http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...n.2ec226b.html
09:53 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 5, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
If you asked Mavericks fans to recall their most vivid memories of the 2006 NBA Finals, you'd probably get this majority response – Dwyane Wade's free throws.
To which people in San Antonio might wonder if Cleveland's LeBron James is next in line at the 15-foot shooting gallery.
Mavericks fans may rue the whistles of their team's only visit to the Finals, but the rest of the unbiased world is left to ponder whether Wade shot a record 95 free throws because the Mavericks couldn't guard him, or because an overzealous set of referees kept sending the NBA's rising star to the stripe for free throw after free throw.
Wade's free throw total was the most in an NBA Finals series that lasted six games. It tied for second-most overall in the 60-year history of the Finals.
Now, it's the Spurs' turn to attempt to slow down the next-hottest thing.
And James almost certainly has more pull on the league and the world than Wade could ever muster.
In the last two games of the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit, James shot a combined 33 free throw attempts, making 24. With that percentage (.727), maybe the Spurs would be better served putting James on the line instead of allowing him free runs at the rim.
The point is that Spurs fans probably will be treated to a parade by James to the free throw line. Or will they? There's at least one player who knows James will try to do some damage from the line. And it's Bruce Bowen's job to keep him off of it.
"It all depends on how the game is being called," the Spurs forward said Tuesday. "Just like Dirk [Nowitzki] in the first game against us last year didn't get to the line too much. But after that, he got to the line a lot more.
"Part of the adjustment is on their coaches, saying, 'Hey, we're going to have you go to the basket more and create contact and get a foul called.' The other thing is just how aggressively they allow you to play [defense]."
In Games 5 and 6 of the Eastern Conference finals vs. Detroit, LeBron James (right) shot a combined 33 free throw attempts. One expert on the importance of how a game is officiated is Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who said that officiating will be "a key to who wins" the series.
"It's not just about going to the line, it's about fouling out," Cuban said. "LBJ attacks the basket, and no one can slow him down one on one, which means Tim Duncan is the last line of defense. So if they are officiating the games like last year, Tim will have a tough decision to make, get a foul, or watch LeBron shoot a layup."
And if the Finals aren't officiated as they were last year, things might tilt heavily in the Spurs' favor. But it's not just James' ability to get to the basket. In the last three games against Detroit, Daniel Gibson, the rookie from Texas, had 33 free throw attempts and took only 23 shots from the field. And he's considered more of a spot-up shooter than a slasher.
Another keen observer said the teams will have to adjust to the officiating, one way or the other.
"I'm not sure how it's going to go," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "You've got a dominant player who can handle the ball and is really a point guard who initiates the offense and finishes the offense. Who's to say how the games are going to be called? Nobody knows. But when you have a player like [James], he's capable of getting to the line."
The Spurs aren't giving many clues on how they expect to defend James once the series begins Thursday in San Antonio. However, they said Bowen will start on James. The matchup will pit one of the game's most respected one-on-one defenders against one of its most unstoppable offensive forces.
It should be fun to see how those first few minutes unfold. If James is able to rack up quick fouls on the Spurs, things could shift in Cleveland's favor.
That still might not be enough for the Cavaliers to win, Cuban said, because the Spurs like to play man-up defense and dare an opponent's big gun to beat them, the way they did against Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire and Utah's Carlos Boozer.
"The issue is whether or not Tim and Bowen will get in foul trouble first," Cuban said. "That is what will have the biggest impact on the series. If LeBron's drives to the basket can get TD in foul trouble and foul him out of a couple games, the Cavs win. If not, it's the Spurs."
NBA Finals, Cleveland at San Antonio: Game 1, 8 p.m. Thursday (Ch. 8)
