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- Thread starter Bob Saccamano
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
ABJ
Todd Jones commentary: Cavaliers unlikely candidate to deliver title to Cleveland
Sunday, June 3, 2007 3:48 AM
By Todd Jones
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Amy SancettaAssociated Press
Fans in Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland cheer as LeBron James prepares to take the floor for Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
CLEVELAND -- This proud town aches for a championship, and that feeling is intertwined with the absurd idea that the NBA franchise here might be the team that delivers northeast Ohio to the Promised Land.
Just the mention of the Cleveland Cavaliers -- currently known as LeBron James and some guys named Meat -- being in the NBA Finals is enough to make one wait in anticipation of a punch line.
After all, the Cavs have been a bad joke for much of their 37-year existence, and a distant third in the pecking order of importance behind the Browns and Indians up here in the sports-mad Rust Belt.
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fourteenandoh
My swing feels like an unfolding lawn chair.
THEWOOD;856413; said:
ditto! The Spurs are no joke. Good Luck.
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SanAntonioBuck
RIP Our Friend and Hero
Congratulations Cavs fans! I'm looking forward to a great NBA Finals. Good Luck!
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I think I've read every Cavs article written over the past 2 days at least once now. Thursday can't get here soon enough. Of the top 3 teams in the West the Spurs are the one that I wanted to play in the finals because I believe that the Cavs were built to compete with a team like the Spurs. I would be much more worried if the Cavs had to play the Suns or Mavs because I don't think they match up well with the running teams right now. To win this series the Cavs are going to need to take one of the first 2 games in SA. I haven't watched much of the Spurs this year, but I like most of the match ups. Lebron has the power to beat Bowen, Pavs will need to come up big on Ginobili, Hughes/Gibson will need to contain Parker, and the big men will have to harass Duncan and hopefully get him in foul trouble. I might be wrong, but the Spurs are more of a 3 man show on offense with some other guys that can shoot 3's. If the Cavs can contain the big 3 without giving up a bunch of open 3's they will have a very good chance to win. The good thing is a guy like Damon Jones isn't going to hurt as much on the defensive end because they can probably hide him on one of SA's lesser offensive players.
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
exhawg;856906; said:
They also have Finley who will give them scoring spotting up and off the dribble, and they have Elson and Roberto(something like that) and they are big PF's that are enegetic much like Wildthing, but they both give some scoring...
I don't think that Z will be much of a liability in this series as he is with more athletic teams, and his size could bother Duncan some...
I think that Boobie and Parker will be a great matchup, but also don't be suprised to see some more of Snow on Parker to try and bother him with his size...
I just hope that we don't let the outside shoooters from SA beat us, if they beat us, I would rather make Duncan get 30+ and Parker get that, but don't let guys like Finley, Horry, Ginobli knock down 3's...
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OK Cav fans let's have your BEST REALISTIC view of the Cavs chances.
No pipe dreams and no bubbles allowed.
No pipe dreams and no bubbles allowed.
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
Best Buckeye;856932; said:
My realistic view is if they take one of the first 2 they will win the series...
If they don't and unless they were very close games like they way we played Detroit I think we will lose in 5...Follow the same path that Utah did...
We have to take one of the first 2 to have a chance, and I really think that we can do that...
I really thought that the Spurs finishing their series would hurt us, but really we finished our series up with 6 days to rest, and we are a lot younger in our key positions then them...
When we start playing everyother night we could have a slight advantage...
So with all that said i am hoping for us in 6...There is no way that we would win a game 7 in SA so that is why I am saying us in 6...
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crazybuckfan40;856935; said:
Unfortunately game 6 is in SA as well. Stupid 2-3-2 series. The Cavs proved during the season that they could beat SA, but both teams are playing better now that they were during the season so it will be hard to tell who has improved the most until they play. I agree that the Cavs have to win one of the first 2 games. Lebron has to be the best player on the court in every game. This series will hinge on the Cavs being able to guard the Spurs without needing a lot of help defense. If they can do it they have a very good shot at winning as long as the Spurs 3 pt shooters aren't Florida hot for every game. I disagree that Snow will see time on Parker. IIRC he is too slow for Parker so they will be better off with the quicker Hughes or Gibson. If Hughes isn't able to play they will have to give Snow a shot at Parker. I like the Cavs size advantage which seemed to help with the Pistons guards. Pavs has 2 inches on Ginobili and Hughes as 2-3 inches on Parker. I'm sure Lebron will get a shot at Ginobili and maybe even Duncan if need be. IMO the Cavs will need to win twice in SA because I don't see them winning 3 in a row at home. I don't want to give a prediction, but I really want the Cavs to bring this thing home. Either way it has been a great season for the Cavs and is only going to get better over the next 5-10 years.
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endzoneBucki
I know a guy who knows a guy
If James and Gibson continue to play well and split the scoring to keep them off balance we have a 45% chance. I agree we need to win in 6.
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It will be very interesting to see how closely they call Bowen's defense on LeBron. San Antonio will try to cover him with just 1 guy the vast majority of the time (and that will be Bowen when he's on the court) - they hate to give up open 3's, and they obviously saw what Gibson did in the 4th quarter of the closeout game against Detroit.
I also see San Antonio single-covering Z in the post. He has a real size advantage on Oberto, Elson, and Duncan; and is bound to have some 20-point performances in this series.
But San Antonio will live with LeBron getting 25-30, and Z getting 20. They will not give Gooden the open 12-18 footers that he got repeatedly against the Pistons, and they won't give Gibson or Sasha many open looks from the 3-point line. It's how they handled Phoenix - they let Nash and Stoudemire get theirs, but didn't allow the role players to score much. Same thing with Utah - Boozer and Willimas each had a big series, but the other guys didn't contribute enough.
The bad news for Cavs fans is that Popovich is very good at defensive adjustments during a game if that strategy isn't working, or needs some fine tuning.
On defense, I know the Cavs are solid, but I don't see them being able to contain Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili. Duncan can score over Gooden, and will go around Z if he's guarding him. And Duncan knows how to pass out of the double-team. And I think that Parker's quickness with the dribble will cause real problems as well.
I'll be pulling for the Cavs, but I think the Spurs win this in 5 (maybe 6, due to the 2-3-2 format). If they're able to get Duncan in serious foul trouble in more than 1 game, they'll have a shot.
I also see San Antonio single-covering Z in the post. He has a real size advantage on Oberto, Elson, and Duncan; and is bound to have some 20-point performances in this series.
But San Antonio will live with LeBron getting 25-30, and Z getting 20. They will not give Gooden the open 12-18 footers that he got repeatedly against the Pistons, and they won't give Gibson or Sasha many open looks from the 3-point line. It's how they handled Phoenix - they let Nash and Stoudemire get theirs, but didn't allow the role players to score much. Same thing with Utah - Boozer and Willimas each had a big series, but the other guys didn't contribute enough.
The bad news for Cavs fans is that Popovich is very good at defensive adjustments during a game if that strategy isn't working, or needs some fine tuning.
On defense, I know the Cavs are solid, but I don't see them being able to contain Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili. Duncan can score over Gooden, and will go around Z if he's guarding him. And Duncan knows how to pass out of the double-team. And I think that Parker's quickness with the dribble will cause real problems as well.
I'll be pulling for the Cavs, but I think the Spurs win this in 5 (maybe 6, due to the 2-3-2 format). If they're able to get Duncan in serious foul trouble in more than 1 game, they'll have a shot.
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
exhawg;856952; said:
I didnt know that they did that 2-3-2...That is stupid...
I think Hughes will play much like he did in this series, but I think his problem is once he sits down it starts to tighten up, so he can really only start the game and maybe the 2nd half...
I agree, that now they have been there and if they don't win that will just be that hungry to get back there and win it again...
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