Kori Ellis
06-06-2007, 07:13 PM
http://www.woai.com/content/sports/spurs/story.aspx?content_id=db1817fe-3af9-40e9-9d52-45f0c0c4012f
By Kris Rivenburgh, playoffbasketball.com (http://playoffbasketball.com/)
If you do decide to hit Las Vegas, you’re getting odds on your money (Cavs are 4-1).
I don’t like going with the same thing everyone else says, but Spurs in 5 or 6 are the only two sane choices. Well, yeah, they could sweep them also, but I do think the Cavs have one game in them.
So my prediction is Spurs in 5.
The crux of the Finals clash is this: the Spurs are playing at their optimal level and so are the Cavs. The Cavs best was good enough to beat Washington without Arenas and Butler, the .500 Nets, and the watered down Pistons. But in the West their best play might get them into the second round if they played the Denver Nuggets (the Spurs first round opponent.)
The Suns, the Spurs second round opponent, would have destroyed the Cavs. Phoenix nearly beat the Spurs with Amare Staudemire suspended for game 5.
San Antonio ran the Jazz off a cliff in the Western Conference Finals and Utah likely defeats Lebron and co. if the two square off.
There is a reason you keep hearing how weak the East is. It’s because the teams are very, very weak - especially this year. I honestly can’t remember an easier road to the NBA Finals than the one the Cavs just strolled down.
If you want to say I’m downplaying the Detroit Pistons’ power, that’s not a bad counter. It’s definitely debatable, but the Pistons have lost about 2.5 notches from their modern hayday a few years ago. They have changed in that there is no Ben Wallace rebounding and changing shots and the head coach is - at best - average among the league’s coaches. Flip Saunders looks more like he’s trying to save face on the sidelines rather than coach the games. But even with a higher reputation coach like Larry Brown, these Pistons might not advance against the Cavs and certainly are no match for the Spurs.
More than anything else, the 2007 Detroit Pistons played very uninspired basketball and weren’t worried about closing out opponents. That’s why the Bulls won two in a row after being down 3-0 and that’s why the Caveliers swept them after going down 2-0.
So back to the Spurs vs. Cavs, I see a plethora of reasons to give the Spurs a 91% of holding “King” James’ crown.
1. Spurs are very rested. Spurs had been battered around without much rest for the first three rounds of the playoffs. Without much rest, the elder Spurs could have stumbled early on in the series, but now the Spurs are recharged.
2. Cleveland is happy to be here. And with good reason, nobody thought the Cavs would make it this far. You could see the relief and exuberation when the final bell tolled on the Pistons. Then, in the post game, Lebron was saying how everybody had counted them out and how he’d delivered on his promise to the city - shouldn’t those comments be reserved for winning the championship? Just happy to be here (or there) is a cliche that’s tossed around all too often, but in the Cavs sense, you can see its true.
3. The Spurs have experience galore while the Cavs have nothing. Yeah, Damon Jones has a ring, but I’m talking about the guys that you’ll see out there 40+ minutes. The Spurs have proved time and again they can pullout the tough games in the playoffs. The Cavs and, more accurately, Lebron James, did pull out some big wins against Detroit but the Spurs ability to grind out the big game is a key component in their championship pedigree.
4. Lebron James is incredible (unless he’s trying to defer to his teammates) but his teammates are horrible. It’s a good thing Daniel Gibson has emerged, but really take a look at the cast of players Lebron suits up with. Despite an easy path to the Finals, I am still impressed this team got the job done with how little talent Lebron James has around him.
Meanwhile, the Spurs are certainly not the league’s most talented, but their systematic approach, precision, and execution is uncanny. San Antonio’s role players - Fabricio Oberto, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, and Michael Finley know their role and they perform magnificently within it. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are the star players and sacrifice their numbers and spot light to make their teammates better, yet either can take over the game at any time. Manu Ginobili plays the wild card, x-factor roll so well, he can transform into a star on any given game. However, this post season Ginobili has been largely inconsistant in comparison to past years.
5. Cleveland is not a good shooting team. The Spurs will cut down Cleveland’s points in the paint big time and will force Lebron James, Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, Eric Snow, and Damon Jones to shoot from the outside. With Daniel Gibson’s recent outburst, he is the only guard who the Spurs strongly contest on the perimeter.
6. Cleveland has very little shot blocking ability out of their post players. Shot blockers pose the biggest threat to the Spurs offensive scheme and often bog down the Spurs. With a clear lane outside of Zydrunas Ilgauskas standing on his tippy toes, the Spurs should have plenty of easy opportunities.
7. This is a seven game series. If this was one game, winner take all, then the Spurs would have a lot more to fear. Lebron James is so talented and so explosive that he can win any one game by himself as evidenced by his 48 point performance in Detroit. With three losses allotted, there is ample time to realign the defensive focus or shift strategy should the 22 year old phenom take over.
8. The Spurs have struggled with the Cavs ever since Lebron James has arrived. This season they were actually 0-2 against the Cavs and Lebron James was unguardable in one game, scoring 35 points to go along with 10 rebounds. This is cause for a bump of concern on Spurs’ fans richter scales, but the wierd thing is, the Spurs notoriously have had problems with Eastern Conference teams such as the Bucks, Knicks,Pistons, Bulls and Raptors. It’s more of a combination of the time of year and unfamiliarity than inability to consistently beat these teams. Keep in mind, the Spurs do a lot of Robert Horry sleep walking during the regular season - in 2007 more than ever, so it is ok to throw out the regular season history when considering this series.
So after all that, I still won’t shut the door all the way on the Cavs. I’m giving them 11-1 to come through.
No, it isn’t a lot, but I think Lebron James by himself commands the possibility of a title with only four wins to go. He’s got a power forward body with the quickness of a point guard and the overall talent to match. If he can open up the Spurs’ vaunted defense with hot perimeter shooting, even the mighty Spurs become susceptible to a huge upset.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Lebron will have championships rolling in if GM Danny Ferry ever recruits a legitimate talent, but this year I’m only giving Lebron a 9% chance.
Read more from By Kris Rivenburgh on his basketball blog, playoffbasketball.com (http://playoffbasketball.com/).
By Kris Rivenburgh, playoffbasketball.com (http://playoffbasketball.com/)
If you do decide to hit Las Vegas, you’re getting odds on your money (Cavs are 4-1).
I don’t like going with the same thing everyone else says, but Spurs in 5 or 6 are the only two sane choices. Well, yeah, they could sweep them also, but I do think the Cavs have one game in them.
So my prediction is Spurs in 5.
The crux of the Finals clash is this: the Spurs are playing at their optimal level and so are the Cavs. The Cavs best was good enough to beat Washington without Arenas and Butler, the .500 Nets, and the watered down Pistons. But in the West their best play might get them into the second round if they played the Denver Nuggets (the Spurs first round opponent.)
The Suns, the Spurs second round opponent, would have destroyed the Cavs. Phoenix nearly beat the Spurs with Amare Staudemire suspended for game 5.
San Antonio ran the Jazz off a cliff in the Western Conference Finals and Utah likely defeats Lebron and co. if the two square off.
There is a reason you keep hearing how weak the East is. It’s because the teams are very, very weak - especially this year. I honestly can’t remember an easier road to the NBA Finals than the one the Cavs just strolled down.
If you want to say I’m downplaying the Detroit Pistons’ power, that’s not a bad counter. It’s definitely debatable, but the Pistons have lost about 2.5 notches from their modern hayday a few years ago. They have changed in that there is no Ben Wallace rebounding and changing shots and the head coach is - at best - average among the league’s coaches. Flip Saunders looks more like he’s trying to save face on the sidelines rather than coach the games. But even with a higher reputation coach like Larry Brown, these Pistons might not advance against the Cavs and certainly are no match for the Spurs.
More than anything else, the 2007 Detroit Pistons played very uninspired basketball and weren’t worried about closing out opponents. That’s why the Bulls won two in a row after being down 3-0 and that’s why the Caveliers swept them after going down 2-0.
So back to the Spurs vs. Cavs, I see a plethora of reasons to give the Spurs a 91% of holding “King” James’ crown.
1. Spurs are very rested. Spurs had been battered around without much rest for the first three rounds of the playoffs. Without much rest, the elder Spurs could have stumbled early on in the series, but now the Spurs are recharged.
2. Cleveland is happy to be here. And with good reason, nobody thought the Cavs would make it this far. You could see the relief and exuberation when the final bell tolled on the Pistons. Then, in the post game, Lebron was saying how everybody had counted them out and how he’d delivered on his promise to the city - shouldn’t those comments be reserved for winning the championship? Just happy to be here (or there) is a cliche that’s tossed around all too often, but in the Cavs sense, you can see its true.
3. The Spurs have experience galore while the Cavs have nothing. Yeah, Damon Jones has a ring, but I’m talking about the guys that you’ll see out there 40+ minutes. The Spurs have proved time and again they can pullout the tough games in the playoffs. The Cavs and, more accurately, Lebron James, did pull out some big wins against Detroit but the Spurs ability to grind out the big game is a key component in their championship pedigree.
4. Lebron James is incredible (unless he’s trying to defer to his teammates) but his teammates are horrible. It’s a good thing Daniel Gibson has emerged, but really take a look at the cast of players Lebron suits up with. Despite an easy path to the Finals, I am still impressed this team got the job done with how little talent Lebron James has around him.
Meanwhile, the Spurs are certainly not the league’s most talented, but their systematic approach, precision, and execution is uncanny. San Antonio’s role players - Fabricio Oberto, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, and Michael Finley know their role and they perform magnificently within it. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are the star players and sacrifice their numbers and spot light to make their teammates better, yet either can take over the game at any time. Manu Ginobili plays the wild card, x-factor roll so well, he can transform into a star on any given game. However, this post season Ginobili has been largely inconsistant in comparison to past years.
5. Cleveland is not a good shooting team. The Spurs will cut down Cleveland’s points in the paint big time and will force Lebron James, Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, Eric Snow, and Damon Jones to shoot from the outside. With Daniel Gibson’s recent outburst, he is the only guard who the Spurs strongly contest on the perimeter.
6. Cleveland has very little shot blocking ability out of their post players. Shot blockers pose the biggest threat to the Spurs offensive scheme and often bog down the Spurs. With a clear lane outside of Zydrunas Ilgauskas standing on his tippy toes, the Spurs should have plenty of easy opportunities.
7. This is a seven game series. If this was one game, winner take all, then the Spurs would have a lot more to fear. Lebron James is so talented and so explosive that he can win any one game by himself as evidenced by his 48 point performance in Detroit. With three losses allotted, there is ample time to realign the defensive focus or shift strategy should the 22 year old phenom take over.
8. The Spurs have struggled with the Cavs ever since Lebron James has arrived. This season they were actually 0-2 against the Cavs and Lebron James was unguardable in one game, scoring 35 points to go along with 10 rebounds. This is cause for a bump of concern on Spurs’ fans richter scales, but the wierd thing is, the Spurs notoriously have had problems with Eastern Conference teams such as the Bucks, Knicks,Pistons, Bulls and Raptors. It’s more of a combination of the time of year and unfamiliarity than inability to consistently beat these teams. Keep in mind, the Spurs do a lot of Robert Horry sleep walking during the regular season - in 2007 more than ever, so it is ok to throw out the regular season history when considering this series.
So after all that, I still won’t shut the door all the way on the Cavs. I’m giving them 11-1 to come through.
No, it isn’t a lot, but I think Lebron James by himself commands the possibility of a title with only four wins to go. He’s got a power forward body with the quickness of a point guard and the overall talent to match. If he can open up the Spurs’ vaunted defense with hot perimeter shooting, even the mighty Spurs become susceptible to a huge upset.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Lebron will have championships rolling in if GM Danny Ferry ever recruits a legitimate talent, but this year I’m only giving Lebron a 9% chance.
Read more from By Kris Rivenburgh on his basketball blog, playoffbasketball.com (http://playoffbasketball.com/).