With each passing year and every notch past 30 carved into the tree of ages, I’m finally accepting of my status as part of the “old school” when it comes to playing basketball. Where I once drove past or jumped over other players as I roamed the rec courts as a fairly athletic wing player, now my athleticism has begun to dwindle away.
To continue to compete, I’ve had to adjust. That means incorporating more pump fakes, back-door cuts, ball screens, box outs and jumpers. Even after getting into decent shape, playing against 16-to-25-year-olds at the height of their athleticism makes for hard-fought victories or tough losses.
Despite the Heat’s “new school” buzz, both NBA Championship contenders have older rosters. The question is: which veteran-laden, “old head” championship squad can hoist the title this season?
In the conference finals, the Heat was an oddity of sorts. Outside of James’ Game 1 heroics with the buzzer-beating victory, Miami either got outplayed thoroughly or blew out the Pacers. While it’s obvious that any team with King James on the roster is going to have the better talent, it appeared that the Indiana Pacers had the better team. That’s likely nothing more than a consolation to Indy though as teams don’t often win championships, superstars do.
Without a doubt, James is the biggest baddest superstar of them all, and when his supporting cast came alive in Game 7, James showed how dominant his squad could be.
Out West, the Spurs breezed past their Western Conference Finals foes. Instead of the athletic Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs faced the surprising Memphis Grizzlies. No doubt the Grizzlies benefited from the absences of Russell Westbrook in the semis, but they earned their trip to face the Spurs and looked impressive getting there.
Still, despite their relative youth the Grizzlies were essentially a poor man’s version of the Spurs the way the Chrysler 300 is a poor man’s Bentley. To paraphrase Katt Williams, once the real Bentley pulled up, it was time for Memphis to pull off and make its exit.
Now we’re left with two NBA titans from different eras – sort of. Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich have four NBA titles on their resumes between 1999 and 2007, and the Spurs are generally thought of as the old fogies of the NBA due to Duncan’s age and old-school style of play.
In reality, the average age of the Spurs is more than two years younger than the Heat. That’s in part to youngsters like Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, who have played a significant role in the Spurs success. San Antonio’s trio of stars – Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – are all 30-plus but have been playing crafty, old-head basketball since they were young pups.
Meanwhile, Miami has the most talented roster in the league but have the surprising status as an old team, with the exception of Mario Chalmers, Norris Coles and James, who is in the prime of his career.
The 31-year-old Dwyane Wade has struggled with injuries and looks to be a shell of the dominant player that lured James in South Beach. Wade is undergoing that transition from a dynamic, uber-athletic player to one who needs to rely on smarts and experience to outplay his opponents. He can occasionally display flashes of the old D-Wade, but doesn’t seem to be able to sustain that level of excellence with his achy knee.
Miami is also a pre-retirement title-seeking community, as senior citizens such as Ray Allen, Juwan Howard and Chris Andersen and Shane Battier have flocked to Miami with diamond aspirations.
Chris Bosh hasn’t crossed over the 30-year threshold yet but went from a dominant low post presence a few years ago into a stretch-four who’s happy settling for jump shots. With the lack of competent big men across the league, he hadn’t really hurt Miami until they ran into Roy Hibbert and the Pacers.
Going into the playoffs, I fully expected the Heat back into the Finals. The only team I thought might be able to unseat them was the Thunder, but only with a healthy Westbrook. However, after watching the Heat struggle with the Pacers, I’m convinced the Spurs can and will beat them.
Why? When the Pacers executed well, they outplayed the Heat. When they made silly turnovers and got into foul trouble, they were crushed.
San Antonio is all about execution. Tony Parker is the best point guard in the league and will cause big matchup problems. “The Big Fundamental” Tim Duncan turned back the clock and was arguably the best post defender in the league. He averaged more than 2.5 blocks per game during the regular season. Plus he’s still a beast on the blocks offensively, where the Heat struggle. Not only that, but he and the Spurs bigs can stretch the court with nice shooting range.
The Heat can’t play lethargic basketball and wait for James to do all the heavy lifting as they did at times against the Pacers. D-Wade can’t disappear. Bosh can’t be forgotten. Allen can’t miss. James can’t not be Superman.
Meanwhile, the Spurs can’t allow the Heat to turn into a running team. That’s about it.
Maybe the series with the Pacers have woken up the Heat and they’ll play with more urgency in the finals. However, turnovers, poise and defense is seldom a problem in San Antonio and though they’ll be sizeable underdogs, Duncan hasn’t lost in an NBA Finals and he won’t start now.
My pick: Spurs in 7.
Follow Ishmael Sistrunk and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+.
