Wednesday Bullets

Wednesday Bullets:

• John Krolik of Cavs: The Blog has strong thoughts about the Cavaliers' meltdown against the Celtics in Game 5. It starts in the second quarter: "The Cavs looked to go inside early, establishing Jamison and Shaq down low and using some outside jumpers to keep the floor spaced for them. With 9:52 to go, the Cavs took an eight-point lead and Doc Rivers called timeout. The Cavs were outscored by 40 points after that time-out. I don’t know what Doc said in that huddle, but it must’ve been good." Krolik ends the post talking to Cavalier fans like this: "Until Thursday, try not to think about basketball."
• If LeBron James is looking for a role model in overcoming a very bad, very big game against the Celtics, look no further than Kobe Bryant.
• It means nothing, but just for fun: Guess which Cavalier starter had the best plus/minus last night? David Thorpe hadn't seen those numbers when he called to say that the Cavaliers are losing this series at the power forward spot, where Antawn Jamison is getting abused by Kevin Garnett, and as it happens, Jamison had the worst plus/minus in Game 5, by far. (Kind of related: A video compilation of Jamison talking about losing.)
• In perhaps the biggest moment of his Euroleague career, Josh Childress did this. What's strange is the lack of defense. But who doesn't love a crunch time dunk? More on that.
• Chris Ballard has written a tremendous Shaquille O'Neal profile for Sports Illustrated. A quote from a scout:  "I don't think he can ever beat you by himself again. He will beat up your man, though. He's definitely hacking the s--- out of people."
• Larry Brown's thinking.
• The tale of D-League coach who left for the NCAA for a hot second, and then returned to the D-League.
• R.C. Buford uses the word "crazy" when asked about the idea of trading his team's point guard, Tony Parker.
• Mike Brown said before the game that putting Anthony Parker on Paul Pierce would open a can of worms. He did it for a little under two minutes, and oh boy did Pierce prove Brown right.
• The case, and it's a strong one, for taking John Wall with the top overall pick.
• The man who has done very well running basketball teams for Mikhail Prokhorov in the past.
• Is Marcin Gortat on Flickr?
• Nathan Begley of Portland Roundball Society: "My anthropology professor in undergrad was a widely traveled man and he once gave me what he felt was the most important culinary advice he could grant me, he said 'If you visit the Philippines, under no circumstances should you try Balut, no matter how drunk they get you.'"
• What do you think will have the bigger TV audience. Tomorrow's Cavaliers vs. Celtics Game 6, or, say, Game 3 of the NBA Finals?
• Channing Frye recommends a restaurant where you can make out by the fire, if that's your style.
• More, deeper stat geekery about whether or not to foul when you're up three points in the closing seconds. Your opponents' ability to make 3s is the key driver.
• Trey Kerby of Ball Don't Lie on Dwyane Wade's endless summer of crunch time: "Yikes-aroni. If you're scoring at home, that's a divorce and subsequent custody battle, a lawsuit involving a new girlfriend, and a business dispute taking place in two different states. Not to mention this will all be taking place while Wade will be making the most important decision of his career."