Why Cavs would stand no chance against the Spurs...

[Lurker]

Assuming Cleveland closes out their series against Detroit.

Two Argentines are more devestating than one Brazilian...

Nene (Nuggets)
Leandro Barbosa (Suns)
Rafael Araujo (Jazz)
Anderson Varejao (Cavs)

[rickortreat]

Yeah, but I'd rather have LeBron in crunch time than any SA player.  The real question is can Cleveland play well enough to keep the games close, and how will the Cavalier guards do against Parker and Finley.

How will Oberto do against Ilgauskas?  How will Gooden do against TD?  Bowen is going to get his butt kicked up and down the court by LeBron, and Horry won't do any better.  As a matter of fact, does San Antonio have anyone who has any chance at all of handling LeBron any better than Prince did for Detroit?

I better stop thinking about this, or I'll talk myself into believing they can beat SA!

[WayOutWest]

I think a Spurs/Cavs series will be totally one sided, much like the Lakers/Nets finals way back when.  The Pistons have a better chance of making a series out of it, they have more talent at more positions and don't rely completely on one player to win their games.

[westkoast]

One thing that I have to say off the bat is if Prince has no chance guarding Lebron then Bowen has even less of a chance.  Prince to me is severly underrated on the defensive end and is younger to be able to deal with Bron for long periods of time. 

Gooden and Ilg are not going to know what to do with the Spurs interior.  Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber play a much different style then Duncan, Oberto, and Ellis.  They much rather do damage shooting jump shots.  Duncan much rather hit the paint and Oberto will continue to make nice cuts for points in the paint.  Neither of the Cavs big men are going to bode well against that.  Throw Tony Parker's penetration into the mix and I expect them to rack up fouls real quick.

Bron would have big games against the Spurs if they make it but Detroit would be the better team to face off as they have much more balance and experience.  The Cavs will not win against the Spurs if they rely on just one guy.

[JoMal]

I have to think that LeBron one-on-five against the Spurs would make for better ratings in the finals, then watching the Pistons/Spurs play drudge basketball for making it a 'block' party.

[Lurker]

You all wanted to make this serious....

Here are the leading scorers against the Spurs in each round.  Notice that each team has 2 averaging over 20 (and Jazz is low due to the last game).

Melo 26.8 pts, AI 22.8 pts
Amare  26.4 pts, Nash 21.3 pts
Williams 25.8 pts, Boozer 21.4 pts

So who is going to be LeBron's 20 point fishing buddy?

[JoMal]

So who is going to be LeBron's 20 point fishing buddy?

LeBron.

He'll be scoring 40 a game against Bowen.

[Lurker]

So who is going to be LeBron's 20 point fishing buddy?

LeBron.

He'll be scoring 40 a game against Bowen.

So you are saying that LeBron like to play with himself?

Spurs can handle one player going big...see Melo, Amare, D-Will.  I would like to see him continue to go for 40 over and over against the Spurs.  SA has a little bit better interior D than the Pistons, Nets, or Wizards.  Ask AI, Nash and Boozer how easy those buckets in the paint are to come by...

[rickortreat]

So who is going to be LeBron's 20 point fishing buddy?

Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall.

[Reality]

If Lebron takes 40 shots to get 40 points lurker and i will take it.

If he gets 28 ABC-espn FTs to go with those 40 shots, no likey.

[rickortreat]

If Lebron takes 40 shots to get 40 points lurker and i will take it.

If he gets 28 ABC-espn FTs to go with those 40 shots, no likey.

He scored 48 pts. on 33 shots and 14 free throws.  LeBron shot over 54% in that last game. If he goes off like that on the Spurs they'd be in trouble too!  Even San Antonio doesn't average shooting like that, and they've been shooting very well in the playoffs.

[Lurker]

So who is going to be LeBron's 20 point fishing buddy?

Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall.

That's two players Rick...and so far the have averaged 12.9 and 3.5 points respectively.  According to my fuzzy Texass math that's a little short of 20.

Besides the Cavs second leading scorer is Z.

[Lurker]

If Lebron takes 40 shots to get 40 points lurker and i will take it.

If he gets 28 ABC-espn FTs to go with those 40 shots, no likey.

He scored 48 pts. on 33 shots and 14 free throws.  LeBron shot over 54% in that last game. If he goes off like that on the Spurs they'd be in trouble too!  Even San Antonio doesn't average shooting like that, and they've been shooting very well in the playoffs.

And let's see him do it again, Rick...without an extra 10 minutes of game time.  And his team still barely won.  He has played 15 games this post season and you want to take the best game of his life and project it as the norm.  So he goes off like that in 1 game against the Spurs...last time I checked you have to win 4 for the title.

[JoMal]

So who is going to be LeBron's 20 point fishing buddy?

LeBron.

He'll be scoring 40 a game against Bowen.

So you are saying that LeBron like to play with himself?

Spurs can handle one player going big...see Melo, Amare, D-Will.  I would like to see him continue to go for 40 over and over against the Spurs.  SA has a little bit better interior D than the Pistons, Nets, or Wizards.  Ask AI, Nash and Boozer how easy those buckets in the paint are to come by...

Apparently he doesn't mind all that much, as that last game showed, though that certainly can't happen every game and he will need some help if the Cavs end up representing the East in the finals.

But how is the outside defense for the Spurs? LeBron had little problem downing threes when his team needed it, and the Piston interior defense could do little to thwart him either. I can't figure that out.

But the fact is, the Cavs overall are about the equal of the Lakers talent-wise, so it really does not matter.

[Lurker]

But how is the outside defense for the Spurs? LeBron had little problem downing threes when his team needed it, and the Piston interior defense could do little to thwart him either. I can't figure that out.

A better question might be can James shoot that well consistantly...so far he is just 17-53 (.321) from 3 pt land for the playoffs.  And that includes his amazing 2-3 outing last night.

But the fact is, the Cavs overall are about the equal of the Lakers talent-wise, so it really does not matter.

Talent-wise...yes I stand by that statement.  Cohesiveness as a team...Cavs are far better than the Lakers.