leemajors
06-08-2005, 01:48 PM
ok sorry about that, here we go:
NBA Finals are tribute to team basketball
That's not to say Spurs, Pistons lack talent; they just know how to use it
12:08 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 8, 2005
SAN ANTONIO – This is the series we would have been treated to last season if Derek Fisher hadn't delayed the inevitable.
San Antonio vs. Detroit for the NBA championship is the way it should end. The Spurs and Pistons are the best teams in basketball and have been for the last two seasons.
Not that last year's matchup between the Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers was dull. Watching the Lakers implode had a certain dysfunctional appeal that will be hard to top in terms of sheer entertainment value this time around. But if Fisher hadn't knocked the emotional wind out of the Spurs with his last-second shot in the second round, the Lakers would have melted down several weeks earlier.
That won't happen in this series, although some would have you believe the Pistons are on the edge because of coach Larry Brown's flirtations with Cleveland. If Detroit fails to defend its title, it won't be because of Brown's health concerns or wanderlust. It will be because the Spurs are a more complete team.
The pendulum has shifted. Title hopes no longer rest on the shoulders of one or two players. The league's star system lives, but it doesn't always prosper.
The top six scorers in these playoffs – and 11 of the top 12 – are no longer active. Only two players in The Finals rank in the top 20 in postseason rebounding, and only one ranks in the top 13 in assists.
Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash with Phoenix? The Spurs took them out in five games.
Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal with Miami? It took the Pistons seven tough games, but they extinguished those stars as well.
The Spurs and Pistons are teams in every sense of the word. They stress defense and share the ball on offense. The players understand their roles and don't yearn to be something they're not.
All except Detroit's Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo. But those two will rarely – if ever – get off the bench in this series to tamper with team chemistry.
Detroit has been praised for playing the game the way it's meant to be played. Brown used that phrase again just moments after his team beat the Heat in Game 7. Four of Detroit's starters are averaging between 14.7 and 21.3 points in these playoffs.
The Pistons' title was a revelation for those who complain that the NBA is too into the star system. The accolades are deserved. But don't forget that San Antonio has played that way for the last eight years. The presence of a star player in Tim Duncan doesn't mean the absence of teamwork. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich will tell you the abundance of talent doesn't ensure anything. And while Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are assuming more responsibility as the Spurs develop, they are doing it within the system.
Popovich and his staff value performance but put little stock in individual awards. They don't want to create a climate that elevates personal accomplishment over the team concept. You can't preach the importance of team, of everyone filling a role, then turn around and ignore those players to push one or two for individual awards.
That's why no one with the club went out of the way earlier this season to inform Beno Udrih that he had been named Western Conference rookie of the month. Udrih learned of the honor when he received a text message from a friend in Slovenia.
"They have won two championships with Gregg and not very many people talk about it," Brown said. "And we're the defending champs and not very many people talk about that."
Don't make the mistake of believing this will be a methodical, grind-it-out series because of the defensive bent of these teams. There may a game or two where the Spurs and Pistons fail to get out of the 80s. But neither team can afford to settle into a halfcourt offense against the other's defense. That's a recipe for failure.
The Spurs can win a game in the 80s or in the 100s. So can the Pistons.
That's what good teams do.
NBA Finals are tribute to team basketball
That's not to say Spurs, Pistons lack talent; they just know how to use it
12:08 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 8, 2005
SAN ANTONIO – This is the series we would have been treated to last season if Derek Fisher hadn't delayed the inevitable.
San Antonio vs. Detroit for the NBA championship is the way it should end. The Spurs and Pistons are the best teams in basketball and have been for the last two seasons.
Not that last year's matchup between the Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers was dull. Watching the Lakers implode had a certain dysfunctional appeal that will be hard to top in terms of sheer entertainment value this time around. But if Fisher hadn't knocked the emotional wind out of the Spurs with his last-second shot in the second round, the Lakers would have melted down several weeks earlier.
That won't happen in this series, although some would have you believe the Pistons are on the edge because of coach Larry Brown's flirtations with Cleveland. If Detroit fails to defend its title, it won't be because of Brown's health concerns or wanderlust. It will be because the Spurs are a more complete team.
The pendulum has shifted. Title hopes no longer rest on the shoulders of one or two players. The league's star system lives, but it doesn't always prosper.
The top six scorers in these playoffs – and 11 of the top 12 – are no longer active. Only two players in The Finals rank in the top 20 in postseason rebounding, and only one ranks in the top 13 in assists.
Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash with Phoenix? The Spurs took them out in five games.
Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal with Miami? It took the Pistons seven tough games, but they extinguished those stars as well.
The Spurs and Pistons are teams in every sense of the word. They stress defense and share the ball on offense. The players understand their roles and don't yearn to be something they're not.
All except Detroit's Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo. But those two will rarely – if ever – get off the bench in this series to tamper with team chemistry.
Detroit has been praised for playing the game the way it's meant to be played. Brown used that phrase again just moments after his team beat the Heat in Game 7. Four of Detroit's starters are averaging between 14.7 and 21.3 points in these playoffs.
The Pistons' title was a revelation for those who complain that the NBA is too into the star system. The accolades are deserved. But don't forget that San Antonio has played that way for the last eight years. The presence of a star player in Tim Duncan doesn't mean the absence of teamwork. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich will tell you the abundance of talent doesn't ensure anything. And while Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are assuming more responsibility as the Spurs develop, they are doing it within the system.
Popovich and his staff value performance but put little stock in individual awards. They don't want to create a climate that elevates personal accomplishment over the team concept. You can't preach the importance of team, of everyone filling a role, then turn around and ignore those players to push one or two for individual awards.
That's why no one with the club went out of the way earlier this season to inform Beno Udrih that he had been named Western Conference rookie of the month. Udrih learned of the honor when he received a text message from a friend in Slovenia.
"They have won two championships with Gregg and not very many people talk about it," Brown said. "And we're the defending champs and not very many people talk about that."
Don't make the mistake of believing this will be a methodical, grind-it-out series because of the defensive bent of these teams. There may a game or two where the Spurs and Pistons fail to get out of the 80s. But neither team can afford to settle into a halfcourt offense against the other's defense. That's a recipe for failure.
The Spurs can win a game in the 80s or in the 100s. So can the Pistons.
That's what good teams do.