Crowning of the King
Let’s get this straight right now. I’m not jumping off the LeBron bandwagon after his 4-16 shooting performance and 6 turnovers in his first NBA Finals game. But King James showed some nervousness and was very tentative at the beginning of this game. He won’t admit it, but he did. James has started slow in several games during the playoffs and has gradually picked it as the game progressed. Well, against Bruce Bowen and the entire Spurs defense it never got going. Bowen is similar to that little piece of stuff that gets stuck in your teeth that you can’t get out without pulling that tooth out or picking at it until it bleeds. You know it’s there. It aggravates you, but it’s still there.
What LeBron needs to do to get rid of that stuff is attack it first. James has to start faster and be more aggressive than he’s ever been in the playoffs. The Spurs are a great defensive team when you let them dictate what the offense does. James let the Spurs dictate when he shot and passed the entire first half. I understand that you have to get your teammates involved. But this is the Finals, baby! This is when legends are born and made for years to come.
Granted, the role players of Cleveland need to step up and make plays and when your best second option is a rookie nicknamed Boobie picked in the second round then you might need to start making vacation plans. Daniel Gibson has been outstanding during the playoffs and has earned respect from everyone. But we are talking about the Spurs, people. They have big players who can rotate to open shooters unlike the Pistons with Chris Webber and Antonio McDyess. They have role players that play their roles unlike Flip Murray and Carlos Delfino. So this is a different type of series for the Cavs and Game 1 proved it.
Another observation from Game 1 is someone needs to slow down Tony Parker. He went for 27 points and 7 assists and I can’t remember how many TV shots of Eva Longoria we got Thursday night. Chauncey Billups struggled badly in the Conference Finals because he is primarily a jump shooter. Parker can shoot jump shots, but his focus is to get in the paint and cause havoc which he did. They even try to put LeBron on him. Bad move. LeBron is already trying to everything for his team on the offensive end. You can’t expect him to guard Parker and also be effective on the other end. Someone has to step up and slow him down. Who wants the challenge? Hughes, Gibson, Snow, Damon Jones (sorry; no way, Damon).
Again, I’m not leaving the King James fan club yet, because he has earn my respect to getting Cleveland to the NBA Finals. But if he doesn’t get that stuff out his teeth quick, this series will be as painful as a trip to the dentist for the Cavs.
KN Said,
June 8, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
Mike Bronwn really has no sense of game coaching. Why he didn’t let Gibson (he’s got ice in his veins and can’t miss) take over for the ailing Hughes (he’s thinking “somebody shoot me,” the whole game) or give Snow (the best one on one defender of point guards on the team) a shot at guarding Parker is anyone’s guess. Also, why does LeBron’s offensive game devolve sometimes into a high-school all-star game? It’s all long fade-away three’s and drives for LBJ. He has to become a better shooter because it is really unfortunate to swing from being one of the best players in the league to a better-passing JR Smith on one of the biggest stages in basketball!!! Also, it’s good to see the refs ignoring all of the obvious flopping for the most part.
Also, that behind the back pass from Horry to Duncan in the bottom of the fourth was RIDICULOUS. How there is no press on that is ridiculous. Big Shot Bob finished with 6, also! The Spurs look absolutely dominant. It’s like when a bully puts his hand on a kids head and the kid is trying to run, but not getting anywhere. The Cavs are that kid…
dan Said,
June 8, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
lebron is a young guy and if he went to university he could understand how to take the presure and use it towards his game since he didnt he has no clue how to be clutch at a high level like this, highschool was nothing i just wanna wait till game 2
june Said,
June 8, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
coach brown should of kept gibson on all game because he had a hot and and it could of took the presure off of lebron because of his bad game which was da WORST in his 2007 playoffs
Ronnir Said,
June 9, 2007 @ 3:01 am
Bowen really didn’t seem to bother LBJ much to me. It was the packed lanes that he faced once he got past Bowen that gave him problems. Duncan deserves more credit than anyone for the job on Lebron.
I thought Lebron did a good job on Parker. Parker barely scored on him and when he did it was usually a contested jumper. He was able to blow by anyone else who guarded him pretty easily though.
Jose Freitas Said,
June 9, 2007 @ 4:45 am
We all know that teh spurs are superior to the Cavs in almost all aspects.
But the Cavs bench did contribute and other players other than LBJ played well, like Gooden and Pavlovic.
The worst for me was Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
He was 1-8 from the floor and missed many shots below the rim because we was scared (bleep) of Duncan (shorter than him!!).
His only basket was a dunk almost blocked because he was so slow.
No wonde Mike Brown didn`t play him almost the second half.
cyberpygmy Said,
June 9, 2007 @ 8:47 am
Boy! You guys continiue to look at the world through myopic lens sunglasses. Stop making excuses for this dude, he and his team is not ready for primetime this year! Until this guy learn to play with his back to the basket, he is no better than a bigger EDDIE JONES when he was in his prime. The Spurs are just a better team than the CADAVRES today, Spurs in 5. Maybe in a year or two the crown is deserved, the kid has got talent, but he is nothing but a media holographic creation for now.
Car Auto Insurance Phoenix Said,
June 26, 2007 @ 11:28 pm
A Phoenix/San Antonio finals would have been worth watching. I would rather have seen Detroit/San Antonio. The Pistons would not have gotten swept but certainly would have lost. But a better front they would have put up.
Phoenix Life/Health Insurance Said,
June 26, 2007 @ 11:32 pm
LeBron James will be back in the playoffs and probably the finals again. He will get better, lead his team better in the future. It’s a maturity process. James will be back. I would not be surprised for him to win a title in the next five years. That’s a tough statement considering how much better the West is. They don’t have to beat the whole Western Conference though, just their finals opponent.