The San Antonio Spurs gained control of the NBA Finals on Tuesday, by blowing the doors off of the Miami Heat.  Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan didn’t play particularly well, but the Spurs still dominated.  The reason, in a nutshell is Spurs starting two guard Danny Green, and two guard reserve Gary Neal were shooting for Big Macs.  (shooting for big macs is a reference from the Larry Bird/Michael Jordan commercials)

Green and Neal are a testament to the Spurs way, and to Coach Greg Popovich.  Before we talk about how Green and Neal got here, lets talk about where they come from.  Danny Green was a 2nd round draft pick out of North Carolina.  Drafted by the Cavs, Green was cut and was free to sign with anybody.  The Spurs took a chance, signing him to a few 10 day contracts before they saw something in Green and offered a real NBA contract.  Gary Neal went undrafted, played a few years in Italy before the Spurs of course saw what nobody else did and signed him.

To the rest of America it now seems like Green and Neal put on the silver and black, and just started playing like legit role players to the big 3.  And in some ways, they did.  Green quickly became the starting 2 guard, after learning the key to coach Pop’s heart is defense.  Neal, from day 1 decided he would shoot and shoot until he was put back on the bench.  The Spurs usually pass the ball around until someone is open, and Neal was ready to be that open shooter.  He’s never seen a shot he didn’t like, and coach Pop wouldn’t have it any other way.  But this was in the regular season.

Many wonder why the Spurs have failed the previous two seasons, both seasons they went in as the Western Conference 1 seed, both times failing to make the Finals.  The biggest reason is the Spurs new role players, Green, Neal, and Matt Bonner simply didn’t show up in the playoffs.  All three sharp shooters went cold in the biggest moments, and the Spurs couldn’t overcome a lack of production from them.  Losing in the playoffs as the 1 seed the past two seasons, many wonder if the Spurs needed some new blood in their line up to help the aging big 3, and shooting guard seemed to be the biggest hole.

Instead of going after free agents like OJ Mayo, the Spurs stood pat and decided to roll the dice with Green and Neal as their primary shooting guards.  The Spurs saw something in these two, even after a few playoff duds.  And now, especially after they combined for 13 3 pointers in the biggest stage of all, the Spurs once again look like geniuses.  The small market Spurs keep winning, and look at Green and Neal as exhibit A & B.   Of course their are other reasons, but finding diamonds when others see coal is a true gift, and is paying off at just the right time.

The Houston Astros had the #1 overall pick for the second consecutive year, and this time around they used it on Stanford pitcher Mark Appel.  Appel grew up in Houston, before moving to California when he was 12 years old.  After he was drafted, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow welcomed him “home”.  Appel was drafted last season, with the #8 pick by Pittsburgh but they couldn’t agree on terms.  Appel returned to Stanford, and is now the #1 pick.

The Spurs are back in the finals, as you probably have heard by now.  Thursday they start their Finals series with the Miami Heat, the super friend’s team that is loaded with star power.  This star studded team was by design, again as you’ve probably heard by now.  The Heat Big 3 came together, for this very purpose, to win NBA titles.  Lebron has emerged as the best player on the planet, Wade has been inconsistent but exploded in game 7 against the Pacers, and Bosh is always capable of contributing in a big way. 

If the Spurs have any chance, they’ll need one last stand from their very own big 3.  Tony Parker is up for the challenge, he’s in the prime of his career, and has probably been the 2^nd best player in these playoffs.  Tim Duncan had yet another All NBA  year, and due to some weight loss has turned back the clocks and has played like a true all star.  With no true big man on the heat roster, look for Duncan to play big in this series, as he often does in the NBA Finals. 

Then there is the enigma, the now forgotten 3^rd piece of the Spurs big 3, Manu Ginobili.  Age, exciting play, and too much international ball have caught up to Manu.  He’s no longer an everyday all star player, although he still plays a very important role on this Spurs team.  Manu has battled injuries the last few years, and did so again at the end of the regular season.  He’s been solid in the playoffs, mainly changing games with big 3 point shots and great passing.  The classic comeback against Golden State in game 1 wouldn’t have happened without his clutch 3.  But as much as the Spurs appreciate his 3’s and his passing, they’re going to need more from him.

If the Spurs are to take down the Miami big 3, Manu has to have more than a few “Manu moments”.  Manu has to be a consistent force in this series, making Wade work on defense, and making Ray Allen pay for getting old.  This current series seems like the perfect moment for a Manu explosion.  He has had plenty of rest, since the Spurs swept the Griz.  He knows the season is at most only 7 games long, and did I mention the rest?  I’ll go ahead and call it now, Manu Ginobili will end up being the NBA Finals MVP, and even though the Spurs history is filled with “Manu Moments”, this will easily be the sweetest of them all.

Whenever the New York Yankees or St Louis Cardinals are in the World Series, if just feels right.  Whenever the Cowboys, Steelers, and recently the New England Patriots play on Super Bowl sunday, it seems natural.  And yes, when the Celtics or Lakers are in the Finals, it also feels like their is balance in the universe.  And like it or not, and the Alamo City LOVES it, the San Antonio Spurs back in the finals is added to this list.  For the 5th time in 14 years, the Spurs are representing the west in the NBA Finals.  Pop, Duncan, Manu and Tony are back and ready to reclaim their spot at the top.

This time around feels special, maybe because of the 7 year lay off since their last trip to the finals in 2007.  Maybe its because this might be the last hurrah for the greatest power forward of all time, Tim Duncan.  Whatever it may be, the Spurs and the city of San Antonio are soaking it in, as they all wait for June 6th.  Usually a western conference champions t-shirt in San Antonio is just a slight appetizer before the Finals shirts come in.  But this time around, San Antonio lined up around every Academy in town to grab one.

The Spurs and the city they make proud realize this is a swan song, the final great run in one of the best franchises in sports history.  I’m not writing off the Spurs after this season, only a fool would bet against the best franchise in pro sports, but Timmy has 1 year left on his contract and Manu is a free agent after this season. Whether the Spurs have to take on King James and the all star Heat team, or the upstart Indiana Pacers, the Spurs have a quiet confidence that they can bring one more title to the riverwalk.  But even if they don’t, San Antonio, Pop, Timmy, Manu and Tony know that these moments are rare, and are enjoying every minute.  Spurs fans, I suggest you do the same.

By JD

The San Antonio Spurs hold a solid 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals for the second straight year.  I know I know, last season the Spurs looked unbeatable, until they lost 4 straight against Oklahoma City.  The Spurs swept through their previous 20 games, prior to losing 4 straight.  The Spurs haven’t had it quite as easy this year, and that might be why they will get back to the finals.

We’re all in agreement that coach Greg Popovich is a hall of fame coach, probably the best in the NBA today.  Pop has 4 rings on his hand, the respect of his players (which isn’t a given in pro sports anymore), and will probably have a statue outside of the at&t center one day.  Out of all his classic playoff runs, this year’s might be his best coaching job ever.  After the Spurs blew the kobeless Lakers out of the water, they found themselves in a real war with the young Warriors.  The Spurs had no answer for Golden State in game 1, and needed a miracle of a lifetime just to eek out an overtime victory at home.  Game 2 was the same, without the miracle, and just like that Golden state took all the momentum and homecourt away from the Spurs.  The titanic was sinking, the Spurs were done, Golden State was well on its way to shocking the world and the Spurs were doomed for another playoff collapse.

Then Pop went to work, and righted the ship.  Coach Pop made the proper adjustments, like having his best defender Kawhi Leonard take 2 guard Klay Thompson out of the series, instead of superstar Steph Curry.  Danny Green was assigned to Curry, and Pop dared the other Warriors to beat them.  What happened next was the Spurs went 3-1 in the remaining games, and eliminated the upstart Warriors.  On to the Western Conference finals, against old nemesis the Memphis Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies had eliminated the Spurs 2 seasons ago, and many feel they’ll do it again.

So Pop did it again, at least for the 1st two games of the series.  Pop game planned and took Zack Randolph out of game 1, so much so that the Eddie Winslow lookalike only scored 2 points.  Pop made sure the Spurs pushed the tempo, not allowing the Grizzlies to set up their #1 defense.  This led to a huge blow out.  Game 2 was much of the same, although the Spurs went cold and allowed the Grizzlies to send the game into overtime, before pulling out the victory.

Time will tell if Pop keeps pushing the right buttons, as the series shifts to Memphis.  But if you’re a betting man, bet on Pop not allowing last season’s collapse to happen again.

The Spurs just won a very good series last night, in the most hostile environment in the NBA.  They dug deep, and brought out that championship grit I talked about in an earlier blog.  Coach Pop made the right defensive adjustments, game planning to take out the star guard duo of Curry and Thompson.  The big 3 stepped up, and took the shots they needed too, and Kawhi Leonard is emerging as a true star in this league.

The biggest and most surprising stat about this game, is Tony Parker and Manu Giniobili had 5 points between them going into the 4th quarter, and the Spurs were still winning.  Duncan had 19 points, and didn’t even play in the crunch time of this game, and like I said Kawhi stepped up and added 16 points and 10 rebounds to carry this team until Tony Parker could take over.  Tiago Splitter added 14 points, Danny Green added some big 3 point shots, and great defense on Curry.  Corey Joseph, the true backup point guard now added some big shots and good on the ball D as well.

This depth will serve them well, if it lasts going into the Western conference finals against Memphis.  The Spurs know what they’ll get in the Big 3, but the guys I mentioned above have to step up again.  Green and Joseph need to play great D, and hit big 3’s.  Leonard needs to continue his flight as a star, and Tiago Splitter must be effective in the paint.  Look for Blair, Bonner, and Diaw to see solid minutes in this series, but Tiago must be the guy that we all know he can be.  Make no mistake Spurs and Memphis will be a war, so the difference will be if the younger Spurs can help out the older vets.

Doug Free, the highest paid right tackle in football, has agreed to a pay cut to stay with the team.  Doug Free is taking a 50% pay cut, but in all honestly as long as he’s still the right tackle of the Dallas Cowboys, the offseason was a failure.  Now if it turns out the the Cowboys sign another tackle this week and free is just insurance, I will take this story down.  But as of now it looks like Doug Free will once again be getting beat every sunday.  Tony Romo was seen already running for his life at a local golf course in Dallas.

With Doug Free still starting, I will officially declare the offseason a bust.  The biggest problem America’s team has had is the offensive line.  The offensive line has never been a strength during the Tony Romo era, but this past season it was downright bad.  I can honestly say that Texas A&M had a better offensive line, and in 5 years will probably have more NFL starters.  Once Romo was given the big contract, I fully expected Jerry Jones to fix this problem.  Last offseason, the big hole on the team was the secondary.  Jerry Jones did a rare great job as GM, and addressed the problem by signing Brandon Carr, and trading up to draft Mo Claiborne.  The jury is still out on Claiborne, but at least Jerry addressed the big need at the time.  Yes, the Cowboys did use their 1st round pick on Center Travis Frederick, who will start day 1.  But 1 player on a horrible line doesn’t really solve much, certainly not enough for Romo to be protected and the running game to have some life.

The Cowboys are expecting Phil Costa to return, so in a way the Cowboys are adding two new starting interior linemen to the team.  But anybody that watched the Cowboys last year knows that Doug Free is a huge problem, and the fact that he’s still starting means the problem is still there.  Time will tell what the Cowboys do with the money saved by Free’s paycut, and again if they go out and sign someone like Eric Winston to compete with Free, then I take this entire article back.  But if Free is starting against the Giants opening night, look for Justin Tuck to be chasing Tony Romo worse than Jessica Simpson did.

The quick search for a new President is over, Nolan Ryan’s son, Reid Ryan will be announced on friday morning, per ESPN Dallas.  Reid currently runs Triple A Round Rock Express, a Rangers farm team, and double A Corpus Christi Hooks, an Astros farm team.  The rumors of Nolan Ryan being a target for the Stros was alittle off, just by one generation.  Time will tell if the Ryan vs Ryan lone star battle will ignite the new AL west rivalry between the Rangers and the Stros.

The Texas Rangers made a lot of headlines this off season, and most were negative.  Take that back, all of the news was negative, as the once powerful Rangers were falling apart at the seams.  Josh Hamilton split to the rival Angels, and bashed the Dallas/Forth Worth fans along the way.  Longtime Mr. Ranger himself Michael Young was traded away for little, and another fan favorite Mike Napoli also left Texas.  The Rangers made no big free agent splash, and no big trade.  And to make matters worse, the Dallas media created another bad story for the Rangers.  It was “reported” that Rangers part owner, CEO, and hall of fame face of the franchise Nolan Ryan was leaving the organization.

The newly built solid foundation of one of the best franchises in sports looked to be crumbling, and all in 1 offseason.  The thing is, once a great foundation is built, its easy to rebuild, or in Texas, we prefer the term reload.  The Rangers didn’t make a big free agent splash, but they did sign two veteran bats, Lance Berkman to DH and AJ Pierzynski.  Both have fit in nicely, and have added the pop needed after losing Napoli and Hamilton.  The Rangers decided this was enough to reload the former back to back AL champs, and it turns out they were right.

The season is only a month old, but the Rangers have jumped out to the best record in all of baseball.  The young rotation has looked solid, and Yu Darvish has looked like a true Ace.  The bats haven’t always been hot, but they’ve exploded when needed too.  All in all the Rangers are a far more balanced team than last season.  The faith the Rangers put in guys like Darvish, Kinsler, and Andrus has paid off.  The Rangers have battled early injuries to their rotation, but rookies Nick Tepesch and Justin Grimm have been a very good band aid until Colby Lewis and Matt Harrison come back.  So good that they have made a case to stay in the rotation no matter who gets healthy.  The depth on this rotation might be the deepest in team history.

Hamilton’s and the rival Angels struggles have been icing on the cake, as has the current 6 game lead the Rangers enjoy in the AL west.  The same Dallas/Fort Worth media that claimed the castle was crumbling, and even tried to kick out the king, haven’t been as vocal at the success that the front office has done reloading.  The season is still very young, and the Rangers could fade, but as of now the Rangers front office have seem to made all the right moves.

The Spurs traveled to Oakland tied 1-1 with the Warriors, but were on the ropes.  For starters, they had lost a home game in the playoffs, never a good sign, and were lucky to even win the 1 game at home they did win.  The world was crashing down around the Spurs, and to make things worse they were going to the loudest arena in the NBA (don’t believe me, ask ESPN) and were in real danger of falling 3-1 to the upstart Warriors.  The only problem, nobody told the Spurs they were doomed.

The Spurs rolled into the bay area, and even though the arena was the loudest in the history of sports (again, per ESPN) the Spurs were able to take back home court.  Tony Parker did what great players do, he carried the team in the 1st half, made sure the Warriors didn’t build on their momentum gained in San Antonio.  Parker scored 25 points in the 1st half, and it was enough to springboard the Spurs to victory.

Game 4 didn’t go as well, but the Spurs did play well defensively and took the Warriors to over time.  Bottom line the Spurs took back the series, and home court.  Now don’t start planning the victory parade on the riverwalk yet, the Warriors could come back to San Antonio just as hot as they left.  But the Spurs showed some real grit in the loudest place on earth (ok i’m harping), took the game they needed too, and come back to San Antonio with a real blueprint on how to beat the Warriors, and win this series.