Bill and Jalen's Grantland Preview - Lot's of Spurs Love

[BillMc]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:10794221

This video they start off picking the most interesting finals, but the last 5 minutes or so becomes basically a tribute to the Spurs and Duncan. A good viewing.

[playbonner15]

Great watch Here's to Pop and Timmy's last championship run

[NASpurs]

That was pretty awesome. Lots of love indeed.

[NASpurs]

Here's the youtube version

[SpursFan86]

[BillMc]

Here's the youtube version

Cool. Thanks!!

[BillMc]

Ha ha!!! I was hoping someone would capture that image!

[Old School 44]

Nice piece, Bill even touts him as top 6 player all time. Sadly, there's another segment in the series where they talk about LeBron being the best forward surpassing Bird as being the best forward. They further expand this to the top 10 players all time and TD doesn't even get a mention.
http://grantland.com/bill-simmons-an...-preview-2014/
Not here to debate whether TD is top 10 or best forward, but at least Simmons should be consistent.

[SpursRock20]

Nice piece, Bill even touts him as top 6 player all time. Sadly, there's another segment in the series where they talk about LeBron being the best forward surpassing Bird as being the best forward. They further expand this to the top 10 players all time and TD doesn't even get a mention.
http://grantland.com/bill-simmons-an...-preview-2014/
Not here to debate whether TD is top 10 or best forward, but at least Simmons should be consistent.

Just trying to deflect some of that Spurs' fan hate that he got last year.

But in all seriousness, I'm not sure why Simmons gets a bad rap on this site. He is a very knowledgeable analyst and he almost always gives the Spurs props on a network that is notorious for ignoring the Spurs.

[BillMc]

Nice piece, Bill even touts him as top 6 player all time. Sadly, there's another segment in the series where they talk about LeBron being the best forward surpassing Bird as being the best forward. They further expand this to the top 10 players all time and TD doesn't even get a mention.
http://grantland.com/bill-simmons-an...-preview-2014/
Not here to debate whether TD is top 10 or best forward, but at least Simmons should be consistent.

Good post, but to be fair to Simmons, they only end up going down to # 7 (Wilt) and don't discuss 8, 9, and 10 at all. (Though Jalen makes some half-heated "remember Kobe" argument). Since in the other video Bill says TD is 6, 7, or 8, it's not necessarily mutually exclusive. I do wonder why Bird is automatically considered better than TD. Duncan won one less MVP, but got (at least) one more le, had the same number of finals appearances, and #21 was a far better defender and had a longer career. Still, we know the answer, Bill is a Celtics homer and Bird captured public imagination more than Timmy. So, "popularity" apparently affects ranking.

Interesting stuff.

[Old School 44]

Good post, but to be fair to Simmons, they only end up going down to # 7 (Wilt) and don't discuss 8, 9, and 10 at all. (Though Jalen makes some half-heated "remember Kobe" argument). Since in the other video Bill says TD is 6, 7, or 8, it's not necessarily mutually exclusive. I do wonder why Bird is automatically considered better than TD. Duncan won one less MVP, but got (at least) one more le, had the same number of finals appearances, and #21 was a far better defender and had a longer career. Still, we know the answer, Bill is a Celtics homer and Bird captured public imagination more than Timmy. So, "popularity" apparently affects ranking.

Interesting stuff.

You're right they don't discuss 8, 9 and 10. Yep...Simmons is a Celtics homer, some people are put off by that, but I think it's quite refreshing that he doesn't even remotely try to hide it. I'm sure it still kills him that his beloved C's, who had the best draft odds, didn't get TD.

[Richie]

I love those Bill and Jalen videos. Find them really boring on ESPN, but when they get on to Grantland and get to show some personality they are really enjoyable.

[Seventyniner]

They spent almost the whole video talking about the Spurs so no wonder it's getting likes here.

[jARS mEsH sEt]

ESPN has the worst ing buffering system I've ever encountered.

You can't pre-buffer by pausing the video, and if you catch up and use up your entire buffer, you have to start the video over again entirely. What the kind of ass ing system is this?

[HI-FI]

OP.

gonna check this out in a sec.

[philldafunk]

I don't know why, but this video made me kinda sad...

[SpurPadre]

Great watch Here's to Pop and Timmy's last championship run

And to Manu's last championship run, tbh. Then again, we have to learn to never count out what the Spurs will bring the following season.

[Killakobe81]

Nice piece, Bill even touts him as top 6 player all time. Sadly, there's another segment in the series where they talk about LeBron being the best forward surpassing Bird as being the best forward. They further expand this to the top 10 players all time and TD doesn't even get a mention.
http://grantland.com/bill-simmons-an...-preview-2014/
Not here to debate whether TD is top 10 or best forward, but at least Simmons should be consistent.

He is very inconsistent and prisoner of the moment. He had Duncan squarely ahead of Kobe flopped after the back2back and now is back in Tim's corner. Not here to debate Kobe over Duncan I refuse to with Kobe being gurt it would be silly. But would great if he was consistent. I think it's his pop culture emphasis that makes him so reactionary. With his book he actually took some time with his insight even if he still was biased.

He wrote a article a a few seasons back which I wholly agreed with the Spur team that was backdoor swept by OKC was the best passing team since 1986 Celts. This year's version might be even better...But spurs need to ring to validate it.

[BillMc]

He is very inconsistent and prisoner of the moment. He had Duncan squarely ahead of Kobe flopped after the back2back and now is back in Tim's corner. Not here to debate Kobe over Duncan I refuse to with Kobe being gurt it would be silly. But would great if he was consistent. I think it's his pop culture emphasis that makes him so reactionary. With his book he actually took some time with his insight even if he still was biased.

He wrote a article a a few seasons back which I wholly agreed with the Spur team that was backdoor swept by OKC was the best passing team since 1986 Celts. This year's version might be even better...But spurs need to ring to validate it.

I agree with this. He's follows trends instinctively, which is perhaps why he has been so successful as a writer.

[crc21209]

Alot of respect towards TD and Pop's way in that video, all well deserved. Good watch..

[szkorhetz]

He is very inconsistent and prisoner of the moment. He had Duncan squarely ahead of Kobe flopped after the back2back and now is back in Tim's corner. Not here to debate Kobe over Duncan I refuse to with Kobe being gurt it would be silly. But would great if he was consistent. I think it's his pop culture emphasis that makes him so reactionary. With his book he actually took some time with his insight even if he still was biased.

He wrote a article a a few seasons back which I wholly agreed with the Spur team that was backdoor swept by OKC was the best passing team since 1986 Celts. This year's version might be even better...But spurs need to ring to validate it.

The 2012 team had the best offense ever in Basketball's history, TBH. We will never get back to the same level offensively or even passing wise.

[InRareForm]

awesome.

[heyheymymy]

ESPN has the worst ing buffering system I've ever encountered.

You can't pre-buffer by pausing the video, and if you catch up and use up your entire buffer, you have to start the video over again entirely. What the kind of ass ing system is this?

classic espn tbh

[Splits]

[therealtruth]

They make a good point. Pop realized he didn't have a good small ball counter against the Heat.