Finals Game 3
Cleveland v San Antonio (Spurs up 3-0) – Since hardly anyone is watching these Finals the chances are that hardly anyone is reading this, but that’s never stopped me before! The Cavaliers blew their big chance to make this a series Tuesday. Tim Duncan had foul trouble, Manu Ginobili was 0-7 from the field and Tony Parker was somewhat contained (7-17 FG). Yet Cleveland still could not get the job done and shot a miserable 36.71% as a team. SA wasn’t much better (41.18%), but the difference in the game was that the Spurs made ten (10-19) 3-pointers to the Cavs three (3-19).
We’ll never know how the decision to inactivate Larry Hughes came about, but the bottom line is that Cleveland coach Mike Brown was finally forced to do the right thing. While rookie Daniel Gibson did an admirable job staying in front of Mr. Longoria, “Boobie” could not buy a bucket shooting 1-10 from the field and 0-5 from three. The Cavs even got decent performances from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Sasha Pavlovic.
So why didn’t they win you ask?
Well up until now I’ve been holding off on blasting LeBron James, but it’s probably past time for the “Global Icon” to receive some heat from me. Although it’s nice to take what the defense gives you, make the proper basketball play and not force anything, Bron has to become more assertive. This is the NBA Finals for cripes sake! Get the ball and do something with it quickly for a change...before the defense has a chance to set up. Deron Williams abused Bruce Bowen in the Western Conference Finals by doing just that, making quick decisive moves to the hoop. James looks utterly confused out there holding/dribbling the ball beyond the 3-point line waiting for something to happen. At this point SA has laid the blueprint for all teams to follow on how to contain LeBron, and it’s up to Bron-Bron to break out and prove he can’t be stopped.
This was a particularly ugly game to watch with bad offense all around. Game 3 ended up tied with Spurs-Knicks ’99 for the second lowest combined point total in Finals history (147). Only the 1955 classic between Fort Wayne and Syracuse was worse (145). Which brings me to my point, the league *must* do something about seeding the playoffs.
I know the company line is that these things are cyclical, but c’mon already. The gap between the East and West is growing bigger rather than shrinking, especially now that Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are both headed to the Northwest Division (poor KG). I’d also venture to say that SA didn’t play well in Games 1 & 3, yet won both. I’m well aware that money is the only thing that could possibly change Commissioner David Stern’s mind on changing the post season format. Which is exactly why I’m hoping these extraordinarily low TV ratings for the Finals hurt the NBA where it counts most...the wallet. Perhaps that’s just the impetus the honchos need to get this discussion moving forward, because frankly I’m sick and tired of waiting on the Eastern Conference to come around.
We’ll never know how the decision to inactivate Larry Hughes came about, but the bottom line is that Cleveland coach Mike Brown was finally forced to do the right thing. While rookie Daniel Gibson did an admirable job staying in front of Mr. Longoria, “Boobie” could not buy a bucket shooting 1-10 from the field and 0-5 from three. The Cavs even got decent performances from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Sasha Pavlovic.
So why didn’t they win you ask?
Well up until now I’ve been holding off on blasting LeBron James, but it’s probably past time for the “Global Icon” to receive some heat from me. Although it’s nice to take what the defense gives you, make the proper basketball play and not force anything, Bron has to become more assertive. This is the NBA Finals for cripes sake! Get the ball and do something with it quickly for a change...before the defense has a chance to set up. Deron Williams abused Bruce Bowen in the Western Conference Finals by doing just that, making quick decisive moves to the hoop. James looks utterly confused out there holding/dribbling the ball beyond the 3-point line waiting for something to happen. At this point SA has laid the blueprint for all teams to follow on how to contain LeBron, and it’s up to Bron-Bron to break out and prove he can’t be stopped.
This was a particularly ugly game to watch with bad offense all around. Game 3 ended up tied with Spurs-Knicks ’99 for the second lowest combined point total in Finals history (147). Only the 1955 classic between Fort Wayne and Syracuse was worse (145). Which brings me to my point, the league *must* do something about seeding the playoffs.
I know the company line is that these things are cyclical, but c’mon already. The gap between the East and West is growing bigger rather than shrinking, especially now that Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are both headed to the Northwest Division (poor KG). I’d also venture to say that SA didn’t play well in Games 1 & 3, yet won both. I’m well aware that money is the only thing that could possibly change Commissioner David Stern’s mind on changing the post season format. Which is exactly why I’m hoping these extraordinarily low TV ratings for the Finals hurt the NBA where it counts most...the wallet. Perhaps that’s just the impetus the honchos need to get this discussion moving forward, because frankly I’m sick and tired of waiting on the Eastern Conference to come around.
posted by D$ at 9:17 AM
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