Spurs and LeBron's mouthpiece

Before I delve into the Knicks and their impending quick out, there are two subjects I would like to address. 

SPURS.

My opinion is the same as everyone else's when thinking about the San Antonio Spurs.  It is a feeling of indifference.  However, I decided to change this way of thinking.  With Poppovich's Coach of the Year award and the Spurs claim of the first seed in the Western Conference, I decided it was time to find out if I could like them and sucked it up to watch game 2 of the first round series between the Spurs and the Jazz.  I am amazed that I do not read about the Spurs more.  This team can play almost any style, is arguably one of the best dynasties in NBA history, and has one of the most outstanding NBA citizens in Tim Duncan.  But we do not talk about them.  Instead we discuss all the other "Big Threes" in the league.  The Heat, the Knicks, the Thunder and the Celtics all garner more headlines than the Spurs, who have quietly become the best team in the Western Conference and, in my eyes, the frontrunners to winning their fifth NBA championship in 13 years.  How is it anyway that the Spurs have won championships so many years apart?  1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007.  I had to look that up.  I thought they had won three championships.  Even with their championships, they are humble and assuming.  It is like they thought it was too obnoxious to win four championships in five years and decided to space it out so they could fly under the radar.  This year is different though.  With Poppovich winning the award and seemingly have the whole 82 game season planned out (66 regular seasons and 16 wins for a championship), they are finally entering the conversation. 

One quick tangent about Poppovich.  I expect him to release a journal after he retires and the one page about the 2011-2012 NBA season is some crazy complicated decision tree that mapped out every possible scenario, showing the highest probability for the Spurs to win a championship.  In it, I fully expect him to have an 11 game winning streak planned so that he can sit his big three with the greater picture in mind.  In a season where the back breaking schedule caused injuries to be too frequent, can we not praise the genius of Poppovich to sit his best players and groom everyone else in order to hold them accountable to win a game on their own?

Back to my main point, I am now putting them as my top contender for the NBA title this year.  This may be due to the fact that I am typing this after having two martinis, or I just watched them destroy the "just happy to be here" Utah Jazz.  We all know the Heat are making the finals.  But we all still question their resolve to win the big one.  Front what I have seen, their big three is better than any currently out there.  They will beat any pretenders to the big three crown, whether it be the Knicks or the Celtics (even though they pretty much invented the term), as well as any big three teams that come out of the west, including the Lakers or the Thnder.  However, I suspect they will have more trouble with teams such as the Pacers or the 76ers, who play a more team oriented game.  They will still beat these two teams, but these series will expose them. Their weakness is that they still play 3 on 5.  No matter what we hope from their supporting cast, the Miami Heat bench and the other two that start the game, are still the same as last year.  Inconsistent, thus unreliable.  Because of this, any team that functions with a hive mind will push the Heat to the limit.  The Spurs are the ultimate in terms of being a team.  Sure their big three would never beat the Heat in a pickup game, but they can adapt to any style of play, something that the Heat could never achieve given their current makeup.  If the Spurs meet the Heat in the finals, I suspect many people will be disappointed with the boring team beating the exciting team.  However, it reinforces what the NBA is all about.  It is not like the Superbowl, where anything can happen, or the World Series where chance plays a bigger factor than anything else.  The winner of the NBA finals is usually the best TEAM.  That is what the Spurs are.  They are a TEAM that is prepared and hungry for a championship.  After all, it has been 5 years since their last one.  They are due. 

LEBRON'S MOUTHGUARD.

In case you missed it, LeBron had a mouthguard made with the the roman numerals, XVI on it.  This signifies the number of games a team needs to win in order to win the NBA title.  I found it amusing that a commentator suggested that LeBron was more focused this year because he had that made and it was the reason why they are the favorites to win.  I am paraphrasing, but my wife said that if LeBron were truly that focused, he would have had sixteen mouthguards made, from XVI to I, signifying the number of games he had left for a championship.  I think that sums up LeBron's career thus far.  He will never win with the general populace until he truly WINS, and it seems that he does the things people expect him to do.  From only showing up in body to the fourth quarters early in his career, to the decision and the "not one, not two..." quote and now the mouthguard.  LeBron never creates his own path.  He only has a surface commitment.  He is the ultimate "just happy to be in this league" player.  This is coming from a reformed LeBron hater who is trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I truly hope that he does win one eventually.  I just do not think it will happen this year because of the aforementioned Spurs.

FINALLY.  THE KNICKS.

There is not much to say about game 3 between the Heat and the Knicks.  They lost as expected, despite teasing all of us for the first half.  My respect for Carmelo is continually growing though.  I have always liked him, but his effort in the last two months is truly commendable.  Despite being overmatched by LeBron and company, his play indicated that he did not want to lose this game.  I hope the Knicks faithful take that into account during Melo's next slump or when Jeremy Lin is playing well.  I also hope that the Knicks address their third quarter issues.  On a night where Tyson Chandler receives his Defensive Player of the Year award, and the first half was a battle of defenses, the Knicks still collapsed.  LeBron got his fifth foul early in the third quarter, but the Knicks still could not capitalize and gave the lead away.  LeBron came out with a vengeance in the fourth quarter, destroying the Knicks, and putting the game away. 

I also do not understand why we are entertaining the return of Amar'e and Jeremy Lin.  Why force things when the series has clearly slipped away?  I say give the players who are hurt the directive to completely heal and work on the weaknesses of their respective games in the offseason.  Forget about coming back too quickly and set their sights on owning the 2012-2013 season.  Why would the Knicks management not acknowledge this now?  They have a solid team that can compete next year.  Supposing that they can bring back a solid core, and if they can address mental issues such as having a team mentality and not giving games away in third quarters, the Knicks would be early title contenders on everyone's list.  I say strive to get everyone healed both in body and mind.  That is the only way the currently constructed Knicks can compete. 

Comments

[Jonathan Huang]

Hey Jason,

Your blog popped up google+ email =] I love it, especially the MaLaJaS acronym and the beautiful pictures under Projects. I hope to meet Max sometime soon!

Anyway what do you think? Jeremy Lin comes back for game 5, triple double in points, assists and turnovers but they narrowly squeak out a win despite a poor shooting night by Amare. Amare comes back with an eff u game 6? Then LeBron either destroys the knicks by 20 or they keep it close and LeBron fades to oblivion in crunch time.