HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Dee Brown

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.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost the first two games of their series against the Detroit Pistons with same final score (79-76). And other than the score, those games had many things in common. Both times, LeBron James had the ball in his hands in the final seconds with the Cavs trailing by a point. Both times, James went to the rim. Both times, nothing good happened for the inexperienced Cavs. The Cavs had the lead with less than two minutes and they went 0-5 down the stretch in both games. Both times, they committed several turnovers and couldn’t stop Rasheed Wallace.

In Game 1, LeBron dribbled at the top of the key. He drove to the basket. He seemed to get by Pistons defender Tayshaun Prince for a layup. Then James kicked it out to Donyell Marshall for a wide-open three-pointer. Marshall missed the shot and James took most of the blame. They said a superstar wouldn’t have passed the ball in a game-tying or winning situation. I think James made the correct decision because Marshall is capable of hitting big shots and James had made that pass several times to teammates during his NBA career.

So what did James tried to do in Game 2? He dribbled at the top of the key. He made his move with the smaller Richard Hamilton guarding or hanging all, took some contact during the play and missed the shot. Game Over! Cavs lose 79-76.

Now the debate starts over again. Did he make the correct play in Game 2? He took a tough shot against a defense that knew he was going to shoot it in this situation and not defer to a teammate. Again he made the best play for the team. The Cavs lost and are in a 0-2 hole.

OK, let’s step away from the obvious and talk about the two players that will dictate how the rest of this series is played out and determined – Larry Hughes and Tayshaun Prince.

Let’s start with Prince. He is arguably Detroit’s best on-ball defender and that’s why he has been given the task to guard LeBron James, similar to what Dennis Rodman did in the late 80s and early 90s versus Michael Jordan. He’s making James work hard for every shot, but it’s taking a big toll on his offensive game. Prince was 1-11 in Game 1 and 0-8 in Game 2. The Pistons need Prince to score the basketball and make James also work on the defensive end. This is the main reason why the Pistons are struggling to score. He needs to find his stroke in Game 3 or it could get ugly in Cleveland.

As for Larry Hughes, he also has been given the assignment of slowing down the opponent’s most important player (Chauncey Billups). He has frustrated Billups during the series so far. Billups uncharacteristically had a total of 9 turnovers in two games and had trouble throughout the series in getting his shot off. He can’t bully Hughes in the low post. Granted, Billups has hit big shots in the fourth quarter in Game 1 and 2, but he’s not as dominant during the series as you would expect.

The problem for Cleveland is that all that work on defense is also taking a toll on Hughes’ offensive game. Remember he had a chance to tie the game after James’ missed shot in Game 2, but missed badly on an easy shot. He had played well during the playoffs and had become that second scorer the Cavs needed while taking over some of the ballhandling duties from James so he didn’t have to make every play for the team. But now Hughes is 6-22 from the field against Detroit. He hasn’t hit a three-pointer and has made some crucial turnovers in the fourth quarter. Not the sidekick LeBron wants in the Conference finals.

This series could be easily 1-1 or even 2-0 for the Cavs with one or even just two made shots in crunch time. Everybody wants to focus on James because he is the marquee name in this series, but the determining factor for both teams will be which player will step up to the challenge and make a huge difference on the offensive end. (Because if I see 79-76 again in Game 3, I’m tempted to lace them up again cause I know I can hit a wide-open jump shot. OK, I’m serious about the jumpshot. Not about lacing them up).