"I want some nasty."
Usually when I hear a phrase like that, I think of seductive music and terrible dialogue. To hear it during a NBA conference finals game was a surprise. But in a way, I expect it from a future Hall of Fame coach in Gregg Popovich of the Spurs. During his four championship title coaching career, he has always pushed the right buttons with his team to get them to the next level. He did it again as the Spurs won their 19th straight game going into the playoffs by winning the West final opener over the Thunder. The streak ties the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs.
"The heat of the game, stuff comes up," Popovich said. "So I talked to them about they've got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it." The Spurs scored 39 4th quarter points to get the win, led by Mano Ginoibli who came off the bench to score 26 points.
As young and talented as the Thunder are, in the playoffs it still comes down to defense and half court offense. You think they would have learned their lesson last year. They may need to look at some Spurs playoff games to see how a experienced, championship team does it. At the least find some nasty.
As the Heat go into their second consecutive Eastern Conference final, they have found out a lot about themselves. One is that as much as Prince James is the MVP of the league, DWade (my boy) is still the MVP of the Heat. While the Prince had the better stats over the last three games (98 points, 34 rebounds and 24 assists vs. 99, 22 and 11), it still took #3 and his 41 point performance in the game 6 clincher for the Heat to advance. Miami also showed that they could bang with the Pacers, as Indiana tried to go gangsta wild with it like Avon from the Wire with their physical play. The Heat even showed that they could dish it out with Dexter Pittman doing his Mo Lucas impersonation on Lance Stephenson, finding out it's easier to flash the choke sign on the bench than to choke on a elbow in a game.
This series against Boston might actually be the one in which the light bulb goes on. With last night's game, James and DWade did their thing, but the difference was the bench. They didn't have to do much, but when you have Mike & Scotty (oops, sorry) this might be a very short series.
As young and talented as the Thunder are, in the playoffs it still comes down to defense and half court offense. You think they would have learned their lesson last year. They may need to look at some Spurs playoff games to see how a experienced, championship team does it. At the least find some nasty.
As the Heat go into their second consecutive Eastern Conference final, they have found out a lot about themselves. One is that as much as Prince James is the MVP of the league, DWade (my boy) is still the MVP of the Heat. While the Prince had the better stats over the last three games (98 points, 34 rebounds and 24 assists vs. 99, 22 and 11), it still took #3 and his 41 point performance in the game 6 clincher for the Heat to advance. Miami also showed that they could bang with the Pacers, as Indiana tried to go gangsta wild with it like Avon from the Wire with their physical play. The Heat even showed that they could dish it out with Dexter Pittman doing his Mo Lucas impersonation on Lance Stephenson, finding out it's easier to flash the choke sign on the bench than to choke on a elbow in a game.
This series against Boston might actually be the one in which the light bulb goes on. With last night's game, James and DWade did their thing, but the difference was the bench. They didn't have to do much, but when you have Mike & Scotty (oops, sorry) this might be a very short series.
word my cool brother !!!!! hope ur well playa, always a pleasure to read ur blog, its insightful, current and always continues to illuminate areas that ur readers want to know about !!!! keep it up bro !!!!
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