It has now been one week since my San Antonio Spurs won their fourth title in nine years. I thought about writing something the day after they won, but through laziness and a desire for a less emotion-driven perspective, I have waited until now to write anything. This was easily the best San Antonio team, better even than the '03 edition and the second best team (next to the '00 Lakers) of the post-Jordan Bulls era. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili were a three-man wrecking crew throughout the playoffs and the role players could not have played any better. They added a few wrinkles to this year's team and there was definitely some controversy along the way.

The '99 Spurs title team had a margin of victory of 8.1 points per game. The '03 team had a margin of 5.4 ppg. The '05 team had a margin of 7.8 ppg and the '07 Spurs had a margin of 8.81. For perspective, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers' peak margin was 8.5. San An only lost by double digits six times all season and two of those losses were the final two games of the regular season in which Duncan, Parker and Ginobili did not suit up for the game. Those three together... I don't really know exactly what to say- but I'll give it a shot.

Duncan was fantastic. He came through when it mattered, played great defense and made the game easier for his teammates. Everyone was having a love affair with Tony Parker, including Eva Longoria- did you know that they are getting married? Seriously! I can't remember where I saw that, but I think that someone told me while they were beating up on Barbaro. Duncan was the one who made that team go, not Parker. No way is the lane open for Parker to drive if Duncan doesn't set effective picks and draw double teams. No way does Parker not look like a ball hog if Duncan isn't getting Parker open looks and hitting mid-range jumpers to pull the big men out of the lane. Don't get me wrong, I like Parker a lot, but he was getting too much credit and Duncan wasn't getting enough. Ginobili was his usual streaky self, turning in a horrendous Game 3 performance and following it up with a 25 point effort to clinch the Finals. Despite his streakiness, Manu had the second highest +/- per 48 minutes of anyone on the team. Second only to...

Fabricio Oberto was unbelievable. He had by far the highest +/- per 48 minutes on the team. He rebounded, defended and didn't try anything that he wasn't capable of. His passing was off the charts, too, even if his stats don't reflect it. Well, his traditional stats, at least (points, rebounds, assists, etc). He had the highest +/- per 48 minutes on the team at 10.2 with Ginobili second at 7.1 and Udrih coming with a solid -40.3. That's no exaggeration, the Spurs got murdered when Beno Udrih was on the floor and were great when he was glued to the bench. But I digress. Oberto was great and it seems like the Spurs are the only team that can find guys like that.

The new wrinkles, the never-before-seen things from this year's Spurs team were the break-out of Oberto, the shoot first, shoot second, shoot third, pass fourth mentality of Tony Parker and the rapid transformation of Brent Barry into Shaggy from “Scooby Doo”. Seriously, look at him. You're kidding yourself if you think he isn't going to make a four foot high sandwich after every game.

The controversy was annoying, especially since some of the anti-Spurs crowd will try to put an asterisk beside this title. The claims of the team being dirty, the idea that Phoenix lost to the Spurs because Amare and Diaw were suspended for a game are all crap. Yeah, Bruce Bowen kneed Nash in the groin. That's inexcusable for any guy to do to another guy. Outside of that, he just plays tough defense. He frustrates his opponents like crazy, so a lot of them start calling him dirty because they don't like that he shuts them down (I'm looking at you, Ray Allen). The team as a whole though, is definitely not dirty. Have you ever seen Duncan, Parker, Manu, Finley or anyone else take a cheap shot at anyone? There might be the occasional hard foul, but every team lays down a hard foul every once in a while. I've also already touched on the Amare/Diaw suspensions so I won't really talk about that too much, except to say that Phoenix lost Game 1 at home, only outplayed San Antonio for one game of the entire series and nobody forced Amare and Diaw to leave the bench, forcing the NBA to suspend them. Enough about the “controversy” already. The Spurs were the best team of 2007. They didn't make mistakes and when they caught some luck, they took advantage of it. That's exactly what a great team does.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a few more guys.

- Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the NBA right now. Don't tell me Phil Jackson. If you've seen him coach over the last few years, you know that he no longer has a clue of what is going on. When something is going wrong during a Lakers game, he just has kind of a blank stare on his face and it doesn't occur to him to call a timeout.

- Mike Brown is the worst coach in the NBA. There were just so many obvious things that he missed throughout the playoffs. Continuing to play Larry Hughes, refusing to play his best lineup (Gibson, Pavlovic, LeBron, Gooden, Varejao), playing Ilgauskas even though his defensive lapses were killing Cleveland, continually running picks for LeBron 35 feet from the hoop. I could go on, but I've got things that I need to be doing next week.

- Michael Finley is now a Champion. He's been a very good player for a very long time. A good guy, a team player. He's the kind of guy you want on your team and the kind of guy that you want to see win a title.

- Robert Horry now has seven rings. 7!!!! His Game 3 performance (5 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks) was unbelievable. Those numbers don't scream dominance, but you needed to see the game to understand the impact that he had. Not once did you forget that he was on the court. One of my all-time favorite players.

- I feel bad for LeBron. He's stuck on a team with no cap room, a crappy coach and zero supporting cast. Plus, they don't have any draft picks in one of the best drafts of all time. He could be playing next year with Aaron Afflalo and Sean Williams, but instead he will be with Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. Why did he sign that contract extension again?

Games 3 and 4

I've got some quick thoughts on Game 3 of the NBA Finals, plus a few thoughts on tonight's Game 4. Here's the list:

- Why sit your only consistent scorer for nine minutes in the first quarter? I know he picked up two quick fouls, but still. What was Mike Brown saving him for? As soon as San Antonio ran off about seven straight points, LeBron should have been right back in the game. I'm stunned by how poor of a game manager Brown is. He's like the anti-Popovich.

- Starting Larry Hughes was an awful decision by Brown. Hughes looked terrible tonight and shot 0-5. I couldn't stand Mike Brown's explanation yesterday of why Hughes would be starting over Daniel Gibson. It was basically, “gotta stick with what got us here”. An injured Larry Hughes is not what got you to The Finals! LeBron and Daniel Gibson got you to The Finals! If anything, Hughes slowed you down on the way to The Finals! If you haven't noticed the theme here yet, it's that Cleveland coach Mike Brown isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

- Robert Horry is unbelievable. He grabbed four rebounds in the final 2:19 of the first quarter and had eight first half rebounds. Plus, five blocks. He was all over the place and most of what he did can't be measured by stats (swatting the ball from Varejao with two seconds on the shot clock to force Cleveland into a bad shot, which Horry also blocked). Apparently he doesn't like the nickname Big Shot Rob, so let me propose The Closer. He's the basketball equivalent of a dominant closer in baseball. When the game is on the line, you bring in Horry and he takes care of business. The Mariano Rivera of the NBA.

- Drew Gooden is horrible. I've never been a big fan of his, but when you can't earn big minutes in the Cleveland rotation, you know that you are either really good (Gibson) or really bad. I'll let you decide which one Gooden is. This also says a lot about Brown.

- Manu Ginobili is ridiculously efficient on the offensive end. He finished the evening with 25 points on only 11 shots. For the season, he averaged 1.45 points per field goal attempt. For perspective, Kobe scored 1.39 points per shot, Gilbert Arenas averaged 1.36 and Sasha Pavlovic averaged 1.23.

- A Gibson, Jones, LeBron, Marshall, Varejao lineup actually doesn't do too badly against San Antonio. It is basically the only lineup that provides enough outside firepower to open the court for LeBron to go to work. I'd look for a lot more of this next game. Of course, Mike Brown will probably not play those guys together again.

- It was strange that Mike Brown pulled his starters with one minute to go in the game and Cleveland down 11 and having the ball. I know it might seem out of reach, but waving the white flag like that is not very Finals-savvy. Plus, 11 is not insurmountable.

That's all for now. I'm sticking with my prediction of a sweep, since I haven't seen anything yet that would suggest that the Cavs can win a single game. I'll be back after Game 3.

2007 NBA Finals Preview

The NBA Finals start tonight (9 PM, ABC), so I figured that this would be the appropriate time to revive Gaske's World and give a quick preview. We're going for the keys to the series for each team and a few questions and thoughts. Let's go.

Keys to the series for the Cleveland Cavaliers:

- Big contributions from a couple role players. Ilgauskas needs to hit some 10-15 shots and protect the rim. If he and Varejao don't make life difficult for Tony Parker on Parker's patented drives, then the series is going to be over in a hurry. The Cavs are going to need at least a couple big games from Daniel Gibson and at the very least, they need Sasha Pavlovic to stop screwing up. I wouldn't bet too much on that happening, though.

- LeBron needs to take it to the cup. If he falls in love with the 23 foot fadeaway, then he isn't going to be that effective. And for Cleveland to have a prayer, they need more performances like LeBron's 48 point game.

- 3-point shooting. The Spurs are great at defending the trey, but if Gibson, Hughes, Marshall and Pavlovic don't hit open threes, then LeBron won't have any room to work.

- Double Duncan. The Jazz did a great job on Tim Duncan. They single covered him, but if he got into a good scoring position, they sent someone over to swipe at the ball and pressure him. If they can put Gooden/Varejao on him and have Hughes/Pavlovic double down, they could at least slow Duncan down.

Keys to the series for the San Antonio Spurs:

- Feed the big man. Duncan has had some completely ridiculous (we're talking historically great) games when it matters.

- Role players need to hit threes. Finley, Horry, Barry and Bowen need to hit open threes to punish the Cavs for doubling on Duncan.

- Parker needs to be big. If he can use his drives to the hoop to get even one of the Cavs big-men into foul trouble, then Cleveland is going to really struggle.

- Slow down LeBron. You aren't going to stop him, but try to draw charges. Sag sometimes and dare him to hit the long jumper. Don't double him though, because without getting wide open looks, his “teammates” (if you can call them that) can't do anything.

Here are some of the questions that I have for the series:

- Will Manu Ginobili show up? He has the ability to completely dominate, but has almost as great an ability to disappear for long stretches. San An needs him to be great in at least two games.

- Will Daniel Gibson continue his rise? I always think it is interesting to see how the playoffs expose the legit players and not-so-legit players. Gibson did very well against a cocky, flawed, defensively weak Detroit team. But, will San Antonio throw a half-court trap at him and knock him around a little? I'd bet on it. It's going to be interesting to see how he handles that.

- Who are going to be the guys who unexpectedly shine? I'd go with Ilgauskas, Oberto and Finley. Fin-dog is playing for his first ring, so I'd expect a few twenty point games out of him.

- Who wins this thing and in how many games? I'm going with Spurs in four. I have never seen a team execute as well as San Antonio did in the Utah series. Near-perfect defensive rotation; touch passes to the guy with the highest percentage shot; feeding Duncan at the right time and in the right spots; hitting open threes; if they can replicate that performance, there are only a few teams in history that could beat them. Cleveland is definitely not one of them. I also see Mike Brown getting worked over by Gregg Popovich and both Gooden and Varejao finding foul trouble.

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