We've played him 8 times or so since he was a rookie...he's won that matchup about 5 times by my accounting...
He's had one bad game, a bunch of good ones, and some phenomenal ones...and that bad one was the one where he went 6-20.
The Cavs haven't beating us because of flukes...they've matched up well with us for about 3 years now...even before they started beating us routinely.
Pop didn't even try to guard LeBron with Bruce as a rookie...it was instant Hedo.
I just think people expect too much of Bruce...he's a phenomenal defender...but he's still only 200lbs dripping wet.
Put it this way...
If Bruce can defend him?
I have no doubts we will win this series...
And Bruce Bowen will deserve the finals MVP...
Go for it Bruce...we're all rooting for you.
They've been right more than they've been wrong so what's the point? Anyway who cares what they say.your are doomed san antonio
next to be pwned
i havent seen for an honest answer.You're just trying to pick a fight.
Whottt is just saying this bull cause hes pissed that Finley is in the Finals.
I have yet to see someone say
"This is how you beat Cleveland"
It's been all over the thread. You just don't like the responses.
Scoring 17-25 points isn't owning Bowen on the defensive end. That's average, esp. for Lebron, those games in the 35-45 range are when he owns us and he's done that three times out of eight.
So then how do you go and make the statement that Bowen can't defend him? If we can get Lebron to have just good games, the Spurs sweep the Cavs.He's had one bad game, a bunch of good ones, and some phenomenal ones...and that bad one was the one where he went 6-20.
Flukes?The Cavs haven't beating us because of flukes...
AHHHHHHH!!!!your are doomed san antonio
pwned!
pwned!
pwned!
next to be pwned
I guess the point I was trying to make was I'll let Lebron get his scoring. But it's when he starts getting his bums involved is when I might start to worry. I am confident that if we can neutralize everyone else Lebron can't beat us on his scoring alone. If we let the game be close late in the 4th quarter is when we might run into some problems. I just can't see them beating us 4 times. His cast sucks!! I don't care how good he is. Gibson went off tonight because Detroit chose to triple team James all game and left shooter WIDE open. Not matter how crappy they are, most players guards and forwards who are in the league can hit when they are that open. But the advantage we have is that James already has Pops attention. Last year Wade waited until the Finals before he decided to go postal and it caught poor Avery off guard. Pop will have something up his sleeve in regards on how to defend James..
those were the only series where all they picked up the same teams
How are you going to compare Amare and Lebron?
One is a low post player who can shoot from 15-18 ft. while the other is a perimeter player who is a streaky shooter but able to drive the basket.
I get your point and it is a valid one...
But the reason that worked with Amare and the Suns...is because they can't play D. We stopped them better than they stopped us by letting Amare get his and shutting everyone else down.
The Cavs can play D..we're going to have to be able to get stops on LeBron and I don't see the guy on our roster than can do that...
So what you are saying is that you are thinking this is a GS-Dal thing?
IMO heres what you do.
Ginobili and Parker have GOT to attack.
They have no shotblockers what so ever.
Bowen and Fin have to be ready for kickouts.
Duncan should and better average about 28 a game. They have zip, zero, NAD, NO ONE, that can guard the man.
Lebron
Good question. I thnk you stay in front of him, and give him the jumper.
Play him, like Phil Jackson played Tony Parker.
Whott,
I am really surprised by your comments. Personally, I see this as Spurs in 5. This is a team game, so why so obsessed with the matchup with Bron? No one in the league matches up with Bron...that's why you double when appropriate. If they were so good, wouldn't they have won 70 games in that crap conference?
What we witnessed tonight (and much of the series) was sloppy, late rotations by Detroit. They were tired or lazy or demoralized I guess. You may have seen that Chauncy took himself out in the 4th because he was tired. I think our 8 games of rest will help us in that regard. Rotations and team D is the Spurs strength. Bron will present a challenge each game, but his teammates are extremely inconsistent and can't be counted on.
On the other hand, Detroit's O was broke. I can't give all the credit to Cleveland, either. LeBron did not make Tayshaun go from a good player to a worse shooter than me. I think we are stronger at PF and PG than Detroit at this point, perhaps even SG.
The point that we couldn't (and probably can't) stop either one of them from scoring. We have faced guys we couldn't stop from scoring at will it seemed. We just can't have Lebron doing any and everything he wants with assist, rebounds, I say make him beat us. You see what happened tonight when you take away his scoring.
I think that game 1 Spurs will just come out and play their game. you don't start making adjustments before the first tipoff.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Finley taking LeBron game 1 and just playing off of him and making him a shooter or a passer. He's big enough to muscle with him if James tries to post.
Everyone else will stay home with their guy and throw occasional help doubles, but mainly concentrate on shutting everyone else down and limiting second chances.
Then after Pop sees how that works in game 1 he will adjust as necessary.
I've been saying it, and I say it again. Bruce is the man, and Bruce Bowen will step up and show the world who the DPOY of the last several years really is.
It's his time to prove all the haters wrong. The biggest spotlight, maybe the last great shot at proving them all wrong. Bruce may have a little trouble 1 or 2 games (for adjusting and Lebron getting calls) but Bruce will contain him or better to win this series.
The NBA Finals, Bruce Bowen vs. the NBA darling Lebron James
Go Bruce!!
The toughest matchup that Cleveland has in the league is Phoenix.
Run them; wear them out; use depth and experience to constantly change up things on the relatively inexperienced coach. They have played a SINGLE series against a worthy playoff opponent; and that one mailed it in.
BTW, Whott, thank god Milwaukee's not in the finals, huh? They've owned the Spurs for about a decade!
What is his shooting percentage? FGM/FGA?
I know it's not 100%
My point is that even if everything else fails, and we are entirely ineffective at guarding him or blocking him or forcing him into shot clock violations and turnovers - he still won't connect on every shot. So you crash the boards and get your stop by refusing to allow second chance points. It's not ideal, but works fairly well as a backup plan.
Additionally, he can only do one thing at a time - shoot or pass. They need to get a sense of when he'll do what and adjust accordingly. While he is capable of taking games over and equally capable of hanging back and feeding the ball, he doesn't yet seem capable of switching back and forth with ease. It takes a lot to get him to shift. So you exploit that and recognize when he changes and adjust accordingly. Send doubles when he's not passing. If he recognizes that and tries to exploit go to single coverage and attempt to lure him into the lane.
He's not Jesus - he's just a good BB player. And he's only one player. A problem player, a nightmare matchup -sure. One player. Versus one really, really, really good team. A team with several good individual players. I like our odds on that one.
We didn't stop him from scoring simply because our defense wasn't guard to stopping him. The defense was geared at stopping Nash.
Yeah...the Cavs might be a joke to some...but not to us. We got no legit SF.
Exactly, the Bucks have owned the Spurs in the regular season for the past god knows how long.
I'm not too fimiliar with the Cavs D. The only one of their guys who I know is really a good defender is Snow. If they can play D like you say then I guess it will be a tougher series than everyone is making it out to be. I still think we should be able to take it though. I'm hoping Pop makes whatever adjustments he needs from watching the Detroit film.
I think the Spurs' offensive execution will be something that Cleveland hasn't seen from anyone in their playoff so run. I mean, TP doing his penetration/kickout, Duncan on the low block, Manu/Duncan screen-n-roll, plenty of back-cuts from Oberto ... Detroit had nothing close to this kind of execution. I say they take 2 games to recover, at the very least. We go to Ohio up 2-0.
This year's Spurs won't lose 2 games in a row. Cleveland's role players play better at home, but are still streaky. We just need to know which of them are hot on a given night and stick close to them, and leave the ones who're scared open. We win at least 1 in Cleveland, and finish them in 6.
These guys are good, but nowhere close to the 2005 Pistons. Remember how much trouble they gave Duncan? Tim still played through it somehow.
Sheed/Ben/Dice of 05 >> Z/Gooden/Varejao/Marshall and its not close. Duncan needs to make his FTs. He has better help with Oberto now than with Nazr in 05.
Rip/Chauncey/Hunter of 05 >> Gibson/Hughes/Snow. Manu/Tony should dominate.
Of course James/Pavlovic >> Prince/Delfino. Bowen/Finley will have their hands full.
We need to bring our execution. Pass crisply, get people open, push on the break. The Cavs have a habit of getting so bogged down offensively from time to time that getting a good lead might be enough to break their resolve.
We are a 3-time champion with a chance for a 4th ring. If we can't get it done against a young team and a young coach with almost no playoff veterans on their squad, then we weren't so great after all.
We got this.
And you can tell this by one game this season and a couple more within the last three years.
Good job.
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