NBA Finals Preview

When the NBA Finals open tomorrow night in San Antonio, a large portion of the viewers outside of Texas will be pulling for the Cleveland Cavaliers because LeBron James. The generation of teenagers who worship "King" James are falling over themselves as they heap praise on the 22-year-old superstar. They are already calling him the best player who ever laced up a pair of Nikes, a combination of Jordan, Magic and the Big O. That 48 point/25 straight/29-of-the-last-30 he dropped on the Pistons in Game 5 of the Eastern Finals? Easily the greatest playoff performance in the NBA's history according to the crowd who probably can't remember the night O.J. rambled down a California highway, interrupting a 1994 Finals game between the Rockets and Knicks. (Or the great Celtics and Lakers teams of the '80s.) Too bad for this group of fans that their "King" will have to wait at least another season to win an NBA championship. The fact is, the Spurs are the better team. And believe it or not, the Spurs superstar -- Tim Duncan -- is just as dominant a player as LeBron James. Duncan may not be capable of being isolated 25 feet from the basket and score with ease but between his great post offense, rebounding, defense and passing, he can dominate a game as easily as LeBron. And once you get past the two stars, the Spurs are a much better team. They have pieces that complement their star player, unlike the rag-tag All-Stars playing for the Cavs. The Spurs also have championship experience (they have won the Larry O'Brien with Duncan in 1999, 2003 and 2005), a point not to be underrated as the Cavs make their first ever trip to a Finals series. A nucleus of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobilli, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Brent Barry, Francisco Elson/Fabricio Oberto and Jacque Vaughn/Beno Udrih are vastly superior to Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Eric Snow, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson, Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall. And the coaching matchup of Gregg Popovich versus Mike Brown is so lopsided that the Spusr should have to hire Doc Rivers for the Finals just to try and make things even. Looking at the rosters, the coaches and the level of where each star is at this point in his career, the obvious advantage goes to to the Spurs. It's time for Duncan to get fit for a fourth ring. Spurs in 6.