2007 Cavaliers vs. 2001 Sixers

I've been asked to justify my comment that this year's Cavs are surprisingly similar to the 2001 Sixers team that went to the finals and lost to the Lakers in 5, so here you go.

Both teams are comprised of one star player with one third-tier offensive sidekick and an old, but still solid big man. Iverson had Aaron McKie as that lame offensive right-hand man, Dikembe Mutombo was his aging center who teamed up with Tyrone Hill in the front court. LeBron has Daniel Gibson and Big Zundy Illgauskas with partner in crime Drew "Patches" Gooden.
An aside: Did Gooden lose a bet to Damon Jones? I don't get it.

Aaron McKie was a huge part of the Sixers playoff run. He played 40 mins per game and (gasp!) he shot 27/64 from behind the arc in the playoffs. That is pretty close to Danny Gibson's 23/50. I'm no mathemagician, but I think that makes the percentages 42% for McKie compared to 46% for Boobie. McKie stepped up when Iverson needed a breather and knocked down clutch shots, just like Boobie is proving he can do. Neither is an offensive superpower, but they provide necessary help to the star player.

Tyrone Hill was slightly worse than Gooden, he averaged 0.4 less points per game but 4 less rebounds. Mutombo, on the other hand, was still effective in his old age just like Big Z can be. He averaged almost 14 points and 14 boards a game. Just to total all that up, the Sixers front court averaged 21 ppg and 21 rpg compared to the Cavs front court which averages 24 ppg and 17 ppg. Additionally, both pairs of guys play in similar fashion. Z and Mutombo were paint players who tried to contest all the shots they could on defense (Mutombo was much more effective than Z is now) and Drew Gooden and Ty Hill aka The Big Ugly were sub-par offensive players who could step out of the paint and knock down the occassional mid-range jumper.

I mentioned Eric Snow was on both teams, but the more important part of that is he fills the role George Lynch played for the Sixers. Mike Brown can bring in Baby Face Snow for late-game offense/defense runs the same way Larry Brown used Lynch to cover Kobe for a possession then sub him right back out for McKie or Jumaine Jones. Both of these two teams were defensive-minded, and that was why they could survive with below-average offenses.

Finally, the big guns. Iverson vs. LeBron is the biggest difference between the two teams. Both are major stars, but only Iverson backed up that reputation. Iverson had 14 games in the playoffs with 30+ points. Those games include nights with 45, 54, 52, 46, 44, and 48 points in game 1 against the Lakers. Also, he didnt score less than 15 once. Not once. Especially not in the Finals. LeBron has only had 6 games with 30+ and the only 40+ game was that one spectacular night against Detroit when he dropped 48. Everyone crosses their fingers and hopes LeBron evolves into the next Jordan, but that's only because everyone is dying to see another MJ- someone who rises above the game and to the top of pop culture, someone who compells everyone to tune in to see what amazing feat he will do next rather than if he will perform an amazing feat. I was one of those people, but it finally hit me last night. MJ would NEVER, not as long as he had a breath in his body, get held to 14 points in an NBA Finals game. Iverson had a little of that, and that's why the Sixers won a game from the much better, much more complete Lakers. When I made my prediction, I was subconsciously hoping LeBron had that too, but it's becoming increasingly clear that he doesn't- at least not yet.

The Cavaliers didn't cover the spread, and they only got the score to single-digits with some open shots in the last 90 seconds of the game when the Spurs took their foot off the gas.

So yea, the fact that I'm a Sixers fan helped me realize the comparison, but the numbers don't lie. The 2001 Sixers and 2007 Cavaliers have many of the same traits, and thus many of the same faults. Neither team could deal with a dominating big man (Shaq or Duncan), and neither team was as complete as their opponent, in addition to their own individual blemishes. The Spurs will leave Bron Bron biting his nails on the sideline, wondering what it will take to not get swept.