What We and Everybody Else Can Learn From the San Antonio Spurs

I am glad to see the Spurs trio thrash the Heatles.

To tell you the truth, the quotes in this article makes the plight of the Heat seem a lot more similar:
http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/11093233/chris-bosh-says-miami-heat-season-was-grind

"I don't think anybody really enjoyed this season like in years past," Bosh told The Associated Press. "There was no, like, genuine joy all the time. It seemed like work. It was a job the whole year. Winning was just a relief."

I was cheering for the Spurs myself, but a lot of people want to ask what was wrong with Alabama or the Heat, and really... it's easy enough to just say the pressure was too great. Both teams played under an enormous strain, such that a trip to the finals, and a trip to a BCS game is still considered a pretty big failure.

CajunCrimson said:

But Sip, can you be the best if you can't even motivate your own team?

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Cajun, in college, maybe. In the Pro's, with guaranteed million's, I'm not so sure.
If those other players like Wade and Bosch aren't motivated by LeBron's effort, then I'm not sure what else he could have done. He did his job. That's really all you can ask. If the others don't pick up on it, I simply can't blame LeBron.
He's carried this team on his back for two NBA Championships.
The difference between this year and those last two is that Wade was brilliant, and Bosch was brilliant in clutch situations. That just didn't happen this year.
I can't see blaming that on LeBron.
He can't play for them.
sip

BamainBoston said:

I always like it when people destroy their own argument in the first sentence. Makes replies easy.

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explain please

KrAzY3 said:

To tell you the truth, the quotes in this article makes the plight of the Heat seem a lot more similar:
http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/11093233/chris-bosh-says-miami-heat-season-was-grind

"I don't think anybody really enjoyed this season like in years past," Bosh told The Associated Press. "There was no, like, genuine joy all the time. It seemed like work. It was a job the whole year. Winning was just a relief."

I was cheering for the Spurs myself, but a lot of people want to ask what was wrong with Alabama or the Heat, and really... it's easy enough to just say the pressure was too great. Both teams played under an enormous strain, such that a trip to the finals, and a trip to a BCS game is still considered a pretty big failure.

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That's what happens when you want to win for a historic achievement rather than for the joy of the game. Playing becomes an obligation, a formality. You wanna get the basketball (or football) part over with so you can bask in the greatness of what you've done.

That's why I'm not crazy about Lebron. I've never known of a more legacy-conscious athlete. And that's why, in his quest for the Mount Rushmore of basketball, most fans are going to be pulling against him.

Did I miss the PC where Lebron retired? Until he does this argument of who's the greatest is pointless.

tusks_n_raider said:

Get out of here with that mess. The Bulls played the best there was to play and flat beat them. It was no cake walk.

You are completely not giving Jordan and the Bulls enough credit. They were dominate but not from lack of fierce competitor. Of course Jordan didn't have a rival...put him in any era and he'd still never have a rival....he's in his own stratosphere of greatness.

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91 Lakers ...



No Kareem, Magic, Worthy and Scott were all old and all left with injuries. Magic even had aids...

Portland next...



Buck Williams was a very good player, and Porter, but nothing else besides Clyde. Duckworth was soft, Robinson developing.

Now Phoenix...


Old Ainge and Chambers - Majerle was good, KJ good, and Barkley. Bulls had two top 50 all-time players on their roster, plus Phil Jackson. The West was Soft, and the Bulls had a triangle of Jordan, Pippen, and Grant that trumped other rosters.


I will post on the other 3 later, but it is worth noting Jordan never had to play in a 7th game of The Finals, and I think only had faced 2 Game 7s in his career. That team was just playing at the perfect time, with an all time great and another Top 50 guy.


Had Jordan not been kicked out for 2 years, I think Houston would have ended his reign.

CajunCrimson said:

But Sip, can you be the best if you can't even motivate your own team?

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Cajun I never knew we would be in such perfect harmony on an issue.

Couldn't agree more with the OP. Anytime you're talking about a team sport, the ability to get talented players to use their talent in service of the team will, over time, trump talented players using the team in service of their talent. The only surprising thing, really, is that the lesson still needs learning...

IGetBuckets said:

explain please

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I guess after the Bulls beat the Spurs you would say Old Duncan, Old Manu etc... Remember there is no hand checking in the NBA anymore, imagine trying to stop Jordan without putting a hand on him. Also, he, Jordan, was very aggressive attacking the rim, and got hammered for it, today's game doesn't allow for hard fouls, MJ would be more dominate.

BamaPokerplayer said:

I guess after the Bulls beat the Spurs you would say Old Duncan, Old Manu etc... Remember there is no hand checking in the NBA anymore, imagine trying to stop Jordan without putting a hand on him. Also, he, Jordan, was very aggressive attacking the rim, and got hammered for it, today's game doesn't allow for hard fouls, MJ would be more dominate.

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The Bulls never faced a team on the level of the Spurs from the West. Never.

The rule thing DOES go both ways - mj used the hand check as well.

IGetBuckets said:

The Bulls never faced a team on the level of the Spurs from the West. Never.

The rule thing DOES go both ways - mj used the hand check as well.

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Yes the rule goes both ways, but it would benefit Jordan more if you couldn't hand check. Also, if you couldn't maul him at the rim, he would take it the rack every time.

Here you go a list of great teams that have never won a title. You will notice a common denominator.

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/503335

Jordan didn't have a rival because he would not let one rise up. Finally, do you think any of the teams the spurs beat to win titles are on the bulls level.

IGetBuckets said:

The Bulls never faced a team on the level of the Spurs from the West. Never.

The rule thing DOES go both ways - mj used the hand check as well.

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Dude the Spurs are old. They are one of the best-coached teams I've ever seen, but they're old. If we're talking about young talent only (and by the term "young" I'm being very, very generous) the Spurs are one of the least talented teams to ever win an NBA Championship. No way Jordan and co. lose to the International All-Star Team.

And how old was Magic when the Bulls beat those Lakers? 31? 32? All the Spurs big three are older than that.

IGetBuckets said:

The Bulls never faced a team on the level of the Spurs from the West. Never.

The rule thing DOES go both ways - mj used the hand check as well.

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The 91 Lakers or Pistons? The Jazz? The '93 Suns? That's a crazy statement. The Spurs are very well coached, but so were the Bulls. Plus the Bulls had better athletes. The Heat in 2014 are the 2007 Cavaliers.

the competition back then was actually what the S.A. Spurs are today. They played team basketball back then on both sides. Just with much harder fouls and better defense. :biggrin2:

BamainBoston said:

And without the Bulls the Jazz would have been back-to-back champions. Your argument is absurd.

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How do you know that?

The point is the Bulls had a better roster - a Big 3 if you will, at a time when top talent was more spread out around the league. The Celtics, Lakers and Pistons had aged away. The better players generally were devoid of the mental toughness colliding with skill of Bird and Magic. Drexler? Miller? Smits? Majerle? Malone?

IGetBuckets said:

How do you know that?

The point is the Bulls had a better roster - a Big 3 if you will, at a time when top talent was more spread out around the league. The Celtics, Lakers and Pistons had aged away. The better players generally were devoid of the mental toughness colliding with skill of Bird and Magic. Drexler? Miller? Smits? Majerle? Malone?

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Magic, Worthy, Drexler, Barkley, Ewing, Miller, Malone, Stockton, Thomas. These guys are all 1st ballot HoF guys and Jordan beat them all.

TouchThatThang said:

Dude the Spurs are old. They are one of the best-coached teams I've ever seen, but they're old. If we're talking about young talent only (and by the term "young" I'm being very, very generous) the Spurs are one of the least talented teams to ever win an NBA Championship. No way Jordan and co. lose to the International All-Star Team.

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The Spurs are just so hard to evaluate from a talent perspective. Who besides Diaw and Belinelli have done anything at all in the NBA away from the Spurs? Both are basically playing as well as they ever have, with the Spurs, which plays into the narrative that it's as much coaching as talent (as well as selection, I think the Spurs are on to something with choosing less ego driven foreign players). But, at this point I just don't think we can judge the talent. Unlike the Heat, where we can compare how Lewis, Allen, James, and Bosh did prior to their arrival and get at least a rough indicator of their talent.

But... to the notion of "young talent", it's not like the Bulls were laden with that towards the end of Jordan's championship run. Interestingly enough, the most notable of the "young talent" would have been Jason Caffey, although Kukoc still had a couple good years ahead of him. I don't think that qualifier means all that much...

The spurs are older but health and nutrition has advanced a lot since when MJ played. 35 isn't really that old nowadays with all the tools athletes have to stay in shape and fuel their bodies better.