This should be a fanshot, but the explanation is too long

by Mike Prada on Apr 28, 2008 1:23 PM EDT

Let's look at this play rationally for a second.

Flagrant foul? Most definitely. Stevenson hit him across the face. Inadvertent or not, you can't do that.

But a punch? LeBron has got to be kidding himself. DeShawn hit him so hard that LeBron didn't even fall down. Look at the end of the last replay. It's a bit fuzzy, but DeShawn's hand is open-fisted.

And as for DeShawn jawing after the play ... well, LeBron clearly marched over to him as he was on the ground. What else is DeShawn supposed to do, run and hide?

Then, there's Mike Brown. He's clearly instigating things when he runs across the court in order to scream at the officials. Notice the beginning of the replay. He doesn't try to break up the scrum. The only thing he does is run to the officials.

The Wizards have been outplayed in this series, but this play undermines Cleveland's squeaky-clean reputation. It says something about the effectiveness of their public campaign when they can make this play out to be anything more than a hard flagrant foul.

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The Life & Time of Unwanted Babies By The Lake

Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal is doing a hack job:

After the game, LeBron said DeShawn Stevenson hit him with a closed fist on the flagrant foul in the first half. I have since seen some photos that support that but it was not clear. Also, he seemed to go for the ball. I suspect the Cavs will push hard to have him to have the foul upgraded but it probably won’t happen. Here is the thing, people who know DeShawn have told me they think he’s crazy enough to attempt to go head hunting for LeBron in Game 5 if he thinks it is over just because of how personal this has all gotten. We’ll see.

For one, this was posted well after the conclusion of the game. Second, he’s telling us that as a Cavs beat reporter, the only access he had to that play was photos, which he deemed to be inconclusive. That’s sad.

Third =

by Kyle Weidie on Apr 28, 2008 2:12 PM EDT reply actions

I mostly like Windhorst

Who is a friend of bloggers, even substituting on True Hoop this summer.

Which is why that line surprised me. He had many means to look this play over more skeptically, but instead, he believed LeBron.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Apr 28, 2008 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh for Christ's sake!

That Windhorst would choose to accept LeBron’s falsehood over finding out for himself what happened is irresponsible enough, but to print anonymous comments that DeShawn will go “head-hunting” after LeBron in Game 5 is just despicable. I’m not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt that Truth and Prada are.

Why is it that Wizznutzz, a comedy blog whose operators are clearly insane, makes more sense than this credentialed journalist?

"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."

by Vanilla Gorilla on Apr 28, 2008 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions

In reading Windhorst again....

This “people who know DeShawn” comment is a little disturbing.

What exactly does this mean…..you can know someone on so many levels.

I mean, Damon Jones “knows” DeShawn….... Stevenson’s mother also “knows” DeShawn.

by Kyle Weidie on Apr 28, 2008 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it's deeper than that

It’s a legitimate question to wonder how well Windhorst’s source really knows DeShawn, but my problem with this is more serious.

What Windhorst is doing does not resemble actual journalism. I realize he’s a sports reporter, and one writing on a blog (although I know plenty of bloggers who would tell you they hold themselves to the standards of journalists, and I’m not sure that writing on a blog rather than in print absolves Windhorst of those standards), but what he’s doing is granting a source anonymity for the sole purpose of making a character attack. I can understand granting a source anonymity for inside information about something, but I don’t see how this qualifies. Calling DeShawn a headhunter is not inside information, it’s speculation and defamation, by someone without the courage to put his name to his comments, and Windhorst is letting himself be used (very willingly, as far as I can tell) to broadcast that defamation. Shameful.

I’m not sure how closely the Beacon’s blog is edited versus the print version (I know I see mistakes on Ivan’s Post blog that would never make it into print), but a decent editor wouldn’t let Windhorst get away with this kind of crap.

"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."

by Vanilla Gorilla on Apr 28, 2008 8:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, you're right

The problem is that those types of uses of anonymous sources are all too common on newspaper blogs, which are rarely edited, and if they are, only after things already were posted.

I guess that’s why I’m not so outraged. I’ve read crap like that all the time.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Apr 28, 2008 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Yea....

I agree, I’ve liked his stuff in the past….so I guess I won’t hold this one thing against him too much.

by Kyle Weidie on Apr 28, 2008 2:32 PM EDT reply actions

flagrant 1

Has to be a flagrant 1 rather than 2. Obviously he was making a play on the ball since he got the ball (as well as Lebron’s head). Windhorst’s head hunting comment seems kind of irresponsible for an actual journalist to be making.

by hotplate on Apr 28, 2008 2:41 PM EDT reply actions

Correct call...

Flagrant 1 is the correct call there. He was making a play on (or close enough) to the ball. Now had it been a fist…I think the league would take a look at it again.

by rick@waitingfornextyear on Apr 28, 2008 3:56 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed

Thanks for being a sensible Cavaliers fan. There are too few of you out there.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Apr 28, 2008 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

cavs playing dirty politics

they obviously aren’t interested in saying what’s true, they are interested in saying what they think will help them. they do this in the form of soundbytes that most casual NBA fans will pick up on and assume the wizards are a dirty, low-class team.

the reality is that lebron is the one with no class – all spin, little substance – but most people won’t see it that way. they’ll just take lebron’s word for it.

on the other hand, the wiz with their play are doing absolutely nothing to counter what lebron is saying. the wiz, the more talented team, look like the losers lebron is making them out to be.

this is sad to me. the funny thing is, i don’t think it’s really about lebron, it’s about the wiz. they just aren’t showing well for themselves at all.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Apr 28, 2008 5:06 PM EDT reply actions

It's a sucky situation

Because the only way they can counter all of this is by winning. So far, they haven’t done that.

And ultimately, that’s what this is all about.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Apr 28, 2008 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope the Wiz let this go

They just need to play ball, run their offense and rotate well on defense. The Cavs are going to get more calls and free throws in Game 5. They just have to play through it because Cleveland has been the better team.

I read on the bog about some Cleveland writer ripping on DC fans. Screw him too.

What? They don't have TV in the D-League? Don't watch me, watch TV.

by Mac G on Apr 28, 2008 5:30 PM EDT reply actions