Who do you root for in NBA Finals?

[SpartyNash13]

I hate both of these teams with a burning passion, so for the 2nd consecutive year I will not be watching 1 second of the Finals. However, put a gun to my head and I will say I'm rooting for Miami, I will never ever ever ever root for the Spurs unless there is a massive benefit to the Suns.

Am I in the minority here in never rooting for San Antonio?

 

[Jonas_steven]

I will forever root against teams that were bought. While I loathe the spurs, at least they win championships the right way.

 

[The Derski]

Heat because I hate the Spurs. I dislike the Heat but not to the extent if my hatred for SA.

 

[johnson]

If the Heat had never won before, I'd def be rooting for the Spurs. But since both teams have, I don't think I've had less interest in an NBA finals in my life. I just don't care.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Heat and it's not close. Do you guys have long term memory loss or something? FUCK THE SPURS

 

[trojanfan12]

Heat and it's not close. Do you guys have long term memory loss or something? FUCK THE SPURS

While I hated what happened to Nash (one of my all-time favorite players) and think that had Horry not checked him into the boards, the Suns would have won the title that year, I still gotta go with the Spurs.

 

[GMATCa]

To be honest, I'm for the Spurs again. They play the game the way that it's supposed to be played, and the way that almost all good teams used to play, meaning that the ball really moves and the defense, no matter how athletic, cannot catch up, because the ball moves faster than the body. The Cotton Fitzsimmons-era Suns were like that, as when they passed for 50 assists in a game.

Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns Box Score, November 10, 1990 | Basketball-Reference.com

The difference is that there wasn't this kind of spacing and three-point shooting in those days; the Suns scored 173 points in that game while shooting a combined 0-2 on threes.

Actually, the 2006 Suns were a little like that, too, in terms of ball movement. Guess who played on that team? Yeah, Boris Diaw.

 

[johnson]

Congrats Spurs. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted them to win. I have developed a respect for Pop and the Spurs. It took some time considering the BS the Suns had to deal with vs them in the playoffs; the flopping; the fixing, etc. But even aside from all that, they are a great TEAM.

The Heat is just 3 guys that colluded to form a super team that are now underperforming winning only twice in four years.

 

[Jonas_steven]

Congrats Spurs. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted them to win. I have developed a respect for Pop and the Spurs. It took some time considering the BS the Suns had to deal with vs them in the playoffs; the flopping; the fixing, etc. But even aside from all that, they are a great TEAM.

The Heat is just 3 guys that colluded to form a super team that are now underperforming winning only twice in four years.

It could have been once in 4 years. I hope spolstra and bron bron blew Allen after that game six shot!

 

[Jonas_steven]

I still lament the three point shot that Duncan hit in the Western Conference Finals that essentially clinched the series for the spurs. I believe it was in 2007?!?!

 

[Jonas_steven]

That fucking tip-in by Ron arrest at the buzzer?!?! That shit still chaps my ass! The suns should have been to two NBA finals in the 2000's!

 

[SpartyNash13]

I still lament the three point shot that Duncan hit in the Western Conference Finals that essentially clinched the series for the spurs. I believe it was in 2007?!?!

I remember him hitting one in the 2008 playoffs first round against us to force OT which they eventually won and then they beat us in 5 games ( I wanna say this was game 1). But I don't remember one in the WCF.

 

[SpartyNash13]

Congrats Spurs. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted them to win. I have developed a respect for Pop and the Spurs. It took some time considering the BS the Suns had to deal with vs them in the playoffs; the flopping; the fixing, etc. But even aside from all that, they are a great TEAM.

The Heat is just 3 guys that colluded to form a super team that are now underperforming winning only twice in four years.

I agree, I wasn't as pissed as I thought I would have been following the Spurs win last night. I don't despise Duncan or Parker like I used to, never minded Pop either, but I still hate that flopping fuck Ginobili with all of my heart.

 

[Jonas_steven]

I remember him hitting one in the 2008 playoffs first round against us to force OT which they eventually won and then they beat us in 5 games ( I wanna say this was game 1). But I don't remember one in the WCF.

You might be right...my long term memory ain't what it used to be!

 

[GMATCa]

The Duncan three came at the end of the first overtime of Game One of the 2008 First Round, off a pick-and-pop with Ginobili.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Q7i1gz9ks

Obviously, no one expected Duncan to make a three off the pick-and-pop. That said, I wouldn't exactly take my chances with a thirty-four-year old Nash and a thirty-six-year old Shaq defending that play, or any pick-and-roll/pop (or even younger versions of those guys). Stoudemire proved no better in that regard, hence the problem with that Phoenix team.

And if you saw how the Spurs' big men (Diaw, Duncan, Splitter) played in winning the title, or even how many other power forward/centers in this postseason could pass effectively (Blake Griffin, David Lee, David West, Chris Bosh), you see what a liability Stoudemire's lack of passing ability happened to be for those Phoenix teams. When your leading scorer passes for a total (not an average, a total) of 1 assist in five games (Stoudemire in the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals versus the Spurs), there is a problem.

I'm not slamming Stoudemire so much as making a point about the game. Likewise, although Charles Barkley constituted one of the greatest passing forwards in NBA history, he did not pass the way that the Spurs passed. Rather, the Suns probably lost championships from Barkley holding the ball too long. As Cotton Fitzimmons once stated after becoming Phoenix's head coach again in 1996, after three and a half years of Paul Westphal, "The worst thing we can do is to throw the ball to Charles, and then stand and watch him decide what to do. Kevin [Johnson] breaks the defense down and gets more people involved."

Then add the reality that both Stoudemire and Barkley amounted to atrocious defenders, and one might reasonably ask whether the Suns have ever possessed a star power forward or center whose game was really conducive to winning a championship.

 

[GMATCa]

Congrats Spurs. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted them to win. I have developed a respect for Pop and the Spurs. It took some time considering the BS the Suns had to deal with vs them in the playoffs; the flopping; the fixing, etc. But even aside from all that, they are a great TEAM.

The Heat is just 3 guys that colluded to form a super team that are now underperforming winning only twice in four years.

... very true. The Spurs have stars, but their stars are so integrated into the team's fabric that identifying them almost becomes a pointless exercise. In the NBA Finals, the MVP was Kawhi Leonard, the next choice for MVP could have been Boris Diaw, and the guy who broke open the championship-winning game was Patty Mills.

By and large, we haven't seen teams like that since the early nineties and eighties. For instance, even though the "Showtime" Lakers were loaded with stars, they did not play like an assemblage of stars, but like a team. When they won their fifth championship of the decade in 1988, do you know who their leading scorer happened to be? It wasn't Magic Johnson. It wasn't Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It wasn't James Worthy. It was Byron Scott.

To be sure, Scott constituted a really dynamic player, a blend of Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen. But he was only the fourth-most prominent player in their starting lineup.

The Finals MVP that year, meanwhile, was Worthy, who posted 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists in Game Seven of the Finals.

Likewise, the Celtics' leading scorer in Game Seven of the 1984 NBA Finals versus the Lakers was not Larry Bird, Robert Parish, or Kevin McHale; it was Cedric Maxwell, who recorded 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Additionally, Maxwell received the Finals MVP Award in 1981.

Again, the Spurs play the game the way that it used to be played routinely. The ball does not discriminate, and the game creates the numbers rather than the numbers creating the game.

I cited the Cotton Fitzsimmons Suns earlier. In '88-'89, four different Phoenix players scored at least 40 points in a game, six different players scored at least 30 in a game, and seven different players scored at least 25 in a game.

You can see a ten-minute highlight video from Game Four of the 1989 Western Conference Finals between the Suns and Lakers here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwD4p2bWfsc

The Spurs' ball movement and Basketball IQ could fit into that NBA. Unfortunately, I don't think that I could say that about any other current team (and Miami would actually come the closest).