As the season draw nearer and nearer, the talk is getting louder and louder. Whether its injuries (Westbrook, Rose) trash talk (Durant and Wade) and the way-too-early questions about free agency for LeBron on media day, the excitement levels are rising. There was talk of three-peats, conference favorites, MVP candidates and darkhorses. All of that stuff is fun to talk about for a basketball junkie like me. However, my only question going into the season is are we forgetting about the Spurs already?
They went punch for punch (minus a heartbreaking collapse in game 6) in the NBA finals with the defending champion Miami Heat. I hadn't seen LeBron look so uncomfortable on the court since before he won his first ring. These guys had him all figured out for 6 games. They slowed down LeBron for 6 games. Name one team who has done that since the 2011 Mavs and this blog will be my first and last.
I know the Spurs are the least glamorous and most boring team for the casual NBA fan, but they may be the most underrated team as well. The thunder seem to be the favorites even with Westbrook out for a month. But the spurs lost no one from a Finals team and gained a serviceable guard in Marco Belinelli. They stick with the Duncan/Parker/Manu core year after year and make minor changes and it hasn't stopped working. Yet many people keep saying the west is the Thunders to lose. However the Spurs have the best player of the post Jordan era (Duncan) and the best coach (Pop) in the league and perfect young complimentary fits for the true big 3.
So excuse me if I like the San Antonio Spurs, the old, beat up, washed up Spurs, to get back to the finals. The window may have closed for them in some peoples opinions, but I thought it closed on them five years ago, and they prove me wrong again and again. At this point I simply don't want to get fooled again.
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