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2014 NBA Finals |OT| Some dude guarantees they will win it all.

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AkuMifune

Banned
If you think the way the Spurs play right now is boring yeah you should stick with other sports.

If there is any note to take from the Spurs, is that a team doesn't need a bunch of overpaid superstars to be successful. Isolation basketball is so overrated. It is supposed to be a team sport and it takes time to make a system like the Spurs. Why chasing superstars like Melo when there are so many other less-known players out there who can play better team ball?

No, I agree. It was obvious against OKC and even moreso now; a team that plays a smart system well will destroy a team that puts the ball in the hands of 2 or 3 guys and expects them to win it on sheer talent. Sometimes that talent will be enough, but most of the time...nope. That's why I even agree on point #2, melo on the Heat would be worse. You want to make the Heat better? Get a coach who can force LeBron to play within a system instead of trying to win it by himself on offense or assists every night. I've said to my friends for years that the Spurs are like a machine, just one that happens to have a bunch of people I don't like. And still boring as piss. ;)
 

Squalor

Junior Member
But Gloria did.
DRYOv.gif
 

Tom Penny

Member
i know you're like MVP and purposely troll and ruin nba threads but thanks for proving my point. Mike brown got fired for winning more, making it to the finals and not injuring his players. Yet thibs is considered better for killing his players and losing in the second round. Derrick got blew out his knee the first time because Thibs plays him when he was already seriously injured. I realllllly wanted the NYK to trade for thibs when that rumor was going around.

Lets play an injured Jimmy Butler for 44 minutes in a meaningless end of the regular season game that has no playoff implications at all.

STAY UP! STAY UP!

You still havent told me how Thibs was supposed to win things. You said he hasnt won anything. What is this "anything" you speak of .
 

zychi

Banned
You still havent told me how Thibs was supposed to win things. You said he hasnt won anything. What is this "anything" you speak of .
He hasn't won a title. He injures his players from overplaying.

With your "how is coach x supposed to win" idea, no coach ever would get fired.

D'antoni should still be the lakers coach by your logic.

Svg never should have been fired by Riley

Mike Brown should still be coaching cleveland from the first time, its not his fault Lebron left.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
No, I agree. It was obvious against OKC and even moreso now; a team that plays a smart system well will destroy a team that puts the ball in the hands of 2 or 3 guys and expects them to win it on sheer talent. Sometimes that talent will be enough, but most of the time...nope. That's why I even agree on point #2, melo on the Heat would be worse. You want to make the Heat better? Get a coach who can force LeBron to play within a system instead of trying to win it by himself on offense or assists every night. I've said to my friends for years that the Spurs are like a machine, just one that happens to have a bunch of people I don't like. And still boring as piss. ;)
What is boring about their team exactly?

I can understand saying that about the spurs of 5 or so years ago. The team that was a slow, grind it out, dirty and defensive focused team. But the spurs of now?? With their emphasis on offense, beautiful ball movement, textbook execution and incredible playmaking?

What is possibly boring about that? It's some of the prettiest basketball I've got to witness in a long time.
 

Tom Penny

Member
He hasn't won a title. He injures his players from overplaying.

With your "how is coach x supposed to win" idea, no coach ever would get fired.

D'antoni should still be the lakers coach by your logic.

Svg never should have been fired by Riley

Mike Brown should still be coaching cleveland from the first time, its not his fault Lebron left.

So you believe the Bulls have been good enough to win a title under his tenure LMAO. Carry on.
 

ampere

Member
Thibs was responsible for the Celtics D during their championship run in 08

Yeah and he runs an amazing defense, but I think maybe he should have stuck to being a defensive coordinator. Bulls never score big points, thought that is without Rose, but Rose might never get healthy again.
 
Spurs have the best coach in the league and the difference between him and the others are so grand its ridiculous.

On another note, sure teams like the Spurs take time to develop, but that time also hurts them as well. You're not looking at an era of dominance in terms of winning championships. They got unlucky last year, will win this year and next year is a giant ??????? in terms of what will happen and they will be doubted due to the age of their big 3. So the short-term game is viable, and the anti-teammate Carmelo will be chased for a damn good reason.
 

alba

Little is the new Big
I'm still waiting for Thibs to teach Boozer what defense is and not run all the players into the ground. Thibs was a great signing at the time, but he needs to go.

If Thibs can't teach Boozer defense that means there wasn't any to work with in the first place. That's why everybody was fed up with Boozer, he clearly wasn't trying but his contract is so bloated, Thibs had no choice but to play him (I'm glad he was gone in all 4th quarters after the ASG though). Taj is so much better it's not even funny.
 
I like how now that the Spurs are up 3-1 the narrative for the Heat is now that their bench is too old. It's like they just now admit that the Spurs aren't quite as old as they've been trying to pass off, bar Duncan.
 

Jag

Member
I like how now that the Spurs are up 3-1 the narrative for the Heat is now that their bench is too old. It's like they just now admit that the Spurs aren't quite as old as they've been trying to pass off, bar Duncan.

It's also because the Spurs young blood have been torching the Heat.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
I like how now that the Spurs are up 3-1 the narrative for the Heat is now that their bench is too old. It's like they just now admit that the Spurs aren't quite as old as they've been trying to pass off, bar Duncan.
Pre-Finals: "The Spurs are too old. They aren't athletic. Miami is too talented."

Post-Spurs-Manhandling: "Miami is too old. Miami is too tired. Miami isn't athletic enough. Miami isn't talented enough top to bottom."
 

BadAss2961

Member
i know you're like MVP and purposely troll and ruin nba threads but thanks for proving my point. Mike brown got fired for winning more, making it to the finals and not injuring his players. Yet thibs is considered better for killing his players and losing in the second round. Derrick got blew out his knee the first time because Thibs plays him when he was already seriously injured. I realllllly wanted the NYK to trade for thibs when that rumor was going around.

Lets play an injured Jimmy Butler for 44 minutes in a meaningless end of the regular season game that has no playoff implications at all.

STAY UP! STAY UP!
Thibs needs to go easier on the minutes, but it's not like the Bulls haven't been short-changed for the past couple seasons. They had so little to work with this year. Every starter on that team has had their share of injury problems, and I wouldn't blame Thibs for every single one of them.

He has a lot of room to improve offensively and in managing minutes, but the Bulls have overachieved every year since he's been there. I'm not letting that go.
 
If the Spurs close this out in Game 5, will this be the only time a champion had their toughest challenge in the first round? Would that then make SA-DAL the real NBA championship?
 
If the Spurs close this out in Game 5, will this be the only time a champion had their toughest challenge in the first round? Would that then make SA-DAL the real NBA championship?

I don't know why people do this. Sometimes champions struggle early because they lose focus. Doesn't mean that was the 2nd best team. '08 Celtics also went 7 games versus a below .500 Hawks team.

Spurs toughest challenge was OKC. They won the first two without Ibaka, but were 2-2 in the series with Ibaka.

Matchups matter, too.
 

Jonm1010

Banned
Pre-Finals: "The Spurs are too old. They aren't athletic. Miami is too talented."

Post-Spurs-Manhandling: "Miami is too old. Miami is too tired. Miami isn't athletic enough. Miami isn't talented enough top to bottom."

Weren't the Spurs a slight favorite going into the finals?
 

Tom Penny

Member
I don't know why people do this. Sometimes champions struggle early because they lose focus. Doesn't mean that was the 2nd best team. '08 Celtics also went 7 games versus a below .500 Hawks team.

Spurs toughest challenge was OKC. They won the first two without Ibaka, but were 2-2 in the series with Ibaka.

Matchups matter, too.

Yep. I was at game 7 of that series. Rondo got flagrant fouled by Marvin Williams I believe and then ATL got blown out.

Weren't the Spurs a slight favorite going into the finals?

Yes
 
I don't know why people do this. Sometimes champions struggle early because they lose focus. Doesn't mean that was the 2nd best team. '08 Celtics also went 7 games versus a below .500 Hawks team.

Spurs toughest challenge was OKC. They won the first two without Ibaka, but were 2-2 in the series with Ibaka.

Matchups matter, too.

I watched that Celtics-Hawks series and it was like you described: the best team in the regular season playing down to their opponent. The SA-DAL series was not like that. Dallas had a top 5 offense this season and Carlisle's tactical savvy allowed them to limit the damage on the other end against the Spurs. Every game was close except Game 7. The Mavs legit won their three games and played better through most of Games 1 and 4. Perhaps if OKC was at full strength the whole series then they would have been a bigger threat, but they weren't. On paper OKC was a bigger challenge to SA, but Dallas is better coached and overachieved while OKC underachieved.
 
I watched that Celtics-Hawks series and it was like you described: the best team in the regular season playing down to their opponent. The SA-DAL series was not like that. Dallas had a top 5 offense this season and Carlisle's tactical savvy allowed them to limit the damage on the other end against the Spurs. Every game was close except Game 7. The Mavs legit won their three games and played better through most of Games 1 and 4. Perhaps if OKC was at full strength the whole series then they would have been a bigger threat, but they weren't. On paper OKC was a bigger challenge to SA, but Dallas is better coached and overachieved while OKC underachieved.



The Mavs were also bottom 10 in defense. They had also been swept this year by the Spurs and what, lost like 12 in a row to them or something like that? Spurs took them lightly and one Vince Carter shot goes the other way and the series is over quick.

I'm not taking anything away from Dallas. I think every team out West beats Indy to make the Finals out East (with miami gone) and Dallas was a good team, but the Spurs coasted through a lot of that series. It happens.

OKC games 3-6 were much tougher than Dallas. The LAC were also a better team than Dallas.

Dallas was the 8th seed out west for a reason. They were likely the 8th best team out West. The Spurs didn't play 4 other West teams. Just cuz it went 7 don't mean they're the #2 team. Dallas would have lost to probably every team out West this year.
 

BadAss2961

Member
Dude's been overrated on D since he started going for chasedown blocks and had that one showing against a nowhere near 100% Rose.
The idea that he shut down Rose was fabricated as well. He gets 2 or 3 stops against the guy with tons of help defense, and people act like he stopped the guy by himself. Miami would constantly trap Rose with double and triple teams every game.

Any big scorer can consistently take LeBron to the hole.
 

Jea Song

Did the right thing
So LeBron wants to make history by being the first team to come back down 3-1 and win the series?

The chances of that happening are slim and none. And slim just left the building.
 
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