LeBron James must be crying in his orange juice. Once again the Cleveland Cavaliers have failed to help him out. It is very hard to believe that LeBron will spend his whole career in Cleveland.

Don’t get me wrong, Jermaine O’Neal is not the best player in the league, but he is a mobile scoring front line player that could have changed the whole complexion of the Cavaliers.

The Pacers were looking for a starter-quality center in return for O’Neal, which made it tough to make a deal work for the Cavs. They are not permitted to trade Anderson Varejao until at least Dec. 5 due to collective bargaining rules because they matched an offer sheet he signed on that date last year. They were not interested in parting with Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
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Was that a collective groan from Cav’s fans? We missed out on Jermaine O’Neal because we wanted to keep Zydrunas? Zydrunas? You have got to be kidding me.

After 6 All Star years and now his 30th birthday, Jermaine is once again healthy and hungry.

“The fact is, I played on one leg for two years,” says O’Neal, whose averages shrank to 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in 42 games last season after he reinjured his knee in 2006-07. “You hear people say that you slowed down, that you don’t have it anymore — but you know that you still have it. All the naysayers who are saying that I lost a step, they’ll get a full dosage of me next year.”

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Unfortunately for Cav’s fans, Jermaine will be a Toronto Raptor to join forces with Chris Bosh.

Photo source Newscom

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There was 1:47 left in the game and the greatest player currently playing in the NBA (well, except maybe for Kobe) on the planet had the ball in his hands.

The score was 87 to 82. The game was in hand. The Cavaliers would win game 5. This playoff thing was easy.

LeBron milked the clock. The cameras showed the Cleveland Coach Mike Brown and he looked tense. LeBron shoots and misses a three by three feet. Washington flies down the court forces up a shot and gets the rebound and scores.

Cleveland would continue to mild the clock with LeBron now passing and other players missing shots.

First, James missed a wild 3-pointer and Daniel Gibson followed with another 3-point miss. Joe Smith missed a short jumper and Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed a tip shot. Instead of going strong to the hole or at least forcing the officials to call a foul, the Cavs settled for the pretty outside shots.
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Washington would continue to race down the court and score, until they were 1 point behind. Then they put the ball in Caron Butler’s hands. He had been hot all night. Caron drove on LeBron James and scored the game winner.

The Washington Wizards had won the game 88 – 87 and my thoughts were on the Cleveland Coach. Would Mike Brown retain his job for next year?

The final shot by Washington was taken by Caron Butler, who had 32 to LeBron James 34. Here is what he was thinking before the shot.

“I didn’t want to settle,” Butler said. “I didn’t want to look back on the season and say I settled for a jump shot and probably bailed out the defender. I wanted to just try to go in there and get contact and try to get it to go in.”

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This YouTube will show Caron’s brilliant night including his final shot.

It is back to Washington for a game 6 and Caron Butler is the hero.

NBA Basketball special comment The old it ain’t over till it is over. Cleveland mismanaged the final minute of the game. LeBron can’t be expected to win everything.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed