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Samr<br>
Spurscentral.com<br>
June 12, 2005<br>
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We’re living in a fast food nation. We’re living in a world where reprocessed meat and a pickle for a dollar are preferable to a fruit and some salad. <br>
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You drive up to the menu; you order into the box; and as soon as you arrive at the sliding window, you have your food. What you see is what you get, and you don’t care about anything other than the fact that it satisfies your hunger.<br>
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But over time, a Big Mac and fries will wear on you. You will see your gut grow, your scale will go on strike, and you will be left feeling full, but empty. It’s a superficial feeling.<br>
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Take the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are “good for the NBA.” They score, they dunk, and they satisfy your immediate desire for offensive production. You turn on the TV, change the channel to TNT, and in a short 48 minutes, you are happy. Simple desires allow for simple means to meet them. But the Suns, the “new” style of basketball and the reincarnation of Showtime, were unceremoniously booted from the playoffs in five games. <br>
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Someone didn’t like their Big Mac.<br>
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It’s easy to label the Spurs as boring, old school, or out-dated. It’s even possible to use Tim Duncan’s highlights as a nighttime story. But while the Spurs may provide less offensive production than quadriplegic marathon, they have been the most successful franchise in professional sports since Duncan walked the isle at Wake. <br>
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Their secret? Some fruit and salad.<br>
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He may not be the league’s most interesting player, but he gets the job done. He doesn’t cross over defenders, call out opponents in the press, or even so much as make predictions for the next game. He lets his work speak for itself. <br>
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He banks in a mid-ranger, tosses up a jump hook, and grabs the defensive rebound. Tim Duncan is inarguably the most fundamentally sound player in the league today. Preferring assists over highlight plays, he has blazed his own path through the Showtime trail.<br>
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As the Spurs take the stage for game 2 of the NBA Finals, they do not care about Nielsen ratings- they care about winning. They care about playing their game, however boring it may be, so that they can claim the ultimate trophy. So that they can be NBA champions. <br>
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As the NBA gets younger, preferring to draft raw talent out of high school as opposed to proven talent out of college, its impact is striking closer and closer to home. The NBA is selling points, alley-oops, and rap albums. The NBA is selling three pointers and 40-point games. What they aren’t selling is the fundamentals. And that is what’s winning.<br>
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If the future of the NBA is out of high school, it is about time the NBA promotes teams that encourage development at a high school level. It’s about time the NBA showcases the fundamentals, something lacking in Nike world of today’s youth, and helps instill the most elementary aspects of its product into its future. <br>
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The 2005 NBA Finals are a lasting testament to the fact that fundamentals breed success. With Rip Hamilton sporting a mid-range jumper, Tim Duncan banking his way to consistency, and defense being the most common denominator, the NBA’s future is in for a real treat. <br>
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It isn’t a Big Mac, or a double cheese burger from the dollar menu. It is seven games of fruit and salad. They do a body good.<br>
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"NEVER underestimate the heart of a champion." -Rudy Tomjanovic</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p204.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=samr@sanantoniospurs62937>Samr</A> at: 6/12/05 2:52 pm<br></i>
