Game one of the NBA Finals was played last night as the San Antonio Spurs hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers. As many predicted, the Spurs came away with the win, 85-76. Yet I disagree with the consensus among the sports media world, that the Spurs "outclassed" the Cavs (How can any team that starts Bruce Bowen, the dirtiest player in the NBA since Karl Malone, outclass any other team?). Most sports writers consider this series a blowout, but I don't. Here's why:
LeBron James and Larry Hughes combined to shoot 5-21 from the field. Kudos to the Spurs for their shut-down defense (the only player I really dislike on San Antonio is Bowen). Yet despite the lack of production from the two major players on the Cavs, they made an impressive run with about 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, a time when the Spurs struggled to put up any points. Look at the final score, a mere 9-point difference, now if James or Hughes (or both) find a way to put up their regular numbers, then we have a series--and this thing could go to seven games.
Yes, you could argue that San Antonio was rusty going into the NBA Finals, with the layoff between the Western Conference series and the this one being over a week. Again, go to the box score, Duncan got his usual numbers, as did Parker and Ginobili, so unless there is some kind of fluke, look for the spurs total points in the game to stay in the mid 80's.
Like Jeff Van Gundy said last night, the first team to 80 wins in this NBA Finals, every time. If LeBron finds a way to produce his playoff average of 26 points/game, next time that team could easily be the Cavs. It would be amaizing, if not impossible, if San Antonio was able to stop LeBron for the entire series. And if they steal game two, watch out--because the next three games will be played in Cleveland.
Just wanted to put this point of view out there because I doubt it is being expressed very much right now with all the "outclassed" parroting dribble right now. Do sports writers even make an effort to be original anymore? Seriously, take a look at your newspaper, it's all one voice out there.
X-factors for a Cavs Victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals: Gibson has obviously been the unsung hero for the Cavs during their run to the finals, but veteran defensive-minded point guard Eric Snow, should he ever get any minutes, might be able to slightly disrupt Tony Parker's game, which in effect would throw off San Antonio's entire game. Only Coach Brown knows if Snow's number will ever be called in this series, Snow played just 14 seconds in Game 1.
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wow was I wrong. I leave this post up as a reminder of how off I can be in my assessment of basketball situations, possibly other situations as well.
Kudos to the Spurs for yet another championship. They seem to win one, take a year off, win another, for the past 9 years.
Now hopefully Isiah can make something of the offseason. Many star players are said to want a change of address on their w-2, yet it remains to be seen if the Knicks have the talent to make such a trade happen.
The names going into the summer of these available players include: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal. The fact that these all stars are available makes me think they would be traded for each other, but certain players like Kobe have clauses in their contracts that can steer them to the team of their choice, and two of those choices are believed to be Chicago and New York. How weird would it be for Kobe to go to Chicago?
Only time will tell.
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