The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Legacy Edition
We all leave footprints in the sand, the question is, will we be a big heal, or a great soul.
-Anonymous
Recap
Thank goodness the enigma that is the Indiana Professional Basketball Team is gone for good. To reiterate, it is a bloody shame that they lasted this long as the Eastern Conference is hot garbage. Like a weak team, I knew they would get up for the Heat and get in a couple games. Teams with championship aspirations do not get up for just one team, they look to take names from the entire league. They did a couple good things, with one of them putting George on Wade and thus removing Wade from the equation in stretches. The whole Lance thing is so overblown because of the superfluous amount of media we have today. I have seen much harsher and ridiculous gamesmanship in the NBA (see 80s-90s NBA).
Meanwhile in the West, the Spurs have done it again. Why they are not embraced by the public and media speaks to what we are as a society and remains an unanswered. It appears that people prefer that thing, as Lauryn Hill would say, over the routine of success and sustainability. I will have the latter, please.
I think people are being too hard on Brooks. The bottom line is OKC is very dependent on 2 forces of nature and their best player is too passive. Yes, Kevin Durant is too passive. I said this several years ago. When Russell is on one of his out of control heroball streaks, Durant essentially never goes upside his head. In pressure, high-stakes moments he refuses to abandon being a nice, comfortable teammate. A hindered Ibaka and a weak bench did not help their cause either. Five years ago we were all saying how the sky is the limit for OKC. A Green and Harden trade, a Westbrook injury, and five years later sees that window becoming increasingly difficult to get through. Winning championships is much easier on paper, isn't it?
Legacy
Will Duncan get his 5th ring and overtake Kobe in the rankings as many people are eager to do as they will find any way to debase Kobe? Will 'Bron keep on keeping on and further climb up the ladder of greatness and all but take his place in the tier 1 pantheon of greats? Will this make the Spurs thee franchise of the 2000s so far and bump the Lakers down if they have not done so already? Miami has the opportunity to plant their flag as one of the few dynastic franchises to exist (Boston, Los angeles, Chicago, San Antonio), albeit the term dynasty has yet to be consistently defined.
I am disappointed at all the talk of questioning LeBron's greatness. Everything is always about Jordan. See, Jordan, while great, is canonized because most people in the media today saw Jordan at his absolute best in their formative years growing up as people and/or professionally. Therefore, the media leads the charge and makes it appear that nobody could ever be in the same galaxy as Jordan. Pay attention to old school players and fans. They love Jordan too, but do not immortalize him the way the generation after them does. They often harp about how Kareem, Robertson, and Bill Russell are often overlooked. Jordan was not flawless, despite what the media and Nike portrays. The narrative in his day before the titles was that he could not win the big one and get over the hump against Boston and later Detroit. He often angered and frustrated teammates, later punching one. The league was more diluted due to the expansion in the late 80s and mid 90s (Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, and later Toronto and Vancouver). However, none of this is mentioned in Jordan's legacy while LeBron gets more micro-analyzed than viruses at the CDC. Jordan never lost a finals! Blah, blah, blah. Well he also never took that horrid 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals either. He never had to guard Derrick Rose one series and turn around and guard David West the next series all while being the floor mastermind and leading scorer, leading assistman, and leading rebounder. I could go on about the nonsensical talk of the questioning of LeBron's greatness, but I am far beyond exhausted. Jordan is great. LeBron is great. Duncan is great. The Heat are great. The Spurs are great...
NBA Finals
(E2) Miami Heat vs. (W1) San Antonio Spurs
This is basically a redux sans Mike
Miller and Gary Neal. It appears that San Antonio has improved on the design (shot out to Lupe) while Miami has about stayed the same. A major difference is that San Antonio has been forced to stay sharp playing in the West while Miami was not required to have that urgency and basically treated Wade like a starting MLB pitcher on a pitch count. If they would have done this in the West, they could have easily been as low as a 5 to 6 seed. Miami's opponents (Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Indiana) were not offensive juggernauts. San Antonio is supreme offensively as their precision ball movement, decision making, and cutting is tough to deal with, far tougher than waiting for two players to play heroball (see Oklahoma City Thunder). We could have a another coin flip series. San Antonio is favored this time with the home court and the media has jumped on that ship. I am very dubious of teams making severe consecutive deep playoff runs as it is very draining. However, it is a wash in this series as both teams have been making deep runs lately. I am thinking Pop will let LBJ and Bosh have all the 3s they want. If the Spurs can make the extra pass (not a problem) and get to the paint often (possible), they will torch Miami.
I would be inclined to go with San Antonio as they have the home court advantage, but no! The format is now 2-2-1-1-1 rather than 2-3-2 (thank goodness). I am going to put my money on LeBron James and the 2-2-1-1-1 format and say Miami in six. This reminds me of the 2nd of the Bulls-Jazz finals. The Jazz were the team that lost the previous year and came back blazing the following year with Malone getting the MVP. Welp...the Bulls had this dude named Michael J. Jordan who was slighted by the MVP vote. Well, Miami has a LeBron who was left off of the 1st All-NBA Defensive Team, a travesty, and overlooked for MVP when he had to battle without his #2 just as much as Durant had to...
-Anonymous
Recap
Thank goodness the enigma that is the Indiana Professional Basketball Team is gone for good. To reiterate, it is a bloody shame that they lasted this long as the Eastern Conference is hot garbage. Like a weak team, I knew they would get up for the Heat and get in a couple games. Teams with championship aspirations do not get up for just one team, they look to take names from the entire league. They did a couple good things, with one of them putting George on Wade and thus removing Wade from the equation in stretches. The whole Lance thing is so overblown because of the superfluous amount of media we have today. I have seen much harsher and ridiculous gamesmanship in the NBA (see 80s-90s NBA).
Meanwhile in the West, the Spurs have done it again. Why they are not embraced by the public and media speaks to what we are as a society and remains an unanswered. It appears that people prefer that thing, as Lauryn Hill would say, over the routine of success and sustainability. I will have the latter, please.
I think people are being too hard on Brooks. The bottom line is OKC is very dependent on 2 forces of nature and their best player is too passive. Yes, Kevin Durant is too passive. I said this several years ago. When Russell is on one of his out of control heroball streaks, Durant essentially never goes upside his head. In pressure, high-stakes moments he refuses to abandon being a nice, comfortable teammate. A hindered Ibaka and a weak bench did not help their cause either. Five years ago we were all saying how the sky is the limit for OKC. A Green and Harden trade, a Westbrook injury, and five years later sees that window becoming increasingly difficult to get through. Winning championships is much easier on paper, isn't it?Legacy
Will Duncan get his 5th ring and overtake Kobe in the rankings as many people are eager to do as they will find any way to debase Kobe? Will 'Bron keep on keeping on and further climb up the ladder of greatness and all but take his place in the tier 1 pantheon of greats? Will this make the Spurs thee franchise of the 2000s so far and bump the Lakers down if they have not done so already? Miami has the opportunity to plant their flag as one of the few dynastic franchises to exist (Boston, Los angeles, Chicago, San Antonio), albeit the term dynasty has yet to be consistently defined.I am disappointed at all the talk of questioning LeBron's greatness. Everything is always about Jordan. See, Jordan, while great, is canonized because most people in the media today saw Jordan at his absolute best in their formative years growing up as people and/or professionally. Therefore, the media leads the charge and makes it appear that nobody could ever be in the same galaxy as Jordan. Pay attention to old school players and fans. They love Jordan too, but do not immortalize him the way the generation after them does. They often harp about how Kareem, Robertson, and Bill Russell are often overlooked. Jordan was not flawless, despite what the media and Nike portrays. The narrative in his day before the titles was that he could not win the big one and get over the hump against Boston and later Detroit. He often angered and frustrated teammates, later punching one. The league was more diluted due to the expansion in the late 80s and mid 90s (Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, and later Toronto and Vancouver). However, none of this is mentioned in Jordan's legacy while LeBron gets more micro-analyzed than viruses at the CDC. Jordan never lost a finals! Blah, blah, blah. Well he also never took that horrid 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals either. He never had to guard Derrick Rose one series and turn around and guard David West the next series all while being the floor mastermind and leading scorer, leading assistman, and leading rebounder. I could go on about the nonsensical talk of the questioning of LeBron's greatness, but I am far beyond exhausted. Jordan is great. LeBron is great. Duncan is great. The Heat are great. The Spurs are great...
NBA Finals
(E2) Miami Heat vs. (W1) San Antonio Spurs
This is basically a redux sans Mike
Miller and Gary Neal. It appears that San Antonio has improved on the design (shot out to Lupe) while Miami has about stayed the same. A major difference is that San Antonio has been forced to stay sharp playing in the West while Miami was not required to have that urgency and basically treated Wade like a starting MLB pitcher on a pitch count. If they would have done this in the West, they could have easily been as low as a 5 to 6 seed. Miami's opponents (Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Indiana) were not offensive juggernauts. San Antonio is supreme offensively as their precision ball movement, decision making, and cutting is tough to deal with, far tougher than waiting for two players to play heroball (see Oklahoma City Thunder). We could have a another coin flip series. San Antonio is favored this time with the home court and the media has jumped on that ship. I am very dubious of teams making severe consecutive deep playoff runs as it is very draining. However, it is a wash in this series as both teams have been making deep runs lately. I am thinking Pop will let LBJ and Bosh have all the 3s they want. If the Spurs can make the extra pass (not a problem) and get to the paint often (possible), they will torch Miami.
I would be inclined to go with San Antonio as they have the home court advantage, but no! The format is now 2-2-1-1-1 rather than 2-3-2 (thank goodness). I am going to put my money on LeBron James and the 2-2-1-1-1 format and say Miami in six. This reminds me of the 2nd of the Bulls-Jazz finals. The Jazz were the team that lost the previous year and came back blazing the following year with Malone getting the MVP. Welp...the Bulls had this dude named Michael J. Jordan who was slighted by the MVP vote. Well, Miami has a LeBron who was left off of the 1st All-NBA Defensive Team, a travesty, and overlooked for MVP when he had to battle without his #2 just as much as Durant had to...
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