What We Discovered from the Spurs loss to the Knicks

Mmm. Yep. That’ll do it.

Consider me humbled, basketball gods. You constructed me up and struck me down identical to the previous tales promised you’ll. Beautiful work. No notes.

It’s an awfully nasty beat to get pantsed on nationwide tv like that, particularly on the heels of every week crammed with noise from each nook of the basketball universe declaring that the Spurs had “officially arrived” as title contenders.

Be sincere with me for a second. How many podcasts, articles, and TV hits did you devour after that Pistons win? A thousand? 1,000,000?

I inhaled each single one. I soaked it up like a sponge. When I ran via the ESPNs and the opposite standard suspects, I began trolling round in corners of the web I usually wouldn’t even go to with a hazmat go well with. Opposing crew message boards. Unsanctioned playing web sites. Barstool podcasts. You title it.

I used to be on the market like a junkie, searching down any “respected voice” prepared to say some model of the identical factor:

The Spurs are good.
They’re forward of schedule.
Wouldn’t be stunned in the event that they made the Finals. Heck, perhaps even received it.
Victor is within the MVP dialog.
This may already be Victor’s league.
Stephon Castle needs to be All-NBA.
Nobody within the West needs to see them in a sequence.
Best supporting forged within the league.
They don’t actually have a weak point.
The lack of postseason expertise may truly HELP them within the playoffs.

I even noticed somebody say this Spurs crew had swagger.

Surely letting all of that go on to my head wouldn’t include penalties.

Lo and behold, after every week of pushing the pedal to the metallic on the hype prepare, the wall of consequence arrived on Sunday afternoon to cease me in my tracks.

It was a brutal, punishing affair. You might see that MSG crowd feeding off what was unfolding in entrance of them. They had been giddy. They had been ecstatic. They had been a mirror picture of what I think about my very own face appeared like watching Cade Cunningham and mates toss wayward shot after wayward shot on the rim in Detroit the opposite evening.

They had been reveling within the expertise of watching a paper tiger go up in flames in entrance of their eyes, shouting “Is this your king?!”

And actually, they need to revel. It’s actually enjoyable to do.

I’ll simply be over right here staring into the abyss if you happen to want me.

Look, this isn’t a tough one to diagnose. None of our stuff labored. The pictures weren’t falling. We couldn’t maintain onto the ball. Rebounds felt like a overseas idea. It simply wasn’t our evening. Not overly difficult.

If San Antonio was going to lose, that is the way it’s going to occur. And I believe we’ve seen sufficient from them at this level within the season to really feel assured that they aren’t going to spiral and play like this each evening. The Knicks didn’t expose some secret blueprint for learn how to put the Spurs away. The Spurs haven’t been contaminated with the “Bad at Basketball” virus or something.

A recreation like this might have occurred anonymously on a Wednesday evening in Toronto. Instead, it occurred on a Sunday Showcase in probably the most well-known arenas on the earth.

So now, as a substitute of brushing it apart and shifting on with our lives, we get to spend every week listening to the identical voices we so eagerly slurped up final week teasing out twisted, horrifying refractions of what we heard earlier than:

The Spurs are nonetheless enjoyable, however they’ve clearly proven they aren’t prepared but.
Shame they didn’t make a transfer on the deadline.
Probably nonetheless a 12 months or two away.
Victor nonetheless has lots to study.
This continues to be very a lot a veteran’s league.
Castle goes to be nice… sometime.
The supporting forged nonetheless has questions.
Their lack of expertise confirmed.
Turns out they do have weaknesses.
Anyone who helps this crew as a fan has a sequence of ethical failings that merely can’t be cured.

You know. The standard stuff.

This is the cycle of the league and the media ecosystem and the common season basically. You get scorching, you get chilly. You get praised, you get torn down. We shouldn’t, as a fan base, dwell and die by the highs and the lows. This just isn’t some revelatory new recommendation and but it’s one thing we most likely all want a reminder of infrequently.

The noise doesn’t matter. It’s a sugar excessive. Empty energy.

We know what we’ve with this crew, and I’m positive they’re going to proceed to thrill and delight us in the identical approach they’ve all 12 months.

It’s vital to understand that on our personal phrases.

WWL Post Game Press Conference

– All the best folks often make a declaration that they’re cool.

– Right, yea. Like you need to announce your coolness to the world, in any other case, how would anybody know?

– What are they alleged to do? Just choose up on it based mostly on the way you current your self to the world? That appears loopy.

– You’re proper, it does appear loopy. When I take into consideration cool folks on the earth, take into consideration Steve McQueen stopping mid-car chase to show to the digital camera and say, “Just a heads up, I’m extremely cool.” I take into consideration Miles Davis placing the ending touches on Kind of Blue, adjusting his sun shades, and submitting a notarized assertion confirming his coolness. I take into consideration David Bowie breaking character on stage simply to make clear, “This Ziggy Stardust thing? It’s cool. I’m cool.” I take into consideration Michael Jordan doing that business with Spike Lee, turning to the digital camera on the finish and saying, “By the way, I’m a cool guy, just so you know.”

– And now you be part of that distinguished lineage.