spurious finals recap

Thanks, Cleveland. Way to make a series out of it. I thought you could steal one or two games at home. Maybe LeBron would have a big game, get some class, use the home advantage. No. You only proved how huge the gap is between conferences.

Some things to learn from this series:

ON THE CAVS

- Cleveland needed a guard who could hit open threes and defend. That's it. I thought drafting Daniel Gibson was a steal, because all the things he lost value for in school were offset. He isn't a true passer, but he doesn't have to be here. He stepped up, even if the Spurs exposed him as not yet ready, and he should be the guy next year. But why did it take them so long to give him minutes? Anyway, his playoff performance eases things for them

- They need another shooter, since LeBron is a better passer than scorer and can't handle all of it. I still can't believe that Ray Allen and Michael Redd turned them down so forcefully - is it worth all that money to be on a bad team in a smaller market (as Seattle will soon be gone)? Stupid. Maybe they can swing a deal with Seattle now... if only they had anyone to offer.

- They've been happy for the past few years that big Z has been healthy. It's been amazing that he kept getting hurt year after year, it looked hopeless, and then suddenly he had 4 or 5 years in a row of being fine. Bizarre. BUT NOW, they probably want to start fazing him out. He's too slow, and they had their best success when they went smaller and used Varejao. They can easily pick up a backup big man who can hit jumpers if they want that.

- Going along with that, Varejao is a restricted free agent. He's a nice backup, with great energy, but do they shell out cash? Well, Z and Donyell Marshall are getting old....

- Essentially, unless the conference suddenly gets much better, they're in good shape. They should see what deals are possible, but they're still the class of the east... if there is any class.

ON THE SPURS

- What do you compain about? They got it done. They're one of the best and most underappreciated teams ever. This is how the greats are - maybe they don't win three in a row, but over the course of a decade, they get a couple. Magic's Lakers only repeated once. Bird's Celtics never did. We think of them as great, but not these guys. The Bulls-Rockets-Bulls-Lakers teams get more press because they did it consecutively, and repeating is the hardest thing to do, but still... don't front on the Spurs.

- They have some changes to make. Horry is getting old. Finley is and he might leave. Udrih isn't their plan at backup anymore. Matt Bonner did nothing. Okay, okay... so these are all supporting guys, and their core is fine, I know. I'm guessing they'll figure something out. They've got the best front office in the league. Plus, they drafted some foreign guys whom they haven't even brought in yet, and given their track record, you have to think they'll be ok.

- Still, I wonder if they will do something dramatic. They know they dodged two major bullets with those questionable Suns ejections ( I think they still would have won that series, but it helped), and not facing Dallas at all. I picked them before the season, and again before teh playoffs, because I thought they had that drive to all get one more title before they got too old. So now what? They're geting more respect now, they won everything, and they've never repeated. Is that enough? With the Mavs, Suns, Jazz, and Rockets looking good (not to mention young teams like the Warriors, Nuggets, and potentially the Lakers if they make a deal?) They have to know this current group is going to fade soon.... but then, they don't panic.

- Glad they never traded Tony Parker. They need him and his unique style. He's not a true point but he proved how valuable he was to this team. With Ginobli and Duncan, they don't need him to be a pure passer. That's why trade scenarios are probably better left to minor adjustments. And I'm sure he's popular there. He might not work other places.

West is Best. Again. Can that change soon? Next time, we'll go more in depth.