Who will win the 2008 NBA Playoffs?

It brings me great pleasure to take this opportunity to make a case for the reining world champion San Antonio Spurs.

To read a condensed version, which appeared in Wednesday's Daily Iowan, click here.

Below is the complete version.


The oldest team in the league may very well be the best, yet again.

That should come as no surprise, however. Like Noah and his arc, Favre and his Packers, Michael and his Bulls, or Old Red and pizza in bed, the San Antonio Spurs have become almost exclusively synonymous with NBA championships.

In the franchise's 30 NBA seasons, it has captured some 15 division titles, the most in the league during that span and something the Laker, Celtics, and Pistons can't claim. In fact among the four major U.S. sports, the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees are the only other professional teams to accomplish the feat.

The Spurs have twice been named best sports franchise by ESPN the Magazine since 2000. Yes, that’s the best franchise in all of sports.

They house a three-time NBA MVP and two-time NBA Finals MVP, Tim Duncan, whose unselfish superstar heroics have made him the greatest power forward to ever play the game. Not to mention future Hall of Famers like Tony Parker, Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, and Micheal Finley have played a vital role in the overwhelming success of the champs.

Parker rests among the NBA's all-time great point guards because of his ability to see the floor, distribute the ball, and decisively slice and dice his way to the basket. But he doesn't always dish it out, he gets his fair share too.

This years NBA's All-Defensive team is made up of two Spurs, Duncan and Bruce Bowen. Bowen, who is widely regarded as one of the best defensive players in league history, quite frequently cashes in from his signature three-point corner spot.

Ginobili, who dangerously resembles Borat, is the NBA's best 6th man--although he'd start on any other NBA squad--and has uniquely found a way to better sell a foul than Joe Raftis a piece of paper.

Robert Horry, AKA Mr. Big Shot, has played in more playoff games in his 16 year career than any other player, ever. After entering the game during the second quarter in Tuesday's Game 5 loss to the Hornets, Horry passed Kareen Abdul Jabbar. And for a little over $3 million a year he is a frequent provider off the bench.

Former Wisconsin Badger and 35 year old Michael Finely's ablilty to nail a jumper, both from beyond and within the arc, as well as the valuable experience he brings to the court (13th year in the league), greatly benefits the Spurs.

As a team, led by a no-nonsense general that claims a .673 winning percentage, ranking him fourth in NBA history, Greg Popovich's Spurs have the highest winning percentage in NBA Finals history.

And even if we pretended that none of that mattered, like some so desperately wish they could do, the Spurs still have won four NBA Titles in the last eight years.

Like perhaps no other team before them, you'll never hear the Spurs talk about their elite résumé. They merely let their play do the talking, with a humble off-court, aggressive on-court approach that has churned out leaders (Avery Johnson, Steve Kerr, Mike Brown, Danny Ferry), model citizens (David Robinson, Sean Elliot), and legends (George Gervin, Johnny Moore, James Silas). Consistently deflecting or declining interviews or PR opportunities, the Spurs desire to keep the focus on-court is rare and special. Along with a front office that has redefined the word stability within professional sports, the San Antonio Spurs have become not only an NBA dynasty, but a sports monopoly.

All-be-it facing elimination Thursday night, the Spurs have rostered 11 of 15 players from last year's potent, title winning team, with a tried and tested theory, and as long as Chris Paul forgets his shoes, there is little reason to believe that the tenacious, team-oriented Texans won't do it for an astonishing fifth time in nine years.

They may be old, but winning never gets old.

Free-man

Tony Freeman is just that—a free man.

On May 2, the University of Iowa announced in a press release that that their leading returning scorer requested, and was granted, a scholarship release from the UI.

Why did he ask to be released?

From everything I have read or heard it seems Freeman was very worried about the amount of playing time he was going to receive next season, as well as the fact that he was not going to be a captain. So he decided to leave.

And he isn’t leaving quietly.

Obviously, any time a new coach takes over a program, no matter the sport, there is going to be a transition period or what coaches will conveniently refer to as a “rebuilding year.” Sometimes it doesn’t take a whole year. Sometimes it takes longer. Players have to acquaint themselves with the coach and his system, and the coach has to do the same with the players. It can be tough to accomplish without a lot of frustration and failure.

It was blatantly obvious throughout the entire 2007 season (head in his hands, helplessly looking at his assistant coaches in disbelief, or calling a timeout during the first possession of the game) that Coach Todd Lickliter was frustrated with the way his Iowa Hawkeyes adapted to his style of basketball (stingy man-to-man defense, unselfish set offense, with quick ball movement, and the highest quality shot late in the shot-clock), or what I will call, the “Lickliter way.”

Furthermore, on numerous occasions during games this past season, because of the way Freeman played (sporadic shots, shaky turnovers, head down attempting to take a defender one-on-one with open players elsewhere on the court), he and Lickliter seemed to be on two completely different pages. Freeman claims he didn’t know Lickliter had any frustration with the way he played. He is the only on then, that didn’t know that.

Moreover, the hostile verbal bouts on the bench between Freeman and coaches or fellow teammates seemed to be yet another convincing indication that there was a problem. The more you watched, the more it seemed as if Freeman wasn’t buying into the Lickliter way, voluntarily. And that aggravated both the coaches and the players.

Upon hearing that Tony Freeman was not selected as one of next year’s captain, even though there was clearly a problem, I was somewhat surprised. However, the more I hear from those within the program, the more I approve of coach Lickliter’s decision.

Would Freeman, the same guy that couldn’t even wait for the locker room to bitterly quarrel with teammates; the same guy that uncooperatively played his own free-for-all, Steve Alford style of basketball; the same guy that wasn’t buying in when everyone else seemed to be making an effort to transition; really be the appropriate captain?

Allegedly (Des Moines Register article), Lickliter’s season-long frustration with his inability to play within the system spiraled into an eye-brow-raising question posed to Freeman, by Lickliter, during an off-season meeting.

According to Freeman, Lickliter asked him if he ever thought about transferring to a different school. It is unclear as to what context Lickliter’s comments were made in, but it was no secret that Tony was upset.

He told the Des Moines Register, “He asked me about my grades and then he asked me did I ever think about transferring.”

"I know I have some bad habits on the floor, but could they at least have told me during the season and talked to me about it then?

"In the meeting, I was like, 'Coach, I want to be here,' but I also wanted to be respected."

"Basically, the conversation I had with him insinuated that I wasn't compatible with the system that he's trying to run," said Freeman

"They didn't tell me my playing time was going to be diminished," Freeman said. "They just told me I was stuck in my own ways.

"I didn't play the way they wanted me to play, I guess, and as a competitor - as a guy that's been here so long - I could see what was happening. Coach Lickliter has my playing time in the palm of his hands.

"A guy can only take so many hits."

It makes very little sense that for no apparent reason Lickliter, or any coach for that matter, would want to drive off their leading returning scorer (he didn’t get into legal trouble, had sufficient grades, ect.). It does make sense for a coach to feel the need to clear the air about rumors that have been surrounding Tony and his future at Iowa since the culmination of the season.

Tony may not have bought into the system, which isn’t ideal, but it’s a salvageable situation with willing cooperation from player and coach.

It was not secret, when Todd Lickliter was hired, that he taught a much contrasting style of basketball than that of the prior regime. If Freeman didn’t think it suited him, or if he wasn’t interested in modifying and adapting to Lickliter's tried and trusted way, he could have very easily joined Tyler Smith, Craig Neal, and the Alford family on the plane out of Iowa City back in March 2007, but he didn’t.

That was his mistake.

Now, because of Freeman’s inability, some are left to unfairly question Todd Lickliter’s motives; just another detrimental dent to a young, aspiring, and developing program; something that separates an already divided fan base.

However, I am hesitant to question Lickliter’s motives. I believe they were, and are, pure. It’s my opinion that Freeman was unwilling to transition to the Lickliter “way,” and felt the need to mask that by quoting Lickliter out of context in order to make it seem like he was being coarsely forced out. Or, like he told the Des Moines Register, to make it seem like he had just been hit with too much (coaches always on him, tension between certain teammates, not being selected a captain), that he had to leave.

Like Freeman in Lickliter’s system, I’m not buying it.

Regardless, Freeman will be free of any ridicule or rough time that the UI basketball team may face in what would have been his final season. He will be free of half empty arenas and another “rebuilding year.” He will be free of televisions money-grubbing moguls, purging young potential Hawkeye fans who instead will ask their parents if they can watch Ohio State or Florida.

But proudly stuck in my lifelong Hawkeye ways, I won’t be free of any of that.

If only being a fan worked like a scholarship, I might just ask for a release from the Iowa Hawkeyes, not root for a team for a year, and jump aboard with Ohio State, or maybe Florida, next year.

They seem to have something a fan craves—winning.

I think I could very easily adapt to their style.

Qualifications

I feel the need, in my first post, to qualify myself.

I live in Iowa City, Iowa and am a proud, lifelong Iowa Hawkeye fan. I enjoy intently following the Iowa football and basketball programs.

However, I am first a die hard sports fan. The teams I cheer for, some more intently than others but none as intently as the Hawkeyes, are pictured below.



I hope to uses this blog as forum to express my thoughts and opinions with respect to the sports world. Enjoy!