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looks good.
Except for Elson's grade. I'd dock him some points because he screamed on national television.
Tim Duncan
Duncan came out with a lot of energy and purpose in Game 1 of the 2007 NBA Finals. His offense was clicking as he scored in a variety of ways, finishing with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting. He was the anchor of the defense with five blocks and 13 rebounds. The Cavs were physical with him and he responded by being equally physical. Duncan had a very good overall game in every aspect.
Grade: A
Manu Ginobili
When Ginobili first entered the game, he was a little too anxious offensively and that led to him forcing the issue at times when he should have reigned it in. As the game went on, Ginobili got more and more comfortable on the offensive end. He finished with 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the field. Defensively, this was Ginobili's best game of the playoffs. He spent some time on LeBron James and held him in check. He also was rotating wonderfully and pulled down eight big rebounds.
Grade: B+
Tony Parker
Parker exposed mismatches all night long offensively in one of his best playoff performances of the season. For stretches, he played like he was the best player on the court. Offensively, 19 of the 34 baskets the Spurs scored were either on a Parker hoop or a Parker assist. On defense, Parker was solid for most of the game. However, Parker still has room to improve. He got sloppy at some points and his defense fell off in the fourth quarter. For the game, he finished with 27 points and 7 assists on 12-for-23 shooting from the field.
Grade: A-
Bruce Bowen
Bowen had hands down his best showing of the playoffs. He was simply phenomenal defensively against LeBron, holding him to 4-for-16 shooting from the field. Part of it was LeBron just having an off night, but Bowen deserves a lot of credit. Bowen came ready to play and ready to prove he is up for the task. Bowen also hit 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and led the team in plus/minus at +12.
Grade: A+
Fabricio Oberto
Oberto had an out of this world playoff series against the Utah Jazz. Against the Cavs in Game 1, Oberto came back down to earth a little bit. He was held scoreless in 17 minutes of play, but did pull down four rebounds and dished out two assists. Cleveland isn't a great matchup for Oberto but he'll need find a way to contribute.
Grade: C+
Michael Finley
Finley knocked down his first shot and then proceeded to miss his final six attempts from the field. After some forced shots in the early third quarter, Finley was pulled and never saw any meaningful minutes for the rest of the game. Hopefully his problem was related to the pressure of the NBA Finals and not anything to do with his bad back.
Grade: D+
Robert Horry
Horry still is trying to find his groove after not playing overly well against the Jazz. In Game 1, Horry still wasn't playing like he's capable of, but did find ways to contribute. He handed out six assists in 23 minutes and played pretty good defense. His lone points came in the beginning of the fourth quarter when he nailed a three-pointer. If he can get rolling like he was earlier in the playoffs, this is the type of series in which he could end up playing a lot of minutes.
Grade: C+
Jacque Vaughn
Vaughn did his job. He came in, ran the show and didn't hurt the team in his ten minutes of play. Vaughn's main role in this series is to just come in and play steady. They won't need many big offensive or defensive plays out of him given the matchups.
Grade: B+
Francisco Elson
Elson played one of his two or three best games of the playoffs in Game 1 of the Finals. With the Spurs wanting to get out and run versus the Cavs, he has a chance to earn a lot of playing the rest of the way. Offensively, he got out on the break and got a dunk and a foul. He also had a solid post move when the Spurs needed a hoop. Defensively, Elson did his job in all aspects. Five points and six rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench is good production from a backup center.
Grade: A-
Brent Barry
Barry was on the court for eight minutes. His only dents in the stat sheet were a turnover and a foul. He didn't hurt the team offensively, but he also wasn't much of a help. Defensively he struggled a little bit. Barry will have a chance to have an impact in this series, so hopefully he can find his offensive rhythm.
Grade: C
Pop
Pop seemed to work the layoff rather well. The players looked ready to play and although they got winded, they remained pretty sharp throughout. Pop also did a good job of getting it into the hands of the Big Three offensively. Defensively, the Spurs played very, very well. They were crisp with their rotations and didn't allow many easy looks. Going with Elson to help speed the tempo was a very nice move. Taking out and leaving out an ineffective Finley was a good move. Overall, there's not much to be upset about after Game 1 of the Finals.
Grade: B+
looks good.
Except for Elson's grade. I'd dock him some points because he screamed on national television.
tony was great tonight but falls just shy of an A because he still makes some boneheaded plays. especially glaring was late in the game when we're nursing an 8 point lead and he tries to do a 1 on 3 fastbreak about 4 seconds into the shot clock and promptly gets his shot blocked by lebron. if lebron comes back to hit a 3, then suddenly it's a 5 point game with about 2 minutes still left. but overall, a fantastic effort by tony tonight.
Maybe it was just me, but I thought Vaughn forced some ill-advised shots rather early in possessions. Other than that I thought he played ok.
Good grades
it was just youMaybe it was just me, but I thought Vaughn forced some ill-advised shots rather early in possessions
Parker went 12-23 and scored 27 points and could only hit, what, one jumper? Basically all of his shots were open and if the J was falling he would have scored 40.
Elson's power move over Varejao was unlike anything I'd seen from him this year. Of course also did the usual Elson leap-in-the-air-when-you-don't-have-to-and-pick-up-a-silly-foul move, too.
Is that something like leap year?
As for Tony, I was just thankful he was okay after going down in the first. Tim was practically begging him to be okay
I have no idea how that came out like that, but it's fixed now.
Is that something like leap year?
As for Tony, I was just thankful he was okay after going down in the first. Tim was practically begging him to be okay
If we had to play the rest of the finals with Vaughn and Udrih at PG, at least the series would be a fair fight...
Nice grades LJ, but how come you never did a series grade for the WCF like you did for rounds 1 and 2?
Good grades. I'm just not really sure why Tony got A-. This was one of his best performances. And at times, he was holding the team together...
Oh, yeah: When did Elson learn to master Oberto's tap-out technique?
You must have missed them.
At least we know that Elson watches the games from the bench.
This is the first time Elson showed up since that game against Detroit in the regular season. He surprised the crap outta me when he actually finished after a nice move.
Elson is thisclose to being serviceable.
Keep running, Cisco.
Coyote
He was GREAT in that movie Spurs road to finals
Grade: A+
I think Oberto actually did pretty decent, he was involved in key plays. Tim Duncan's 3 point play off the hustle rebound, and then his pass to Bowen's 3, to pull away in the 2nd half.
You must have missed them.
Or maybe you just didn't do them.
Elson should get some big minutes this series - this kind of team is why we signed him. He's athletic and can run. I loved seeing him run down the court for the easy lay up.
I think you are too harsh on Horry - 5 rebounds, excellent defense, and 1 big 3 pointer just when the Cavs were starting to make a little run is pretty good for a guy off the bench.
Good grades!, but I have to complain with sth ... so, Finley played like a s...t he deserves a "E"
i kinda expected this from finley in his first appearence in the nba finals...Look for him to get more comfortable and better as the series go on..We can only get better
Elson had one of his best games of the playoffs. Tony was a baller on offense. My only knock on Tony was he kept sagging off Gibson in the second half and Daniel was hitting everything he threw up. Tony needs to stay at home on that guy, he's the most dangerous player on that squad right now - without production from him, the Cavs are sunk.
Are you kidding? I think we get so little emotion at times, that we need an infusion now and then. I thought it was quite appropriate for a fella who has been an afterthought all post season.
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