King James (photo. Mannion)Well, probably not. But the possibility of LeBron’s Cavs going down in the first round is definitely there. As it stands, Cleveland has the 4-seed in the East, with Philly, Toronto and Washington all tied for the 5-6-7 spot going into Friday’s NBA schedule, which means either of those teams could end up being King James’ first-round matchup.
Which one is more equipped to pull off an upset and send ‘Bron home early? The Raptors honestly haven’t shown me they have the heart — or the defense or the rebounding — to win a series where they don’t have homecourt advantage. Plus, it looks like some guys who were ballin’ out for them a few months ago, namely Jose Calderon and Jamario Moon, have almost disappeared lately. And they don’t have anyone who’s shown they can handle LeBron defensively: Moon is athletic enough but he’s still a rookie, and Anthony Parker gets torched whenever he faces off with LeBron. (He scored 37 the first time they played, was out injured the second time, and hit for 29 in the most recent Cavs/Raptors game while knocking down dagger after dagger.) The Wizards have a lot of offensive weapons with Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and a returning Gilbert Arenas, but Cleveland has shown they can solve that equation before, and Gil probably isn’t gonna be at 100% come playoff time. If you remember, he had to go to another level just to keep the ‘06 Cavs/Wizards series competitive.
So my pick is the Sixers. Andre Iguodala has proven to be a tough matchup for LeBron. Meanwhile, Andre Miller is better than any guard the Cavs have, and is playing out of his mind this year. At this point in his career, Miller is built to lead an underdog team to a playoff upset. Sam Dalembert’s athleticism will give Big Z problems and his defense and rebounding will affect all of the non-’Bron Cavs at one point or another in a series. And Philly’s young guns — Thad Young, Lou Williams, Rodney Carney and Jason Smith — could all contribute, be it in fresh bodies to throw at LeBron when A.I.2 needs a rest, or as guys to run the break with ‘Dre Miller, or in the case of Smith, someone to draw the Cavs’ bigs away from the rim with his shooting ability. And it always helps to have a random dirty-work guy like Reggie Evans to rebound, play D, and aggravate the other team. You put the cagey vet Evans on Anderson Varejao and/or Ben Wallace and watch them become not as effective.
But at the end of the day, it comes down to Iguodala and LeBron. One has shown he can take over a series and win it on his own even against top-notch defense, while the other hasn’t. But every star needs to have his breakout, and this could be the time for Iguodala if the matchups fall into place.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
JA says:
I for one would certainly like to see the “cagy vet Evans” make Wallace’s 5.1 ppg average somehow less effective.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Andray3000 says:
Stevenson did a good job this year against lebron…
April 4th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Nick Barnes says:
I think they were talking about Ben’s rebounding and other stuff he does.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
dave says:
i wanna see the wiz and cavs, just so i can read more about the lebron vs deshawn trashtalk
April 4th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
GEE...Kimbo Slice is the new Mike Tyson says:
LOL less effective than 5.1 is like just straight getting 1 free throw the whole night lol. I agree they were talking about all areas though.
Has anyone ever scored just 1 point? I mean I am sure it’s been a bunch. I am talking a star? Didn’t Jose Calderon score only 1 point just recently (low blow)? Just curious.
Have any of the Kobe’s, A.I.’s, and other top stars ever been held to one point?
Anyway the only think stopping LeBron will be this new back injury possibly. Think McGrady.
I mean dude took it to Detroit of all teams last year. Granted now teams are on to him, and know to basically smother him, but I don’t see LeBron being out first round.
If it was to happen, though then yea I go with Philly to do it first then Washington second.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Kevin says:
“Jamario Moon, have almost disappeared lately”
What are you talking about?? Jamario has consistently improved as the season’s progressed!
Him and Bosh are the only players in the Top 50 for +/- on a team less than 15 games over five hundred. The Raps are 1 game above .500.
He’s also the only rookie in the Top 50!
In his last ten he’s averaging 9, 7, 1, 1, 1, shooting 60%!!! 78% in his last five!!! All this in 26 mpg!
He’s also not a liability at 0.7 TPG.
COME ON DIME!!!!
April 4th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Brown says:
I don’t think Orlando and Cleveland are unbeatable, and I could see any of the seeds from 5-8 possibly taking them out. Cleveland is still a one-man team and Orlando is overrated. Philly is the best of that bottom bunch though; the other teams just haven’t been able to play up to their potential for a significant stretch of games all season, and when the playoffs hit, that’s not gonna change. They might win a couple games, but not a series.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Brown says:
Kevin, stop looking at numbers and actually watch some games. Moon isn’t half as effective as he was earlier in the season. The Raps don’t have enough impact players (Bosh is the only one). Moon and Calderon were having that effect earlier in the season, but since the all-star break, that hasn’t continued and they’ve died off. THAT’S what AB was talking about. Numbers don’t always tell the whole story, but only real bball heads know that.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Bron42 says:
Gee, lebron took it to the pistons for one game. lets not get too crazy. it was daniel gibson hittin like 7 threes and the pistons not even touching lebron on open dunks that ended that series
April 4th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
GEE...Kimbo Slice is the new Mike Tyson says:
NBA.com
conference finals vs. Detroit, averaged 25.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game…
scored a franchise-record 48 points on 18-33 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists in Game 5 at Detroit…
scored 29 of the Cavaliers final 30 points including the last 25 points overall…over the final four games of the conference finals,
…tied his playoff career high with 14 rebounds in Game 6 versus Detroit to go along with 20 points and eight assists
One game huh? LOL ok.
Don’t get me wrong D.G. did his thing. It’s common knowledge at this point though that LeBron gave Detroit more work than they could handle…that along with bad coaching decisions on the Pistons part too. Still, if LeBron is getting open dunks he is still “taking it to them” they (Detroit) are the ones who have to stop him.
So I don’t think I was getting “too crazy” in saying LeBron took it to Detroit last year.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
djKianoosh says:
philly has the best matchup against cleveland. but I think you give too much credit to dalembert. i still think he brain farts way too much to give Z any problems. Z will work him if the Cavs are smart enough to take advantage of that matchup. If not, then sure, Sam will out run him, but he’ll also out-foul him. I don’t trust him enough to come through for us.
The Andre’s will certainly play well.
And let’s hope it’s sixers-cavs, cause I don’t think they’ll beat orlando, let alone detroit or boston, forget about that. if they’re going to make the playoffs, might as well try and get to the 2nd round and have a shot at a big time upset. sixers-cavs would probably go 7 games.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
word says:
ben wallace would be ineffective if you put a 3 yr old girl on him, he isn’t going to be a problem at all. i agree i think the 6ers could take it, possibly the wizards depending on how arenas plays, and hell no to the raptors, they are absolute garbage.
April 4th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
Are you guys crazy… The only good teams in the east that could knock Bron out is Detroit one of the best defensive teams in the league (who by the way could’nt stop him last year) and Orlando (if the Centaur played out of his mind).
April 4th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
Oops I forgot about Boston ofcourse who I think will win the east.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
doc says:
Dalembert has been stepping it up lately.He gave Duncan and KG a hard time a week ago so if he give them trouble who the hell is Big Z.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:18 am
karan says:
wizards will beat cavs, making hibachi’s comeback as a current NBA great official