Oh-Fer One

After the lowest rated game one in NBA Finals history, I'm already oh-fer one on ridiculous predictions. Don't you just love how someone (me) can be so dumb they can write an entire article about how a certain team (Cleveland Cavaliers) has no chance to beat another, far superior squad (San Antonio Spurs), and yet still picks them to win game one...on the road? There's a couple of things I should have paid a BIT more attention to. First and foremost, Mike Brown. How could I possibly imagine him showing up in San Antonio with a semblance of a game plan when he doesn't even know which players he should be starting? The best starting lineup the Cavaliers can possibly put on the floor apparently would give them too much of a realistic chance to win a game that Mike Brown doesn't feel like doing it. Why Varejao and Gibson remain on the bench at the most important junctures of the game while Hughes and Ilgauskas are continuing to play is mind boggling.

The dominant inside/outside duo of Larry and Z went a stellar (or cellar?) combined 2 for 13 from the field with an almost impossible four points. And this took them all of 23 minutes and 23 seconds apiece. Give credit to Coach Brown for somehow playing them the exact same amount of time in the game, almost as if they were the one and same mediocre ballplayer. Anyway, will he figure out that maybe, just maybe, Gibson and Varejao might be better? That you just might have to have more than 49 points after three quarters? (That’s it after three? Really? Don't the Suns do this after a quarter and a half sometimes?) They've got to generate some points by maybe, just maybe using Hughes and Ilgauskas off the bench (just because you pay them more, it doesn't mean you can't realize they're just not good enough to crack the starting five right now) to spell Gibson and Vareajo.

"Boobie" dropped 16 points on 7/9 shooting from the field including 2/3 from beyond the arc. Oh, he also had four steals and four assists without turning the ball over in 27 minutes of play. Vareajo, I'll admit, has less of a reason to be in the starting lineup, but he did manage 10 points off 3/6 from the field and 4/7 from the line. He's got twice the speed that Z does and plays "playoff basketball"...he flops. That can't hurt these days, right?

Lebron James will not be able to do this by himself. He's getting mauled by three guys every time he tries to drive, so unless he's going to start knocking down every contested jump shot and 3-pointer he shoots, he's going to need others to help him out to take some pressure off of him. When your game plan is literally trying to beat the San Antonio Spurs with one man it's time for a change. I suppose poor Mike Brown is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't at this point, because the Spurs have way more than the Cavs can handle.

Long live the worst rated NBA Finals ever. My dad's of the opinion (along with, I'm sure, all of Phoenix) that's exactly what David Stern gets. And it's true. Because nobody wants to watch basketball games that are routinely played under 90 points. That's when "playoff basketball" and "good defense" might be lousy offense, too.

So now the real question is, as my friend Sab pointed out, are more people going to watch the game tonight? Or are more people going to watch the Sopranos finale...and if I could find someone to take the bet, I'd bet on the latter.