I don't know why I'm so in awe of the fact that the Spurs knocked off the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. I mean, I predicted this very thing to happen before the playoffs began (I have the Spurs going to the West Finals). Yet what I saw in this series was even better than I was expecting.
I have never felt at any point in the last 20 years that there was a better coach in the NBA than Phil Jackson (except for the 1998-99 and 2004-05 seasons, the first of which saw Jackson meditating in Montana, the second of which saw him having sex with Jeannie Buss while writing a book in which he lambasted Kobe Bryant). Well, I think I may have found someone who I feel is better. What Gregg Popovich has done this season is nothing short of incredible. Despite lots of injuries, including to both Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the decline of Tim Duncan (especially on the offensive end), young players having to play key roles (George Hill and DeJuan Blair) and attempting to incorporate veterans who didn't know how to fit in (Richard Jefferson, I'm looking at you), Popovich somehow got the Spurs to 50 wins while spending the entire season trying to get the team to gel. You know what happened? They finally came together in the final week of the season, then they dismantled a Mavericks team that was clearly its superior this season.
Popovich has me believing that a seventh-seed could win the NBA title. And if they do, it will go down as one of the most incredible coaching jobs of all-time. The Spurs always had the talent to be a championship team this season (here's one person who picked them to win it all back in October) but the chemistry never hit. Well guess what? The chemistry is hit. I don't think there's any doubt that they dismantle the Suns (I'm saying five games) and now I think they could beat the Lakers or Jazz in the West Finals. I don't know that they can beat Cleveland but would I ever put anything past the Duncan-Popovich-Ginobili-Parker Spurs? Absolutely not. I think this is the West's best team. It just took them 80 games to find that level.
As for the Mavericks, it's time for Mark Cuban to admit defeat: winning a championship is impossible if Dirk Nowitzki is your best player. Doesn't attack the basket consistently enough, settles for too many jumpers. That's fine for a second fiddle. It has no chance of working for an alpha dog. If I'm Cuban, I'm going all out to get LeBron or DWade this summer and turning the keys over to him. And don't put it past him to do exactly that.
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