Spurs vs Heat - What does the country think?

[stb]

I was cracking up after seeing this graphic after voting (for the Spurs, of course)

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/3936/finalstx.jpg

[Moranis]

Well rooting for is definitely not the same thing as who you think will win.  I am rooting for the Spurs but believe the Heat will win in 5 or 6.

[LarBrd33]

I'd be happy either way.  I was rooting for Miami to beat the Pacers.  I like that in the NBA, the best always wins.  There are no random years where Denver or the Bobcats luck into the Finals and win a shocker. 

I love that only 9 teams have won the title since 1980.  That's amazing.  34 years and only 9 teams have taken the throne.  The worthy Kings get crowned in this league.  And it's been like only 15 teams since 1960.   We have dynasties and eras.  Russell era.  Bird/Magic era.  Jordan era.  Shaq/Duncan era.  And now... the LeBron era.   

To me, it makes the NBA Championship have more prestige than the rest of the titles.  You know that whoever won that championship was the best in the world.  In the NFL there are plenty of years where you go, "Well the Patriots were definitely the best that year, but they got shocked" or "Yeah the Mariners were by far the most dominant team, won 116 games... but the Diamondbacks won the World Series"...  In the NBA, you can look at every year and instantly see who the best in the world was.  The Championship matters.  I LOVE that. 

This is LeBron's 4th trip to the Finals.  3rd in a row with this team.  This is his era for sure.  Meanwhile, he's overlapping with the tail end of Duncan's era.  It's great stuff.  Historical stuff.  You gotta love it.  It's like when Jordan played Magic in the Finals.   

[hpantazo]

It's a fairly even matchup. The Spurs have clear advantages at PG, big men, and coaching. The Heat have the best player in the game and a bunch of excellent 3pt shooters. I give the Spurs a slight edge. The Heat would need Wade and Bosh to play well all series, which I don't think they can do.

[eugen]

SAS are better as a team. SAS will win the finals.

[NocturnalRebel]

That's funny. I'm surprised SN has San Antone winning.

I think San Antone will win too tho. As I said in tha playoff thread, they're one of tha few teams that do things right and collectively as a team on both sides of tha court. I like San Antone in this series. Spurs have an advantage with their big men, a better PG in Tony Parker, and experience. Spurs also have a better bench than tha Pacers do so they'll stay competitive when tha starters are resting.  Tony Parker will run circles around Chalmers and Cole and I'm not sure if Spoelstra is ready for tha greatness that is Gregg Popovich.

I'll be making my to San Antone from Houston for this series to root for these Spurs. Go Spurs.

[CelticG1]

I'd be happy either way.  I was rooting for Miami to beat the Pacers.  I like that in the NBA, the best always wins.  There are no random years where Denver or the Bobcats luck into the Finals and win a shocker. 

I love that only 9 teams have won the title since 1980.  That's amazing.  34 years and only 9 teams have taken the throne.  The worthy Kings get crowned in this league.  And it's been like only 15 teams since 1960.   We have dynasties and eras.  Russell era.  Bird/Magic era.  Jordan era.  Shaq/Duncan era.  And now... the LeBron era.   

To me, it makes the NBA Championship have more prestige than the rest of the titles.  You know that whoever won that championship was the best in the world.  In the NFL there are plenty of years where you go, "Well the Patriots were definitely the best that year, but they got shocked" or "Yeah the Mariners were by far the most dominant team, won 116 games... but the Diamondbacks won the World Series"...  In the NBA, you can look at every year and instantly see who the best in the world was.  The Championship matters.  I LOVE that. 

This is LeBron's 4th trip to the Finals.  3rd in a row with this team.  This is his era for sure.  Meanwhile, he's overlapping with the tail end of Duncan's era.  It's great stuff.  Historical stuff.  You gotta love it.  It's like when Jordan played Magic in the Finals.

Well this is certainly a bizzare way to look at it.

I'm the complete opposite. I'm not a big fan of a sport being s influenced by its stars that team play, coaching, chemistry, hard work aren't factored in.

I find it much more intriguing when upsets can happen and lesser known players aren't handicapped by the officials and league because they aren't household names.

Basically get lucky and get an all time great on your team or else you have no chance.

Man it would have been extremely refreshing for Mem pacers in the finals.

[LGC88]

Come on, people aren't possibly think Miami will win. I think that's the same thought back in2008. Big majority said LA will win... people are looking at the wrong picture. Each year is different, even though players are the same. Lebron still the best I agree but look at the team play, so inconsistent.  San antonio are a model of consistency and team play.
Now look at the matchup. Spurs dominate in the paint on both end of the floor.  Do you think they will play small ball or up tempo ball just to fall into Miami game? Pop is smart he didn't reveal anything to them during the season, he prepared for them because he knew this was the key to win it this year.
Look at how the spurs play defense. I would say there is one good thing for miami is wade should have the best matchup against Green. Unfortunately Wade is cooked up he won't perform 100% all the game.
You look at all this facts, spurs win in 5 or 6. I think they will loose the first game. 10 days without playing, theg will be out of rythm. But after that if no injuries,  the series will be one way direction.

[LarBrd33]

I'd be happy either way.  I was rooting for Miami to beat the Pacers.  I like that in the NBA, the best always wins.  There are no random years where Denver or the Bobcats luck into the Finals and win a shocker. 

I love that only 9 teams have won the title since 1980.  That's amazing.  34 years and only 9 teams have taken the throne.  The worthy Kings get crowned in this league.  And it's been like only 15 teams since 1960.   We have dynasties and eras.  Russell era.  Bird/Magic era.  Jordan era.  Shaq/Duncan era.  And now... the LeBron era.   

To me, it makes the NBA Championship have more prestige than the rest of the titles.  You know that whoever won that championship was the best in the world.  In the NFL there are plenty of years where you go, "Well the Patriots were definitely the best that year, but they got shocked" or "Yeah the Mariners were by far the most dominant team, won 116 games... but the Diamondbacks won the World Series"...  In the NBA, you can look at every year and instantly see who the best in the world was.  The Championship matters.  I LOVE that. 

This is LeBron's 4th trip to the Finals.  3rd in a row with this team.  This is his era for sure.  Meanwhile, he's overlapping with the tail end of Duncan's era.  It's great stuff.  Historical stuff.  You gotta love it.  It's like when Jordan played Magic in the Finals.

Well this is certainly a bizzare way to look at it.

I'm the complete opposite. I'm not a big fan of a sport being s influenced by its stars that team play, coaching, chemistry, hard work aren't factored in.

I find it much more intriguing when upsets can happen and lesser known players aren't handicapped by the officials and league because they aren't household names.

Basically get lucky and get an all time great on your team or else you have no chance.

Man it would have been extremely refreshing for Mem pacers in the finals.

Do you find that your joy of rooting for the underdog and crossing your finger for lucky bushleague upsets hurts your NBA fandom?  It doesn't happen in this league.  Pretty much every champion is built around a Top 5 player.  They can't do it alone, but when you have a solidly built team... it's usually the one with the superstar who wins titles. 

I get that everyone loves an underdog.  But I kind of like how larger-than-life the greats are in the NBA.  You can measure the greatness of someone like Hakeem or Shaq based on their dominance and titles.  Usually the best team wins.  I think it would have undermined the greatest of the trophy if Golden State has lucked into a championship.  It wouldn't be as fun comparing the 80s dominance of Bird's 3 title team and Magic's 5 title team if every other year was some random Cavs or Suns team.

We'll be able to look back on this era and discuss the historical importance of LeBron James without having to say ... "well we can't forget in 2014 when Brandon Jennings and the Bucks took the crown"... The heck with that noise... the quality of the title is intact.  No bushleague upsets.

Personally, it would have bummed me out if some 49 win Pacer team won a fluke title.  Maybe you think it would be fun... I don't.  I don't like the idea of asterisk champions.  You cant look at 2014 and say "Pacers were the best team"... they weren't the best team. Thankfully the playoffs prevents that from happening.  The cream rises to the top every year.

[aporel#18]

Aside from Florida fans (if you can call them 'fans'), Miami Heat bandwagon fans and LeTravel fanboys, I bet not only US fans, but everyone else is rooting for San Antonio.

I won't loose any sleep, of course, as I don't care that much about those two teams, but I hope to read about LeTravel and his idiotic crew losing to Tim Duncan and his TEAM.

LeBron is the best athlete in the game, but the fact he can't dribble without commiting a travel disqualifies him as best basketball player. The non called offensive fouls could help him qualify to NFL Pro Bowl, though. He'd be amazing playing football. At least Jordan wasn't looking for validation, he was just a jerk who pushed his defenders, but he wasn't talking about the things he would achieve if only he tried to.

I hate the bias toward stars, it's disgusting to watch Karate Hamster and LeTravel getting away with murder. The good thing is Ginobili is a flopper also, so we could be rewarded with a beautiful double flop (Manu and Wade, because LeTravel never flops).

Not a fan of Popovich, but he's great and should outcoach Spoelstra, and I hope T-Mac gets his ring, leaving "that guy" without his easy second championship.

For those who are going to actually watch the games, good luck with disgusting officiating.

Go Celtics!

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

The Pacers showed how a team can beat the Heat (size and muscle), and the Spurs are built the same way—and they're better than the Pacers, and more experienced. So if the Pacers can take Miami to 7, the Spurs should win this series.

At least, that's what I'm hoping. 

[SparzWizard]

I thought Laker fans are gonna root for Miami because the Spurs swept them this season?

Oh wells. GO SPURS GO!

[Fafnir]

The Pacers showed how a team can beat the Heat (size and muscle), and the Spurs are built the same way—and they're better than the Pacers, and more experienced. So if the Pacers can take Miami to 7, the Spurs should win this series.

At least, that's what I'm hoping. 

Spurs aren't really built ths same as the Pacers. The Pacers attacked the glass to beat up on Miami. The Spurs are a very poor offensive rebounding team (but a good defensive rebounding one)

So ORebs for easy points aren't going to be the same sort of difference make for the Spurs.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

The Pacers showed how a team can beat the Heat (size and muscle), and the Spurs are built the same way—and they're better than the Pacers, and more experienced. So if the Pacers can take Miami to 7, the Spurs should win this series.

At least, that's what I'm hoping. 

Spurs aren't really built ths same as the Pacers. The Pacers attacked the glass to beat up on Miami. The Spurs are a very poor offensive rebounding team (but a good defensive rebounding one)

So ORebs for easy points aren't going to be the same sort of difference make for the Spurs.

Good point. I was thinking generally in terms of the Spurs, like the Pacers, have a big front line that could give the Heat some problems.

[Fafnir]

The Pacers showed how a team can beat the Heat (size and muscle), and the Spurs are built the same way—and they're better than the Pacers, and more experienced. So if the Pacers can take Miami to 7, the Spurs should win this series.

At least, that's what I'm hoping. 

Spurs aren't really built ths same as the Pacers. The Pacers attacked the glass to beat up on Miami. The Spurs are a very poor offensive rebounding team (but a good defensive rebounding one)

So ORebs for easy points aren't going to be the same sort of difference make for the Spurs.

Good point. I was thinking generally in terms of the Spurs, like the Pacers, have a big front line that could give the Heat some problems.

They definitely could, and who knows Splitter/Duncan might decide to crash more and get more boards in this match up.

But overall I think this series is going to be a more open contest with a lot of 3s. Which is how Miami wants to play.