I think i know what you meant...What i meant was post Hakeem Era...Hakeem was done in the late 90's and didnt have the ability to be as dominant as he was before... The Rockets were in limbo during the Franchise Era, got lucky with Yao, and just crapped out with Yao and TMAC... Tim Duncan was a miracle pick for the Spurs...But Duncan entered the League in 97-98, and the Rockets were heartbroken by the Jazz in 98 playoffs...Drexler retired, and the Rockets gambled on Pippen(who just came off winning 6 titles with the Bulls)...there was no reason to think there would be a drop off with that trade...but Pippen was terrible in a Rockets uniform, and completely destroyed our good franchise...but to think that 99 Hakeem was any better than the previous years is a joke...Hakeem aged, the Rockets tried to buy time for their HOF, and struck out with Pippen... Hakeem gets traded in 2000, and the Rockets were in limbo ever since...
Everyone's calling for the Heat to easily beat the Spurs, just like most people called for the Grizzlies to easily oust the Spurs. I don't think anything will come easy for the Heat (or Pacers) against the Spurs, especially given that the Spurs now have ample time to relax, rest, and gameplan for every aspect of these two teams. Hell, just the simple fact that they're able to watch the rest of the ECF without worrying about the Grizzlies is already helpful.
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Again, mediocre "hustle" teams like Memphis and Denver with no legit stars will dominate the regular season but come playoff time, they're exposed for having low ceilings. This is a league of stars. Now moreso than ever with LeBron running away to Miami and starting the domino effect. It's futile to keep bringing up the 04-05 Pistons and saying a team of average players can win - Billups and Hamilton were consistent stars and Wallace was Randolph esque in his ability to change games. But you would never want to rely on Sheed as your first option. Aside from SA and OKC, GS and portland are the teams that can cause damage in the playoffs going forward. Doubt Minnesota will ever have the defense even if they remain healthy. Houston is very, very lucky to have Harden. Need to go full throttle at Cousins/Bynum if Howard doesn't work out because the other guys won't cut it.
I don't know about everybody, but i took the spurs in 5 because i felt they had more advantages than disadvantages, and didn't think it would be close. On Miami, it's a bit different, the Spurs are set up well for these 2 headed dragon front courts, LA (well Bynum and Gasol originally), Memphis, Indiana too but i doubt they were considered. With Miami they're going to start LBJ at pf with their smallball lineup, so Splitter becomes a 10-15 minute backup at best, when you're forced to actually change your starting lineup to counter Miami, you are in trouble.
The ignorance in this post is absolutely hilarious. The reason the Spurs won was because they were better coached and because their complimentary players were so much better than the Grizzlies. Switch Kawahi Leonard and Tay Prince and the outcome of the series probably switches.
Damn bro,why the venom against Grizzlies? They made it farther then 6 other teams in the West, and the farthest in franchise history. Injuries happen. Kobe, Rose, Rondo, Granger. We won two games against the Thunder and we take pride in that; Yet if they had Westbrook we would of been swept. Should we discount our victories then? Memphis is a couple of sharpshooters away from solidifying their contender ship. Kevin Martin would be a great fit.
I remember making a post back in those days about not being able to decide whether Frances was a "great" or "short on fundamentals." I also remember being absolutely slammed for saying that Parker was better and would be greater than Frances in the long term. Memories! You are absolutely right about ownership and management. I have said many, many times here that Les bought a championship team and turned into to long term lottery team. All the praise he gets on this board is unfounded in real history. When you think of it, where would wonder boy Morey be without the Harden deal? The jury is still out on whether he can capitalize on his good fortune.
The Spurs offense is basically Parker playing "hero ball". I think the difference between the elite teams are their frontcourts. The ones left standing. Are the teams who can play an elite rim protector, who can also score points, with the backups. The Spurs have Splitter, and the Heat have Birdman.
Spurs offense is parker hero ball? Are u blind? The spurs lead the league in apg by fair margin, and the same the year before. They play bball the right way.
Francis wasnt looked to be a assisting machine...but rather a scoring 2 guard... The issue with Francis was not that he didnt score, but rather that he didnt have discipline to run offensive sets. He relied too often on iso plays and would forget that he played with 4 other players...BTW...no one expected anything from the Frenchman...he was an after thought by so many in the league, and he was Pop's whipping boy early in his career...Parker just used the tough coaching and made it something better...
Les entrusted the player personnel moves back in the mid-90s to Rudy T who turned this franchise into a perennial lottery team. I'll give him a pass on Quitten since no one thought he was gonna be that bad(although Rudy's ISO-ball system didn't help matters). And trading for Steve Francis when he refused to report to the Grizzlies was a no-brainer. But the rest of his moves from 1998-2002 were disasters. Whether it was the draft with Roderick Rhodes, Boki Nachbar, Mirsad Turkcan, and Eddie Griffin. Or the insanely dumb big contracts handed out to the likes of Mo Taylor, Kelvin Cato, and Moochie Norris(which BTW tied up so much cap space that it forced us to let James Posey walk). Or trading for a washed up Glen Rice. With the rare exceptions of 2nd round steals such as Cat Mobley or Othella Harrington, the organization was so badly run during that time period that it's a minor miracle Daryl Morey was able to clear out so much of that crap so quickly once he was brought in.
Spurs shot very well this series. What happened to the Memphis D? I can see them struggling more offensively, as the Spurs are a quality defense, but you still don't expect four consecutive games like that from Randolph and Gasol.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden"><p>Irony 1, Hollinger 0. <a href="http://t.co/T2dAZmQmEp" title="http://es.pn/WYwWsH">es.pn/WYwWsH</a></p>— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnhollinger/status/339382066695241728">May 28, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I don't think they're superstars. Would you give them the max? Would you build around them as the center piece. Maybe gasol. At best, they are #2 Options.
