Where is AJCsportstalk?
AJCsportstalk has moved…to a new blogging platform.
Don’t freak out, though. You’ll still be able to voice your opinion on all the latest breaking news dealing with UGA, Georgia Tech, the Falcons, Braves, Hawks, Thrashers and the rest of the sports world right here.
We’ll see you there.
Home > ajcsportstalk > Archives > 2007 > June > 15 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USSpurs the best team nobody recognizes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cleveland — It’s belabor-the-obvious time as an inattentive nation bids a backhanded farewell to these NBA Finals.
So, let’s look at the lessons of a rout, many of them delivered with the subtlety of a croquet mallet to the head.
—The Spurs are really good, in fact, probably the best team that nobody recognizes. They have achieved a measure of fame for not getting famous, if that is possible. And having too easy of a time with the Cavaliers will not gild their resume. Just try not to hold Cleveland’s callowness against the Spurs.
Winning on odd numbered years - 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 - is an odd way to build a dynasty. The titles don’t wash over you, rather they sort of hit you when you’re not looking.
“A team for the ages,” NBA Commissioner David Stern called San Antonio after matters were decided Thursday, but that is his job. A team for the DSL Age, certainly.
“A helluva team,” critiqued Cleveland coach Mike Brown, getting to the real meat of the matter.
— Even if the TV ratings suggest the Spurs are not popular, they represent so many things that should appeal to a fan.
They almost single-handedly blow up the cliche that there is no defense played in the NBA. They can take a ham-and-egger like Bruce Bowen and sic him on LeBron James (with a lot of help behind him) and deny a special young talent any chance to breathe hope into the Cavs. “(Bowen) did an awesome job of standing in front of that guy and making life tough on him,” Duncan said. Thursday was one last hard day for James, needing 30 shots to make 10, scoring an inefficient 24.
Then there is just the way the Spurs carry themselves in a game. Even as the Cavs made an 11-0 run to begin the fourth quarter Thursday, taking their first second-half lead of this whole series, San Antonio never showed the slightest cracks. It just flipped the switch that has been seasons in the wiring and took back the lead in just under a minute.
“(The Cavs) fought, they hit the offensive glass, they did everything they could, but we sustained,” Duncan said. “They made runs, we never panicked. I think it just shows a lot of the experience, the poise, that we’ve built over the years, and I think we just outlasted them.”
— Childbirth is life-changing, but not series-changing. James spent much of Wednesday attending the birth of his second child - Bryce Maximus James, a name that would make him part Abercrombie model, part gladiator.
There was some thought that the emotion of that event would propel James to new heights come game time. Instead, he just kept running into the same Spurs. Bryce, daddy will be home soon. — The basketball world is flat. The Finals MVP is from France (Tony Paker). The player who lifted the Spurs in Game 4 with 27 points if from Argentina (Manu Ginobili). If you are an NBA scout serious about stocking your team, you better have a valid passport.
“European basketball is improving every year,” said Parker, the first from that continent to be recognized as Finals MVP. “You’ve got Dirk Nowitzki the MVP for the first time and now the MVP of the Finals. There’s going to be more.”
— Cleveland has the mold for what it needs to do from here. It need only at the film of the last week. Brown, the Cavs coach, sprung from the San Antonio system, so he is very familiar with what has to happen.
Get somebody in there to help James, who in assessing Duncan almost wistfully said Thursday night, “He’s a great player and he has a great supporting cast around him.” In this series, he kept dishing the ball to empty uniforms.
With the players, ground them in defense but also install some sort of offense that doesn’t grow moss in 24-second increments.
— There is no reason San Antonio can’t win more. Duncan, the lynchpin, is just 31. Coach Gregg Popovich is beginning to take on the look of a mastermind. Asked about a repeat, the less than cuddly coach responded, “I don’t give a (bleep).” But he probably does.
When Duncan and James passed behind an interview podium, the four-time-titled power forward was overheard telling the 22-year-old prodigy, “The League is going to be yours soon.” But the Spurs will be in no hurry to hand it to him.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: NBA
Comments
By PoliticalMan
June 15, 2007 8:26 AM | Link to this
The Spurs are a throwback team. They don’t play stupid. They can shoot. They can defend. They are courageous. Seems simple enough to me.
Every player on the Hawks ought to have those 4 games loaded on their DVD players to watch over and over and over. They might get a glimmer of how one wins in the NBA.
By roth
June 15, 2007 8:48 AM | Link to this
Classic Hummer. Watched 5 minutes of the series. That’s it. Used to watch entire series. Want to see smooth, fundamental passing game, more scoring from players who can all hit mid-range shots, fewer dunks, no one take more than 2 steps (call travelling, don’t let guys obviously run 4 steps before a layup) or move pivot foot. I could care less about the cult of NBA personality. Just give me good basketball, that’s all. And as for the league and ESPN/ABC, I can sense the corporate branding at every move and I’m sick of it.
By Big Moe
June 15, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this
Billy Knight should have that game on DVD. It would show him what a good Point Guard can do. The Hawks already know how to shoot 38% from the field.
By Big Moe
June 15, 2007 8:56 AM | Link to this
1 last thing. The next time ABC/ESPN try to force Eva down my throat, she better have on a bikini.
By Steven
June 15, 2007 9:45 AM | Link to this
Give credit to the San Antonio Spurs defense but this series proved how overhyped Lebron James is. He has one great game against Detroit, notice I said one GREAT GAME and people crown him the face of the NBA and the next Jordan. WRONG!! He doesn’t have that competitive edge or killer instinct. He get it soon but DO NOT crown an undeserving person such a title. Also, any real superstar will get their points regardless of the defense, i.e. Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, hey even Dwayne Wade. If you look back, the Spurs always played great defense but a superstar won’t be stopped, so they take away other things and other players. My point is, Lebron gets too much credit and he has yet to do anything to warrant SUCH BIG PRAISES. That’s real talk.
By gdg73
June 15, 2007 11:58 AM | Link to this
Billy Knight, do the following: sign Josh Smith to for the max., then trade him along with the #3 pick, Speedy Claxton, and Shelden Williams for Kobe Bryant. Then hope that a good rebounder/shot blocker/hustler/defender falls to eleven. Maybe Noah will slide?? I guarantee the Hawks would at least make it to the Eastern conference finals.
By RamblinLonghorn
June 15, 2007 1:13 PM | Link to this
Steven: He’s 21 for god’s sake.
The spurs also consistently make great players look bad. In the course of this playoffs they stopped, Iverson, Anthony, Nash, Stoudamire, Boozer, and now James.
By Steven
June 15, 2007 1:32 PM | Link to this
He’s 22. And thats what I hate. When people call him this such great player and then when he doesn’t live up to his hype, they say he’s only 22. Well stop praising him and hailing him King then. In order to be King, you must accomplish big things and getting out of the eastern conference, especially this year, does not warrant the title King. When he actually win’s an MVP award and a NBA Finals, then start calling him this great player. But until then, he’s still the most overhyped player in NBA history. Real GOod player but is not the player everyone claims he is…Not yet at least!