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WTF???
Bottom line...when you're star player is 22 and you make it this far...Hey, I'm proud. Spurs have been to the promised land since 1999. The seasoned team did what it had to do. I won't say we'll be there next year, but, we got the first time jitters behind us this year. We'll be there next year. Not knocking this years Spurs, but, if you don't make changes for next season, issues may arise. You are getting old. I don't want to take anything away from your achievements tonight, but, this could be your last hurrah. You all have even admitted that on this board during this season.
WTF???
Maturity didn't win this series. The better team won. New Orleans isn't that good.
They say the better team always wins in a 7 game series.
They also say you've got to lose to know how to win.
The Hornets will gain a ton of benefits from taking the defending Champs to 7.
The Hornets didn't take the Spurs to 7. The Spurs took the Spurs to 7.
all that talk. Go ask the Jazz and Suns and Mavs and Cavs about a bright future. The only thing that means a damn thing is the present.
Next year you might have major injuries or you might get knocked out by a team that matches up well with you or you might get a prima-donna on your team. You have to win NOW.
The Hornets are going to be back here next season, playing the same quality basketball they've been playing all season. No reason to think they wouldn't
Sincerely,
The Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz
Spelling Lost
Great post. all this "we'll do it next year horse ."
Great season NO, but yall have a long way to go.
...Great post.
Welcome to.....You've got a target on your back now.
The Jazz played just as good if not better as this season, Lakers just are not easy. The Mavs and Suns sucked because of their trades... not a good argument on your side.
Hornets may not be the second seed, but they will be a tough, hungry squad. Teams with a good coach and great players are not flukes.
They are not good enough to win a championship now.
They folded up as I expected they would as the series went further along. Young teams just getting a first taste of the playoffs never go all the way.
I don't agree at all. The Jazz played terrible basketball on the road. Despite having a year of tough learned experience under their belts and staying realtively healthy, they came into the playoffs as the 5th seed and lost in 6 games in the semi-finals. They regressed into a team that played poorly on the road and relied on their home court to push them to wins. How did they improve ?
Yes, the Suns and the Mavs sucked because of their trades. That completely solidifies my argument. Who will New Horleans let go or trade in the offseason that might backfire ? Those 2 teams are great examples of why you need to win NOW. You aren't guaranteed anything in the future.
It was the same for us in 1989. We had Drob, Sean Elliott, Rod Strickland, Willie Anderson and Terry mings making up a solid nucleus that was supposed to challenge for the le for years. What happened ? We tanked in year 2 to the Golden State Warriors, messed with our team chemistry (thank you Larry Brown) by getting rid of Frank Brickowski and then let players walk in FA (Thank you Bob Bass).
The Hornets may or may not be back next year. What happens if Chris Paul or David West suffers a season ending injury ?
Like popovic said in the press conference... If NO would have won, people would have said it's because Spurs are old, and NO's athleticism got the best of em.
Now that Spurs won, people are contributing the win to experience. It's a two way street, spurs were just simply, better this game.
Yeah I notice that when the Spurs lose, they are "old", when they win they are "experienced".
We outrebounded them, we hit our 3's on the road and we won the 3rd qtr. We also played our best defensive game on the road. That's why we won.
Special Props to:
Robert Horry -Kept possessions alive, hit 2 big 3's at big junctures and rebounded.
Ime Udoka -Played solid D and hit big 3's
Mike Finley -Nailed the 2 3's he took. Kept momentum going and the wind out of NO's sails.
Kurt Thomas - Good work on the boards. He outworked the Hornets front line.
you will be saying the next thing next year again
We've been labelled "old" for the past 5 seasons. Nothing new.
Simply... Spurs were better ^__^
It's oversimplistic to say that a club that's never been to a particular level before will necessarily get back to that level again the next year. As this season demonstrated, so many things can change during the course of a given season and the momentum of a franchise -- particularly one that is largely dependent upon the greatness of a single player -- can be quashed with the smallest of things. Paul got injured last year and the Hornets were lost without him -- can they survive a Paul injury next season or two years from now?
The equation in the West is constantly in flux, too. The Spurs (who've been among the West's final four for the last 8 years and for 10 of the last 11 years) will eventually get caught up in that truth, but the battle to get favorable seeding is ferocious. Think about the fact that the Hornets could have easily fallen as far as the 5th seed this season -- the Spurs dropped at least 7 imminently winnable games during the regular season and ended up tied with the Hornets and the Rockets, decimated by injuries, were only 1 game back. And the Mavericks will be better, too. The Hornets could easily be as good as they were this season and fall to 4th in their own division! (as could any of the top 4 teams in the division) Doing that would mean that they won't have that high seed and home court advantage that held them in such good stead during these playoffs.
If the league has shown us anything over the last few years, it is that ins utional humility tends to be a huge factor in sustaining success -- teams that don't feel as though they've accomplished anything are most likely to keep winning. I think one huge problem with the Timberwolves in 2004-05 (along with age and injuries) was their belief that they had broken through and would be among the West's elite no matter what. The same thing seemed to happen more recently to the Mavericks (particularly in 2006). Will the Hornets be able to maintain some degree of humility with so many in the media showering them with accolades for such a great season?
I suspect that the Hornets will be a formidable club for the next several years, but I think they have to find ways to be less reliant on Paul and West if they're going to sustain success. The question really is whether the Hornets are more like, say, the Spurs in the early years of the Robinson era or like the 2006 Clippers.
Congratulations to the Spurs!
I was at work during the game, & just managed to check into the result at halftime & at the very end. Honestly speaking, I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs lost, but somehow they won against all odds.
Hope the momentum will be carried over to next series & beyond.
I think Kenny had a good point in one of his interviews. The nature of the NBA is to aim for the top. When you're a championship team, you set the bar for the next year. Teams aim to be at your level or higher, meaning, they make trades, change player positions, swap coaches, etc to contend with the most current NBA champ.
NBA's adaptive nature is pretty amazing. It's hard to have a dominant team nowadays... with the talent thats pouring into the NBA.
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