Who should Spurs fans root for now?
Someone’s going to win the championship, so who do you want it to be now that the Spurs are out?
The Spurs season is over, but the NBA playoffs are only a quarter through. As a basketball fan, I can’t pretend that there is not a lot of great basketball still to be played. And I can’t watch games without rooting for one team (or against the other). For me, it makes games more enjoyable.
For instance, after the Spurs’ awful Game 5 against Denver, I switched over to watch the end of the Blazers — Thunder game. You know which one. Because I lived in Oregon as a kid, I have always had a fond spot for the Blazers, and I generally root against the Thunder. So when Damian Lillard made that 37-footer, it helped soothe my angst over the Spurs game.
So who is there to root for now that we can’t root for our favorite team in the world? I will list what I see as the pluses and minuses of each remaining team — and then we can have a poll! Starting with the Eastern Conference, here goes:
Reasons to root for them: Coach Bud. Giannis. Ex-Spur Pau Gasol. Mid-market team good enough to win it all.
Reasons to root against them: If you are lactose-intolerant, too much cheese in Wisconsin.
Reasons to root for them: Canadians are very nice people. Ex-Spurs Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
Reasons to root against them: Ex-Spur Kawhi Leonard.
Reasons to root for them: Most of my (Philadelphia) college buddies are 76er fans. Ex-Spur Coach Brown. Boban.
Reasons to root against them: We don’t want to reward, or encourage, the blatant tanking they call the Process. Even though it worked.
Reasons to root for them: Likable coach. Ex-Spur Aron “the Big Banger” Baynes.
Reasons to root against them: Their best player thinks the Earth is flat. And as an ex-Laker fan, I still don’t like the color green.
Reasons to root for them: Best passing team in the league. Ex-Spur Coach Kerr. Steph Curry still has to show his ID to buy a beer.
Reasons to root against them: No one roots for the Death Star. Draymond Green.
Reasons to root for them: Jokic. They are well-coached and play hard. And if they win, Spurs have an argument that they are the second best team in the league.
Reasons to root against them: They just beat the Spurs too soon to root for them.
Reasons to root for them: Like San Antonio, a city with a single major sport team. Beautiful place. Their best two players, Dame and McCollum, are from mid-majors and went to school for four years.
Reasons to root against them: Too much rain.
Reasons to root for them: Hmmm. Maybe because Houston is technically in Texas??
Reasons to root against them: Their offense. Their coach. Their players.
Who should Spurs fans root for now?
Source: Pounding The Rock
