Clearly, but the point is not to play like this and win 5 consecutive wins overnight (not everyone has the spurs talent at their disposal), the point is this is the right way to play basketball regardless of how much talent you have. So why aren´t teams adopting this mentality? Why are guys like Harden playing more iso ball nowadays then they were before? Why do I keep listening about "matchups" when it comes to playoffs, when you have Diaw and K.Leonard being more important for their team compared to more talented players? Fact is this, you have 5 guys on offense every single possession, the idea of isolating x players and pray that his talent saves you, is just wrong regardless of the end result. Now look you can win without this mentality I am no prisoner of the moment, but if I had to bet, I take the open guy all day.
You have to look at what happened in between. First, after 1999, you had Shaq and Kobe. Then, finally, the Spurs got past that. But then they reloaded with Malone and Payton. Then, you had Dallas emerging. Dallas has always played the Spurs well. Plus, what I think happened was that players like Duncan, Parker and Ginobili were being used too much in the regular season, especially with the intensity that Pop demands, and it made them tired against teams like the Grizzlies (remember 1st round sweep?) and the Thunder. What returned them to the championship level was: 1. Limiting minutes of the big 3; 2. Additions of Leonard and Green; 3. Additions of better role players (in year's past, people like George Hill and Matt Bonner were good; Boris Diaw and Patty Mills are a bit better).
i don't but that this is the "right" way to play. this is the way that works for them. superstar players are superstar players for a reason. you should't nerf them just because of some perceived perception of the way basketball "should" be played. jordan, hakeem, shaq, etc won by being dominate with the role players stepping up. just like a lot of all-time great players. it's about balance and players doing their job more than anything. what the spurs are doing isn't easy and isn't built overnight.
People get caught up in the Jordan-Kobe-Lebron hype and forget. Good teams can win without dominating superstars- 2004 Pistons, this year's Spurs team, etc. But there's been so many that won with dominating individual play that this became the pattern. Hopefully, more teams will win that truly play team ball.
the first rockets team played beautiful inside out basketball with great passing and having all the role players stepping up
It has to be both. You have to have the talent and go team ball play to win it all. Spurs have both the Talent and team ball. The problem with a lot of the high volume perimeter players that try to emulate Jordan was they don't realise how effecient he was in both ends of the court and how much bball IQ he had to get team mates involved and ensuring a win especially in the 2nd half of his career (during the 2 3peats).
This is where you are wrong IMO. If you think that Duncan and Parker are "nerfed" in this system you are completely wrong. They take advantage of this open offense to keep being extremely efficient one on one when they have to. This is just like people saying that our offense has to have Harden with the ball. No, people say that to justify the fact that Harden ball watches when he doesn´t have the ball. Dude is lazy even on offense, but I don´t even blame him because the dude is playing 40min on an uptempo team. Spurs offense is not random move the ball and shoot when open. They use their weapons to take advantage, and then the ball moves. This is not, "hey kenny start our offense and wait until someone is open to shoot, hey Hakeem get open if you want to shoot". Superstar are superstars, you use them to get others open, on paper everyone does it, but the Spurs show that actually, when you dare superstar to beat you, they start hero balling, Spurs keep moving the ball regardless, and that is why they win more then they lose.
duncan is nerfed because he isn't the player he used to be. people forget duncan was a 23/12/3 2.6 blocks dominate player before he started to decline recently. duncan used to carry teams in his younger ages. the way the spurs play now isn't the way they used to play. it works for the team they have now.
I imagine there would be a power struggle with Morey at first They gotta sort out who is the boss and Morey has little say in transfer politics
WOW did not expect this. Is the East that bad??? The Heat really cannot do it with 3 big names, pathetic... Spurs showing some real unselfish basketball and I don't think there's many teams that can say they won because they had great role players and it was not just one or two stars doing it all. I mean, who's Finals MVP here? Parker, Kahwi, Diaw, how about Popovich Spurs pay back for last year is not just a nice revenge story, it's a great statement that overall talent beats a weak ass team with 3 'stars' if you have a good system and great coach! Duncan becoming all-time double-double leader is just the icing on the cake. How many years does the dude have left, seriously, him and the Spurs are counted out every year and now they've had the best record with a true TEAM. It cannot get better than this. The Spurs hopefully finish them off on their home court although winning at Miami would be great too, just so those fake Miami fans can see it for themselves...ow wait, they've probably already left by then
Lebron is putting up his normal great numbers, but he isn't having any Jordan-like games -- he's going to have to put this team on his back and put up a huge 40 point plus outburst. I just don't see it happening, but I hope i'm wrong.
Kawhi is a superstar in the making 22 years old and may get a finals MVP, is he the youngest ever if he receives the award?
Danny Green is one guy who doesn't get enough credit. Usually Leonard's name comes up, then Diaw. Danny Green is always seen as the whipping boy when things go awry, but his man defense has been stellar for the most part. He had 5 steals to really kickstart the Spurs in Game 3 and has been knocking down his 3's at a crazy high 48.5% for the playoffs. He's also averaging 15 pts, 2.2 stls and shooting over 50%. Patty Mills is another guy who has been doing an amazing job stepping in for Parker (especially game 1).
No team in NBA Finals history has ever come back from a 1-3 hole. I read that on the internet so it must be true. http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/06/13/heat-pushed-to-unfamiliar-place/
