Whose To Blame?

Let me start off by saying I have been sitting here, staring at this screen in disbelief of how Cleveland won this series. I mean it would be ignorant for me to sit here and say that Detroit was eons better than them because Cleveland just beat them four times in a row. Sorta kills any sort of argument ya know? But I’m trying to figure out exactly what it was that Cleveland did better than Detroit. Can someone please tell me? I mean the coaches were equally dumb and on paper it is ridiculous how much better Detroit is than Cleveland. It also can’t be said that Cleveland was THAT much hungrier than Detroit, because at no point in those six games did I ever go “Damn Cleveland just wants it SO much more.” I had that feeling when Chicago was playing Miami. Cleveland did have the #1 player on the court at all times in LeBron…but Detroit had 2 through 6. Even last night (as you could tell by my running thoughts) I was a big fan of Detroit and their defensive strategy. It felt like they had control of the game the entire time but they could never bust it open. Cleveland just kept taking their bodyshots and Daniel Gibson came up huge. If you want to go into hyperbole, put it all on Gibson because without his performance Detroit wins that game with ease.

The beautiful thing about sports is that not everything is logically explainable. By that I mean there is no formula as to why certain things happen at certain times. All I can come up with after thinking about this is that Cleveland was just meant to win this series and go to the Finals. How else can I explain why Mike Brown all of a sudden finally realized he should be playing Daniel Gibson, and then Gibson pulled a Bobby Hansen and went off to give them that win last night. Or how Detroit mysteriously lost their poise and composure after Game 2. I mean if you had told me that the Pistons were going to lose because of them turning the ball over late and blowing leads I would have laughed it off and called you crazy. But that is exactly what happened.

It was just meant to be…and I’m happy for the fans and the city of Cleveland. Think of all the up and downs they have gone through over the years. Thanks to Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Craig Ehlo and Larry Nance the Cavs were always in the mix. Back-to-back years they put up 50+ win seasons only to have MJ send them home. As a matter of fact, MJ sent the Cavs home five times from 88 to 94. The Cavs were contenders but never good enough to get over the hump and as a Blazer fan I can tell you that is just no fun. This era came to a crashing halt and while Terrell Brandon and company breathed a little bit of hope they went through a dismal six year span before the arrival of LeBron. And during that span even MJ hit a game-winner on them in Cleveland just to remind them of past failures. Love them or hate them they have had this coming to them for a while. Congrats and enjoy it.

Quick first thoughts on the Cleveland/San Antonio matchup…did anyone else know Cleveland won both times these two teams played?

The death of the Pistons is coming very soon. After losing to Cleveland they are about to take a backseat in the East. Losing Chauncey Billups, even though he struggled this series will be a monumental loss. Whose their backup PG…oh yeah Lindsey Hunter. He’s not running on fumes or anything.
Maybe the Jazz should trade Kirilenko? Unless you’re getting a shooter then I don’t see the point. Speaking of the Jazz, keep tabs on this Black Guys vs. Euros feud that could be brimming.
David Aldridge takes his turn at the wacky ‘lets make up trades for teams to get Kobe’ game. He says the Blazers could trade Zach, Martell, Fred Jones, Sergio Rodriguez, the #1 pick and two of our 2nd round picks for Kobe and Andrew Bynum. That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve heard in a while.
I hope Pritchard doesn’t read that.
Four-part series in Atlanta on Mike Conley, here is part 1. And yes I will cry for you Atlanta when the Hawks take Brandan Wright at #3.
Greg Oden sure knows how to mosey. Just ask him.