Thirteen Left
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 5
The OtherSide - Within 24 hours of the birth of his first child, son Josh, and on little to no sleep, Tony Parker came up aces in Game 5 of the Western Conference, First Round series with Dallas. The Spurs defeated the Mavericks 109-103 last night at home in front of a fiery crowd at the AT&T Center to take a three games to two lead over our in-state rivals. Congratulations are in order for Tony on becoming a father and on being awarded last night's player of the game honors. While responding to a question in the post-game press conference about Tony's whirlwind day, Coach Pop observed, "I think his child was a little more important than the game, but he managed to do 'em both." Thankfully, for Spurs fans, Coach Pop was right about Parker's ability to multitask as TP led the Spurs with 23 points and added 5 assists in his strongest performance in the series so far. With 1:52 left in the game, and San Antonio clinging to a four point lead, Tony drained a cold blooded 25 foot three pointer that inevitably put the margin of the Maverick's seemingly wire to wire deficit too far out of reach for them to pull off a spirited fourth quarter comeback attempt. While Dallas was able to tie the game on a few occasions, they were never able to break through and establish a lead despite the fact that Dirk Nowitzski and Vince Carter shot lights out in the second half. On that note, Vince Carter (a half man - half old as dirt former NBA superstar) has been 100 percent amazing in this series. He has turned back the clock to be, at times, the most dangerous weapon on the court for the Mavericks and is the only reason that this series is not over and the Spurs aren't enjoying a little rest whilst preparing for a second round opponent. Carter had 28 points on 10-16 shooting last night and went an unbelievable 7-9 from downtown. His shot-making ability has been ridiculous in this series and unfortunately for San Antonio, because of it, we still have to fight to get one more victory against one of the best 8th-seeded teams that the NBA has ever fielded.
Indeed, tomorrow night's Game 6 and the opportunity to close out the series is shaping up to potentially be a massive challenge for San Antonio. Not only did Dirk find his rhythm for the first time in the series in the second half of Game 5, but couple that with the undeniable fact that Vince Carter's playoff confidence is currently at an all-time high. Then, add to the equation that DeJuan Blair will be jacked up and will bring an extra little something to the American Airlines Center (energy-wise) in order to give himself another shot at revenge against his former teammates after having served a one game suspension in Game 5 for his dubious impression of Pele on Tiago Splitter's head during Game 4. Lastly, we must factor in that those loveable Dallas Mavericks fans will be lathered up and foaming at the mouth to do what they can to help their team even up the series and give the Mavs an opportunity to return to San Antonio for Game 7 where they could potentially steal this series. The arena which is housed in a city that is so corporate that it doesn't even have the originality to come up with its own corporate sponsorship so it shares one with Miami is shaping up to be the epitome of a hostile environment tomorrow evening. But the San Antonio Spurs didn't amass the best road record in the NBA this season by cratering under the pressure of performing in hostile environments. I fully expect us to have a razor sharp performance tomorrow and put ourselves in a position to win the game and send Mark Cuban fishing. I expect the Spurs sharp shooters to finally find their collective rhythm and for #BlackAndSilver three-point bombs to be free fallin' from the sky all night long over the city of Dallas. The Mavericks have put up a valiant effort to make the sixth installment of this playoff rivalry another classic confrontation of wills, but despite all of the pageantry that this series has had to offer, I expect it to have become just another playoff battle for future NBA Hall-Of-Famers Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki to add to the memory bank, so they can nostalgically reflect back upon someday, come Saturday morning.
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Headline Image Source: USA Today
Fourteen Left
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 4
With a Little Help From My Friends - "What would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me?" Last night, the San Antonio Spurs endured another big stretch in the second half where we couldn't find the right pitch on offense and, as a result, we came dangerously close to having every fair weather fan in South Texas jump off of the team's bandwagon as we narrowly avoided going in the hole, 3-1 against the Dallas Mavericks. Instead, we displayed a tremendous amount of mental toughness and grit to get our first road victory of the 2014 playoffs and even the first round series at two games each by defeating the Mavericks 93-89 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Spurs are returning to the Alamo city having regained home-court advantage and it is now Dallas who might want to consider counting their own fortunes that Vince Carter's prayer was answered on Saturday afternoon because, without that amazing shot, the Mavs could easily be a team facing elimination on the road tomorrow evening. San Antonio, who has still yet to put together a complete Spurs-like performance for 48 minutes in this series, took another positive step forward towards establishing a playoff mindset in this series and getting accustomed to the intensity of postseason basketball. By contrast, it was pointed out on the TNT broadcast, Dallas has been in a playoff mindset and dealing with postseason intensity for weeks having had to battle with Memphis and fight off Phoenix in order just to qualify to be here. That is always one of the dangers of clinching the best record in the league by a comfortable margin; we perhaps took our collective foot off of the gas at the end of the regular season and have had a hard time getting this behemoth of an 18-wheeler back to moving at full speed again. Through four games, the Spurs are fortunately back on track with two of the possible three remaining games at home and hopefully gaining momentum towards full playoff speed, which is a velocity that would allow us to finish this series off properly.
One of the stranger happenings from last evening's dramatic game occurred late in the fourth quarter. It is becoming clear that something weird happens when a Spurs player gets tangled up on the ground during the NBA playoffs with a Mavs player who is a former teammate. Seemingly every time it happens, the Mavericks player involved is overcome with a sense of desire to channel his inner-Three Stooges. Remember when Jason Terry perpetrated one of the most infamous cheap shots of all-time when he couldn't pass up the opportunity to fist bump former teammate Michael Finley in the groin during Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference semi-finals? Well, history repeated itself last night when former-Spur DeJuan Blair decided to show off his soccer skills with Tiago Splitter's head. After the game, Blair claimed that he was kicking his legs out in protest to a foul call and made contact with Tiago inadvertently. I'm not sure that Tiago buys that explanation, but either way, DeJuan's outburst proved costly for the Mavericks. Not only did the catalyst of the Mav's second half comeback from 20 down to take the lead (DeJuan had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the game) get himself ejected, but the #BlackAndSilver were awarded two free throws on the foul and one on the technical (and ejection of Blair) which allowed us to turn a one point deficit into a two point lead with 3:08 left in the game. Even still, the Mavs kept fighting until the bitter end and it took the biggest shot of the season (to-date) for the Spurs, a clutch three by player of the game Boris Diaw with 32 seconds left, to go ahead for good. Boris was able to provide much needed production off of the bench, which was mostly absent in the first three games if you take Manu Ginobili out of the equation, with his 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. If Boris can play like that in Game 5 at home, and bring some of his fellow 'Foreign Legion' bench compadres along for the ride, the Spurs will put themselves in a better position to build and maintain a lead tomorrow evening. Should that happen, San Antonio will put ourselves in a position to have an opportunity to closeout on Friday when we return to The Otherside.
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Headline Image Source: Bleacher Report
Two Right
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 3
The National Anthem - Apparently, Two Right makes a wrong and it is now apparent that something is noticeably wrong with the San Antonio Spurs since I'm having TO WRITE this only three games into the 2014 NBA Playoffs. In contrast, last year, we didn't lose our second game of the playoffs until Game 4 of our second round match-up with the Golden State Warriors. Call it a miracle, lucky prayer or call it one of the more clutch, cold-blooded daggers in recent playoff memory; either way the Dallas Mavericks have a 2-1 lead on the Spurs after Vince Carter sank a game-winning three pointer from the corner, with only 1.7 seconds with which to get the shot off, to beat San Antonio in Game 3, 109-108. I don't remember a game that the Spurs had lost on a buzzer beater the entire 2013-14 season, so (if my memory is serving me correctly) I guess you could say that we were due. Yet this brings me no solace because that was potentially about as painful a scenario through which to lose a playoff game as someone could draw up. If the Spurs don't regain our dominant form, and continue to struggle to get the upper hand in this series, then that shot could get added to The List (.4, Dirk's drive, Zach Randolph, James Harden, Ray Allen) that is too terrible to be accompanied by links. But this is not the time to start to panic. I fully expect that the #BlackAndSilver will do what they are supposed to do and bounce back to regain control of this series. When that happens, then the Vince Carter three pointer will get remembered in Spurs lore as the sequel to this.
The San Antonio Spurs will regroup and will put forth an effort that will put them in a position to regain control of this series on Monday evening. But in order to ensure that that is exactly whats happens, we need to start playing like the Spurs again on offense. For the most part, barring a few lapses here and there, we have played reasonably well on defense. Once again, Dirk going bananas was not the reason that we lost Game 3. Dirk mustered only 18 points on 7-13 shooting. The reason that we are behind in this series is because we have yet to consistently move the ball on offense. We have shown glimpses of it, and the Spurs played better on offense in Game 3 than they had in the first two games in San Antonio (particularly player of the game, Tiago Splitter, who tallied an impressive 14 points and 13 rebounds), but in order to start comfortably winning these games against the Mavs (and not allow them to be in a position at the end where prayers can be answered) the Spurs need to move the basketball in Game 4 with so much precision that the Dallas defense begins to bend and then finally breaks. San Antonio, as a team, needs to put on the type of 'assists' clinic in Game 4 that gives Cliff Paul an orgasm. Being the most unselfish and offensively dynamic team in the NBA is who the Spurs are. It is the reason that we have the best record in the league. When we move the ball for 22 seconds, wearing the defense out in the process, and still end up getting a wide open three pointer that we proceed to bury before running back on defense so that we can get the ball back and do it again; it is demoralizing for an opponent. We can obliterate all of the Mavericks' newly found confidence and remind them that we are the one seed for a reason with one dominant offensive performance for 48 minutes tomorrow evening. One Spur is not going to will this team to a first round victory over Dallas, much less a championship. To a man, each player needs to approach the rest of this series and the rest of the 2014 playoffs with the mentality that I am going to do my part better to play winning basketball if I do it with a little help from my friends.
One more thing. Mark Cuban…
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Headline Image Source: Right Right Wrong
One Right
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 2
Zambony - On Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks came back to the AT&T Center to challenge the San Antonio Spurs to another game of basketball. Unfortunately, the Spurs players came to the arena expecting to play Dallas in ice hockey. San Antonio might have actually fared better had we sent the Rampage players out on to the court because it appeared that, to a man sans Manu Ginobili, the Spurs had no interest in being out there. The zamboni parked deep in the bowels of the AT&T Center had more of a sense of urgency about Wednesday night's contest than the team with the best regular season record in the NBA. If you had told me Wednesday morning that we were going to get blown out in Game 2 on our home floor, 113-92, I would have assumed that it would of been because Dirk Nowitzki was going to have a monster throwback MVP level performance. This, however, was not the reason that the Spurs were dismantled by our neighbors to the north. Dirk struggled through another pedestrian 16 points on 7-19 shooting but the Mavericks, as a team, played with intensity and moved the basketball as if to put on a clinic to embarrass the alleged 'best passing' team in the league. And embarrassed we should have been. The Spurs mustered up only 17 assists on 34 made field goals and turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 22 times to the Mavericks postseason ready 7 turnovers.
Note to the City of San Antonio: I know that Fiesta began early this year, which probably threw off our rhythm as a community because the weekend of Oyster Bake did not coincide with the first weekend of the playoffs, but regardless of the unintended consequence of extending Fiesta to three weeks which probably made San Antonio less festive than usual by the time this past Wednesday rolled around, we need to hurry up and find our Fiesta swagger as a city. The Spurs now have a series on our hands and we need to do our part to make sure that the team goes up to Dallas and handles our business in front of those overconfident Mavericks fans. On another side note, isn't it funny that after one victory in the series, every single Mavericks fan that you know comes out of the woodworks to let you know that they won as if you weren't watching the game? Oh Dallas fans, there you go again beating your chest way before it is warranted (and giving your team bad karma in the process). I guess you'll never learn, but on the other hand, that is part of what makes you so endearing. I love you, Dallas fans.While Spurs fans can do our part to show that we are playoff ready by getting our Fiesta swagger back, the ball club itself needs to arrive in Dallas for tomorrow's game angry and focused. The time for HEB Commercials, Frogging, and Team Selfies, albeit totally awesome for the regular season, should be over now. Every player, one through thirteen, needs to match the level of play that player of the game, Manu Ginobili, brought on Wednesday with his 5-6 on three pointers and 27 points and fresh off of celebrating the birth of his third son, Luca. Congratulations, Manu. I'm sure that 2013-14 NBA Coach of the Year, Gregg Popovich, will put together a game plan to counter the things that Dallas was doing effectively to punish us in Game 2. The #BlackAndSilver just need to be locked in and ready to execute from the minute that we step foot in the American Airline Center and we will be just fine in Game 3. Today is the Battle of Flowers parade here in San Antonio. Tomorrow, the San Antonio Spurs need to be ready for battle as soon as the pregame warm ups pause for the singing of The National Anthem. We have not played Spurs basketball yet in this series. Tomorrow, we need to get one right. ¡Viva la fiesta!
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Headline Image Source: SpursNation
Six Up
2013 NBA Finals Game 7
Shake It Out - Intellectually, I understand the merits of the worldview that argues that it is irrational for me, as a spectator, to get emotionally invested in the outcome of a sporting event when it does not have a direct impact on my own life. I understand the rationale behind treating sports as escapism, as a distraction from the rigors of everyday life, and to enjoy the injunction from personal stress that rooting for a favorite team provides but to do so while remembering that what I am participating in is just a game and should not hold relevance to my personal happiness because it exists tangentially to the circumstances of my life and the societal forces which are influencing it. After all, my desired outcome for the 2013 NBA Finals would not have lessened the remaining balance on my home's mortgage nor would it have accelerated the recovery of the San Antonio housing market from the 2008 collapse that occurred within six months of my wife and me purchasing our first home; a collapse that has subsequently caused us to spend the duration of our marriage digging out of the financial hole that we were left to manage given that our home was rendered chronically underwater and we've been too responsible to walk away but also too financially limited to maneuver our way out of the unfortunate bad luck of investing in the housing market at literally the worst possible time in the last 50 years. My desired outcome for the 2013 NBA Finals would not have increased the size or scope of the across-the-board pay raise that was recently fought for and won by the members of Texas State Employees Union, a group of people that I am privileged to work closely with every day, in an effort to force the Texas legislature to address a systemic problem, front-line state employee salaries in Texas have lagged dangerously behind inflation for decades which has severely eroded their buying power in relation to the cost of living; a problem that the power brokers in Texas would have been more than happy to ignore completely, this past legislative session, if they had been left to their own devices. My desired outcome for the 2013 NBA Finals would not have repaired strained relationships in my personal life, it would not have afforded me more free time to devote to completing the manuscript for my first book, and it would not have provided the clarity for my wife and me to definitively answer an on-going question, "when in the journey towards establishing our careers is the best time to start our family?" [Note: any comments in response to this post which attempt to compare us to the characters Carol and Trevor from the movie Idiocracy, no matter how humorous and well intentioned, will not be received favorably since poor Trevor dies childless as a result of a tragically embarrassing episode]. Yet despite all of the merits of the worldview I have just described, a worldview that carefully places one's spectator sporting allegiances on the peripheral of the forces being exerted upon one's pursuit of personal happiness, as a die-hard Spurs fan, I have no choice but to unequivocally reject it. Despite my attempts to intellectually rationalize to myself the worldview that basketball is just a game, that the successes and failures of my favorite team are inconsequential to the forces which are creating the tapestry of my personal happiness, it has been more than a month since the completion of the 2013 NBA Finals and I remain utterly heartbroken that the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in Game 7 on June 20th.Perhaps the reason for this is that the intellectual worldview is inherently incapable of accounting for an indispensable variable factoring into the experience of a die-hard sports fan such a myself. That is, the rooting interest has developed organically out of deeply personal experiences and in care of immeasurably valued relationships over an extended period of time. For a die-hard sports fan, each opportunity to root for the favorite team does not occur independently in a vacuum, but rather occurs on the top of a mountain of memories and experiences that have not only contributed to a lifetime of both happy and sad moments but also have played a significant role in determining the trajectory of the individual's life and consequently, have indeed made a substantial contribution to personal happiness. In other words, for a die-hard sports fan, the obsessive participation in spectator sports is an outward projection of meaningful experiences and relationships which cut to the core of the fan's sense of self. When a significant collection of memories that help piece together one's understanding of the experiences and relationships that bring meaning to life are stitched together through the common thread of a sporting interest, one's allegiance to the success of that sporting interest naturally becomes very central to one's sense of self. This mountain of memories collected in pursuit of cheering for one's favorite team are valuable not only in there relevance to organizing the team's successes and failures in ones' mind, but more importantly they are important as bookmarks of one's own personal experiences and vessels for cherishing one's most meaningful relationships. Where is it that we begin to formulate our sense of self and our conditions for happiness if not through our own memories?
My Uncle Bob took my brother, Chris, and me to see the Spurs play Larry Bird and the Celtics at the old Hemisfair Arena for our first NBA game. From around 1994 to 2005, I went to see the Spurs play the Pistons in San Antonio with my father almost every single year. One year, the Pistons beat the Spurs at the buzzer and I'm pretty sure Dad was the only person in our entire section that was cheering. While on a college visit to Trinity University with my mom in 1996, we went to a Spurs game while in town and I decided that night to apply for early admission. I was at Tim Duncan's first home game as a rookie in 1997 at the Alamodome with my friend, Yousif. When the Spurs used to practice at Trinity, I was playing pick-up basketball on the outdoor courts when David Robinson was walking to his car one day. You better believe, I dribbled right up to him and crossed him over, he couldn't stop chuckling all the way to his car. I was at the first game that Tony Parker started in his career in 2001. I was in building at the AT&T Center when Tim Duncan received his 2nd NBA MVP trophy, the Spurs beat the Shaq and Kobe Lakers that night. My friend, Brian, and I were at Game 1 of the 2003 NBA Finals. I watched Game 2 of the 2005 NBA Finals between the Spurs and the Pistons with my dad in Georgetown, TX. I watched the Spurs play the Pistons with Dad in Georgetown again that fall, our last game. My wife, Jenn, has continued the tradition with me, we still try to go to see the Spurs play the Pistons every year. I was at my brother's bachelor party when the Spurs won their first title in 1999. I was out with my sister, Heather, and Brian in San Antonio when they won in 2003. We did the celebratory drive down Military. I watched Game 7 of the Finals alone in my Dallas apartment when the Spurs beat the Pistons in 2005, I can only describe it as bitter sweet. I watched the Spurs win in 2007 in Dallas with Jenn as we were literally packing our things to move to San Antonio.
These memories and the experiences and relationships that are represented within them are catalogued then preserved carefully and done so in close proximity to the core of who I am as a person. In my own weird way, because the San Antonio Spurs are so intrinsically woven into my entire life experience, I internalize the success of the team as barometer of my sense of self and a validation of the people and memories that I hold dear. Admittedly irrational, each victory and defeat is a deeply personal experience despite the fact that my role as a spectator is marginal and removed from directly impacting the results. Is this healthy? Perhaps not, but this deep personal connection and investment in the team is, indeed, one that I hold for better or for worse.In Five Up, I wrote about the cruelty of "having the trophy so close within reach we could almost scrape a finger nail on it." Obviously, this was written before Game 7, when I was still filled with hope that the Spurs would bounce back to ultimately win the title anyway. In hindsight, after witnessing Miami edge out San Antonio in the fourth quarter of the decisive game, while I remain pleased with the way that I constructed that sentence as a writer, I am personally haunted by the excruciating imagery of my own prose. Reliving that dreadful Tuesday evening at the AT&T Center has proven to be utter torture. The incomprehensible sequence of events that led to our Game 6 defeat played over and over in my mind for days after Game 7. The nightmare still pops into my head, as if from out of no where, at any random moment to prompt a queasy sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. 28 seconds to go in Game 6, the Spurs were ahead by 5 points and closing in on the 5th championship in franchise history. Over the course of the last 28 seconds, 5 basketball plays occurred that adversely affected the Spurs. Miami secured an offensive rebound off of a missed shot, LeBron James buried a three pointer, Kawhi Leonard missed a free throw, Miami secured an offensive rebound off of a missed shot, Ray Allen buried a float back to the line off balance three pointer with his feet flirting dangerously with the out-of-bounds line. What if even one of those five actions had gone the other way? The San Antonio Spurs would have been the 2013 NBA Champions. And this only scratches the surface of the Pandora's Box that randomly bursts open in my brain like a sinister jack-in-the-box at some point on a daily basis. Left to my own devices and with time alone inside my own head, 'what if' scenarios bounce around my brain like a pinball. What if the NBA had not rejected the 7 year, $100 million contract that the Miami Heat signed Juwan Howard to in 1996? The Miami franchise would have been irreversibly crippled from having signed a mediocre player to a superstar contract, would have likely not have been in the same position to build a championship contending team around Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade a decade later, and the San Antonio Spurs would have probably been the 2013 NBA Champs. What if Ray Allen hadn't betrayed his loyalty to Kevin Garnet and Paul Pierce and hadn't left the Boston Celtics to go and sign with the enemy? He would have never hit the dagger three pointer at the end of regulation in Game 6 and the Spurs would have probably been the 2013 NBA Champs. What if LeBron James hadn't betrayed his loyalty to Cleveland in 2010 and had had the fortitude to continue to trust his own ability by believing that if he remained on the journey to fight to the top of the mountain top with his own teammates, his own franchise, his own city that he would one day persevere? Instead, he took the easy way out by becoming Dwyane Wade's more talented sidekick. In order for LeBron James to become a champion, he chose to take shortcuts. Had LeBron James had the competitive integrity of Michael Jordan, for example, the match up with the Miami Heat would have never happened and the San Antonio Spurs would have probably been the 2013 NBA Champs. There are hundreds of 'what if' scenarios that haunt me into searching for pathways through which the Spurs could have won this year's championship, but the person that this 'what if' scenario will likely wind up haunting the most in the long run is LeBron James, himself. There is a reason why 49 out of 50 states were rooting for the allegedly boring Spurs to win the 2013 NBA Finals. Taking shortcuts in life is not an endearing quality, especially in an all-time great basketball player. All-time great athletes, much like U.S. Presidents, can really only be judged accurately through the prism of history. I suspect that no matter how many championships LeBron James wins as a member of the Miami Heat, history will remember him unfavorably in comparison to the other all-time great champions that he will be measured against because of the shortcuts that he took and I suspect that after his playing days are long behind him, the decision to leave the Cleavland Cavaliers will haunt him immeasurably. Nonetheless, the image of an old LeBron James being tormented by regret as he sits in the rocking chair on his porch is of little consolation right now because in the end, we did lose to that player and that team which makes this defeat even more traumatic to deal with. With the whole country finally squarely behind the small market Spurs, a franchise that genuinely conducts its business the right way, building a team from the ground up and going through the painstaking effort to develop players year after year to remain competitive, it is heartbreaking to lose to a franchise that leveraged all of the space within the salary cap rules to it's advantage in order to shortcut its way back into contention.
Despite my personal animus with LeBron James' decision and the way that the Miami Heat put together a championship caliber ball club, give them credit. In a tightly contested Game 7, the Spurs were led by Tim Duncan's 24 points and 12 rebounds and my player of the game Kawhi Leonard's 19 points and 16 rebounds, but in the end it was not enough to match the brilliance of James and Dwyane Wade. LeBron scored 37 points and collected 12 rebounds and Wade scored 23 points and collected 10 rebounds. Most importantly, however, the duo made clutch shots in the final moments of a gut wrenching fourth quarter and on the other end of the floor, the Spurs did not. Tim Duncan, one of the most consistently unflappable all-time great players basketball has ever seen, inexplicably missed a bunny of a jump hook over Shane Battier with around a minute left and an opportunity to tie the game. On subsequent Spurs possessions, the physical breakdown of the body of San Antonio's most beloved player caught up with the Spurs once again as Manu Ginobili was unable to be Manu Ginobili and physically execute the basketball plays that his fearless and brilliant basketball mind was asking him to execute. Furthermore, my predicted ascension of Tony Parker into the conversation of best basketball player in the world hit a speed bump as Tony was unable to assert his will over the outcome of Game 7 up to the level of the lofty standards that that title would expect. Sometimes basketball is just that simple. There is no rational explanation for why, but when two teams are evenly matched, one team executes and the other doesn't. On the court, the Miami Heat earned the title by being the better team in the fourth quarter of the last game of a series where two teams played each other to a draw in the previous 27 quarters. Congratulations, Miami. And as heartbreaking as this defeat in the NBA Finals was, I'm thankful for having had the experience. The journey to and the experience of having my beloved #BlackAndSilver back in the NBA Finals was such a joy. San Antonio is a special place and I feel truly blessed to have gotten to experience this amazing run with my community. This journey, despite all of the pain which has resulted from its difficult conclusion, has given me a unique opportunity to reflect upon the relationships and memories that have made being a San Antonio Spurs fan such an integral part of my life as well as live new experiences with loved ones and create new memories. Despite the irrationality of it all, I welcome the pain of losing the 2013 NBA Finals in heartbreaking fashion because in the end, being a die-hard Spurs fan is as central to who I am and is a force in my life that contributes as much to my personal happiness as the forces that influence my residence, my career, my friendships, and my family. After all, some more than others, but where I live, the types of people that I work with, who my friends are, and how I relate to my family are all aspects of my personal happiness that have been influenced by my die-hard affinity for the San Antonio Spurs. So, I'll relish this pain right now and learn to cherish it at some point down the road, but I'm already beginning to feel some of the heartbreak begin to get squeezed out of me by anticipation of the future. I still believe that Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker will raise another banner in the AT&T Center. I couldn't have higher hopes for the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013-14 NBA season. Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, and Tiago Splitter will be one year further into their development and therefore more seasoned come playoff time. Couple that with the fact that Timmy, Manu, and Tony were, are, and will always remain true champions. Each time that they have experienced a crushing playoff defeat which has arguably cost them a championship [see 2004, 2006], they never jumped ship, nor did the franchise back up a Brink truck to lure in reinforcements, instead they regrouped and came back with the same core group to win the title the next season. It's always darkest before the dawn. We've got next.
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Headline Image Source: Texas Non Profits
Five Up
2013 NBA Finals, Game 6
One More Time - Potentially seconds away from the roof being blown off the building, and with the AT&T Center the loudest I have ever heard it in all of the countless visits that I have made inside the arena that Tim Duncan built, 18,000 people were simultaneously stricken with the same nightmare. What was setting up to be one of the most special places to be in America late last evening, somehow became one of the worst places to be in America. I have never experienced a more violent swing in emotions during a sporting event and I have never seen a more dazed and confused group of people clear an arena and rightfully so. Losing a tight game and squandering an opportunity to eliminate your opponent is always rough. But this was something entirely different. The post-game AT&T Center scene was so other-worldly bizarre that it quickly became dangerous. Generally, there is a heavy rush to the parking lot immediately following the final buzzer of a game, but usually some people leave early and others hold back to wait for the crowd to dissipate. Quite literally, everyone was trying to get the hell out of that building all at once. The last time I was pushed in the back that many times in a crowd was on the rope line at a 2008 Obama for America campaign rally waiting to shake then Senator Obama's hand. Spurs fans were pushing, clawing, grabbing, and yelling at each other in an effort to get through the exits so that they could breathe again. This is a natural reaction to experiencing all of the air being sucked out of a building, but it was quite a chilling experience to go through nonetheless. My wife and I tried our best to stay calm and move with the flow of the crowd down the escalators and through the lobby towards the exits, but it became increasingly difficult. Some of the more inebriated amongst the herd were cursing the refs, the Heat, and the world without any regard for their proximity to children. To make matters worse, I counted at least three or four Miami Heat fans who were senselessly baiting the crowd and gloating to anyone who would listen. It is one thing to attend an actual game and root for the road team, but to attend a watch party hosted by a franchise for its fans, root for the opponent, and then gloat to the gathered masses after we've just suffered one of the most excruciating defeats imaginable; classless. Although, I didn't actually see any of them get jumped, there were definitely some heated exchanges going on between dejected Spurs fans and these clowns. I guess in any crowd of people this size you will always find a handful of lunatics exercising the same amount of sense as a chihuahua barking at a pack of wolves. Hopefully, none of them were actually physically harmed so that they can get what's coming to them in the form of karma. After all, there is one more game to play. So enough about them, more so than the handful of Heat fans baiting the masses, it was the aggravation that Spurs fans were displaying towards each other over our inability to move through the crowd and get outside that was escalating the most tempers. A woman almost pulled me down by the shoulder screaming hysterically about how she needed to get out of here. I let her by, trying to keep my arm on my wife's shoulders in front of me, but I sternly reminded her about the news flash of the year..."everyone really needs to get out of here." Another woman, a few yards behind me in the crowd, was pushed into another fan who turned around unquestionably agitated. That fan proceeded to push the first woman and it seemed as if the incident was tinkering on the verge of setting off a riot. Luckily, there was a very large gentleman (must have been 6'4, 300 pounds at least) who was near enough to the altercation that he was able to put himself between them and diffuse the situation. Of what I witnessed, this was the closest that the building evacuation process got to devolving into utter chaos but the entire walk felt as if it could happen at any moment. While the loss itself was indescribably disappointing, the thing that was truly heart breaking was seeing our community momentarily turn on each other and regress back to an "every man for himself" mentality when we had been so close to getting to instead experience a harmonious departure from the arena, filled with dancing, hugging, and back slaps, and into the streets of San Antonio to join our friends and neighbors as we all continued to celebrate well into the night like a family.San Antonio Spurs fans had the right to be angry, confused, dejected, and sad last night after the game. Given the stakes and our proximity to victory, it was the toughest defeat I have personally ever experienced in my 28 years as a Spurs fan. The Game 7 loss to the Mavericks in 2006, the Game 5 loss to the Lakers in 2004, and the Game 6 loss to the Rockets in 1995 were all up there, but having the trophy so close within reach that we could almost scrape a finger nail on it? The cruelty of this one is utterly excruciating.
And that has spilled over into a citywide hangover through out the day today. The entire city seems to be sleepwalking in a zombie-like transient state. But it has to end tonight when we go to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day. The saving grace to the cruelty of this loss is that it comes with an immediate chance for redemption. Also, if someone had told Spurs fans at the beginning of the season that we would be getting to play one Game 7 in the 2013 NBA Finals with a chance to win our 5th championship, we would have all been thrilled about the opportunity to put another banner up in the rafters of the AT&T Center. There are 48 minutes left in our season and we should be confident that our ball club will seize this moment. The San Antonio Spurs still lead the Miami Heat 596-584 (cumulative scoring) in the Finals and we have, for more time in this series than not, proven that we are a deeper, more well rounded, and, yes, a better basketball team than our opponent. Tim Duncan, last night's player of the game, has clearly saved something in his tank for this moment. Timmy had 30 points and 17 rebound trying to get the thing done last night. I would be shocked if he does not repeat or improve on that performance tomorrow night in Game 7. By the way, San Antonio is 0-2 in this series in games that have been officiated by Joey Crawford, we are 3-1 in games that have not (including 1-0 on the road). Joey Crawford will not be officiating Game 7. On a historical note, no road team has won a Game 7 in the NBA Finals since the 1978 Washington Bullets defeated the SuperSonics in Seattle. While this seems discouraging, to me this seems to suggest that the road team is due. Also, the #BlackAndSilver have not lost back-to-back games with Tim, Tony, and Manu in the lineup since December 12th and 13th. This is a longer period of time without losing back-to-back games than the constantly referenced streak the Heat have been on since January 8th and 10th. But more than anything, the reason to remain optimistic about our chances on Thursday night is that I genuinely sense that our players and our city want this title more than those counterparts in Florida. As excruciating as it was to be in that AT&T Center after the final buzzer had sounded last night, I had never experienced so much excitement and so much hunger for a victory in any sporting venue that I have ever been in as I did during last night's game at the AT&T Center, and the game wasn't even being played on the court down below us. The crowd was going bonkers and the noise level was deafening when the Spurs took a 5 point lead in the final minute on a Tony Parker floater, it was utter pandemonium. This city and our players are so hungry for a championship and it seems more than reasonable to me that Miami and its players will not have the capacity to reach down deep enough to match that hunger tomorrow night, having won a championship last year.I spent a lot of time last night at the AT&T Center peering up at the four championship banners in the rafters. I know that the energy that was in that building last night (while greater than any I had ever experienced) will pale in comparison to the energy that will be in it tomorrow. Tomorrow night, the city of San Antonio will be so hungry for a championship that we will be loud enough for the greatest winner of a generation, Tim Duncan, to hear our screaming on South Beach and use it as fuel to make that one final push that will hopefully put championship banner number five up in the rafters of a building that will one day have his statue on its grounds. Before this series began, while congratulating the Miami Heat on winning the Eastern Conference, I suggested that this match up would be an epic clash of champions. The 2013 NBA Finals have certainly lived up to that prediction. I also proposed, "may the best team win." I am utterly convinced at this point in time that the San Antonio Spurs are the best team in this series. Although tomorrow's game will be the hardest leg of this journey, it will also be the final one. Game 7 is an amazing opportunity for the Spurs to prove that we are the best team in the series by absorbing the body blow of the toughest loss in franchise history and countering it with a resounding upper cut and delivering it with such fury that it produces aftershocks which resonate in our community and the annals of basketball history forever. Our best basketball of the season has yet to be played. It's always darkest before the dawn. Shake it out.
Featured Image Source: The Hoop Doctors
Headline Image Source: Bleacher Report
Fifteen Down
2013 NBA Finals, Game 5
Come Together - Sometimes, when a photogenically challenged former Weight Watchers spokes model whispers softly into the vast open spaces of an empty arena, the fleeting sounds still travel far enough to awaken a sleeping giant. Manu Ginobili erupted out of hibernation last night to add another chapter to one of the most Paul Bunyanesque folklore inspiring legends of a sports career that our generation has ever seen, earning player of the game honors to boot. In a surprise start, Manu went wire to wire in Game 5 pouring in 24 points while dishing out 10 assists in a performance that I will certainly add to the bedtime stories that I will one day tell to my children about Number 20 (the same way my dad used to tell me bedtime stories about all the breathtaking feats he witnessed watching Ted Williams hit a baseball). On a side note, topping the list of legendary Manu stories to tell my children...the Halloween Bat story, a tall tale so incredible that you wouldn't believe it had we not been blessed to live in an age of video documentation (note to self: remember to tell that story every October 31st from the time your first child is age five until the time your grandchildren come to visit and find you mumbling incoherently in a rocking chair). Manu's resounding statement of defiance last night came upon the heals of a media onslaught of negative press and speculation that his retirement from the game of basketball might be imminent. In the post-game press conference, Ginobili carefully reminded the gathered masses that overall he hasn't played a bad series but has just been taking what the defense is giving him which has made his role more of a distributor than a scorer. He did admit, however, that he was disappointed in his Game 4 performance saying, "Game 4 was a different situation, and I was a little upset." Thanks to the heroics of a particularly feisty Ginobili (everybody loves when Manu gets that look in his eye) as well the remarkable hot streak of Danny Green (24 points and 6-10 from the arc to set a new NBA Finals record for threes in a series with 25), a player that is so locked in that he's draining wadded up napkins in random strangers cups from across the restaurant during his lunch break, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 114-104 last night in Game 5 of the 2013 NBA Finals in front of 18,581 appreciative fans who were treated to a marvelous mix of nostalgic delirium and clairvoyant exuberance. For one last time on our home floor this season, Spurs fans were able to bask in the enjoyment of taking in a perfectly blended mixture of our dynastic past, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan (17 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks), and our surprisingly bright future, Danny Green and Kwahi Leonard (16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals). Oh, by the way (I almost forgot), our present got into the mix last night too. Tony Parker had 26 points on 10-14 shooting and threw in 5 dimes to boot. All told, the San Antonio's starters combined for 107 out of our 114 points besting with 5 players the firepower that the Heat have only been able to generate from their top four players over the past couple of ballgames. If you take Kawhi's 16 points out of the equation, Tony, Manu, Danny, and Timmy outscored James, Wade, Bosh, and Allen 91-87 in Game 5. Had the teams been playing four on four, this would have been the gut-wrenching nail biter I had expected it to be. But because the #BlackAndSilver are making a strong case that they are a deeper, more well rounded basketball team, San Antonio was able to win the pivotal game of the series relatively comfortably and will be returning to Miami needing to only win one more game to put an exclamation point on a truly remarkable 2012-13 campaign.
And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me. Shine until tomorrow, let it be.
With so much riding on the outcome of Game 5, I knew I needed an enduring theme for last night to put myself in the right mental frame of mind to stay locked in for the entire evening. I was admittedly a little nervous all weekend but I was able to remain, all things considered, extremely optimistic and calm. I knew that if there was any group of players, any franchise, any city that was up for the challenge of seizing the upper-hand in the NBA Finals back from the defending champs and putting their backs against the wall, it was these players, this franchise, this city. I was comforted all weekend by the tranquility of a singular thought. The entire San Antonio community just needs to come together and we are going to be just fine in Game 5. When you are attempting to be the best it is befitting to draw inspiration from the best, so "Come Together" by The Beatles made a ton of sense for my Game 5 theme. Until I started writing this post this evening, the irony that The Heatles is one of the premature nicknames that was manufactured for the James-Wade-Bosh incarnation of Miami, honestly, hadn't even dawned on me. Interestingly, another thought had been percolating in my mind this morning which was to come home from work tonight and recompose the iconic Abbey Road photo of The Beatles with the faces of Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Greg Popovich. Funnily, after a five second internet search this evening, I quickly came to realize that it has already been done. Well played, Pounding the Rock, well played. I guess the ability to do this Spurs bloggy thing full time has its advantages, after all. You get the first crack at snatching tremendous ideas out of the creative stratosphere. But like the San Antonio Spurs themselves, I could care less who gets the credit, I'm just glad that that steaming bowl of awesome is just one click away for all to enjoy. For now, I'm content to keep living on the same plane of existence in this vast unexplainable universe as the one currently inhabited by Danny Green; one that keeps him trapped in a Waking Life dream state (spoiler alert) where all he does is knock down three pointers in the NBA Finals and every time he thinks he is waking up back into reality, instead he wakes up into another dream where all he does is knock down three pointers in the NBA Finals. Don't wake up, Danny, at least not for 72 more hours. Dreams are powerful appendages of the human condition and every San Antonio Spurs fan is on verge of living one, but every dream comes at the risk of falling victim to the nightmares that are lurking out there just beyond the horizon. Game 5 was pivotal, but we have not accomplished our goal yet. The defending champions are more than capable of terrorizing all of the plans that we've already made to dance around in our dreams with the haunting eternity of instead making us live with the nightmare of perpetually pondering what could have been. If the San Antonio Spurs play our best basketball game of the season tomorrow night, that will not happen. This journey has been long, this journey had been weary, this journey must be seen through to its completion. This is not the time to ease up, not one millimeter. This is not the time to relax, not for one second. This is not the time to celebrate, not one bit. This is the time to get physically, emotionally, and spiritually prepared to bring everything we've got, one more time.
Featured Image Source: POPSUGAR
Four Up
2013 NBA Finals, Game 4
Not Afraid - The San Antonio Spurs lead the Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals 382-377 (cumulative scoring). Win by 36 or win by 16, San Antonio and Miami are now tied at two victories a piece and in case you haven't noticed...it is really, really, really close. On Thursday night, the San Antonio Spurs spoiled a growing hope in the city to celebrate a championship by winning this series at home. Miami defeated San Antonio 109-93 at the AT&T Center in front of 18,581 mildly overconfident Spurs fans who were unable to match the desperation of a group of Floridians who had the audacity to come into our house and wear black. The player of the game was Tim Duncan who had 20 points, 5 rebounds, and a block. Eric Spoelstra, more than from his tactical adjustments, benefited from a radical increase in effort and aggressiveness from his best four players. Spoelstra must have stolen a card out of the Mark Jackson coaching playbook and spent all day Wednesday building up his top players to believe that they are an invincible angelic force manifested by God the Father and sent down to Earth for the purpose of giving mortals a glimpse of the level of play that he gets to enjoy in Heaven when he watches Jesus, Moses, Abraham, and Noah lace 'em up and take on all comers on the parquet of the old Boston Garden which was transported upstairs after its earthly demolition in 1998. By the way, in Heaven they play with 12 foot baskets but don't you dare challenge Jesus at the rim because he will get up and cram in your face. The difference between Spoelstra and Mark Jackson as motivators, however, is that Spoelstra benefits from players who already know how to play at the highest level and don't have to be prematurely anointed by their coach to believe it. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Ray Allen combined for 99 points on Thursday night. But chances are very high that Eric Spoelstra is going to need to display more coaching acumen than being a world-class motivator to win the series. The rest of the Miami Heat combined for a paltry ten points in Game 4. A performance where three future Hall-Of-Famers and Chris Bosh play aggressive, purposeful basketball can work to win one "our backs are against the wall" NBA Finals game. It is highly unlikely that it can work to win an NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs. Greg Popovich will make the necessary adjustments to get his players to take away some of the motions that put Bosh and Allen in spots where they were able to feed off of Dwyane and LeBron's energy and get into rhythm. The Heat will need to get more contributions from more places in order to win Game 5 because if San Antonio can indeed limit Bosh and Allen, 65 combined points between James and Wade (no matter how spectacular the buckets that generate them) shouldn't be enough to beat the Spurs. LeBron's performance was to be expected and if it had just been LeBron playing his best game of the Finals, the Spurs might have still been okay (even with Bosh and Allen playing well too). The man that did us in on Thursday night arrived via time machine. The throwback performance by Dwyane Wade, where he displayed some of the individual brilliance of his 2006 Finals run, could not have been anticipated. It was reasonable to expect that Wade would play better out of desperation but you need more than 8 timeouts and a halftime to prepare for this version of the Flash and if you tell me that the treatment he received on his injured knee before Game 4 is on the up and up, then I have no choice but to believe you. Nonetheless, with two days off before Sunday's Game 4, the Spurs will adjust the defensive schemes to now account for two superstars instead of one. Not that that Dwyane Wade will necessarily show up again. But if he does, the Spurs will be much better prepared for him.
The #BlackAndSilver are certainly in a dog fight now but there is no need for Spurs fans to panic. Sure both teams are evenly matched and both teams are equally capable of winning this series but the winner of tomorrow night's Game 5 will be at a huge advantage to win it all and, luckily for us, that game is being played right here in Titletown, TX. Sure, having home court advantage in the pivotal game of the series doesn't, in and of itself, guarantee anything so if you are looking for a little something extra to help alleviate your overwhelming case of Finals anxiety, you have come to the right place. Let me walk you through a statistical analysis that I put together last night for the exact purpose of putting my own mind at ease. In a relatively close sample size, the San Antonio Spurs are 18-8 all-time in the NBA Finals (.692 winning percentage). The Miami Heat are 12-9 (.571 winning percentage). Each team needs to play 2-1 ball (.667 winning percentage) or better over the next week to hoist a trophy. To date, San Antonio's organization has performed above that marker and Miami's has performed below it. Individually, LeBron James is 8-11 in the NBA Finals (.421 winning percentage) and he is trying to improve the trajectory of his legacy against Tim Duncan, who is an identical 18-8 (.692 winning percentage) as the franchise having played in every game (winning all four series) and who was 16-6 (.727 winning percentage) in the Finals before Miami was able to add two more losses in the four games so far this year. James was 6-9 going into this matchup (.400 winning percentage). A split of the first four games has inflated LeBron's Finals record and it has deflated Timmy's Finals record. Granting that both of these players are far enough into their NBA Finals career that these statistics bare some meaning on who they are, then the sheer statistical probability is that the extending out of this year's sample with two or three more games will pull each player back closer to their mean. To put these numbers in context, Michael Jordan (one of the most dominant forces the Finals have ever seen) won six Finals series against zero defeats and his career Finals mark is 24-11 (.686 winning percentage). Remember, Tim Duncan as of today is at 18-8 (.692 winning percentage) which is a slightly higher Finals winning percentage than a player who is widely regarded as the best basketball player of all-time and who finished his career without ever losing the series. Conversely, Kobe Bryant, 23-15 (.605 winning percentage), has won five championship series and lost two. Shaquille O'Neal, 17-13 (.566 winning percentage), has won four championship series and lost two. Both of these players are fine champions, but the difference between always winning a championship in the Finals and usually winning a championship in the Finals is likely having the ability to consistently win two out of every three games played (.667 winning percentage) in the NBA Finals as Jordan and Duncan have done but Kobe and Shaq have not. Furthermore, LeBron James has not yet established a capacity to win in the Finals at any where close to the clip that Kobe and Shaq established, much less Michael and Timmy. The worst case scenario for James that still yields him a championship gets his Finals record to 10-12 (.455 winning percentage) after this series.That is still an unusually large jump in winning percentage for a superstar from a third to fourth trip. Conversely, at exactly the point that Tim Duncan is at, four games into his 5th Finals, Jordan was 18-9 (.667 winning percentage). I feel better about the chances of an all-time great player who wins in these games at a slightly higher clip than Michael Jordan and who has consistently kept his Finals winning percentage above two out of three (.667 winning percentage) to be able to figure out a way to get this thing done than I would about a superstar who will not even be able to climb to even (.500 winning percentage) in the Finals no matter what happens for the duration of this series. Tim Duncan just needs to do what he has done throughout his career, stay above above 2-1 (.667 winning percentage) and win two out of the next three games to win another title. Do you feel better now? Well you should feel a little better, one thing that my vast experience watching and studying lots and lots of sports (particularly the NBA) has taught me is that some teams and athletes have a higher capacity to persevere through adversity than others. The numbers bare it out that between the Spurs and the Heat and Tim Duncan and LeBron James, the Spurs and Duncan have shown a higher capacity to overcome. That being said, hopefully all of that mild overconfidence that was on display in the AT&T Center during Game 4 has been flushed out of the collective systems of Spurs fans. We should go into tomorrow night rooting confidently for our Spurs but we should also root with what Coach Pop refers to as "appropriate fear." The players on the court will almost certainly be playing with "the appropriate fear." The Miami Heat are extremely talented and very dangerous, especially now that they have perfected time travel technology and gone back to fetch the 2006 version of Dwyane Wade to take the place of this 2013 counterpart, and they are still the defending champions. They also have the ability to draw on experience to figure out a way to put a boot on our neck by stealing another one at the AT&T Center tomorrow night. This is our last stand in San Antonio for the season and we as a community need to make it abundantly clear to the Miami Heat that it is because of their greatness that we are not going to allow them to become the first road team to win two games in South Texas in an NBA Finals series. They need to feel early and often that their best hope for winning back to back games in the 2013 NBA Finals will come in Miami. At some point tomorrow night we need to force them to come apart by making them realize that they are incapable of matching the way we come together.
Featured Image Source: USA TODAY
Headline Image Source: Traditional Music Library
Fourteen Down
2013 NBA Finals, Game 3
Party Like It's 1999 - What if I were to tell you that a thunder storm and a high school graduation ceremony caused one of the greatest shooting performances in NBA Finals history? If you would like to know how, you have a choice to make. [Note: I have just held out a blue pill in one of my hands and a red pill in the other] If you take the blue pill, you will wake up and you can believe whatever you want to believe. If you take the red one, you stay in wonderland and I show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I am offering is the truth. [Note: Choosers of the blue pill, stop reading now...choosers of the red pill, follow me] Lets start at the beginning. It was a little under an hour before tip-off of Game 3 of the 2013 NBA Finals. I had the KSAT 12 local pregame coverage on but was not really paying much attention to it because I was about to crack open my first beer of the night. It was at that exact moment that I heard the commentator say something that caught my attention. "Ladies and gentleman, we have breaking news to report. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan..." The reporter paused for what felt like an hour as terrible thoughts about what he would say next raced through my mind. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan...were both injured in the morning shoot around and are unable to play tonight [Thought #1], were suspended for Game 3 by David Stern after the commissioner finally came to a decision on the appropriate punishment for this after 6 months of carefully discussing it with his confidant Joey (Expletive Deleted) Crawford and yes, it is just a coincidence that these suspensions have come in the middle of the NBA Finals [Thought #2], had both started reading Bill Simmons' column about The Duncan Show at 10:00 AM and upon finishing it at 4:00 pm they had gotten so excited that they started doing treatments on how to wrap up the Season 16 arc and had completely forgotten that Game 3 was today [Thought #3]. "Ladies and gentleman, we have breaking news to report. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan...have not yet arrived at the AT&T Center because they are stuck in traffic." WTF!!!! Are you kidding me? This is just as or even more bizarre than all of the crazy scenarios that had just rushed through me head. The first NBA Finals game in San Antonio in 6 years and we might have to hear Kevin "Big Kev" Brock announce over the PA at the AT&T Center, "starting at forward from the University of Florida, Matt Bonner. Starting at guard from the University of Texas, Cory Joseph." Can someone please get Mayor Julian Castro on the phone to get Tony and Timmy an SAPD escort to the damn stadium? What the hell are my city property taxes going towards anyway? Oh wait, that's right...I don't pay city property taxes because my neighborhood is still an annex of San Antonio. Okay, can somebody please get Commissioner Tommy Adkisson on the phone to get Tony and Timmy a Bexar County Sheriff escort to the damn stadium? What the hell are my county property taxes going towards anyway?
More on this later. First, I have a confession to make. Right after I said "lets start at the beginning," I immediately decided to give you the abbreviated version of the story because I am extremely tired after a long day of work and I just wanted to get this blog entry posted as quickly as possible so that I can actually get a little bit of sleep tonight. But after getting into the abbreviated version, I've come to realize that it doesn't do this story justice and you, the reader, deserve to get the story in its entirety. After all, you did just take the red pill. So please accept my sincerest apologies and allow me to start over. The story actually begins in Port Arthur, TX and it begins at the tail end of the twentieth century. The year is 1996. A 16 year old high school basketball phenom named Stephen Jackson is hanging out with his 23 year old friend on the benches outside of their neighborhood's basketball court. It is late afternoon and it is summer. It is 3:00 PM on June 15th to be exact. Anyone that knows anything about a Port Arthur summer afternoon knows that it takes a great amount of dedication to the game of basketball to be willing to tolerate the absolute agony of the heat combined with the humidity in order to work on your game on the outdoor courts. It takes a great deal of dedication to the game of basketball or it takes being in desperate need of a favor. Oh, I forgot to mention that the 23 year old friend that Stephen Jackson is hanging out on the courts with is Bun B of the Port Arthur hip hop duo UGK.
Bun: Hey Stephen, I need a favor.
Captain Jack: What is it Bun?
Bun: I've been holding something for a New York friend of mine, but I'm about to be going out on tour for the next six months so I need someone to hold it for me to keep it safe.
Captain Jack: I don't know Bun, I've got my future to think about, this sounds kinda risky.
Bun: Chill Stack, it ain't nothing crazy, just a little something I need stashed.
Captain Jack: It ain't drugs is it?
Bun: Naw, lil' homie, it ain't nothing like that.
Captain Jack: It ain't a gun is it?
Bun:nJack, I said it ain't nothing like that. It's a bag of magic "irrational confidence" beans.
Captain Jack: Huh?
Oh, I also failed to mention that the New York friend that Bun B referred to earlier is also an up-and-coming rapper named Jay-Z.
Bun: I know, it sounds weird, but if you eat one...you will magically be given the confidence to do other-worldly things that you otherwise couldn't do. They really work. I got them from the homie Jay-Z when I was up in NY. He got them from a broke customer back in his slangin' days who traded for them because he couldn't afford to pay for his fix. Jigga asked me to hold them for him because he said that when he tried one, it gave him the confidence to write a diss track against 2pac. While the 2pac beef put him on the map, he doesn't trust himself with the beans anymore because he is worried that they might throw his career trajectory out of wack because he is working on his second album and he is already feeling compelled to write lyrics comparing himself to Michael Jordan, Elvis, and the Beatles. Jay thought that if he gave them to me, I could put them to good use by propping up an entire stable of less talented Houston-area artists over the course of the next decade. So will you hold 'em for me?
Captain Jack: I still don't know Bun, this is kinda weird.
Bun: Come on Stack, we're on the same team. P.A.T., baby. P.A.T.
Captain Jack: Okay, Bun. I'll hold them. You know that I will do anything for a teammate.
Fast forward. The year is now 2003. That tour that Bun B went on back in 1996 was off the chain cray. So much so that when he returned to Port Arthur after the tour wrapped, his head was so cloudy that he had forgotten all about the magic "irrational confidence" beans and the fact that he had given them to Stephen Jackson to hold. Likewise, Jack has now been holding them for seven years but he has been so focused on making himself into an NBA player that he had forgotten a long time ago that the bag of beans was in a storage container in his garage. It is late afternoon and it summer. It is 3:00 PM on June 15th, to be exact. Stephen, now an NBA starter for the San Antonio Spurs, is looking for an old "good luck" wristband out in his garage to help him play well in tonight's ever important game. He happens upon the storage container, opens it, and rediscovers the bag of magic "irrational confidence" beans. For the first time in the seven years that they have been in his possession, Stephen Jackson eats one of the beans.
Fast forward. The year is now 2004. It is late afternoon and it is autumn. It is 3:00 PM on November 19th to be exact. For some inexplicable reason, Stephen Jackson, now playing for the Indiana Pacers, decides to eat a magic bean for only the second time ever in preparation for a regular season road game against the Detroit Pistons.
Fast forward. The year is now 2007. It is afternoon and it is spring. It is 3:00 PM on May 4th. Stephen Jackson, now playing for the Golden State Warriors is contemplating the possibility of checking himself into rehab. He is detoxing from a 10 day magic bean eating bender.
Fast forward. The year is now 2012. Stephen Jackson has been able to remain successful at his magic "irrational confidence" bean sobriety since he swore off eating them back in 2007. But he still keeps them in his possession and for some unexplainable reason, last week he transported the bag of magic beans from his home to his NBA locker. I guess there are worse things to keep in your NBA locker, Gilbert Arenas. It is late afternoon and it is summer. It is 3:00 PM on June 6th to be exact. Captain Jack, back with the San Antonio Spurs, has another huge game coming up this evening. He thinks long and hard about falling off the wagon and eating a magic bean in preparation for the game. But he thinks better of it because he knows that after 12 years in the league his confidence to make buckets is no longer irrational. He then has an epiphany of sorts because he really wants to win tonight's game. He decides that he will give magic beans to some of his teammates. He is ready to offer them up when he realizes that the bag of magic "irrational confidence" beans is actually in his home locker back in San Antonio and this is a road game.
Fast forward. The year is now 2013. It is late afternoon and it is spring. It is 3:00 PM on April 11th to be exact. Greg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, is conducting his annual CIA-style surveillance exercises at the AT&T Center. Popovich, an ex-intelligence officer for the United States military, is really, really good at these sorts of things. In fact, he currently has a pretty decent side gig to his duties as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs where he is making some serious coinage serving as a consultant for both the National Security Agency (NSA) as well as for Verizon Wireless. During the sweep of his players' locker room (one of the surveillance exercises), Popovich discovers that Stephen Jackson has a bag of magic "irrational confidence" beans stashed in his locker. Disgusted that Captain Jack has been holding out on his teammates all season, Popovich confiscates the magic beans and stores them in a safe in his office that he keeps hidden behind a painting of himself wiping his nose with Craig Sager's handkerchief which ironically was painted for Pop by former President George W. Bush. Despite his ideological differences with the artist, Coach Pop really loves this painting. The next day, Greg Popovich cuts Stephen Jackson for his selfishness. "After all," said Coach Pop in an exclusive interview he granted theLeftAhead to discuss this topic, "there is no 'I' in 'bean.'"
Okay, so this brings us back to where we began. It is yesterday. I'm standing in my living room cursing my television at the news that Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are stuck in traffic less than an hour before the tip-off of Game 3 of the Finals. Greg Popovich, however, is not panicking. He is in his office at the AT&T Center adjusting his game plan to prepare for the worst case scenario. He is just wrapping up a three-way phone call with Timmy and Tony who are both sitting in the middle of San Antonio gridlock with no end in sight. Ironically, it is harder for both Timmy and Tony to see how much further they have before traffic loosens up because their vision is impeded by all of the San Antonio Spurs car flags waving on the vehicles in front of them. Luckily for them, Coach Pop (who somehow seemingly knows more about the situation that is unfolding on the streets of San Antonio than even the city's best traffic and weather reporters) informs his players that a severe thunder storm, moving over San Antonio from southeast to northwest, is the cause of the traffic jam on the highway which has now been exacerbated by the unusually large amount of traffic that is in the area for the John Paul Stevens High School graduation ceremony. About to wrap up the three-way call with his players, Coach Pop blurts out, "can you hear me now." Popovich, as well as the NSA agent and Verizon Wireless tech support representative who are both listening in on the conversation all chuckle. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker have no idea what their coach is talking about. This is not an unusual occurrence. Popovich hangs up the phone, springs up from his desk, takes down the George W. orginal portrait of him and the Ragin' Sagin (as Pop refers to Sager), unlocks his safe, opens Stephen Jackson's bag of magic beans, takes two out, walks to the training room, approaches Danny Green who is getting his ankles taped for the game and says, "eat this and don't ask any questions." Danny Green nods and without saying a word, he eats the first magic "irrational confidence" bean of his life. Popovich precedes to the player's locker room and surveys the room. His attention is drawn to both Gary Neal and Matt Bonner. He swings his head back and forth between the two players for a brief moment. Matt Bonner is eating a sandwich whilst doing some sort of yoga stretch. Gary Neal is studying game tape. Greg Popovich begins walking towards Gary Neal. The rest is now NBA history.
Gary Neal went 6-10 on three point attempts last night, stepping up on the NBA's biggest stage to carve himself out a little place in basketball history. He didn't want to occupy that space alone so he invited Danny Green to join him. Green also went an astonishing 7-9 from the arc last night and is now 16-23 on threes for a magnificent 70 percent in the series (it is actually 69.5, but when you are the leading scorer in the NBA Finals to this point you get the benefit of me rounding up). These rotation players, benefiting from their magic "irrational confidence" beans, led the #BlackAndSilver to a dominating 113-77 victory over the Miami Heat last night at the AT&T Center. Throw in the three pointer that Tony Parker sunk, and the Spurs' backcourt combined to knock fourteen down. Throw in two more threes by Kawhi Leonard, and the squad converted on an NBA Finals record 16 triples. San Antonio was able to return the favor to Miami for the Heat's 19 point Game 2 victory. Gary Neal earns player of the game honors because Danny Green has earned the honor before, also because Gary Neal hit more of his threes while the game was still in jeopardy. My wife made the comment last night that Gary and Danny played like they were partners on one of those cheesy police shows and last night was one of those scenes where Gary Neal shoots the bad guy multiple times, and then Danny Green walks up to the bad guy (who is already down on the ground) and shoots him a few more times just to make sure he is dead. One of the most exciting by-products of this amazing Spurs victory is that in the past 24 hours, Gary Neal's journeyman story of perseverance has been well covered by the national media and told to millions of people. In the post-game press conference Gary was asked about one of my favorite parts of this amazing story; the circumstances of him and his wife deciding to postpone their honeymoon for the sake of his basketball career. Gary remembered, "So she decided that it would be a good thing if we went to Vegas instead so that I could try to make an NBA push." I predicted that the Spurs would earn one blowout victory at home during this series. I still think that the next two games will be gut-wrenching slug fests that will be won by the team who can clamp down the most on defense and execute with the most precision on offense during the guts of the fourth quarter. The challenge ahead is still enormous. The defending champions will not eliminate themselves, the Spurs will have to impose our will to make that happen. We still need to play our best 96 minutes of basketball this season in order to hoist a trophy this year in San Antonio. We need to play better tomorrow than we did last night. We can do it if we remember that which matters most. That after 16 years of playoff battle after playoff battle... we are still here! Tomorrow, let us send a message to our opponent. Tomorrow, let us shake this cave. Tomorrow, let us tremble these halls of earth, steel, and stone, let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tomorrow, let us make them remember, this is San Antonio and we are not afraid!
Epilogue: Rewind. The year is 1991. It is late night and it is summer. It is 3:00 AM on June 15th to be exact. A customer trades a bag of magic "irrational confidence" beans to a small time New York dealer named Shawn Carter. That customer is Darryl Strawberry. He convinces Shawn to make the trade by informing him that the beans were harvested on a top secret farm owned and operated by the United States military. Strawberry says that the reason he knows this is because the magic beans were given to him years before by an undercover military operative and even though he has only tried them once, they definitely worked. The undercover military operative who gave the magic "irrational confidence" beans to Strawberry went by the alias Gregory "The Operator" Popo.
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Headline Image Source: Sports Illustrated
Three Up
2013 NBA Finals, Game 2
All of the Lights - Shane Battier put a three up from 25 feet out with 18 seconds left in the game (5 seconds left on the shot clock) and with the Miami Heat ahead of the San Antonio Spurs by 18 points. Battier would probably say, if asked, that his motivation was simply to try to put up one more attempt to see if he could get himself out of a terrible shooting slump. But deep down, being of Duke pedigree, he probably knows that it was ill advised because fans of the opponent could perceive it as an attempt to run up the score and deem it bad sportsmanship. Further eroding the soundness of the decision to put the three up, Battier has inadvertently given Tim, Tony, and Manu a tiny little present to store away in their vast reservoirs that normal human beings call memory banks. And even though these reservoirs overflow with countless disrespectfully premature celebrations by would be conquering rivals, they always seem to have room for one more juicy nugget. The proper play for Battier in that situation, the one that Mike Krzyzewski surely taught his Blue Devils, would have been to hold the ball for the remaining 5 seconds and then hoist a halfhearted attempt as the shot clock expired. Another acceptable option, and the classy choice I would have expected out of a former Dukee, would have been to simply hold the ball and then hand it to the referee after taking the 24 second violation so that San Antonio could run out the remainder of the game clock. There must be something in the water down there on South Beach because Shane Battier is one of the last players that I would have guessed would try to embarrass an opponent by running up the score. That's okay, the San Antonio Spurs always take these sorts of matters in stride. More often than not, San Antonio is able to draw back upon these seemingly benign little slights and use them as a little extra shot of fuel to help us persevere and ensure that in the end we are the last ones laughing. The difference is, we do our laughing behind closed doors. If you believe in basketball karma, which I do, then you could argue that Battier has tempted the basketball gods to frown down ever so slightly every time a Miami three point attempt is in the air at the AT&T Center over the coming week. Furthermore, if you put stock in the law of averages (which I also do) and observe the entire series as a singular statistical sample (i.e. the number of threes Miami can make in the series is finite), then you could argue that Battier has wasted a precious made three point basket on tomfoolery in a blow out victory that Miami might come to desperately need later in the series if it remains close. Win by 19 or win by 4, Miami and San Antonio are now tied at one victory a piece after the Heat averted disaster by defeating the Spurs last night 103-91 in their gym. Nonetheless, the two teams are now heading to Texas after San Antonio has already done enough in Florida to earn an opportunity to show that we are better at protecting our home court than the defending champions. If the #BlackAndSilver are successful, then that disrespectful "turd sandwich" of a three pointer that Shane Battier launched in garbage time of Game 2 will be the last Heat points at American Airlines Arena this season.
The Spurs will have to play 144 minutes of focused and determined basketball at home in order to accomplish the arduous task of preventing Gloria Estefan, Rick Ross, Flo Rida, Justin Bieber, David Beckham, and Jimmy Buffett from having plans for a week from tomorrow on South Beach. I mentioned in Thirteen Down that the only way that the Heat will win this series comfortably is if the Spurs commit the cardinal sin of repeatedly turning the ball over, especially in ways that ignite the Miami fast break. The Miami break is too dangerous of a weapon to tempt into action not only because LeBron James and company finish like maniacs at the rim but also because the confidence level of every single player on that squad, one through thirteen, is transformed by the team getting a couple of easy, highlight worthy baskets in transition. Miami's pedestrian role players are transformed into sharp shooting savants and Wade and James get an extra spring in their step when a moment of swarming defensive pressure ignites the most devastating up-tempo offense in the league. It was clearly evident last night that once those flood gates were opened, there was no shutting them off. The most frustrating part of Game 2 was that those proverbial flood gates were so close to never opening in the first place. San Antonio was only down two with 3 minutes left in the third quarter of a grind-it-out, heavy weight slug fest which seemed like a replay of Game 1 when disaster struck. A nightmare that we had been waiting to haunt our small, humble community throughout the duration of this playoff run finally came seeping through the cracks in our living room window sills to spoil our dreams of watching the Spurs steal another close game on the road. That's right, Joey Crawford swallowed his whistle at a pivotal moment to the detriment of the Spurs. Remember Joey Crawford? You guessed it, Joey (Expletive Deleted) Crawford has struck again. With a little under 3 minutes left in the third quarter and the Spurs down two, Manu Ginobili drove the ball to the basket, got raked across the arm, the ball popped loose, Joey Crawford (the closest official to the play) held his whistle, Miami stole the ball, LeBron spotted Mario Chalmers in the left corner in transition, Chalmers kicked to a wide open Ray Allen for an elbow three. Bucket, 5 point swing, Miami is off to the races, ball game. In fairness, the Spurs had been undefeated this postseason with Joey Crawford working the game but part of me wonders if the reason for that is that he had just been patiently biding his time so he would have an opportunity to stick his finger in our eyes during the NBA Finals. Of course, I know it is unreasonable to argue that one blown call towards the end of the third quarter cost a team a ball game that they lost by 19. But then again, if the foul call is made and Manu earns two free throws, he potentially reties the game. Miami is then forced to run a half court set on their next possession, the run never gets started, this never happens, and perhaps Tony Parker has an opportunity to work his fourth quarter magic once again. I concede that, based on the law of averages, the probability was such that Miami would have taken Game 2 even without their huge run. After all, Tim, Tony, and Manu were a combined 10 for 33 from the field and their Spurs committed 16 turnovers, four times as many as we did in Game 1. So hats off to the champs, they played an excellent ball game and deserved the victory.
The player of the game was Danny Green which was a pleasant surprise. I assumed that in every road game during the NBA Finals that it would be either Duncan, Parker, or Ginobili that would earn this honor. Clearly, none of them were worthy last night but Danny was spectacular going 6-6 from the field (5-5 from downtown) for 17 points. Danny is now 9-14 from the arc in the series and if he can keep shooting lights out coming home to the AT&T Center, San Antonio will likely put ourselves in a position to return the favor and win at least one of the next three games in blow out fashion. Given the evenness of the match up, I anticipate that the other two home games will be gut wrenching contests of will and execution similar to Game 1. The Spurs will have to play our best basketball of the season over the course of the next week to have a chance at hoisting a trophy on our home court. Despite the fact that Miami has likely gained confidence from the decisiveness of last night's victory, the Spurs won't be rattled and we are capable of a resounding response. We have recovered from bigger beat downs than this to win the NBA championship. Even though the task at hand is unquestionably difficult, San Antonio is still in the drivers seat in this series. We went down to Florida and accomplished everything that was reasonably realistic, we forced the defending champions to relinquish home court advantage in the series. Now we must defend it with everything that we've got. It starts tomorrow night. The city must come together and cheer louder and harder than we did when we were in this position for the first time while our players execute more brilliantly on offense and lock down more aggressively on defense than we did in our most dominating championship run. Tomorrow night, we've gotta party like it's 1999.
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Headline Image Source: Zhilhu.com
Thirteen Down
2013 NBA Finals, Game 1
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Welcome to the circus. The White Stripes blared through the PA system while nearly 20,000 hysterical Miami fans chanted in unison as the Birdman led a contingent of the Heat players in some sort of strange ritualistic hybrid bounce-dance number with periodic fire flames flaring behind them. This Miami pregame introduction was reminiscent of the obnoxiously premature pep rally held by the Heat upon the signing of Chris Bosh and LeBron James in 2010. Don't get me wrong, the NBA Finals are one of the grandest stages that the world of sports has to offer and a franchise should be able to celebrate the honor of hosting this event however it sees fit. I concede that the purpose of the pregame introduction is to whip the fans into a frenzy and generate the energy necessary to maximize your home court advantage, so I'm trying my best not to be overly critical of the Heaification of the NBA where the marketing of basketball as a billion dollar entertainment product has become seemingly just as important as the showcasing of a sport played at its highest level. But on the other hand, the NBA Finals are one of the grandest stages that the world of sports has to offer so exercising a bit of class and decorum in reverence to the historical sacredness of the moment might be in order (especially when you've been here before). But what do I know, I'm just a basketball purest who has been watching this event since I was 5 years old. Funny, I don't remember ever once seeing Larry Bird or Magic Johnson dance before an NBA Finals game. To his credit, LeBron James did not participate in this pandemonium but stood there stoically mentally preparing for the battle at hand.
Game 1 on Thursday night was a monster of an NBA Finals game. From the moment that the two teams took the court, it was easy to sense an aura of determination on both sides that has the makings to provide for one of the greatest Finals match ups in league history. San Antonio controlled the opening tip and immediately committed the type of cardinal sin that is probably necessary for us to commit regularly in order for the Miami Heat to be afforded an opportunity to win this series comfortably. The Spurs turned the ball over on a lazy pass that led to an easy Dwyane Wade transition dunk off of a LeBron James dish at the other end. I guess we can chalk that first play up as the single most glaring manifestation of the "rust" that many analyst hypothesized would rear its ugly head to hurt the Spurs after a nine day lay off since our last game. Over the next 47 and a half minutes, the #BlackAndSilver only turned the ball over three more times to tie an NBA Finals record for fewest in a game set by the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of the 2005 Finals against the Spurs. This was crucial because it gave San Antonio an ability to hang in the game by preventing Miami the aforementioned comfort that their fast break attack provides to their overall level of play. After the initial turnover on the first play of the game, San Antonio settled down nicely to jump out to a 9-2 lead. During the run, Danny Green partially put one of my biggest fears about this series to rest by knocking down his first three point attempt. The biggest unknown for me, going into this series, is whether or not the San Antonio spot up shooters could continue to consistently knock down open three pointers with the added pressure of the enormity of the Finals. Green was clearly up to the task hitting on 4-9 from three for the game. The other spot up shooters were a combined 1-9 from three with Kawhi Leonard going 0-4, Gary Neal going 1-5, and Matt Bonner not even attempting a three. Manu Ginobili in a confident and efficient NBA Finals game hit 2-5 with both of his makes being run stopping daggers to keep the Spurs within striking distance while the Heat enjoyed the lead. Manu finished the game with 13 points on a conservative 4-11 shooting with 3 assists, 2 steals and only 1 turnover. As a team, the Spurs shot only 30.4 percent on 7-23 from the arc. This is somewhat concerning moving forward because our ability to knock down open shots off of Tony and Manu's penetration is key for San Antonio to win this series. Our shooters will invariably shoot better at home, so (given the lay off and the intensity of the energy in the building) the percentage of threes we hit on Thursday night was decent enough to help the Spurs hang in and thwart extended Heat runs.
After the initial 9-2 burst by the Spurs, the Heat settled down and punched us right back to take a lead that they would not relinquish again until the fourth quarter. Throughout the game both teams seemed to be feeling each other out, unable to impose their will for prolonged stretches. The Spurs seemed to be in an early predicament when both Kawhi and Tim Duncan got into early foul trouble. To add to our cause for alarm, when Timmy left the game with his second foul he was 0-5 from the field having missed a handful of shots that he normally makes. With Duncan on the bench, Miami was able to build their lead to nine and by the time Tim returned in the second quarter the Heat seemed like they were on the verge of breaking the game wide open. But the focus was clearly evident on Timmy's face when he walked purposefully back into the game and he went on to take command of the rest of the quarter scoring 12 points, gobbling up rebound after rebound, blocking a couple of shots, and calming sinking a buzzer beating jumper with 0.8 seconds left before halftime to cut the Heat's lead to only three at the break. Number 21, aka Time's Father, went on to have a prototypical Tim Duncan NBA Finals line with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Without out the utter domination of the second quarter by one of this stage's most magnificent performers, the Spurs would have all but assuredly been facing a double digit deficit after 24 minutes. All things considered, I felt pretty good to be within striking distance at the half especially considering that Tony Parker had not really broken free to start picking apart the Miami defense at his normal level of proficiency and also because the Heat had squandered several opportunities to build their lead to a large enough margin that we might start questioning our ability to compete. Luckily, San Antonio was able to do what we so often have done in the past and use our mental toughness to play through adversity and hang in a rough game on the road.
The third quarter offered more of the same. Miami extended the lead and then San Antonio fought our way back to close to even. In fact, when the quarter was over the Spurs were in the same position that we were at the half; trailing by three after playing the Heat to an even 20 to 20 in scoring for the period. While the "rust" versus "rest" debate (in regards to the Spurs' ability to perform in Game 1) had been debated exhaustively all week, it had seemingly not tilted dramatically in one direction or the other in the first three quarters of game. I remember predicting during the timeout between the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter that the Spurs had a golden opportunity to take advantage of the "rest" side of the equation during the fourth quarter and out work Miami to steal the game and home court advantage for the series. Miami had played an emotionally taxing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night and by the fourth quarter much of the "I'm playing in the NBA Finals" adrenaline that was likely fueling them through out the game would begin to dissipate. This prediction proved accurate as San Antonio dominated the fourth quarter on the defensive end of the court by limiting Miami to only 16 points and forcing them into a couple of costly turnovers in the closing minutes and with the game in the balance. Despite the visibly more energetic defensive acumen, the Spurs (who finally took the lead on a Kawhi put back tip-in) were still in jeopardy of coming up short down the stretch. Miami seemed positioned to potentially sneak back and re-steal the game by making just enough plays on offense to keep the entire city of San Antonio on edge. In order for the Spurs to secure the victory, it took another put back tip-in and two clutch free throws by Timmy as well as a "step aside young fella, you're not ready to check me" spin move around Norris Cole for a reverse layup by Tony Parker and oh yeah, this...
The NBA Finals, where 1/10th of a second is BIG!
The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals 92 to 88 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida to improve to 5-0 all time in Games 1 of the NBA Finals. Kawhi Leonard's individual defense on LeBron James was commendable. As the primary defender for most of the game, Kawhi held James to 18 points on 7-16 shooting. Don't get me wrong, LeBron still had a monster game racking up a triple double with 18 rebounds and 10 assists but on this night the consensus best basketball player on the planet was unable to impose his will enough to lead his team to victory. In fact, it was Tony Parker who imposed his will to not only earn my player of the game honors but lead the Spurs to a victory that dramatically shifted both the balance of pressure squarely onto Miami for the next game in this series and also the perception of Tony's greatness as a basketball player. In Twelve Down, I argued that Tony should be universally recognized as the best point guard in the world and that he should be in the conversation for best basketball player in the world. In the fourth quarter of Game 1, Tony backed up my argument scoring 10 points including two of which that came on one of the most memorable game clinching shots in NBA Finals history. Parker finished the game with 21 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals and his fourth quarter performance on the road in a hostile setting was just about as great as anyone could ask for out of a basketball player. The Spurs were fortunate throughout the night to minimize their turnovers in order to put themselves in a position for Tony to take over the game and once again Tony came through in the clutch.
Asked during the post-game press conference if San Antonio did anything special during the preparation for the game to limit turnovers, Coach Pop responded, "Sometimes you have turnovers, sometimes you don't...we don't do 'no turnover' drills, I don't know what those are." Even if Coach Pop’s game plan didn’t include a strategy for tying an NBA Finals record for fewest turnovers in a game, it was clearly effective. Possession after possession down the stretch, Erik Spoelstra's players looked less prepared and over matched as the Spurs got into our sets quickly and executed the plays that we wanted to while the Heat seemed erratic and indecisive under the pressure of the Spur's formidable defensive scheming. Even though the Spurs also missed a lot of shots down the stretch, our ball movement allowed for players to be in the proper positions to capitalize on second chance opportunities. There is no doubt that Eric Spoelstra and his staff will have the defending champions better prepared to execute down the stretch in the next game, but in a series that could prove to be offering us two of the most evenly matched teams in Finals history, losing a winnable game at home because the opponent was better prepared to execute their game plan might prove costly. Consequently, the Spurs have put Miami in a position where the pressure is squarely on the Heat as they face as close to a must-win scenario for Game 2 as a team could possibly face in a non-close out game. The pressure is greater than normal because of the 2-3-2 format of the NBA Finals. Should a group of 13 San Antonians heist another victory in South Florida after spending an extended weekend near the ocean, the Spurs will come home needing to only win two out of three of the games in our humble little city in order to win an NBA championship. That scenario is a world of hurt that Miami wants no part of. Therefore, we can clearly expect a brilliant performance from the defending champions tomorrow evening. There is no reason why the Spurs can’t match that brilliance and put ourselves back in a position to be within striking distance in the fourth quarter to steal another game and come home to San Antonio squarely in the driver's seat. Should the Spurs find that that opportunity presents itself, I am happy to take my chances that Tony Parker’s decision making in the guts of the game can be greater than the decision making of LeBron James. No matter what adjustments the Heat make on defending Parker, he has clearly demonstrated that he has the ability to counter and quite literally only needs 1/10th of a second to read the defense and make the proper play. No one has made more cold blooded reads during these 2013 NBA playoffs than Tony Parker and hopefully he can continue to showcase his greatness by coming up clutch throughout the duration of the NBA Finals and under all of the lights.
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Twelve Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 4
Once In a Lifetime (Same As It Ever Was) - Patience is a critical attribute for people of faith. Without the fortitude to believe with steadfast patience, people are likely to lose faith sooner or later. A prolonged void from seeing hope manifested with one's own two eyes does not bode well for keeping faith over the convenience of instant gratification, especially in today's culture of lighting fast information and perpetual distraction. Without patience, this world will eventually use logic, science, probability, misinformation, fear, or whatever else it needs to to convince you that what you believe in your heart to be true actually is false and that you are better off abandoning your faith. For all of the San Antonio Spurs fans who have had the fortitude to continue to believe in our hearts for six long years that this core group still had the ability to make a run to the NBA Finals, our patience was rewarded on Monday night as the #BlackAndSilver swept the Memphis Grizzlies out of the Western Conference Finals by winning Game 4 at FedExForum 93 to 86.
Tony Parker made about as emphatic a case for player of the game honors as anyone could imagine pouring in 37 points on 15-21 shooting from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line. Tony also dished out 6 assists and scrapped together 4 rebounds for good measure. After getting poked in the eye (apparently not that eye, Drake and Chris Brown) in the middle of the fourth quarter by Marc Gasol, Tony returned down the stretch to hit two clutch jump shots that sealed the victory for the Spurs. The first, a three pointer with two defenders (one of them Gasol) leaping towards him and the second a classic Tony pull-up jumper off of the screen-and-roll. Just as he had done against Golden State, Tony Parker used what was once considered his liability as a player (his jumper) to ice a playoff series. I think that it is time for NBA writers and pundits to end the ridiculous exercise of merely allowing Tony to be in the conversation of best point guards in the league and give this man his due. If I hear the names Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, or Derrick Rose mentioned in the same breath as Tony Parker during these upcoming NBA Finals, I might start to become suspicious that ESPN's NBA analysts are currently auditioning for a more lucrative opportunity to cover President Obama's Benghazi "scandal" for Fox News. Tony Parker is currently the best point guard on the face of the planet, period. There is absolutely no reason for there not to be a consensus on this matter. If NBA pundits are simply incapable of avoiding the monotony of having these conversations for the sake of having these conversations, then please start putting Tony in the proper one. Parker should be in the conversation with LeBron James and Kevin Durant for best basketball player in the world. He truly has become that great.
On Monday night, Tony's greatness was the biggest factor in determining an outcome that affirmed the faith of the Spurs fans who were patient enough to continue to believe in our hearts that Tony, along with Manu, Timmy, and Coach Pop would eventually get us back to where we are right now despite an intimidating mountain of evidence to the contrary. The world sure did its best over the last two years to shake the faith loose from as many Spurs fans as it could pick off. With the best record in the NBA, San Antonio was knocked out of the 2011 NBA Playoffs in a shocking first round upset at the hands of these Memphis Grizzlies. Undefeated in the postseason, riding a 20 game winning streak, and up 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals, San Antonio collapsed against the Oklahoma City Thunder losing four straight games to find ourselves eliminated from the 2012 NBA Playoff in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The San Antonio Spurs, as an organization, clearly never lost faith. The fact that Tim Duncan and Greg Popovich will be entering into their fifth NBA Finals 14 years after their first is a testament to the extraordinary faith and resolve of the finest professional sports franchise in North America.
In the post-game press conference after Game 4, Coach Popovich commented extensively on this remarkable and irrational run to his fifth NBA Finals. He said, "I'm sure that we've been a team that's probably been written off, like they've had their day, and it seems logical...I would probably have said the same thing if I was a fan from the outside looking in but it doesn't show the way these guys compete." Pop went on to say, "I think a lot of people think that the grass is greener on the other side...and if we change this coach or trade these guys it's all going to be nirvana after that. But I think that if you stay the course and you've got leaders who are quality character people, you follow them for as long as you can. I've been hanging on Timmy's coattails for a long time."
Now, after a coach, an organization, and a city have ridden Tim Duncan's remarkable coattails for fifteen years, a return trip to the NBA Finals has manifested itself in 2013. As to be expected, there are literally millions of Spurs fans around the planet that will tell you that they never lost faith. On the surface, it is understandable that every Spurs fan would feel this way right now. It is a special time to be a Spurs fan and also a special time to be a San Antonian. Everybody that would like to be should get to be a part of the experience. And it is not lip service to suggest that a "the more, the merrier" mentality runs deeply into the cultural fabric of our city. But the deepest rewards are reserved for the purest of heart. Asking oneself, did I truly have the patience to remain vigilant against the onslaught of evidence to the contrary? This is a question that can only be answered by peering deep into depths of one's own soul. The logic, science, probability, misinformation, and fear that the Spurs' core players were too old to get back to the NBA Finals had become awfully compelling over the past couple of years. The world had mounted a rather seductive case to convince Spurs fans to abandon our faith. Whether a true believer or whether returning to the flock after losing one's way, we should be glad for every single person who has decided to be a part of the congregation at this special moment in time. The ability to have one's faith renewed is a wonderful characteristic of the human condition in its own right.
So, welcome home all ye prodigal sons and daughters. We have missed you and we're glad you're back. We are going to need every ounce of your enthusiasm, spirit, and commitment because we, as Spurs fans, have absolutely nothing to celebrate yet. Sure, the opportunity to see Timmy, Manu, and Tony compete in the NBA Finals again is a great validation for Spurs fans who have kept faith over the last six years and an exciting opportunity to be baptized into faith for those new or returning to the flock. But we don't celebrate conference titles around these parts and the next step in our long and weary journey is by far the hardest one. In San Antonio, we don't celebrate until the Larry O'Brien trophy is in the dutiful hands of Tim Duncan and being hoisted towards the heavens. In San Antonio, we celebrate championships. While this moment in time might seem celestial, there is more work to be done. We are merely knockin' on heaven's door.
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Eleven Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 3
Whoop That Trick (Hustle & Flow) - For the second game in a row, the San Antonio Spurs went to overtime against the Memphis Grizzlies and for the second game in a row, Tim Duncan came through in the clutch. The Spurs defeated the Grizzlies 104 to 93 last night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. The 93 points put up by Memphis is the most that the Spurs have allowed in the last five games (since they elevated their collective defensive play Back to Black in the middle of the Golden State series) and for the fifth game in a row the Spurs held an opponent to under 47 percent shooting allowing Memphis to only shoot a paltry 39.2 percent from the field (38-97). The Grizzlies also had a nightmare night from the line shooting 55.6 percent and missing 8 free throws and a few in critical moments in the fourth quarter that could have helped them secure the win in regulation. In Game 2, Tony Allen was able to sink a pair of clutch free throws to help Memphis force overtime. In Game 3, on two separate occasions in the final two minutes of regulation, he split a pair of free throws. With so much at stake, these are the type of critical misses that can haunt you for weeks if not years upon end. I know that the Spurs have experienced our fair share of these disappointing blown opportunities over the years.
Earlier in the evening, it was the Spurs who were experiencing a nightmare. San Antonio began the game entirely unprepared to play. We looked stuck in neutral as the clearly focused Grizzlies fed off the energy of the FedExForum home crowd to turn the Spurs over eight times in the 1st quarter and take an 18 point lead. Watching this occur felt like Déjà vu. Last year, up 2-0 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs came out flat in Game 3 and suffered a blowout loss (102 to 82) which shifted the momentum in the series. We appeared to be willing to concede a similar Game 3 outcome last night as the Spurs' starters looked like zombies in the opening quarter and didn't even seem to be capable of managing the basics such as passing the ball from the point to the wing. Tony Parker, in particular, did not have his head in the game as he committed four of the eight 1st quarter turnovers. Halfway through the abysmal quarter, Spurs Coach Greg Popovich made a decision that most NBA coaches wouldn't even dare entertain in such an important playoff game; he benched his entire starting five. While the second unit didn't do a whole lot to get the Spurs back into the game while closing out the quarter (San Antonio still trailed by 16 after the period), the message was clearly received by the starting five. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, in particular, went on to play dominating basketball the rest of the way. Duncan finished the night with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks and Parker finished with 26 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. Because of his dominant play in overtime, Timmy earned my player of the game honors for the second game in a row. The utter brilliance of the performance of the #BlackAndSilver in the overtime period was a work of art. San Antonio outscored Memphis in overtime 18 to 7 while going 8-10 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. Duncan had seven points, a rebound, and the most spectacular assist you could ever hope to see as he through a no-look pass to Tiago Splitter with about two minutes left in OT. Standing with the ball on the high post, Timmy turned his head towards perimeter to pass the ball to the wing and then ripped a pass inside to Tiago for an easy layup. This one play epitomized the consistent excellence that Duncan has displayed throughout this playoff run and especially in the overtime periods of the last two ball games. Timmy is clearly on a mission this postseason and when he's locked in like this, at this time of year, I begin to count my blessings that he has always and continues to play for San Antonio. Tim Duncan is one of the few all-time great players who will play his entire career for one team and every Spurs fan should feel beyond fortunate that this historic career has been played for our team.
While being up 3-0 in the Western Conference Finals, really any NBA playoff series, is an amazing accomplishment, once again, the Spurs are hesitant to start celebrating a trip to the NBA Finals just yet. There is still more work to be done in Memphis, Tennessee. In the post-game press conference, Coach Pop said that "Game 4 is all that exists for us." Manu Ginobili pointed out how incredibly blessed the Spurs are to be in this position given that the last two games went into overtime. He said after the game, "We are very lucky to...be 3-0, I mean...I really didn't expect to be in this situation now." The Spurs could very realistically be facing a 2-1 hole with Memphis being the team with an opportunity to go up 3-1 by the weekend's end. Nonetheless, San Antonio is the team in this excellent position, which provides us an opportunity to close out another playoff series. Amazingly, for Tim Duncan, Monday provides an opportunity to close out the 30th playoff series of his career against only 10 defeats. And the days go by, but if we keep our play focused and building towards a crescendo tomorrow evening, the San Antonio Spurs could find themselves in position to write the script for another historic Memorial Day. Same as it ever was.
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Ten Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 2
Even Flow (Once It Hits Your Lips) - And the Tony goes to...Tony Allen hit the floor, holding his head, writhing in pain. If you had missed the play and you had just seen the aftermath you would have thought that Manu Ginobili had grabbed Allen out of mid air, body slammed him to the ground, bent down and karate chopped him in the head, and then spit in his face for good measure. Sources tell me that after watching the latest incarnation of the business of basketball receiving official protection against the manifestation of spirited competition, a portal through which gladiators used to be willing to sacrifice a limb in order to earn the distinguished honor of a trip to the NBA Finals, Bill Laimbeer immediately changed the channel to WWE Royal Rumble in an effort to find more authentic programming. Faking an injury that did not occur to bate the refs into a flagrant foul is not in the character of champions. Only Tony Allen knows for sure how far he pushed that acting performance, but the fact that three Memphis-based personal injury lawyers have already solicited Allen for an endorsement deal since Tuesday night doesn't bode well for his credibility.
The player of the game was Tim Duncan. He saved the Spurs from the type of catastrophe that derailed the 2004, 2006, and 2008 title contending Spurs by dominating the overtime period. Had San Antonio lost Game 2 because Memphis was able to outplay us from opening tip to final buzzer, it would not have been the end of the world. We could have regrouped, looked at film, and come back with a focused performance in Game 3 like we did against Golden State under the same circumstances. However, had San Antonio lost Game 2 because of the shenanigans of Tony Allen and the apparent passion for Broadway theater that Bill Spooner, Scott Foster, and Bill Kennedy hold in common, that could have proven disastrous. The Memphis Grizzlies made it quite clear in their fourth quarter comeback Tuesday night that they are a tough minded, determined basketball team. They are good enough to win this series. Had the Spurs allowed a game to slip through our fingers that, by all intents and purposes, we had in the bag because of a couple of freak plays in the final minutes; there is no guarantee that we would have had the ability to refocus from that disappointment to win three out of the next five games. Don't get me wrong, I know we could have. But I'm extremely thankful that we don't have to put that scenario to the test. Thankfully instead, the #BlackAndSilver defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 93-89 in overtime on Tuesday which puts us in the same scenario as last year. The Spurs are up 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals with a chance for redemption. Second chances serve as spectacular opportunities. They are the purest type of opportunity; the kind that comes to those who are willing to put in the work to overcome adversity. You can't fake your way to the promised land. The Spurs face the ultimate opportunity to body slam the adversity they experienced last year and punch their ticket to the NBA Finals this holiday weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. They won't punch that ticket through their ability to sell fouls. They won't punch that ticket through their ability to make shots. They will punch that ticket by having an insurmountable desire to win. And they will punch that ticket with their hustle and flow.
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Nine Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 1
Coming Home - The San Antonio Spurs defense continued to impress yesterday afternoon as they held their opponent to under 92 points and 47 percent shooting for the third straight playoff game defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 105 to 83 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs most dominating performance of the playoffs (thus far) came at an opportune time given that this opponent had parlayed a Game 1 theft job in San Antonio into a first round upset just two years ago. From the opening tip, the outcome of this Game 1 was hardly ever in doubt as the Spurs dominated the Grizzlies from the opening jump with the exception of a singular 10 - 0 Memphis run in the third quarter. The Spurs made buckets and locked in on defense which is a lethal combination. While it would be foolish to assume that the Spurs could continue to play at this level for the duration of the series, I don't think that it is unreasonable to declare that Memphis is incapable of matching the #BlackAndSilver at this level of play. The Spurs played close to their maximum capabilities in Game 1 which is higher than the Grizzlies' maximum capability. The Spurs are a more talented offensive basketball team. Memphis is a tough, defensive minded group with a lot of heart and they are more than capable of imposing their will to bring San Antonio back down to earth in order to give themselves a chance to take control of this series. But matching San Antonio's Game 1 level to win this series? Highly unlikely. The Grizzlies don't appear to have enough weapons on offense to match a Spurs team that is hitting on all cylinders at both ends of the court.
The player of the game yesterday was once again the Red Rocket. After playing limited minutes against the Warriors, Matt Bonner was ready for the Western Conference Finals stage when Coach Popovich called his number. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili did a masterful job of breaking down the Grizzlies perimeter defense to find open shooters and Bonner along with the other Spurs three point bombers got their work in yesterday by lighting up Memphis for a franchise playoff record 14 three pointers. Matty contributed four of those triples which was huge because it stretched the floor forcing one of the Memphis big men to have to guard away from the paint. Bonner also played tough inside against Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol on defense. While he only had two rebounds, he consistently held his defensive position on the block, which negated the Memphis big men from getting into rhythm and capitalizing on their biggest advantage over the Spurs: size and strength. Zach Randolph finished the game with a mind boggling 2 points on 1-8 shooting. The Spurs can rest assured that Randolph and Gasol will bounce back and play light years better in Game 2, but if we can stay locked in and keep the same focus and intensity, the Spurs will have a great opportunity to board a plane for Memphis on Friday with a 2-0 series lead which is something they were unable to secure two years ago against this opponent. Even if this comes to fruition, Tony Parker clearly will not be satisfied and he will not allow the team to celebrate yesterday's triumph for one second. He continues to impose levity on the San Antonio locker room by constantly harping on the valuable experience the Spurs gained having had endured last year's heart break. A reflective Tony was quoted in last night's post-game press conference informing all who would listen, "Nobody's happy in our locker room, because we were up 2 - 0 last year and we lost. So it's just one game." Tomorrow night is another game. Hopefully it will include another overpowering performance by the San Antonio Spurs. Should that happen, we will set ourselves up to be in the same position that we were in last year (2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals) before the wheels came off. If given the rare opportunity of a second chance, I'm confident the Spurs have the fortitude to seize it. First things first. Here at home, we need to do one. Once it hits your lips.
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Eight Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 6
Back to Black - The San Antonio Spurs are heading back to the Western Conference Finals for the eighth time during the Tim Duncan era after eliminating the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals on Thursday night. The Spurs defeated the Warriors 94 to 82 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California to win a hard fought series and squelch the infectious hopes of a nation to see a miracle run by the Warriors to the NBA Finals. The execution of suffocating defensive pressure to win tough close-out playoff games on the road was a staple of the #BlackAndSilver during the team's dynastic period from 1999 to 2008. During that time, the Spur's were able to go into an opponent's building and eliminate said opponent from the playoffs on 14 different occasions. The last of these close outs, eliminating the Hornets in Game 7 of the 2008 Western Conference Semi-Finals in New Orleans, was the last time the Spurs had played elite defense in the NBA playoffs; until Game 5 and Game 6 against the Warriors this week. Back to black, indeed.
Kawhi Leonard was once again my player of the game. Continuing as the primary defender on Klay Thompson in Game 6, Kawhi held him to 10 points on 4-12 shooting. Not only was his defense outstanding for the second game in a row, Leonard did multiple things well throughout the game to make a positive impact. He shot an efficient 6-13 from the field for 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the team, had two timely steals that resulted in transition points, rebounded his own missed three pointer for an emphatic dunk, and he made a cold blooded three pointer in the guts of the fourth quarter with the game on the line and with the Warriors surging on another late game rally. Kawhi has an innate ability to let the game come to him and make an impact in the flow of the offense and he is unquestionably disruptive for opponents on defense. I could not be more thrilled with his development this year and his performance in his second playoff run as an NBA player. Defensively, we need him to keep maturing into the second coming of Bruce Bowen, a defensive stopper who can make the opponent's best perimeter player work for 48 minutes to put up points. It would be foolish, though, to set the limit on his potential value to this franchise moving forward as only a defensive stopper. Kawhi has the athleticism and the skill set to become a two-way player in the mold of Scottie Pippen. Don't worry, Mark Jackson, I'll continue to leave the premature anointing of young, talented players to you. I'm not suggesting that Kawhi Leonard will develop into a player on the level of Scottie Pippen, I'm just proffering that he has the natural ability and skill set to play a two-way game that reminds me of the way Pippen played the game. Kawhi Leonard's future is blindingly bright and he has the realizable capability to prove himself to be a future cornerstone of this franchise.
There is no rest for the weary as the Western Conference Finals begin tomorrow afternoon back home at the AT&T Center against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Russel Westbrook injury proved to be too much for Oklahoma City to overcome, which has robbed the Spurs of the opportunity to avenge last year's heartbreaking collapse in the conference finals to the Thunder. This doesn't mean that redemption won't be in the air this weekend in San Antonio. San Antonio has an opportunity to emphatically put the heartbreak of blowing a 2-0 series lead with home court advantage last year behind them, no matter who this year's opponent is. Asked during the post-game press conference Thursday night about the Spur's auspicious opportunity to redeem themselves, Tony Parker said, "We were two games away from the Finals, and this year we have another opportunity to...go to the Finals." It appears that Tony and his teammates will be mindful of last year's collapse and be determined to execute better throughout the duration of this series. After this grind-it-out series with Golden State, San Antonio is already better prepared to handle adversity at this stage of the playoffs than they were last year. Persevering through an early-round test was something that I truly believed that the Spurs needed to get back to championship-contending form. We've had that now.
The Memphis Grizzlies will come to town this weekend bringing with them their own playoff redemption motivation for the Spurs. Memphis shocked the Spurs in the first round of the 2011 playoffs, eliminating San Antonio 4-2. After stealing Game 1 that year against a Manu-less Spurs squad, the Grizzlies became only the second team in NBA history to upset a one seed as the eight seed in a best-of-seven first round series. Manu Ginobili should be healthy and ready to go for Game 1 tomorrow, which makes the Grizzlies task of attempting to steal home court advantage vastly more difficult than it was two years ago. Nonetheless, Memphis has proven to be an outstanding playoff team and is always a bad match up for the Spurs with their interior dominance. This series is going to be a slug fest. Tiago Splitter is going to have to play at an extremely high level for the duration of the series to try to neutralize Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph as much as possible. It will also be critical for Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner to consistently knock down perimeter jumpers to force one of the two Memphis big men away from the basket. The key to the series will be whether or not the Spurs can continue to play Back to Black suffocating defense night in and night out against Memphis and keep the Grizzlies from dominating the glass and getting second-chance opportunities. While Memphis is an elite defensive team, if the Spurs can match their defensive intensity and rebound the basketball, we should be able to grind out enough low scoring tough playoff victories against them to hopefully control the series because we have more offensive firepower. This series will be ugly, but that makes it even more exciting to me. Something feels different with this playoff run than last year. I'm not just saying that as means to psyche myself into hoping for a different result. The Spurs feel like they are getting back to who they were when they used to average under 90 points a game and win playoff games with their defense. After spending the better part of a month out in California getting reacquainted with our heart and soul as a team, the San Antonio Spurs are coming home.
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Seven Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 5
The Show Goes On - Last night, for the first time in this hard fought second round series with Golden State, San Antonio played Spurs basketball consistently for 48 minutes en route to a 109 to 91 blowout victory over the Warriors. Mark Jackson's self-proclaimed "greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history" was completely locked up by Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson managed a combined 13 points on 6-22 shooting, their lowest combined point total of the season. Thompson could not even get free to attempt one three pointer. Funny, I don't remember ever hearing about that happening to Jerry West and Gail Goodrich in the playoffs and I don't remember seeing that happen to Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars either. Part of being great shooters, is having the ability to get and make your shots no matter how ferocious the defense or how intense the playoff pressure. By the way, my pointing out the ridiculousness of Mark Jackson's statement is not intended as a slight on Curry and Thompson. They are an amazing backcourt and have clearly earned the complete respect and attention of the Spurs. Maybe they will eventually earn consideration as the best shooting backcourt in NBA history, but to anoint them as such after they have only won one playoff series is disrespectful of the history of the game and Jackson should have more perspective than that as a great NBA point guard in his own right. I know that this statement can be chalked up as a motivational tool. Part of Jackson's approach to coaching is to attempt to give his team a psychological edge by instilling irrational belief in their collective abilities. It has clearly been quite effective, helping the Warriors to dispatch the more talented Denver Nuggets and giving them the confidence to compete with the Spurs, but eventually reality will set in. I'm not suggesting, either, that that eventuality has already occurred. I'm fully aware that Golden State is still capable of winning this series and that the Spurs need to treat the next game like we are the team facing elimination. However, I do think that the massive outpouring of adulation regarding Jackson's coaching ability is overblown and sooner or later the psychological motivational tools will lose their evangelical ability to elevate the team's level of play and when that happens, it is yet to be seen whether he actually has the chops as a basketball tactician and game manager to compete at the highest level. Time will answer that question. Anyway, I digress.
Last night's player of the game was Danny Green. Danny was an efficient 6-10 from the field but more importantly his defense was spectacular on Curry and Thompson. He was clearly a difference maker on both ends of the court. There is not a whole lot else to say about last night's game other than it was by far the best performance by the Spurs so far in this postseason. They need to keep it up. If we play with that type of defensive intensity and share the ball on offense with that type of surgical precision (30 assists on 40 made field goals) the #BlackAndSilver will have a lot more basketball ahead of them this postseason. Luckily, for San Antonio, we have a coach that sets quite a different tone than his Golden State counterpart. While Jackson is busy campaigning for his backcourt to be given their rightful place in the annals of NBA history, Greg Popovich has only one thing on his mind; the next game. In response to a question at the post game press conference last night asking him about the prospect of getting this series over with in Game 6, Popovich's response was as follows: "Nobody talks about getting this over with like you've got a rash...like you can take a pill or put some cream on it, it's going to be gone. This is a war. They're a class team; they bust their ass at both ends of the floor. It's not about getting rid of anything. It's about going and playing and that's about it." Coach Pop is not writing off the Warriors, he is preparing to try to beat them one more time. If we play the same 48 minutes of basketball tomorrow night that we played last night, the Spurs have a golden opportunity to leave the state of California with a trip booked back to the Western Conference Finals. Should we make that happen, then the Warrior's backcourt will have plenty of time to work on that shooting ability in an empty gym. I say forget shooting. Defense wins championships and the San Antonio Spurs are finally starting to get back to black.
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Two Up
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 4
Us Against the World - After going up against 19,596 fans, 5 players, and apparently 3 referees, the world was definitely against the #BlackAndSilver yesterday afternoon in Oracle Arena as the Spurs fell in overtime to the Warriors 97 to 87. San Antonio, up 8 points with 4 minutes to play, blew a golden opportunity to put a stranglehold on this series. On the verge of going up 3 games to 1, it seemed so close you could almost taste it. Unfortunately, shots stopped falling and the referees offered untimely mistakes into the mix with the game on the line. While on balance the refereeing in this game was fairly even, Scott Foster, John Goble, and Bill Kennedy blew two critical calls in the final minutes that were quite baffling. First, replays showed a ball that was called off of Tim Duncan was actually knocked out by a Golden State Warrior player at a juncture when the Spurs were up by 4 or 6 points if my memory serves me correctly. The ensuing inbound play was knocked out of bounds again and then on the next inbound play, Klay Thompson hit a jumper as the shot clock expired that cut the Spur's lead to either 2 or 4. Second, on the Spur's final possession of regulation Andrew Bogut touched the ball while his foot was extended out of bounds. The referees missed it and allowed Golden State to call a timeout. It was a quick touch and it is understandable that the referees missed it. What is mind boggling is that after the play, the referees refused to go to the monitors to check and make sure that they had the right call (which they are allowed to do in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter). Had they done so, the Spurs would have had another opportunity to attempt a game-winning shot in regulation.
No excuses. As frustrating as those two blown calls were, the referees were not the reason the Spurs lost this game. The reason San Antonio lost was because we missed 11 free throws and shot an abysmal 35.5 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from three point land. It is actually a minor miracle that we had a lead to blow going down the stretch with those shooting percentages. While this loss was a tough one to swallow and has been lingering around the back of my head all day today, I'm still rather confident that we are in a good position to win this series. Both teams have now been on the receiving end of some bad breaks to blow a game on the road and even though the series is tied, the Spurs will win it simply by taking care of business at home going forward. In our last 10 playoff series that have been knotted up 2 to 2 after four games, the Spurs have won eight of them. We are the more experienced team and there is no question that more of our shots will fall down at the AT&T center than what we saw yesterday afternoon. In Game 4, the player of the game was Manu who came off the bench to drain 5 threes and score 21 points. Hopefully, Manu can parlay that into finding some rhythm tomorrow evening. I asked for a good second round series to toughen up the Spurs for the later rounds of the playoffs and we are definitely getting that from the Golden State Warriors. Should the Spurs persevere and get out of the second round on Thursday night or on Sunday, we will be battled tested for the next challenge and much better prepared for the Western Conference Finals than we were last year. It is time to let go of the frustration of a tough road loss and get revved up for the opportunity tomorrow to retake control of the series. The show goes on.
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Six Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 3
Going Back to Cail - The San Antonio Spurs are often referred to as the Silver and Black. When I decided to start a Spurs blog as a subsidiary of theLeftAhead, one of the reasons for landing on the name Black & Silver was that throughout their dynastic era, the Spurs have proven time in and time out that they can go into the most hostile of situations and win tough games on the road. This ability to win these pressure games has been a key to every championship run. The Spurs wear black on the road, so in my opinion the black is more important to expressing who the Spurs are than the silver. While I love seeing the Spurs get ready to jump center at the beginning of a game in the home white or even the new home silver, I get an extra rush form the "Us Against the World" swagger the squad walks out with in the road black. Hence, #BlackAndSilver. I know that the Oakland Raiders are also known as the Black and Silver, but as far as I'm concerned they can take a backseat. San Antonio has won 4 NBA Championships. Oakland has won 3 Super Bowls in the NFL. Scoreboard, Raiders fans.
Friday night played out as a prototypical Spurs playoff win on the road. San Antonio defeated Golden State 102 to 92 in Oracle Arena, a venue that has been receiving a great deal of hype as the best home court advantage in the NBA. It was a tough, gritty performance by the Spurs. Every time that the Warriors would go on a run, it was apparent on television that the crowd was going bonkers. The sound meter that was constantly put on the screen to show the loudness in the arena, however, was a cheap broadcasting ploy to sensationalize the story line. We get it, it is loud in Oracle. But this is the NBA playoffs. It was loud in the AT&T Center too when Manu drained the game-winning three in double overtime of Game 1. Nonetheless, it was clear that the Spurs were performing in an extremely hostile environment which meant they needed a great deal of focus to persevere. The defensive intensity was finally at the appropriate level for the second round of the NBA playoffs and the Spurs calmly and methodically knocked down shots on offense. From the first quarter on, however, seemingly every time that the Spurs got some separation the Warriors fought right back to bring the game close to even. Luckily, the second half of the fourth quarter belonged to the Spurs as they pulled away for good. Unfortunately, Stephen Curry twisted his ankle with a few minutes left in the game which could have a major impact on the trajectory of this series. Hopefully, Curry is able to play in Game 4. Again, as I stated with the Russell Westbrook injury, I prefer to see the Spurs face their Western Conference rivals at full strength. Tony Parker also suffered a leg injury but all indications are that he will be ready to play this afternoon.
We are going to need Tony at full strength to put together another classic road win this afternoon. Tony was spectacular in Game 3, torching the Warriors for 32 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds. It was clear early on that Tony would earn player of the game honors as he set the tone by lighting up Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry for 25 points in the first half. Asked in the post game press conference if the abundance of adulation being showered on the Golden State backcourt provided extra motivation for Tony, he responded, "I play for my teammates, Coach Pop, and the city of San Antonio." This statement exemplifies Tony's class and professionalism and gives me a great deal of confidence that if he continues to play with the same focus and determination, not only do the Spurs have a great chance of leaving Cali up 3 games to 1 today, but also that the national media might be afforded an opportunity to acknowledge the sobering reality that Tony is still the best guard in this series.
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One Up
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 2
I’m On Fire (Kawhi's Quest to Curry Favor as the Second Coming of Bruce Bowen [A Novel]) - Kawhi Leonard's ability to defend Stephen Curry will be a key factor in whether or not the Spurs will prevail in this series. Last night, in chapter two of this saga, Kawhi did an admirable job limiting Curry to 22 points on 7-20 shooting. I can only recall a couple of times that Curry scored when Kawhi was matched up on him in isolation. Kawhi earned my player of the game with his defense on Curry and by having a solid offensive night while pounding the boards to post his first double-double of this year's playoffs. The problem last night, however, was that Klay Thompson was playing video game basketball in the first half. I felt like I was watching myself play NBA 2K13 and Klay Thompson was a custom player who was created with 100 percent three point ability. It was unreal how he was able to just pull up from anywhere and drain shot after shot. Of course, it didn't help that (in keeping with this video game scenario) it looked as if the defensive settings for the Spurs had been adjusted to the beginner level. Thompson torched the Spurs for 29 points and 7 three pointers before halftime putting San Antonio in the precarious position of needing to overcome a massive deficit at home for the second game in a row.
The #BlackAndSilver once again did an admirable job in the second half of getting back in the game, cutting the Golden State lead to as few as 6 with a few minutes left. If a couple more three pointers had gone down in the closing minutes, the Warrior's inability to hold leads under playoff pressure would continue to be a top national sports story. As it stands, San Antonio suffered our first playoff defeat of 2013 losing to the Golden State at home 100 to 91 and the Warriors are back to being the underdog darlings of the NBA playoffs having stolen home-court advantage from the Spurs. The Warriors are now 1-30 in San Antonio during the Tim Duncan era and we are officially now in a fight to win this series. I take comfort in the fact that the Curry performance in Game One and the Thompson performance in Game Two were more than likely aberrations that will be difficult to repeat as the pressure mounts and the intensity in the series builds. If these playoff first-timers can continue to replicate those types of performances, hats off to them and the Spurs are going to likely need another miracle to get out of Oracle Arena with a victory.
I'm fully confident that Danny Green can match Kawhi's playoff level defensive pressure and San Antonio will be able to contain both Curry and Thompson to the extent necessary to leave the Bay Area with either one or two victories over the weekend. In Three Down, I had wished for the Spurs to face more adversity than we did last year in the early rounds of the playoffs. Sweeping through the first 10 games last year left us ill-prepared when we finally faced adversity against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals. Seemingly, I have gotten my wish. The Spurs face an unbelievably hostile environment over the weekend but if we want to be champions we are going to have to win tough games on the road. Past championship-winning Spurs squads have thrived under these circumstances and I'm fully confident that this current group can do it as well. I'm looking forward to the weekend. We're going (going) back (back) to Cali.
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