Everyone Loves and Upset

Everyone loves and upset.  That is unless you're a fan of the favored team...in this case it's the San Antonio Spurs and the Orlando Magic.  The first round of this year's playoffs featured 2 upsets.  One wasn't entirely unexpected as the #5 Hawks eliminated the #4 Magic.  The other one however was a big time shocker.  The #8 Memphis Grizzlies knocked off the #1 overall San Antonio Spurs.

It doesn't happen very often that the number # seed in the entire NBA goes down in the first round.  Especially against an inexperienced and young team like the Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies hadn't won a playoff game in their entire history, let alone a playoff series.  It could be due to the young athleticism of Memphis.  It's a pretty well known fact that the Spurs are getting old.  Tim Duncan is admittedly one of the best players at his position ever, but he just couldn't handle Zach Randolph for the duration of the series.

 
Zach Randolph has had a bit of a shaky career.  In the post game interview he gave he was asked how it is that he came to fit in at Memphis after jumping around from one team to another for most of his career.  His answer was "This is a blue collar town.  I'm a blue collar player.  Nothing came to me easy, and nothing came to this town easy.  For that I love them, and they love me."  And as was stated at the end of the game, after his performance in this series they will love him even more.


But now the question comes up "Is this the end of an era in the NBA?"  Duncan is quickly losing his effectiveness.  He had career lows in every statistic.  But in his tenure, the Spurs won 4 NBA Titles and they went to the playoffs all 14 years, winning 55games every year.  That is practically unheard of, and the question has been a extremely popular the last several days.

My opinion on the situation is that this is the end of the Duncan Era.  It is not the end of the Spurs Era.  They may need a year or so to rebuild at some point, but they are too well run to be out of the running in the Western Conference for long.  Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have several good years left in each of them.  And Greg Popovich is a fantastic coach.  So, unless the team completely splits up like the Bulls did when Jordan left for good, they will be around and contending in the Western Conference for a long time.

Daily Highlight: Spurs Eliminated

After winning Game 5, by a miracle last second shot, to take the series to 3-2, it looked like the Spurs were poised to turn things around and win the series.  You could certainly feel the nerves among the fans in Memphis last night in game 6.  The Memphis players however, showed no signs of nerves.  Zach Randolph least of all.  After blowing the lead they had most of the game to go behind with just a few minutes to play, Randolph took over and led the Grizzlies to their first playoff series win in franchise history.

Daily Highlight: Spurs on the Brink of Elimination

I am not familiar with any time in the NBA that the #1 seed has been knocked out by the #8 seed.  I'm sure it has happened at some point, but I'm excited about the prospect of it happening this season again.  The Spurs are the #1 overall seed in the NBA, and the Memphis Grizzlies  have a 3-1 series lead, and 3 chances to knock off the Spurs.  Last night they handled the Spurs by 18 points.  Here's how it went down:

NBA Playoffs: Wild West Round One

3 of the 4 games in the Western Conference first round are done.  And they were all a bit surprising.  Before we get into those, lets look at the conference standings:

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. LA Lakers
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. OKC Thunder
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Portland Trailblazers
7. New Orleans Hornets
8. Memphis Grizzlies

In the conference's first game the Mavericks were given all they could handle from the Trailblazers.  This is a popular upset pick among the "experts," and rightly so in my view.  The Mavericks often under-achieve in the playoffs, and Portland is a solid team.  Their biggest problem right now is that Brandon Roy isn't 100%, but lately LaMarcus Aldridge has been picking up the slack.  For the Mavericks, they got a great game from the aging Jason Kidd, and Dirk Nowitzki, while having a tough shooting night, turned it up in the 4th quarter.  It looked like the Blazers would pull off the upset, but Kidd and Nowitzki poured it on in the 4th quarter to regain the lead and take game one.

As for the top 2 seeds, the Spurs and the Lakers, neither one was able to defend their home court.  Both teams entered the playoffs in a bit of a slump, but with both teams being so experienced, you wouldn't think it would matter.  They're playing very inferior teams, but it just proves if you're not at your best, you can lose to anyone.  The Spurs were definitely missing Ginobili, and I expect they'll be able to turn things around when he comes back.  I don't think the Lakers had any excuse.  They beat the Hornets in all 4 regular season games, but Chris Paul lit them up for 33 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds.  However, I expect both the Spurs and the Lakers to turn it around and win their series.

The last game will be the Thunder verse the Nuggets.  This is a very intriguing matchup.  The Nuggets have been on fire since Carmelo left for the Knicks.  Everyone is contributing, and they're playing with belief and desire.  The Thunder have 2 of the best young players in the NBA: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.  The Thunder also have Kendrick Perkins now, who they acquired from the Celtics, and he has lots of playoff experience against some great big men in the game.  Perkins could very well be the man the changes the series.  You know you're going to get big games from the big name players, Durant and Westbrook, but if Perkins can contribute a bit on offense, as you know he will on defense, the Thunder should win this series.

Daily Highlight: Heat Exact Revenge on the Spurs

Having lost to the Spurs by 30 recently, the Heat returned the favor last night at home.  The Big 3 combined for as many points as the entire Spurs team, and the defense was stifling.  The Heat have picked up some big wins recently.  Are you ready to jump back on the bandwagon?

Why are the Spurs so Good?

So, I've never been a fan of the Spurs.  To me, they've always been a boring team to watch.  Slow, methodical, defensive, fundamental...etc.  (Not to mention they have Manu Ginobili, one of the biggest floppers and fakers in the NBA.  Must be an Argentinian thing...)  But they've been a very good team for a long time.  Probably because of all those things I just listed off.  But this year they are super good.

At them moment (I say at the moment because they are playing Miami right now, and all of this could change) they are leading the NBA by 6 games over the nearest competitor, Boston.  That is a huge lead this late in the season.  They rank in the top 10 in PPG, APG, and RPG, and 12th in the NBA in points allowed per game, which is really strange because their offense seems to be better this year than their defense.  For awhile they were on pace to match 95-96 Bulls with the best record in NBA history at 70-12.

So why are they so good?  I look at that team and I see a bunch of aging stars.  Players past their prime.  Tim Duncan is 34 for crying out loud and in his 14th season.  Ginobili is 33, Richard Jefferson is 30, and Tony Parker is a little younger; he's 28.  But then again, maybe that's it.  The main 3 players, Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili, have been playing together for a lot of seasons, and there's something to be said for that kind of experience.  Also, there's no "Big 3."  There's no big hype around the team, leading to very few distractions.

Normally these kind of things would make me a fan of the team.  But there's something about the Spurs that I just don't like.  I'm hoping that this jinxes them tonight against the Heat, so that they can't tie the Bulls for the best record.

Daily Highlight: Skidding Heat

Wow, the Heat looked bad last night.  Sure the Spurs are good, but the Heat are supposed to be good too.  But losing by 30 shows a lack of heart and effort.