TERRY MOSHER
I’ve been around basketball for over 60 years and I’ve never seen the game played the way the San Antonio Spurs play it. Their offensive execution in the first two halves of Games 3 and 4 were exquisite. I don’t know if the game can be played any better then that.
Then they topped it off by storming back from a 22-6 deficit in the first quarter of Game 5 and blowing away LeBron James and the Heat to win the NBA title in five games. Again, I don’t know if you can play the game better then the Spurs did. We may never see it played that way again. It was darn near perfect.
On the opposite side, there is the game’s best player, James. He certainly will rank among the best to ever play the game. However, I still believe he lacks something to be rated the best of all time.
James is not mentally strong. He talks a good game, but when the going gets tough he often fades into the background. He scored 17 first-quarter points in Game 5, playing like one of the best ever. But then he scored three points in the second quarter when the Spurs gained control and from that point forward he was almost invisible, although he would appear once in a while to nail a three-pointer.
The truly great, great ones would have battled all the way to the bitter end. If it took 50 or 60 points to do it, they would do it. James is gifted with more than enough physical talent to take over a game and score 60 to keep his team in it, and maybe even to win it.
But he didn’t, and rarely does.
Why he fades into the background when it gets tough, I don’t know. But he does. I think it would help him if he was moved to a power forward instead of most of the time being the point guard. The Heat could use a guy like Tony Parker to handle the ball, giving James the freedom to wreck havoc from all over the court. Maybe then he would take over games.
For now, though, the Spurs and their incredible coach, Gregg Popovich, deserve to rule the NBA nest. They are the Picasso of the NBA, painting a beautiful picture of basketball.