Well, LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavalier teammates completely collapsed in the pro basketball hoops final series, being swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs. The Cavs' shooting was awful in Game 4 last night, and once again bad coaching at the end of the contest didn't help their chances at all. It had been a pleasant surprise to see them defeat the thuggish Detroit Pistons to reach the finals, but the Cavs proved in the end that the Eastern Conference is a pretty weak place to play hoops overall.

The Spurs are winning the trophy every other year now, and although they're old, they're probably not through as a championship contender for the future. Alas, this particular title will come with an asterisk on it in some folks' minds, since San Antonio won their crucial earlier series against the Phoenix Suns (the only other team playing at their level) in a controversial way. Wily Spurs veteran Robert Horry (who's been on title-winning teams seven times now) took a major cheap shot at Suns star Steve Nash toward the end of a game late in the series, and two of the Suns who reacted to it were suspended for the next game. Unlike some, I don't disagree with the discipline that the league imposed with respect to that incident, but it's too bad that Horry and his teammates didn't simply outplay Phoenix, rather than baiting them into a costly melee.

Anyway, that's it for the NBA until the upcoming draft on the 28th, where the Blazers will no doubt use their no. 1 overall pick to take Greg Oden, the man-child center from Ohio State. There will be some trades around that time as well, no doubt, since the addition of this consensus superstar of the future will crowd out some other Portland big man (or two). In the meantime, all hail the Spurs (except for Horry).