After a six year drought, the Spurs are one step closer to winning a championship again! They achieved this milestone by sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night with a 93-86 win. This makes their fifth Western Conference title. Tony Parker led the Spurs all the way with scoring 37 points. During his post-game interview, Parker stated "Since last year, I promised to him (Tim Duncan) that we will go back, go back to the Finals and get an opportunity to win the whole thing and I'm trying to do my best, try to be aggressive every night. I think everybody on the team, we really want to do it for him. We win the West and now it's one more step. This is the hardest one." (Associated Press, 2013).
Lately, San Antonio has being dubbed as being "too old" to compete for another title. Not saying that, shutting up their nay-sayers was their main focus, but they proved that age has nothing to do with the determination to win. The Spurs have been that team that has made their mark in the NBA. I say this because they have a total of four championships, five western conference titles, 39 playoff appearances, and 17 division titles under their belt. They have also had great former players like David Robinson and Bruce Bowen just to name a few and current players like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili to keep the torch burning. I must also feel the need to mention Gregg Popovich, whom has coached the Spurs since 1996 and has turned this franchise around. Out of 18 coaches with him being number 18, Popovich is the only coach with accomplishments such as all four championships and coach of year for the 2002-03 season.
During Popovich's post-game interview on Monday he stated " You don't expect that to happen this late in the game with the same group." "It's tough to do, to maintain something that long. But just know the character of those three guys (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) and their ability to play with whoever else is brought in around them. They deserve the credit for that." (Associated Press, 2013). The Spurs now await the winner of the Miami/Indiana series for the Finals which starts on June 6th. Last, but not least, I must also mention if some of you have not noticed, but this is Tracy McGrady's first championship run!!! Congrats T-Mac! Not to single him out, but he's a great player and everyone deserves a chance!!
