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I usually hate whatever Adrian Wojnarowski writes, but the title caught my attention and I was pleasantly surprised by this article. Finally enjoyed something he wrote.
http://sports.yahoo.com/n...spurs-still-rolling.html
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http://sports.yahoo.com/n...spurs-still-rolling.html
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[/h1][h1]As Heat, other super teams show cracks, Spurs still rolling in playoffs[/h1]
By Adrian Wojnarowski | Yahoo! Sports – 56 minutes ago
SAN ANTONIO – As Tim Duncan left the interview podium inside Quicken Loans Arena five years ago and started his walk down a corridor, LeBron James emerged on his way to deliver an NBA Finals concession speech. Duncan hugged James, and told him the NBA would soon belong to him. Duncan was grateful to have secured a fourth championship before the Cleveland Cavaliers star gobbled them for himself.
In these five years, the world has changed, and James started a movement that transformed the NBA: The pursuit of super teams. The Miami Heat, the New York Knicks and even these Los Angeles Clippers shredded their infrastructures and constructed themselves with starry, top-heavy rosters. This was the big-market championship blueprint that hustled the sport into a work stoppage, that left the two powerbrokers courtside here on Thursday night – NBA commissioner David Stern and Spurs owner Peter Holt – pushing to make that model obsolete in the post-lockout league.
Only, the Heat are undoing themselves in these playoffs. Perhaps it is the burden of those max contracts meeting the monumental expectations for victory. Suddenly, the Heat are threatening to fall apart in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Chris Bosh is down, Dwyane Wade is struggling and James is left with a burden that he never truly wanted. The Heat have little infrastructure to sustain the loss of Bosh.
The Spurs have won their first six games of the playoffs. (Reuters)Well, Duncan was partly right five years ago. Yes, LeBron has taken over the NBA, but he won’t stand between Duncan and fifth NBA championship. Perhaps Oklahoma City will win the Western Conference finals, but make no mistake: These Spurs would absolutely take apart the Heat in the NBA Finals – with Bosh or without him.
The Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-88 in Game 2 of this Western Conference semifinal, and it has been 36 days since San Antonio lost a basketball games. The Spurs have won 16 consecutive games – including six to start the playoffs – and they keep coming with the greatness of Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, with waves upon waves of support around them. They come with a defensive scheme that’s stripped Chris Paul and Blake Griffin of everything they want to do, and an offensive system full of the complex and simple that always has the Clippers a step behind, a moment too late.
[Related: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James on Forbes list of most powerful celebrities]
Five years later, Duncan found himself surrounded with an eclectic ensemble of teammates borne out of general manager R.C. Buford’s scouting acumen and coach Gregg Popovich’s genius of integrating the talent into a victorious system. Five years later, Duncan is 36 years old, and the truth is unmistakable: He’s closer to his fifth championship than James is to his first.
“It’s been successful for us,
