Round 1 Game 2 | Cavs vs Pacers | April 18, 2018 | 6:00 EST

Gus Zing said:

@Certo17 @MediumBaller Games like today remind me of January when posters and mods practically gave up LeBron.

Click to expand...

I know it's frustrating for a lot of people to watch LeBron half ass it at times in the regular season, but games like tonight should remind people why he does it. He has to do it because he knows he'll have to drop 40 pieces to carry this team come playoff time.

Let's pretend the first two games didn't happen and that it is a new series.

Come out fresh, with intensity and keep that pressure up all game. Pacers won't surrender the way every team did last year or the year before.

melecoaze said:

I mean you have complained about LeBron a couple of times in this thread, and said nothing about Kevin Love.

I agree some people take it too far but the dude has done nothing to be immune to criticism, especially if LeBron isn't.

Click to expand...

To be SPECIFIC...I am NOT telling people not to criticize Love's game.

Criticize his game all you want....

But and I quote, we got a post that LITERALLY said.

"Kevin Love is the biggest fucking pussy I have ever seen"

And also another 10-20 posts to that effect.

My post about LeBron during the regular season
"Wow, his defense and his effort is some of the worst I've ever seen"

My worst?

"Bron, fuck yourself for this effort/quitting on the team tonight".

My "complaining" posts from this thread

"LeBron, please score on the slower white guy they put on you without it being a contested jumpshot".


And again, one more time for everyone, Kevin Love jammed his thumb. Which anyone who's ever played ball knows hurts like a bitch, and we get
"Kevin Love is the biggest fucking pussy I have ever seen"


One more time..

"LeBron's fucking effort fucking sucks tonight, FUCK"

"Kevin Love is the biggest fucking pussy I have ever seen".

See the difference? EVERYONE?

I don't care if you're complaining about Love not playing well. By. All. Means.

But we literally had almost double digit posts to the effect of "Love is the biggest fucking pussy/bitch/weak human/loser/injury having asshole in the world" because he jammed his thumb.

So, naw, ya'll arent gonna get off that easy by trying to say I criticize LeBron....one last time

*Love accidentally jams thumb *

"Kevin Love is the biggest fucking pussy I have ever seen"-in some variation, x10.

Unfortunately, this team being composed of all role players is coming to reality. And that includes Kevin. 16 points from the bench, and only two other double digit scorers with 15 and 12 points. That is not going to cut it, especially once the team hits the road.

Defense is looking better in flashes, but the offense is suffering. Cavs need to get some of these young guys going early these next couple games before their confidence is shot to total shit.

CLEtoNYC said:

"Good game, LeBron oh and btw your friend's wife died. What do you want to say to him?"

Wtf

Click to expand...

This was worse than when a reporter asked Al Horford, after a playoff win, if the win was as important to him as the birth of his newborn. Like wtf?

Jscc said:

That was totally inappropriate.

Click to expand...

I hate that the media just wants to get instant reactions from players. There is 0 social consciousness when it comes to these types of things.

SteelSmack said:

Scored 15 points, so it's not like he was total garbage. Hit a huge 3 in the 4th while LeBron was resting. He didn't have a great game but it wasn't as awful as a lot of people are making it out to be.

Click to expand...

Not awful but he didn't play anything like a max salary all star second option, and that's been all too common for four years now. He is what he is, he has his moments, he contributes and sometimes has terrific games, but he's not consistently been the player we've needed him to be. Not sure how people can disagree with that.

Anyway I hope he proves me wrong in Indiana. God knows we need him to show up

so is it acceptable to call out Nances absolutely horrible game? in 24 minutes he scored 2 points and it was on a designed play for him. he had the worst +/- on the team. missed his only 2 FTs and was an absolute sieve on defense.

dude needs to step it the fuck up

SanduskyCav said:

I was talking about you talking shit on him in this game thread...Get that weak stuff outta here.

Click to expand...

I said he should try to score on the slow white guy without having to take a jumper.

You said a man was the biggest pussy you've ever seen because he jammed his thumb during a basketball game.

InBoobieWeTrust said:

Slamming regular season effort versus personally attacking someone over an injury that we have no idea the severity of....yeah I totally see the fucking link between those two things... get that weak stuff outta here, lol.

Click to expand...

So, I gotta defend LeBron here. He shouldn’t need to play at a super human level or have playoff intensity against this team for every single possession. The rest of the team needs to step the fuck up. It’s embarrassing. Love, Hill, and Hood have to play better. LeBron hadn’t lost a game in the first round in 6 years, and he didn’t give 100% playoff effort in those first rounds.

Honestly, as @gourimoko has said multiple times, the front office pretty much punted on the season. I mean, the trades they made were decent, but they certainly couldn’t have thought they were going to win anything with the roster. I can’t really fault LeBron. He shouldn’t have to be going balls to the wall just to eek out a first round series against the Pacers.

The front office needs to make a big splash this offseason, like Kawhi level move or bust, or I think LeBron is gone, sadly. He scored 46 out of 100 points and we needed damn near every one of them.

Love's problem boils down to his not being a reliable player. As an All-Star, he has talent and therefore should be able to be traded at his salary for a decent return. LeBron or no.

Guys don't blame Allie LaForce for asking LeBron that question. You know that wasn't her call right?

bob2the2nd said:

because its obvious there are a lot of posters on here that hold the cavs not winning in 15 on Love (because he got his should torn out of socket). And then when he isnt kyrie 2.0 this year that just sends them over the edge.

Kyrie didnt want to be any more, because he didnt want to play in lebrons shadow. Yet despite that Love comes out the bad guy like he always has.

Click to expand...

Love is not the bad guy but has no excuse to not be more aggressive. This is his 4th straight playoff run. He needs to start acting like he is a star not a role player. 20 and 15 every night is what I expect.

MediumBaller said:

I know it's frustrating for a lot of people to watch LeBron half ass it at times in the regular season, but games like tonight should remind people why he does it. He has to do it because he knows he'll have to drop 40 pieces to carry this team come playoff time.

Click to expand...

I think it validates the passiveness of game 1.

He had to see if guys were going to show up. Now it looks like we need all time LeBron to beat the damn Pacers.

Good thing he isnt exhausted...

Sidenote: Heh it feels like watching the 1st era Cavs team. Good defense, Great LeBron lol.

I was critical of Love's game tonight, but did not make fun of the injury. That looked pretty bad. Some posters here can just be immature, though. Remember when Lue got sick not that long ago, and some posters here wished he would die over it? Same thing. People take their frustration over players or coaches way too far sometimes.