• First off, as much as it hurts me to say this, congratulations to the Lakers who took care of business in game 7 of the finals to beat my beloved Celtics to win their second championship in a row and 16th overall. Game 7 was a defensive standoff, highlighted by super tight D, missed shots, blocks, steals, fouls and tons of Lakers’ offensive rebounds. It was also the highest rated finals since 1998.
• How about the Lakers coming out ahead in a battle of defense? They beat the Celtics at their own game, doing a great job of providing help defense, rotating to stop Boston’s quick passes around the perimeter and – doing something Boston couldn’t do – getting defensive rebounds.
• Short of a couple desperation threes, the Celtics couldn’t buy a shot in the 4th quarter of game 7 and looked gassed from expending so much energy on the other side of the ball. But also credit the great all around play by Ron Artest, who smothered Paul Pierce so much in that game, I’m pretty sure he can tell whether Pierce is circumcised or not. He probably mentioned it in his post game interview, which I didn’t watch.

• Speaking of the Celtics’ offense, man did that regress through the series. The first few games, they were running baseline screens and pick and rolls to get guys like Pierce and Allen open, which devolved to isolation plays for Pierce and KG in games 4 and 5, which devolved into ‘let’s run into a Laker, throw up a crazy shot and hope we can get to the line’ in game 7.
• I’m sure everyone feels this way about someone, but every time I see Sasha Vujacic, I want to reach through my television and punch him in the face. I really don’t know why. Just that his face disgusts me.
• The most painful part of the game as a Celtic fan was watching all those Laker offensive rebounds. As Jeff Van Gundy and company noted, when you miss as many shots as the Lakers did, you are going to have opportunities for offensive rebounds. The Lakers were bigger than the C’s at every position on the court, but damn that was painful to watch.
• Oh, the mandatory ‘what could have been’ moment from the finals. What if Kendrick Perkins didn’t get hurt in game 6? Perkins is a bruiser and is built like a piece of farm equipment, which is exactly what the C’s needed more of in the paint in game 7. Perkins definitely grabs a few of those Laker offensive rebounds, something old man Sheed and undersized Big Baby had trouble doing.
• Of course, it can go the other way too. What if Andrew Bynum had been completely healthy instead of playing on one knee? Oh wait, that’s never going to happen.
• The Celtics game plan all series was to force Kobe into taking the hardest shot possible and hope that his selfishness would put his teammates in a funk. It worked well in Game 5, when Kobe went off at the detriment to his teammates, and it almost worked in Game 7, as Kobe finished the game 6 for 24 from the field.
• But again, it all comes back to Ron Artest in game 7, who hit big shots when he needed to and carried the Lakers’ offense in the second quarter when Kobe couldn’t get anything going. Lamar Odom finally chipped in a couple good games and makes you realize how big of a match up problem he can be when he’s actually playing hard and not in some alternate universe. And Pau Gasol chipped away at the C’s big men all game so that by the fourth quarter they were all in foul trouble and he could do what he wanted down low.
• The Kobe to MJ comparison? I was actively rooting for Kobe to shoot the ball in this game rather than to pass it to Gasol, Odom Artest, or even Fisher. I don’t think I would have ever thought that about Jordan. At least the non-Wizards version.
• The fourth quarter of game 7 was probably the most painful 12 minutes of basketball I’ve watched in a long time. Boston put LA to the line 20 times in that quarter, starting with Ray Allen’s stupid foul on Kobe when he was just standing at the three point line and Boston was up by 4. Kobe wasn’t even going to shoot until Allen tangled up with him.
• The stake through the Celtics’ heart was Derek Fisher’s three with 6 minutes left in the game to tie the game at 64. I wasn’t even mad after that possession. I was simply impressed that Fisher could shoot a ball with such a high arc and it still go in. I think his shot might have touched the roof on the way up. Super ballsy shot by Fisher.
• Ray Allen generally played very good defense all series on Kobe, but (recorded breaking three point games aside) this finals series made me not quite as eager for the Celtics to resign him.
• No one gives a better 20 seconds than Brian Scalabrine.
• Almost went without mentioning Rondo, who was 2 rebounds short of a triple-double in game 7. Enough said.
• The thing that really burns my cabbage is that the Lakers will be just as good or better next season, while the Celtics and their big 3 have clearly peaked and are on the decline. This year was Boston’s best opportunity, next season ain’t going to be as pretty.
• Finally, I owe my television remote an apology. Sorry for throwing you around like that.

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Whether it is fantasy or reality, it’s impossible not to take playoff performance into account when evaluating a player for the upcoming season. Sometimes a guy’s performance is simply a mirage, a player having a hot or cold hand for a couple weeks (remember Tim Thomas’ awesome playoff run in 2006? I bet the small group Clippers fans do). But occasionally it is a real indication of a player taking a step forward or back in their development.

So, here are six guys who looked really good in this year’s playoffs. Will their strong play translate into fantasy value down the road? It absolutely probably will (although I make no guarantees).

After being smoking hot for most of the Cleveland and Orlando series, Rajon Rondo has been all over the place in the Finals. He can be careless with the ball and often makes decisions that would kill John Wooden all over again, but when those behind the back bounce passes are working, he’s one of the better distributors in the league. He’s also one of the best rebounding PGs in the league (5.5 a game in the postseason) and has an improving (although still tentative) jump shot from the top of the key. There isn’t much Rondo can’t do well, except for the deer in headlights look he gets when he gets to the free throw line. Next season, he’s in the discussion among the second tier of PGs after Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

Game 5 of the Finals notwithstanding, Pau Gasol has been a beast for the Lakers throughout the post season. There is nothing pretty about the way Gasol operates, but he’s effective – 19.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks through 22 playoff games. He was also only one assist shy of a triple-double in their Game 6 blowout of the C’s. The only complaint you can make against Gasol is that he’s been criminally underused in the Lakers’ offense, especially considering he’s their most efficient scorer against the Celtics (other than 3rd quarter Kobe). 10 shots in Game 2? 11 in Game 3? As Barkley would say, that’s TERRBULL.

Ultimately, the Jazz couldn’t get it going against the Lakers in the second round of this year’s playoffs, but that had nothing to do with Deron Williams. Without Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, the Jazz had nowhere near the depth to match up against LA. On the other hand, Williams led the team to a first round win over Denver, became only the second player in team history to score 30 points with 10 assists in a playoff game, and became the first player in NBA history to score at least 20 points with 10 assists in five straight playoff games. In fact, he averaged 24 points and 10 assists over the Jazz entire playoff run this year. Best PG in the league right now? I think the argument starts with Williams.

Paul Millsap’s future ultimately depends on how much love has been lost between Carlos Boozer and the Jazz. But if Boozer walks, at least the team knows they have a more than capable replacement in Millsap, who averaged 18 points and 8.8 rebounds in 32 minutes a game these playoffs (thanks to the injuries to Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur). Without the Booz, Millsap instantly becomes a guy capable of 18 and 10 next season. If the Jazz do resign Boozer for some reason, then Millsap should sue the team for assaulting his basketball career.

Although the Bulls only lasted five games against LeBron and the Cleveland Cavs, both Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah demonstrated that they are the foundation of a championship caliber team. Rose averaged 26.8 points and 7.2 assists in the playoffs, while Noah averaged a double-double (14.8 points and 13 boards). There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding the Bulls this offseason and they could certainly use an upgrade at every position not played by Rose or Noah (I know a small forward who is currently looking for work), but I can count on one finger the number of other teams that have two young players as good as these guys.

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With the Lakers winning the first game of the Finals (and looking hella good doing it too) I need something to cheer me up during the insanely long wait for game 2. Drugs are certainly an inciting option, but I decided to go with the super geeky alternative: simulating the NBA finals as if it were a fantasy match up.

How? Way back in February, Erik and I took a look at the all-star lineups as if they were fantasy teams. Then I created a simulation program to simulate the all-star game as if it were a fantasy match up (Hint: The West destroyed the East).

Similarly, I modified that simulation program to take Lakers and Celtics lineups, sum up their stats across the nine statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, threes, steals, blocks, FG%, FT%, and turnovers), and then compare each of those nine categories like you would in a typical H2H league to see which team wins the game. Since this is the Finals, it is a best of seven series; first team to 4 games wins the series.

Of course, things are not quite that simple. I had to make a lot of assumptions in the simulation about the rules of this league. I’ve included a longer write-up of those assumptions below if you are interested, but if you’re the type of person who doesn’t read any of the instruction manuals for the new crap you buy, then you might want to skip that part.

Because anything crazy can happen in just one simulation, I ended up simulating this Finals series 100 times. Here are the results of those 100 sims in terms of who won and how often.

Yes, you can take the ‘Celtics win 4-0′ out of the real NBA finals, but it was the least likely outcome according to the sim anyway. Overall, this is a close series fantasy-wise. The Lakers end up winning 53 out of 100 times while the Celtics win 47 times. Going into the playoffs, that’s probably what a lot of people were predicting for the actual Finals as well. In the sim, the Lakers were slightly more likely to win strong in 4 or 5 games (they did it 19 times in the simulation) while Boston was a little more likely to go 6 or 7 games in their wins.

MVP

Kobe Bryant: 39 times
Paul Pierce: 18
Rajon Rondo: 15
Pau Gasol: 14
Kevin Garnett: 12
Ray Allen: 2

Kobe was the runaway MVP of the series, winning it 39% of the time. Not surprisingly, he and Gasol were the only Lakers to take the MVP, while each of Boston’s big 4 took home multiple MVPs.

Kobe is indeed an MVP

Comparing the Stat Categories

Not only can we look at the overall results of the series, but we can compare the individual stat categories across the entire simulation to see where each of the teams is strong or weak. Here is a review of the 9 cats with the percentage of times a team won that specific category.

FG% (Lakers 38%, Celtics 62%)
Any team with Ron Artest is going to have a leg down on FG%. Artest shot 41% from the field on the year, but Derek Fisher was even worse, shooting 38%. And Andrew Bynum’s great 57% shooting was offset by Perkins, who shot 60% from the field this season.

FT% (Lakers 58%, Celtics 42%)
A surprising loss for the Celtics given that Pierce (85%) and Ray Allen (91%) are two of the best free throw shooters in the league. Unfortunately for them, Rondo, Perkins and Tony Allen are horrible free throw shooters. The Lakers on the other hand, are a much more consistent FT% team, led by Kobe at 81% and Fisher at 86%.

Threes (Lakers 63%, Celtics 37%)
Overall the two teams are matched fairly evenly in threes with the exception of one position: PG. Rondo makes almost none, while Fisher average 1 a game this season. That’s all it takes to make a difference.

Steals (Lakers 44%, Celtics 56%)
On the other hand, Rondo led the league in steals. At 2.3 a game, he averaged at least twice as many steals as every player on the Lakers with the exception of Kobe and Artest.

Blocks (Lakers 50%, Celtics 50%)
I thought the Lakers would win this category consistently, but it appears that Perkins cancels out Bynum’s blocks and KG plus Rasheed equals Gasol. The rest of the two lineups don’t really have shot blockers.

Assists (Lakers 30%, Celtics 70%)
Rondo led the Celtics with 9.8 assists per game. Kobe led the Lakers with 5.

Rebounds (Lakers 68%, Celtics 32%)
Much like the real NBA finds, the Celtics don’t stand a chance on the boards. For the Lakers, Gasol averaged 11.2 a game, Odom 9.8 and Bynum 8.4. The Celtics on the other hand were paced by Perkins at 7.6 and KG at 7.3.

Points (Lakers 50%, Celtics 50%)
Another category I’m surprised the Lakers didn’t win. But while LA was mostly a one man show in the points category, Boston got contributions from their entire squad and even a little off their bench. The Lakers averaged about 2.5 more points a game as a team than the Celtics this season, so I’d expect the Lakers to come out slightly ahead if I ran this simulation again.

Turnovers (Lakers 58%, Celtics 42%)
Both Rondo and especially Perkins averaged more turnovers per game than their counterparts on the Lakers. Perkins was especially egregious at 2.1/game considering he only averaged 28 minutes a game.

***

Digging into the Simulation

A number of assumptions/rules had to be invoked to make this a worthwhile endeavor. Here they are.

The program I created simulates a single game at a time by randomly pulling a stat line from the game log of a player using their 2009-2010 box scores. This means that for any single game, Kobe (for example) might get his 44 point, 11 assist game from December 29th or his 10 point, 1 assist game against Dallas on January 13th. Or anything in between. The same thing happens for every player on the team.

Why am I using regular season stats and not playoff stats? One, I don’t have the playoff game logs yet, and two, the point of this simulation is to see who would win in a fantasy match up between the teams, not to predict the finals.

Yes, it is not a perfect system. The Celtics are (supposed to be) very good on defense and will likely hold the Lakers below their season averages on offense, Kobe and Gasol are playing out of their minds in the playoffs, rotations are different in the playoffs, etc, etc. The one thing that I did in the simulation is shorten the rotations so that each team only goes 8-9 deep. No need to get Adam Morrison or Brian Scalabrine involved in this; anyone who is not getting any playoff run had their stats zeroed out for the simulation as well.

After totaling up the stat lines for each team, there were compared like they would be in an H2H league. If the Lakers won 5 of the categories and the Celtics won 4, then the Lakers won that game. If the teams happened to tie at 4.5 categories apiece, that game was thrown out because there are no ties in the playoffs. Or crying.

After one of the teams won four games, the simulation calculated a Finals MVP by taking a rough weighted sum of each player’s series stats (for the winning team) and awarding it to the player with the highest score on his team.

The simulation was then reset and run again until 100 series were played out.

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So, as I said yesterday on Twitter, with the Blackhawks playing for the Stanley Cup, it’s kind of hard to think about the NBA Finals. That being the case, I’m going to go ahead and give myself the home court advantage in this battle of previews by going second. Patrick was infinitely more efficient, getting his part of this post done days in advance, so now I can just copy his format and make sure you know why the Celtics are going to lose (or at least post some pics of Megan Fox at a Lakers game). I’ll stay away from a point-by-point rebuttal because that would be boring to read. (As opposed to everything else on this blog)

Patrick: Celtics

2008. It is an inevitable comparison. The Lakers and Celtics faced off in the 2008 NBA finals; a series that Boston won 4-2 to take home their 17th championship in franchise history. But as a Celtics’ fan, the more I dig into that comparison the more worried I become.
Pierce, Allen and especially Garnett are older and further removed from their peak than in 2008. Boston’s bench is possibly at the same level as their 2008 one (although they lack a James Posey type of defensive player this year), while the Lakers’ bench is deeper now (remember Sasha Vujacic getting destroyed in the 2008 Finals?). Andrew Bynum is playing this year (kind of) while Kendrick the foul machine Perkins is one technical away from his league mandated suspension. Finally, Ron Artest was built to guard someone like Paul Pierce, freeing Kobe to focus his powers on the offensive end like he’s been doing all playoffs.

All that being said, I still like the Celtics to pull it out in a tight series. Here are three reasons why I like them in this series.

It’s a good match up for the Celtics

I am extremely happy that the C’s are not facing the Suns. The Suns would have represented the worst possible match up for Boston. The Celtics’ big weakness is team speed (in general) and transition defense (specifically) and the Suns would have run so hard that the aging core would have been gassed by the second quarter of games.

On the other hand, the Lakers’, while very good on offense, at least play the type of game that the Celtics can keep up with. On their run to the finals, the Celtics went though Wade and LeBron. While Kobe has a much, much, much better supporting cast than those two, Pierce, Ray Allen and Tony Allen should be able to make Kobe work for his offense in this series. The Celtics have been playing amazing help defense throughout the playoffs, so the more half court sets they see, the better off they are forcing turnovers and creating stops.

Rajon Rondo

You could devote 20,000 words to Rondo and the playoffs he’s having (and I’m sure that Bill Simmons has), but here is all I need to know: Derek Fisher will be guarding him. That is by far the biggest mismatch of the playoffs and one I really look forward to watching.

The Lakers are still soft

Maybe not 2008-soft thanks to the addition of Ron Artest, but they are still soft. Pau Gasol has received praise for his great playoff run this season, but he has played against Jeff Green, Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudemire, which is not exactly a murder’s row of defense. KG might not be the same player that he was in 2008, but he will harass Gasol in the post in a way that Gasol hasn’t seen in the playoffs. I fully expect the Celtics to knock the Lakers’ around in this series and for Perkins to get a technical sometime in the first half of game 1. The more complaining we hear from Phil Jackson, the better off Boston is in this series

The Predictions

13,977 shots of Jack Nicholson
4 games that Phil Jackson complains about the refs afterwards
3 fake Paul Pierce injuries
2 Kendrick Perkins technicals
1 game that Kobe single-handedly wins for the Lakers
The Celtics in 7

Nels: Lakers

It’s rather an odd situation for someone who grew up as a fan of the Portland Trail Blazers to be in favor of the Lakers ever. But, as a current Chicago Bulls fan, I cannot let myself even consider wanting good things to happen to the current Boston Celtics team. Once the Celtics are done with Garnett and Rondo, then I can perhaps stop wishing them ill, but bad blood from Rondo boarding Kirk Hinrich in 2008 still runs in my veins. As for Garnett, well, sorry, but I’ve never liked Garnett. I’ve felt sorry for him, sure, but never liked him.

Anyway… on with it!

Kobe
Yes, like the Celtics core, Kobe is getting old and he’s a little bit beaten up. But he has been for a while and it hasn’t kept him from being a Top 10 fantasy player and, while maybe not an MVP candidate, he is still a First Team All NBA player. And he loves to put the dagger in. There were many posts about LeBron’s “will to win” (if you will) after the performances he had to close out the Conference Semifinals. There is no question about Kobe’s will. He wants to take that last shot so he can be The Man just as much as LeBron does. But Kobe would sacrifice being The Man off the court if it meant more championship rings. I’m not sure you can say the same about LeBron. And the same sort of obtuse logic can be applied to the Celtics. Garnett is their man with the will to win for winning’s sake. But Paul Pierce (or sometimes Ray Allen) is the guy taking the shots at the end of games. The power and force there is less concentrated because it’s spread between the Big 3. Because of Kobe’s ability to dominate, the Lakers have at least 1 win right there.

Casting
I’m going to start this comparison with the Cavs because they are basically like the Transformers franchise: tossing out some parts that should have worked (Megan Fox) for others that might work (Rosie Huntington-Whitely), but the result is still just big numbers with no championship. What does that make the Celtics and Lakers?

The Celtics are like an art house ensemble film: there’s a ton of good actors and you know it’s going to be a good movie on a technical level, but you don’t really actually want to watch it.

The Lakers are like Grown Ups: A couple of big name guys who can totally dominate when they’re at their best, a few other guys who are pretty good, and while you’re not sure what the script is going to be like, you’re probably at least going to be entertained.

Ron Artest is Crazy and Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins have short fuses
What are the odds on someone getting punched in this series? Probably not as good as they were for the Blackhawks going in to the Final, but it’s gotta be pretty close.

If Perkins gets another technical and misses a game, you can almost give that one to the Lakers. The Celtics losing one of their two big men means that Gasol and Bynum will be going against Garnett and either Big Baby (sorry dude, you’re stuck with it) or Rasheed Wallace.

Ron Artest is good at defense
Rondo will dominate the Lakers’ Point Guards, but if Artest can shut down Paul Pierce, the Celtics are done. Garnett doesn’t have the firepower – look at his numbers against Orlando. Ray Allen has the firepower, but he will be drained going against Kobe. Pierce is the guy who brings points when the Celtics need points, and he’s going against Artest. If Pierce has an off-night, Allen, Garnett and Rondo are going to have to chip in an extra few buckets apiece to make up for it, and if they can’t, that’s another one for the Lakers.

Coaching
Doc Rivers is a great coach, no doubt. Phil Jackson is better. Yes, Phil’s had two of the greatest basketball players of all time on his teams (with Scottie Pippen and Shaq along for the ride), but he he knows what he’s doing. I’ve been doing web development as long as Doc Rivers has been coaching, but I probably wouldn’t get hired over someone who is just as creative, clever, hard-working, innovative, and handsome but with 10 more years of experience than me (unless they had outrageous salary demands or something).

Jackson will figure out whatever is thrown at him, and put his players in a position to counter, overcome, and win.

If That Wasn’t Enough
Here’s 10 More Reasons the Lakers Will Win

The Predictions
2,832 shots of Kevin Garnett complaining, dismissing, pleading, or disbelieving
3 Paul Pierce gang references
2 Kendrick Perkins technicals
1 Lamar Odom shining moment
1 Kobe game-winner
Not nearly enough shots of Megan Fox
The Lakers in 6

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Oh, wait. Did I just miss “the greatest comeback in the history of the finals?” Did the Celtics really hand the Lakers their first home loss in the playoffs after being down by 24 points?

My main problem was the fact that I sat through the entire miserable first half and I didn’t feel like sitting through a second. Here’s the gist of what was going through my head during those first 24 minutes:

Oh no, the C’s are coming out a little lazy, that’s not good. The Lakers aren’t missing any shots. The Celtics look sloppy. Too many turnovers. This is going to get ugly. Lakers opening a big lead. Doc, call a timeout. Doc, timeout. Timeout Doc. Timeout. Let’s call a timeout. Timeout. Timeout. Timeout. Dammit Doc, a timeout. Why is Eddie House shooting so much? Pass the ball Eddie. STOP JACKING UP SHOTS! Where the hell is that timeout? If Sam Cassell turns the ball over one more time, I’m going to reach through the TV and punch him in the face. You know what would be awesome right about now: a timeout. Doc, why don’t you calm everyone down with a timeout? Be a buddy and call a timeout. F**KING TIMEOUT! Why are 5 guys guarding Kobe and leaving the rest of the team wide open at the three point line? Trevor Ariza for three? Down by 24. We so need a timeout. Please, Doc. FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, CALL A DAMN TIMEOUT.

/ Kobe misses a three
/ Garnet hits a jumper
/ Radmanovic misses a three
/ Allen hits a three
/ Phil Jackson calls a timeout

Arrrrggghhh!

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For a team that was dogged most of the season for not having one, the Celtics are getting plenty of game changing play from their bench during the playoffs. Last night it was Leon Powe, who I hear warms up before games by doing cock pushups (at least that’s what his ABC halftime profile said), scoring 21 points in less than 15 minutes on the floor. He also threw down a few.

The Celtics are also playing some great – dare I say glorious – defense against the Lakers. Swarming Kobe away from the basket, disrupting the triangle offense, and controlling the glass. With the exception of Gasol, the Lakers are also doing their part by settling for long jumpers instead of going aggressively to the basket. Or maybe you agree with Phil Jackson that it’s the ref s who are in the bag for Boston.

Wait. Is it too late for my playoff prediction? Celtics in 4! Celtics sweep! Lakers suck!

Alright that was fun. But in reality, the Lakers are too good to allow that to happen. Kobe is too good to let Boston take 2 out of 3 in LA. This series is going back to Boston. Mark my words. In pencil. So I can erase them when I’m wrong.

Nels’ prediction of the Celtics in 6 is looking particularly prescient today.

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On a related note, if the Celtics split the 3 in LA 2-1, my prediction of Green in 6 is looking pretty good.

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The Celtics are older, but not so old that they’ll be outrun or out hustled by the Lakers. Just old enough to have enough at stake that they have to win it now. The Lakers can make another run next year, and probably the year after that and still be successful. The Celtics might not have as large a window, so their Big 3 will be fighting harder for it. Celtics in 6.

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• There’s one sport that can get away with playing exactly one game in a week, and it’s not basketball. Thank God Lebron made it to the finals, otherwise the NBA might have been challenging the NHL for the worst ratings in the history of, well, I guess ever.
• Although I didn’t officially throw out a finals prediction, if I had, I probably would have went with the Spurs in four or five (in a related note, my Dad could have totally kicked your Dad’s ass back in the day). But then I read something like this from Henry Abbott, and he pretty much convinces me that the Cavs are going to win. Well played, Henry Abbott, well played.
• If I can give you once piece of advice for your fantasy draft next season, it would be to NOT DRAFT DANIEL GIBSON. In a couple months, come round 7 or 8, you’ll probably be looking for a guy you’ve heard of, someone familiar, and Gibson may pop into your head. You may think to yourself, hey, he had a great playoff run, he’s in for a breakout year! The thought will come, let it pass, draft someone else.
• I’m not hating on Gibson. He’s got a great playoff blog on NBA.com. It’s the first time I’ve seen the word “mom’s” in written form in my life, and I love how he told the story about how he got the nickname “Boobie” without actually telling us how he got the nickname.
• Here’s to Lebron making things interesting tonight.

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I’m leaning towards the Cavs in this one based on their ability to put out 10 videos to the Spurs Silver Dancers who only have 4.

The balance of power shifts, though, when you recall that I voted Kim the number two hottest All-Star Dancer. None of the Cavs dancers (lamely called the Cavalier Girls – but wisely appealing to all the pervs out there) even made the list (the list was only 5 dancers though so really you the odds are pretty slim – kind of like most of the dancers).

The balance of power shifts back, though, because the Cavalier Girls have 26 photo galleries. Their site is also easier to find your way around. The Silver Dancers site seemed like it should have more, and while it’s a prettier site, it’s really quite shallow when it comes down to it. And the CG site made it a lot easier for me to grab photos for this post.

The photos are out of date since they don’t have the 06-07 calendar pictures online (understandably), but really, everyone knows that the best place to get cheerleader pictures is at Sports Illustrated anyway.

I know whenever my hair gets blown in my face, I’m forced to hang onto my swimsuit for dear life.

Yes, all women need somwhere to rest their hands. If you don’t have pockets to put them in, the top of your swimsuit is the next best place. Followed by the bottom of your swimsuit, but really, only hos do that.

No good caption for this one. Just wanted to show off those skyscrapers. The ones in the Cleveland skyline.

WINNER: Cavalier Girls by +4.5 (if you’re betting)

Winner of the series? Sorry, it’s going to San Antonio.

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