However if Lebron does grow up in the next year and change his number, what would it be? does he try to one up Jordan and do 24, does he predict his future rings with the number 0, or does he just quit and play football for some reason?