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Ways to Beat the Spurs

The NBA Finals will be quite interesting this year. The Cavaliers, perhaps a year away from their full potential, are poised and ready to upset the San Antonio Spurs. Here are a few things Coach Brown and his staff may be planning for the series.

1) Fluster the big man. Tim Duncan took all advantage in learning from David Robinson early in his career. He is as polished a big man as anyone in today's NBA. As most people know, his obvious weakness is his free-throw shooting. However, look for the Cavs to do whatever they can to get him into foul trouble or at least out-of-sync on offense. Take Duncan out of the lineup, and the Spurs have no post players like him. Similarly, a frustrated Duncan is prone to turnovers and offensive fouls that will hurt his team's momentum.

2) Get in Parker's way. Tony Parker is a fantastic slasher. He has developed a perimeter game proficient enough to complement his driving ability. At the same time, he is stoppable. One thing that can get to Parker is hard-nosed defense. He utilizes his inside-outside game to create space or get defenders to overcommit one way or another. Hughes and Snow are Mike Brown's favorite choices, but, who knows, maybe David Wesley or Shannon Brown could get activated to get in Parker's way. The key is to keep him out of a comfort zone.

3) The obvious: make someone else beat you. Duncan, in most cases, gets his points. However, the Cavs have been able to keep Manu Ginobili in check. Credit goes to Coach Brown, for he probably knows the Spurs' core's (including Ginobili's) weaknesses. The Spurs primary perimeter attack (Finley, Barry, Horry) is aging. Bowen, while powerful behind the arc, is not a worry. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the roster contains still-developing players (ex. Oberto, Udrih). Thus, this Spurs team is just as vulnerable as the Pistons were last round.

4) No Big Shot. While Robert Horry is aging, he is still the same capable, dangerous clutch shooter he has been since winning two titles with Olajuwon and the Rockets. If there are players aside from Duncan and Parker to not give space to operate, Horry is next-in-line. Keep "Big Shot Rob" from continuing his legacy, and do not tip him any loose balls (see Vlade Divac, 2002).

5) Rebound and run. The Cavaliers are a much better team when they box out on the defensive end and limit second-chance points. As long as Coach Brown uses the bench, the team will have the opportunity to convert these rebounds into fast breaks and other transition baskets. With that said, everyone on the roster needs to be ready to play (including the inactive ones).

6) Lebron at the four. Gregg Popovich knows a thing or two about controlling the style and pacing of a game. Seeing that Oberto and the other big men not named Duncan may have trouble with the Cavs frontcourt, he may opt to go with a smaller lineup. With that said, LeBron needs to have his low-post and midrange game ready. He may have opportunities to back down Bowen and Ginobili, or he may be able to catch Horry flatfooted on defense.

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