#2!
10-17-2009, 04:30 AM
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/fran_blinebury/10/17/cavs.spurs/index.html
In blink of an eye, things have changed between Cavs, Spurs
Posted Oct 17 2009 12:52AM
SAN ANTONIO -- One day the little brother is standing on his tip-toes trying to get the top of his head to reach to your elbows. He's walking in your shadow, dogging your every step. He's using a pencil to make lines on the wall to measure his growth.
Then one day you turn around and he's staring you straight in the eyes. Oh my, how things have changed.
Was it just two seasons ago that the Cavaliers seemed to sneak their way past the security guards and into the NBA Finals? Could only 28 months have passed since LeBron James' virtual one-man gang was routinely slapped in four straight by Tim Duncan and the Spurs?
Now as the 2009-10 season openers draw increasingly near for the once and perhaps future kings, you might not be able to slide a razor blade into the gap between San Antonio and Cleveland.
Talk about nuclear proliferation. The Spurs add Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Theo Ratliff and DeJuan Blair over the summer, while the Cavs pick up Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and tacked on Mo Williams a year ago.
Back then, the 2007 Finals went into the books as the least-watched, maybe most one-sided, least interesting in history. But if the same clubs that stretched their muscles through Friday night's 105-98 preseason win by the Spurs meet again next June, it would be two Goliaths with no David. Certainly a fairer fight.
"Absolutely," said James. "We're just a much better franchise. We were caught in a situation where the Spurs definitely were a much better team and we all knew that after the fact.
"We've grown as a franchise. I've grown as a player. We're much better team. We're more of an elite team every single game. We go out there and every single team we play, we know we can win."
Back then, the Spurs were the yardstick that everyone used to measure themselves. Now it's the Cavs coming off a league-best 65-17 regular-season record a year ago and the Spurs trying to pick themselves up after a rare first-round playoff elimination.
"Two years ago, we felt, if Manu [Ginobili] is healthy in the Lakers series, we were competitive," said Spurs general manager R.C. Buford. "But I think it was obvious in the last year that several teams, including Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, L.A. had all changed their teams and improved significantly and we had to take big steps to match that. Dallas, Denver, those were all different teams than we were at the end of the 2008 season. Chauncey (Billups) in Denver, (Pau) Gasol in L.A., Boston with what they did, LeBron and Mo Williams in Cleveland. Orlando was better. So we had to make a significant change to our team. We couldn't tease ourselves and think we were good enough anymore.
"We made changes. Big improvements, we hope. But you look at Cleveland and they've added one of the greatest players of all time and they have two more years under the belt of the guy who maybe will become the greatest of all time. I think that says a lot about them, tells you who they are, how good they can be. Throw in guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon and they don't take a backseat to anybody."
There are five Spurs holdovers -- Duncan, Ginobili, Tony Parker, Michael Finley and Matt Bonner -- from the 2007 Finals. There are only four Cavs remaining from the experience -- James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson -- yet they still form much of the core. They wear the scars of failing to get back to the championship round each of the last two years, especially last season's shocking loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to Orlando, and show the signs of growth.
"We've all matured, certainly myself," said Cavs coach Mike Brown. "It was quite an experience for all of us to go through. At least on paper, we're a better team I think right now...The guys that we had in our second year to get to The Finals, I applaud them, because they left it out on the floor every time they stepped there. We ran into a veteran team that was primed and ready at that time to win it."
The Cavs were ahead of their time, not yet ripe enough to produce a championship vintage.
"You've got to give my guys credit for getting there, Brown said. "Because the one thing I preach from Day One is that it doesn't matter how much talent you have, how old or young you are, especially if you've been in the league a couple of years, because you have a feel for how the officials blow the whistles and how different players play. ... Any time you defend, you're gonna give yourself a chance to win, especially knowing that you have a great player like LeBron that can go make plays at the end of the game for himself or for others."
Now though, they're no longer LeBron and the Seven Dwarfs, looking for one guy to make every play at the end of every game. Not with Shaq, Williams and a bench that suddenly looks like the deep end of the pool.
"It's fun," O'Neal said. "I'm just trying towards the end of my career win one or two more. I got traded to a damn good team. These guys won 65 games last year. It's a good fit for me. It's a good fit for LeBron. Hopefully we can get it done."
Just as the additions made in the other locker room should be a good fit for the Spurs, who've put themselves back into the mix in the West.
"Yes. Yes, they have," Shaq said. "They always are gonna be there. Last year didn't really count for them because Mr. Fundamental had those knee problems. But he got a lot of rest and I know they're gonna be ready."
Two seasons ago, it was a lopsided mismatch. But by next June, it could be a classic. That's how it is sometimes with growth. In the blink of an eye, everything's changed.
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here. ([email protected])
In blink of an eye, things have changed between Cavs, Spurs
Posted Oct 17 2009 12:52AM
SAN ANTONIO -- One day the little brother is standing on his tip-toes trying to get the top of his head to reach to your elbows. He's walking in your shadow, dogging your every step. He's using a pencil to make lines on the wall to measure his growth.
Then one day you turn around and he's staring you straight in the eyes. Oh my, how things have changed.
Was it just two seasons ago that the Cavaliers seemed to sneak their way past the security guards and into the NBA Finals? Could only 28 months have passed since LeBron James' virtual one-man gang was routinely slapped in four straight by Tim Duncan and the Spurs?
Now as the 2009-10 season openers draw increasingly near for the once and perhaps future kings, you might not be able to slide a razor blade into the gap between San Antonio and Cleveland.
Talk about nuclear proliferation. The Spurs add Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Theo Ratliff and DeJuan Blair over the summer, while the Cavs pick up Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and tacked on Mo Williams a year ago.
Back then, the 2007 Finals went into the books as the least-watched, maybe most one-sided, least interesting in history. But if the same clubs that stretched their muscles through Friday night's 105-98 preseason win by the Spurs meet again next June, it would be two Goliaths with no David. Certainly a fairer fight.
"Absolutely," said James. "We're just a much better franchise. We were caught in a situation where the Spurs definitely were a much better team and we all knew that after the fact.
"We've grown as a franchise. I've grown as a player. We're much better team. We're more of an elite team every single game. We go out there and every single team we play, we know we can win."
Back then, the Spurs were the yardstick that everyone used to measure themselves. Now it's the Cavs coming off a league-best 65-17 regular-season record a year ago and the Spurs trying to pick themselves up after a rare first-round playoff elimination.
"Two years ago, we felt, if Manu [Ginobili] is healthy in the Lakers series, we were competitive," said Spurs general manager R.C. Buford. "But I think it was obvious in the last year that several teams, including Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, L.A. had all changed their teams and improved significantly and we had to take big steps to match that. Dallas, Denver, those were all different teams than we were at the end of the 2008 season. Chauncey (Billups) in Denver, (Pau) Gasol in L.A., Boston with what they did, LeBron and Mo Williams in Cleveland. Orlando was better. So we had to make a significant change to our team. We couldn't tease ourselves and think we were good enough anymore.
"We made changes. Big improvements, we hope. But you look at Cleveland and they've added one of the greatest players of all time and they have two more years under the belt of the guy who maybe will become the greatest of all time. I think that says a lot about them, tells you who they are, how good they can be. Throw in guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon and they don't take a backseat to anybody."
There are five Spurs holdovers -- Duncan, Ginobili, Tony Parker, Michael Finley and Matt Bonner -- from the 2007 Finals. There are only four Cavs remaining from the experience -- James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson -- yet they still form much of the core. They wear the scars of failing to get back to the championship round each of the last two years, especially last season's shocking loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to Orlando, and show the signs of growth.
"We've all matured, certainly myself," said Cavs coach Mike Brown. "It was quite an experience for all of us to go through. At least on paper, we're a better team I think right now...The guys that we had in our second year to get to The Finals, I applaud them, because they left it out on the floor every time they stepped there. We ran into a veteran team that was primed and ready at that time to win it."
The Cavs were ahead of their time, not yet ripe enough to produce a championship vintage.
"You've got to give my guys credit for getting there, Brown said. "Because the one thing I preach from Day One is that it doesn't matter how much talent you have, how old or young you are, especially if you've been in the league a couple of years, because you have a feel for how the officials blow the whistles and how different players play. ... Any time you defend, you're gonna give yourself a chance to win, especially knowing that you have a great player like LeBron that can go make plays at the end of the game for himself or for others."
Now though, they're no longer LeBron and the Seven Dwarfs, looking for one guy to make every play at the end of every game. Not with Shaq, Williams and a bench that suddenly looks like the deep end of the pool.
"It's fun," O'Neal said. "I'm just trying towards the end of my career win one or two more. I got traded to a damn good team. These guys won 65 games last year. It's a good fit for me. It's a good fit for LeBron. Hopefully we can get it done."
Just as the additions made in the other locker room should be a good fit for the Spurs, who've put themselves back into the mix in the West.
"Yes. Yes, they have," Shaq said. "They always are gonna be there. Last year didn't really count for them because Mr. Fundamental had those knee problems. But he got a lot of rest and I know they're gonna be ready."
Two seasons ago, it was a lopsided mismatch. But by next June, it could be a classic. That's how it is sometimes with growth. In the blink of an eye, everything's changed.
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here. ([email protected])