King James vs. blebleblahblebleblahblahblah TIMAH!

The 2007 NBA Finals are upon us and we are in for a great match-up. There are three factors that need to be discussed before analyzing the series, one of them being that the two stars that highlight the event obviously are LeBron “King” James and Tim “?” Duncan. That’s weird; arguably the greatest power forward in NBA history doesn’t have a nickname? I did some research and Chris Berman addresses this in one of his old columns on ESPN. Notable nicknames included Tim “Duncan Donuts”, Tim “Slam” Duncan, Tim “Demon” Duncan, “The Silent Assassin”, and “The Big Chill”. Seeing how this column was written six years ago and none of these names stuck, I really don’t think any of these work. I do remember Scott Van Pelt on Sportscenter a number of times calling him “TIMAH!” referring of course to other famous Timmy, the mentally handicapped character on South Park. I decided to take it a step further and include what “TIMAH!” says before saying his name which is a weird noise that sounds like “blebleblahblebleblahblahblah”. So there, from now on, every Tim Duncan poster should include the nickname “blebleblahblebleblahblahblah TIMAH!” on it somewhere.

The second noticeable fact of this year’s finals is that the San Antonio Spurs have never lost the series in the team’s history. The fact that Duncan has appeared in the three times the Spurs made the Finals makes this stat very significant. On the other side of the token, LeBron, making his first NBA Finals appearance, is widely-accepted as a future legend. Let’s take a look at some other NBA legends and how they did on their first visit to the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan won his first appearance in the Finals in 1991, Magic Johnson won his first appearance in 1980, Larry Bird in 1981, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971, Tim Duncan in 1999, Kobe Bryant in 2000, and Bill Russell in 1957. Will LeBron follow in the footsteps of this great cast or will he join the company of Shaquille O’Neal, who lost his first Finals appearance in 1995 and Wilt Chamberlain, who lost his first appearance in 1964?

And finally, the third noticeable fact is that the Cavaliers faced the Spurs twice this season, and both times they have won. We saw what regular season match-ups can mean in the playoffs when the Golden State Warriors upset the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. No one gave the Warriors a chance (including me) despite the fact that they won all three games against the Mavericks in the regular season. Can the regular season match-up, factor again in the playoffs?

As far as individual match-ups go and what each team needs to do in order to win, let’s begin with the Cavaliers. Yes, the Cavaliers have a chance of winning the Finals. Everyone has written them off saying that they don’t have a chance. Some even think that it would be a miracle if the Cavs win one game, like this idiot right here who couldn’t even get Tony Parker’s name right (it is now edited, but when I first read it, he called him “Timmy Parker”). LeBron has to face another great defender for the second series in a row in Bruce Bowen. Against the Pistons, LeBron beat Tayshaun Prince by driving past him to the hoop. He must do this again versus Bowen. Although the Cavs begin and end with LeBron, believe it or not, LeBron does not necessarily have to win every game by himself. In the second game against the Spurs this season, LeBron scored only 19 points in the victory. Larry Hughes stepped up in that game scoring 18 points. In the sixth game victory against the Pistons on Saturday, LeBron managed to score just 20 points on 3 for 11 shooting.

The bottom line is that LeBron’s teammates have to step it up big time. The first guy that needs to perform is Sasha Pavlovic who has outdone himself in the playoffs emerging as a much underrated defensemen taking care of the Vince Carter threat in the New Jersey series. He will most likely match-up against Tony Parker; if he successfully eliminates that threat you can forget about the Spur’s fourth ring in eight years. Of course stopping Duncan is the biggest task for the Cavaliers which is easier said than done. A double team might give him trouble and the Cavs can afford it as the Spurs center is… um…what’s-his-face. Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao is an excellent offensive rebounder and if Duncan struggles, this means a lot of turnovers for San Antonio.

Another emerging role player is rookie Daniel Gibson who murdered the Pistons beyond the arch. Although he seems unstoppable right now, as he shot 9 for 15 from downtown in the four wins against the Pistons, he cannot be relied upon to keep shooting that way. The Spurs have an advantage in a sense because they saw what he can do. Don’t expect him to be open very much against the Spurs. On the flip-side, the Calvaliers cannot leave Bowen open in the corner which seems to be San Antonio’s tactic if someone is double-teamed. Although Bowen did not hit many threes against the Utah Jazz, it still killed Jazz because they were so timely.

One major advantage I see is that the Cavs’ bench is far more superior to the Spurs’. Yes, it’s true that Ginobili is a bench player and making a comment like that looks ridiculous, but who besides Ginobili can the Spurs count on? Besides, Ginobili often finds himself replacing Michael Finley for the rest of the game. Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry can provide a legitimate threat in the 4th quarter but besides that, San Antonio falls short. The Cavaliers bench includes Varejao, Gibson, Eric Snow, Donyell Marshall, and Damon Jones; all guys who can keep the game steady while a starter is resting (which is pretty much all that is asked).

The Spurs have a much easier task than the Cavs. They have to concentrate their efforts on shutting down one guy whereas the Cavs have to concentrate their efforts on shutting down three guys. The only problem is that the one guy is LeBron James. The Spurs must double-team LeBron, especially down the stretch. They cannot allow LeBron to turn into a freak of nature in the fourth quarter. This means that Duncan can’t allow LeBron to dunk on him anymore like he did the first week of the season (see YouTube). Also, the Spurs have to take advantage of the inside. Duncan needs to get the ball and Parker and Ginobili need to look for the open lane. The immobile Zydrunas Ilgauskas will not be able to put up much of a fight creating a huge advantage for the Spurs.

Another advantage the Spurs have, as mentioned before, is that they have seen what Daniel Gibson can do. They won’t be taken by surprise if Gibson wants to go on a 100% shooting spree from 3-point land. They cannot underestimate his ability or the fact that he’s a rookie. They must defend him to stay in close games.

As far as role players go, Michael Finley needs to have a bigger role in the game. The big 3 tend to not act so big at times and it’s these situations where guys like Finley need to play well and get more minutes on the court. In the first game against the Cavs this season, Finley scored just 4 points in 19 minutes; the second game, he scored 5 points in 8 minutes. Finley is a better player than that and he needs to show this if he ever wants to win a ring.

Despite what everyone is saying around the sports world, I believe the Cleveland Cavaliers have a legitimate shot at winning the championship. LeBron’s ability to take over the game and lead his team to victory can never be underestimated after the historic game 5 performance against the Pistons. In fact, I’m going to go ahead and say it, I predict the Cavs to take it in 6. Whatever happens expect a great series that will highlight history books.

References: ESPN.com, Basketball-Reference.com, CBSNews.com

Sports Moment of the Week

The game that transformed Lebron James from an all-star into a superstar took place this week during game 5 as Lebron scored 48 points in a double overtime game, including 29 of the teams final 30 points. The Cleveland Cavaliers won that game as well as the next game to defeat the Detroit Pistons and move onto the NBA Finals.