Wrost NBA Finals Ever?

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Why? Because it wasn't a one-side four/five game blow out?

Fact is the Nets were great and the Spurs were great... It didn't feature Shaq slam dunking the ball while on his knees or Kobe Bryant dunking from half-court and making three-point hook shots... But what it did feature was old-time basketball that included blocked shots, rebounds and unexpected contributions (19-0 Spurs run that didn't see ONE point out of Duncan and a great showing by back-up point-guard Speedy Claxton and Jason Kidd's backup whose name skips my mind)... It featured the ball being passed by everyone on both teams, none of this ball-hogging crap...

It was basketball at it's greatest... There was no 'show-time' including 5,000 Hollywood stars in the stands taking up seats that 'real' fans could have sat in (not saying there aren't real fans in the hollywood stars ranks, but don't even smile when 'their' team does something awesome, they just look up at the screen coming down from the roof of the arena to see how they look that night, or are they? I couldn't tell behind their sunshades they were wearing in a completely sunless arena)...

There wasn't a movie-star on the court yelling at the refs...

It was great stuff... Nothing else...

[eye of the tiger]

And the championship team is from Texas. Makes it even sweeter.

[Ranger Mom]

Thank You!!!

I am not a big basketball fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I watched this entire series, and enjoyed every minute of it. :D

I was beginning to think there was something the matter with me. I am glad to know that I am not the only one that thought it was pretty exciting! :p :p

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Let me clear some things up... The Lakers were a good team and deserved to win all three because they were awesome, falt out... I just think the NBA fans were used to seeing their style of play the last three years... Even when MJ was still in it the series went six game and even 7... It wasn't just MJ winning the championships, he made everyone around him better...

Every team has their own style of basketball, just because the Spurs and Nets don't play the Lake-Show style, doesn't mean they're boring, they just get the job done in the way that best fits their program... And that's by playing defense before offense (the reason we didn't see a 4th title by the Lakers this year)...

[Chris Hart]

I am VERY glad a Texas team won. I was sick and tired of hearing about the Lakers, but IMO it was not a very entertaining series at all. I would have much rather watched the Maverick's style of play. The Spurs are a little boring.

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Could have been boring to you, I respect your opinion... But I call it basketball... No need for the Mav style of ball, that's not what they're there for, they're there to win a championship... Boring or not, the Suns, Lakers, Mavs and Nets got beat by a boring team in the playoffs, that's something to be proud of...

[Raider4ever]

I would have rather seen the Mavs play to but they had no chance in the playoffs against spurs. they just had no big men that could put out the fire Duncan was puting out. I mean dont get me wrong Mavs put up a good fight and i think they played some of there best defense at "times" against the spurs. But yes i am Glad it was a texas team that one. Haha to bad the Rockets dont look that good. Mabey they will turn it around next year but i will still Keep hollering for my favorite team. GOOOO MAVS!

[Matthew328]

Spurs were a good team.....but the finals were boring....the shooting for both teams was pathetic...and I don't wanna hear anything about good defense....that was just bad execution on offense..

[BanderaBlahBlah]

30+ blocked shots in 6 games by one player? Is that bad offense or good defense?

It's boring if you're not a fan, I thought the Lakers' series in their reign was boring for one reason, I wasn't a fan of theirs... But with an open mind I realized for a Lakers' fan it was VERY exciting...

Sloppy offense caused by execution on defense... Yah, there were bad passes/shots etc... but the majority of it was caused by defense... Malik, Duncan, Robinson, Kidd, Martin, Ginobili (spelling?)... It's called a 'competitive' series, something we haven't seen in a few years...

[BanderaBlahBlah]

PS: I don't care if you think the Spurs are boring, what counts is they're Classy... Oh, and they're the Champs... So here's a big '!' on the subject...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Matthew328]

No one said the Spurs weren't a worthy champ...or that Duncan wasn't a great player....but check the stats out...seeing brick after brick thrown up by both teams didn't do much to help the already sagging ratings of the NBA....and those bad shots weren't caused by good D...I am the biggest basketball fan on this board and I was totally bored with the games...Spurs fans should be glad they won but any Spurs fan who is truly a fan of the game and not just the Spurs will tell you that overall that was bad basketball...

<small>[ June 16, 2003, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: Matthew328 ]</small>

[BanderaBlahBlah]

I'm a fan of the game and I'll tell you that shooting was horrible at times, then again, I'll tell you that there isn't one of us on here (correct me if I'm wrong) who could compete in the NBA so therefor I'm not going to put down two teams for not doing what I couldn't do myself...

Low Ratings? NJ and SA are low in the sports market ratings, SA in the 30's NJ in the teens, so of course the ratings were down... NY wasn't in the playoffs (the number one market) and LA didn't last past the second round (the 2nd biggerst sport's market), there's when the ratings went down)...

You talk about bad shooting? The Spurs shooting %-age in the finals was better than the Bulls shooting %-age in '98 finals (ESPN was on the subject a few hours ago)... So that's not a legit arguement...

Fact is, for the first time in a while it was a evenly matched series...

I just think some people are too hard to entertain...

[Matthew328]

The argument that we could't do it so we can't complain doesn't hold water...we complain about politicians all the time yet 99% of us couldn't do what they do either we complain about lots of things we can't do in life...fact is the NBA is entertainment..and entertain they did not...technically NJ is in the Greater New York area thus most consider them part of the Nw York market...even though most of NYC could care less about NJ...there have been many finals with smaller market teams yet the ratings have never been as bad as they are...when this contract runs out it won't surprise me to see the NBA Finals move to cable becuase no network TV CEO is gonna take the kind of hits ABC is taking...you think the advertisers are staisfied with the ratings?? ABC could could throw some horrible sitcom on and pull better numbers than the NBA Finals..and I never said the Bulls shooting percentage was all that spectacular either..yes this Finals series was somewhat competitive...but that doesn't take away the fact it was bad basketball...

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Politics is a whole different arguement than what the NBA finals is... You vote for the guy to run your office and he doesn't pull through for you? Of course you're going to gripe... I couldn't run office, that's why I don't complain unless we're on the issue of abortion etc...

ESPN stated though NJ and NY are so close that they're not in the same sports market and that their market is obviously lower and completely different... Name the last time the Nets had positive headline news until Kidd arrived a couple of seasons ago...

I know you didn't mention the Bulls' shooting in '98, what my point was is that the ratings were high then and no one was complaining... Why? Because he was MJ, the best, in all of the commercials, he was a marketing god in those days and still is... Who was a marketing God in this series? Tim Duncan is the best player in the land in my book, but he doesn't do commercials etc... so people overlook him... He's a quiet dominator... Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd were about the only players there who were in commercials, one commercial each to my knowledge... Richard Jefferson shared his commercial with Vince Carter leaving most people thinking 'who is that guy'... Jason Kidd never played in a high rated Market (Dallas and Phoenix previously) and Kenyon Martin's commercial was shared with countless other NBA young-'stars'... The last three years? Kobe and Shaq were in almost every commercial you strolled by, even when they WEREN'T winning... Shaq broke the glass and Kobe was included in the Vince Carter/Kobe Bryant 'Who's the next MJ' roo-ha crap... That's why the ratings were down... There were no outspoken stars, they were silent stars, just doing their job...

Boring is your opinion, fine, take it, but that's not why the ratings were down... The ratings were down because of the lack of prime-time marketing that is used by NBA stars who happened to not be there...

[sinton66]

I'm glad the Spurs won, so..........

http://www.debsfunpages.com/smileyfaces/smile7.gifPS, basketball IS boring. (No offense intended, Matthew)

<small>[ June 16, 2003, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: sinton66 ]</small>

[slpybear the bullfan]

Hmmm...

slpybear says, YES, BASKETBALL IS INDEED BORING. It is an idle game invented to fill the deadspace between football seasons.

And also, IMHO, that whole argument about "If you can't do what they do then you cannot complain..." that is a bunch of HorseHockey. Everyone in this grand old US of A gets to say what they feel. And the good owners of the Down Low give us a forum to do it in, (SHAMELESS PLUG FOR ALL THE GUYS WHO MAKE THIS THING HAPPEN). So, keep those HSOs coming folks... (For all non-P1s, that would be a HOT SPORTS OPINION!)

For the record, the Mavs were more entertaining than the Spurs AND ALSO more frustrating than the Spurs. If Nellie doesn't scare us up a big man somewhere this offseason, get ready for a xerox of this past season.

As always, its fun to put in my $.02

[Showtime33]

First off congrats to the Spurs on winning the NBA championship. But you gotta agree, the Spurs are not near as good of a team as some of the more recent NBA champions have been. They have no one besides Duncan that can hit a 15 ft jumper on a regular basis. As for the Nets, I have said it once and I will say it again, there are about 6 teams in the west that IMHO are better than they are. The Spurs got a lot of breaks on their way to the title, granted imjuries are apart of the game but never have I seen a playoff in which key players went down like this. The Spurs got to play a Laker team that wasnt 100% with Rick Fox being out and Kobe and Devan George both playing hurt. Then when they played Dallas, Dirk went out and then it still took all they had to beat Dallas in 6. I will go even further to say that the Spurs couldnt have beat the Kings either but again they didnt have to face them because Webber went down. Like I said, congrats to the Spurs and enjoy it because repeating will not be easy because for the first time in 3 years, the Lakers will be out for revenge and with something to prove. You can bet they will be very hungry and very dangerous.

[Jimbotex40]

bandera blah blah:

if i am not mistaken, you said the following statement, which, by the way, is a contradiction in its very existence:
"Boring is your opinion, fine, take it, but that's not why the ratings were down... The ratings were down because of the lack of prime-time marketing that is used by NBA stars who happened to not be there..."

ok, i am going to analyze this and make it as simple as possible to understand.

take the first sentence, "Boring is your opinion, fine, take it, but that's not why the ratings were down." Ok, decent statement.. makes you wonder why the ratings were down... all it needs is a strong following sentence to be valid.

then came the ignorance... hmm, i wonder why the ratings were down. oh wait, here's the moron's answer (here is your reasoning for why the ratings were low): "The ratings were down because of the lack of prime-time marketing that is used by NBA stars who happened to not be there.."

this would be valid except for the fact that the lack of prime-time players EQUALS boringness.

how can you say that the ratings were not low because of boring play, but rather lack of prime-time players, when in fact these two variables go hand in hand.

IT WAS BORING BECAUSE IT LACKED PLAYERS THAT AMERICANS (and for that matter, the dozens of countries that had the capacity to view it, but chose not to) PREFER TO SEE DRIBBLE, PASS, SHOOT, AND DUNK!!!!

.period.

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Congrats on pointing out, well, nothing... You just made me dumber by having read your post, yet made me look a hell of a lot smarter... Ha HA... Who are you calling moron?

[BanderaBlahBlah]

So, you're saying High School Football is boring because none of them are prime-time commercial stars? Never seen a High School football player (who was currently playing) star in a commercial... Would that make high school football boring? My two points were no contradictions, look up the word, your OPINION is what made it a contradiction... Go sound educated somewhere else Einstein!

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Oh, and I said 'prime-time MARKETING players'... You know, commercials etc...? Not just prime-time players... Geez

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Come on, call me moron again and come up with some more conclusive statements on why I'm an idiot...

[BanderaBlahBlah]

slybear: Great point, prolly wasn't the right thing to say on my part... Appologie to everyone on that arguement...

Showtime: Get off of the injury gripe... David Robinson's minutes were limited in the playoffs etc... do to back pains, Malik Rose and Kevin Willis stepped in... When Tony Parker had the flue symptoms and when he wasn't playing up to his potential, Speedy Claxton stepped in and did a great job... So basically, the Spurs gave teams chances to beat them when they had to put in bench riders, but they didn't use it as an excuse, they put together a great team during the offseason so they could play through key injuries... So no more injury crap, it's part of the game...

[BanderaBlahBlah]

And ps. showtime... 'nobody but Duncan' crap is old too... One of the most amazing things about the 4th quarter comeback last night was that in SA's 19-0 run Duncan scored a whopping '0' points... 'Team' effort wins championships as well...

[Showtime33]

Bandera, if you have watched the NBA over the past decade, you would agree that the Spurs are no where near as good as the past champions. The Spurs won the title this year and no one can take that away from them, but you got to admitt they had a lot of luck along the way, more luck than any NBA championship team that i have ever saw. You are talking about Robinson having back problems but Robinson is no where near the player he use to be. Then you want to talk about Parker battling the flu, what was that for, one game??? Bottom line is the Spurs didnt get the injury to their key player like the Mavs and the Kings did and thus they are the champs and you are right that is part of the game. The main point I was making though was that they are not as strong as the NBA championship teams from the past. Match this team up with any of the Laker teams from the past 3 years or any of the Bulls title teams and the Spurs would be lucky to win 2 games. As they say, its a lot harder to defend the title than it is to win the title and we will see how the Spurs fair next year when they are the ones with the target on them.

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Best D in the league best player in the league... Honestly, how can we KNOW for sure that they wouldn't beat a past champion? Sure, they did things sloppy here and there, but so did a lot of past champions... It took the Lakers six to beat the Pacers in '00, a team most said plain out sucked without Reggie Miller... The Lakers stumbled just as the Spurs, missing shots etc... But did we take that one away from them? Why hell no!

I didn't just mention PArker's flu like symptoms, I mentioned his games where he couldn't score, the opposing team had him defended perfectly, so he might as well have been injured...

They won, that's it, no need to be compared, it's this year, not the last 10 years... I don't see every high school football champ having simular questions asked about them... They're called the 2003 champs for a reason, let 'em be...

[BanderaBlahBlah]

And the Mavericks would have won the series with Dirk in? Personally, that doesn't mean crap because the MAvs looked better to me (matched up better etc...) without Dirk in the game, besides that, the Spurs were up 2-1 when Dirk was in the games... Spurs couldn't beat Sac? What was the Spurs record against Sac during the reg season? Dang, I believe it was somewhere around 3-4?

You're not coming up with good arguements here...

Be back later!

[footballgal]

All I have to say is:

GO SPURS GO!!
2003 NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!

(ENOUGH SAID)

[RBARKER]

Bandera you have some good points through out this post, congrats to the Spurs. I have fell off the Basketball wagon since Da Bulls lost MJ, but I am so glad that the Spurs put the Lakers to rest. If I had to see another Kobe/Shack parade I would have puked eek!

[Phil C]

BEST NBA FINALS WE EVER HAD!!

[Phil C]

AND I AM TALKING ABOUT THE SPURS - NETS SERIES IN MY LAST POST! :) GO SPURS! I will be wearing my Spurs cap to the football games in the fall. That is my distinguishing trademark. :)

[PPHSfan]

I just have one question...

What does the word WROST mean?

[Showtime33]

Best D in the league huh? Maybe, but now days teams can drop into a zone defense and then average defenders look like great defenders because they only have to cover an area instead of covering a man. I think the league needs to go back to the way it use to be where you had to play man to man D. They went to this rule of allowing zone defenses to improve scoring in the league but as we seen in the finals, there are not too many teams in the league that have players that can hit an open shot anymore. Yeah it took the Lakers 6 to beat the Pacers but that Pacer team was a lot better than the Nets from this year. The Pacers had players that could actually score and hit a jump shot. The Spurs won this year though, its over but I think the Spurs are going to have to improve over the off-season, which they have the money to do, in order to repeat next year.

[Bandera YaYa]

Gee, PPHSfan...all of that and all you can think to respond to, is a misspelling? If I had pointed out someones missplelled word, every time I saw one, I would have been on here 24-7! And I know you would have loved that!! :D

I don't know who you are BlahBlah, but you rock!
Don't listen to all the bull on here about the Spurs not being a worthy opponent....it's the same old chatter we got when we won the football championship....some people just can't be happy for you and what you accomplished....you are new on here....welcome and good luck!

My 2 cents worth is this on the Spurs: They are a classy team who won a good fight. They beat some really good teams, but they did beat them fair and square. "Would of, could of, should of.." is no reason to knock a championship team.
I think the Lakers are a bunch of THUGS and crybabies....Shaq is just a big batch of blubber who shoves his way around the basket. The Spurs are a class act and I am damn proud they represent the USA as its NBA Champions! If you like to watch a bunch of nasty, criminal wife beaters, than I guess the Spurs wouldn't be your favorite team! Go live in LA or New York!! ....just my suggestion and opinion, that's all.

[PPHSfan]

Sorry, but the point I was trying to make was that on a Basketball thread, the only thing worthy of a remark was that the thread title had a misspelled word. :D

But since I am here, congratulations to the spurs on a great year.&lt;&lt;&lt;How's that? :p

[Bandera YaYa]

So,you don't like basketball, huh? I think it's exciting in it's own right, but to each his own! I especially like high school basketball, to watch it, you are so close to the action.

You football fanatics are getting antsy....don't worry football season is just around the corner! Hold on a little bit longer.... :p Ya Ya!!

[Showtime33]

Lakers are thugs huh? What makes them a bunch of thugs? Who on that team has been in trouble with the law. You can say what you want about Shaq but when he is healthy, he is the most dominant force in the NBA and is unstoppable. Credit the Spurs again though, they were finally able to beat the Lakers after being eliminated by them the past two years.

[BanderaBlahBlah]

I don't care how many teams are improved when dropping into a zone.. Normal teams don't have two players with 4 plus blocks and 15 plus rebounds... That's good defense, not zone... And to point it out, the Spurs first used the Zone in game 6 during the 3rd quarter... Played straight up the rest of the way and had awesome defensive numbers...

Do a little research before sparatically posting these replies without credible back-up...

Sorry, PPHSFan, it was a typo... I don't know whether I'm stupid for making a typo, or if you're stupid for not being able to figure out what I meant...

BTW PPHSFan, I'm just pulling you're leg...

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Congrats for elimnating the Lakers after being knocked out by them the past two years? Don't even say congrats if your intent is to rub-in past defeats... Heck, I could come along and say 'Congrats to the Lakers for beating the Spurs the last two years after being swept and completely embarrassed on their own court by the Spurs... But I don't, they won their 3-in-a-row fair and square, and I can't take it away from them, none of the most horrible comments I could come up with about them could take it way, and the comments are irrelevant due in part to the fact that they won the championship(s)...

There's none of this 'injury' crap, who would of beat who last year etc... This is NBA in 2003, not 2002 and the years before...

Go Spurs Go!

<small>[ June 17, 2003, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: BanderaBlahBlah ]</small>

[big daddy russ]

Showtime33:
Best D in the league huh? Maybe, but now days teams can drop into a zone defense and then average defenders look like great defenders because they only have to cover an area instead of covering a man....Maybe, but the Spurs play straight up man to man. They have more great defenders than any other team in the league. (Detroit would be the only team anywhere close in this aspect) Duncan is one of the two best defensive power forwards in the league (Ben Wallace usually plays center... but we'll include him with the rest of the PFs) and Bruce Bowen is one of the two best perimeter defenders in the league (yes, I'm leaving Gary Payton and Jason Kidd off that list which includes Ron Artest and Bowen). The rest of the guys are great at forcing opponents towards the baseline or straight into the lane, using their big men to their advantage and playing great TEAM defense, something hardly any other team in the League grasps nowadays.

Was it a great series? I think so because I'm a Spurs fan, but to other people it might not have been as good. To each his own.

The real question is were the Spurs the BEST team in the league this year?

Most definitely. And yes, they would have beat the Kings the same way the beat everyone else. It wasn't pretty, but defense wins championships. That same defense gave them the best record in the league through the regular season and beat both the Lakers and the Mavs, both of whom are teams I would consider top-five in the league, in six games. They also beat the Nets and the Suns in six and yes, I do believe the Spurs played down a little against the Nets.

Oh, and Dallas did do better without Dirk. It's amazing how a guy who only averages 6.7 points per game can make a series that much closer. Isn't great to see a guy play defense?

I'll get off my little soapbox now. :D

[SintonFan]

BanderaBlahBlah:
30+ blocked shots in 6 games by one player? Is that bad offense or good defense?

It's boring if you're not a fan, I thought the Lakers' series in their reign was boring for one reason, I wasn't a fan of theirs... But with an open mind I realized for a Lakers' fan it was VERY exciting...

Sloppy offense caused by execution on defense... Yah, there were bad passes/shots etc... but the majority of it was caused by defense... Malik, Duncan, Robinson, Kidd, Martin, Ginobili (spelling?)... It's called a 'competitive' series, something we haven't seen in a few years...[I had to jump in here and didn't need to read the rest...]

BanderaBlahBlah,
hehe! I agree with you! wink
Any good defense makes the other team seem like they're missing their shots! Today(tuesday) some networks have now opened up and said the SA Spurs have one of the greatest defenses. It's something us in SA have known for awhile.
I don't care about ratings or other peoples' feelings(that's for all you band-wagoners).

I applaud your defense of the SPURS!
They deserve it!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Bandera YaYa]

Bravo, all you Spurs fans!! Doesn't it feel good to have such great champions from the state of Texas! They beat teams no one thought they could beat and they proved they were the best team in 2003. Don't play the "would have, could have, should have" game....it doesn't prove a thing and the Spurs did prove they were the best!

[SintonFan]

Had to make a statement:

NOONE IN SA CARES ABOUT RATINGS!
Boring or not David went out on top.
Duncan twice twice had MVP's.
Duncan would be great with Jermaine or K Mart or J Kidd, no matter. (Same result, I think)
Spurs will be just as good in the future, maybe better!
:D

<small>[ June 17, 2003, 09:27 PM: Message edited by: SintonFan ]</small>

[SintonFan]

PPHSfan:
I just have one question...

What does the word WROST mean?WROST: Worst Representatives Of the media Stays Together? (hehe, this IS for ABC commentaters)

WROST: Wrong Recognition Of Superior Talent! (need I say more for detractors on this thread?)

[BanderaBlahBlah]

Ha, like that one SintonFan

[BULLDOGFAN]

Good things happen to good people and that is exactly what happened with the Spurs this year.

There were pro's and con's to every facet of their game and style this year but in the end the good guys won. It is something that should be impressed more on the student/athletes of today.

I know in the old days kids wanted to be like Staubach, Earl, and Montana.... Now who do they imitate. If more kids lived their lives like David and Tim the reality of the sport would be easier to handle.

How many other teams would have professed their Christianity on national television as the Spurs have done.

The last two years at Bandera games during the moment of silence the crowd has repeated the Lord's Prayer. The players always had a prayer before the game and ashamedly so, without the Coaches, due to current law.

I am sure their are many in sports that live the honest life and they should be commended. When I asked my son was it hard to be good, he replied "NO, it was easy" This from a kid who was on the Championship Team and in the top 10 of his class. What an honest answer and a simple answer.

Too many people believe that being good is hard. The Spurs proved otherwise.

I know, I am off the soap box....

[PhiI C]

BEST NBA SERIES WE EVER HAD!! WAY TO GO SPURS!!

[Jimbotex40]

bandera blah blah:

ON YOUR SECOND COMMENT(made at 12:14 AM):
"so, you're saying High School Football is boring because none of them are prime-time commercial stars? Never seen a High School football player (who was currently playing) star in a commercial... Would that make high school football boring? My two points were no contradictions, look up the word, your OPINION is what made it a contradiction... Go sound educated somewhere else Einstein!

There is a difference between Texas high school football and the National Basketball Association.

The difference is that i am close to my high school football team, i am a part of our town's rallying behind them in our playoffs run.

The NBA is different in that i dont know the guys (on, for instance, my favorite team, the Mavs) i dont tell dirk "hell of a game buddy"(after a win) and i dont tell finley "dont worry, youll get em next time"(after a loss).

However, do tell these same things to Caleb Hanie and Baylen Laury and Coy Davis and Nick Najarro (players on our team, in case youre a slow thinker). like i said, i am a part of this team.

You cannot compare the boringness of the spurs-nets finals (due to lack of prime-time players) to Texas high school football, and derive to the point that there are no prime-time players in high school football, so it, in turn, must be boring as well.

That comparison is totally ridiculous and retarded. high school football is fun to watch not only because we know the kids and feel like a part of the team, but also because they play each game with a passion that doesnt exist in most pro sports teams.

I can guarantee that you have the same reasons for loving your burnet dogs as i have for loving my Forney Jackrabbits.

Oh, and please, for everyone's sake, dont try and tell us that you are best buds with tim duncan or tony parker or one of the spurs players.

ON YOUR THIRD COMMENT(made at 12:17 AM):
"oh, and I said 'prime-time MARKETING players'... You know, commercials etc...? Not just prime-time players... Geez"

Do not, for a moment, think that i didnt know what you meant when you said prime-time player. i knew what you were inferring about being in commercials and what not.

Also, in the moronic quote of yours that i was bashing, it did not say marketing prime-time players as you claim it said. you might have used that word elsewhere, but not in that quote i used. but anyways, i knew what you meant, so it doesnt matter.

ON YOUR FOURTH COMMENT(made at 12:23 AM):
"come on, call me moron again and come up with some more conclusive statements on why I'm an idiot..."

I am also gonna have to ask you not to think that i just sit here at my computer all day and wait for you to yap off again. ive got better things to do.

Well, it was you wish that I bash your horrendous comments, which by the way, are becoming much too familiar with the 3adownlow screen name banderablahblah.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

[Showtime33]

For the last time, congrats to the Spurs. Im sorry if some of my opinions didnt set to well with you guys down there in the SA area. When a local sports team wins a championship, its a great accomplishment especially when its the only major sports team you have. Just think, soon you will get to watch a NFL team hold training camp too down there in the SA area, so its a good time to be down south.

[Phil C]

BEST NBA SERIES WE EVER HAD! WAY TO GO SPURS! :)

[Phil C]

They are having a parade in San Antonio today for the Spurs. I wish I could be there even though it is probably not on television due to low ratings. :)

[Phil C]

Man I still can't get over what a great series this was. Best NBA series we ever had.

[Bandera YaYa]

Now, I'm wondering if Phil C is making fun or is really a great Spurs fan???????

[Phil C]

Bandara if you come to Sinton the folks here can tell you. Also I have worn my Spur cap to the Sinton football games for the past two years since it is kind of my distinguishing trade mark at the games. The only time I was neutral was when they played the Mavs since both teams play in Texas. WAY TO GO SPURS! BEST NBA SERIES WE EVER HAD!

[BanderaBlahBlah]

I didn't see any bashing there jimbo, just mindless chattering to one's self...

I respect the Forney athletic program and gongrats on getting a great new place to play your games etc...

But let me use this as an example for you:

I (along with many others) were very interested in coming to watch Forney a couple of years back because the only person we were reading about on the internet was who? Blanton, of course... 'Blanton's so fast, he's so awesome, look at him go'... It was all over the internet... When they went to state and play La Grange everyone wanted to go see Blanton run because he was all over the Internet... Heck way down in South Texas the Sports sections would have articles that were not headlined as 'Forney RB Blanton'... It was Simply titled 'Blanton runs for...' Everyone knew who we was and everyone wanted to go watch Forney play...

Now that he's not there, I (again along with others) are not as interested in SEEING Forney play (still concerned on how they turn out) as much as we were when Blanton was there...

Now, before you go off on one of your invisible 'bashings' again, let me clear this up... I AM NOT SAYING THAT FORNEY IS ANY BETTER OR ANY WORSE WITHOUT BLANTON... What I am saying is that he brought attention not only to himself, but to the whole community of Forney when he was running all over people, putting him in the news more than any other player in any classification his senior year... People from 5A schools on other message boards post an article about him every time they see one about how athletics is going for him at OU... He brought Forney a lot of attention when he was there...

This is simular to the whole argument I've been making... If you're a more publicized (marketed in the pro ranks) then the team's most likely going to be carried along with you...

Michael Jordon had his own shoes, had his own cologne, was a guest host on Saturday Night Live etc... because of his great play, something that let's say Tim Duncan and Jason Kidd DO have a chance to do, but they don't for their own reasons... They shot a lower shooting percentage in the '98 finals than the Spurs and Nets did in the '03 finals... But he was MJ, the 'Nike Air Jordon' man, the cologne man...

Now he is the best player I've ever seen, that could have helped a little... But how do you explain Duncan's performance in t he finals? Broke a finals record in blocked shots... In the final game he had over 20 points, over 15 rebounds, over 10 assists and 8 blocks, that's two blocked shots away from a Quad-Double...

So here you have a great player as well, shooting better than MJ in the '98 finals, but why are the ratings down? He's not a marketing God...

[Old Tiger]

Who cares if it was a bad Championship. At least it wasn't a sweep.

[Phil C]

Best NBA series we ever had!

[JasperDog94]

Showtime33:
You can say what you want about Shaq but when he is healthy, he is the most dominant force in the NBA and is unstoppable. Sure, Shaq is unstoppable when the refs let him run over people. I mean, come on. When he has a defender on him, knocks down the defender, slams the ball down and gets a foul called on the defender, of course he looks unstoppable.

In the Spurs series, the refs finally started to make some foul calls against him. I must say that it was nice to see him ride the pine for awhile.

Shaq is definately a great player, but not unstoppable.

[Phil C]

Best NBA series we ever had!

[Phil C]

I will be wearing my Spurs cap to the football games again this fall! What a great team the Spurs are. I am still reading my special SI edition.

BEST NBA SERIES WE EVER HAD! :)

[PhiI C]

Wasn't Tim Duncan great in the series with the Nets?

BEST NBA SERIES WE EVER HAD!

[super1]

Bad basketball? I think not. This was the NBA championship. Boring? Maybe to you, but not to me.
I know good defense when I see it. Granted there were some bricks put up, but that alone does not make it bad basketball.

[Bandera YaYa]

Heard that Shaq has hired some drill sargent type to get him in shape for next year.....could it be he is having doubts about himself.....took him long enough!! :p :p