Cavs need to show more Boobie
The Cleveland Cavaliers are trailing the San Antonio Spurs 2-0 in the NBA Finals, and while they’ve been in this situation before, the opponents they’re facing is a different beast. No, the Spurs are nothing like the Detroit Pistons, and this isn’t a good thing for the young Cavs.
This ain’t the Eastern Conference anymore.
The Cavs reason that they were down 0-2 against the Detroit Pistons during the conference finals and still won the series in six games. One thing the Cavs failed to notice was their first two games against the Pistons were decided by a total of six points. In contrast, Cleveland lost by a total of 20 points in the first two games against San Antonio, but was blown out in Game 2 by almost 30 points. The final score hardly reflected how badly Cleveland was dominated.
The Cavs outrebounded a Pistons team that was loaded with a beefy frontcourt that consisted of Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, Jason Maxiell, and Antonio McDyess. The Pistons clamped down on LeBron and the Cavs by throwing double teams, triple teams, and wide variety of defenses. The Cavs star gladly dished the ball to Boobie Gibson, who delivered timely treys that broke Detroit’s heart.
The Pistons imploded, and Cleveland earned its’ first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.
It’s the Cavs who are now getting outrebounded when facing a more mature Spurs team. The Spurs are defending LeBron like the Pistons did, but have taken it up several notches by throwing James a variety of players aside from Bruce Bowen. When James tries to take it strong, at least three Spurs players collapse on him. If LeBron tries to isolate, the Spurs send a second defender to sag. If LeBron asks for a pick, the Spurs trap. LeBron tries to pass to his teammates on the perimeter, but the Spurs switch and always end up with somebody guarding the 3-point line.
Forget the fact that the Cavs had a strong run at the end of Game 2; this wasn’t because they’ve figured out the Spurs. If you remember Game 1, Cleveland also had a late 4th quarter run that made the score closer than it seemed. This can be attributed to the Spurs slacking off instead of the Cavs figuring them out.
