duncan228
05-01-2009, 04:13 PM
San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons – The End of the Road (http://www.betus.com/sports-betting/nba-basketball/articles/spurs-pistons-the-end-of-the-road/)
by Tim Furious
betus.com
If you go back over the last seven years of NBA action, two teams will stand out above all others. San Antonio has won four NBA titles since drafting Tim Duncan. The Detroit Pistons have been to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and won the esteemed title in 2004 after acquiring a man simply known as “Sheed”. No two teams have proved to have more staying power in the NBA Playoffs than the Spurs in the West and the Pistons in the East.
However, like the Roman Empire, the U.S. Economy and the career of Tom Cruise, you can’t stay on top of the mountain forever. San Antonio and Detroit were both first round victims in the 2009 NBA Playoffs. I hate saying it because I’ve loved tracking these teams for the past ten years – but it’s the end of an era in the NBA.
The Pistons’ Joe Dumars had a sharp eye for under-song heroes. In 2001 he brought Ben Wallace on board to anchor his defense, while shipping an oft-injured Grant Hill to Orlando. The following year, he signed Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and drafted a gangly character named Tayshaun Prince.
The final piece of the puzzle was an unexpected savior from a team affectionately known as the Portland JailBlazers. At the trade deadline in 2004, the Pistons acquired Rasheed Wallace. I still remember seeing that headline flash across the ticker while watching ESPN, turning to my buddy Mikey, a long-time Detroit supporter and saying, “Congrats. You guys just won the championship.”
And they did. Detroit won the Eastern Conference by muscling past the Pacers and then vanquishing an insanely feared Lakers team that had bolstered Kobe and Shaq with Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Nobody gave Detroit a chance, and all they did was post three double-digit wins, and closed the series as NBA Champions after a 14-year drought. In 2005, Detroit would run in to another team trying to assert themselves on the NBA.
NBA fans cringed when Detroit and San Antonio met in the NBA Finals. It’s really no surprise either. A lot of casual NBA fans hate 5-on-5 basketball centered around defense and team play. But when the series went to seven games, with the Spurs eventually toppling Detroit’s chances of earning back-to-back championships, everyone was glued to their TV’s.
The Spurs won four conference titles and four NBA Championships between 1999-2007, happily earning a right to claim the title of “dynasty” that Detroit so desperately tried to achieve.
The story these days, is so much different. Detroit imploded around the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, failed to replenish its diminishing bench with trades and free-agency and watched Rasheed Wallace slowly fade from NBA relevancy. They also failed to get psychiatric help for Tayshaun Prince after LeBron dropped fourteen billion dunks on his face over the last three years. Honestly, go back to that historic performance by LeBron and count forwards. Has Tayshaun ever been the same feared defensive player since then? Nope.
For San Antonio, the story is so much different. Injuries have crippled this team. Tim Duncan hit the 1,000 game mark which brings the health of his knees in to question. Manu Ginobli played in just 44 games this season, starting only seven, and scoring just 15.5 points per game. Manu and The Big Fundamental are slowing down, while Tony Parker is hitting his prime. It’s bad timing if anything.
You can hardly blame the players. Joe Dumars was a genius in putting together perhaps one of the most feared starting five in recent NBA history. Rip Hamilton was a deadly defender and a lethal scorer. Tayshaun Prince was shutting everyone not named LeBron James down like a landlord in a low-income neighborhood. Rasheed and Big Ben were the most feared interior defense in the league. And Chauncey was a leader. Who is the future of Detroit now?
Joe Dumars let his own head get to him, and tried desperately to give the Pistons one last push by bringing on Allen Iverson who hit the IR faster than you can say “practice?!”. Now the Pistons are left in ruins, trying to piece together a team that has plummeted in to the depths of its twilight years. You won’t be hearing about the Pistons anytime soon.
The Spurs, on the other hand, may be down…but they’re far from out. Timmy Duncan is a hard nosed leader who will still has a few NBA years left in him while he watches Tony Parker inevitably take over the team. The real engine for San Antonio is Greg Popovich, who is hands down the best coach in the NBA today. His players are fiercely loyal. They all buy in to his scheme. He demands respect and commands the locker room. That’s the leader you want when a dynasty is on the verge of collapsing.
Either way you cut it, the Lakers are taking over the West with Houston and Portland on the up-and-up. Detroit barely clawed their way in to the playoffs this season, and don’t have the pieces in place to make a run next year.
The early part of the new millennium will be remember for two teams that sat on the verge of greatness. One team let hubris and a refusal to replenish the bench stand in their way, while the other made the most of what they had by notching four NBA championship.
All good things must come to an end. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of all good things. In the wake of San Antonio and Detroit’s fall from grace comes the impending dynasty of LeBron James. If he stays in Cleveland, or bolts to greener pastures in New York, LeBron is the one guy to watch take over from 2009 onwards. The Cavs need to learn from both San Antonio Detroit’s mistakes.
You can sit on a good thing all you want, but constantly striving to grow, evolve and mature is paramount to taking advantage of a superstar’s potential. Aligning The King with Delonte West, Mo William, Big Z and countless other role players in Cleveland has given the Cavs all they need to become the next dynasty in the NBA. All that stands in their way is the summer of 2010.
by Tim Furious
betus.com
If you go back over the last seven years of NBA action, two teams will stand out above all others. San Antonio has won four NBA titles since drafting Tim Duncan. The Detroit Pistons have been to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and won the esteemed title in 2004 after acquiring a man simply known as “Sheed”. No two teams have proved to have more staying power in the NBA Playoffs than the Spurs in the West and the Pistons in the East.
However, like the Roman Empire, the U.S. Economy and the career of Tom Cruise, you can’t stay on top of the mountain forever. San Antonio and Detroit were both first round victims in the 2009 NBA Playoffs. I hate saying it because I’ve loved tracking these teams for the past ten years – but it’s the end of an era in the NBA.
The Pistons’ Joe Dumars had a sharp eye for under-song heroes. In 2001 he brought Ben Wallace on board to anchor his defense, while shipping an oft-injured Grant Hill to Orlando. The following year, he signed Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and drafted a gangly character named Tayshaun Prince.
The final piece of the puzzle was an unexpected savior from a team affectionately known as the Portland JailBlazers. At the trade deadline in 2004, the Pistons acquired Rasheed Wallace. I still remember seeing that headline flash across the ticker while watching ESPN, turning to my buddy Mikey, a long-time Detroit supporter and saying, “Congrats. You guys just won the championship.”
And they did. Detroit won the Eastern Conference by muscling past the Pacers and then vanquishing an insanely feared Lakers team that had bolstered Kobe and Shaq with Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Nobody gave Detroit a chance, and all they did was post three double-digit wins, and closed the series as NBA Champions after a 14-year drought. In 2005, Detroit would run in to another team trying to assert themselves on the NBA.
NBA fans cringed when Detroit and San Antonio met in the NBA Finals. It’s really no surprise either. A lot of casual NBA fans hate 5-on-5 basketball centered around defense and team play. But when the series went to seven games, with the Spurs eventually toppling Detroit’s chances of earning back-to-back championships, everyone was glued to their TV’s.
The Spurs won four conference titles and four NBA Championships between 1999-2007, happily earning a right to claim the title of “dynasty” that Detroit so desperately tried to achieve.
The story these days, is so much different. Detroit imploded around the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, failed to replenish its diminishing bench with trades and free-agency and watched Rasheed Wallace slowly fade from NBA relevancy. They also failed to get psychiatric help for Tayshaun Prince after LeBron dropped fourteen billion dunks on his face over the last three years. Honestly, go back to that historic performance by LeBron and count forwards. Has Tayshaun ever been the same feared defensive player since then? Nope.
For San Antonio, the story is so much different. Injuries have crippled this team. Tim Duncan hit the 1,000 game mark which brings the health of his knees in to question. Manu Ginobli played in just 44 games this season, starting only seven, and scoring just 15.5 points per game. Manu and The Big Fundamental are slowing down, while Tony Parker is hitting his prime. It’s bad timing if anything.
You can hardly blame the players. Joe Dumars was a genius in putting together perhaps one of the most feared starting five in recent NBA history. Rip Hamilton was a deadly defender and a lethal scorer. Tayshaun Prince was shutting everyone not named LeBron James down like a landlord in a low-income neighborhood. Rasheed and Big Ben were the most feared interior defense in the league. And Chauncey was a leader. Who is the future of Detroit now?
Joe Dumars let his own head get to him, and tried desperately to give the Pistons one last push by bringing on Allen Iverson who hit the IR faster than you can say “practice?!”. Now the Pistons are left in ruins, trying to piece together a team that has plummeted in to the depths of its twilight years. You won’t be hearing about the Pistons anytime soon.
The Spurs, on the other hand, may be down…but they’re far from out. Timmy Duncan is a hard nosed leader who will still has a few NBA years left in him while he watches Tony Parker inevitably take over the team. The real engine for San Antonio is Greg Popovich, who is hands down the best coach in the NBA today. His players are fiercely loyal. They all buy in to his scheme. He demands respect and commands the locker room. That’s the leader you want when a dynasty is on the verge of collapsing.
Either way you cut it, the Lakers are taking over the West with Houston and Portland on the up-and-up. Detroit barely clawed their way in to the playoffs this season, and don’t have the pieces in place to make a run next year.
The early part of the new millennium will be remember for two teams that sat on the verge of greatness. One team let hubris and a refusal to replenish the bench stand in their way, while the other made the most of what they had by notching four NBA championship.
All good things must come to an end. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of all good things. In the wake of San Antonio and Detroit’s fall from grace comes the impending dynasty of LeBron James. If he stays in Cleveland, or bolts to greener pastures in New York, LeBron is the one guy to watch take over from 2009 onwards. The Cavs need to learn from both San Antonio Detroit’s mistakes.
You can sit on a good thing all you want, but constantly striving to grow, evolve and mature is paramount to taking advantage of a superstar’s potential. Aligning The King with Delonte West, Mo William, Big Z and countless other role players in Cleveland has given the Cavs all they need to become the next dynasty in the NBA. All that stands in their way is the summer of 2010.