New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[jadis]

Incredible show of team basketball by the Spurs. Wow. Am so happy to see how it ended. And the rise of Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. So good, so humble. Congratulations to all Spurs fans. For a while there during the opening minutes, I thought that James was going to carry the team by himself again. Pop is a fantastic coach. Spanning 3 decades of different players and centering of their leader Tim Duncan, who is such a model of a player, maybe the best I've ever seen. Now on to the NBA Draft, we C's have 2 picks in the 1st round.

 

[JackD201]

Oh Happy Day!

 

[jadis]

I vote for Patty Mills a 'best microwave' of the Finals! 17 points in 17 minutes tonight! And 14 points in 16 minutes the other night.

 

[JackD201]

PM - Patty "Point/Minute" Mills

Good night Miami!

 

[jadis]

PM - Patty "Point/Minute" Mills

And he might just get a call from his PM, the prime minister of Australia.

Speaking of which, there were various flags draped on some Spurs players, Argentina, Brazil, France, Australia. United Team of San Antonio, Texas.

 

[rblnr]

Wheels fell off the Heat, became more than ever a one man show. Great for basketball to see a team beat a few (or one) individual.

 

[FrantzM]

Wheels fell off the Heat, became more than ever a one man show. Great for basketball to see a team beat a few (or one) individual.

Agreed.. It came down to fundamentals.LBJ was his superlative self.. Wade and Bosh disapeared. Bosh in particular fell in love with his outside shot and wasn't a factor inside leaving that duty to the Birdman who was in constant foul trouble ...
I was shocked at how much the Spurs dominated the Heat. Even game 2 could/should have been won by the Spurs.; as close to a sweep as you will ever see... it wasn't a contest, it was a clinic to atone for last year meltdown... Congratulations to the Spurs!!

 

[JackD201]

I wonder who Riley will let walk, the loyalty bet Wade or let Bosh go for 2 solid role players and then some.

 

[jadis]

I'm glad to see the defeat of small ball basketball in the finals too. Heat has gotten away with small ball play the last 4 years, starting with Joel Anthony at center years ago. Now they have a problem as who to defend Duncan. Putting Haslem on Tim is not enough. Tim read that and exploited that either via the foul line or short stabs. And their tallest player Bosh just kept wanting to catch Ray Allen's 3 point record, it seems.

 

[Steve williams]

Finally!!!!!!

Threepeat is not an easy task

Odds however are that James will stay in Miami

 

[Steve williams]

BTW, I was very happy to se Kawhi Leonard win the MVP award. He is a blossoming star and will be a huge force to deal with in the future

 

[JackD201]

I'm glad to see the defeat of small ball basketball in the finals too. Heat has gotten away with small ball play the last 4 years, starting with Joel Anthony at center years ago. Now they have a problem as who to defend Duncan. Putting Haslem on Tim is not enough. Tim read that and exploited that either via the foul line or short stabs. And their tallest player Bosh just kept wanting to catch Ray Allen's 3 point record, it seems.

I was reading the clips and they are calling it "Medium Ball". Basicall a PG and 3 SFs and a C. (Green is actually a SF so the sheets say).

 

[jadis]

It was very heartwarming for me to see the post game festivities. How the players embraced each other and hugged with Coach Pop was a touching moment. And the sight of David Robinson exchanging hugs with the Spurs and then that with Tim Duncan was special. And Duncan and Pop. And Pop with Avery Johnson, why, they looked liked long lost friends with such strong bond. And the congratulatory message inside the locker room by Pop to the players after the game. One can see the camaraderie and respect the players have for Pop, that despite his hard nosed approach in coaching, the players know that that is the style that makes the team win and click. The team is all about Pop. A sign of a fan says: "In Pop We Trust". That says it all. Boldness and knowledge in coaching, the ability to switch on starters and bench players and extract the max out of them. A comment by James after Game 2 or 3 describes it best, he said, 'at one point, the Spurs had Manu, Mills, Parker and Diaw on the floor at the same time, they had 4 point guards'. To say Pop confused the Heat defense is an understatement. He's that good, and he studied the chess game and won it after languishing for 1 year from last year's loss. As Tim Duncan said to Doris Burke, 'this title win makes last year OK'. The Spurs deserve the admiration of world basketball fans.

 

[FrantzM]

It was very heartwarming for me to see the post game festivities. How the players embraced each other and hugged with Coach Pop was a touching moment. And the sight of David Robinson exchanging hugs with the Spurs and then that with Tim Duncan was special. And Duncan and Pop. And Pop with Avery Johnson, why, they looked liked long lost friends with such strong bond. And the congratulatory message inside the locker room by Pop to the players after the game. One can see the camaraderie and respect the players have for Pop, that despite his hard nosed approach in coaching, the players know that that is the style that makes the team win and click. The team is all about Pop. A sign of a fan says: "In Pop We Trust". That says it all. Boldness and knowledge in coaching, the ability to switch on starters and bench players and extract the max out of them. A comment by James after Game 2 or 3 describes it best, he said, 'at one point, the Spurs had Manu, Mills, Parker and Diaw on the floor at the same time, they had 4 point guards'. To say Pop confused the Heat defense is an understatement. He's that good, and he studied the chess game and won it after languishing for 1 year from last year's loss. As Tim Duncan said to Doris Burke, 'this title win makes last year OK'. The Spurs deserve the admiration of world basketball fans.

Great post!

 

[jadis]

BTW, I was very happy to se Kawhi Leonard win the MVP award. He is a blossoming star and will be a huge force to deal with in the future

Agreed absolutely, Steve. And to think he has to cover James most of the time and do offense too. Boy, when he stole the ball from a Heat player and kinda threw the ball forward and dribble towards the other end, he was almost like Usain Bolt with a basketball. Tremendous young talent. And to think this kid was drafted at number 15? Lots of GMs must be kicking themselves.

 

[jadis]

Great post!

Thanks Frantz.

 

[jadis]

And how bout this poster dunk by Manu over Bosh. That's not the best part for me. Before that, he kinda 'Chalmered' Renegade Ray Allen, elbow and all, shoved Allen aside and made the in your face Bosh slam. One month from 37 years old, Manu defies time.

 

[JackD201]

Coaches around the world will be watching tapes of the finals for years to come I bet.

 

[jadis]

Coaches around the world will be watching tapes of the finals for years to come I bet.

I think so too, Jack. Miami came into the Finals as a fearsome team. The easily marched through the East with the Bobcats (too easy), Nets and the Pacers. The weakness of the Pacers was their bench output. Who would have thought in the Finals that the Heat became the Pacers in having a non-existent bench? And I'm guessing that this Heat bench did not self-destruct in the Finals. It had to do with the Pop system of playing aggressive on both ends relentlessly. Spurs knew that James cannot be stopped so they stopped all others, Wade, Bosh etc. How many times was Wade blocked in the Finals? The lane was always clogging in when Bosh tries the inside game, leaving him doing a Renegade Ray offense. Birdman was a terror in the Eastern series but against Tiago, Duncan, and Boris, he suddenly couldn't fly much. The 3 point snipping of the Heat, once its vaunted weapon from Battier, Allen, Chalmers, Lewis, did not show up. (Mike Miller could have helped, but I doubt it will reverse anything) I might buy the DVD of these Finals. I watched the mini-movies of all games when Dallas beat the Heat in 2011. That was when I noticed how the Heat couldn't contain Barea and Jason Terry. This year, they couldn't contain Mills and Leonard as well. Btw, trivia time, in the last 4 four years, Miami was beaten by 2 teams from Texas. Will Houston be next? Naahh...

 

[JackD201]

Yeah, Vogel hardly used his bench at all.