Lebron Can't Finish This On His Own

I'm not fooled. Not in the slightest bit.  This whole "gutsy, gritty" and "hard fought win" from the Cleveland Cavaliers last night doesn't sell me on the Cavs walking out of the series with the Larry O'Brien trophy. But the fact that Cleveland has one of the best players to ever dribble a basketball playing for them, I can see why it would be hard to completely count them out.

Lets get this out in the open in case anyone is in denial.

Lebron James is great. He is a GREAT player. There is a very short list of NBA players who've ever been able to dominate so many aspects of the game like James can do. You know how the rest goes, "his dynamic size, speed and basketball IQ are unmatched yada yada yada..." However you package that same line we've heard for the past couple of years, it's the truth.

And Lebron knows this. He has no equal right now, and that's precisely the problem he's facing right now. Right now he's in the same predicament that caused him to leave Cleveland in the first place. A first rate superstar who dominates the ball surrounded by role players.
It doesn't work. He proved this numerous times his first go around, hence his talents being taken to Miami. The difference on South Beach (besides the weather and it actually being a desirable location)  is that he had something that resembled a peer in Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade.
Someone who wasn't afraid to take the ball out of King James' hands and create their own shot or setup another teammate. Bosh and Wade rarely stood in awe of James and watched as he took on a whole starting five. They had their own legacy to create.
Unfortunately for James, he doesn't have anyone even close to those two with him now. No one on that current roster has the stripes to take the ball from Lebron and actually run something that resembles a play in the fourth quarter. Not even head coach David Blatt.

Right now, clutch time for the Cavs consists of getting the ball to Lebron and everyone else getting out of the way. A great game plan when playing the Bucks, but not when the team with the best record in the NBA is in the other locker room.

If by some miracle King James pulls this out, he'll have to be bumped up a few notches on the greatness scale. But unless a Carmelo Anthony or a Chris Paul proves to be hiding on the bench disguised as Mike Miller or Brendan Haywood, I don't see it happening.