What happened to Lebron James?

"One of the biggest playoff wins in KNICKS history."

-- ESPN.com's John Hollinger

First, let me apologize for not posting as much as I wanted to during the Playoffs.

Now that that is out of the way, WHAT IS GOING ON WITH LEBRON JAMES?!

I watched Game 5 last night and that is by far the poorest performance I have seen him put in as a pro. And my assessment has nothing to do with his stat line. He just wasn't trying. He wasn't tuned in or focused on helping his team in the game. His shot wasn't falling, and instead of focusing on the other facets of his game (rebounding. defense, passing) which in my opinion makes him MORE dangerous then when he is scoring, what does he do? Check out of the game! His play affected his team as well. No one could get it going, and the Boston Celtics, long thought to be old and washed up, wrecked them. In Cleveland. This is unfathomable.

At this point in time, I can't see Cleveland making the East finals, much less the NBA Finals. They just don't have the personnel. They have coasted through the regular season, and now, for a 3rd straight year, are being exposed to have a lot of bark and no bite. Besides Lebron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers have NO ONE who demands respect from any team. Now compare that statement with the Lakers roster. Even if you are a Laker's hater, they have personnel who are a threat whenever, or where ever they play. Pau Gasol is one of the top big men in the league. Lamar Odom can at any moment grab a rebound, block a shot, initiate the offense, defend the other team's best player, or hit a jumper. Ron Artest can defend and at the very least rough up the other team's best player (Kevin Durant, anyone?) as well as occasionally hit an open jumper.The Mo Williams experiment is dead. He does not have the tools or the skills to be a confident dependable #2 option for this team. Ditto for the rest of the roster, including Shaq. In my opinion, Lebron needs a Joe Johnson or Lamar Odom. Get them and things get better in a hurry. Someone who can defend the other teams best player, initiate offense on their own, and be enough of a threat to demand attention (essentially, replicate Scottie Pippen's role and performance). This also has proven to me that in the end, Boston, LA, and Orlando have better TEAMS (by far!) than Cleveland. It is actually a tribute to how great Lebron is that he has been able to mask their shortcomings. But make no mistake. This Cavs teams is downright fraudulent when it comes to being a contender. They can't defend consistently or rebound. Even if they pull off a comeback miracle in this series, DO NOT expect them to make it to the Finals or to win against the Lakers (yes, I'm picking them already). I can't give Lebron a bail out as far as his injury goes because he never even asserted himself and attempted shots. At no point did he play like the alpha dog for the Cavs, and that is what shocked me the most. It's almost as if they don't think they can win. This game may very well stand as an example as how much more he has to go to be considered the best or even one of the best to ever play the game.

Game 4 Roundup: Orlando is for real, muppets be damned.

Orlando is the better team. That's it. If you haven't realized it by now, if you haven't seen that in every game Cleveland has little to no answer for their 3 point shooting, Dwight's interior presence, and their defensive intensity on everyone not named Lebron, then I don't have much to say to you. Remember that the Cavs, if not for a miraculous shot by King James, would be home RIGHT NOW. The series would be over. If Cleveland wants to do anything with this series, they will have to take it one game at a time, and support their leader. We have seen this time and time again as NBA fans. One man does not a championship win. Michael didn't win a thing before Pippen and Grant go there. Kobe WON'T win another ring until Gasol and his supporting cast play better. Ditto for Lebron. Sadly, Mo Williams is not Scottie Pippen, and this series has illustrated that painfully. Even with his increased output last night (18 points), he had NO POINTS in the 4th Quarter or OT. Maybe he will keep himself from being baited into making silly statements to the media next time.

On top of that, Orlando hit 44.7% of their 3's (17-38), had more assists and blocks, and hit exactly 50% of the shots they took. Even with Cleveland outrebounding them, making less turnovers, and doubling the amount of steals Orlando had (5), Orlando was able to pull this out due to some clutch free throw shooting by Dwight and some good defense/non-calls on Lebron's drives to the basket.

I predict that Cleveland wins game 5 at home off of favorable calls and pure emotion. Lebron's supporting cast comes through for the first time this series (good bench production, finally!) and Lebron puts in another monster game to push it back to Orlando. As good as Orlando is, their emotions sometimes gets the best of them, especially on the road when calls aren't as likely to be in their favor. They can't expect their bench to perform like that away from Amway arena. Skip (Rafer Alston) won't have 26 points on 10-14 shooting in Cleveland, and Pietrus won't outscore the entire Cleveland bench. I also think that Dwight will probably get his 7th technical at some point. Though when I look at the replays of his 6th, I strongly feel he wasn't taunting, but simply celebrating a big play. Hopefully the League rescinds that one. Either way, I am excited at the thought that if Cleveland comes back and somehow wins this thing, Lebron will continue to create and increase his legend. Orlando wins? Then Dwight Howard moves from being a very good big man into the best big man in the league. My prediction: Orlando in 6 and the end of a very expensive Nike marketing campaign.

Bring on the Conference Finals! And then there were four....

Some random thoughts:

Was anyone surprised the Lakers ran over the Rockets in LA for Game 7? I felt that this was a game that the Lakers would assert themselves and their superstars would play like superstars and get those types of calls. Rockets just didn't have the firepower to overcome. And you know what? I couldn't be prouder of that team. They had more heart this series then any other team in the League. I challenge anyone to point out another team the past 10 years that could lose not one but both their superstars and still push the Championship favorites to 7 games. Gutsy stuff. Sadly, I can't help but think that this series would be over sooner if Tracy McGrady was playing. Good to know that he finally got out of the 1st round though.

The real shocker for me was seeing Orlando (Orlando?!) go into Boston and run them off their own court. Live by the 3, die by the 3, and boy, was Orlando living! Not much you can do when they are hitting contested and uncontested threes and jumpers. Boston also played with the heart of the champion this series, especially considering no one in their right mind even picked them to get o the conference finals. They just ran out of gas, and didn't have their emotional leader in KG. Hope this isn't the last we see of them. So now we have Orlando and Cleveland, I'm picking Cleveland in 6, 5 if they really get going. Looking at the matchups makes me think that Orlando's chances are directly predicated on how they defend Lebron's supporting cast, foul trouble and dominant play from Howard, and how well Orlando shoots at home and on the road. I'd love to see the series go 7 because as great as Lebron is, he gets better when he is challenged and the stakes are higher.

In the West, I see the Lakers taking the series but dealing with some serious heat from Denver. I find it completely possible that Denver wins this series if a perfect storm forms. That Perfect Storm would take several ingredients: Denver shoots the ball incredibly well. LA plays like they played against Houston. Denver is able to defend Kobe Bryant and turn him into a volume shooter. Denver is able to take 1 or 2 on LA's floor. If these things happen, we may have a next generation finals matchup between Melo and Lebron, and the Kobe naysaying chatter will only grow louder.

Either way, I'm happy that the Playoffs are progressing and hope that the good basketball continues.