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Spurs win title but lose in TV ratings

Manu Ginobili gives a thumbs up to fans after the San Antonio Spurs arrived at San Antonio International Airport on Friday, one day after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA championship. PHOTO: AP

The San Antonio Spurs are champions everywhere but in US television ratings. The Spurs were too good for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but still considered too boring to be appreciated.

They are the NBA's forgotten dynasty.

"It's all about getting the job done, it's not how you get the job done," said Robert Horry, who won his seventh championship. "You don't need to be flashy, just get the job done."

Few teams have done that better than the Spurs, who by sweeping the Cavaliers for a fourth title since 1999 have forced themselves into the dynasty discussion.

Fans don't seem to love or hate the Spurs -- they mostly ignore them. The NBA finals between the Spurs and Cavaliers drew the worst US television ratings for the event ever.

"We don't do a lot of the flashy things. The only flashy guy we got is Manu [Ginobili]," Horry said. "Everybody else is just basic, but sometimes basic stuff gets the job done. We are a good team and that's the most important thing."

The NBA's bland boys are ready to show their wild side.

They get their championship parade along San Antonio's Riverwalk this weekend, followed next month by guard Tony Parker's wedding to Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria in France.

"I'm going to party all the way until the end of Tony Parker's wedding," said Michael Finley, a first-time champion. "And then I might relax a little bit."

Once it's time to get back to basketball, count on the Spurs being a title threat.

As long as they have Tim Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich, they always are.

"It starts with Pop, the fact that he never let us get comfortable," Parker said. "He's always behind us, always like `Come on, focus, focus' and I think it carries on. Every day in practice you just get that mentality."

"And then Timmy is the same way," Parker said. "He comes to practice and practices hard every day. When your superstar practices like that, you have to practice hard."

Popovich took over as coach during the 1996-1997 season and a few months later San Antonio won the draft lottery and the right to select Duncan.

The Spurs were first-time champions two years later and added titles in 2003 and 2005. This was their first finals sweep, so they may be getting even better.

"It takes such a long process to build up champions and now we have a championship mentality," former San Antonio star David Robinson said. "We have a great organization, the management, bringing in phenomenal guys to fill in all the roles ... and our leaders are just phenomenal."

Still, winning games still doesn't mean winning fans for the Spurs. High-scoring teams such as Phoenix and Golden State are the ones fans want to see.

But while those teams look more fun, the Spurs' model is the one to follow for the best shot at a title.

That's what Cleveland did, bringing in coach Mike Brown and general manager Danny Ferry from San Antonio. Seattle could be headed in the same direction, hiring Sam Presti away from the Spurs to be its new GM and perhaps considering Popovich's assistant, P.J. Carlesimo, to be its new coach.

The Cavaliers quickly learned that there's a large gap between being like the Spurs and being the Spurs.

"We went up against a better team," LeBron James said after struggling throughout his first finals appearance.

"We know the Spurs are definitely the better team in this series," James said.
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