LeBron’s Reaction

Posted on June 22, 2012 by wcornblatt

It would’ve been easy for LeBron James to retaliate against all the hate with anger and arrogance, he certainly earned it after last night. James could’ve publicly laughed at his skeptics and there wouldn’t be anything anyone could do. He didn’t, he answered questions gracefully, with such authenticity and bliss that it was hard to muster enough hate to be anything more than disappointed. The truth is, no matter how much we all hate LeBron, it’s never been for being a bad person. It was for being immature and foolish in how he executed a controversial decision. However, there are far worse things in the sports world than childish and obnoxious behavior, and we vilify those culprits far less.

The point is, LeBron has been who he’s been the whole time. He’s never going to be the Michael Jordan-storybook-buzzer-beater hero we love to watch. He plays like he’s having fun, and like he loves to watch his teammates have fun. It’s unsettling in it’s uniqueness, but these Finals didn’t just prove that his style was enough to win a championship. It proved that his true colors weren’t the self-promoting moments from “The Decision,” but rather the gracious consistency he’s demonstrated otherwise.

I’ve rooted against LeBron as hard as anybody and will continue to do so out of instinct and love for my Celtics, but after the Finals last year, LeBron responded to questions with contempt for his audience, and it was an ugly statement about his sense of entitlement. However, it was only a sound bite. LeBron proved last night that however frustrating he is and however much we hate him, he doesn’t hate us.

Injured Performances in Sports

Posted on June 21, 2012 by wcornblatt

There are some things in sports you can’t understand from a press box. Some things, you have to be in the game to get, one of those is injuries. When a player goes down, the only barometer for the severity of the injury is the behavior of those around him. A bad injury, and you can see it on the faces of the players on both teams, it’s not hard to identify.

So when I see a player limp to glory, or find salvation in a triumphant return, it’s hard to judge how heroic it is. I’ve watched my favorite basketball player get taken off the court in a wheelchair (Paul Pierce), and even then I didn’t believe him. There’s a sense, a lot of the time, that the player’s dramatic antics are embellished. Why wouldn’t an audience that’s forced to watch flop after flop believe that they’re watching another?

So when I saw LeBron James hobble his way to a historic 3-point shot that sent the Heat into a win that likely sealed a championship, I understood the gratitude of the shot, but not of the injury. It’s the same reaction I have when I see Ben Roethlisberger limp to the line of scrimmage, or footage of Dirk Nowitzki fighting through illness to beat last year’s Heat. It isn’t that I don’t believe the players, I’m sure LeBron did cramp, but the endless sentiment we place on injury-riddled performances is the same as the way we fawn over quarterbacks who set a block. It’s part of your job, and even though your coach may give you a little extra credit, there’s no reason for crowds to immortalize you in Gatorade commercials and GIFs circulating twitter. Enough of the fan-fare surrounding limps and illnesses, this is professional sports, and playing through pain is as professional as you get.

Game 5 and the Blame Game

Posted on June 20, 2012 by wcornblatt

When things are going wrong, it’s easy to blame people. So after last night’s heart-breaking and possibly series-ending loss to the Miami Heat, it’s easy for Thunder fans to blame the people who were there at the end.

Russell Westbrook played a brilliant 3 and a half quarters, but late in the game found himself making crucial mistakes. A late turnover and a baffling foul left fans with a bad taste in their mouths. So even after his 43 points, Westbrook lost a game that essentially eliminated his team from the playoffs, but is he to blame?

Nobody will say that it’s Westbrook’s fault his team lost, because that would be ludicrous after the monstrous numbers he put up. However, late in the game he seemed out of sorts, and it cost Oklahoma City.

So if Westbrook’s not to blame, whose fault is it? The foul that sealed the deal for Miami could certainly be blamed on Thunder coach Scott Brooks. It’s his job to keep Westbrook aware of the clock and his surroundings, but people ignore the fact that a late foul isn’t what wins or loses a game. It’s a game, and you need to play 48 minutes of good basketball if you want to win a championship. And for 48 minutes, nobody played a great game for the Thunder. Westbrook played 44 minutes of genius basketball, but struggled for the last four. Kevin Durant played a solid game, and his stat line of 28 points looks nice, but watching the game you saw that he wasn’t in his rhythm. So when you look at it, there really isn’t anybody to blame, but at the same time everybody is to blame. The Thunder were the worse team last night, and blaming their loss on an individual is a cop out.

Celtics Fan Pours Beer On LeBron James

Posted on June 8, 2012 by OneManFastbreak.net

LeBron James was on fire Thursday night at Boston’s TD Garden. He set the tone for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals with a 30-point performance in the first half and finished with 45 — the second-best output of his playoff career.

James shot 73 percent from the field, making 19 of his 26 shots from the field, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called it a “fearless” performance. The Celtics couldn’t stop LeBron and the only thing that cooled him off was the classless Celtic fan who doused the Heat star with a beverage as he walked through the tunnel headed toward the locker room.

“I think what fuels him is this moment, and the moment will define you,” Spoelstra said of James, who also had 15 rebounds and five assists. “We’ve been through a lot the last two years. I think we’ve all learned how to compartmentalize and quiet all the noise and just focus on the matter at end.”

James was focused even after the game as he paused momentarily after feeling the water on his back, but he kept on going and wasn’t fazed at all. As for that fan who poured beer on LeBron, he (or she) should be banned from any NBA game. Watch the despicable act: Video

Brought to you by OneManFastbreak.net

The End of the Celtics

Posted on May 31, 2012 by wcornblatt

It’s a tough day, not because of tomorrows test looming over me, or the early hour I was forced to wake up today. No, today is tough because a harsh reality has set in, the Celtics run is over, and in the unlikeliest of ways.

I knew I’d write this article at some point. It was only a matter of time until I was forced to face the realization that my days of basketball glory were over, but not like this. The Celtics are playing as well as I’ve seen them play in years, but after a heart-breaking loss they find themselves down 2-0. Teams up 2-0 win 95% of their series!

Numerous blogs have tried to describe the series as one team just being better than the other, but that’s not true. Sure, the Heat are more athletic, younger and a better team than the Celtics, but that’s too easy of a cop-out. The Celtics played a Heat team that was at their best, on their home floor and were one step away from beating them. Actually, one call away from beating them. Rajon Rondo’s unbelievable, historic and enigmatic performance will be remembered as one of the greatest playoff performances in history, and that’s not hyperbole.

However what will be so memorable about the game was Rondo’s drive in overtime, with the clock under two minutes. It was a play that’s happened to Rondo a million times. His quickness and over-aggressiveness pays off, and even though he misses a layup he has no shot of making, he gets fouled by a flailing arm trying to stop a speed that’s impossible to keep up with. Normally, he goes to the line, hits one, maybe two free throws, but not this time. This time, the refs blew it, and not an excuse type of blowing it, they blew the game! He was clearly hit in the face, and in a game where LeBron James shot five less free throws than the entire Celtics’ team, the refs have no excuse for “letting them play.”

The refs called a completely different game for LeBron than for Paul Pierce or any other Celtic, it’s just a fact. Fouls don’t accumulate on one side and not on the other like that, especially in a game this even. Stars have gotten calls in the NBA for years now, and I’m sure Michael Jordan is in a casino somewhere laughing about how he got the same love-taps-turned-free-throws LeBron did. However for all of those terrible gimme calls, all of the Game One technicals against the Celtics, the refs had a chance to erase every whisper of NBA conspiracies. All they had to do was call an obvious and unquestionable foul, but instead Rondo got smacked in the face and went down looking for a call. By the time he turned to the ref, Udonis Haslem was on the other end of the floor dunking the ball…it was a four-point swing.

Even with the foul, the Celtics had a great chance and played a great game. I don’t give much merit to the stat of the largest comeback in Heat playoff history, since everybody realizes that erasing a 15-point lead before halftime in the playoffs is about as impressive as T.O.’s arena league play. In fact, it was the Celtics who were resilient. Ray Allen’s late three sent the game into OT, even after trailing late with Dwyane Wade on the line ready to seal the deal.

Sure, if the Celtics come down with the rebound after LeBron’s missed layup in the waning seconds of the fourth, they have the ball with a chance to win the game in regulation, but it wasn’t like they blew the game. They went into overtime with their best clutch player on the bench because of fouls. Both teams had leads, and both teams lost them, it was an even game.

So here I am, with a 5% chance at coming back and winning the series, and possibly elongating a run with a lineup that will change completely by next year. I always pictured this moment as pathetic and hard it is to watch. I imagined the Celtics losing in the first round to the Pacers or Magic, and the world laughing at my old and staggering lineup, but the Celtics are in the Eastern Conference Finals, with a lineup that has no business of being there, competing with an Avengers-like team. They lost in overtime, in part, because of a blown call that any ref could easily make. It’s a perfect parallel for them, a team that won its championship with defense, intensity and effort willed themselves to battle last night. They lost that one. They won a couple in 2008. And that’s sports. The sooner I come to terms with that, the easier the end of these Celtics will be.