A place in history
CLEVELAND – Their blueprint, shaded in tones of silver, white and black, is based on defense, discipline and teamwork. The San Antonio Spurs have never wavered from it, making them the NBA’s current standard of excellence.
They aren’t the first dominant team, nor will they be the last.
The Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls preceded them, but nobody does it better these days than the bland-yet-becoming Spurs, now one win shy of a fourth championship in nine years – and perhaps a special place in history.
“They’ve become the class of this league, there’s no question about it,” said Utah guard Derek Fisher, whose Jazz team lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
An elite team? Undoubtedly.
A dynasty? Hmmm.
That was the word being kicked around the court inside Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday as the Spurs prepared for today’s Game 4 and a possible sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers, first-time finalists who have copied San Antonio’s model.
However, one person didn’t want in on the dynasty discussion.
“That’s all psycho babble,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “When I think of dynasties, two come to my mind real quick – UCLA and Bill Russell. Everything else is just talk.”
Let’s talk about the Spurs’ run for a second.
Beginning with their 1999 title, they’ve qualified for the playoffs every season – no given out West – made it to the semifinals eight times and advanced to the conference finals on five occasions.
They are 3-0 in the NBA finals, and unless the Cavaliers become the first team in history to overcome a 0-3 deficit, the Spurs will be perfect in the finals.
Getting their hands on a fourth Larry O’Brien Trophy would also put the Spurs with the Celtics (16), Lakers (14) and Bulls (six) as the only teams to win four titles since the league’s 1947 beginning.
Tracing the Spurs’ path to prominence leads to one point: the 1997 NBA draft lottery, when the club won the rights to draft center Tim Duncan, their unappreciated star and perhaps the greatest power forward.
Duncan has been the foundation around which the Spurs have built their empire, one that has been raised through savvy business decisions, adept international scouting and a family oriented philosophy laid out by owner Peter Holt and implemented by general manager R.C. Buford.
The Spurs went overseas to find All-Star Tony Parker, their Road Runner of a point guard, as well as super sub Manu Ginobili and starting center Fabricio Oberto, who are both from Argentina.
San Antonio has also lured free agents such as Brent Barry, Michael Finley and Robert Horry, valuable role players who joined the club with hopes of winning an NBA championship, or in Horry’s case, a seventh one.
NBA teams are no different than those in the NFL, where the best ideas and brightest talents elsewhere are either borrowed or stolen.
Thus, the Cleveantonio Spurvaliers.
The Cavaliers’ first visit to the finals in 37 years has been orchestrated by former Spurs. GM Danny Ferry played four seasons in San Antonio and spent two others as their director of basketball operations. Assistant GM Lance Blanks won two titles in San Antonio’s front office and coach Mike Brown was an assistant under Popovich for three years.
Both were hired by Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, a Detroit native, who began remaking the Cavs in San Antonio’s likeness after the Spurs beat the Pistons in 2005.
Like the Spurs, the Cavs have a superstar in LeBron James, who needs to be surrounded by better talent for the team to win its first title.
“When you want to be the best, you want to try to mirror image the best,” James said, “and they’re definitely the best team in our league at this point in time. You want to try to do exactly what they do.”
On what could have been their final day of practice this season, none of the Spurs would bite on talk of them being a dynasty.
“Maybe 10 years from now, I’ll be able to discuss that,” Barry said. “But right now the focus is trying to win a championship.”
Finals attract fewer viewers
The NBA finals continue to draw far fewer viewers than last year.
The San Antonio Spurs’ 75-72 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night received a 6.4 national rating and an 11 share on ABC, down 20 percent from the 8.0/14 for last year’s Game 3 between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.
The Game 3 drop follows a 30 percent plunge for Game 2 and a 19 percent decline for Game 1.
The rating is the percentage watching a telecast among all homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned in to a broadcast among those households with televisions on at the time.