the west has won it again. all the underdog-cheering was silenced as that "boring" basketball fundamentalist juggernaut from south Texas wins it's 4th NBA crown in 9 seasons. that's right... the San Antonio Spurs beat the cowboy ish outta the heir-apparent-led Cleveland Cavaliers, winning four straight games to eliminate the bad news bears of basketball.if this was a movie, San Antonio would make the perfect villain. they have the 
number one defense in the league which leads to low-scoring (i.e. BORING) games, accusations of being dirty players, and a methodical mastery of the game that borders on indifference... plus, their point guard, finals MVP Tony Parker is FRENCH, for God's sake (not to mention he's black, and engaged to uber-hot Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria)!
before the start of the series, my coworkers were all pulling for the Cavaliers, lead by hoop Demigod and media-minded manchild Lebron James. After putting the grown man business to the East's best defensive squad (the revered, but Ben Wallace-less Detroit Pistons), Lebron had people believing they were witnessing the writing of the New King James Version of the b-ball bible. after all, the 22 year old superfreak led what was the worst team in league four years ago to the Big Show all by himself. and in a postseason that saw underdogs take out Dallas, Miami, and (ahem) Phoenix, all bets were off!
Ultimately, however... there was just too much skill on the San Antonio side of the ball. Defensive specialist Bruce Bowen put the shackles on James (who hit just 36% of his shots... just 33% in the final game) with the help of his teammates timely double- and triple-teams. San Antonio has the best coach in the league, and as a result of keeping their squad intact year after year (despite sports writers insisting they were too old after losing to the Mavs in last years' playoffs), they have the smartest players. each player knows his role, and trusts his teammates and coaching staff, even when they lose leads or make mistakes.
Lebron will get his. his talent is unreal. he seems relatively undamaged by all the fame of leaping from highschool to the pros, and he shows flashes of legendary greatness. i was impressed when the most sought-after player to hit the NBA draft in years spoke up and said he wanted to play for his home-town squad: the much-maligned Cleveland Cavaliers. this season, after falling to the Pistons in last years playoffs, he made his city believe they would get to hold a championship celebration. and i'm sure they will...
but not this year.
1 comment:
Brother, your writing is better than our local sports page! And you are right on point about both teams. I DON'T HATE-I CONGRAGULATE! Old dogs can teach ones a trick or two.
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