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LeBron is awesome, but as a team, the Spurs are way better than the Cavs. No brag, just fact. Spurs in 5 (they always mail one in each series).
The Cavs were 8th in the league in the 2006-07 regular season in average opponents' FG% and 24th in own FG%.
The Spurs? 4th in opponents' FG% and as for their own...2nd.
The Cavs may be above average in stopping their opponents but they suck the hard one at managing to turn their opportunities into points. Lest we forget that they will be facing the 4th best defense in the NBA (going by this stat).
This has been the little dirty secret about the Spurs of late...that they aren't so bad at converting on the offensive end.
Last edited by Marcus Bryant; 06-04-2007 at 09:14 PM.
LeBron is awesome, but as a team, the Spurs are way better than the Cavs. No brag, just fact. Spurs in 5 (they always mail one in each series).
In the playoffs, Cleveland is leading all teams in fewest points allowed and Opp. FG% and averages a full 4 more rebounds/game than San Antonio. They also defend the 3-point line as well as San Antonio does...actually better in the playoffs, but they ranked 1st and the Spurs 2nd during the regular season.
Sorry if that takes the edge off.
Spurs in 2... The Cavs will retire Bron's number after game 2. , they already crowned the poor dumb bas on Saturday...
The Cavs faced the 17th, 20th, and 23rd best FG% teams in the NBA in the 1st 3 rounds.
The Spurs? 1st, 3rd, and 7th.
thats about the most telling stat I've seen leading up to this series.
-Mars
My "edge" is back on.
If our jumpshooters are hitting their 3s we will win in 4.
That is a good point. I hope that makes a difference.
They have a good D, no doubt about it, but look at who they've played.
interesting tidbit. i went back to the last lakers championship and, if i remember right, the top defense in the playoffs never won the le except when detroit did it over a lakers squad sans malone. other than that, hasn't happened. the cavs are now the top defensive team in the playoffs, based on opp. fg %.
Yes, I agree that the Cavs have played lesser compe ion and Marcus Bryant did add some stats that support it well. I think the premise of the thread is a bit off but I'm playing along. Naturally, I still believe that defense wins championships.
I also know what I'm seeing with my own eyes, and that is some excellent team defense by the Cavs...by anyone's standards.
How about 'offensive execution wins championships when both teams have above average defenses'?
Can't tell just how good that team defense is, until it faces an offense that is better than mediocre. It hasn't yet.
Remember Cleveland faced Washington in the first round, a team without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler that wasn't terribly good to begin with. That's gonna skew stats. Then they struggled with a New Jersey team the west would have demolished.
It'll be a bit of a change from the 20th best shooting team in the NBA last round to the 2nd...
Interestingly, the Spurs were 17th in FT% and the Cavs...29th.
About the only positive I see for the Cavs is that they were 2nd in rebounding while the Spurs were 17th. Of course, the Spurs had fewer opportunities to board on the offensive end and were 6th in rebounds allowed.
Rankings by Own FG% and Opponents' FG% of the final 8 teams.
San Antonio 2nd 4th
Cleveland 24th 8th
Phoenix 1st 14th
Detroit 20th 6th
Utah 3rd 11th
Chicago 16th 2nd
Golden State 11th 19th
New Jersey 17th 9th
Spurs are clearly the best balanced team by this measure.
Noticing ALL the East teams with pretty good opp. FG%....of course none of the East teams could shoot all that straight...
Spurs look dominant on that list., then Utah and Phoenix, ironically.
Spurs in 1.
All of the Eastern Conference teams in the final 8 had above average defenses and below average offenses. Now the Cavs will face the 2nd best executing defense of the remaining 8 (4th best overall in the league) and the best executing offense (2nd best overall). Chicago lost to Detroit in the ECSF, but both were rather close when it came to poor shooting offenses and very good defenses, just like Detroit and Cleveland in the ECF.
Kind of a chicken and egg thing, isn't it. Are the defenses good causing low fg% in the East; or are the offenses weak, making the defensive stats look good?
Have to compare FG% E vs. W for an answer; although winning % might provide a clue.
I'm not sure that the difference in Conference membership would account for a differential in own FG% of that magnitude.
why is this stat not own espn
BECAUSE JAMES IS AWESOME
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