duncan228
02-02-2008, 10:08 PM
This is a piece of the Daily Dime.
I put it here because of the Spurs tie in.
Besides, any article that uses the phrase "the ongoing brilliance of Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs" gets my attention. :)
And the article is about the Mavs and the Pistons. Our favorite non-Spurs fans here on ST.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080203
Success Stories? Not Yet
By Tim Legler
ESPN.com
The window of opportunity to achieve true greatness in the National Basketball Association closes quickly and, quite often, with very little notice. It is this competitive cruelty that makes the NBA so compelling. A team can host a parade one June and be anxiously waiting to see the logo on the ping-pong ball in David Stern's hand the next.
There are teams scattered throughout the history of the league that can sleep well at night knowing that they seized the moment and left a mark of excellence that will last an eternity. The Celtics of the 1960s and '80s. The Showtime Lakers. Michael Jordan's Bulls. Shaq and Kobe's three-peat. And finally, the ongoing brilliance of Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. They are considered dynasties, one and all.
These teams are revered because they were able to combine the two elements necessary to rightfully take their place in the hall of legends. They were able to win at the highest level and sustain their excellence for an extended period of time. These teams have etched indelible memories that are a standard by which all teams must measure themselves.
Sadly, there are other teams that may look back on their time together with the regret of missed opportunities, lost moments, and the uneasy feeling that they should have accomplished more. The Detroit Pistons and the Dallas Mavericks are two teams that may fall into that category, despite winning more regular-season games over the past three seasons than any other team in their respective conferences.
Some people might scoff at the notion that the Pistons have underachieved in any way. After all, they did manage to win a title in the midst of the Spurs' dominance. And if not for a late-game defensive mental mistake by Rasheed Wallace in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals, the Pistons may well have won back-to-back titles. In that tide-turning moment, Wallace decided to leave Robert Horry wide open in order to double team Manu Ginobili. "Big Shot Bob" added to his legend and the Pistons eventually lost in seven games to the Spurs. The Pistons haven't been back to the big stage ever since.
This group has been to five consecutive Eastern Conference championships and has seen the core nucleus of Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Wallace, and Antonio McDyess remain intact. The bench has actually improved the past two seasons as well, adding more athleticism and depth. Yet, they have only one ring. Why?
The 2004-05 team was good enough to win it all if not for that Game 5 collapse. Flip Saunders took over the next season and the identity of the team changed. Saunders brought his offensive expertise from Minnesota and suddenly the Pistons became a team that wanted to finesse its opponents. Detroit became comfortable winning games in which both teams ventured over 100 points.
Supporters of the Pistons will say that the team has enjoyed tremendous success and if not for the fact that it ran into two superstars figuring out how to take over individually when it matters most, the Pistons would have a mantle full of hardware. Heck, they proclaim, if Sheed hadn't left Horry, they might have had four parades by now.
That is revisionist history. The reality is that this team hasn't won a championship since 2004 despite all of its regular-season dominance. The Pistons are on the short list of title contenders year after year. No doubt about that. That is noteworthy. They can proudly wear that ring and know that they have accomplished something that so many very good teams never get to experience. This is all true. But unless they can rally together to win another title, they won't be able to walk the legendary halls of the true dynasties.
Dallas, on the other hand, hasn't yet reached the promised land. No rings. No parades. They have lots of individual awards. They have an MVP, a Coach of the Year, and a Sixth Man award. They made a Finals appearance. They won 67 games last season. They run neck and neck with the Spurs perennially as the most complete teams in the league. Nice stuff. Unfortunately, none of that will be remembered with the same reverence it deserves if the Mavs don't win a title.
To be fair, Dallas' road to the Finals has been much more difficult in the West. They have had the misfortune of vying for a ring during the Tim Duncan era. That has to be taken into account. The last time I checked, however, Duncan wasn't wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey in the first round of the Mavs' flameout in April 2007. In that series, Dirk Nowitzki's weaknesses were exposed. As a result, despite any degree of regular-season success the Mavs enjoy from this point forward, they will go down as just another entertaining team if they fail to go all the way.
I put it here because of the Spurs tie in.
Besides, any article that uses the phrase "the ongoing brilliance of Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs" gets my attention. :)
And the article is about the Mavs and the Pistons. Our favorite non-Spurs fans here on ST.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080203
Success Stories? Not Yet
By Tim Legler
ESPN.com
The window of opportunity to achieve true greatness in the National Basketball Association closes quickly and, quite often, with very little notice. It is this competitive cruelty that makes the NBA so compelling. A team can host a parade one June and be anxiously waiting to see the logo on the ping-pong ball in David Stern's hand the next.
There are teams scattered throughout the history of the league that can sleep well at night knowing that they seized the moment and left a mark of excellence that will last an eternity. The Celtics of the 1960s and '80s. The Showtime Lakers. Michael Jordan's Bulls. Shaq and Kobe's three-peat. And finally, the ongoing brilliance of Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. They are considered dynasties, one and all.
These teams are revered because they were able to combine the two elements necessary to rightfully take their place in the hall of legends. They were able to win at the highest level and sustain their excellence for an extended period of time. These teams have etched indelible memories that are a standard by which all teams must measure themselves.
Sadly, there are other teams that may look back on their time together with the regret of missed opportunities, lost moments, and the uneasy feeling that they should have accomplished more. The Detroit Pistons and the Dallas Mavericks are two teams that may fall into that category, despite winning more regular-season games over the past three seasons than any other team in their respective conferences.
Some people might scoff at the notion that the Pistons have underachieved in any way. After all, they did manage to win a title in the midst of the Spurs' dominance. And if not for a late-game defensive mental mistake by Rasheed Wallace in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals, the Pistons may well have won back-to-back titles. In that tide-turning moment, Wallace decided to leave Robert Horry wide open in order to double team Manu Ginobili. "Big Shot Bob" added to his legend and the Pistons eventually lost in seven games to the Spurs. The Pistons haven't been back to the big stage ever since.
This group has been to five consecutive Eastern Conference championships and has seen the core nucleus of Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Wallace, and Antonio McDyess remain intact. The bench has actually improved the past two seasons as well, adding more athleticism and depth. Yet, they have only one ring. Why?
The 2004-05 team was good enough to win it all if not for that Game 5 collapse. Flip Saunders took over the next season and the identity of the team changed. Saunders brought his offensive expertise from Minnesota and suddenly the Pistons became a team that wanted to finesse its opponents. Detroit became comfortable winning games in which both teams ventured over 100 points.
Supporters of the Pistons will say that the team has enjoyed tremendous success and if not for the fact that it ran into two superstars figuring out how to take over individually when it matters most, the Pistons would have a mantle full of hardware. Heck, they proclaim, if Sheed hadn't left Horry, they might have had four parades by now.
That is revisionist history. The reality is that this team hasn't won a championship since 2004 despite all of its regular-season dominance. The Pistons are on the short list of title contenders year after year. No doubt about that. That is noteworthy. They can proudly wear that ring and know that they have accomplished something that so many very good teams never get to experience. This is all true. But unless they can rally together to win another title, they won't be able to walk the legendary halls of the true dynasties.
Dallas, on the other hand, hasn't yet reached the promised land. No rings. No parades. They have lots of individual awards. They have an MVP, a Coach of the Year, and a Sixth Man award. They made a Finals appearance. They won 67 games last season. They run neck and neck with the Spurs perennially as the most complete teams in the league. Nice stuff. Unfortunately, none of that will be remembered with the same reverence it deserves if the Mavs don't win a title.
To be fair, Dallas' road to the Finals has been much more difficult in the West. They have had the misfortune of vying for a ring during the Tim Duncan era. That has to be taken into account. The last time I checked, however, Duncan wasn't wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey in the first round of the Mavs' flameout in April 2007. In that series, Dirk Nowitzki's weaknesses were exposed. As a result, despite any degree of regular-season success the Mavs enjoy from this point forward, they will go down as just another entertaining team if they fail to go all the way.