...while wondering what ever happened to Craig Ehlo

Wow. Even we didn't think Flip Saunders could blow this one. LBJ and a bunch of absolute scrubs take the court and proceed to drop the first two games of the (L)Eastern Conference Finals. No shock here. Then Detroit loses the next four?!?!?!?! What!?!?!?!? The level of coaching ineptitude this requires is mind boggling. First, we're talking about Cleveland here. Think about that. The freaking river caught fire. They have the Browns -- who left the city then won a Super Bowl. The place is cursed. Second, the Pistons' talent level was ridiculously greater than that of the Cavaliers. They didn't belong on the same court. But what does Flip do? He takes Rip Hamilton, who our 14 year-old daughter knows is best coming off screens and scoring in transition and -- runs a bunch of iso for him? Idiotic. But not to be outdone, he takes his one-man stupidity contest to a whole other level. He takes his worst offensive player and runs him up against LeBron all series. Yeah Flip, you wouldn't want to, oh I don't know, make the guy run a little, now would ya? That coaching performance was disgusting and if Flip Saunders is not fired it's only because Joe Dumars doesn't have the balls to admit he blew it when letting The Greatest Basketball Mind of Our Time walk. Talk about a charmed life though. I mean, first Flip works for his college roommate, avoiding the guillotine he so richly deserved, until it came down to McHale or him, or roughly about as long as it took the Ford family to find the negatives Wayne Fontes was holding over their heads, then he falls into a job where his boss is afraid to break out the ax. We want his agent...That being said, on to the Finals.



Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32, 12-4 playoffs, 2-0 h-t-h)

San Antonio Spurs (58-24, 12-4 playoffs, 0-2 h-t-h)



PG
Aleksandar Pavlovic vs Tony Parker


Parker has calmed down a lot over the years and doesn't make nearly as many foolish mistakes. It won't be a concern here, as Frenchie will smoke this guy.


Edge: Spurs



SG
Larry Hughes vs Michael Finley


This is an interesting matchup. On a purely physical level, Hughes has the advantage. But in his stints here, here, here and here he has proven to have a bad case of Tin Man syndrome. Finley is hungrier and although he is not quite what he once was, he has enough left to contribute more to help -- or at least do less to harm -- his team.


Edge: Spurs



SF
LeBron James vs Bruce Bowen


Bowen is overrated and if he tries anything dirty, 'Bron will knock him on his ass. We called him out for two and a half series, but King James has arrived, indeed.


Edge: Cavaliers



PF
Drew Gooden vs Tim Duncan


Question -- now that their series with Detroit is over, will Drew Gooden have to take that patch of hair on the back of his head and put it back on Rasheed Wallace? That's about all that will be interesting here over the next few weeks. Gooden is a good number four guy, but he's playing opposite San Antonio's number one.


Edge: Spurs



C
Zydrunas Ilgauskas vs Francisco Elson


We're not really enamored of either of these guys' game, but we've always had much love for Z. Ilgauskas' stats are marginally better and you would think having better talent around him would have given Elson the better numbers, if only by osmosis. Not so.


Edge: Cavaliers




Bench
Jones, Varejao, Snow and Daniel Gibson vs Ginobili, Horry, Oberto and Udrih


The fact that you probably don't know which Jones we are referring to (Damon) and that we had to use Gibson's first name tells you all you need to know here, though you can look forward to Gibson winning the Tyron Lue Award for he who turns three good playoff games into a ridiculously large guaranteed contract, then promptly goes back to playing like a middle schooler.

Edge: Spurs



Coach

Mike Brown vs Greg Popovic


The incompetence of his opponent was so ginormous that Brown's own ineptitude was virtually ignored in the Eastern Conference Finals and in the entire playoff run. He did not have his team ready for Washington or New Jersey. If either team were a professional men's team, the Cavs would be sitting at home right now. And it's ok for your stud player to score the last 25 points of the game for your team. But to let him go out there the next night and feel the need to do it again? Here's an idea, Mike -- run some stuff for the other guys. Popovic is Groundhog Day. You get the same every day. And it will be good for another parade in South Texas.

Edge: Spurs


Prediction: Spurs in Five