I hope we could go like '07!

[Yorae]

I just stumbled upon this on wiki:


2006–07

After their disappointing defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs entered the 2006-07 season refreshed with renewed determination, as they felt fatigue played a large role as they failed to win a second straight NBA Title. The Spurs began their 2007 season on foreign soil as they opened up their training camp in France in October 2006, which they thought could build camaraderie between players.

With a 97-91 opening-night victory on November 2 at Dallas, Gregg Popovich became the fourth head coach in North American professional sports history to post 10 straight opening night victories (others are: Tom Landry, Bill Fitch and George Allen). The Spurs got off to a strong start in the regular season, winning 11 of their first 14 games, including victories over Dallas, Phoenix and Houston. During that stretch, Tim Duncan became the 98th member of the 15,000-point club at Seattle. However, the Spurs franchise-record 12-game road winning streak came to a halt with a 111-102 loss at Golden State on November 27. With a win against Sacramento on December 2, 2006, the Spurs moved past the Celtics to become the second winningest franchise in NBA history (based on winning percentage) at .595. But as the season unfolded, the Spurs failed to live up to their lofty expectations. Following a 9–7 record in January, the Spurs started February with a 1–3 record. They struggled down the stretch in many of those defeats, and the Spurs quickly found themselves far behind the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns. In fact, the Spurs were, during this period, a mere 1.5 games ahead of the third-place Houston Rockets in the Southwest Division. Trade rumors began swirling around the Spurs. Unaccustomed to struggling during the regular season, the Spurs were frustrated. With the trade deadline quickly approaching, Popovich had to choose whether or not to keep the team together. His decision was not to make a trade. Then, it was as if their whole season had magically turned around in one moment. With quiet determination, the Spurs spent the rest of the season flying under the radar, winning thirteen games in a row during February and March. The Spurs won those games with either tough defense or by hitting big shots down the stretch. The Spurs were an NBA-best 25–6 in the final 31 games. During the 31-game stretch, the Spurs averaged 98.8 points while holding their opponents to 87.9 ppg. With that streak, the Spurs began climbing back up in the Western Conference standings. Despite their massive turnaround, the Spurs would not catch the Mavs who won the Southwest Division by nine games. However, with the NBA's top ranked defense and a 58–24 record, the Spurs entered the postseason in good shape.

When the bell rang for the second season, they were able to put the Denver Nuggets away in five games. While the Spurs were bouncing the Nuggets, the Mavericks, who had an NBA best 67–15 record in the regular season, were unraveling, losing to the Golden State Warriors in six games. The Mavericks' upset loss set the Spurs second-round series against the Phoenix Suns as the key series in the entire NBA Playoffs, as some[who?] even called it the "real NBA Finals". The Spurs went on to win 4–2 in the very contentious and controversial series versus the Suns. Those who said the second-round series against the Suns was the true NBA Finals would be proven right, as the Spurs easily dispatched the Utah Jazz in five games to reach the NBA Finals. In the 2007 NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers and captured their fourth title in nine years and became a dynasty. Duncan proclaimed that that championship was "the best" of the four championships, and acknowledged he played "sub-par" and thus received only one vote for NBA Finals MVP from a panel of ten.[13] The award was won by Tony Parker who dominated in the Finals averaging 24.5 ppg on 57% shooting. Tony Parker became the first European-born player to win the Finals MVP. Just before the 2007 NBA Draft, the Spurs purchased the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League, becoming the second NBA team to purchase an NBADL team. This move made the Spurs the sole NBA affiliate of the Toros and gave them greater control over the management of the team, including coaching and the offensive and defensive schemes.

I didn't know that the spurs were so frustrated back then that trade rumors actually emerged?

It's rodeo time and it's time for us go full throttle!

[td4mvp21]

That was a good season. I hate that every year I take the Spurs' championship seasons for granted. I always wish I had spent more time watching the team and appreciating how good they were.

[Ditty]

and i hope the blazers shock the world and beat the lakers in 6 games

[xtremesteven33]

Well I personally think on of the best teams was th '05 team. Manu was a beast first off, but that year we only lost 3 regular season games at home and only like 6 overall. Few teams have ever done that.



Believe it or not, i think the 2006 team was better than the 2005 team.

Even though we lost in the second round. :depressed

[td4mvp21]

The 2005 and 2006 teams were very, very strong teams. That is no question.

[galvatron3000]

Believe it or not, i think the 2006 team was better than the 2005 team.

Even though we lost in the second round. :depressed


You are probably right only because Tony had improved significantly, Brent Barry was playing more comfortably and the team's defense in the playoffs was awesome. My favorite though is the very versatile 2003 team, if that team had one more year they could have been so good, turnovers and free throws were their achilles but that's just a testament to how good they really were.

[Yorae]

Did the the pre All star 07 team sucks more than the team we have right now?

[m33p0]

from si.com about the '05 campaign spurs vs suns
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1115541/index.htm


IN A LEAGUE starved for fresh story lines, the Phoenix Suns were the freshest the 2004-05 season had to offer. The Suns ran like a gang of jewel thieves fleeing a score; they featured a fresh face in third-year center Amar� Stoudemire and a transformed face in point guard Steve Nash, suddenly and miraculously the NBA's MVP; and they were coached by a loose and friendly guy named Mike D'Antoni, a former Italian league star who has kept his native West Virginia twang. All that, and they had a new owner, Robert Sarver, who, during a late-season game against San Antonio, flapped his arms like a chicken in the direction of the Spurs' bench when coach Gregg Popovich elected not to play Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, both of whom were nursing minor injuries.

The Spurs? Well, they were just kind of Spur-like. Even Sarver's antics didn't get much of a rise out of them. Which explains why going into the Western Conference finals, for which the best-record-in-the- NBA Suns had the home court advantage, San Antonio was cast as the stodgy and predictable face of conventionality, the Suns as the delightfully quirky arriviste.

So what did the Spurs do? They turned themselves into a black-and-silver version of the Suns. Who knew it was possible?

In the five games it took to dispose of the Suns, who did not set gently, San Antonio averaged 108.2 points, 12 more than its regular-season average. The Spurs played flawless transition basketball, they cast up threes, they rarely slowed the pace. In short, they offered up--with considerable assistance from the Suns, needless to say--a vision of what the NBA once was and could become again: two teams that ran competent, free-flowing offenses and had fun doing it.

Perhaps recalling that they had lost home court advantage in the first round by dropping Game 1 to the Denver Nuggets, the Spurs grabbed the edge from Phoenix with a well-played 121-114 victory at America West Arena, hanging a franchise playoff record 43-point fourth quarter on the Suns in the process. Several trends emerged from this game: The Suns' defense, always their weak spot, was exposed against a San Antonio offense that was willing to run not only its competent half-court sets but also out on the break; the Spurs did not let Nash dominate with his frenetic floor game and gave up only six fast-break points; the Spurs were not able to stop Stoudemire, whose rim-rattling dunks, open-court gymnastics and, most frightening, midrange accuracy would produce a 37-point scoring average in the five games; but the Spurs did stop Shawn Marion, the third prong in the Suns' offense, primarily with the bulldog defense of Bruce Bowen.

Game 2, also in Phoenix, turned the series. The Suns played with both speed and guts before the home crowd, but the Spurs outran them and outgutted them in the fourth quarter. Two plays down the stretch, both involving Ginobili, encapsulated what San Antonio was about. On the first, Ginobili penetrated into the paint but looked back outside to find Robert Horry, whose three-pointer with 2:31 left gave the Spurs a lead they never lost. Then Ginobili used a crossover dribble followed by a behind-the-back dribble to get to the hoop, where he turned his body and converted a reverse layup to clinch the win. "No coach in his right mind would teach a player to do a one-handed, left-handed crossover dribble, followed by a behind-the-back dribble, followed by a reverse layup in the Western Conference finals," said Ginobili's backup, Brent Barry. Ginobili's heroics, plus a 31-point Spurs fourth quarter, produced a 111-108 win and a 2-0 series lead.

Now supremely confident, San Antonio came to the SBC Center on May 28 determined to grab a 3-0 series lead. The Spurs continued to run at every opportunity--they put up 38 points in the first quarter--and to get a kind of pell-mell efficiency from Ginobili, who claims he doesn't look for contact but can't deny that he usually finds it. At one point Stoudemire almost pulled Ginobili's left arm out of its socket in an effort to derail a reckless excursion to the hoop; later, an undeterred Ginobili charged to the basket like a tailback hitting the line, knees up, challenging Stoudemire, a shot blocker, to knock him down. Stoudemire complied. Basket good, whistle, three-point play.

But for all the excitement and entertainment value provided by El Contusion ( Barry's nickname for Ginobili), the Spurs eventually turned to El Reliable. At the end of the 102-92 San Antonio win, Duncan had 33 points (in 13 fewer field goal attempts than Stoudemire, who scored 34), 15 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Big Fundamental's movements are so economical that it's hard to figure out exactly how he does what he does. Duncan doesn't have one signature move; he has several of them--a face-up banked jumper (usually from the left side), a turnaround one-hander, a scoop across the lane with either hand, a little half-hook that is unblockable. Steven Hunter, the Suns' young backup center, grew so frustrated trying to defend Duncan that he looked as if he was going to break down and cry. Steven, dude, everyone understands and feels for you.

Best of all for the Spurs, Duncan converted 15 free throws without a miss. Though not a bricklayer along the lines of Shaquille O'Neal, Duncan has had his share of problems from the free throw line; witness his 66.5% average in the last two postseasons. TD said after the game that he had only recently become comfortable with his routine at the line, though he was loath to go into specifics. Whatever else was going through Duncan's head, the phrase Take your time was certainly part of it, for his setup was so deliberate that one thought a USGA official was going to emerge from the stands and penalize him for slow play.

As Duncan stood at the line in the dying moments, a cry of "M-V-P!" arose from the SBC Center, a message directed at both Duncan and Nash. Nash deserved the hardware based on his regular-season play, but it had become obvious by now that, for all the speed shown by Ginobili and Tony Parker, Duncan was, predictably, the Spurs' MVP.



But then, in a potential Game 4 closeout, Duncan made only 3 of 12 free throws, and the Suns, given up for dead, fired up an inspired, face-saving 111-106 victory. The SBC Center fans would no doubt disagree, but it was good for the NBA that Phoenix's quick-fire, entertaining brand of ball did not take a 4-0 nosedive in the postseason.

However, it was already clear that the Spurs were the better team--better balanced, better in the half-court, better on defense and just as good in the open floor. Trailing 52-51 early in the third period of Game 5, the Spurs built a 69-56 lead over a six-minute stretch, forcing four Phoenix turnovers. The Suns got it back to 93-90 on a Jim Jackson three-pointer with 2:45 left, but then Duncan tipped in his own miss and an Horry steal led to a Parker layup, putting the Spurs up seven. San Antonio won 101-95, after which Duncan (31 points) and Stoudemire (42 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter) exchanged mutual props.

"He said I played a heckuva series," said Stoudemire later, sounding (refreshingly) like a kid who had just met one of his idols. "It was good to hear that from Tim. He's one of the marquee players in this league, so best of luck to him."

[xtremesteven33]

You are probably right only because Tony had improved significantly, Brent Barry was playing more comfortably and the team's defense in the playoffs was awesome. My favorite though is the very versatile 2003 team, if that team had one more year they could have been so good, turnovers and free throws were their achilles but that's just a testament to how good they really were.


2003- Very new/young good Spurs team
2004- Young good Spurs team
2005- Very Good Spurs team
2006- Great Spurs team
2007- Good Spurs team
2008- Older decent Spurs team
2009-???????

[Yorae]

We could not go like 05 or 06 because well they didn't have any lows on regular season. I think this team we have right now is like 07 which well did suck for some time in the regular season.

[Rogue]

the real life is not as ideal as it is expected to be, at least not always be.

[m33p0]

the real life is not as ideal as it is expected to be, at least not always be.
what the hell are you talking about?

[Yorae]

what the hell are you talking about?

He just got back from therapy of some sort.....

[Manufan909]

what the hell are you talking about?

+1

[HarlemHeat37]

he's a Mavs fan..he becomes confused and disoriented when he reads the word "championship"..

he would make a lot more sense if he had read the word "choke"..

[timtonymanu]

i thought 06 was the best too. we ended with a 63-19 record with Tim and Manu injured. here's how i rank the Spurs teams since the Tim/Manu/Tony era:

06 - Tim, Manu, Tony, Finley, Bruce, Barry, Horry ( We definitely should have repeated that year)
05 - Manu was a beast, Tim was great as always, Horry fits in
03- a mix of young bloods and vets
04- they were ok.
07 - the roster wasnt that impressive but we still won alot of games
08- clearly the worst of the bunch, washed-up backup PG, Bonner and Horry were useless, Finley was slumping too much, we didnt really make our second-half push last season like we did in previous years.

[#2!]

08- clearly the worst of the bunch, washed-up backup PG, Bonner and Horry were useless, Finley was slumping too much, we didnt really make our second-half push last season like we did in previous years.



Don't forget that our guys showed a lot of heart and ability to come up big in big games. They made it all the way to the conference finals despite one of their top players being injured. They got closer to repeating than any other post title year.

[024]

spurs 09 team is better than the 08. duncan, ginobili, and parker don't show much signs of slowing down. bowen may be slower but i can't judge until the playoffs. thomas seems to be finally rounding into shape. horry is no longer on the team to shoot his 20%. bonner MAY be able to contribute in the playoffs. finley seems to be a bit better and in shape. spurs now have hill to replace vaughn and mason to replace barry. both were pretty non existent in the regular season. barry helped a little in the postseason but was powerless to carry the spur's bench with manu in the starting lineup. when the team develops as the new players get acquainted with the old, the spurs back court of parker/ginobili and hill/mason will be one of the best in the NBA. small forward position is fine for now. PF position is always strong with duncan. only thing left is for one of the centers to step up. hill/mason are also better defenders than vaughn and barry. defense is still the key.

[Austin_Toros]

true, the spurs did struggle FOR A STRETCH- but only a stretch.
I think the frustration may be slightly exaggerated because the spurs didn't do anything drastic and managed to regain their winning ways...

[mountainballer]

Believe it or not, i think the 2006 team was better than the 2005 team.

Even though we lost in the second round. :depressed

I think the slightly better team was the 2005 team.
but I also with all who think the 2006 team was better than the 2007 team.
if the Spurs have 10% of the luck they had 2007 in 2006, they don't even go 7 games against the Mavs and get the title.

I like the 2005 team more, because IMO it was more balanced when considering the players abilities. Horry did have his last real good PO run, Nazr and Rasho gave us great size up front, this big man rotation combined with their individual performances was IMO the best the Duncan era has seen. the WC finals against the Suns was probably the best PO series of the Spurs in all of their championship runs.

[mrspurs]

Once again, we've had some great ball clubs. And we would still be considered legitimate contenders. But up in LA, they cheated with Gasol. They did the same thing in Boston bringing in All-Stars from all over. Since then every team in the league has been trying to adjust their rosters. Thank God for Timmy and Tony. And if Manu comes around to play like he used to. We will be fine. Fine enough to go all the way? Who knows just yet.

[m33p0]

spurs had no bench last year and that got them killed come playoffs. still amazing when you consider they reached the WCF. this year, with mase and shifty, they are gonna make a killing.

[urunobili]

what was our record and standing last year at this point? anyone knows?

[m33p0]

what was our record and standing last year at this point? anyone knows?
28-13. year before that, 28-13. year before that... 28-13. year before that... 28-13.

i'm taking liberty at the records.

here's a better view by GSH.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114892

[galvatron3000]

Struggling is never the problem it's how you deal with it and whether you overcome it that matters, or how you overcome it.