Eric Dittmar

Wandering, not lost. Spurs, Longhorns. Former Apple.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

I’m sure there are lots of terrible arguments in the Jordan vs LeBron debate. Holding LeBron’s 2007 Finals against him would certainly be one of them.

I’ve got Jordan as my GOAT, but I’ll admit my reasons are more subjective than measurable. Jordan just reached a point where he seemed unbeatable. There’s no way to prove what I saw to someone who didn’t experience it. But I did experience it, and Jordan just seemed to bend the entire world to his will.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@mikecwright Holy cow that interesting to hear. Thank you for sharing @mikecwright!

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

People used to say Jordan wasn’t a winner. Treated him like he was a “great stats / bad teams” guy. I remember because I was there.

What I’ve learned over the years: there are people who really understand basketball (or any other subject), and they usually predict who the great ones are in advance. But their voices tend to be drowned out by opinionated casuals.

There are a lot of strong opinions about Wemby right now being expressed by people who have no idea what they are talking about.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

Spurs fans don’t assume we’ll be back next year. We know how hard it is. But:

1) nobody is giving up on this year yet.
2) we know our team. These Spurs are ridiculously young, insanely talented, and maniacally competitive. If they lose, we like our chances that these guys come back better, hungry, and angry.

[Jaylenbrownfan @SarksDaddy]

Funny how Spurs fans think it’s just a lock for them to return to the finals next season. Luka fans thought they’d be back immediately as well , unfortunately that’s not how the NBA works

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

I’m not taking swipes at Jordan. He’s the GOAT. But comparing 22 year old Wemby to 28 year old Jordan is silly.

I could quibble and point out that in 1990 Jordan played with as many All Stars as Wemby did this year, but didn’t make the Finals…but I won’t, because that’s not really my point. My point, again, is that comparing peak Jordan to 22 year old Wemby is silly.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@Hero_OfThe_Day @espn @NBA 🤝

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

None of those guys were as good as Wemby. Or even close.

Find a guy who was the best guy on a Finals team at 22 who didn’t make it back.

Shaq made it at 22; he turned out okay.
LeBron made it at 22; he turned out okay.

Your broader point is valid, and one Wemby would agree with: you can never take these opportunities for granted, and the Spurs need to scratch and claw until their dying breath.

But the guys you listed ain’t comps for Wemby.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@spursbeliever Wemby surely has his challenges; we all do. Lack of competitive fire ain’t one of them.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@bansky Wemby surely has his challenges. We all do. Lack of competitive fire ain’t one of them.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@Hero_OfThe_Day @espn @NBA Yeah without context it’s for sure a meaningless stat. Agree Wemby is a great defender…who had a bad game. It happens. It’s not a referendum on his defensive prowess.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@Hoyatexas It’s supposed to be hard. Exactly.

I really hope the coaches are reminding the players of that. In the meantime, we’ll remind the fans 😜

Anybody who watched their team win a chip and thought it looked easy only tuned in for the last step in the journey.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@greenmachine18_ This.

The real fun is in watching the journey.

If watching a team win a chip looked easy, you only tuned in to watch the last step.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@BreidenFehoko Yeah I thought this showed real weakness. Thought Rick made Jalen look soft, like he didn’t trust Jalen could handle himself there.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

And right now he’s in his head. I just wanna see him play with the old reckless abandon. I’ll live with the results if he’ll just play like himself.

Like last night he got blocked by McBride. That’s just not being his physical self. Gotta let himself be himself and live with the results.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

What a stat. Thank you for sharing.

Separately: when I saw Shamet and Brunson (e.g. the Knicks offensive lineup) on the floor, I said to my TV: “if the Knicks miss, we need to push”. Call a TO and the Knicks replace Brunson for Hart.

The Spurs were true to themselves, and I can live with that. Heartbreaking outcome, but I didn’t mind the process.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

@SamQuinnCBS @Ian_A_Boyd This. All of this.

Beautifully said.

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

Had an epiphany: most people are tuning in to see Wemby and his Spurs for the first time. Some are comparing these Spurs to the last Finals they watched (e.g. Warriors/Cavs, Spurs/Heat, etc) and are kinda offended by the gaps they see.

The casual fan isn’t wrong to point out how this Spurs team lacks the maturity and sophistication we expect from championship teams…

…But that’s kinda the point: this team is so, so young. The Spurs’ core might be 6-8 years away from peaking…and they just beat a 64-win defending champ to make the NBA Finals.

When Shaq got swept in the 1995 NBA Finals, I could only see his flaws. I hadn’t been around the game long enough to understand that he was only 22 and going to get much better for the next 6 years. Well, 6 years later he had 2 titles under his belt and would get another 2 in the next 5 seasons.

I’m not predicting how many championships the Spurs will win. For me, the whole fun of it is watching to find out, and tracing their growth trajectory along the way.

[ℵ @nicktharula]

One thing I really hate abt twitter is how ppl act when young players aren't consistently good when they're in the playoffs. Talking about the Spurs can't be given grace cuz their guys were picked top 5 when those three are in their third, second, and rookie years respectively

[Eric Dittmar @ericdittmar]

Most of the criticism I’ve seen has been of the over-the-top “he’s an overrated bum” variety. Most of the reaction I’ve seen from reasonable Spurs fans (and those are the ones I mostly follow, this account included) have been defending Wemby from that type of overreaction.

Other than the last half of Game 2, Wemby clearly hasn’t been good enough (or even himself) in this series. But that also doesn’t mean we have to go along with absurd takes from people who are watching him for the first time either.