Well I’ve had a few days to digest the incredibly disappointing NBA Finals.
I’m not disappointed by who won, although I would have slightly preferred the Spurs win it all. I’m just disappointed the series only went 5 games.
But when you have a very young team whose top three players have a combined 6 years of NBA experience, winning a title is a pretty tall order (no pun intended). When you add in a coach in his first year, you have the recipe for a quick series loss. And that is exactly what happened. Mitch Johnson was beyond overmatched. But the end of game four, he looked shellshocked… because he was.
I already wrote about how his poor coaching lead to the loss in game two. His decision to not call a timeout to settle his young team with nine seconds left in a finals game, sealed their fate in that game.
But that was nothing compared to Johnson’s performance in a game the Spurs led by 29 in the second half. Had Gregg Popovic, the best coach in the history of the NBA, not had a stroke and was healthy enough to coach this Spurs team, they would have won that game by 40 points. There is no chance he would have let them chuck threes early in the shot clock with such a huge lead. He also would have known Wemby was EXHAUSTED and needed to rest in the fourth quarter. Pop would have won those two games. By my math, that means the Spurs would have led the series 3-2 after 5 games. But alas, Johnson is a young coach who made young coach mistakes.
Speaking of Wemby, if you watched the games and not just the stat sheet, he was amazing. His defense alone was game changing. But the problem was that Wemby needed to basically play two positions on defense. He would guard the perimeter and then flash down to protect the lane. That is asking a lot for 40 minutes a game.
But that was only half the story, Wemby had to be just as active on the offensive end. He played all out on both ends of the floor. Add all of the clutching, grabbing, pushing and WWE wrestling that was allowed and Wemby had to exert maximum effort (Deadpool would approve) every second of every game. It proved to be too much and he faded in the fourth quarter of every game.
I really hope the Spurs are able to get Wemby a little more help before the salary cap ruins this team in two to three years.
I actually watched a bit of the games for once and I thought it was pretty exciting. I don't know many of the players at all, but it was cool that three of the players from the Knicks all came from Villanova. The interview they did with the Nova coach the other day was really good.
And last year they had 4. Dante devincenzo was also there.
Great post. I'm not an NBA fan, I just shoot hoops every now and then, but Wemby still played great. Hope the Spurs get some more support soon.
I kinda thought spurs would have won but given it’s a young team with not a good amount of experience I can understand the defeat.
This is what happens when we put too much hope in something and it doesn't happen. If the players don't work hard, the fans remain sad for a long time,
I also thought the Spurs would put up more of a fight, but I was wrong. The Knicks played very well, defeating a younger team with a bright future. Perhaps that was the key to the series: the lack of experience of the players who were supposed to lead the offense failed at the decisive moment.
I totally feel you on this, maten When the hype for the NBA Finals is through the roof, a low-energy series can really leave a bad taste. It definitely takes a few days to digest it when you're expecting a legendary, nail-biting clash but get something flat instead. It’s rarely about just who lifts the trophy; it’s about the intensity on the court The shot of Wembanyama's insane reach in your post is absolutely solid though Looking forward to reading your full breakdown on what exactly ruined the vibe this season. Great write-up 🏀🔥
Buen contenido! De los mejores que vi hoy en Hive. Ahí va mi voto, seguí publicando!
That was the difference; perhaps Wembanyama overexerted himself on both offense and defense to gain that initial advantage in the games, but by the later quarters, his physical condition was taking its toll. Even though he's young and a prodigy, he can rest. But as they say, let's hope the salary cap doesn't ruin this team and they can win some finals in the coming years because they deserve it and they'll surely have that opportunity.
I think it might be time to go for a LeBron James, whose experience could help the younger players, or some other star who's in the twilight of their career. It seems the most logical choice because it would also be an important piece in taking the pressure off Werner Yamaş, as well as a reliable backup center who could give him some rest during both the regular season and the playoffs, so the team doesn't miss him as much.
This is what happens when we put too much hope in something and it doesn't happen. If the players don't work hard, the fans remain sad for a long time, The team that is giving opportunities to young players is definitely changing its results. Whether it is cricket or football, we see the same thing happening everywhere. The fans of the team that loses are definitely sad and they think that if they hadn't played like this, they could have won