It has come down to this: the Memphis Grizzlies or the San Antonio Spurs are headed to the 2013 NBA finals. Whether advertisers are concerned about low ratings or conspiracy theorists believing the NBA matrix will somehow force the Miami Heat through to appease the masses is irrelevant. The bottom line is that everyone is in for some team basketball at its best. I’m in no way trying to downplay the leaders of either team which are comprised of champions, Finals MVPs, All-Stars and NBA award winners. I’m simply trying to highlight the fact that these teams continue to be successful without playing the now often preferred and very popular 'hero' type basketball.
The above may come off as me speaking as a bitter fan born in the 80s. Perhaps. Although I wouldn’t use the word bitter. I prefer the term nostalgic, as I am a fan of the tough team concept basketball I watched growing up as a kid. Believe me, witnessing Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Durant among other players have outstanding single performances is fantastic and is needed in all sports. I simply feel it unfairly sheds a light on individual success and overshadows what allows that success to exist. In the case of the Grizzlies and Spurs both the teams' stars are well known; not popular by mainstream standards, but extremely successful and the biggest threat to whichever team makes it out of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Numbers Don’t Lie:
The Grizzlies averaged 93.4 points which was 26th in the NBA this season. The Grizzlies beat both the Clippers who average 101.1 ppg at the 8th spot and the Thunder with 105.7ppg who owned 3rd place in the NBA scoring category. How did this happen you ask? Simple. The Grizzlies defence only allowed opponents to average 89.3 points per game in the regular season. Yes, you guessed it. They were 1st in the NBA in that category.
The Spurs are dangerous in their own right as they don’t sacrifice scoring for defence and rank high in both categories. Spurs were 9th in points allowed with 96.6 and 4th in scoring with 103. The Spurs swept the Lakers who ranked 6th in the NBA by scoring 102.2 points on their opponents and allowed them to score 101 for the 21st spot in the NBA. If you add the Warriors to the mix, who were 7th in scoring during the regular season, with 101.2 allowing 100.3 at the 19th spot, then it's clear why all of the above happened. Oh, I’m sure you saw this coming. Here it comes! Defence wins championships, or the very least, gives you the best chance at winning one.
“With our powers combined”:
We know that the Spurs have their own big three with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, while the Grizzlies have a scary dynamic duo of their own in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. The key factor for both teams is often opposing defenders who keep forgetting to put pressure on lesser known players until it’s too late. So far in this post season, the Spurs have had five players averaging 10 or more points totaling 76.9 which is more than most teams can say. The Spurs' bench players refuse to ride the starters coattails scoring 31.1 points per game respectively with less than twenty minutes of playing time. Almost mirroring the Spurs, the Grizzlies have four players averaging double digits for a total of 66.7 points, with the bench chipping in with 39.7 in under twenty minutes as well.
Bottom Line:
Even with all the numbers in the world any player can get hot at any time just as they can get cold. As much as the “defence wins championships” is a beaten to death cliche, so is “key matchups”, and with the Grizzlies and Spurs so well balanced I’m guaranteed at least two more series of my preferred nostalgic, defensive, textbook basketball.
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