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NBA Finals Preview
By Jake Bailey, TheSportsStand.com (6/6/07)

    Well folks, it's that time.  It's time for the NBA Championship.  It's a showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Two teams, but the same goal.  One is looking to establish a dynasty, and the other the possible start of a new era.  A grizzled veteran against a superstar who's still on the rise.  In this article, I will discuss the two teams, give my analysis, and make a prediction. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers: Anyone who doubted this team before their matchup with the Pistons should feel dumb now because of that amazing performance.  The Cleveland Cavaliers, sorry I feel I made a mistake.  The Cleveland LeBrons had an amazing series capping off with their leader LeBron James scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter and the rest of the team staring in amazement.  I think the Pistons are still picking up pieces of their dignity.  All the news and highlights are focused on LeBron James and that amazing performance, and rightfully so.  I, however, wish to take a different approach.  Who did they really beat?  Yes, they beat the Detroit Pistons, who according to Billups are "still the best team in the East" (despite not being in the championship).  But they beat a team that was clearly extremely poorly managed.  Flip Saunders had no idea what was going on.  Mike Brown did a good job confusing the defense of the Pistons.  Flip had no answer to this amazing play.  I'm going to reveal a secret not known to the world.  The staff of the Cleveland LeBrons would be seething if they found out I did this.  The play was actually pure genius: The LeBron James play.  What is it you ask?  Well, it's a combination of the point guard, shooting guard, center, and forwards passing it to LeBron James who then proceeds to go Rambo on the other team.  Hooray for Rambo James.  Who else did they beat?  They beat the Washington Wizards without Gilbert Arenas.  It's like taking the steroids out of Barry Bond's body.  After you that, the battle is the equivalent of Rosie O'Donnell beating me in an eating contest.  There's no doubt in anyone's mind.  They still deserve to be here though.  I just don't know if they can hang with the Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs are a solid consistent teams led by Tim Duncan, and are one of my favorite teams to watch.  Why?  Because I love watching good, solid basketball.  The Spurs have been dubbed as, "boring".  What!?  Since when is winning boring?  It's only because we live in a society that really just wants to see amazing plays and highlight reel material.  I love that stuff too, but fundamental basketball is what wins championships.  LeBron James can dominate a predominately LeBron James highlight reel, but the Spurs shouldn't care and they will just keep on winning.  They have what I am dubbing the "San Antonio Triangle of Death": Tony "I date a really attractive superstar who is conveniently at all my games to distract my opponents" Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan.  I'd wet my pants if I were a coach trying to scheme against that.  Hell, I wet my pants writing this article trying to write an idea for the LeBrons to stop this.  They also have a very strong bench in Robert "Cheap Shot" Horry and Bruce "Whoops I Accidentally Just Took an Extra Step Forward, Ouch My Foot, Ref Where's the Call" Bowen.  Greg Popovich leads a very strong squad and is one of the better coaches in the league if not best.  He learned from one of the best in Larry Brown.   

Prediction: 

The Spurs will win this series without breaking a sweat.  The LeBrons will have no way to stop all three offensive threats of the Spurs and I have a feeling that the LeBron James play isn't going to work.  Popovich will have his team ready and they have a chip on their shoulder.  Should be business as usual for San Antonio.

Quick Edit (6/8/07):

After watching that game, I find it pretty sad that ABC had a counter at the bottom for points that read: "LeBron James: x pts Rest of Team: x pts"

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