Nba Finals! Spurs vs. Cavs
Im down here in Atx so obviously im a huge Spurs fan. I kept quiet most of the playoffs because I wasnt sure how the Spurs would do or match up against the other teams in the west. I thought they were the best team last year and yet they were beat by the Mavericks who were totally embarrassed in this years playoff by the Warriors. As each series went on though the Spurs team started clicking on offense and defense to the point where they dispatched the Jazz pretty easy by a 4-1 margin.
Over on the East side I honestly thought The Pistons were going to win a hard fought battle over the Cavaliers. Two things happened that i didnt expect though. #1. The Pistons totally sucked and were out of character in every game! #2. The emergence of Lebron James as a leader. Ive always figured that Lebron was going to be great but I didnt think it would be this fast. Yes it was awesome what he did in game 5 but its nowhere near as great as most people make it out to be. Does anyone remember the box score of a Timmy Duncan in the clinching game 6 of the finals over the Nets? Well here's a reminder: 21 pts, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks! Thats almost a quadruple in the Finals and not just the Conference finals.
Anyways I applaud Lebron and the Cavs for their accomplishment but the reign will be short lived and they will face another kind of beast in the Spurs thats on a roll. The Spurs had to battle through a tough Denver, Suns and Jazz team in preparation and the Cavs had a super weak Wizards team, an average Nets team and a tough Pistons team that was not in sync. Lebron will have his work cut out for him with the best perimeter player in the league Mr. Bruce Bowen on him. They Cavs have no answer for Duncan, and they like most teams have no one to match up with Manu Ginoboliiiiiiiiiii!!!!
They only chance for the Cavs to win is if all of these following things happen:
1. Lebron plays out this world on something on par with Michael Jordan, Magic, Bird or Timmy D's Finals performances.
2. The refs still hold Duncan responsible for getting rid of Joey Crawford and screw him or others Spurs (Bruce Bowen) out of most calls or get them in foul trouble. ( I can actually see this happening)
3. The Spurs get out of character and forgot how to play defense for long periods of time or Bruce Bowen all of a sudden getting too old to cover Lebron.
4. Several other Cavs stepping up in help to Lebron such as Texas ex Daniel Gibson, Larry Hughes or others on a consistent basis.
5. The Spurs get limited contribution from their bench such as from Oberto, Jacque Vaughn, or Brent Barry.
Maybe if all these things happen then they have a chance. Since Im a realist i predict the following things:
Spurs win 4-1 with a possible chance at 4-2.
Finals MVP will be Duncan again with an outside chance of it being Manu Ginoboli.
Lebron will show up huge in a few games but it just wont be enough to overcome the Spurs this year at least.