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Utah would have killed the Cavs had they made it to the Finals.
With all the talk about "how will the Spurs match up against the Cavs?", and the ranting about Cleveland's defense and physical play, I thought it might be worthwhile to compare the Cavs to our last victims - the Utah Jazz. See which players you think offer the most difficult match-ups at each position. [NOTE: it is a little tough to compare some positions, since LeBron plays a point-forward role. But in the end, I think it lines up pretty nicely.] The stats I have listed are from the playoffs, and in the form ppg / reb / ast.
Bigs. Boozer vs. Ilgauskas and Okur vs. Gooden
Boozer - 23.5 / 12.2 / 2.9
Ilgauskas - 13.8 / 9.5 / .9
Okur - 11.8 / 7.8 / 1.8
Gooden - 11.1 / 7.9 / 1.2
Okur's and Gooden's numbers line up pretty closely. Ilgauskas may be a decent center, but compared to Boozer? Fuggedaboudit. You want to pair them by "true" position? Fine. Boozer vs. Gooden is even worse. Which set of bigs present the most difficult match-ups? It's Utah, all the way.
Medium-Sized Guys. Kirilenko vs. Pavlovic and Harpring/Giricek vs. Larry Hughes
The Jazz players definitely have the edge in physical play here, and the numbers favor them as well. The Jazz present more difficult match-ups.
Kirilenko - 9.6 / 5.2 / 2.6
Pavlovic - 9.0 / 2.6 / 1.8
Harpring/Giricek - 15.4 / 6.4 / 2.4
Larry Hughes - 12.6 / 4.1 / 2.6
Role Players. Fisher vs. Gibson and Millsap vs. Varejao.
Fisher started a lot of games for the Jazz, so it's harder to call him just a role-player, but the comparison still works I think. Without that 31-point Game 6, Gibson's numbers aren't even close. Millsap's numbers are very similar to Varejao's. Both come off the bench and bring lots of energy. Millsap was physical as , if you remember. Fisher is a much tougher match-up, and Millsap/Varejao is a push.
Derek Fisher - 9.5 / 1.6 / 2.6
Daniel Gibson - 7.6 / 1.6 / .7
Millsap - 5.9 / 4.4 / .5
Varejao - 5.6 / 6.1 / .5
Stars. Okay... Deron Williams is not LeBron James. But he is pretty damned close in terms of how difficult he is to match up with. The numbers clearly favor LeBron, but the difference is more than offset by Boozer's advantage.
Deron Williams - 19.2 3.8 8.6
LeBron James - 25.3 8.3 8.3
Coach. Sloan vs. Brown
Don't even go there. Even with Brown's recent Spur experience.
As a group, Utah plays better defense than the Cavs. They are definitely more physical. They have the discipline that comes from playing under Jerry Sloan. And they have a pretty impressive star of their own in Deron Williams. And the Cavs have no one that even approaches the match-up problems that Boozer presented in the playoffs. Overall, the Jazz are simply a better team that presented more difficult match-ups. And we beat them in 5 games.
Is LeBron James really the best basketball player on the planet, like the sports writers and announcers claim? The Cavs need for him to be. Because the rest of their team can't push the Spurs as hard as the Jazz did.
Utah would have killed the Cavs had they made it to the Finals.
Not killed them but beat them no doubt. Utah is more talented, deeper and better coached than the Cavs are.
Could the Cavs have beaten any of the 8 playoff teams in the West? Maybe LA but that's it.
Probably not i mean i laugh when the Cavs fans say oh yeah Lebron is unstoppable so they will beat the Spurs. o they beat the Nuggets in 5 who had Melo and AI, is Lebron better on offense than those 2 combined were? Beat the Suns with Nash and Amare in 6 with a supporting cast that is better than many of the Cavs starters. Beat the Jazz in 5 games with Boozer and Williams both playing great and a deeper bench than the Cavs have. Bottom line if the Spurs play the way they can this will be a 4 or 5 game series and the Spurs are walking away with le number 4.
Great now we are totally ED!!!
So no more noise violations and $100 fines at your APT from stomping around in a hissy fit every time the Spurs win?
you better bring good luck charms to the Spurs Dirk Nowitzki or we'll be fishing early(***), like the other teams you were rooting for in the playoffs such as Dallas, Suns, Utah....
It doesn't count if you don't mean it.
I'm scared now.
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