by Brett Edwards
"I know you just hit the game-winner, but I'm still the King. Bron-Bron needs to get some. Who's the King? WHO'S THE KING? That's right, say my name..."
Gay celebrations aside, the Cavs outlasted the Wiz in another game that went down to the wire. Damon Jones, who hadn't played the whole game, calmly came in and hit the game-winning 3 with just under 5 seconds left.
In a series that featured two teams playing absolutely no defense, it's a bit ironic that this particular game turned when Washington started missing uncontested layups and free throws. Caron Butler blew a layup, and before Arenas made that ridiculous (awesome) 30-footer that sent the game into OT, I was ready to let him have it for being a choker. Arenas did miss two wide open shots in the final 2 minutes of regulation which assisted the Cavs in going on an 11-1 run to take a 3-point lead, but sending the game into OT with that shot provided some temporary clutch cred for him. Until OT that is.
With 15 seconds left in OT and a one-point lead, Arenas went to the line to shoot two. Lebron went right up to him, put his hand on his shoulder, and said "If you miss both of these free throws, the game is over." Arenas, hands firmly around his own throat, calmly bricked both shots. I can't believe Arenas' teammates actually let this happen. I was at a regular season Clipper game versus the Pistons, where Chauncey Billups wouldn't let Sam Cassell get to Ben Wallace to do the same thing. And that was a regular season game in December!
With apologies to the many Arenas-worshippers out there, that's a choke job folks. Arenas had a great series, but if all you can do is score when the game's not on the line, you're just Kevin Garnett or Chris Webber.
It's funny that Arenas tried to get in Lebron's head after game 5 by showing up in the locker room very late into the night and talking to him about the game. Lebron didn't say anything then; he saved his words for when they counted.
Damon Jones is He Man - ' The Best Shooter In The Universe ' Period.
Posted by: coach | May 06, 2006 at 11:19 AM
I wouldn't be too hard on Arenas. After all, he did hit clutch freethrows at the end of Game 5, and if even one Wizard player had just stayed in front of Lebron, we'd be waiting for Game 7.
I've obviously brought up the time Magic Johnson infamously missed two critical freethrows in Game 4 of the '84 Finals. However, I neglected to mention a couple misses by James Worthy at the end of regulation of that same game. Cedric Maxwell (like Lebron) was talking it up to Worthy, and even gave him the choke sign after Worthy missed the first.
Oh, and Maxwell did the same thing to Dr. J back in '81, when the Celtics came back from 3-1 to win the series.
I like Arenas, the kid has a great attitude, and I was really rooting for the Wizards. Oh well. I don't think Lebron's going to have much to say to the Pistons, do you? I predict they're going to shut him up really, really quickly.
Posted by: basketbawful | May 06, 2006 at 11:56 AM
Wiz coach E**ie Jor*an may be one of the most overrated coaches in the history of the NBA. The Wizar*s play absolutely zero defense. And I don't want to hear about the fact that their roster contains players who are not instinctive defenders. Jamison played at UNC, Arenas at Arizona and Butler at UConn. All three schools are top ten material every season based on balanced attacks on both ends of the court.
Big fucking deal that E**ie Jor*an took the Wizar*s to the playoffs in back to back seasons. He's got three players with the ability to drop 20 each and every night and to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference all you have to do is play .500 ball. So let's stop sucking off E**ie Jor*an and his vaunted Princeton Offense. Let's start talking about how embarrassing his defense is.
With the kind off athletic talent on that squad, they should at least stop a drive or two. John Hollinger can break out any statistical number that say the '06 Seattle team is the worst defense in the NBA, but the '06 Wizar*s rank right up there. Did they even stop one single drive the entire series?
No, I'm serious... DID THEY EVEN STOP ONE SINGLE DRIVE THE ENTIRE SERIES?
Posted by: Craig | May 07, 2006 at 01:15 AM