An Interesting Debate

[BaselineBum]

I'm not trying to troll or anything but I saw this article and I would like to hear some feedback from a Mavs perspective. Let me know what you guys think.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18064691/

Spurs, not Mavs, primed to win title
San Antonio has toughness, defense to return to top
By: Sam Smith

Can you be lying in the weeds if you have a chance to win at least 60 games for the second consecutive season and third time in the last six seasons? If the last time you won fewer than 50 games in a full season was 1996-97 when David Robinson was hurt and you ended up drafting Tim Duncan? If in the last 17 full seasons, you've had three seasons not winning at least 50 games, two of those being 47 and 49 wins?

You haven't heard much about the San Antonio Spurs this season, though you will in a few months when they win their fourth NBA title in the last nine years.

This isn't your parents' dynasty, but it is yours.

That would put Duncan & Co. past Shaq and Kobe, past just about everyone but Michael, Magic and Larry for this generation.

You don't hear much about the Spurs because they don't say much. Rarely has a team won 23 of 26, as the Spurs did before Wednesday, with a bigger yawn. Tim Duncan reportedly chose visiting the dentist over seeing the media. Tony Parker is a nice player, an All-Star, really, but when he plays the camera is on his fiancée more often. Manu Ginobili is also terrific, but he's hard to find because he spends so much time on the floor. It's get knocked down 99 times for, as teammate Brent Barry calls him, El Contucion, get up 100.

Oh, we hear from coach Gregg Popovich, usually his annual "We're soft as Charmin'" rant, the occasional embarrassment and a few weeks ago in Indianapolis, three straight pathetics after a loss.

But not only isn't this Spurs team pathetic, I still consider it the 2006 champion.

Sure, Miami got to celebrate, but the best team I saw in the 2006 playoffs was the Spurs. They lost to the Mavs in the second round in one of the best playoff series ever, and in the revenge of Mark Cuban.

I am not one to blame officiating in a loss, especially given the high quality of NBA officials and the horrendous officiating you see elsewhere in basketball, like in the NCAA tournament. But Dallas absolutely stole Games 3 and 4 in Dallas, and I've since had referees tell me they felt the younger officials tend to be intimidated by Cuban and all the referee scrutiny he maintains with former officials on his staff and regular reports to the league.

It never became much of an issue because the Spurs remain perhaps the classiest and most professional of organizations, and never complain about apparent inequities. You can imagine what would have happened if the calls went against the Mavs that way.

Still, the Spurs had a good chance as they got it back to Game 7 at home and appeared to have the game when Ginobili hit a three. But he inexplicably fouled Dirk Nowitzki, leading to a three-point play to tie the game. And, yes, in that one Dirk did come up big in a big game. Good for him. I would have felt better about the Mavs had they not gagged against the Heat the way they did with Shaq barely being a factor.

So officially, the Spurs were just another loser, though at least not publicly sore about it.

And while all the talk this season has been about the Mavs' amazing run, about the Suns and their almost amazing run, about Dwyane Wade returning with a more energized O'Neal, I'd go with the Spurs to win it.

They're going to beat the Suns, that is clear.

They beat them all the time, and they beat them because they are a very good defensive team that also can expose Phoenix's weaknesses. They can use Parker, who is one of the league's quickest guards, to attack Steve Nash, and they can control the tempo with Duncan and their defense.

Sure, Amare Stoudemire was amazing a few years back against them in the playoffs, averaging 37 points. But the Spurs won in five. They are too disciplined to be lured into the Suns' game, and you can see tiny cracks developing in that solid Suns foundation with players seemingly starting to question roles and situations. Don't be surprised if there are some major changes there after getting so close so many times.

So it's Cuban-Spurs II.

Cuban does make things entertaining at times, like last year with his criticisms of the water at San Antonio's riverwalk. But you also get the feeling this Dallas team is haunted by that Finals collapse. OK, it's more than a feeling as they refer to it all the time. I think it's had a lot to do with this season of proving themselves and not laying off the pedal all season. I think that's going to have an effect as the playoffs march on, and you get the sense watching the Mavs in recent days — although they've now clinched the No. 1 seed and there is nothing to play for and it's difficult to be at a high level under those circumstances — that there's a little edge missing.

Sure, the playoffs bring that back, but the difference in the Mavs isn't Dirk Nowitzki, who should win MVP. It's defense and being driven by Avery Johnson, and we know Dirk isn't exactly the inspiration for the defense. The Mavs defend way better than anyone ever imagined they could under Don Nelson, though actually practicing on occasion apparently helps. But the Spurs were build on defense for the last decade.

I thought Popovich erred last season in the playoffs when he allowed the Mavs to lure him into a smaller game and he stopped using some of his big men. But the Spurs did get to Game 7 and should have won.

What we saw was that the Spurs could play the Mavs' game and have success. The Mavs can't play the Spurs game with the likes of Erick Dampier and Desagana Diop. Kevin Willis comes back to haunt the Spurs? Don't think so.

Not that anyone is going to stop Nowitzki, but I like the pickup of Francisco Elson to put some size on him. He'll see the usual doses of Bruce Bowen and a pinch of Robert Horry. He'll get his points, but the Spurs will make him work.

And Popovich has quietly — well, OK, when he's not demeaning the effort — kept playing time down for the entire roster. No one is averaging 35 minutes per game and only three players, led by Duncan at 34, are over 30 minutes per game. The Mavs' top three scorers, for example, all averaged more than 35 minutes per game.

Yes, they're pros and can play. The point is the Spurs have been aiming for these playoffs all season. They haven't been caught up in winning streaks or media talk. They don't have an MVP candidate, though Duncan deserves to be in the top five. They even put Ginobili, arguably their second best player, on the bench as a sixth man and he'd averaged fewer than 30 minutes to save his body and his all-out tendencies.

Oh, I should mention the East as the rules still state an Eastern team must be in the Finals. And, after all, after Game 2 of last year's Finals I knew there was no way Dallas could lose. And, yes, there have been a lot of injuries this season and the team bus could get in a crash. But it's difficult seeing any Eastern team with even a chance to win the championship.

The general consensus is Miami and Detroit are the best, and they look like they'll fight it out before the conference finals. But who knows about Wade's condition and how long he can play, and there appears to issues developing on the Pistons with Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber. Yes, shocking. Who would have imagined? The Bulls could be in the Finals. So could the Raptors. Maybe even the Cavs. If one of those teams gets there, you figure their seasons would be such a success by then it would be difficult to even take it seriously.

The Spurs have had their eye on nothing but the big prize.

And they're going to get it.

Thoughts from the other side please????

[mary]

I think there is a thread about this in the main forum.

[DelNegro]

I certainly hope he's right about the Spurs winning it all, but the whole bit about the officials and that being the reason they lost last year is bunk. There were bad calls, but they weren't the reason the Spurs lost. They just didn't make enough plays. Simple as that.

[mary]

http://www.dallas-mavs.com/vb/showth...ighlight=smith

[BaselineBum]

Oops! Sorry guys, didn't see it in the other forum. Mods please delete.

[nowhereman]

so you had time to browse msnbc sports coverage, but not the messageboard. lolz. that's a bad investment of time.

[come_on_now]

Who wins this year isn't about who's talking about who. Boy the media really likes to think they have a part in the final scores don't they? Jeez how arrogant.

They think the sport is played just for them. Like the coaches run practice trying things to get the media talking about them. The coaches hate the media. The players hate the media. They have been joined by another group now.... newsreaders.

It's bad to be a sports reporter now. Just about every astute fan now has just as qualified of an opinion and usually more knowledge. In the age of the internet we get all the info exactly when they do. Sportswriters are obsolete.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by come_on_now

Who wins this year isn't about who's talking about who. Boy the media really likes to think they have a part in the final scores don't they? Jeez how arrogant.

They think the sport is played just for them. Like the coaches run practice trying things to get the media talking about them. The coaches hate the media. The players hate the media. They have been joined by another group now.... newsreaders.

It's bad to be a sports reporter now. Just about every astute fan now has just as qualified of an opinion and usually more knowledge. In the age of the internet we get all the info exactly when they do. Sportswriters are obsolete.

You know what's sad. They actually do get more but they report less interesting stuff in order to make sure they don't miss "the current angle".

Reporters get all sorts of access we don't get but do you see an in-depth review of training, practice or anything. Nope nada. Do you get more personal stuff than you and I can see , nope...

There is a guy on the dallasbasketball.com forum who got his photo credentials for the day. He gave a more interesting report than anything I read from a sportswriter. I think they are too jaded to be a fan(or put themselves in the shoes of) and give the fans what they miss the most, access to the players.