I Was Wrong About The 2019 Championship...
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Music:
➤ Poverty (Prod. CorMill)
➤ Don Tolliver - Diamons
➤ Sank (Prod. Ty Rose)
➤ Trouble (Prod. CorMill)
➤ Grief (Prod. CorMill)
Pressure is a complex sensation. Some crumble under pressure. Others rise to the occasion. Just as its physical nature, applying just enough pressure can fill an object to its maximum capacity, its greatest potential. But too much pressure.. and it bursts. Everything that was gained.. is lost, in an instant.
The same logic can be applied to NBA teams. Some, like Toronto, have nearly reached capacity. This season for various reasons may very well be their one last chance. Kawhi’s impending free agency leaves little room for patience & the rest of the core group is aging and can only stay competitive for so much longer. But let’s rewind to where the story begins. Over the course of the past few seasons, Toronto felt that strain of pressure creeping up behind em, w multiple premature playoff exits following promising regular season campaigns, as the window to win continued to close. It all culminated in the trade for Kawhi. Toronto responded to the pressure by actually raising the stakes with a high risk move. Rather than alleviating the pressure, they accepted the burden and in fact doubled down. We fast forward to present day, and we see the repercussions. Leading up to the final hours prior to the trade deadline, the pressure had finally reached its ultimate boiling point, w the opportunity to fortify the roster through trade closing, & w two of their in-conference rivals already having made their own sizeable improvements, while Boston was making considerable strides in finally figuring out how to make all the pieces work. The ball was in Toronto’s court, and they made their move. Initially the move comes with an air of excitement to it. When you think of Marc Gasol, you think intelligence, experience, leadership. You reminisce on the accolades, the defensive player of the yr, the all-star, all-nba selections. But how much weight does that name really hold at this point in his career, at 34 years of age, frankly, nearing rapid regression into role player status. Far from his days as the best defensive big in the league, 5-6 years ago, far from that franchise-altering status he once held.
It may seem like a distant memory at this point, with the Grizzlies having fallen all the way to the bottom of the standings, but no more than a couple months ago, Memphis was the #1 team in the brutally competitive west and while Mike Conley was their best player, Gasol was the system. Similar to the KD-Steph dynamic in Golden State. The team’s pace followed Gasol, the elite defense, a product of Gasol. He was the true leader in that regard. But sadly, as much as he was the reason for their early success, he was the reason for their subsequent downfall & their rise to the top of the conference was equally as impressive as their collapse was disgraceful & if Gasol is the system, we know that the teams demise starts with his own personal demise & that's exactly what had happened, to begin the season Gasol was elite. 34 & not only playin close to his prime self but lowkey an MVP candidate. Over the full month of November, he was a monster on defense, basically single-handedly making Memphis one of the best defensive teams in the league, while puttin up prime-level numbers, averaging 20 and 10. & In his first 20 games of the season, Gasol shot 48% fg, 42% from 3, and scored 18 pts a game. In his next 20? 37.7% fg, an abysmal 27.5% from 3, and that scoring had dropped to only 12 points a game. Defensively, he’d gone from elite to remarkably bad. You see, Gasol suffered an ankle injury and his huge drop-off in production came w it. & injuries & general wear and tear are sure to speed up the regression of any player in their mid-30’s, no matter how great they may be. & it doesn’t help that they’re bringing him into an organization spearheaded by now 3 injury prone stars. Kawhi literally JUST got off back-to-back restrictions and Lowry been battling a nagging back issue all season long. This team is incredibly vulnerable in the playoffs now, one guy going down and that could be it.
But here’s my main issue with the trade. If you’re gonna go all-in, then go all-in, forreal. Gasol just simply isn’t that, former co-star Mike Conley would’ve been, & Toronto was in talks to acquire both. But Memphis wanted one of the Raptors young assets in Siakam or Anunoby & Toronto refused to part with either. Now going all-in means sacrifice, means risk-taking. JV, CJ, and DW just isn’t really that big of a sacrifice. Someone like Conley or Beal or Kemba Walker.. that would’ve been the move. The one that gives you a definitive advantage over rivals youre still neck-and-neck with. The one that really proves to Kawhi just how serious you are about winning.