We are more efficient at an uptempo style than you are too...
The Nuggets featured a big 3 who could put it on the floor and drive or step back and knock down the J, as well as a big athletic 4 in Nene and an athletic shotblocking and rebounding 5 in Camby. That's more the profile of a frontcourt that would give the Spurs fits. A plodding 5 like Ilgauskas will be less of a problem.
The mental for ude of the Spurs is one of their greatest assets.. Detroit was the same once years ago but the dissension between some players and the coach was plainly visible this season and was a key reason why they lost.. no such danger with the Spurs who are as solid as Mt. Everest. All players know their role and accept them willingly. Pop is a hard taskmaster but is fair and caring at the same time and has the total allegiance of the players and management.
As for a "having nothing to lose" at ude, that isn't too far away from "just happy to be here" in my book.. As pointed out in some other posts, I'm glad LBJ had his monster game.. I'm glad the Cavs beat the Spurs twice in the RS.. the Spurs have a tendency to relax at times and play without the "appropriate fear" that Pop talks about.. I hope to see a Spurs team in game 1 that plays like its the underdog, not like the Spurs team that was lauded after game 2 vs Utah and came out to be embarrassed in front of the whole world. But true to form, they recovered from that blunder to take care of business in 5 games.
Spurs simply don't handle praise too well w/c is my big concern reading a lot of the stories in media in recent days.
Wilt Chamberlain was the most dominant player in the history of the NBA but he still couldnt beat those Celtic teams by himself. He faced those Celtics teams 8 times and would outscore Russel by an average of more than 20 points. He only won once and that was when he had HoFer Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham with him to make it a team effort
Lebron isnt Wilt.
But Wilt didn't dunk as well as lebron and dunking=highlights and highlights=championships
He averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds one season and still lost to that Celtic team.
Today, 01:04 PM #9
virginislandCAVS
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..and I thought fans from Virgin Islands are cheering for their best export-Tim Duncan.
how come?
But how many of those 50 points were highlight points?
Yeah, you are right too many jumpshots and blocks.
He did break a dudes hand that tried to block him dunking once if that counts.
i dont know. Wilt Chamberlain is the personification of how basketball is a team game.
Damn right Wilt is the best Center of all time. Anyone who said Russell owned him is an idiot, Wilt destroyed Russell one on one and anyone who tried to stop him. By any statistical measure Wilt is the most dominant player the game has ever known, he averaged 50pts a game for a season for god's sake. The Celts were better than his teams period, one man can not do it all.
you could easily be talking about the spurs there, as a matter of fact, thats a description given to the Spurs for years, its been said about them this whole post season, and I have a feeling your "championship" defense cavs have no idea whats in store for them when they face real "championship" defense.
Detroit has some guys who can play in the post. Obviously Tim Duncan is a great player and everything, however the Cavs will deal with him just fine. They've got two legit centers to combat him with and a ton of other big men as well. And also, we've seen in the past that you can commit hard fouls on Duncan and put him at the line and more times than not is only going to knock down one of his shots. Tim Duncan is a poor free throw shooter so don't expect him to be allowed to go up for very many shots in this series.
And when those bigs foul out, what are you going to do against penetration?
Also, you didn't answer the question. What low post threat have the Cavs faced this post-season?
Cavs will be fine, Lebron lightens the load a ton on offense and it allows the other guys on the court to concentrate on defense. Also, I think that while SA has ran this defense for longer, CLE makes up for that with toughness and scrapiness, and that cannot be underestimated.
I like Cleveland's chances because they are a dominant defensive squad, they've got Lebron James to lead the way, and Mike Brown was taught under GP in the SA system so he already knows exactly what the Spurs are going to try to do and when they are going to try it. Sound familiar? That's because Don Nelson benefited from this exact situation earlier in the playoffs when he used that information he had learned and used it to knock off the much more talented #1-seed Dallas Mavericks.
i think it's not appropriate to really conclude at this point in time what the cavs have to offer for the mighty spurs...
to some degree, the cavs managed to manifest a major threat to anybody at some given nights during the past two years but on an inconsistent basis...
on the other hand, the spurs have been solid all throughout the years...
both teams have common defensive philosophies--the reason why the cavs also made it to this point...
what makes it more ironic is that the east is so weak, save perhaps for detroit...whatever the case, they're still a force to reckon with...
although both teams have common foundations, they're still strangers to each other...
GP and his team do not take the cavs lightly, or underestimate them, which is a good thing for the spurs team....(i hope the fans too)
on the other hand, MB and his crew are not afraid of the spurs, which is also a good thing....(so does its fans)
the difference between the cavs and the nuggets, suns and jazz is that cleveland plays ugly ball...
they have made a living out of it this postseason...
that's the threat the spurs have to deal with... but i know GP is so darn good not to see that and made some premature adjustments...
the spurs is a new challenge, the biggest one this season, for the cavs...
sheed, mcdyes and webber are junior duncans so the cavs have to deal with it seriously...
parker, ginobili, finley and bowen are at par with jkidd, carter and jefferson and so does rip and chauncey...
the difference w/ san antonio is still duncan...
to sum it up, the spurs have all the machinery for another le-it's fourth...
but the cavs have what it takes to make a major upset...and it remains a mystery until the finals series begins....
good luck to both teams....just play fair
.... so that the world will not say anything stupid
....
He did not watch him play ...
Where was the greatness that is Lebron carrying his team offensively when the Cavs dropped a staggering 3-17 fourth quarter in Game 4 against New Jersey?
it was totally looming.
Just play fair?????? Does that go for the flopping Varejao also????i think it's not appropriate to really conclude at this point in time what the cavs have to offer for the mighty spurs...
to some degree, the cavs managed to manifest a major threat to anybody at some given nights during the past two years but on an inconsistent basis...
on the other hand, the spurs have been solid all throughout the years...
both teams have common defensive philosophies--the reason why the cavs also made it to this point...
what makes it more ironic is that the east is so weak, save perhaps for detroit...whatever the case, they're still a force to reckon with...
although both teams have common foundations, they're still strangers to each other...
GP and his team do not take the cavs lightly, or underestimate them, which is a good thing for the spurs team....(i hope the fans too
on the other hand, MB and his crew are not afraid of the spurs, which is also a good thing....(so does its fans
the difference between the cavs and the nuggets, suns and jazz is that cleveland plays ugly ball...
they have made a living out of it this postseason...
that's the threat the spurs have to deal with... but i know GP is so darn good not to see that and made some premature adjustments...
the spurs is a new challenge, the biggest one this season, for the cavs...
sheed, mcdyes and webber are junior duncans so the cavs have to deal with it seriously...
parker, ginobili, finley and bowen are at par with jkidd, carter and jefferson and so does rip and chauncey...
the difference w/ san antonio is still duncan...
to sum it up, the spurs have all the machinery for another le-it's fourth...
but the cavs have what it takes to make a major upset...and it remains a mystery until the finals series begins....
good luck to both teams
That is what Scott Pollard is for, cheap hard fouls that don't cost our starters anything.
Honest answer to your question? Detroit was posting up all series long with multiple people, so I'm not sure if you were watching but it was pretty apparent. Rasheed, Tayshaun, Webber, McDyess, etc. Obviously, none of these guys are the same kind of post threat that Duncan is. However, Duncan is only guy whereas Detroit attacked with depth. Definite contrast of styles in that respect. Hope that answers your question.
This is a very good post, very accurate. However, one thing that nobody has mentioned- what about the story of Mike Brown having been taught by GP and the SA system? I think this is pretty major, the last couple times this has happened in organized sports it ended very badly for the team whose opposing coach came from their own system. Just look at Don Nelson using his knowledge of the Dallas system to beat the much more talented Mavericks team as an eight-seed!i think it's not appropriate to really conclude at this point in time what the cavs have to offer for the mighty spurs...
to some degree, the cavs managed to manifest a major threat to anybody at some given nights during the past two years but on an inconsistent basis...
on the other hand, the spurs have been solid all throughout the years...
both teams have common defensive philosophies--the reason why the cavs also made it to this point...
what makes it more ironic is that the east is so weak, save perhaps for detroit...whatever the case, they're still a force to reckon with...
although both teams have common foundations, they're still strangers to each other...
GP and his team do not take the cavs lightly, or underestimate them, which is a good thing for the spurs team....(i hope the fans too
on the other hand, MB and his crew are not afraid of the spurs, which is also a good thing....(so does its fans
the difference between the cavs and the nuggets, suns and jazz is that cleveland plays ugly ball...
they have made a living out of it this postseason...
that's the threat the spurs have to deal with... but i know GP is so darn good not to see that and made some premature adjustments...
the spurs is a new challenge, the biggest one this season, for the cavs...
sheed, mcdyes and webber are junior duncans so the cavs have to deal with it seriously...
parker, ginobili, finley and bowen are at par with jkidd, carter and jefferson and so does rip and chauncey...
the difference w/ san antonio is still duncan...
to sum it up, the spurs have all the machinery for another le-it's fourth...
but the cavs have what it takes to make a major upset...and it remains a mystery until the finals series begins....
good luck to both teams
That is so untrue, particularly in the latter games of that series. Early on, you got some post moves from Rasheed and McDyess, and occasionally Tayshaun, but the Pistons interior presence left with Ben Wallace - the rest of the interior are preferred jumpshooters or garbage men in the post.
Let's just bring on Shaq to distract Lebron. so he can slow dance with him like at the All Star Games.
We've got the Animals Manu and Fabby not to mention Mikey.
Bring it on.
it's just clean tactics....not cheap shotsJust play fair?????? Does that go for the flopping Varejao also????
manu is just as talented as av....so no worries....
Nelson was AJ's mentor. Pop is Mike Brown's mentor. You have proven the Spurs will win! Hurray!
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