CLEVELAND....WE HAVE A PROBLEM....

For the first time in the playoffs, I actually think the Cleveland Caveliers will not make it to the Finals...

Not that I've already given up on King James, rather, I have kinda given up on the rest of his team...

The Orlando Magic currently lead the series 2-1 after winning Game 3 in Orlando this morning by a margin of 10 points.

Lebron James led all scorers with 41 points and the closest any Orlando player got to that point total was Dwight Howard, who scored 24 points.

And there in lies the reason for my pessimism....Cleveland is about King James...and sadly, nothing else...

The team has had two blowout playoff series wins...they beat Detroit and Atlanta 4-0 each and have had 7-9 days layoffs in between series.

They meet Orlando now.....a team worn thin thus far in the playoffs...pushed to the limit, tested in every possible way in the art of "winning games in the playoffs", evey player has taken turns to make clutch plays and push the team to a win, and more importantly, this team now knows how to fight because there is no one team out there in today's playoffs that has lost so many double digit leads and gone on to lose a game...this team has been slapped around by the coach and media so much that they are like the big corm under my feet....tough...

Cleveland...I think the only player on that team NOT AFFECTED by the long layoffs and hype is Lebron James.

He's absolutely the ONLY PLAYER who has turned up so far in all 3 games against Orlando and if not for his clutch last second 3 pointer in Game 2, the Caveliers would now be staring at a 0-3 deficit and a high chance of being swept by Orlando on Wednesday when they play Game 4. (by the way, that last minute shot by Lebron WAS AMAZING...and the reason why he's the league MVP)


Mo Williams has been an absolute dissapointment in the series...the man who was billed to be the perfect side-kick to Lebron...and he actually played the part really well in regular season, has wilted under pressure like a rose with goo poured over it's head....


Delonte West is but a fringe player at best, he's averaged about 12 points per game in the regular season and he's been incapable of carring anymore scoring load for the team....this is exceptionally painful when you consider how thin the bench is for the Caveliers...



Anderson Varejao is like an overly-excited little Brazilian jumping bean who is only good for 4-6 points a night and is not capable of really causing any ripples on defence especially not against the art of 3-point shot plays, which Orlando is a master off.


Big Z Ilgauskus is no match for Dwight "Superman" Howard...please don't hurt him Dwight...and please Big Z...I'm sick and tired of seeing a 7-3 Center shoot hopeless 3-pointers from the corner of the court...I don't even want to dig up your stats to see how many of those you have buried in the regular season...look, if you don't score to help the team, then at least put your 6 fouls to good use and TRY taking Dwight out of the game..

I've just finished listing the starting 5 players on the Caveliers squad and that's basically it...the bench is pathetic...they might as well play Lebron the full 48 minutes and have the Harlem Globetrotters sitting on the Caveliers bench..

Look at Orlando....though not the elite squad but definitely delivering when it matters...the depth of the bench is the key and will be the factor which will win the series for them...

Look at Game 3...5 of their players are in double-digit scoring, and the Caveliers only have 3 players with double digits and one of them being Lebron James...

JJ Redick, Courtney Lee (rookie), Michael Pietrus and Anthony Johnson have taken turns to carry the scoring load when the first team takes a breather on the bench....you put the ball in the hands of any player on the Orlando team and they will either pass it in for a dunk and post up play by Howard or they will simply pass it around to the corners for a 3-point play. How many places can Lebron be at any one time? Defending the post, defending the 3-point line and then streaking down court for a break-away dunk? That probably only happens all the time at Level 1 of my NBA Game on my PSP!

Lebron is King, but he's still human....

It's sad to see the Cleveland Cavelier's season end like this but honestly, I do not see how they can compete with the Lakers if they were to meet in the finals. Granted that the Lakers are not really playing inspired basketball at the moment, but again, I go back to the word "DEPTH".

I wait with abated breath for Game 4, knowing that even if the Caveliers were to lose, they still have to go back to Cleveland but at this point, I'm calling Orlando to take the series in 6 games...

Sad but true....