This is why I wanted the Pacers

[TheyCallMePro]

Because beating the Heat just means we have to listen to everyone's excuses for why they failed. Our Championship will be there, and we'll take it, but if we had won it vs the Pacers then nobody would be making excuses for them. They would simply acknowledge the Spurs greatness. Which is what they should do if we beat the Heat but they wont. It's going to all be about why they lost, what changes they need to make, and so on.

I just heard Stephen A. Smith say on first take this morning that the Heat would "Blow the spurs off the floor if Dwayne Wade was healthy" and that "The only reason he picked the Spurs in the fist place was because he didn't trust Dwayne Wade's health." That's pathetic. Wade scored 33 and 25 in the last two games. He IS healthy. Were playing amazing team defense, and every time Wade or Lebron struggles it's because they're not 'healthy', 'tired', or 'unmotivated.' Bullshit.

I know beating the Heat is going to be immensely satisfying, but it makes me nauseous just thinking about the mountain of excuses and whining that's going to follow. Tim, Tony and Manu may never be together for a Championship again. This may be the end of the Spurs era, and all the attention is going to be directed to the losers, not the winners. The Spurs deserve better. They deserve respect, admiration, and credit for beating a great team like the Heat. Imagine Danny Green hitting eight 3's tonight, winning Finals MVP, and then turning on ESPN tomorrow and all he hears about is why the Heat lost. What's wrong with Lebron? Was Wade's knee killing him? Should Bosh be traded? Ugh.

I know, it doesn't matter what they say and all, but for once I'd just like to see the Spurs be celebrated for what they've accomplished. This team has worked so damn hard to get back here. Tony promised Tim they would get back here after losing in the WCF last year. Kawhi said all he cares about is helping these 3 guys win another Championship. I could see Manu or Tim even crying once they're handed the trophy. And it sickens me that this GREAT team and this incredible era will end with the media lamenting the Heat's issues instead of celebrating the Spurs greatness for maybe the last time.

[CosmicCowboy]

Tim, Tony, and Manu don't give a shit.

[mrjap2x]

Not really, they'll always find a way to put an *.

[En Fuego]

but if we had won it vs the Pacers then nobody would be making excuses for them.

Then critics would say "oh the Spurs beat a weak team". Who cares - 5 rings is the ultimate show of superiority.

[jstep13]

I have to disagree. If anything it would have been worse. At least this time Spurs are beating a #1 EC seed. One of the (many) RETARDED reasons the Spurs aren't considered a dynasty is because they never beat a one seed from the East for a title. Had the Spurs played the Pacers it would have been an even worse "yeah but" by the pundits. Trust me, win or lose, Spurs wanted the Heat.

[703 Spurz]

Tim, Tony, and Manu don't give a shit.

I don't either

[Frank Dux]

Media gets butthurt when the hype it creates doesn't come to fruition. You shouldn't worry about it so much.

[The Reckoning]

analysts can no longer claim the spurs haven't had a "real" finals

[CGD]

Bill Siimons takes on Wade are on point. He's always calling the media and wade out on the whole injury thing. Dude has always been injured and that is who he is! Can't selectively use that card when it's convenient.

#truwarrior

[elemento]

Do you really care?

As long as SA kick their asses, I don't give a damn about what the media says.

[Brazil]

Like I give a shit tbh

[Spur|n|Austin]

People still complaining about what SAS, or BSPN for that matter says about the Spurs? Wow.

[TheRemix]

haha, we had injuries on our end too didn't we? Fuck the media. Its about winning, not what ESPN thinks. :flag:

[quentin_compson]

I can't say I really share the feelings expressed in the OP. Throughout the Finals, I've read a lot of articles on the Spurs that praised them for how great they were playing without adding "Well, but Wade/the Heat are injured". Of course there will always be guys like Stephen A. Smith. There is a lot of silly stuff being said and written about basketball, and this applies not only to the Spurs-related things.

[Bill_Brasky]

Don't give a shit. People like SAS wouldn't give us our proper credit no matter who's on our team or who we beat. At best he's a blind, savvy troll who sucks off certain players and constantly condradicts himself.

Also, we could just fuckin ignore him. It's a lot easier and better for us that way.

[BillMc]

I have to disagree. If anything it would have been worse. At least this time Spurs are beating a #1 EC seed. One of the (many) RETARDED reasons the Spurs aren't considered a dynasty is because they never beat a one seed from the East for a title. Had the Spurs played the Pacers it would have been an even worse "yeah but" by the pundits. Trust me, win or lose, Spurs wanted the Heat.

I don't know if the 2005 Pistons were the East's #1 seed, but they were the defending champions. Plenty tough opponent.

And the 2003 Nets were the defending Eastern Conference champions. Not bad either. And along the way to the 2003 championship we took out the defending champion Lakers, another tough opponent.

So, that's twice in our championship runs we took out the defending champs. A third if we beat the Heat.

1999 Knicks and 2007 Cavs were Cinderellas but, so what?

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

Umm, don't you remember the posters who were talking about how there would have been an "asterisk" because the Pacers would have been an easier opponent whereas beating the Heat would mean there would be "no excuses?"


Seems like we can't escape this debate no matter what.

[LarryDavid]

Who cares. When will you realize that the talking heads bring up their talking points to generate ratings/page views???

[boutons_deux]

yep, beating the (pundit/"journalist"/talking head) stuffed-with-all-star-coat-tailers favorite on its own court is the supreme proof of superiority and worthiness.

[Man In Black]

You can't let the 4-letter dominate your sports world.

What I've come to realize is that the Spurs fuck up theirs and on that, I dig it :hat

A part of me though still hates that the world sees them as the mouthpiece for what is good in sports. In actuality, they are part of the problem of what is wrong in sports.

MIA OUT- SPURS in SIX.

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

True, but we'd get less credit against the Pacers.

[benefactor]

:cry:cry:cry:cry
:cry:cry:cry:cry
:cry:cry:cry:cry
:cry:cry:cry:cry

[Baam]

Dumb, if it was the Pacer nobody would talk about the Finals.

[CitizenDwayne]

And if they beat the Pacers, people would talk about how easy their opponent was. What's your point?

[manufan10]

People care a little too much about what others think. As long as the Spurs win #5 is what I'm concerned about. No one can take that away, no matter what they say. Enjoy the ride!

[Budkin]

I only wanted the Pacers for home court.

[TDomination]

Yeah I agree with the others, really wouldn't make things better in regards to the media, it would only make it worse. They would say that we had it too easy.

No matter what, we will never get the respect from certain people. BUT WHO CARES! If we win #5, we will be champions and thats all that matters!

[doobs]

No.

If the Pacers had won, the story would be that 2012-2013 was a weak year for the NBA. That would fit nicely into the already-developing asterisk stemming from injuries to Westbrook and Kobe.

Now, at least, facing the Heat neutralizes some of the doubts about what happened in the West. Beating the Heat would be sweeter than beating the Pacers. Defending champs, best player in the world, best record in the league, etc. If we beat the Heat, there will be grumblings about the Heat being tired or disinterested or something after three straight Finals. But that's better than what would be said if we beat the Pacers.

But first let's beat the Heat.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

Some people seem to think that any championship that isn't won against an opponent at 100% health with multiple All-Stars has an asterisk.

[timtonymanu]

Who cares?

The Heat were the true team to beat in these playoffs. The Spurs are one win away from doing that. #5 is all that fucking matters.

It would have been much worse to play the Pacers. It would just mean the Spurs had another "easy path" to the title which is debatable.

[TheyCallMePro]

And if they beat the Pacers, people would talk about how easy their opponent was. What's your point?

When we win the Finals against the Heat, more than half of the coverage will be about why the Heat failed. I don't want to hear all that shit. This team deserves better than to be ignored in that way for what they've worked so hard to accomplish.

At least if we had played the Pacers we wouldn't have to hear all these excuses. The focus would be on us winning the Championship. Not the other team losing like it will be if we beat the Heat. I just think this team deserves a ton of appreciation for ending this era with a Championship. And it sickens me that the spotlight is going to be stolen by the goddamn losers.

[BatManu20]

Uh we have to beat them still...

[MR-Clutch]

It annoys me when everyone gives shit to Lebron about choking, because it takes away from the legendary defense that the spurs have played on him.

[tesseractive]

This is why I wanted the Pacers

I wanted Santa Claus to bring me a Bentley for Christmas, and I didn't get that either. Let's face it, it was always going to be the Heat -- they were just too lazy to wrap the ECFs up in a bow until Game 7.

[tesseractive]

When we win the Finals against the Heat, more than half of the coverage will be about why the Heat failed.
Meh. Weak take.

If we win, the remaining less-than-half will still be way more coverage than we would have gotten for beating the Pacers.

[elmanutres]

people love to put asterisks on us. they wanna put an asterisk on us because westbrook got hurt, kobe got a achilles tear, currys ankle is made of glass, cause the grizzlies traded rudy gay, and now cause wade has a bum knee. You will never win over those people. but at the end of the day, we will have a larry o brien to show off and we could care less why they are complaining, because we are gonna be too busy celebrating at the riverwalk.

[Oh, Gee!!]

I can't believe spursfans have allowed an off-the-cuff remark by phil jackson 14 years ago to define their perception of this team's success. wgaf what anyone thinks or says?

[Sean Cagney]

I can't believe spursfans have allowed an off-the-cuff remark by phil jackson 14 years ago to define their perception of this team's success. wgaf what anyone thinks or says?
..........

[heyheymymy]

pffft, fuck espn. they are gonna fluff the same bullshit no matter what, and in the end, if spurs are so lucky to win it all, fans just gotta hang their hat on that and not care what the coverage says.

easier said than done, i'm salty as fuck about how much they fluff lebron and the heat.

but hey, whatever tearful "but, but, but" SASmith can choke up won't make the champagne taste any less sweet, so dick up in em, fuck em.

[tesseractive]

I can't believe spursfans have allowed an off-the-cuff remark by phil jackson 14 years ago to define their perception of this team's success. wgaf what anyone thinks or says?

It wasn't off the cuff. It was carefully calculated to distract from the fact that the Lakers didn't have to face Tim Duncan and the Spurs team that swept the Lakers the year before. And it worked perfectly!

[hommeaetage]

I don't care if we were playing the Bobcats, all I want is # 5