The Spurs won the Finals on Fathers Day in 2003. I consider it a good sign.
random thought about game 4: that first quarter seemed cold, clinical, detached, automatic, like I have never seen from a spurs team. Spurs success has always depended on the collective confidence in the jumper: they go on runs and life is good when the 3 is falling, or the team collectively goes cold and no one can make anything... Game 4 was the first game I remember where this did not apply at all. it was just step 1, step 2, step 3, shoot, step 1, step 2, step 3, rebound...
and I looked up, and could not believe what I saw on the scoreboard.
Truth.I think the people intercepting Amused before he starts a game thread has been the most important aspect of this run. Even bigger than the AC malfunctioning, Kawhi going nuclear or Boris being inserted in the starting lineup. You guys are the real MVPs
More than that, Father's Day in 2003 also fell on June 15th.
7 years ago today, the Spurs won Game 4 of the 2007 NBA Finals and swept Lebron and the Cavs. Let's close it out tomorrow in memoriam.
How come you can edit your post but not delete it when you screw up?
Last edited by rwb; 06-14-2014 at 08:54 PM.
Damn in about 24 hours we should be celebrating a le....
Just win. Go Spurs!
Why the premature talk? You didn't learn anything?
O trust me im not celebrating until the clock hits zero. Ive been waiting about 7 years for this. I was a freshman in high school last time they won, im now graduated college. Its like a lifetime ago and back then it didnt hit me as hard as it will if they win it in 2014.
It's the Role Players Who Have the Spurs Rolling
Tony Parker is still thankful for the role players who helped carry San Antonio to its last NBA le in 2007.
There was Robert Horry, a seven-time champion and official finals good-luck charm if there ever was one. Michael Finley, who was hitting 3-pointers at a much better rate in those playoffs than he did in the regular season that year. Fabricio Oberto, who probably never had a play called for him but found ways to get things done.
The Spurs had a 'Big 3' then, the same one that they have now.
But three is rarely enough, and that's been proven once again in these NBA Finals.
Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw have been exactly what San Antonio needed in this matchup against the Miami Heat, and might be the two biggest reasons why the Spurs are one win away from their fifth NBA championship. The Spurs lead these finals 3-1, and will look to end Miami's reign in Game 5 at home on Sunday night.
"If you want to win championships, obviously you need a 'Big 3,'" Parker said. "But you need your role players to play great too. And every time we won championships in the past, the 'Big 3,' we played great, but we had great role players. ... If you want to go all the way, you need the whole team to play great."
That's what the Spurs are getting.
Parker is leading the Spurs in scoring, Tim Duncan is leading in rebounding and the Western Conference champions are outscoring Miami by 62 points so far with Manu Ginobili on the floor — so yes, the 'Big 3' is doing its part.
But when the Spurs took control of the series by winning Games 3 and 4 in Miami, Leonard led the charge by averaging 24.5 points on 68 percent shooting. And Diaw has 23 assists so far in the series, more than anyone else and none probably better than his behind-the-back offering out of the post that set Tiago Splitter up for a dunk in Game 4.
There's already talk that Leonard could be in line to win MVP of the finals. In an absolutely not-shocking development, he wanted no part of that talk.
"It feels the same for me as any game going into it," Leonard said of the anticipation level for Game 5. "All I'm thinking about is playing. I'm not worried about what if we win or lose, and we just want to go out and play."
Such is the Spurs' way.
The makeup of a player who perfectly fits into the San Antonio system has remained unchanged for the better part of two decades. He values team play over any individual accolade. He never says too much, particularly about himself. He stays in the moment, avoiding the urge to look ahead or behind.
Leonard and Diaw meet all those characteristics.
"San Antonio is playing great," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They're moving the basketball. They're exploiting where we're normally good, so we have to do a better job. Even when we've made adjustments, they've still been able to stay in a rhythm and a flow."
It's hard to remember now that Diaw couldn't get minutes with the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats — a team that finished with the worst record in NBA history — in part because then-coach Paul Silas was frustrated with Diaw's penchant for passing the ball instead of taking shots at times.
So the Bobcats waived him late that season. The Spurs picked him up and in Game 4 of these finals, Diaw had more assists (nine) than shots (six).
Go figure.
"He really has a high basketball IQ," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Diaw. "I think he raises the level for everyone. At the defensive end, he's pretty heady, not the quickest guy in the world, but really smart. Does his work early and understands what's going on. At the offensive end, he can score inside and out, and he passes the ball really well. He's a consummate team sort of guy."
Diaw is just the third player to have a game with at least nine rebounds and nine assists during these playoffs, with Oklahoma City stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook being the others.
For his part, Diaw said he's never cared about scoring. If the team scores, that's good enough for him.
"It's just moving the ball, playing with everybody," Diaw said. "There is nobody really just watching. Everybody's involved, and everybody gets the ball at some point. So it's been good."
Good, indeed.
One more win, and these Spurs officially become great.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014...er=rss&emc=rss
LeBron With a Simple Message: 'Why Not Us?'
SAN ANTONIO — Early Sunday evening, LeBron James will gather his Miami Heat teammates around him and offer a few final words of wisdom before they try to extend their reign as NBA champions.
James never rehearses the speech, but already knows what the gist will be.
"It would be in the range of, 'Why not us?'" James said Saturday. "Why not us? History is broken all the time. And obviously we know we're against the greatest of odds."
Against the greatest of odds, against maybe the greatest of San Antonio Spurs teams, too. Both are very much against the Heat now, and both are winning. The Spurs are a victory away from their fifth championship, and will go for it at home Sunday night in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
The Spurs are the 32nd team in NBA history to hold a 3-1 lead in the finals. All 31 of the previous teams have won the le.
"History is made to be broken, and why not me be a part of it? That would be great," James said. "That would be a great story line, right? But we'll see what happens. I've got to live in the moment, though, before we even get to that point."
The Spurs have the same way of thinking.
They took command of the finals in stunning fashion by not just winning in Miami, but winning twice — and winning big. San Antonio won Games 3 and 4 on the road by a combined 40 points, never trailing by more than two in either contest and running out to 25-point leads in each.
"We've got to act like we're coming into it like it's a road game," Spurs guard Danny Green said. "It's a mentality thing. We have to come up with the same mentality we do on the road and try to protect home court and play with desperation."
There was no talk from the Spurs on Saturday about closing in on a le, or anything remotely close to that topic. They thought they had it wrapped up with 28 seconds left in Game 6 last season against Miami and saw it slip away — so even with a 3-1 lead and being at home instead the road for this potential clinching situation, it's pretty clear that San Antonio isn't willing to leave anything to chance.
"They're going to come out and give us their best punch possible," Spurs star Tim Duncan said. "We know that they're back-to-back champs and they've been in this situation before and they have all the confidence in the world that they can win these games. So we have to do just the same. Come out there and say, hey, we're going to take it little by little, quarter by quarter, and see what happens."
That all sounds good, and he meant every word.
Thing is, the Heat — these Heat, anyway — haven't been in this situation before. Since James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh teamed up, the Heat have never trailed 3-1 in a series.
Until now.
"We're not so en led or jaded that we're above having to fight for it, and that's what it is right now," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It's compe ion. So we've got to find a way to fight and get this next game, and that's what it's all about."
Miami took a day off Friday. Mario Chalmers played with his son, James watched some film and rested at home, Udonis Haslem tried to relax with family. Wade, who missed nine of his first 10 shots — raising questions about his health — went a different way.
He went into the gym, by himself, looking for answers.
"I have very good reason that everything could change," Wade said. "As I continue to say throughout the season, it's a game-to-game thing."
Wade was down 2-0 in the 2006 finals, and trailed by 13 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of that series against Dallas. The Heat won that championship in six games.
"You have to pull from your experiences," Wade said, "and know where you came from to know where you're trying to go."
That also applies to the Spurs.
Losing the last two games of the finals last year still stings San Antonio. That series was portrayed widely as the Spurs' last hurrah — an aging team with old stars, there's no way they could come back from something as devastating as letting the 2013 championship slip away, right?
Wrong.
The Spurs finished with the best record in the regular season, and are one win shy of just being the best team, period.
"Whatever success anyone has is due to a lot of factors," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Some of it is not even your doing. Sometimes things just happen. So success is a pretty complicated thing."
So are comebacks.
But James is eager for the chance.
"For me, it's like you either don't make the playoffs or you win a championship," James said. "There's no in-between."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014...er=rss&emc=rss
"Why not us?" ... because the Spurs are better.
I have been waiting since I left Sacramento and now live in Phoenix with the Suns fans. The Spurs know what they gotta do. Finish them off quickly and hopefully the riverboats will be gassed up by this time tomorrow.
LeBron is not right physically. I saw it when he went up for a breakaway dunk and just dropped the ball in.
HEAT ARE DONE DONE DONE
Getting 100+ pts has been the hallmark for the Spurs this series... if we can put together a couple of 30pts quarters, we should be in great shape...
He has a sprained ankle since game 1, thats according to Ira Winderman. Lebron hasnt said much about it. Wade looks injured to. The Spurs will close it out tomorrow night, I believe it.
Look I thought the Spurs were done after 2010, it just seemed over. At the time it looked dead because the Lakers were coming off beating the Celtics and looked unstoppable, then Lebron decided he was going Miami. At that point it was just like damn, how the will the Spurs ever get through both LA and Miami while we are declining? I didnt think they were going to win another le, then in 2012 we saw a rebirth, and now here we are in 2014. Its simply amazing, just 1 win and it will go from being 8 years of dominance to 15 years of dominance.
Hope its similar to the Celtics/Lakers game 6 in '08
Let's do this.
Go Spurs Go.
Alright 5K posts. Championship tomorrow, see y'all Sunday around 11:00 PM.
I hope it's similar to the Pistons and LA game 5 '04, thats more like it.
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