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"the greatest franchise in professional sports"
if that isn't enough to be crowned a dynasty i don't know what izzz
June 11, 2007
By Tony Mejia
CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer
Tell Tony your opinion!
SAN ANTONIO -- For starters, the NBA Finals should not be this easy. Nothing harboring major consequences is. Marriage isn't easy. Work is difficult. Friendships, relationships, whatever.
Things are just too easy for coach Gregg Popovich and the dynamic Spurs. (AP)
Do the Spurs even deserve a ring after this?
I guess. They did beat Phoenix.
I heard Spurs fans bemoaning the fact this series isn't closer. Everybody wanted to see a more compe ive series, but this has become the most unwatchable NBA Finals in league history; the Spurs won Game 2 103-92 and the phrase "It wasn't as close as the score indicates" has never applied more.
I have written for months that the Spurs will win this season's championship. If it wasn't for Manu Ginobili's ridiculous foul in Game 7 of last year's Western Conference semifinals, this should be San Antonio's third consecutive championship. Four in five years. Dynasty, etc.
The Spurs are great. There's a reason purists are chirping up and comparing this squad to Michael Jordan's Bulls teams. However, as good as the Spurs are, the Cavs should be ashamed of themselves.
This isn't even LeBron James' fault. If you want to blame him, you might as well blame coffee for getting cold when it's left out, or milk expiring after its due date. My mother, God bless her, has the perfect analogy for this series. I have a big dog, and I have a little cat. How do you expect the cat to compete? She can hiss all she wants, but if my dog wants, she can squash her. This has become the most anti-climactic championship series in recent memory, across all sports.
Mike Brown? People are going to call him an awful coach, but please, have some perspective. He has won 50 games in consecutive years with the monstrosity you see here.
LeBron, call him a choker, but he has gotten the most out of a nonexistent supporting cast. Clown him for air-balling a free throw, but really, could he have done anything to prevent this? No way.
So, here's what I'm going to tell you. Some of you fools call me a Spurs fan apologist, whatever. Little do you know I grew up in New York rooting for the now-hapless Knicks. I couldn't care less about this power that has come to fruition in south Texas. That said, greatness needs to be recognized. Lauded, applauded, all of that.
There's something to be said over a team that makes another champion, no matter how weak they're perceived to be, look this bad. Forget the final score. This was a 25-point blowout, and the irony is that could be seen right off the bat.
In the opening minute of the game, with the score 2-2, I turned to my esteemed colleague Mike Freeman and said, "Something doesn't look right with Cleveland. I have a feeling they're going to lose by 25."
The scored at the half was 58-33.
Spurs spectacular, but Finals can't compete with 'The Sopranos'
What more do you want to see? Are the naysayers buying Tony Parker as NBA Finals MVP now? Even Cleveland's late run was laughable. It was a feeble attempt to gain some sort of momentum from a game that should have destroyed its psyche. Can the Cavs win a game at home? Sure. They will.
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In fact, like Utah did in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, I would wager that the Spurs do allow Cleveland to make this somewhat of a series. However, did you pull yourself away from The Sopranos long enough to appreciate what the Spurs were able to do?
They took a Cavs squad who had gotten their feet wet on Thursday completely away from what they wanted to do and made them look feeble. San Antonio was so good it made its own crowd a non-factor. Everyone was bored. You might want to say that Spurs fans are spoiled, but how much can you cheer when a game is over by the midway point of the opening half?
Robert Horry had five blocks. The law firm of Parker, Duncan and Ginobili got off again, combining for 78 of San Antonio's 103 points. By the time it was over, the Cavs had been tarnished as one of the worst teams ever to make an NBA Finals, which only deflects credit from San Antonio being one of the best.
"I think we relaxed a little bit," Horry said of Cleveland's late run. "We just kept playing hard and doing what we do. Defensively we just tried to clog the paint. We tried to contest all shots and keep those guys from getting inside."
Yawn.
San Antonio might be boring as far as quotes go, but where it matters most, on the floor, the franchise is the best professional sports has offered in the past 20 years.
The New York Yankees spend money to be successful. San Francisco and Dallas become football powerhouses based on their personnel, but ultimately that died out. The Spurs have sustained their greatness. They've done it in a sport where parity is supposed to reign.
But these Spurs are not an equal to anyone. They're making the Cavaliers look like a joke. They're making the Eastern Conference look like a joke. Don't make the mistake of saying that this series is similar to what Miami did to Dallas last season. Different teams. Different series.
Recognize what you're seeing. If you can get over yourself, appreciate that you're seeing the only dynasty going. Respect that San Antonio has taken one of the greatest individual talents in NBA history, a 22-year-old who is recognized as special, and made him a non-factor. James had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and all those numbers were inconsequential.
Understand that "Here comes Manu!" off the bench is positively absurd. What former All-Star comes off the bench in this league?
The Cavs are up against the greatest franchise in professional sports, and they're not handling it well. Jump all over James if you want, but to do so would be asinine. You can't win a series like this by yourself. Bottom line, you can't beat San Antonio. The best part about it? They understand -- heck, overstand -- that you loathe them and find them boring. They don't care. Rings are what they care about.
By this time next week, you'll be reading about what they've done to earn them. Count on it. http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10221556
(I usually like Mejias articles)
"the greatest franchise in professional sports"
if that isn't enough to be crowned a dynasty i don't know what izzz
Guy has a short memory. Spurs made Detroit look worse in the first two games of the '05 Finals and then got absolutely smoked the next two.
Bron won't get two fouls in two minutes in Game 3, plus he's due and young as he is the support of the home crowd is going to help him a lot.
The Pistons were the defending champs, they had guys that knew what to do to come back and win a series when they were down...the Cavs have that just happy to be here look.......it is OVER
Never seen it put better.Bottom line, you can't beat San Antonio. The best part about it? They understand -- heck, overstand -- that you loathe them and find them boring. They don't care. Rings are what they care about.
By this time next week, you'll be reading about what they've done to earn them. Count on it.
so the Spurs won't remember that either?Guy has a short memory. Spurs made Detroit look worse in the first two games of the '05 Finals and then got absolutely smoked the next two.
Bron won't get two fouls in two minutes in Game 3, plus he's due and young as he is the support of the home crowd is going to help him a lot
Hes "due"
Due for what?
45?
Ok. Let him shoot, and shut off everyone else then....
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