Category: In the News

Blog brother lists the Spurs’ untouchables and others who could be swapped this summer

I always like new and different graphical ways of explaining stories.

B Diddy of Air Alamo.com had an intriguing look at the Spurs roster in terms of their .

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splittler and yes, even Tony Parker were listed as near untouchables by Diddy on his graphic. DeJuan Blair, Matt Bonner and Richard Jefferson weren’t nearly as fortunate in their ratings.

It was an intriguing way of breaking down the Spurs’ roster heading into the summer. And it will be interesting to see how closely the strategies of Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford match Diddy’s approximations.

Here are a few other takes from across the blogosphere about the Spurs and a variety of NBA topics.

  • Eric Freeman of Yahoo.com’s Ball Don’t Lie Blog compliments  Ginobili’s toughness in .
  • Pounding the Rock.com’s Big 50 gives Popovich  and for his work during the season.   
  • All-around athlete Erin Rambo of Euclid, Ohio, tells the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that .
  • From the department of potential Spurs roster additions, Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spells out the reasons why Josh Smith .
  • And Nick Underhill of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican wonders if the in Boston.
  • Alley Oop of Spurslocker.com predicts thatsome day.
  • Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports that VCU’s Jamie Skeen, a 6-foot-8 forward,during last week’s draft combine in Chicago.
  • Jeff Washburn of the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier reports that Dallas forward Brian Cardinal is attempting to become the fifth former Purdue player to play for an NBA champion. One of them is Glenn Robinson, .
  • B Diddy of Air Alamo.com haswith the 29th pick in his mock draft.
  • Ginobili picks in an interview with the Argentinian publication  translated by Jeff Garcia of Project Spurs.com. 
  • Spursfan4life of Spurs Dynasty.com has six reasons why he.
  • Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman liked the move by Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks of in the fourth quarter against Dallas in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
  • Veteran San Diego Tribune columnist Nick Canepa isn’t including Dirk Nowitzki.  

Buck Harvey: Heat edge: Tonight just the usual hatred

DALLAS — This time, they laughed. This time, Dwyane Wade posed in front of the Mavericks’ bench before LeBron James threw a couple of playful jabs.

And when they came apart shortly after? America loved it.

But there was a time when they cried, and America loved that, too. Those days were not unlike the final seven minutes of Game 2: Chris Bosh was as confused as Erik Spoelstra was clueless then, and James dribbled until he missed.

The Heat overcame all of that during the long season, however, and that’s what should worry the Mavericks tonight.

After this circus of a season, isn’t some embarrassment and failure just the usual for Miami?

James and his teammates have learned to live with standards that apply only to them. Kevin Durant heard far less, for example, in the Western Conference finals. Then, he strapped on an imaginary championship belt after swishing the kind of 3-pointer that Wade made Thursday.

The Mavericks rallied in that game, too. But Jason? Terry didn’t say anything about Durant then, nor did the media, when a few comments could have been said.

One possibility: Durant must have really been strapping on an imaginary diaper.

Then there’s the point that James made about Terry on Saturday. “If (Terry) runs down the court doing the whole wings expanded,” James said, “do we count that as a celebration as well?”

A few people in San Antonio have seen the Jet act and are nodding right now. Terry is far from the model of professional comportment.

“I just think,” James continued, “everything gets blown out of proportion when the Miami Heat does things.”

James brought it on himself. Still, somewhere in the middle of the taunts and the blame, with everyone but South Florida rooting against the Heat, the abnormal became the normal.

Maybe the bottom came in March, when James and Wade missed last-second shots and Miami lost its fifth game in six tries. That’s when Spoelstra, trying to emphasize how much his guys cared, said, “There are a couple of guys crying there in the locker room.”

What followed was all-star schadenfreude, and it went far beyond fans and media.

“Wait ’til I call him, man,” Carmelo Anthony said of Bosh then. “I’ll be like, ‘What are you doing?’”

What were they doing? They were enduring harsh criticism and angry arenas as they tried to contend in their first year together. At times it had to be frustrating, if not maddening, and yet here they are in the Finals.

Here they are, too, as a dominant team that threw away Game 2. Miami has played better for longer in the first two games, and it fits with what the Heat did against the 76ers, Celtics and Bulls before.

So what happens now? Bosh is back to his teary days, shooting 26 percent in the Finals. Spoelstra was out-coached Thursday. James ran no offense in the final minutes before missing threes, which is what he was doing in January. And, having given away such a game, there’s reason to wonder how they will respond on the road under Finals pressure.

Still, Miami has a few things to lean on. One is talent.

Another was there Thursday until the end, which is the Heat defense. Dallas plays defense, too, but not like this. Dirk Nowitzki calls it “almost suffocating.”

Then there’s what Wade said Saturday. “It’s going to be a hostile environment,” he said. “Nothing the Miami Heat are not used to.”

Everything has been hostile for seven months, and maybe that’s their edge now. They’ve been able to set aside their failures, and whatever anyone says about them, and the aftermath of Game 2 fits into that.

They celebrate too much?

They’ve heard much, much worse.

bharvey@express-news.net

Buck Harvey: Someone won’t be Bird, MJ for long

In the span of a month, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James have come a long way. One is Larry Bird, the other Michael Jordan.

That’s some rise for two guys who, over a combined 21 years in the league, have won two games in their NBA Finals history.

But that’s the way of the tweeting, blogging, 24/7, everybody-has-to-say-something world. Wait a few days, and Mark Cuban might even become likable.

Wait a few weeks, though, and something else will happen. Either Nowitzki or James will lose, and the reaction will be harsh as one of them returns to what he was before.

That’s the way this world works, too.

Today they are what they have been this postseason, which is spectacular. Each returns to their second Finals at the peak; if Nowitzki hasn’t been the best in the playoffs, then James has.

The Spurs have beaten both in the postseason, but they’ve lost to Nowitzki while appreciating how outrageous his ability is. Antonio McDyess said recently Nowitzki’s signature move, his step-back jumper, is “one of the toughest” shots he has ever faced.

The move is unblockable. Worse for a defender, the difference between the shot itself and the fake is a twitch.

But Nowitzki could always shoot, which is why Rick Pitino compared him to Bird as long ago as 2000. Now Nowitzki is playing with certainty that wasn’t always there.

Just as Pitino went for the easy association — skin color and height — others have, too. “Nowitzki may be as close to Larry Bird as the NBA has to offer,” wrote an Associated Press columnist this month.

And after Nowitzki scored 12 points in the final five minutes of regulation in Game 4 against Oklahoma City, Brendan Haywood followed along. “A lot of people compare him to Larry Bird, and this is why,” Haywood said.

James has heard the same, albeit with different historical references. An ESPN scouting analyst compared him this weekend to Jordan, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen and, just for fun, Derek Fisher.

That’s more impressive than merely being another Bird. “He did not win the regular-season MVP,” the analyst wrote of James, “but anyone who does not see James as the WBP (World’s Best Player) after this postseason is simply not being objective.”

But it’s what someone else said last week that made news. “Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game,” Pippen said on ESPN radio. “But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved.”

That’s one opinion, and here’s another: Had Pippen played without Jordan in, say, Atlanta, Pippen would never have been named one of the NBA’s 50 best.

And when they rename the top 50? James and Nowitzki will be there; Pippen won’t.

Still, the way James is playing draws these kinds of superlatives. As it is with Nowitzki, these are men dominating the game as only the best have.

That’s why what Jason Terry said about Nowitzki last week applies to both. “I don’t think anybody is questioning his greatness right now,” Terry said.

But that’s “right now.” Wait until one of them fails. Wait until everyone is reminded that Nowitzki went out in the first round in three of the previous four years. Wait until the clips are shown again from last season, when James appeared to quit against Boston.

Losing will crush one of them. There will be tweets and blogs, 24/7. Everybody will have something to say, and this much is guaranteed.

One of them won’t be Bird, or one of them won’t be Jordan.

bharvey@express-news.net