Well here's the Burks analysis:
COACHING: Greg Popovich is the best coach in the NBA, He out-coached LB in their last finals appearance and LB is a very good game/series coach. Mike Brown is a Popovich disciple and a good coach on the defensive end, offensively he appears to me to be unimaginative, although he's gotten better. And his in game play calling is average. Advantage San Antonio
OFFICIATING: After the last finals where the Miami Heat had three extra players in striped shirts on the court whose job was to send DWade to the line as often as possible this is an issue (it shouldn't be). Cleveland had a huge advantage against Detroit, this will probably not happen against SA. Popivich knows how to work the officials and Ginobli is a good actor unlike Verflopaho for Cleveland. The interesting match-up will be Bowen on James, if Bowen gets in foul trouble and James outside shot is falling, SA will be in a world of hurt. Sight Advantage Cleveland
POWER FORWARD: Tim Duncan against Drew Gooden, your kidding, right? Drew Gooden can not guard Duncan, and Duncan will not get in foul trouble guarding Gooden. Not Even Close: San Antonio
CENTER: Francisco Ellison and Oberto against Ilguskis and Verflopaho. Ellison and Oberto are kind of a mixed bag, without Duncan on the court their journeymen at best. Ilgaskis impressed me the last series with his offensive rebounding and could create some matchup problems with his ability to go outside, but he's a pylon on defense. Verflopaho could have a tough series, the officials are onto his game, and he's not defending Rasheed, He'll get very few calls when Duncan, Parker or Ginobli is the offensive aggressor. Advantage: Cleveland
SMALL FORWARD: Lebron James verse Bruce Bowen. Bruce Bowen is the Dennis Rodman of his era without the rebounding skills, Rodman is his prime was a great defender. Bowen appears to have problems with stronger opponents, and he loves to clutch and grab on screen action. His extracurricular stuff could get interesting. Lebron will not have to expend any effort on D against Bowen, a huge plus. Advantage: Cleveland
SHOOTING GUARD: Sasha Povlivich against Manu Ginobli. Ginobli has stepped it up for the playoffs, and is a far different player then his mediocre regular season. The only way Povlivich will be a factor is if James is drawing double and triple teams with a huge shooting night. I expect Ginobli to spend a lot of time at the foul line. Advantage: San Antonio
POINT GUARD: Larry Hughes and Daniel Gibson against Tony Parker. A week ago I would have said, huge advantage SA. But then Daniel Gibson was endowed with super powers.
Neither player is a traditional point guard, this actually hurts SA more as Lebron acts as the Cavs point guard. But Parkers ability to penetrate and finish will be a nightmare for the cavs, Hughes is playing with a severe injury and wasn't the fastest point guard before, and Gibson will get a rookie whistle against SA. Advantage: San Antonio
INTANGIBLES AND BENCH: I put these together because of these teams have a couple of positions (more with the cavs) where they don't have clear starters. For instance Gibson will likely get starters minutes as a reserve, and Horry will probably get the bulk of the fourth quarter minutes at his position. The key bench players for Cleveland are Verflapaho, Gibson, Marshall, Jones and sometimes for D. Snow. For SA it's Horry, Findlay, Barry and Vaughn. I suspect Verflopaho who always plays well against Detroit will have a tough go of it against SA, especially on the road, I also feel SA will be at an advantage when Snow is on the court because he's not an offensive threat. Marshall and Jones are useless on D and only factors if their often ill advised threes are falling.
For SA Horry has come on of late and I expect him to hit some big shots, This is Findlays first finals and he wants a ring bad, either he'll light it up or his Dallas heritage will come through and he'll choke big time.
Vaughn and Barry, Uughh!!! They don't belong in the NBA. Vaughn, doesn't take care of the ball well and can't shoot, the ideal point guard!
And Barry couldn't guard his shadow, although he will compete with Jones and Marshall for lofting ill advised threes, The more minutes these guys get the less their teams chances. Gibson, Findlay, and Horry are the X-factors. The other factor is, Is Cleveland more satisfied in getting past the Detroit hurdle then winning the finals? Advantage San Antonio
PREDICTION: San Antonio in Six
COACHING: Greg Popovich is the best coach in the NBA, He out-coached LB in their last finals appearance and LB is a very good game/series coach. Mike Brown is a Popovich disciple and a good coach on the defensive end, offensively he appears to me to be unimaginative, although he's gotten better. And his in game play calling is average. Advantage San Antonio
OFFICIATING: After the last finals where the Miami Heat had three extra players in striped shirts on the court whose job was to send DWade to the line as often as possible this is an issue (it shouldn't be). Cleveland had a huge advantage against Detroit, this will probably not happen against SA. Popivich knows how to work the officials and Ginobli is a good actor unlike Verflopaho for Cleveland. The interesting match-up will be Bowen on James, if Bowen gets in foul trouble and James outside shot is falling, SA will be in a world of hurt. Sight Advantage Cleveland
POWER FORWARD: Tim Duncan against Drew Gooden, your kidding, right? Drew Gooden can not guard Duncan, and Duncan will not get in foul trouble guarding Gooden. Not Even Close: San Antonio
CENTER: Francisco Ellison and Oberto against Ilguskis and Verflopaho. Ellison and Oberto are kind of a mixed bag, without Duncan on the court their journeymen at best. Ilgaskis impressed me the last series with his offensive rebounding and could create some matchup problems with his ability to go outside, but he's a pylon on defense. Verflopaho could have a tough series, the officials are onto his game, and he's not defending Rasheed, He'll get very few calls when Duncan, Parker or Ginobli is the offensive aggressor. Advantage: Cleveland
SMALL FORWARD: Lebron James verse Bruce Bowen. Bruce Bowen is the Dennis Rodman of his era without the rebounding skills, Rodman is his prime was a great defender. Bowen appears to have problems with stronger opponents, and he loves to clutch and grab on screen action. His extracurricular stuff could get interesting. Lebron will not have to expend any effort on D against Bowen, a huge plus. Advantage: Cleveland
SHOOTING GUARD: Sasha Povlivich against Manu Ginobli. Ginobli has stepped it up for the playoffs, and is a far different player then his mediocre regular season. The only way Povlivich will be a factor is if James is drawing double and triple teams with a huge shooting night. I expect Ginobli to spend a lot of time at the foul line. Advantage: San Antonio
POINT GUARD: Larry Hughes and Daniel Gibson against Tony Parker. A week ago I would have said, huge advantage SA. But then Daniel Gibson was endowed with super powers.
Neither player is a traditional point guard, this actually hurts SA more as Lebron acts as the Cavs point guard. But Parkers ability to penetrate and finish will be a nightmare for the cavs, Hughes is playing with a severe injury and wasn't the fastest point guard before, and Gibson will get a rookie whistle against SA. Advantage: San AntonioINTANGIBLES AND BENCH: I put these together because of these teams have a couple of positions (more with the cavs) where they don't have clear starters. For instance Gibson will likely get starters minutes as a reserve, and Horry will probably get the bulk of the fourth quarter minutes at his position. The key bench players for Cleveland are Verflapaho, Gibson, Marshall, Jones and sometimes for D. Snow. For SA it's Horry, Findlay, Barry and Vaughn. I suspect Verflopaho who always plays well against Detroit will have a tough go of it against SA, especially on the road, I also feel SA will be at an advantage when Snow is on the court because he's not an offensive threat. Marshall and Jones are useless on D and only factors if their often ill advised threes are falling.
For SA Horry has come on of late and I expect him to hit some big shots, This is Findlays first finals and he wants a ring bad, either he'll light it up or his Dallas heritage will come through and he'll choke big time.
Vaughn and Barry, Uughh!!! They don't belong in the NBA. Vaughn, doesn't take care of the ball well and can't shoot, the ideal point guard! And Barry couldn't guard his shadow, although he will compete with Jones and Marshall for lofting ill advised threes, The more minutes these guys get the less their teams chances. Gibson, Findlay, and Horry are the X-factors. The other factor is, Is Cleveland more satisfied in getting past the Detroit hurdle then winning the finals? Advantage San AntonioPREDICTION: San Antonio in Six
