Red Mosquito

turned2black wrote:I hope the Heat can win their series. I'd love to see the Spurs crush them in The Finals.

Lebron is going to want to go play with Kawhi Leonard next season.

Third most shocking outcome in an NBA Finals in my time as a fan.

Number one is obviously the Pistons dismantling the Lakers in 2004. No one outside of that locker room saw that coming. Number two would be the Bulls putting away Magic and the Lakers in five games in 1991. People forget that the Bulls weren't supposed to be able to hang with the Lakers, and after losing game one people wondered aloud if they'd get swept by L.A. I'd put this below that just because it wasn't hard to find people who thought the Spurs would win the series. You just couldn't find people who realistically thought they'd win in five games on the backs of three straight blow outs though.

What a phenomenal team. Well done. I see no reason why this team shouldn't be considered the favorite next year as well (assuming the big pieces all come back).

Five rings for Timmy and Pops. That's just insane.

What an absolutely dominating performance. The Heat just had no answers.

It was the Spurs defense, not the offense, that impressed me the most these last few games. The Heat were scoring at a torrid pace prior to the Finals and the Spurs essentially shut them down.

turned2black wrote:

Lament wrote:If they can finish this off, would this be the best Spurs title team? Their 62-20 regular season would be the best of their title teams, and I know I would consider this the roughest group of playoff opponents they've had.

I think the 2004-05 team is actually my favorite team. That 7-game Finals against Detroit is my favorite series. I love defense!

Second would be the 2002–03 team. The Admiral gets his second championship and we get to tell Phil Jackson to shut the fuck up!

My second favorite series would be the Suns series in the 2006-07 playoffs when Big Shot Rob body-checked Nash. I live in Phoenix and fucking hate Suns fans.

This may be "the best" Spurs team ever, but I miss the mean and "nasty" Spurs teams of the past.

I really don't know where to put this championship. A large part of me wants to say this was their sweetest. Last year's Finals were brutal and to come back and just totally manhandle the Heat like this was obviously very satisfying. I think it also really validates Pop, because it shows how versatile he is as a coach. Their previous championships were all with super defensive teams and many people said he had to win "ugly", but instead, he adapted his own philosophy to better fit his players. Happy to see the Spurs organization get the kudos it deserves.

Also, Kawhi has to be the most likable athlete on Earth.

Lament wrote:Third most shocking outcome in an NBA Finals in my time as a fan.

Number one is obviously the Pistons dismantling the Lakers in 2004. No one outside of that locker room saw that coming. Number two would be the Bulls putting away Magic and the Lakers in five games in 1991. People forget that the Bulls weren't supposed to be able to hang with the Lakers, and after losing game one people wondered aloud if they'd get swept by L.A. I'd put this below that just because it wasn't hard to find people who thought the Spurs would win the series. You just couldn't find people who realistically thought they'd win in five games on the backs of three straight blow outs though.

What a phenomenal team. Well done. I see no reason why this team shouldn't be considered the favorite next year as well (assuming the big pieces all come back).

Five rings for Timmy and Pops. That's just insane.

I think "shocking" is a bit strong.

The "Wade/Bosh/James" Heat, without taking away from their two titles in four years, have got to be one of the most over-hyped teams in NBA history.

I'm not talking about James' 7 titles prediction (chalk that up to adrenaline and a moment of stupidity)....I blame the media (ESPN) and uninformed "casual" NBA fans who lapped it all up like dogs.

Smart Heat fans should be pleased with two titles. Dumb ones will rip the organization, or just go back to rooting for whatever sport they did prior to 1988-1989.

Can we please stop the comparisons between Lebron and Jordan? Lebron was fine in this series. The Spurs had arguably one of the best postseasons in NBA history and were the best team in the regular season as well.

I think it's pretty hard to fault the Heat in this series. LeBron played pretty damn well. He hit a lot of 3s and long jumpers that went unseen because the Spurs had big leads. Yeah, Wade looked pretty bad in stretches, but I don't think he would have made much of a difference. The Spurs just had an answer for everything. Every surge the Heat made, the Spurs would respond with a big 3.

It was nice to see the old Tony Parker toward the end of Game 5. That little floater in the lane is a thing of beauty.

Coach wrote:I think "shocking" is a bit strong.

I don't think so. There's no way on earth anyone could have convinced me going into this series that the Spurs would win in only five games, and that the the last three games would consist of them repeatedly taking Miami to the woodshed. They set the record for largest total margin of victory in an NBA Finals, right? I thought this would end up being one of the closest NBA Finals ever. For it to be one of the most one-sided ones ever blows my mind.

That being said, I should have put it fourth. Dallas beating the Heat in 2011 should be third.

I thought if the Spurs won it would be in 5 games.

turned2black wrote:Their best hope is to win 1 and 2, steal game 3 or 4, then finish them in game 5.

During the 19-game win streak, you could see that their style would break teams mentally and I thought that would be their best hope in this series. I also worried about the effort the Spurs had put into this playoff run and really didn't want it to go 7.

I guess the biggest surprise is that they really didn't even need a 100% healthy Tony Parker to dominate.

Congrats t2b.

I miss watching Kawhi already.

Also, do we need someone to check on 4/5?

4/5 wrote:Congrats t2b.

Thanks, man. Maybe we'll see ya next year. Three years in a row would be incredible.

Lament wrote:

Coach wrote:I think "shocking" is a bit strong.

I don't think so. There's no way on earth anyone could have convinced me going into this series that the Spurs would win in only five games, and that the the last three games would consist of them repeatedly taking Miami to the woodshed. They set the record for largest total margin of victory in an NBA Finals, right? I thought this would end up being one of the closest NBA Finals ever. For it to be one of the most one-sided ones ever blows my mind.

That being said, I should have put it fourth. Dallas beating the Heat in 2011 should be third.

It can't be shocking when the Spurs were slight favorites in Vegas (4/5) prior to the Finals beginning.

turned2black wrote:

4/5 wrote:Congrats t2b.

Thanks, man. Maybe we'll see ya next year. Three years in a row would be incredible.

Kudos to 4/5 showing up today. Been in that position before. It sucks.

Coach wrote:It can't be shocking when the Spurs were slight favorites in Vegas (4/5) prior to the Finals beginning.

Besides the three I mentioned (Chicago in 91, Detroit in 04, and Dallas in 11), which outcomes in the past thirty seasons were more shocking than a slight favorite absolutely demolishing a team that had beaten them the year before and hadn't lost back to back playoff games in nearly three calendar years? By all means, show me ANYONE who realistically argued "Guys, the Spurs are probably gonna go into Miami and obliterate the Heat en route to wrapping up the series with three completely lopsided victories in a row. In fact, all of their wins will be by at least fifteen points."

Lament wrote:

Coach wrote:It can't be shocking when the Spurs were slight favorites in Vegas (4/5) prior to the Finals beginning.

Besides the three I mentioned (Chicago in 91, Detroit in 04, and Dallas in 11), which outcomes in the past thirty seasons were more shocking than a slight favorite absolutely demolishing a team that had beaten them the year before and hadn't lost back to back playoff games in nearly three calendar years? By all means, show me ANYONE who realistically argued "Guys, the Spurs are probably gonna go into Miami and obliterate the Heat en route to wrapping up the series with three completely lopsided victories in a row. In fact, all of their wins will be by at least fifteen points."

So you must be shocked that Miami hasn't won its seven titles yet?

I guess I'm just not all that shocked, but I never bought into the Miami hype since 'the decision' was made.

I'll grant you that the margin of victory was a surprise, but not 'shocking' because early on that Heat team just rolled over. James sat out the last seven minutes for no reason!

I'm not sure Spurs fans would be all that surprised at the margin of victory in these games. If you look at the results during season, they blew out A LOT of teams. In the playoffs, the Dallas series was the only series with close games. Really only two games were close in the OKC series. I just think that style of play lends itself to lopsided victories.

I'll be honest, I still expect LBJ to finish with four or five titles in Miami before he's done. They obviously need to retool, but there is no one in the East who strikes me as a legitimate threat any time soon (I don't buy into Washington).

I'd have really thought that through LBJ's sheer will the Heat would be able to pull off two wins, and at least be able to hang in most games down to the final minute or so. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how many guys on that team just rolled over. They might as well have been his 2007 Cavaliers supporting cast. I figured the Spurs would win, but I expected it to go seven, and I figured we'd see five close games (along with each team blowing the other team out once). Game four was probably the most shocked I'd been watching an NBA Finals game since game three of Detroit-LA when the Pistons held the Lakers to under 70 and killed whatever was left of their will.

turned2black wrote:

4/5 wrote:Congrats t2b.

Thanks, man. Maybe we'll see ya next year. Three years in a row would be incredible.

Or terrifying lol.