The Spurs do it all the right way***.  Today’s NBA is a me-me-me league with the majority of its stars often seen pouting and whining like little babies after being told they can’t have Lucky Charms by a parent in the grocery store.  The Spurs are perfectly content with eating Cherrios every morning; not the Honey Nut kind either. 

The San Antonio Spurs remind me of the days when Detroit was a well oiled machine that was efficient and exciting (to basketball purists anyway) on the court, got along well off of it, and largely kept out of the media’s focus. Detroit’s seven year run was special because of what happened on the court—the only drama occurred during the games. It was about the team, not about select individuals. Defense was a must, and it was stellar.  Their was a unity and purity about the team that just lured fans in, making it a proud and memorable era in Detroit Pistons basketball.  Detroit quite simply went to work. Every night.  Detroit succeeded in a star driven, big market league.

San Antonio is much the same, and yes, that’s an understatement.  The Spurs are Batman, the Pistons are Robin; let’s get that straight.   The small market Spurs are the epitome of humble team basketball at the pro level, something that is fairly rare nowadays. They do their jobs and go home and behave themselves.  They don’t run their mouths and they certainly don’t go looking for cameras craving attention. Although Tim Duncan was a superstar in his day, he sure didn’t attract the negative attention that most do. His focus is on winning ball games; essentially, winning championships is what he relishes.  Some of that should be credited to Tim himself; he didn’t let his head explode when he became the star and saw millions in his bank account.  David Robinson, the class act and hearty leader and mentor that he is, can also be thanked for Duncan’s display of class and professionalism. Don’t forget coach Gregg Popovich, who, let’s not forget, is regarded as the Spurs identity; which embodies trust, humbleness and loyalty.  Pop shys away from attention, letting his coaching and his team’s play do all the talking.  Behind the scenes Popovich does what he has to do to keep things light, something like this, and he has done it well for fourteen and a half seasons.  I guess time is the most impressive aspect in all of this.  Their sustained success is unusual in professional sports.

–They’ve been 50 game winners 13 out of the last 14 seasons (went 37-13 in 98/99 strike shortened season, won Title) .

–They’ve won 3 NBA Titles in the 21^st century. 

–They still don’t get the attention they deserve.  It was always LA this, Dallas that, oh Phoenix is sexy and fun yada yada yada.  Now, it’s all about LA, Dallas, and….the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Spurs are generally left out of the picture.

***Ok, maybe Tony Parker doesn’t.

THE SPURS IN A NUTSHELL

The Spurs have youth, big game experience, shooting, and veteran leadership to legitimately compete for a Title. They also have ginger Matt Bonner, who will steal your soul right out of your cold body.  Of course, only after he slings through a jumper right  in your face first.   

–Tony Parker is healthy again this season and wreaking havoc on defenses, and, surprisingly, is shooting 4% better from downton than his career %. 

–Timmy Duncan might not be scoring as much as he’s used to, but he still rebounds and still blocks shots at an impressive clip.  Come on,  9 reb/gm in nearly 29 min/gm is excellent for a soon to be 35 year old.

–Ginobili is unconventionally  unconventional, and I have always liked him.  He’s smooth in a non-smooth type of way.  

–Richard Jefferson is not as effective as he once was, but he’s found his groove in the Spurs system more this season—shooting more than 12% better from downtown than last season. 

The Spurs bench gets a ton of run; consequently nobody averages more than 33 minutes per game on the entire squad.  George Hill is an efficient scorer at 11 ppg in 28 min/gm.  He nails the three at a 39% clip and is a solid defensive player.  Gary Neal is a smooth shooting world journeyman who has found a home with San Antonio in this his first NBA season and can proudly say he was the oldest rookie to ever appear in a Rookie-Sophomore game. Of course, there’s the aforementioned Matt Bonner, who has developed into more than just a deep threat.  He actually rebounds a little now.

The most interesting roles on this Spur’s team go to DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess.  Pop has started Blair for the entire season, until recently, as he’s decided to insert McDyess into the other front court spot.  McDyess’s ability to knock down jumpers frees up room for Duncan to operate early in games, and the Spurs are banking on Dyess to put his fresh legs to use for the stretch run.  Punxsutawney Phil, anyone? 

Blair will be playing about the same amount of minutes and shouldn’t see his startling 7+ reb/gm in 22 min/gm shrink, but actually should see it rise some as he’ll be playing a little more against second units than he’s used to.  Rooks Tiago Splitter and sharp shooter James Anderson figure to be rarely used 10^th and 11^thmen during the playoffs.  NBA journeymen Steve Novak and Chris Quinn would be useful if a HORSE competition decided the winner of a game.  They can fight over that last active roster spot and the Spurs aren’t worse off either way.

GEORGE HILL UP CLOSE

I got to watch George Hill play in person when his IUPUI squad came to town 4 years ago while I still attended Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. The Summit League (DI) doesn’t attract too many NBA caliber players, so it was a treat to see a NBA type player up close in such an intimate little arena such as the O’rena at Oakland.  I remember that Hill (a senior at the time) had a killer hard body and was faster than fast, and that was saying something because Oakland had a lightning quick point guard who couldn’t stay with George at all.  Hill definitely showed flashes of his NBA skill set, but it was difficult to judge him because of the less than NBA worthy competition he was playing against.  So to make a long story short, I followed Hill’s NBA draft process and was very stoked to see him end up on a team like the Spurs—and was not surprised to see them draft a small time college player anyway.

ANTONIO McDYESS IS A GOOD DUDE

Antonio worked his butt off in a Detroit uniform and deserved better in his five seasons there.  He almost tasted his first NBA championship in just his very first season Detroit but, gasp, the Spurs defeated Detroit in 7 games. He was the heart and soul of the post-championship Pistons, a well mannered guy with a jump shot sometimes machine like with its precision, and a quick jumper who battled for every board.  McDyess revitalized his career in Detroit, managing to play all 82 games in back to back seasons after suffering through career altering knee injuries earlier in his career.  Pistons fans adore him.  I adore him.  There are a lot of Pistons fans who would love to see Antonio win a ring.

McDyess will melt if he can ever win a ring.  I want to see that happen, for this is likely the last quality chance the Spurs have to win one.

One of my favorite Antonio McDyess moments occurred on the road in Minnesota when he and Garnett got into a little tussle.  Garnett started it, but then wanted no part of the festivities once McDyess reacted.  McDyess’s charge at Garnett really surprised me because McDyess rarely, if ever, loses his cool.  Apparently Garnett thought so too because if he would have shown just a little more hustle he would have blown Melo’s backpedal out of the water.

SO, WHAT HAPPENS?

Can the Spurs (home court throughout playoffs mind you) beat the Mavs, Thunder or Lakers in a 7 game series?  

I have my doubts.

And most of the basketball following world has their doubts too. 

So, advantage Spurs.

(Image via nolltrain.blogspot.com)

Follow Ryan on Twitter @rpravato.  Avery Johnson will come hunt you down if you don’t.