Sports Guy compares Spurs to "Cheers"

[jalbre6]

from http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/041116

Q: Who looks like the best team right now?
The Spurs. And not because of Duncan, or because Ginobili seems determined to have one of the best per-minute average seasons in recent memory, or because they have a bench with legitimate NBA guys who know what they're doing (Brent Barry, Devin Brown, Malik Rose, Big Shot Rob). With the exception of Barry, these guys have been playing together for awhile now -- and Barry has always been one of those Philip Seymour Hoffman types who can mesh with anyone else in the cast, regardless of the cir stances. They play well together. Much like the Pistons last year.

But this raises a larger issue: With so many teams dumping coaches, making panic trades and wasting money on shaky free agents -- it's like 80 percent of the league at this point -- the teams that keep building around the same nucleus (one bona fide star, four or five supporting stars, one coach) have an enormous compe ive advantage over everyone else. It's almost like running a good TV show. Take "Cheers," for example. They built the first two seasons around Sam and Diane, with Coach, Carla, Norm and Cliff as the supporting characters. Eventually, they brought in Frasier for Season 3; Woody showed up after Coach died in Season 4. After Season 5, Diane left just as her character was getting stale, but Rebecca came in and invigorated the show.

Here's what you had in Season 1: Sam, Diane, Coach, Carla, Cliff, Norm.

Here's what you had in Season 6: Sam, Rebecca, Woody, Carla, Cliff, Norm, Frasier, Lilith.

You could make the case that "Cheers" went from "genuine show" to "straightforward sitcom" after Coach died -- in fact, I made that argument a few years ago. But the heart of the show never really changed. Which is how a basketball team should operate. When the subject of NBA problems comes up, everyone points to poor shooting, over-reliance on three-point line, overzealous defense, high schoolers ... to me, the lack of continuity is THE biggest problem in the sport right now. None of these teams knows how to play together for more than four-minute stretches. Of course a team like San Antonio will win 60 games. Why wouldn't they?

(Note: Comparing "Cheers" to the Spurs, Sam was obviously Tim Duncan and Diane was David Robinson, making Rasho Rebecca -- a great comparison because Rebecca couldn't hold Diane's jock, just like Rasho wasn't in Robinson's class. Coach was Avery Johnson, making Woody Tony Parker. Frasier was like the Ginobili addition -- right down to the "Making The Leap after a few seasons" part. Carla was Gregg Popovich, right down to the looks. Norm was the revolving crunch-time swingman, whether it was Sean Elliott, Stephen Jackson, or Barry this season. And Cliff was Bruce Bowen -- annoying and flawed, but necessary nonetheless. By the way, it took me about an hour to figure that all out ... and I'm not even sure why it just happened. Let's just move on.)

[CosmicCowboy]

(Note: Comparing "Cheers" to the Spurs, Sam was obviously Tim Duncan and Diane was David Robinson, making Rasho Rebecca -- a great comparison because Rebecca couldn't hold Diane's jock, just like Rasho wasn't in Robinson's class. Coach was Avery Johnson, making Woody Tony Parker. Frasier was like the Ginobili addition -- right down to the "Making The Leap after a few seasons" part. Carla was Gregg Popovich, right down to the looks. Norm was the revolving crunch-time swingman, whether it was Sean Elliott, Stephen Jackson, or Barry this season. And Cliff was Bruce Bowen -- annoying and flawed, but necessary nonetheless. By the way, it took me about an hour to figure that all out ... and I'm not even sure why it just happened. Let's just move on.)

Wow maaaan...like thats really faaaaar out....

really puts the cosmic spin on everything you know what I mean?

very heavy stuff...

uhhhh...you wanna quit bogarting that thing and pass it?

now...what were we talking about again?

[Marcus Bryant]

Good stuff.

There are certainly benefits to continuity of personnel but I think the continuity of a team's "system" is much more important. Also, having the top player in the NBA tends to help. The Spurs' two le runs were built on a foundation of phenomenal post players and a defense first mentality, but both didn't necessarily require a lot of returning players.

[GoSpurs21]

Diane was David Robinson, making Rasho Rebecca -- a great comparison because Rebecca couldn't hold Diane's jock, just like Rasho wasn't in Robinson's class.

Who is in Robinson's class and available in free agent market summer 02?

Get over it already, just like Cliff its getting pretty annouying listening to people living in the past.

I love Big Dave, but he's retired dumb

[exstatic]

It's funny because I remember everyone talking about the upheaval before last year.

I think that this team WILL have a great advantage over the next 6 years, because, including this year, they have the following players locked down:
Tim 6yrs
TP 7 yrs ( this season + 6 yr ext)
Manu 6 yrs
Barry 6 yrs
Rasho 6 yrs
Rose 5 yrs
Beno 5 yrs ( rookie deal)

[Marcus Bryant]

Make that 4 for Beno and Barry. Also 5 for Radosoft.

[PeterBurns]

Sports Guy is the best read on the net.

Check out his other stuff, too funny

[GoSpurs21]

Especially this comment

ABC dumping two episodes of "The Benefactor" and airing the season finale ahead of time, just to clear it off the fall schedule before it did any further damage. Wow, Mark Cuban's season ending two weeks early ... it was just like the NBA playoffs!

[exstatic]

Wow, Mark Cuban's season ending two weeks early ... it was just like the NBA playoffs!

[Mark in Austin]

Sportsguy on Grant Hill / Steve Francis:

"If you made a list of guys who would have been an insane amount of fun to play with over the past 35 years, Hill stands with Magic, Bird, Stockton, Pippen, Walton and everyone else. There hasn't been anyone else quite like him. I mean, this is a guy who can bring out the best in Steve Francis. If he can stay healthy, Orlando has to be considered one of the favorites in the East. They basically just had an All-Star fall out of the sky.


I watched four of their seven games so far ... there wasn't a single time where Hill didn't look 100-percent recovered to me. Obviously he's not the same player as the guy who averaged a 20-10-7 in his 20s, but he's about 80-percent there. That's good enough. And it only took a few weeks for the Magic to revolve their entire offense around him -- he brings the ball up, starts the offense, creates plays at crunch-time, you name it. It's eerily reminiscent of Pippen's first season without MJ. At least so far.


The most satisfying aspect of the comeback? The way Hill has been carrying himself on the court -- like a cross between Walton's comeback with the Celtics in '86 and Seagal coming out of the coma in "Hard to Kill." In other words, he's trying to remain focused and serious (the Seagal side), but there are those two or three moments per game when the "Holy crap, I can't believe I'm actually back!" smile comes seeping out (which happened with Walton that season at least 240,000 times).


There was one classic moment against Dallas after a Magic basket, when Hill started running back upcourt and noticed Nowitzki ready to inbound the ball behind him, then whirled around and stole the pass. When they showed the replay, you could see Hill catch Nowitzki out of the corner of his eye and play possum for another step as his eyes widened. Then he made his move -- just a great basketball play, the kind you rarely see anymore. And when it was over, the smile came seeping out. Just for a second.


Good guy, great player, remarkable comeback. Keep your fingers crossed. And if you're not rooting for Grant Hill, then shame on you. Shame on you."

_____________________________

Man, that's great writing. Nice to see somebody recognizing what Hill means to that team.

[xcoriate]

Good guy, great player, remarkable comeback. Keep your fingers crossed. And if you're not rooting for Grant Hill, then shame on you. Shame on you.

and damn its true, good luck for grant hill