Friday, 15 June 2007
These are the names of the warriors whom Pop had: Tim, a Virgin Islander; he was chief of the Three. He wielded his bank shot and running hook against many whom he defeated over the years.
Next to him among the three warriors was Tony, son of Tony the elder, a Frenchman. He was with Pop when they defied the Cavaliers who were gathered there for battle. The Spurs wavered, but Tony stood his ground. He struck down the Cavaliers until his teardrop and driving layup grew weary, though his hand clung to the ball. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the Spurs came back to him, but only to strip the dead.
Next to him was Manu, the Argentine. The Cavaliers gathered together at Cleveland, where there was a hall of fame full of rock stars; and the Spurs wavered in the face of King James. But Manu took his stand in the middle of the court, defended his basket, and smote the Cavaliers with thirteen of his twenty-seven points in the fourth quarter alone, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
Towards the beginning of the finals three of the fifteen Spurs went down to join Pop at the AT&T Center, while a band of Cavaliers was encamped near the Heights of Alamo. Pop was then in the stronghold of his bench; and the garrison of the Cavaliers was then at San Antonio. Pop said longingly, "O that someone would give me victory to drink from the trophy of O'Brien that is with the commissioner, for the first three drinks were so sweet!" Then the three warriors broke through the camp of the Cavaliers, captured the Larry O'Brien trophy, and brought it to Pop. But he would not drink from it; he poured it out to the Lord, for he said, "The Lord forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of men who went at risk of their careers?" Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.
Now Bruce, the son of Bruce the elder, was chief among the Fifteen. With his defense he fought against dozens of opponents and defeated them, and he shot threes and astounded his enemies, and won a name beside the Three. He was the most renowned of the Fifteen, and became their hero; but he did not attain to the Three.
Fabricio, a fellow countryman of Manu, was a valiant warrior, a winner of the medal of gold, and a doer of great deeds; he snuck in for layups when the opponents were not guarding the paint. He also blocked shots, collected rebounds, and tipped numerous balls away from the rim to his comrades.
Robert, an aged warrior, was the wisest and most experienced of the Fifteen, having collected six previous rings of glory in battle. He buried three pointers the way he buried opposing teams, and he played the heavy by knocking Steve, the champion of Phoenix, into the scorer's table at the end of one contest.
Michael the Hopeful, a refugee from Dallas, was the hungriest of the Spurs, and his shot was widely feared throughout the land. He shot threes, and jumpers, and he sometimes rose above the rim to dunk. These men were renowned among the Fifteen, but they did not attain to the Three. And Pop put them in charge of their title run.
Among the Fifteen were Francisco of Holland, who together with Fabricio made up the Spurs' two-headed center; Matt the Red Rocket, whose energy on the court was contagious and incited fear in the enemy; Jacque the second to Tony; Beno of Slovenia; Brent the dead-eye bomber; Melvin of the house of Ely; Jackie the large; and James the aspirant to the deeds of King George, the Man of Ice. These were the mighty men of Pop in the 2007 campaign.