Posted on
6/7/2007 7:42:49 PM
2007 NBA Finals Preview – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. San Antonio Spurs
By Ringo Dalewood
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CAVS OFFENSE VS. SPURS DEFENSE
Watching the Cavs play offense sort of reminds of that episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where the coach employs the sole strategy of “pass it to Will.” The offense funnels through LeBron James, and the King is averaging 27-6-6 throughout these playoffs.
Stopping LeBron will be, and always is, priority one for the opposition. Bruce Bowen will have the unenviable task of stopping King James, but LeBron showed in the regular season that Bowen is no match for him.
Underestimating Big Z, Boobie, Hughes, Snow and Varejao will land the Spurs in hot water if they are not careful. They are not spectacular, but they are better then people think.
The fact remains that experience counts in the finals. LeBron will need to take over four games, and that is simply not going to happen against the Spurs. If he is not consistently at his best, then the Cavaliers do not stand a chance.
SPURS OFFENSE VS. CAVS DEFENSE
The Spurs prefer a two-pronged attack which focuses around Duncan and Parker. Defensively there is nobody on the Cavs roster that individually matches up well against Duncan.
The saving grace here is that the Cavs play terrific team defense. They collapse on slashers well, and pressure the perimeter. They held the opposing teams to 42% from the field, which led all teams in the playoffs.
Parker may have trouble against the longer Hughes (Marion contained him in the Phoenix series in the same way), but he has plenty of help. Finley, Bowen and Ginobili are underrated threats from the field and one of them will be left open when the Cavs decide to double Tim Duncan with Gooden and Big Z.
The Cavs will hope to keep the game close with their terrific defense, but the truth remains that nobody on the Cavs roster can handle Duncan down low. Unless LeBron and Varejao can get Duncan into serious foul trouble, the Spurs will be able to execute their game plan and use their experience to make the Cavs’ experience in the Finals a miserable one.
COACH VS. COACH
Are you seriously going to be on the offensively inept Mike Brown against the time-tested genius of Greg Popovich? Seriously? Do you even watch basketball?
INTANGIBLES
Experience. That is the key word here. LeBron and the Cavaliers put a spanking on a Detroit Pistons team that was simply in awe of what they were witnessing.
The Spurs are too good and too resilient to let that happen to them. They have an unbridled faith in each other and have weathered too many storms to let the hurricane of King James be the one that gets the better of them.
FINAL VERDICT
LeBron will take over at least two of the games in the Finals. People are placing a lot of faith in his ability to beat Bowen and put Duncan in foul trouble, but the Spurs are too smart and too versatile to let LBJ use one trick the entire game.
Still, you have to imagine that LeBron will simply elevate to another plane of existence and take over two games. But the Spurs are the warriors here and will be able to take this series in six. Bet on the Spurs to win in six as they give up two games on the road, and close the series at home.
LeBron will put on a show to remember, as he is certainly given reason for us to question our faith in Carmello and Sebastian Telfair to match his skills. But the King’s coronation will have to wait, because the Spurs dynasty is too strong to give up its rule of the NBA.
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