If the Thunder win out...

[VYFan]

They could beat four consecutive "championship" teams, by which I mean:
1. Dallas, with Nowitzki 2011 championship MVP, the defending champion (not quite the exact team that won last year, but close);
2. Los Angeles, with Kobe Bryant, MVP of 2009 and 2010 series, with a team that has won multiple titles;
3. San Antonio, with Duncan--2005 MVP, Parker--2007 MVP, etc., which has won multiple titles with the basic same team; and
4. Boston, with Pierce--2008 series MVP, etc.

If the Heat were in it, you could say Wade 2006 series MVP--with Shaq, but the Heat are not a championship team in the current configuration

 

[Hu_Fan]

Sounds good to me. And I'd like to see the Celtics punk the Heat out of it. Tired of hearing their name(s).

Who gets home court in the Finals? Is that already established?

 

[NEWDOC2002]

I don't think you can qualify any team 3 years from a NBA title as a "championship" team, but what ever floats your boat. BTW, the Mavericks were lucky just to get into the playoffs.

 

[VYFan]

Well, I put "championship" in quotes, just like you did, and explained what I meant by that. I do think that if a group of guys, whether Kobe/Pau/Bynum (playing in 3 of the last 4 finals, winning 2), Pierce/Allen/KG (playing in 2 of the last 4 finals, winning 1), Duncan/Parker/Ginobili (multiple titles, not recent), or Nowitzki/Kidd/Terry (Last year)---that when you prove you can win it all with a certain formula with those guys playing certain roles, that the experience and confidence coming from those championships makes that team more cohesive and harder to beat even in the next years.

As opposed, for example, to the Grizzlies, the Bulls, or even the Heat, who aren't entirely positive that their formula will work.

So, I'll stick to the idea that the Thunder are having to prove themselves against a very impressive group of proven "teams," not just collections of players.

Floats my boat in a small sort of way on a slow news day....

 

[Hu_Fan]

Western Conference Champions!!!

 

[TexasRx]

As a Seattle native all I have to say is:

 

[Hu_Fan]

I believe Pops tonight in a press conference after the game said if the Thunder continue and win the championship, they'll have beaten the teams (programs, franchises) that have won something like 11 of the last 13 titles. For sure, Dallas, LA and San Antonio have won all the recent Western Conference titles. And then they'll play Boston or Miami who have won recently. Quite a run if they can manage it.

I also learned tonight that OKC will have home court on a 2-3-2 format. Which should be very favorable to them.

I was for OKC but have feelings for the Spurs. They showed HUGE class in the series; players, and the coach. Total class. I don't always like how they move around to draw fouls, but tip my hat to them as playmakers, but I think they are the class of the NBA as a franchise, and I see OKC as modeling after that. Both the GMs are very good friends, and I think that's how OKC has learned to develop and handle themselves top to bottom.

 

[l00p]

I wonder if OKC wins it all, beats out whatever team comes from the East, if this means they are on a path to win perhaps 3 of the next 5. I say that because they are young, have players who want to play with one another and seem to love where they are. They could maybe pick up a Steve Nash slashing his salary to give minutes off the bench for a ring or some big signing to just simply put them over the top.

Teams think you can just sign names and pay big checks but it doesn't always translate to winning it all. OKC seems, big word seems, to have the pieces together. I don't follow the NBA all that much but do listen to a good amount of sports radio and tend to follow the Spurs. I am elated for Kevin Durant.

 

[accuratehorn]

What it probably means is the teams with more money will hire off the Thunder's stars, leaving them with nothing, like always happens in pro sports.

 

[hornpharmd]

Accurate they only have 2 stars. Fischer is a roll player veteran who could easily finish his career there. Sefolosha (sp?) is a roll player off the bench who won't demand big money in free agency. Durant has already signed a contract extention with 5 years remaining. Westbrook has 6 years remaining on his deal but deserves a raise if they win it all. Ibaka and Harden have 2 years left each on their deals and both deserve a pay increase. Those are the 2 players they need t resign and structure with a pay increase. They can free up cash by getting rid of Mohammed (3.75 M), Cook (3.3 M), Aldrich (2.2 M), Hayward (1.1 M), or Ivey (1.2 M). Perkins reels in 7.1 M per but I don't think they can afford to lose the size and toughness he brings to their team. I like Perkins, Ibaka, and Collison as their bigs and they can lose the rest.

VY, I agree, this is an historic run through the playoffs. No team, especially a young team like this, has had to make a run through championship calibur teams like they have. They made Dallas and Dirk look like a practice squad. Then they made LA look old and now LA is talking all kinds of offseason trades. SA is now talking about making moves and possibly rebuilding. SA played great and if they were in their prime they beat this young OKC team. But I think OKC will continue to get better and they are still a team on the rise.

I liken this run to the 1990-91 Bulls run. That was the first year Jordan and company won a title. They had been bullied by the Pistons while they were growing up as a team and this led them to being a more physically tough team and for Michael to significantly improve his defensive play. That year they went through:
1st round, beat Knicks
2nd round, beat 76ers
3rd round, beat Pistons
4th round, beat Lakers

The teams they beat combined for 7 of the last 9 NBA titles. Of course they weren't exactly the same teams. The Pistons were looking for a 3 peat and the Bulls ended their chance at a dynasty and started their own. LA consisted of Magic, Worthy, Green, Scott, Perkins, Divac. They were a mix of the LA dynasty and new LA team. Nevertheless the Bulls took them out and make their mark as the new superstar team and this led to their upcoming championship dynasty run. The Knicks were not quite a championship competiting level team just yet but they had the pieces in place (Ewing, Starks, Oakley, Jackson, etc). The 76er team was the new 76er team but it had Barkley, Hawkins, Anderson, Mahorn, Bol, etc).

That is the next closer run I can think of but I think this current OKC run is even better....they just need to finish it off.

 

[biggie1928]

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[NEWDOC2002]

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