Good feelings for some as an era comes to an end

How easy is it going to be for the lucky souls who get to cover Seattle-Vancouver this round?

Oops. Never mind.

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Well, that was a helluva run, wasn’t it?

Four championships, no controversy, playing the game the right way, a model franchise that drafted brilliantly and spent wisely, the magic of Manu, The Big Fundamental and a teenage French point guard who grew into one of the best in the game.

Sorry it had to end.

But that’s what happened on Friday night in Memphis, we saw the end of the San Antonio Spurs dynasty – and it was awful close to being exactly that, even if that word gets tossed around too easily – when they bowed to the younger, bigger, quicker Grizzlies.

Was sad, in some ways.

The Spurs, to me, were the benchmark for what an NBA team should be and in this age of over-hyped individual stars who really haven’t done anything, it was a calming thought in a lot of ways.

All the Spurs did was play hard and play smart and win.

But that old team, weak on the wings, not a whole lot of depth, unable to keep up with younger legs, was exposed.

Now what?

Can Pop and RC Buford fix it? Can they find a way to ease Tim Duncan into even more of the supporting role he’s now best suited for?

Can they work some draft magic to rebuild a team better able to compete?

Maybe.

But, to me, instead of wondering what the future holds, today is a day to remember what the past was like.

It was glorious.

I covered a lot the Spurs championships runs – the win over New Jersey, the dramatic seventh game win over Detroit, a bit of the decimation of Cleveland – and it was always a treat to watch them play.

They probably won’t play that way again, and not too many teams will, but it was fun while it lasted; just glad it lasted more than a decade.

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I’m not exactly sure who these 5 Guys are but, I tell you, they make a mean burger.

Got one last night while Super Family deserted me at the new joint by Casa Doug and it was other-worldly. Well done.

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There was one guy I felt really good for, and another I thought an awful lot about as that game unfolded last night.

Not sure if you saw him, and probably didn’t recognize or know him if you did, but sitting behind the Grizzlies bench, taking copious notes, was Gary Schmidt.

He’s Memphis’s advance scout – and a former Canadian national team assistant to Jay back a decade or so ago – and has been with the franchise since the days in Vancouver.

Gary’s spent a lot of long years with that team, we’d commiserate often when he got to Toronto or I’d see him on the road, and I bet he felt a pretty big sense of accomplishment, too.

Advance scouts are a dying breed, I’d say about half the teams in the league actually employ one because most use freelancers as a way to cut costs, and that the organization stuck with him all these years is a good thing.

Of course, it might be the only good thing that carpet-bagging meany Michael Heisley has done but …

The other guy I was thinking of?

Don Poier.

Not sure how many of you remember him but he was for years and years the TV voice of the Grizzlies. He died in 2005 of a heart attack in Denver on a road trip and it would have been one of the highlights of his career had he had the chance to call the team’s first playoff win.

Those are the kinds of guys I think about at moments like Friday night.

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I remember way back in the day, I’m talking mid-90s, and I was chatting around NBA draft time with a guy who worked closely with Isiah and had an idea of how he was thinking.

Talk, as it does, came around to who the Raptors might pick depending on how the draft unfolded and the guy says to me:

“They really like that McDyess kid in Alabama. They think he could be special.”

Guess he was right and with McDyess saying last nigh that he’s definitely done, one of the classiest guys in the league is calling it a career.

I got to know him a little bit during the Vince heyday when they were teammates on the American Olympic team and I have to tell you, he’s a considerate, soft-spoken, first-rate kind of guy and the NBA will be a bit worse off when he leaves.

What he went through – the horrible knee injuries that robbed him of jaw-dropping athleticism – would have sent a lesser man into retirement; McDyess stuck it out through months of rehab, remade his game and never once complained about what had happened.

Good guy.

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So, I couldn’t escape watching some of the Royal Wedding highlights last night and yesterday during the day and, I have to tell you, the hats on some of those people were amazing.

Guess one of the reasons I couldn’t go is that the monarchists probably wouldn’t have appreciated my ball hat with the two beer cans attached to the side with the straws coming out.

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A bit of an interesting one out of the mail.

Oh, and it’s really dead over there in the inbox, can some of you folks kindly help me out? Much appreciated if you were to click right about here, tell me a story, ask me a question and keep me entertained as you so often do.

Q: Hi Doug, before I got to the blog this morning I was already thinking that Orlando would have to consider some big changes this summer, especially with the "Summer of Dwight and Chris Paul" coming

With the Raptors rebuilding, would Bryan be focusing any more on other teams that need to make big changes? Is it possible that we might see Hedo back in a Raptor uniform? (I keed)

Thanks,

 

 

Greg M, Halifax

A: I’ll leave that whole Hedo thing alone lest we start some craziness here.

The wise old man Butch Carter (who really wasn’t that old but who was certainly wise) was a big proponent of trying to pluck guys off teams that feel they’ve under-achieved and teams that might want to make change just to shake things up.

I’m not going to suggest there’s anything afoot with the Magic but I’m sure Bryan will look around the league for teams whose seasons ended in disappointment – and I guess you’d put the likes of Portland, Utah, Detroit, Phoenix, Houston in that group – as a short list of teams he might want to do business with.

I don’t think he’d ignore the other teams but you have to be realistic when you’re testing the waters and the reality is there are teams that need to make moves more than others do and they should probably be the first point of attack.

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Hmm.

No games today?

What’s a fella to do.

“Super Dad? Can you put in the laundry and then start cleaning up the carnage that is the deck and back yard?”

Ah.

Okay, see ya later folks.

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Comments

[Matt M]

Fun games first by the Jays then what was left of the Spurs-Grizzlies. I guess Randolph was right. He does bring more to the table than Bosh when he is focused and playing with energy. I'm pretty sure that Vancouver would have loved this team.
Hopefully Bryan uses the force to convince the Grizzlies they would love to trade Gasol for that Bargnani character. Gasol, Davis, and Amir would be a fun front court to watch if not slightly undersized.

[Mike D.]

I thought the master plan called for the deck and back yard to be cleaned by Super Son and sundry urchins while you and Stella observed the process for quality control purposes?

Blogger's note: I'm hoping Super Son doesn't read this now, thank you very much. Oh, wait, he never does. Yeah, I need some trickeration to make it happen

[doug]

yea who'd have thunk it, Magic, Spurs now spectators...you know in regards to the Spurs it makes me think of a conversation a buddy and I had a bit ago on a topic that doesn't get mentioned to much...with the elite athletes such as Duncan, Kobe in b-ball, Sakic, Grtezky in hockey for example the amount of games they play relative to any other of their peers would be quite a gap....I don't have it on-hand but I bet if it was researched Duncan would have played far more games in his career then anyone else, just maybe Kobe....as Duncan from the day he was in the NBA (thanks to Robinson) went deep into the playoffs every year..so well a lot of his peers were done in April, May he always went to June, every June...the amount of extra tough,stressful games (as playoff games are) would be quite staggering I bet....and is starting to show....imagine that Seattle/Van playoff series one for the ages, makes my heart yearn for by-gone days...those 5 Guys places are suppose to be quite the thing, fastest growing franchise on North America, I guess they go by the mantra of "keep it simple stupid"..small menu, hamburgers,hotdogs and fries, but done well, imagine that...yep time to hit the deck, I figure the time I invest cleaning it today, this weekend, I more then make up for all summer long, just sitting, soaking up the weather and tipping back a cool one...so a fair compromise, ....and what no b-ball, , there's a gap in my schedule and the built in excuse not to do anything is gone, dam, dam it to hell...ok happy cleaning

[+1]

The true end of the era will be signified when you change the "Spurs by 12" prediction. Only then will I believe.

[Robert Bertuzzi]

Good Riddance to the Spurs!!!
---------
People rag on Shaq, and perhaps rightfully so, about not taking care of himself and being done, etc.
Well Tim Duncan has been done for years now, getting by on reputation and no one ever called him out. He stopped being (semi) dominant at the age of 30. 30 for god's sake without ever sustaining a major injury, at least from what I can recall.
I have never seen a more unlikeable bunch of whiners. Tim Duncan never, ever committed a foul by his estimation. And his offensive game has been reduced to flailing his arms around looking to draw contact for years. All this hagiography surrounding him is, in a word, ridiculous.
But when Battier hammered him on that drive last night and there was no call I knew then that the myth, aura of the Spurs was kaput and that referees would not be awed and bullied by them again.

Blogger's note: You probably want to get rid of that Duncan jersey in your closet then, right? And you may want to actually look up some of his stats, numbers, team and individual accomplishments in his last five or six years.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

The non-call when Battier bashed Duncan in the lane was indeed a real eye-opener. One word immediately popped into my mind: stardust. But there's no question of Duncan's dominance at his position for many, many years.
Epic game for its historical significance. No game story today? Happy sunny Saturday! Cheers.

Blogger's note: Back to stupid early Friday night deadlines

[Anthony R]

Five Guys Burgers and Friesis the absolute best. I'm a huge fan and went to the Mississauga one when it first opened. The lineup was out the door.

[jimt]

haha turkaboo,haha
ahhh that felt good :)

[Robert Bertuzzi]

Dear Mr. Smith,

As you have often noted on here, we will agree to disagree and move on. But the numbers, presumably, don't lie and the trajectory is all downwards over the last six years. And the slope is accelerating pretty quickly. Perhaps putting it on an x-y axis will provide a visual that will make it clear.
As for team accomplishments, well, if that is a reference to Robert Horry's goonery against Nash in 2007 then what is there to be said about that? Leave it to Stu Jackson to get things wrong and continue to be employed in executive positions. He is the George W. Bush of the sports world. And there is never any accounting for a Rasheed Wallace brain cramp.
I'm not suggesting he wasn't top tier player. But when the meme amongst media started about him being the top PF of all time started there was no putting it to rest. Perhaps I am not watching the subtleties that coaches love, especially on the defensive end but aesthetically all the splaying of arms and legs, coming up through people, etc was no joy to watch from my perspective. In my humble opinion, he's not even the best PF of the last 25 years, roughly the amount of time I have been watching the NBA. Now if we are going to talk aesthetics, give me Chris Webber's one season glory of 27, 12 and five. Now that was something beautiful to watch. Call it style over substance if you wish but I'd much rather root for those Kings' teams and the Suns then the grind, grind, grind of post-expansion NBA basketball.
As for jerseys, you'll find me in a San Antonio Silver Stars jersey before a Spurs one.

[Aditya]

who do you think is the least smartest of the 3 GM's: brian burke, alex anthopolous, bryan colangelo?

Blogger's note: Stupid question not worthy of a second's thought.

[Lorie]

Hello Doug,
Hope you're enjoying the sun (maybe it'll even be accompanied by warmth soon) between loads of laundry and bags of yard detritus. You wrote a particularly wonderful blog today I thought; both reflective on the Spurs' achievements while also recognizing some Grizzlies' personnel we might not have remembered, or known about. Thank you. Now, don't groan, but one final comment from me about The Wedding. (And don't you wish we could all display the same class for dressing well on a budget as displayed by Prince Andrew's daughters? Meoooowwww!) Anyway, did you know that one in three people on the planet watched it? Whether they were marvelling at it or mocking it or just straining for a glimpse of some fabulous Louboutins and Jimmy Choos, for a brief time much of the globe was connected watching a happy event. And I like that. Now, it's rally cap time for the TOD against those Damn Yankees! Go Jays!!! Cheers!

[Aditya]

Blogger's note: Stupid question not worthy of a second's thought.
-------------------------
Yet you feel compelled enough to comment, but not provide an answer.....
Who's the most entertaining in your opinion: brian burke, alex anthopolous, bryan colangelo?

[Stephen]

Last season, many of us suggested Zach Randolph and the Raptors. Your reply was that he is a "cancer" and some other choice words.

Do you still feel that way after watching him step up as a leader all season, and now in the Playoffs? Much like Ron Ron, people change. I think Z-Bo has done a 180 and will flourish for the next few years in Memphis.

[J]

@Robert:

"As you have often noted on here, we will agree to disagree and move on. But the numbers, presumably, don't lie and the trajectory is all downwards over the last six years. And the slope is accelerating pretty quickly. Perhaps putting it on an x-y axis will provide a visual that will make it clear. "

Numbers don't lie? If you're using his per game numbers to present a story, and someone else uses his per 36 minute numbers to present a different story, which story is closer to the truth?

If we're looking at the per 36s for his last six years, his rebounding numbers haven't changed. His blocks are down a bit, but hardly a downward trajectory (this past season was his 5th highest in terms of blocks per minute). Steals have stayed the same. His shooting percentages have stayed constant. Assists are up. Turnovers are down. The five seasons before this current one, okay, his scoring is down a tad (~20pt/36 instead of ~21pt/36), but hardly the picture you're trying to paint.

The only evident dip is this current season. At most you could say his age is starting to show the last TWO seasons, as his minutes have dipped to 31 and 28 per game, respectively. Before that, sure, he stopped averaging the 39 mpg he used to, but considering how the team was doing, they hardly needed to ride him into the ground. Slope accelerating quickly though? Just because his scoring is a bit down this past season alone? A bit dramatic, no?

I couldn't care less about whether or not Duncan has been declining over the past 6 years; just seemed silly of you to imply you had irrefutable math to back-up your argument. Even when used correctly, numbers tell whatever story the story-teller wants to tell.

[Grits]

Thanks for more Grizzlies memories. I was at the game so I wasn't listening to his call at that first home game, but I can still hear Don Poier from watching the replay so many times, "the put back goes, the put back goes!". Lots of people know this but it bears mentioning again, Don's color analyst in those earlier years was none other than Jay Triano.