i hadn't seen this posted anywhere
linkage
linkage
You see, the thing is, I don’t like All Star casts. For some reason, they don’t ever work. It might be in basketball, in football, in baseball, in Hollywood, in soccer, in music. You wondering about when it happened in music? C’mon, don’t you tell me you actually think “We are the world” is a good song. Sure, it was written and recorded to help starving Africans, it was a commercial success, I fully support it, but c’mon, it’s a tedious song. What about in the last Grammy’s, when they brought together Steven Tyler, Bono, Norah Jones, Velvet Revolver, Green Day’s Billy Joel and some other guys I don’t remember, to record a version of The Beatles’ “Across the universe”? It stunk.
In the movies, if a movie has lots of star actors and actresses, it surely blows. What on Earth is “Ocean’s Eleven”? What about “America’s Sweethearts” (You remember that, right? Starring John Cusack, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Billy Cristal…)? Don’t even get me started on “Alexander”…
Ok, I’ll concede I’m being unfair. I’ll concede that this is a matter of taste. Let’s put the odds at this: eight out of ten times, All Star casts fall apart. Of those two times where it works, one is on National Teams, Olympics and World Cup-style competitions, because then you’re not playing for yourself, for money, for your job, you’re playing for something bigger, pride, your country, blah blah blah, and it’s also for three to four months tops. That’s about the deadline for any ego dispute to blow. The other time, is when everyone is very, VERY aware of its part, and respects it to the limit, and when each one’s qualities are complementary.
So, I’m going to swim against the current and tell you I don’t think the San Antonio Spurs are the favorites to repeat.
Now, let’s try and get this out of the way, so maybe the level of hate mail I get this week is smaller: I don’t think the Spurs were wrong to get Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley. If I was wearing their shoes, I’d do the exact same thing. I’m not saying it won’t work, I’m not criticizing. I’m just giving you my opinion. This goes for every Heat fan that e-mailed me after I simply laid down historical facts to justify how I think they won’t make it, but I’m not setting it in stone, it’s just opinion and context.
Now, let’s see. The environment in San Antonio is a lot different from any other in the NBA. Even though they play with the a title to defend, even though they have been called “the best organization in all of North America’s professional leagues”, even though they’re always the favorites, it seems like none of it ever bothers them or makes them feel cocky or arrogant. They play the game like the great teams of old, that know they’re entitled, that know they’re great, but are aware that to win and to continue that greatness, they have to keep doing what they’ve done before and they have to keep setting the bar higher.
The crowd is just weird. I mean, they got crushed in the past, they wasted opportunities and stuff, and yet it seems the crowd never turns against them. Is it because the Spurs are their only team playing in one of the four major leagues? So, they can’t turn their backs, like, “the Spurs let us down, let’s watch baseball” or something, like for example New Yorkers can. Maybe. Whatever it is, it just takes such off so much pressure and bad fluids, it gets easier.
The egos. C’mon. These guys HAVE to have some egos. But no. Even Manu Ginobili, born in Argentina, land of the cocky, proud athletes, who love to provoke and rub it in (ok, some Brazilian rivalry spillin’, hahah). He has no ego in demanding to be treated special. He’s just happy to be there. And Finley and Van Exel, you couldn’t have asked for less egotistical stars. Van Exel always looked cocky and aggressive to me until he accepted his role as a sixth man in Dallas and was instrumental in getting the Mavs to the conference finals in 2003. Finley, too, looks like a humble man, and took a large pay-cut to join these Spurs, knowing he’ll probably end up in the bench. How can I think even for a second that this team isn’t going to make it?
Now, what did I say before? Players have to complement each other. That, last year’s squad did. That team was incredible. Manu had something Duncan didn’t, and Duncan had something Bruce Bowen didn’t. But Bowen possessed something Tony Parker didn’t, and Parker had something Nazr Mohammed couldn’t dream of having. Mohammed had something special that was missing in Robert Horry, and Horry had some stuff that Devin Brown couldn’t pull off. As for Brown, he was good at something that Brent Barry wasn’t, and Barry was good at something that Manu lacked. And it came full circle. (And I probably broke the record for most “somethings” in a paragraph).
I don’t think Finley and Van Exel complement the Spurs so much. Yes, they bring scoring – in bunches. But what are you gonna do? You’re gonna have a full defensive first unit – the same starting line-up of last season – and a full offensive second? Look at Finley. Has he ever even guarded someone? Then, I’m underestimating Gregg Popovich’s ability to mix X-and-O’s. Pop’s made some impossible things happen before. And I actually believe that he can make that work too. So, what am I saying? I’m saying it will still look forced upon and both Finley and Van Exel might struggle to adjust as much as Brent Barry did this season.
My pick to win it all is the Indiana Pacers. To me, they have all the pieces to win it this year, as they did last year, before the whole chain of events started and brought them down. This year, I think they’ll be tougher, stronger, more experienced, and will have a better balance to their game than the Spurs come Finals time. That’s also my prediction for the Finals: Pacers x Spurs.
In the movies, if a movie has lots of star actors and actresses, it surely blows. What on Earth is “Ocean’s Eleven”? What about “America’s Sweethearts” (You remember that, right? Starring John Cusack, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Billy Cristal…)? Don’t even get me started on “Alexander”…
Ok, I’ll concede I’m being unfair. I’ll concede that this is a matter of taste. Let’s put the odds at this: eight out of ten times, All Star casts fall apart. Of those two times where it works, one is on National Teams, Olympics and World Cup-style competitions, because then you’re not playing for yourself, for money, for your job, you’re playing for something bigger, pride, your country, blah blah blah, and it’s also for three to four months tops. That’s about the deadline for any ego dispute to blow. The other time, is when everyone is very, VERY aware of its part, and respects it to the limit, and when each one’s qualities are complementary.
So, I’m going to swim against the current and tell you I don’t think the San Antonio Spurs are the favorites to repeat.
Now, let’s try and get this out of the way, so maybe the level of hate mail I get this week is smaller: I don’t think the Spurs were wrong to get Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley. If I was wearing their shoes, I’d do the exact same thing. I’m not saying it won’t work, I’m not criticizing. I’m just giving you my opinion. This goes for every Heat fan that e-mailed me after I simply laid down historical facts to justify how I think they won’t make it, but I’m not setting it in stone, it’s just opinion and context.
Now, let’s see. The environment in San Antonio is a lot different from any other in the NBA. Even though they play with the a title to defend, even though they have been called “the best organization in all of North America’s professional leagues”, even though they’re always the favorites, it seems like none of it ever bothers them or makes them feel cocky or arrogant. They play the game like the great teams of old, that know they’re entitled, that know they’re great, but are aware that to win and to continue that greatness, they have to keep doing what they’ve done before and they have to keep setting the bar higher.
The crowd is just weird. I mean, they got crushed in the past, they wasted opportunities and stuff, and yet it seems the crowd never turns against them. Is it because the Spurs are their only team playing in one of the four major leagues? So, they can’t turn their backs, like, “the Spurs let us down, let’s watch baseball” or something, like for example New Yorkers can. Maybe. Whatever it is, it just takes such off so much pressure and bad fluids, it gets easier.
The egos. C’mon. These guys HAVE to have some egos. But no. Even Manu Ginobili, born in Argentina, land of the cocky, proud athletes, who love to provoke and rub it in (ok, some Brazilian rivalry spillin’, hahah). He has no ego in demanding to be treated special. He’s just happy to be there. And Finley and Van Exel, you couldn’t have asked for less egotistical stars. Van Exel always looked cocky and aggressive to me until he accepted his role as a sixth man in Dallas and was instrumental in getting the Mavs to the conference finals in 2003. Finley, too, looks like a humble man, and took a large pay-cut to join these Spurs, knowing he’ll probably end up in the bench. How can I think even for a second that this team isn’t going to make it?
Now, what did I say before? Players have to complement each other. That, last year’s squad did. That team was incredible. Manu had something Duncan didn’t, and Duncan had something Bruce Bowen didn’t. But Bowen possessed something Tony Parker didn’t, and Parker had something Nazr Mohammed couldn’t dream of having. Mohammed had something special that was missing in Robert Horry, and Horry had some stuff that Devin Brown couldn’t pull off. As for Brown, he was good at something that Brent Barry wasn’t, and Barry was good at something that Manu lacked. And it came full circle. (And I probably broke the record for most “somethings” in a paragraph).
I don’t think Finley and Van Exel complement the Spurs so much. Yes, they bring scoring – in bunches. But what are you gonna do? You’re gonna have a full defensive first unit – the same starting line-up of last season – and a full offensive second? Look at Finley. Has he ever even guarded someone? Then, I’m underestimating Gregg Popovich’s ability to mix X-and-O’s. Pop’s made some impossible things happen before. And I actually believe that he can make that work too. So, what am I saying? I’m saying it will still look forced upon and both Finley and Van Exel might struggle to adjust as much as Brent Barry did this season.
My pick to win it all is the Indiana Pacers. To me, they have all the pieces to win it this year, as they did last year, before the whole chain of events started and brought them down. This year, I think they’ll be tougher, stronger, more experienced, and will have a better balance to their game than the Spurs come Finals time. That’s also my prediction for the Finals: Pacers x Spurs.
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