“When Breaking Records Doesn’t Matter”
June 13, 2013
By Rey Andrade-Garza
San
Antonio, TX
The San Antonio Spurs didn’t just
break some records in game 3, in retrospect some were shattered. Gone it seems
are the days when breaking records didn’t just matter it solidified a team’s
place in mystical lore. It added to the mystique. Oh, the glory days of 2012,
when it was the Miami Heat breaking the records and not these bland Spurs. The
Spurs Big Three won their 100th playoff game together, 2nd
all time for a trio. The Spurs set a NBA
Finals record with 16 three pointers. Gary Neal tied John Starks for 24 pts is
also a Finals record. Those were the
records that were scrolling after the game on ESPN and NBA TV that no one out
of San Antonio seemed to pay any attention to.
Other statistics that were also glaring were the following: Miami is 4-5 in the last nine, Spurs 7-1. The
second trio on the Spurs in Leonard, Neal and Green are outscoring the Big
Three of Miami in LBJ, Bosh and Wade. You tell me who is playing championship
style basketball? What is most glaring is this fact that no one seems to have
caught on to: Miami is 3-23 vs Spurs in
San Antonio all time! Spurs have taken games 1 & 3 which are the
statistical plateau markers everyone points to in who will win in this series
but no one seems to care. Everyone seems to be giving the defending champions a
pass they seem to not make on the court let alone deserve in this conversation.
What is more indicative is this double standard for the Miami Heat that should
be reserved for storied franchises like the Celtics or the Lakers, hell even
the Spurs as the fourth best franchise in NBA history should get that kind of
rarified respect but they don’t. Some
call this Miami team a dynasty with one chip to the Big 3 belt, really?! Flip
the script and no one would give the Spurs a pass as defending champions
playing this poorly in a playoff run. I would say if LeBron James were not
playing on this team everyone would admit that this defending champion, with
this current 9 game record, ranks as the worst in 20 plus years. In fact, I will take a step further, Wade is
playing hurt yet, when Manu went down a couple of years ago during a playoff
run no one gave the Spurs a chance and with good reason one of the main pieces
or the glue of the team wasn’t on the court or couldn’t even step on the court
to contribute in anyway. Reading this morning’s shoot around Tony Parker seems
a lock to play tonight in any condition which begs the question: Why is it that
the Heat’s injuries are more magnified and forgiven but the Spurs play bang up
all year and the same respect is not given? Let me make the point clearer. Stephen A. Smith said yesterday in our fair
city, that no way the Spurs win the championship with Tony Parker not on the
court, yet when Sean Elliott interjected that the Spurs have proven all year
they can step up when one of the Big Three didn’t play he forgot to mention
that the Big Three for the Spurs missed 50 games together, yet still as a team,
compiled 50 or more wins for 14th straight year. Everyone makes excuses for why
the Heat is playing this shoddy but not me.
James with his humorous cape delivered a guarantee when in hindsight he
should just keep his mouth shut. He hasn’t
delivered, champions always deliver. MJ never scored less than 22 pts in any
NBA Finals game, yet, with all his guarantees, LBJ hasn’t scored 20 in any of
the 3 Finals games where it matters! Instead, the Heat combined Big Three make
like 300 million dollars yet can only tie the secondary 3 of the Spurs who make
like 250 million dollars less but seem to shut up play and deliver with no
guarantees. It’s comical to see a
superhero drink his own kool-aid and guarantee mythical wins and why not
right? The media has crowned Miami to
win this title before the first thud of the basketball hit the court and they’ve
been celebrating this phantom trophy all year, all along the way, cheapening
the ride with hanging rim dunks, chest pumps and now sadly, with a homemade
cape! The Heat have made everyone forget that records matter and distorted the
myth, yet, quietly, between the hype and the “He was going to be on Sports
Center one or way or another”-- when game four is done, the statistics should ultimately
play out and the quiet champion should emerge and Sports Center will have to
play it one way or another. Sometimes
instead of just saying you’re going to get the job done, just do what the Spurs
have been doing all along, keep your head down, keep your mouth shut, play the
game and get it done in the court no matter what the records say.
