2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go Blu-ray Movie Review

Spurs cowboy up.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 1, 2014

There are a few sports teams that always seem to rise to the top, not necessarily throughout a sport's or that team's history but for long stretches of time wherein they emerge as a dominate force, feared opponents, and championship contenders. Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves, for example, were at one point in their history a laughing stock of the baseball community. Beginning with the 1991 season that saw them go from worst-to-first in the National League West (and break the hearts of Pittsburgh Pirates fans, twice), the team began a run that would see them win 14 straight division titles. Even though the club only won a single World Series title (sorry, Cleveland), the string of dominant high play over such a long stretch of time -- solidified through almost the entire run by the emergence and consistent greatness of future Hall of Fame switch hitting third baseman Chipper Jones, several Hall-of-Fame starting pitchers, and Hall-of-Fame Manager Bobby Cox -- is one that can only be matched by an almost-as-lengthy streak of success and, say, five world championships over the same stretch.

Champs.

Led by Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the San Antonio Spurs, under the head coaching tutelage of the now-legendary Gregg Popovich, began a run that started in the 1997-1998 season with Popovich's first full season as coach, Duncan's first year in the pros out Wake Forrest, and at the peak of Robinson's storied career. The Spurs had enjoyed some success prior, but the club's fortunes took a turn for the better in Duncan's Rookie of the Year campaign, finishing 5th in the always imposing Western Conference and winning a first-round playoff series. In the years to follow -- several with Robinson, some without following his retirement in 2003 -- the Spurs would go on an historic run, never missing the playoffs and only twice -- in the 1997-1998 and 2009-2010 seasons -- finishing below the #4 seed. Through the 2012-2013 season, the Spurs celebrated six appearances as the conferences's top seeded team and rattled off four World Championships, including a sweep of LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2006-2007 season (sorry, again, Cleveland, though rejoice at the King's return for the 2014-2015 season). The team's legacy has already been cemented, and even a loss to James' über-talented Miami Heat in the tight seven-game affair to end the 2012-2013 season could not tarnish the team's legacy. Another title, however, would only cement it further in the history books.

Despite questions about the team's age -- as there always seems to be -- The Spurs put together another dominant campaign in 2013-2014, amassing an impressive .756 winning percentage and, no surprise, the conference's best record and the West's #1 playoff seed. The playoffs opened with a tight opening round series against in-state rival Dallas that went the full seven games and included a miracle Dallas win off of Vince Carter's near-impossible 3-pointer to put his team up 2-1. But the Spurs would rally to win the series on the backs of its stars -- Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili -- and advance to the second round to face a dangerous Portland Trailblazers team. The Spurs handled the Blazers with relative ease, scoring in triple digits in all four wins and losing game four by only 11 points. For the Conference finals, San Antonio faced one if the conference's most dangerous teams from just north in Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant's Thunder closed a 2-0 Spurs lead after taking games 3-4, but the Spurs rebounded with dominant 117-89 win in game five and a closer closeout victory in game six, final score 112-107. The Spurs would face the fearsome Miami Heat -- led by the seemingly unstoppably trio of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh -- in a rematch of the previous year's finals. The Spurs would win game one by 15 and drop game two in San Antonio in a nail-biter, 98-96. With the series tied at one game apiece and headed to the Sunshine State for games three and four, the Spurs took control, winning both games by scores of 111-92 and 107-86, returning to finish the series -- and, quite possibly, Miami's historic run of four straight finals appearances -- with a 104-87 win.

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go follows a basic playoff run home video recap format, beginning with a brief look back at the Spurs' heartbreaking 2013 Finals game six loss, game seven -- and series -- defeat, and moving on to examine the team's preseason push back into championship form before highlighting the team's run through the 2014 playoffs. It focuses on little things, like the team's training camp time at the Air Force Academy and the emergence of Kawhi Leonard before spending the bulk of its runtime recapping the playoff run. It highlights the difficult 1-8 Spurs-Mavericks opening round contest, the Spurs' battles with the Blazers and Thunder in the Western Conference's second and third round action, and the team's domination over the Heat in the finals. It's fairly straightforward, detailed but not overly so, shaping a narrative formed on the foundation of the games but often doing so through the prism of the personalities -- Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and Popovich -- that helped propel the Spurs to a fifth NBA title.

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go dribbles onto Blu-ray with a good 1080i high definition transfer framed in a standard 1.78:1 window. The transfer provides serviceably accurate details, rather flat and smooth reflecting the current HD atmosphere yet providing clean basic imagery and suitably complex textures. Facial features are revealed to satisfaction in interview shots, while wooden court textures, uniform and accompanying patch lines, arena signage and seats, and other details are nicely presented throughout. Colors are pleasingly accurate, from Miami red and orange to Dallas blue. the Spurs' black-and-white color scheme, too, is handled with care and attention to coloring detail. Viewers will see occasional, and minor, ringing and interlacing artifacts. Minimal banding and noise are present. Overall, this is a solid presentation from Team Marketing.

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Despite the absence of a surround structure, the track produces a wide front stage with an aggressive presence. Music spreads as far as the stage allows and does so with solid clarity and satisfying balance and volume. There's not much in the way of manufactured sound effects, and on-court sounds and crowd cheers are largely kept to a lower level. Dialogue delivery is sufficiently clear, with only recorded team huddles from mid-game coming through as slightly muddled, as one would rightly expect. All in all, this isn't a memorable track but it does get the job done to satisfaction.

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go contains several short bonuses that Spurs fans will enjoy. Note that this release comes housed in a DVD case rather than a Blu-ray case.

• Tony Parker with Ahmad Rashad (1080i, 6:04): The sportscaster speaks with the Spurs star about losing to the Heat and returning to the playoffs and the challenges therein. It also looks at his playing career and style.
• Tim Duncan with Steve Smith (1080i, 2:50): Duncan discusses his team's longtime dominance, his relationship with Head Coach Gregg Popovich, the prospects of winning a fifth title, and more.
• The Spurs Way (1080i, 3:28): A look at the team's consistency, the core relationships and continuity that exist within the franchise, Gregg Popovich's role in the franchise beyond simple X's and O's coaching, and more.
• Spurs Teamwork (1080i, 2:17): A look at the importance of passing on the floor, relationships off the floor, team chemistry, the older players' role in integrating newer players into the system, Gregg Popovich's role with the team beyond coaching, and more.
• 2014 Spurs Championship Trailer (1080i, 1:03): A cinematic trailer for the team's 2014 playoff run and this release.

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go satisfies basic sports home video requirements. It recaps the Spurs' championship run through the 2014 NBA playoffs with an accessible drive and quality flow. It's engaging and entertaining, perhaps not so much for fans of other teams, but Spurs fans should enjoy this a great deal as they wait for (hopefully) a release that contains all of the Finals games in their entirety. Team Marketing's Blu-ray release of 2014 NBA Champions: Go Spurs Go features satisfactory video and good two-channel lossless audio. A few nice supplements are included. Highly recommended to Spurs fans.