Please show us your fire again, James

WHAT do LeBron James and Britney Spears have in common? Well, money, fame and talent. Oh yes, and the propensity to self-destruct.

Pop star Spears shocked the music fraternity with her head-shaving antics last week. Questions are being asked about the 25-year-old's mental condition.

Is it a question of too much fame too soon? After all, she has been topping the music charts since the age of 16.

The National Basketball Association fraternity is asking similar questions about James.

The NBA's next big thing - that has been the hype surrounding him since he joined the league in 2003 as an 18-year-old.

He is playing far below the giddy heights he achieved last season, when he led the Cleveland Cavaliers almost single-handedly to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Then, he averaged 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists a game - a feat unheard of from a player only 21 years old.

He seemed to be Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson rolled into one - an unstoppable scorer who gives his teammates equal chances to score.

He running riot and earning his first championship with the Cavaliers have not happened this season.

He has slipped. He is averaging just 26.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Still a respectable performance, but not up to his usual high standard.

It is his on-court demeanour that is more troubling.

After the Feb 11 match with the LA Lakers, Kieran Darcy, editor of ESPN.com's Page 2 section, noted: 'LeBron looked lethargic. He settled for too many fade-away jumpers, many of which were way off.

'It was strange. He didn't score in the second half until there were less than three minutes remaining, and he was very cranky with the refs all game long.'

He does not appear keen to go that extra mile anymore.

Last season, whenever the Cavaliers trailed, he would assume responsibility.

He would score in bunches, drive relentlessly towards the basket for a dunk or pass to unmarked teammates for easy points.

Last Wednesday, against the Toronto Raptors, he even let little-known teammate Sasha Pavlovic take a game-winning shot.

Pavlovic missed, but teammate Anderson Varejao slammed home the rebound for a fortunate 86-85 win.

Yes, the swashbuckling superstar of last season is gone. Now, James wears a scowl more often.

The Cavaliers' 32-24 win-loss record, however, could still take them to the play-offs.

What troubles him? Critics are divided.

Yes, there is the strain of having to carry a sub-par team for years.

Without him, the Cavaliers were awful. They had a big but slow-moving centre (Zydrunas Ilgauskas), an injury-prone scorer (Larry Hughes) and not much else.

So, James had to score, rebound and pass more than any rival to keep the Cavaliers afloat.

The NBA teams will soon be designing defences to stop him. So his work is getting tougher, especially since he is relatively inexperienced and may not work out counter-measures fast enough.

The harsher critics say that he is starting to believe the hype about him.

They point to his sacking his agent after last season, and placing his destiny in the hands of an entourage of relatives - read 'yes men'.

He is also said to be at odds with the Cavaliers' coach.

Mike Brown is a highly-rated young coach, whose speciality is defence - the one weakness that James has.

Sources say he is unhappy with the coach's over-emphasis on defence, which stifles his offensive abilities.

While James could brush off this season as a minor blip, I see his lack of fire as a worrying trend.

He will slide into irrelevance if he is not as driven as Jordan, or even Miami's Dwyane Wade.

Jordan wanted to be better than any player, a singular drive which led him to six NBA championships.

Similarly, Wade's never-say-die attitude reaped a title ring last year.

James has a long career ahead. If he keeps stoking that fire of obsession in his soul, he could well be another Jordan.

If he turns lukewarm, he will be the biggest waste the NBA has seen in decades.

hankeong@sph.com.sg

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Liverpool know it full well. Few could credit their comeback win over AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, let alone the manner of it.

The 2-1 victory at reigning champions Barcelona was almost as unlikely, and not just for the identity of their two lead actors.

Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise combined to inflict the first home loss Barcelona have suffered to English opposition since 1976.

'It was destined for both of us,' said Riise. Bellamy had confronted him after a row during their training camp in Portugal last week.

Liverpool's away record in the Premier League suggests that when the opposition score first, they win.

Indeed, they last mounted a comeback of any sort in May's FA Cup final.

On Wednesday, trailing to Deco's early goal, they emerged unexpectedly triumphant at the Nou Camp.

Jamie Carragher defended doggedly, Momo Sissoko hassled and harried hard, Dirk Kuyt toiled tirelessly.

But the greatest contribution came from a man whose sober expression on the final whistle hardly indicated the scale of his achievement: Rafael Benitez, the Madridista who conquered Barcelona.

In the football-mad city of Liverpool, predicting his first XI is the second sport, after football. That Benitez can confound is nothing new.

Few decisions have provoked greater surprise than the inclusion of Bellamy; obituaries of his Anfield career had already been written.

Scepticism greeted the teamsheet.

Steven Gerrard in his less-favoured right midfield role? Right-back Alvaro Arbeloa making his full debut on the left?

And Bellamy?

The loquacious Welshman made sure he was heard in the presence of 90,000 Catalonians.

Debited £80,000 (S$240,000) after being fined earlier in the week, he is now in credit to the tune of a goal and a pass.

He insisted: 'Our gaffer's strict. If there was a problem, I wouldn't have been playing.'

After the build-up was dominated by talk of naughtiness, Barcelona's on-field indiscipline brought Liverpool an invaluable equaliser.

It was not behaviour to trouble the referee, but it should worry Frank Rijkaard.

First, Ronaldinho failed to track Steve Finnan.

Then, Juliano Belletti's lax marking allowed Bellamy a free header from the right-back's cross.

Finally, goalkeeper Victor Valdes erred in allowing it to cross the line just two minutes before the break.

Kuyt smashed it in to be certain, but it was Bellamy's goal, celebrated by brandishing an imaginary golf club.

Tact was never his forte.

But he has other merits, and they include the awareness to supply the unmarked Riise for the winner.

'You can't make it up, but you can't make my career up. This can only happen to me,' said Bellamy.

The Norwegian thumped it in, unusually with his right foot.

It was a triumph of teamwork. Barcelona defended with, at most, seven outfield players, Liverpool with all 10.

Endeavour was accompanied by acumen.

'The boss, tactically, is one of the best managers in the world,' Riise explained.

Rijkaard added: 'They were very well organised.'

Modestly, Benitez deflected the praise, saying: 'The players have done a really good job.

'The job is not done. We need to be careful.'

Amid the sense of euphoria, his caution was sensible: The quarter-final spot is not secured.

There is vast scope for improvement and, with Deco striking the post with a late free kick, a warning of Barcelona's potential.

The Spaniards' ability to surprise was evident - a diminutive team scoring first via a header.

Deco normally uses his head to conceive exquisite passes, not to convert Gianluca Zambrotta's crosses.

Searching for a winner, Rijkaard overloaded his side with attacking options, but he was without his most potent scorer.

Samuel Eto'o, a spectator on Wednesday, should be fit and, as Bellamy has showed, the journey from villain to hero can be brief, dramatic and utterly improbable.

stsports@sph.com.sg

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