Beating the spurs: what this team gained and learned
Posted: Sun May 3, 2015 6:47 pm
A while back I offered the idea that whichever team won this series would go on to win the championship. If it was the spurs, it was cause they were head and shoulders above everyone else ending the season. And if the clippers, it would be because beating the spurs would have meant some form of evolution on many fronts. Either blake would have turned into the MVP candidate many of us expected him to be this season, the defense miraculously came together all at once, DJ all of a sudden started to hit FT's, or the team just figured it all out mentally.
Well, at least a couple of those things happened. And while I think blake going into 2.0 mode was something you could reasonably expect, the mental evolution of this team wasn't something I personally saw coming. It wasn't something I was ever sure would happen with guys who, so often over the past few years, got emotionally hijacked (to coin a term from doc).But it happened in pretty much the best way possible and I think the mental toughness that this team has achieved will forever change everything.
Think about it:
Game 1: The team comes out as the underdog but show quite handily that we belong.
Game 2 + 3: A heartbreak game followed by a complete disaster. By all accounts we should have been done for.
Game 4: The turning point. Team goes into enemy territory and pulls out a huge win to essentially save the season.
Game 5: Another heartbreak game with brutal calls and a brutal ending. Yet another game that essentially ended our season. What chance did we have in game 6? You don't go into the champion's house and win a closeout game against an opponent that has had a decade of ultimate playoff experience. And don't forget how despondent DJ was, a player with a history of getting in his own head and hurting himself in future performances. You could count on blake and cp3 to show up, but who else besides that?
Game 6: The team comes up HUGE. Up until tipoff I expected a repeat of game 3, where the heartbreak would drag us down and get us blown out. But players besides cp3/blake showed UP. Blake took it to the next level by hitting massive jumper after jumper and he carried us until cp3 finally got going to finish the entire thing off.
Game 7: And then there was last night's game. You saw it, I saw it. Everything on the line, cp3 playing on one leg. And the players we needed to step up the most came through for us. The team would not be denied and they were rewarded.
There were several points in this series where the team should have buckled and imploded. Again, don't forget that this team has had a history of emotionally blowing up in critical moments. We should have been done for after game 3. Then we should have been done for after game 5. Then we should have been done for after cp3 got hurt. But the team kept finding ways to fight through it all, and moments of brilliance by guys like barnes, jj, and baby all atop the shoulders of cp3's and blake's transcendent play got us to this point. They've been pushed to the brink over and over only to realize they have all the heart they need to push back. They KNOW how to handle it and they KNOW that they can win in the face of all conventional wisdom.
It's gonna mean everything from now on. The team won't be dying out there on the mental side anymore, not now and not ever again. I am so grateful to the spurs that this team was able to experience all of this, partly cause of beating a finals-worthy opponent, but also partly because of the magnitude of what the spurs mean as a sports organization. And while I have to admit I don't have that same confidence in my opening words with cp3 having a serious injury, I will say with supreme confidence that it almost doesn't matter. Because if it doesn't happen this year, we will have many years of contending to come. Players stepping it up can mean we win it all. Good fortune can mean we win it all. And if not this year, one or two solid moves this offseason can make us title favorites come next year.
The team has permanently opened that championship window wider than it's ever been and we are closer than we have ever been. And you can't tell me that I'm the only one who feels it.
Well, at least a couple of those things happened. And while I think blake going into 2.0 mode was something you could reasonably expect, the mental evolution of this team wasn't something I personally saw coming. It wasn't something I was ever sure would happen with guys who, so often over the past few years, got emotionally hijacked (to coin a term from doc).But it happened in pretty much the best way possible and I think the mental toughness that this team has achieved will forever change everything.
Think about it:
Game 1: The team comes out as the underdog but show quite handily that we belong.
Game 2 + 3: A heartbreak game followed by a complete disaster. By all accounts we should have been done for.
Game 4: The turning point. Team goes into enemy territory and pulls out a huge win to essentially save the season.
Game 5: Another heartbreak game with brutal calls and a brutal ending. Yet another game that essentially ended our season. What chance did we have in game 6? You don't go into the champion's house and win a closeout game against an opponent that has had a decade of ultimate playoff experience. And don't forget how despondent DJ was, a player with a history of getting in his own head and hurting himself in future performances. You could count on blake and cp3 to show up, but who else besides that?
Game 6: The team comes up HUGE. Up until tipoff I expected a repeat of game 3, where the heartbreak would drag us down and get us blown out. But players besides cp3/blake showed UP. Blake took it to the next level by hitting massive jumper after jumper and he carried us until cp3 finally got going to finish the entire thing off.
Game 7: And then there was last night's game. You saw it, I saw it. Everything on the line, cp3 playing on one leg. And the players we needed to step up the most came through for us. The team would not be denied and they were rewarded.
There were several points in this series where the team should have buckled and imploded. Again, don't forget that this team has had a history of emotionally blowing up in critical moments. We should have been done for after game 3. Then we should have been done for after game 5. Then we should have been done for after cp3 got hurt. But the team kept finding ways to fight through it all, and moments of brilliance by guys like barnes, jj, and baby all atop the shoulders of cp3's and blake's transcendent play got us to this point. They've been pushed to the brink over and over only to realize they have all the heart they need to push back. They KNOW how to handle it and they KNOW that they can win in the face of all conventional wisdom.
It's gonna mean everything from now on. The team won't be dying out there on the mental side anymore, not now and not ever again. I am so grateful to the spurs that this team was able to experience all of this, partly cause of beating a finals-worthy opponent, but also partly because of the magnitude of what the spurs mean as a sports organization. And while I have to admit I don't have that same confidence in my opening words with cp3 having a serious injury, I will say with supreme confidence that it almost doesn't matter. Because if it doesn't happen this year, we will have many years of contending to come. Players stepping it up can mean we win it all. Good fortune can mean we win it all. And if not this year, one or two solid moves this offseason can make us title favorites come next year.
The team has permanently opened that championship window wider than it's ever been and we are closer than we have ever been. And you can't tell me that I'm the only one who feels it.
