TORRANCE TRIBUNE May 19, 2016 Page 5 You Should Be Happy Up and Adam That Spurs Are Gone By Adam Serrao Last Thursday night, the unexpected happened. While everyone was sitting around waiting for the San Antonio Spurs to meet up with the Golden State Warriors in this year’s NBA Western Conference Finals, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder had something to say about it. The Thunder have always “The San Antonio Spurs have never been a fun team to watch. A quiet and cerebral Tim Duncan is aided by an emotionless superstar in Kawhi Leonard and a coach that prides himself on speaking in sentences of two words or fewer.” looked like a good team on paper. Sporting arguably two of the NBA’s current Top 5 players in the league, their only flaw was that Durant and more notably, Westbrook, needed to utilize more of their team. The Spurs, on the other hand, lost only 15 games all season and behind head coach Greg Popovich, were a lock to give the Warriors a run for their money to reach this year’s NBA Finals and maybe even take home a ring. With a 113-99 victory, the Thunder not only added to the Spurs loss total on the year, but also surprisingly eliminated their adversaries from the playoffs. Now that they are gone, it’s easy to see why we should all be happy of the Spurs demise. The San Antonio Spurs have never been a fun team to watch. A quiet and cerebral Tim Duncan is aided by an emotionless superstar in Kawhi Leonard and a coach that prides himself on speaking in sentences of two words or fewer. Despite what they provide for the eye, however, the Spurs have been one of the league’s most successful teams and an utter dynasty for almost 20 years now. One of the main reasons to be happy that the Thunder eliminated them from playoff contention though, if for nothing else, is to see parity in the game. On one hand, you have the slow and lumbering Spurs, who offer nothing towards excitement, yet always find a way to pull out a victory. On the other hand, you have the hot, young, Oklahoma City Thunder with the amazing Kevin Durant and an unrelenting Russell Westbrook who seems to give the Energizer Bunny a run for his money. Westbrook, a product of Southern California’s Leuzinger High School and UCLA, is constantly on full-go. He is one of the most up-tempo players and point guards in the league, stopping at nothing to get to the rim as he speeds past opponents like the Roadrunner and hops over his challengers with the seeming ability of Bugs Bunny. That’s right, he seems like a cartoon-player, but much to an NBA fan’s delight, he is of real flesh and blood and on display for us to watch and appreciate on almost a nightly basis. Then, there are the coaches of the two teams. Billy Donovan, the coach of the Thunder, is a young and intense first-year leader that formerly coached the game at the college level at the University of Florida. Donovan has instilled belief and tenacity into his team that undoubtedly led, in part, to their victory over the Spurs. Then, there’s Popovich. Popovich has been in the NBA for 28 years now and as a head coach, has won the NBA title five times and coach of the year three times. All of those accolades have unquestionably led to his over-the-top pompous attitude and “better-than-thou” way of thinking. Popovich gives nothing to media on the sidelines and nothing to anyone who asks a question of him after the game. It has gotten so ridiculous and out of control now that not only has he become used to acting in such a foolish manner, but the media has gotten used to simply taking it, mind-numbingly labeling him as charming. There is absolutely nothing charming about Popovich; a head coach who Spurs fans should most certainly be interested in hearing what he has to say and think about the game, yet he undeniably and consistently responds with returns such as, “That’s a correct statement”, or “Why don’t you figure it out yourself”. I’d rather see Marshawn Lynch at the podium who is known to say, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined”, than to see an egotistical, millionaire head coach who constantly takes subtle jabs at the media for simply doing their jobs and cares not about the fans of his team who just prematurely got eliminated from the playoffs after a 67 win season, yet offers no explanation for his poor performance. If you’re a Kobe Bryant fan, there is reason to celebrate the Spurs demise as well. In what was most likely Tim Duncan’s last year, the five-time champion had a real shot at surpassing Bryant in the championship count. Now that Duncan is out of contention, he will more than likely finish his career with the same amount of rings as Bryant. That’s good for members of the media, as well, who can now spend countless hours deciding which player had the better career. Was it the five-time champion who spent all 19 of his NBA career years with the Spurs? Or the five-time champion who spent all 20 of his NBA career years with the Lakers? No matter what the answers to all of those questions are, the fact remains that this week will see the beginning of an extremely entertaining series between two up-tempo and high-powered NBA teams. The Golden State Warriors, last year’s NBA champions and this year’s favorites, will take on a flashy, young, and powerful OKC team that will have two of the three best players on the floor at all times. While everyone still expects to see the Warriors win and advance to the Finals for the second year in a row, the Thunder will certainly provide much more entertainment value than the prodding, listless, and monotonous Spurs. For that reason and that reason alone, we should all be happy that the Spurs are gone and that Popovich will not have to find another eloquent way to describe yet another lackluster performance. • STARS & STRIPES A M E R I C A N M A D E C L O T H I N G S T O R E COME CHECK US OUT! GREAT CLOTHING INCLUDING DENIM, HATS, BAGS, SHOES AND MORE 1107 Van Ness Ave.Torrance, CA 90501 • 310.320-3207 LEE 101 USA, WOOLRICH, SAVE KHAKI, MINNETONKA MOCCASIN, PENNY, JAN SPORT, DULUTH, REYN SPOONER, TRETORN, BALL, BURTON, STANCE, RAINBOW SANDALS, FILSON, TEVA, NEW YORK HAT, PADDY WAX, RICHER & POORER, SCHOTT USA, STRATHTAY Open Mondays through Saturdays Noon to 6pm Tartars, Saxons Knotted at Top of Softball Standings By Adam Serrao Just when the Torrance Tartars softball team thought that they had the Pioneer League all wrapped up, the North High Saxons made a late season surge to tie their rivals in the division standings with only one game to go in the year. A 3-2 loss at the hands of North High two Friday’s ago moved the Saxons up into a tie with the Tartars for first place in the Pioneer League. At that point, with only one game remaining in the regular season, Torrance was able to come away with a 7-2 rivalry game win at West High last Tuesday afternoon. Likewise, North pulled out a 5-2 victory last Tuesday at home against South. Both teams winning meant the year would end in a tie at the top of the standings. With the playoffs just around the corner, both North and Torrance will look forward to a third matchup of the season, this time in a do-or-die atmosphere. In its very last game of the regular season, the Tartars and head coach Don Glavich knew that they had to win to keep their hopes of a first place finish alive. Though rivalry games are never quite easy, especially when you’re taking on the third place West High Warriors, Torrance came out firing on all cylinders. The Tartars put up six runs in the game before the Warriors could even get one. A five-run first inning highlighted an offensive spree that saw Torrance come out hot, knowing that they needed a victory to defend first place in the standings. Kayla Yoshioka controlled the hottest bat of the game on the afternoon, ending the day by going 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Jade Arslanian was up to her usual offensive firepower, also driving in two runs for Torrance. The Warriors struggled to keep up with the Tartars onslaught behind sophomore pitcher, Mailee Newman. Newman pitched seven strong innings, but gave up eight hits and five earned runs while walking three and striking out three. The West High offense was only able to manage two runs in the bottom of the third inning to attempt to pad Newman’s outing. Freshman Natalie Davila and senior Michelle Moore did all of the damage, each knocking in a run. West managed only six hits on the day going up against Torrance’s All-Star and ace, Marissa Moreno. The 7-2 victory for Torrance combined with North High’s win gave both team’s a share of first place in the Pioneer League standings. The Tartars (21-9, 9-1) finished the regular season winning five of their final six games. Their only loss was to North High, giving the Saxons a tie in the standings. West (17-11, 6-5), on the other hand, has now won six of their final eight games, counting a 4-0 shutout win over South High in a third place playoff game. Newman was the hero of the game, pitching seven innings of shutout ball while striking out five. Her teammate Mia Wyatt went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double and a run scored while Brianna Magee also doubled, scored a run, and knocked home two RBIs. With all three teams likely headed to the Southern Section Division IV tournament, it’s likely that at least one Torrance team walks away from the playoffs having done some major damage. North High vs. South High The North High Saxons were able to extend their end-of-the-year winning streak by taking out their cross-town rivals, the South High Spartans. Like the Tartars, the Saxons knew that if they wanted at least a share of this year’s Pioneer League crown, they would have to win at home against South. North’s starting pitcher, Alyssa Loza, saw to it that the Saxons would finish on top. Though the Saxons eventually came through with a 5-2 victory, it wasn’t an easy one, by any means. The Spartans were the team jumping out to hot start, putting up two runs before North High could even blink an eye. Fortunately for the Saxons, Loza, who has been remarkable all season long, settled into her groove. The ace of the staff wound up striking out six batters in the game and held South High scoreless past the second inning. On offense, it was the usual suspects, Shonnie Baker and Marissa Garza who came up big for North. In the third inning, Baker came through with a two-run double that tied the game at two runs apiece. Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth inning, and it was Garza who was the hero for the Saxons. Her go-ahead RBI single not only started a three run rally that eventually won the game for North High, but in doing so, it also sealed a share of the Pioneer League crown. The Saxons and head coach Howard Miller would certainly like to be sitting on top of the division standings by themselves, but a late-game rally combined with an incredible late-season surge has put the Saxons in prime position entering the playoffs nonetheless. North (24-6-1, 9-1) finishes the regular season as winners of their last seven games in a row. Were it not for a tie against Gahr, the team would have won at least eight in a row and 15 of its final 16 games. Miller and his Saxons are certainly on a tear. South, on the other hand, finished the year with an unfortunate loss against the Saxons after winning two in a row against Centennial and Leuzinger. The Spartans (12- 13, 5-6) also lost a third place playoff game to the West High Warriors by a final score of 4-0, meaning that South will take home fourth place in the Pioneer League for this season. •
Torrance_051916_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above