hey, getting to the top level without a title is absolutely fine with me too.
to be sure, not everyone can win a championship. not every great team can win a championship. to wit, there are so many teams in the league now... and still only one title. let's for a moment assume there are 10 with title aspirations today and a basketball generation lasts for about 5-7 years. right there you get at least three teams that won't win the big salami (& cheese). and that's an "at least" that assumes none of the ones who do can manage to win more than one. that sort of even distribution at the top is not common.
i can live with not finishing the job. we could have the most talent in the nba, still not finish the job and i could find a way to live with it. no problem. it's not easy to win a title in the age of overexpansion. but sitting in mediocrity and talking about "how great we can be" can only last for so long before the results begin to speak for themselves.
now is the time where you ascend to that level, imo. you don't wait for it like the raps are wont to do; you
go there. a basketball generation is short enough. mediocre teams wait, plateau and talk; champions go, go and go. this is where true leadership comes in. do we have it? i don't know. but i can't say i've seen many signs of it... yet.
you could call me a pessimist but i don't think i've ever been one. neither have i been an optimist. quite frankly, i think it's a waste of time to be either. but i can't justify watching this team through rose-coloured glasses anymore. the results are starting to speak for themselves. the time is now.
peace