The End Is HERE!!!
I take delight in seeing these clowns suffer, especially when they got their jollies at watching the Nets go down in 6. Well, here's the funny thing. Four years ago when the Nets faced the Spurs, at least the Nets took two games from the Spurs before going down in six. The series didn't end in New Jersey, as it's looking like it will in Cleveland tonight. At the end of the day, what everyone wanted wasn't what they got. They wanted to see its bright star on the big stage and they got that.
Unfortunately for Prince James and company, the league's best were waiting and they weren't exactly awe inspired by what they saw. In the end, I'm sure the spin machine will be working overload justifying how the Cavs deserved better. How they deserved a fair shake and here's what I say to that.
"Two tears in a bucket..." Y'all know the rest.
The Spurs were the better team. Period. They had the better team and while a really good player can get you to the Finals, history shows really good players don't beat great teams. The Spurs are a GREAT TEAM. Take Game 3 as a prime example, when the Texas Three Step was a little offbeat, Brent Barry, Michael Finley and even Bruce Bowen stepped up to ensure the Spurs are one win away from celebrating their fourth title in nine years. Oh and the comparison to the C's is more than justifiable, Jade. Look at their history and while they didn't go back to back over the nine year stretch, they were either punched out by the Mavs (fluke last year, thanks Ginobili) or the Lakers who were the be all end all until Kobe decided to end it all. Guess hoisting that gold trophy got a little tedious after three straight years and he wanted some time to enjoy life on the mediocre side of the tracks for a change.
As for the Mavs, well, they're clear cut proof that just cause folks want to see you get there doesn't make you a guarantee that you will win when you get there. So yeah, the Spurs aren't flashy. Tim Duncan's about as exciting as Martha Stewart before she went to jail, despite the little known fact that he was the cover guy for NBA Live 2001 for EA Sports. Tony Parker's marrying Eva Longoria next month and he'll have to make room for ring number three on top of his wedding band.
Pops will work his team into very ELITE company. One of only three teams that will be able to say they have four or more titles. The Bulls, Celtics and Lakers are all presiding in the Platinum Penthouse as it were with four or more titles. The Pistons are sitting on three, but I think there's a greater chance of hell freezing solid before Flip Saunders gets them to four.
Oh and on a side note, Joe D keeping Flip while McHale had enough sense to fire him after nonachieving with the Timberwolves is rapidly lowering his GM IQ to Isiah-esque levels of ineptitude. I mean, he went from Carlisle to Brown to Saunders. So he essentially took his franchise from 'knocking on the door repeatedly' to 'kicking the door in' to 'incapable of getting back in even when the door's left ajar for easy access'. To put it into shifting gears terminology, they went from second gear to Carlisle to fourth and fifth with Brown to going in reverse and throwing the clutch out of whack with Flip.
Anyway, Pops is on the verge of entering an elite fraternity of coaches with the likes of Red Auerbach (who would have to respect what Pops has done and how he's done it in San Antonio), Phil Jackson aka Big Chief Triangle and Riles as the only coaches to have more than three rings.
As for Mike Brown, well, I guess there's always next year right? And oh, as for building a franchise along the lines of the Spurs' blueprint? Step 1 is not wasting your money on bums like Larry Hughes. He's spending more time on the pine than he is on the floor. And to think, this is what the Cavs and Danny Ferry were banking on to help LeBron get to the "promised land". They're getting more meaningful contributions from Boobie and Sasha whose combined salaries probably don't even add up to HALF of what Larry's total contract is worth.
Either way you slice it, this series was over when LeBron got that silver trophy from Bill Russell. Hell, I think even Bill was probably thinking that the second he handed LeBron that trophy. It's like he and everyone else were laughing at the Cavs only the Cavs didn't get the joke until now. Thanks for coming Cleveland. And thanks for giving me the single funniest Finals series I've seen in a long, long time.
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