Tayshaun Prince vs. LeBron James


mikhail1973

Before the playoffs started I would've said LBJ should have an advantage. After watching first two rounds I am not sure. LBJ will most likely outscore Tay, but his defense still is suspect, his jumper is inconsistent, and Tay does so much more besides scoring. Tay will definitely need help containing LBJ.

Advantage: Push


adpreston1988

This is going to be the biggest matchup in the series. The more offensive game Prince brings the more he'll be able to wear LeBron James down, which will affect his own game. Hopefully Prince will be able to hold LeBron James to under 30 points, because if he does the Pistons should be able to win every game in the series. But if he finds his groove and scores 30+ points like he did last year and Wade did last year, the Pistons are going to be in a lot of trouble.

Advantage: Cleveland


Dumars4Ever

Obviously LeTravel is one of the premiere talents in the league, even if he isn't getting plenty of help from the zebras. The key to dealing with him is probably to keep him on the perimeter as much as possible, as well as hitting the boards and getting back in transition to stop him from getting out in the open floor, where he's always dangerous. Slowing him down will certainly be a team effort. And if Tay can be as productive on offense as he was against the Bulls, that'll help keep this matchup from getting too far in Cleveland's favor as well.

Advantage: Cleveland


linwood

Tayshaun will have a difficult time stopping James' two patented offensive moves: The off-arm clear-out, and the walk-on-the-court-travel followed by tomahawk dunk.

These two moves (or the combination of both!) are deadly, and lead to lots of points by the new King of Basketball.

One thing Lebrizzle isn't that good at yet is playing defense. The Prince is going to have to make the King work to stop him, while forcing the guy into lower percentage shots.

Advantage, Lebron... but not by as much as you would think.

Advantage: Cleveland


bezeach

This series is all about LeBron James vs. the Detroit Pistons. Prince is 2nd Team All-Defense, but LeBron's offense is even better. LeBron's athletic play and all around talent is the only hope for the Cavs in this series.

Advantage: Cleveland


st8ofmind

LBJ - If he goes to the rack he can single handedly win at least 2 games on his own. If his jumper is on and his teammates play somewhere above a CBA level the Cavs are almost unbeatable. Too bad he looks like me with a broken foot in a pickup game on D. A superstar whistle magnet.

Tay - I can't think of a nicer things to say than...

Like Joe D on Jordan... I couldn't think of another guy I'd want to go to war with vs 'the man'. At the end of the game (when Bron Bron has notoriously faded) Tay has exceled and not molested his fingernails in the process.

Slighter edge than the casual fan or refs or shoe companies would think.

Advantage: Cleveland


Dlev59

The Prince vs the King.

The King may have the stardom, but the Prince has a ring.

And may be on his way to getting another one, with a Finals MVP.

Oh, the matchup....Tay of course will be matched up against Lebron, but guarding Lebron will be a team responsibilty. Flip says he has something special for defending Lebron, perhaps it`s the "box in one zone" put Tay on Lebron and have everyone else in a zone defense!!

We will have to wait and see, however, if Lebron guards Tay, we can have the King on the bench real quick. Deng should hit Lebron on his cell and warn him about Tay when he has that look inhis eye.

If the Prince is on and draws a foul or two on Bron Bron, look for Mike Brown to have him guard someone else other than Tay. BUT WHO??

Advantage: Push


Maverick

Should be great fun to watch.. Tayshaun will try to keep LeTravel away from the basket and then bother him with his length. I still expect Lebron to avg 30 ppg except h'es going to need a ton of shots and all of the FT's that we know he's going to get.

In effect we need to hope that his decreased efficiency combined with our increased efficiency will win the day..

I expect Tay to come up HUGE in the clutch just like last series. But overall I think Lebron's impact will be more felt in this series.

Advantage: Cleveland


dba

As Sheed says, 30 is fine for LBJ as long as it takes him 30 shots to do it. So far he's only getting 26 while shooting 42% / 29% from three, but handing out 8+ assists per game and keeping his turns under control. He'll have to score more to beat Detroit, especially with Prince getting over 18. If TP comes that close to matching LBJ in scoring (-7), it's a short series. Whoever LBJ guards has to make him work on defense and make sure he gets well acquainted with the grain pattern of the hardwood. Still, we'll see how much LBJ has grown up, Prince too.

Advantage: Cleveland


BillLaimbeer

At first glance this looks like a landslide for the Cavs. The way Prince has stepped up in this year's playoffs will close the gap some. I especially like the way Tayshaun displayed more emotion and leadership in the closing out of the Bulls. LeBron will get his points, but how much will he keep his teammates involved? That will be the key.

Advantage: Cleveland

Tayshaun Prince - NBA Players - Sportsnet.ca

It really is free crack day, not even $.50...

Tay has played how many games in a row now? And if he missed one this year it was a Coaches decision.

TAY 1 FOR 11...JAMES 5 FOR 15 ...
TAY 6 REBS...JAMES 10
TAY 9 ASSISTS....JAMES 9 ASSISTS

I'll take those stats alll series. Knock him out the box, tay, knock'm out tay.

Big story though is that Tay was 6-6 from the free throw line and Labron never made it to the line at all.......

Absolutely.

It's like in hockey when one team's goon fights the other team's star player. Both players get 5 for fighting. But the team with the goon will take that trade off all day long.

Or in chess when you sacrifice your rook to take out your opponents queen.

I'm willing to sacrifice Tay's offence in this series in order to keep LBJ in check(mate).

I say this was a draw. If Tay can play Bron to a draw I like our chances. However, LJ is bound to get some calls, eventually.

I'm going to go way out on a limb on this one and guarantee that this will be the fewest (or at least tie for the fewest) number of calls LBJ gets in a game this series.

"Ya'll can quote me, put it back page, front page, whatever."