2007 NBA Finals Thread: Cleveland Cavaliers v San Antonio Spurs

I think Robert Horry deserves a standing ovation at the championship parade and Tony Parker needs to take the man out to dinner because had he not body checked Steve Nash, who knows if they would have even made it to the Finals.

 

LOL swish, good point.

the spurs probably do deserve it but i still dont want to say they do, its so annoying how good they are and how amazing duncan is, i cant stand how once the lakers split up the shaq and kobe dynasty, spurs just took over the league, and maybe they should have won more titles if it werent for a couple of games that sent them packing in the conference finals. i wonder what kind of series it would have been if it were the spurs vs miami in last years finals? i think the spurs would have probably taken it in 6 or 7. anyway go lakers, get JO, stuff the god damn spurs with all there really good players. god damn it.

 

Congrats to the Spurs.

 

Gratz to Spurs...but i don't want them to repeat

Btw, I think Wade > lebron now. Lebron is having trouble making jumpshots and he couldn't drive to the basket. He is kinda too slow when comparing with Wade. One more thing, he gotta practice FT alot more

 

<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Nobody is talking about how Boobie disappeared. He dried up, stopped lactating. He could feed the Cavs any more, they sucked him dry.</div>

Eh? He scored 16, 15, 2, 10 in each of the games.

 

Dont forget he is a second round draft pick rookie playing against the best team of the last 10 years on the biggest stage in the NBA, I think it was quite an impressive effort from him, all throughout the playoffs.

I think its fair to say he far exceeded expectations these playoffs.

 

The sooner these Finals were over, the better.

Like Mike Greenberg said, these games were "hideous".

 

<div class="quote_poster">NTC Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Dont forget he is a second round draft pick rookie playing against the best team of the last 10 years on the biggest stage in the NBA, I think it was quite an impressive effort from him, all throughout the playoffs.

I think its fair to say he far exceeded expectations these playoffs.</div>

+1

Thanks for opening people's eyes to this important fact. Everyone forgets that Boobie is just a rookie. The same people doubting that Boobie will be a great player are the same ones doubting that LeBron will eventually rise up. At first it was 6 rings, but now he needs at least 7 to match Horry. Hard to do when stern down plays the game based on how dominate a player is.

What Stern probably thinks:

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When LeBron drives to the rim, one of 3 things happen. He either gets fouled, scores, or both. Rarely does he get blocked or miss. This is completely desroying the game of basketball, because we've never had somone so big and strong that is that fast. I'll be dammed if I allow the refs to have him to get those and-1 calls during the playoffs, much less the finals. This will surprise him, as he really hasn't had a need until now to perfect the jump shot. He's too dominant for the current set of rules, and they must change!</div>

Somone please tell me that the minimal trips to the foul line and the higher % of jump shots taken vs drives to the basket was due to the Spurs defense and not the fact that LeBron felt that he wasn't going to get any calls. That would be funny! The guy can score at will when he drives. Take a look at his and-1 statisitics. Take a look at the pic of him dunking over Duncan like it's nothing. All any defense can do is try to take a charge, or foul him. How many times he's actually been blocked? He's too strong, too fast....the refs know this and they are down playing his game. Be prepared to see LeBron perfecting the jump shot this summer. With or without his Pippen, Cavs still win the ECF.

Is it fair? Of course not. Why would it be? If it was fair, then we would have more freaks of nature like LeBron out on the court doing what they do.
It wasn't fair when the Stilt was dominating. It wasn't fair when Shaq was dominating. The rules of the game had to be changed to accomodate such dominance. I wonder what rules will have to be changed in the near future do to LeBron?

 

Bron isn't unguardable though. The Spurs can contain him. But what I don't get is...




why did everybody say LeBron could average 40 PPG in the Finals against the Spurs. That is absurd! And it looked like I was right when I said LeBron would struggle

 

<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Uh, so? He disappeared when the Cavs needed him most, as did LeBoring. He could be the first overall pick, the way he was playing and the way he fell off, it really hurt the Cavs. That's all I'm saying.</div>
I agree with NTC, you can't hold too high of expectations for a rookie guard on the NBA's biggest stage. LeBron should of stepped up the most for his team you can't count on a lone rookie to produce big.

 

<div class="quote_poster">NBA MAN Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Bron isn't unguardable though. The Spurs can contain him. But what I don't get is...




why did everybody say LeBron could average 40 PPG in the Finals against the Spurs. That is absurd! And it looked like I was right when I said LeBron would struggle</div>

They said that because they were banking on the fact that LeBron would either get fouled when he drove, or score. If you look at his drives to the basket vs fouls not getting called when he drove and didn't score, the ratio is absurd. It has alot to do with the complaints that happend last year when Wade got all those calls during drives to the basket. No biggie though. Look for LeBron to perfect the jumper this summer and maybe aquire a teammate that can be the next Pippen. Someone take Hughes off our hands. He's worth 15 mill. He has to be good for that much money, right!

 

^ LeBron is something special no doubt, but I didn't get how he could 40+ every game against the Spurs and the pest named Bowen.

 

Cleveland was outplayed completely in this series. Just when you had thought the Cavaliers had become the best team in the eastern conference, the Spurs once again came and killed the King's first shot at a finals victory. Lebron was completely shut down in the series, Bowen and the rest did a terrific job on him and the role players giving them bad looks for threes. The Spurs were trailing after the first quarter many times, but came back to blow the Cavs out. They changed the game to suit their pace rather then Cleveland's.

Tony Parker and Tim Duncan played great in this series when Manu was struggling half of the time. Tony Parker especially torched on the Cavs and came up big. And Tim Duncan was his usual self. With his defensive presence, Big Z and Drew Gooden were challenged alot in the series, and didn't prevail to give Lebron the extra support he needed. Even Daniel Gibson slowed down from his previous playoff games and missed many shots that usually went down for him. Overall, it was the Spurs team defense that won them the series. Like the old saying, "defense wins championships."

Overall, it was a pretty boring series watching the Cavs get man handled like that. I think this Cavs team may be one of the worst finals teams, if not the worst, in all of the NBA history. Looks like LeBroom, LeBrick, or whatever you call him had a horrible beggining of his career in the finals, unlike his rivals Dywane Wade and Kobe Bryant. But mark my words, he will be back, and will win at least 3 finals in his career.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Uh, so? He disappeared when the Cavs needed him most, as did LeBoring. He could be the first overall pick, the way he was playing and the way he fell off, it really hurt the Cavs. That's all I'm saying.</div>

Well the fact of the matter is, "he wasnt supposed to" come up as big as he did in the first place.

Hypothetically, if I had of asked you at the start of the 2006/2007 season, "If the Cavs make the Finals, apart from LeBron, who do you think would step up?", you would'nt have even thought of saying Daniel Gibson's name, yet he was argubally their best player behind LeBron throughout the entire playoffs.

I just think you are being too harsh on him, thats all.