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San Antonio Spurs Lebron James - NBA Loud

The San Antonio Spurs are 2007 NBA Champions!

June 15th 2007 09:55
San Antonio Spurs with the championship trophy.
San Antonio players celebrating like it's 1999! (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)



Break out LeBroom because it was a le sweep, 83-82 to the Spurs – champions for a fourth time since a certain basketball player named Tim Duncan came to the Alamo. While we still have your attention how about a le congratulations to le Tony Parker who also walked away with le Finals MVP trophy. Could Parker be the luckiest guy on earth? Major basketball talent, money, looks, MVP trophy, Championship rings and let’s not forget Eva Longoria! Some people have all the fortune.

Parker who dominated the Cavs with his blistering pace and deadly outside shot scorched them for 24 points doing as he pleased, while his fellow foreign sidekick, Manu Ginobili had 27 – 13 in the final quarter, including some clutch hoops down the stretch. And how could we forget Tim Duncan? He is the reason why the San Antonio franchise has been so successful during his reign, and although Game 4 wasn’t one of Duncan’s best games he still did made his mark with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The Big Fundamental also grabbed some vital boards with Cleveland closing in, and not only that, his hustle and the intangibles he bought to the game were something to behold.


San Antonio thoroughly deserved this one.

Moving to the opposition, LeBron James will have to wait a little longer to be anointed basketball royalty after Bron-Bron and the James gang were handed their asses on a platter. San Antonio picked LeBron and his team apart, brutally exposing their flaws for the world to
Tony Parker kissing Eva Longoria.
Tony Parker plants a kiss on a woman who has been stalking him throughout the Finals. She goes by the name of Eva Longoria. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
see, and James as an intelligent basketball player would now recognise that he has plenty to work on.

Credit James’ ineffectiveness in the Finals to the Spurs team who hounded LeBron whenever he went down the lane allowing for only two dunks, yes, you read that correctly, two dunks, for the whole series. Furthermore, after thoroughly dominating the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Tayshaun Prince, James was met with more resistance by Bruce Bowen who shadowed Bron-Bron like bad body odour. The Spurs were so good at laying down the clamps on the King that he shot a paltry 31 percent from the field for the series.

This leaves us with the rest of the Cavs who were by no means a championship calibre team. Cleveland is woeful in their current incarnation and without the injured Larry Hughes the Cavs were doomed from the very beginning. Cleveland’s loss isn’t primarily due to LeBron because he tried his heart out, it’s just the team around him couldn’t hit shots to save their lives and without James, would be the equal of the Atlanta Hawks – don’t forget Anderson Varejao who thought for one moment that he was the man in Game 3.

As mentioned ad nauseum so far the Spurs played tight ‘D’ on LeBron, forcing him into shooting mid-range jumpers and rushed 3-pointers. They bodied and badgered him to such an extent that his turnover rate was excruciatingly high. Welcome, to Finals basketball young fella.

LeBron will learn from this and the NBA will be his in due time. Even the greatest get their licks
Thierry Henry watching the NBA Finals.
Even Arsenal football star Thierry Henry thinks the NBA is fan-tastic. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
from time to time.

Now, that we have dedicated so much space for the vanquished, let us celebrate the victors.

Before the Finals the San Antonio squad repeatedly dismissed talk of a dynasty, but it certainly can’t be avoided now. The Spurs have built a model franchise that has basketball excellence as the centrepiece. No, one complains about playing time, and egos are kept in check because there is a team ethos that permeates through the franchise. Credit coach Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan for the unselfish mentality that is the hallmark of this dynasty in the making.

Kudos must go out to Tim Duncan because all things are possible due to TD. The continued brilliance he has continued to show, whilst making winning the most important thing is his basketball legacy. While, some measure success in the NBA through such superficialities such as money, endorsements, entourage and shoe deals, Tim Duncan has exposed that the only measure of true and everlasting success is titles. Many a critic (this space and writer included) have derided Timmy and the Spurs but let’s give a pound when the credit is due – Duncan and the Spurs deserve to be lauded.

The Finals started off in a flurry with one young star expected to ascend to greatness, while the other would get lost in the shuffle – Tony Parker would rise to the occasion and establish himself as a superstar, while LeBron James will take solace and joy at the birth of his second son prior to Game 4, because he won’t get to touch the Larry O’Brien trophy.

There really is only one thing left to say: Congratulations, to the 2007 NBA Champions, San Antonio Spurs.

Today’s video is of Game 4. ‘Nuff said.


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LeBron James Blows a Chance to Win Game 3 of the NBA Finals

June 13th 2007 12:20
Cleveland is going…going…gone? In what turned out to be an ugly,
LeBron James argues with ref at the end of Game 3.
LeBron James gets testy at the end of Game 3 over the non-call during his 3-point attempt. (Photo by Chris Graythen/NBAE via Getty Images)
grind-it-out contest saw San Antonio fall over the finish line to win an all important Game 3, 75-72. The Cavs are now 0-3 down and no team in the history of the NBA have overcome such a deep deficit. Cleveland, NBALOUD can assure you are not the team to change the tune of this song.

LeBron James once again had the chance to be the hero in his own house and on the biggest stage in pro-hoops – instead he passed off the opportunity literally and metaphorically. With 13 seconds left on the clock and the with the contest up for grabs James passed the ball off to teammate Anderson Varejao instead of taking it strong to the hoop. In fairness to Bron-Bron he expected to get the ball back, but the big Brazilian with the Sideshow Bob hairdo decided to take the shot himself and failed miserably. Should have made the shot yourself Bron-Bron.

There was one more chance left for the Cavs to take the game into overtime but LeBron’s 3-point heave missed with Bruce Bowen fouling King James on the shot attempt. However, the refs let the play go, which was a travesty in itself because you’d expect the man to get a call in his palace, during the finals, and because he is a superstar, especially when it was a legitimate foul! But it wasn’t to be.

San Antonio can thank their lucky stars that they got out of jail and this space would urge the Spurs players to buy a lottery ticket because it is their day of fortune but the reality is all of these guys make more money than the prize money given out!

Tony Parker wasn’t as dominant as he had been in the series but still managed to torch the Cavs with 17, including a key 3-point basket with a minute to go, while Tim Duncan was even more muted scoring 14 and getting a lot of bench time due to fouls. Manu Ginobili the final piece of the star Spurs star puzzle had a dreadful performance scoring only three points with all of them coming from the free-throw line and with 10 seconds to play.
Bruce Bowen and LeBron James
If you ever get the chance take a look at pictures of LeBron James in the finals, because Bruce Bowen is always in the same frame. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)


Cavs fans and the players will be rueing a golden opportunity to steal a win.

Daniel Gibson the rookie Cleveland point guard who has been mesmerising during the finals so far got his first start in a postseason game, replacing the injured Larry Hughes and what did the young fella do with his promotion? He proceeded to stink up the building, going 1-for-10 and scoring only two points. Gibson whose nickname is ‘Boobie’ played like a boob.

The Cavs can lament all they want about lost opportunities but it begins and ends with LeBron James, who once again showed to the world that he hasn’t quite mastered the art of taking the proverbial bull by the horns and bitch slapping the opposition. James has been lauded as a superstar and at times he has displayed his wares to the universe, but when the moment demands he steps up and win the game for the team, LeBron has looked like a little kid lost.

History and the moment have demanded that LeBron James take the mantle as the anointed one in the NBA. So, far he has failed to heed the call.

After spending this post bemoaning the clutch abilities of LeBron James it is only fair today’s video is something cool in regards to the King. An artist with too much time on his hand made an Etch-A-Sketch portrait of James and it is rather impressive.


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Tony Parker and the Spurs Cast a Spell, as the Cavs find themselves in Basketball Hell.

June 11th 2007 07:28
LeBron James in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The Finals so far look awfully lonely for LeBron James. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)


Before the NBA Finals began, we, like many other spaces dedicated to pro-basketball made the usual predictions about what would be the trends to look out for and the final win ratio. NBALOUD gave the Cavs six games before they got bounced, and when those words were penned the caveat should have been noted at the time was that we were being mighty generous because they could conceivably go down 4-0 and that is increasingly looking like the sad reality.

San Antonio gave Cleveland a beat down of epic proportions today with a 103-92 victory, while going 2-0 up. The final score actually flattered the Cavs because for the whole game they were about as effective as a pornstar acting out Shakespeare in the Globe Theatre.

The Spurs were once again led by the little Frenchman who is going to marry a muy caliente actress in less than a month. Tony Parker had 30 points as he did a merry jig around the Cavs defence which were perplexed at how to stop the slick Frenchy. It didn’t help matters that the dynamic trio for San Antonio played sublime basketball for another game.

Tim Duncan had is usual superb all round output with 23 points, 9 rebounds and eight assists,
Gregg Popovich gets knocked down.
Cheap Shot Rob strikes again! This time he puts a hit on his own coach Gregg Popovich. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
while Manu Ginobili the super-sub was a blinding blur adding a further 25 points to inflict serious harm on the psyche of the Cavs.

Cleveland were being blown out of the water and heading into the fourth quarter found themselves 29 points down and then, like in Game 1 they made a run and shockingly were only eight points down at one stage. The Cavs shouldn’t fool themselves because a) everyone makes a run in the NBA and b) San Antonio got bored and disinterested.

Once the Cavs began to have the absurd belief that they might actually steal a win, the Spurs put that to rest with some solid play and clamped down on their opponents. It also helped that with about two minutes remaining Ginobili got clipped on a 3-point attempt that dropped in the basket which turned into a vital four point play.

We’ve gone roughly 300 words without once mentioning LeBron James so here we go: the King had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists – sounds like a good night, no? Well, not quite, LeBron is being dominated by the Spurs who are making him look extremely second rate so far. The only player that can really hold his head up high for Cleveland is rookie Daniel Gibson who is showing absolutely no fear against these Spurs.

Many pundits have voiced their opinion that the Cavs are the worst team in NBA Finals history and for the first two games they have absolutely proved the critics right. There is nowhere to hide and Cleveland is being exposed by an immensely more talented outfit that is better than them in every facet of the game. Hell, even Cheap Shot Rob is showing the LeBron’s how basketball should be played doing his best Bill Russell imitation in registering five massive blocks in this contest.

The series now moves to Cleveland and for the second series in a row the Cavs find themselves in a 0-2 hole which they managed to dig out of last time and land a win. Sadly, for the team this time around is slightly different because they aren’t facing a weak Eastern Conference foe and this is San Antonio – a dynasty in the making.

Today’s video is of 5’9” Nate Robinson blocking the shot of 7’6” Yao Ming. It was one of the most memorable plays of the past season.


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The San Antonio Spurs Win Game 1 of the 2007 NBA Finals.

June 9th 2007 12:39
San Antonio Spurs dancers.
The Spurs dancers strut their stuff during Game 1 of the Finals. (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)


For anyone that doesn’t know the San Antonio Spurs drew first blood in the NBA Finals downing the Cleveland Cavaliers, 85-76.

Here at NBALOUD we can do the usual summary of what transpired during the game but that would be nonsensical now wouldn’t it? Especially considering that the game is now over 24 hours old and we missed the reportage boat due to external circumstances.

Instead this post will be a keen observation and dissection on how Game 1 unfolded and what might be the ongoing trends that we’ll be seeing throughout the Finals.

Our analysis today begins with the magnificent play of Spurs point guard Tony Parker who pwned the Cavs with 27 points and going wherever he pleased on the court. Mr. Eva Longoria is arguably the quickest player in the league and back in the day all defenders had to do was try to force Parker to shoot from the outside and that would be that because Tony
Tony Parker lay-up in Game 1 of NBA Finals.
Tony Parker is too quick for the Cavs. (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
Parker was crap. That was then, this is now, and Tony has developed a deadly outside shot that makes him virtually unstoppable.

You can bet your sweet ass that the mooted move for Jason Kidd to San Antonio a few seasons back gave Parker the green light to become the All-Star that he is today.

San Antonio showed in Game 1 why they have been the most successful franchise in American sports when they dissected Cleveland and made them look second rate for long stretches of the game. The big three for the Spurs had dominant performances, while the team clamped down on LeBron James who looked less than stellar with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. That may sound like a semi-decent night for the King but up until the final quarter he was as quiet as a mouse on Christmas Eve – bar a stretch when he hit back-to-back 3-point baskets to draw the Cavs slightly closer, San Antonio played wonder defence on Bron-Bron.

James managed to shake his defender a lot of the times but the help ‘D’ from the rest of the Spurs was marvellous – if Bron-Bron broke the ankles of his man, two players from San Antonio would quickly cut off the driving lanes to deny LeBron a clear shot. It was an artful display of team defence. James was a paltry 4-of-16 from the field.

Cleveland have to face the reality that this is a different kind of beast that they are used to facing coming from the East – San Antonio are tough, experienced and better in every position, bar whatever spot James is playing in at the time. Tim Duncan ruled the low post with an iron first grabbing 13 rebounds and swatting five shots, while Manu Ginobili dropped a further 16 to sully the Cavs opening stanza in the Finals.

The disconcerting, yet comforting trend for Cleveland is the play of King James during a series opener where he has been as absent from the action as Paris Hilton from the nightclub scene of late during her detention. Cleveland though will warm to the thought that James has stepped up and dominated in subsequent games, while Paris can also be soothed by the reality that her vapid, publicity whore ways will once again be front page in the gossip section fodder. Some things were just meant to be.

Tony Parker is the video focus for today when he threaded a magical pass to teammate Francisco Elson in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.


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The San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers Win Through to the Conference Finals.

May 19th 2007 11:45
Well, they call Robert Horry ‘Big Shot Rob’ due to the fact that throughout his career he has
Manu Ginobili.
It's Manu-mania in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
made massive shots during clutch moments in the playoffs – you can now add another moniker to the pile – ‘Cheap Shot Rob’. Robert Horry’s thug hit on Steve Nash in Game 4 may have ultimately cost the Suns a series victory, succumbing to the Spurs today, 114-106.

San Antonio now move onto the Western Conference Finals where they are sure to be raging favourites to take the whole shebang after disposing off a full strength Phoenix squad after the inane suspensions of Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. Manu Ginobili was on fire today scoring 33 points and grabbing a career-high 11 boards, whilst his always dependable superstar teammate, Tim Duncan came up big as well with 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots – one off from a playoff record.

Amare, fresh off his suspension was just sublime, dropping 38 points, with 15 coming in the final quarter alone. Stevie Wonder was quiet for most of the game but a furious last run from the Suns almost saw them steal another victory. Sadly, for neutral basketball fans the world over Phoenix are out and will have to wait for the next season.

The vicious hit on Nash from Cheap Shot Rob may have turned the series on its head because who would have known what may have been? Steve Nash believes the outcome could have been different if certain events never transpired; “We'll never know. What can I say? Part of me wants to be a sportsman and give them credit. They beat us," Nash said. "At the same time I can't really answer that question because I don't know what the outcome
Vince Carter and LeBron James.
Pick the winner out of these two. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
might have been.” (White, AP, 2007)

Stevie Wonder shouldn’t fret because he once again showed not only in this series, but throughout the season, that he is one badass guy. Whenever the Suns seemed to be down, Nash would grit his teeth and get down to beeswax – he really is one clutch mofo.

Let’s give credit to Manu Ginobili though who has reinvigorated his career with some great games during this series. San Antonio now faces a tough Utah team for a place in the Finals.

LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated a hopeless New Jersey Nets team today in their Game 6 battle winning, 88-72.

Cleveland need not have worried about beating the Nets because their opponents imploded on themselves, with Vince Carter again showing the world he is lacking that certain something that would turn him into a winner. Dirk Nowitzki may get derided for the lack of big game capabilities, but he has a history of some massive performances – the same cannot be said of Vinsanity. Yes, he is outrageously athletic but that’s about all you can say.

Never mind, LeBron and Co. will now face a stern test against a battle hardened Pistons squad, instead of a horrible Nets team.

Even with Bron-Bron sitting for long stretches of the game due to foul trouble, New Jersey couldn’t find their ‘A’ games to overcome. That’s how bad New Jersey has been.

Ugh, no more, because writing about the performances of VC is just infuriating right now.

Today’s video is of the actual hit made by Horry. Make up your own mind if this was Cheap Shot Rob’s biggest shot ever in a playoff game.


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