"Experience" overrated; it's time to play ball

San Antonio head coach Greg Popovich hit the nail on the head a couple of weeks back. During the Spurs’ series with the Hornets, he got at the media for being too cliché.

And he was right.

If the Spurs win, they will say it was because of our “experience,” Popovich explained. If we lose, it will be because we are “too old.”

So after Popovich’s Spurs left the Bayou unscathed after Game 7, of course it was because they had “been there, done that.”

Here we go again.

Tomorrow night the NBA Finals begin. The matchup is intriguing: Kobe Bryant got there after demanding a trade following last season’s disappointments and the Celtics survived the East after completing the biggest one-season turnaround in league history. Bryant and Derek Fisher have each earned three rings. Meanwhile, Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are all making their first finals appearances, as James Posey – NBA Champion in 2006 with Miami – tells them “what it’s like.”

Like Popovich, I’ve had enough of this nonsense. Basketball is basketball. Yes, playoff basketball is more intense than that during the regular season, but Doc and The Big Three have all played in Game 7s before. They shouldn’t expect anything different in the upcoming weeks.

Too often, the idea of “experience” is overrated. If the seasoned vets always won, it would be impossible for anyone to win for the first time. In seven game series, the better team usually prevails.

So if the Lakers win the ’08 Finals, it will be because they were the better team – or they at least outplayed the Celtics – not because of Bryant and Fischer’s experience.

And if the Celtics win, it’s not because they were hungrier, either, because you know Kobe wants that ring without Shaq.

Shove all the jargon aside. It’s time to play ball. And may the best team win.