2 Things That Should Be Getting More Attention

Two things that I think it's odd no one is talking about, though one of which doesn’t surprise me all that much:

1) Why is no one talking about that absolute beat-down that the Pistons put on the Cavs last night? The AP article talks somewhat about it, but I figured it would at least merit a mention in ESPN’s Daily Dime. Nothing. It was a statement game for the Cavs, and a statement was made. Just not by them. They tried getting physical with Rasheed, didn’t work. Really though, here’s a team that’s getting so much hype as of late (OMG LBJ for MVP!!!) and they came into the Palace and just got absolutely punched in the mouth. I’m starting to think there’s only 4 teams that can win the NBA Championship this year, and it’s Detroit, San Antonio, New Jersey, and Dallas in that order. I know it’s going out on a major limb, but a repeat of last year’s Finals seems like destiny. Though the outcome would be different IMO.

2) Why is no one talking about how asinine it was for Cleveland to have LeBron James still in the game when he got hurt? They’re damn lucky that it doesn’t seem to be horribly serious, because it was something that I just knew was coming. When I flipped back to the game and it was 54-27, I told my roommate that they needed to get LBJ out right then. 1) The Pistons have only lost 1 home game in regulation all season. You’re not coming from 27 points down against them, with LeBron or without. 2) It was a pretty meaningless game for the Cavs, except to be trying to send a message to Detroit. But at 54-27, it’s not looking so good for the chances of sending one. Get him out, call it a day, and move on to the next game. 3) Wasn’t the big controversy a couple days ago that they were playing LBJ 40 minutes a game after they said they were going to limit his minutes? Well that was a perfect situation to give him a nice 20 minute night. You’re getting smoked. He’s not bringing you back. What’s the point?

Can anyone imagine what the boards would be like today if Lloyd or (God forbid) Tommy had made a similar gaffe? Lord knows people complained enough after Lester played 2 minutes and then sat for another month or two. Was there anything to be gained by leaving LeBron in that game, apart from maybe only losing by 15 instead of 30?

I’m just surprised that neither of those issues is garnering major media attention from what I’ve seen. The former doesn’t surprise me as much because ESPN never has anything positive to say about Detroit, but Cleveland could have very easily just seen its playoff hopes go up in smoke because of an overall pretty stupid coaching move.