Reply With Quote
Doesn't Timvp suck Simmons' as "The Best Writer In Sports" ?
...of angry Spurs fans!
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/060317
What's to like: The Spurs are the champs. And they OWN Phoenix.
What's not to like: In order ...
A) I watched Duncan heroically limping around against the Clips two weeks ago -- it's much more damaging to see in person, when you can pick up the little grimaces and self-conscious glances toward his bum foot. He's just not the same guy. The incredible thing is that Duncan can still control the game on one leg, and when they truly need him and his adrenaline starts going, he can have little spurts where it seems like he's fine. But the injury kills him defensively (he doesn't have the same lateral movement) and robs him of his lift for putbacks. I would guess that he's playing at around 70 percent. And considering that they barely won the le last season, that's not cutting it.
B) Stick a fork in Nick Van Exel. He's done. Same for Michael Finley. Brent Barry was never good for them in the first place. Neither was Rasho Nesterovic. Beno Udrih stinks. And Big Shot Rob is on cruise control until May, as always ... one of these years, he's not going to have anything left in the tank. By the way, I just listed six of their 10 best guys.
C) At halftime of the Clips game, I wandered down to the court to talk to my friend Strik, and we ended up watching the Spurs warming up for the second half ... the players were just going about their business in silence, like 12 businessmen quietly filing through an airport on their way to baggage claim or something. Watching them interact (or not interact), I said to Strik, "Look at that, they're like an old married couple." Strik joked, "You can't blame 'em, these guys speak like nine different languages."
But their whole season has been like that: They seem tired of each other, tired of their coach, tired of playing these 110-game seasons. Poor Duncan looks like he just wants to climb into a jacuzzi and disappear for about 10 months. Even when they rally to the occasion, like with the Dallas game a couple of weeks ago, you never get the sense that they're having that much fun. It's just a grim team. You can win one playoff series like that, and maybe even two, but not four. At some point, somebody else will have too much energy for you. I bet this is Popovich's last season. Just a gut feeling.
Mitigating factor: Did I mention that Tim Duncan is on this team?
Doesn't Timvp suck Simmons' as "The Best Writer In Sports" ?
wow, that article is his most off base article i have ever read, not even counting the spurs part. it seems thrown together...
Pop's last season
that dude must have smoked some good before the game
yea even though he puts detroit at number 1 (which i like) i dunno about this guy
ripped on the spurs pretty hard there
Seriously deranged, except for the Pistons part, I agree with him on that
What?! Some of his points were so weird, like this one:
They seem tired of each other, tired of their coach, tired of playing these 110-game seasons...you never get the sense that they're having that much fun. It's just a grim team. You can win one playoff series like that, and maybe even two, but not four. bet this is Popovich's last season. Just a gut feeling.
WTF? Yeah Van Exel sucks, and so does Rasho, but Horry is doing fine, Finley is finally getting into a rhythm, Barry is starting to play great, and Udrih is playing like a man posessed.B) Stick a fork in Nick Van Exel. He's done. Same for Michael Finley. Brent Barry was never good for them in the first place. Neither was Rasho Nesterovic. Beno Udrih stinks. And Big Shot Rob is on cruise control until May, as always ... one of these years, he's not going to have anything left in the tank. By the way, I just listed six of their 10 best guys.
Lame
don't get me wrong, this guy usually puts out good stuff, especially when he writes about the NBA - the first part of this article was hilarious and pretty spot-on, but this part was terrible. he must really be smarting from that terrible celtics loss yesterday...
D-Wade as MVP????
He points out that Miami is 20-4 in the past two months, however, the only worthwhile team they've beaten in that span was Detroit...and even that they needed a Wade miracle to win.
Steve Nash gets my vote for MVP. I had leaned towards Kobe, but Lakers suck too much for him to get that award. Plus, he hasn't been that impressive in the past few games.
He gets paid to write his opinions. He is a huge Clipper fan. He didn't mention they had just played the Lakers the night before. He didn't mention how good Parker has been. He didn't mention how Ginobili has been hurt as well as Horry. He wrote what he wanted, which is fine. Get over it Spurs fans. He isn't the one tuning into to every Spurs game that is shown on the tube.
That would be like me writing about the Heat and that they stink and Shaq is done. How Wade is carrying that team and has no help what so ever, when they are starting to play really good. I would have no room to write about the Heat because I hardly see them play.
Simmons is better at comedic relief.
He got a bad read on the chemistry of the Spurs team. That game was the 4th game in 6 nights and the 2nd game of a b2b ON THE ROAD.
he is a huge celtic fan that lives in LA, and got clippers season tickets the last 2 years for laughs. he likes the team, but i wouldn't call him a huge fan. but the article was thrown together and sloppy, which is the opposite of the first part of the article...
Simmons usually writes great stuff, but he's lost it on this one, especially the analysis of the Spurs. Did he go take advice from Skip Bayless? Pop's last season?
Simmons usually writes great stuff, but he's lost it on this one, especially the analysis of the Spurs. Did he go take advice from Skip Bayless? Pop's last season?
I usually love his stuff ... well, maybe not a -sucking kind of love () ... but this was a little odd.
Simmons misapprehended the mood among the Spurs, but it's not as if he's rated them #8 or something.
My biggest concern is this endemic overrating of the Miami Heat. This hot streak is utterly predictable and will mean absolutely zero when they face the Pistons. What it is, I think, is that whenever there is a glimmer of hope that one of the teams with some 'Q' value in the league might contend, everybody jumps all over their jock.
I don't see how Miami can't contend if Shaq is reasonably healthy come playoff time. True that seems somewhat unlikely, but if he can return to his form on offense last season, and on the boards -- why can't the Heat give the Pistons a good series? Considering Wade seems to have his way with him, and the Pistons can't really guard a healthy Shaq it isn't as if the Pistons could dominate them even at their best.
I would love for the spurs to meet shaq in the finals...
We should have been seeing him there for the last 7 years...
I'm really really worried about Duncan, because god damn our record is a testament to what he can do and who he is, but i feel sad watching him take shots now
Give the guy a break. He was probably distracted when he wrote that particular masterpiece after the Boston College - Pacific 2OT game yesterday.
Excellent article. Very accurate.
he went to holy cross i think, but definitely not BC.
Beware epitaphs written in March.
isnt bill simmons a toungue and cheek writer?
I have never thought of his material to be serious, so I thought he was just poking fun of the Spurs and saying things that were exactly opposite of the truth.
The only statement he made that had any truth was the one about NVE being washed up. Besides the clippers game wasnt one of the Spurs brightest moments this year
I mean anyone who watches the Spurs during warmups in person knows that the Spurs are always goofing around with each other, in fact this team seems like the most relaxed and at ease then any other that I have seen.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
