Not sure how this is going to be organized, but while a friend of mine was working on an a discussion last night about how LeBron isn't great, I was searching for reasons to the crapshow of a game 6 the Cavs were putting out there....

I think the best place to start is the expectations of the Cavs team throughout this season and into the playoffs. They certainly had a stellar record in the regular season, although it makes sense that LeBron would be a larger factor in a non-playoff paced game marginally speaking(defenses especially trying to lock him down in postseason). They even "went for it" by picking up Jamison mid-season, when he was the lone torch of the Wizards team (until Blatche took the relay pass from him, haha). So that supposedly gave LeBron a final piece of the puzzle that should have lifted the Cavs above the rest of the Eastern Conference, if not the entire Association. A quality PG in Mo Williams that was able to distribute the ball when needed and hit the 3 to spread the defense, a former all-star Center that could bring an edge to a playoff environment where the pace slows significantly from regular season play...it makes sense that combined with the 61-21 record that it was practically a foregone conclusion this team belonged in the slot next to the Lakers in the Finals.

Now here is what really happened...

The Cavs team developed their identity without Shaq during the season.
-Between his playing limited minutes to save himself for the postseason, and then him missing the last 18 games, the rest of the team picked up the slack and really stepped up around LeBron. Jamison averaged 15 & 7, but that was because Shaq wasn't on the floor. Hickson was the main upgrade, and while I understand he is young, the team played SO much better with him running the floor. Then, the playoffs started and Shaq was back. This is the only defense I have for Mike Brown, that he was forced to change his rotation that was working so well in order to make room for Shaq, who was clearly rusty. Hickson averaged double digit points in Feb & Mar, but didn't see the floor in most playoff games despite finishing the postseason 14-22 from the floor. I refuse to believe that Shaq was even close to helping this team, when his best playoff game came in the 32 point shellacking to the Celtics. And, he only exceeded 5 rebounds in one game as well. Is that the kind of all-star center that was going to help LeBron get to the next level?

Mo Williams did not step up to the stage he was on.
-Rajon Rondo absolutely destroyed the Cavs guards in this series. Outside of his defense of Rondo, MoWill averaged 15.8 PPG this season, but managed just 9, 13 & 4 in the first three losses to the Celts. Also, he hit 159 3's during the year & 13 during the Bulls series...but just 4 combined in the 6 games vs. the Celtics. These are important details in discussing the team's affect on LeBron because all year MoWill helped spread the floor, but this series...nothing. In the four losses, he went 15-44...it's no wonder LeBron couldn't rely on him.

Jamison did NOT put them over the top.
-Despite his 15 & 7 averages in 25 regular season games with the Cavs, 'Tawn managed just 28 points combined in the last 3 games to the Celts! (and 6-20 shooting in the pitiful last 2 games) Similar to Shaq, Jamison's rebound totals never topped 6 in any loss in this series either. And, for those that had the displeasure of watching Game 6, Jamison's defense was atrocious. Garnett owned him so bad that they couldn't have him on the floor for stretches of the game! These are not traits of a guy that is helping lift LeBron, but rather bringing him down.

Was the rest of this team really championship caliber?
-In crunch time last night, Varejao, Delonte & Anthony Parker were on the floor. How freakin easy is that to defend? Especially for a well-coached, experienced team like the Celtics, they can adapt and double and triple team LeBron with nearly no consequences. Of course, with how poorly everybody around him was playing he had to play through those defenses to the tune of the 9 TO's last night. Somehow this team killed it during the regular season, but the environment around LeBron for this series was unmanageable, and certainly not that of a 1 seed with a cast to support King James. Yes, he has some growing to do still, but the failures that seem to be falling on him are in relation to the expectation that this was THE team that was good enough for him to win the 'ship. That was nowhere near the case, and it wasn't his fault. Instead, this team was the best team that the Cavs ever tried to put around LeBron, and that’s not saying much.

Analysis of post MJ NBA Championship teams
-11 teams have won it all since the real #23 made us proud, each of them had star players and this Cavs team was not better than any of them. None of these championship teams had a single player bearing even close to the load that LeBron did for the Cavs this season. Spurs had Duncan, Parker, Ginobili (and David Robinson early). Lakers had Kobe & Shaqprime (then Gasol, Odom & Bynum). Heat had Wade & Shaqprime2. Boston had Garnett, Pierce, Allen & Rondo. The worst of these teams as far as start players goes was the Pistons, who still had Billups, Rip, Sheed, Prince & Big Ben (and a stifling team defense). Even Pippen was better than any player other than LeBron on this team, so we're looking at the last 20 years now. Maybe our biggest mistake as fans was overvaluing regular season victories with this Cavs team & expecting LeBron to do something that nobody has been able to pull off. And these star player references don't even account for smaller role player differences like Derek Fisher & Robert Horry. Was Anthony Parker ever going to step up and win a game for the Cavs? Not a chance.

-Along with the roster breakdown, the coaching factor is so much more important that Cavs haters are giving notice. Mike Brown showed so little control over this team over the course of the season, and nobody would put him in the list of top 20 coaches in the NBA. That is a huge detriment, even to a top seeded team. The coaches of these uber-talented championship teams have been...Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Larry Brown, Gregg Popovich & Doc Rivers. Was Mike Brown ever going to deserve to be on that list? Gosh, I hope not.

This Celtics team knew exactly what they were getting into, and were not going to be intimidated by the public’s expectation of this Cavs team. Them and the Spurs are exempt from seed-based expectations because all they wanted to do was get healthy and gear up for the playoffs…and they did. Between their much fuller roster of talent and superior coaching, this was not nearly as unreasonable an outcome as projected. This Cavs team was the least dynamic of the big three left in the East, and much worse than that with the supporting cast not pulling their weight in Shaqtus juice. I’m sure wherever LeBron ends up in the very near future will guarantee him a much less haphazardly thrown together Kool-Aid, and this “LeBron is not great (enough)” talk will soon be in our past.

I will be the first one to say that LBJ is the best player in the world today.By far.BUT, somewhere around game 4 or so, it was apparent to LBJ that his Cavs couldn't beat the Celtics. I mean a 20 point blown lead and narrow win for Cavs in game 1,a Celts blowout in Clev in game 2,nice Cavs win in game 3,follwoed by another blowout in game 4, then the killer was a blowout in game 5 in Clev. After that LBJ lost all desire in this series. Saw it in his demeanor and his leadership.When he lost his desire, so did his followers i.e his teammates. That's my only knock on him right now.
But his team definitely wasn't championship quality. Seen plenty of 50-60 win teams get bounced caused they were just regular season champs.Dallas and Phoenix are constantly racking up big regular seasons only to get quickly eliminated from playoffs.Just like Cleveland,those teams weren't built on playoffs.Their team was supposedly built on this facade of defense,but when it comes down to it, the only good defender they have is LBJ. Mo W couldn't keep up with Rondo at all and Jamison has always been a putrid defender. Shaq is brutal on defense,and although Varejo is decent, that guy couldn't make a layup if he was playing at the local elementary playground with the 6 foot goals.
They either have to show him ASAP that they can get better players or he is going to leave. Now I couldn't imagine if MJ would have packed his bags and left Chicago after not having won a title in his first 6 seasons. But then again,Shaq took off out of Orlando as soon as he could and won titles in LA then Miami.
LBJ will go down as one of the best players to ever play basketball. No doubt about it.He just needs some players around him who can play.

kobe is still better.