2009*

[z0sa]

manu and tim, kg, jameer nelson, ai, numerous hawk starters, now add yao ming to the mix of players who have been injured for/during the playoffs, including not even playing a minute for some.

the differences having these players 100% healthy would be like the difference between night and day for a few of these teams.

Enjoy your 2009* championship, Lakers/Cleveland.

[Spursfan092120]

manu and tim, kg, jameer nelson, ai, numerous hawk starters, now add yao ming to the mix of players who have been injured for/during the playoffs, including not even playing a minute for some.

the differences having these players 100% healthy would be like the difference between night and day for a few of these teams.

Enjoy your 2009* championship, Lakers/Cleveland.
They won't put an asterisk on it..they're not the Spurs.

[pauls931]

Spurs fans should never bitch about injuries. An injury plagued season set the stage for 4 of your titles.

[BlackSwordsMan]

not spurs fault nash is easily prone to nose bleeds

[BlackSwordsMan]

and flops

[xtremesteven33]

Spurs fans should never bitch about injuries. An injury plagued season set the stage for 4 of your titles.


1999- Patrick Ewing :sleep
2003-Dirk Nowitzki :nope
2005-Joe Johnson :wakeup
2007-Larry Hughes :lmao

[Spursfan092120]

Spurs fans should never bitch about injuries. An injury plagued season set the stage for 4 of your titles.
?? First off, I'd love to see the key injuries that would have prevented a team from beating us in all 4 titles. Seriously..in our 4 title reigns, there wasn't a damn team good enough to beat us. Most fans of ALL teams will agree with that. The ones who don't are just bitter. But isn't that the case for every team who ever won a title? Every championship ever won was won by a team who played another team who had key players injured. I wouldn't put an asterisk on this title, though if it were the Spurs who won it, people would say it. I mean shit..they put an asterisk on our 1999 championship because it was only a 50 game season..didn't EVERYONE play 50 games? So we get an asterisk because there was a possibility someone MAY have been hurt if we played 32 more games? Come on...get real.

[Spursfan092120]

and flops
Robert Horry thread. :)

[pauls931]

I was referring to the injury plagued season that tanked the spurs letting them draft timmy.

[VI_Massive]

I'm tired of asterisk discussions. If this, if that. That's life, that's sports. You go through 82 games and four rounds of playoffs and there are inevitably going to be mistakes, accidents, etc.

Every champion has an element of luck to their success, if only in avoiding injuries.

[Spursfan092120]

I was referring to the injury plagued season that tanked the spurs letting them draft timmy.
OK...then what I said before was right...every team that has a quality player had a shitty year that allowed them to draft a superstar...so why bash on the Spurs for it? Do you have ANY idea what Spurs fans had to go through for the 20+ years before we were successful? David Robinson and Tim Duncan both saved the franchise from moving out of San Antonio. You couldn't get people to games for nothing before David. If you bought a sandwich at Subway, you'd get a free ticket. REAL Spurs fans dealt with a lot of heartache and pain and asswhoopings to get to those rings. And what I get from what you're saying is that it wasn't fair that we went 20-62 and got the top pick in the draft...get real.

[pauls931]

OK...then what I said before was right...every team that has a quality player had a shitty year that allowed them to draft a superstar...so why bash on the Spurs for it? Do you have ANY idea what Spurs fans had to go through for the 20+ years before we were successful? David Robinson and Tim Duncan both saved the franchise from moving out of San Antonio. You couldn't get people to games for nothing before David. If you bought a sandwich at Subway, you'd get a free ticket. REAL Spurs fans dealt with a lot of heartache and pain and asswhoopings to get to those rings. And what I get from what you're saying is that it wasn't fair that we went 20-62 and got the top pick in the draft...get real.

I have a lot of spurs friends that told me about the dark ages after george gervin. (remember I'm in Austin)

[Spursfan092120]

I have a lot of spurs friends that told me about the dark ages after george gervin.
Yeah man..it was painful. I was born a Spurs fan...watched them my whole life..I saw a lot of hard luck years....here are a few years BD..(Before David)

1988-89 San Antonio 21 61 .256 5th Midwest Division - - - DNQ
1987-88 San Antonio 31 51 .378 5th Midwest Division 0 3 .000 Lost West Conf 1st Rd
1986-87 San Antonio 28 54 .341 6th Midwest Division - - - DNQ
1985-86 San Antonio 35 47 .427 6th Midwest Division 0 3 .000 Lost West Conf 1st Rd
1984-85 San Antonio 41 41 .500 4th Midwest Division 2 3 .400 Lost West Conf 1st Rd
1983-84 San Antonio 37 45 .451 5th Midwest Division - - - DNQ

Sure...some teams have done just as bad for longer..but the thing was, SA fans weren't going to games anymore, and the team almost was moved out of SA..New Orleans was trying to buy them. David saved us. That's why he means so much to San Antonio. That and the fact that he's just about the greatest guy in the history of the league. And 20-62, despite that fact that a lot of that was from injuries reminded all of us of those years before David...hopefully that NEVER happens again..

[z0sa]

I'm tired of asterisk discussions. If this, if that. That's life, that's sports. You go through 82 games and four rounds of playoffs and there are inevitably going to be mistakes, accidents, etc.

Every champion has an element of luck to their success, if only in avoiding injuries.

It's not truly an asterisk discussion - IMO, the asterisk already exists. This is not just one team with a major player out, its every contender but Lakers/Cavs.

KG and the Celtics just won the NBA title and can't properly defend it.
SA with Manu and Tim 100% healthy is a title contender.
Jameer Nelson was looking like he was the difference maker in Orlando.
Houston could still beat LA in an alternate reality involving a still-healthy Yao.


Hell, give me a healthy AI on the Pistons and see if they might not lose by +11 every game of the EC preliminary - that's almost like a round of rest, now compare that to what Boston and Orlando dealt with.

[Spursfan092120]

It's not truly an asterisk discussion - IMO, the asterisk already exists. This is not just one team with a major player out, its every contender but Lakers/Cavs.

KG and the Celtics just won the NBA title and can't properly defend it.
SA with Manu and Tim 100% healthy is a title contender.
Jameer Nelson was looking like he was the difference maker in Orlando.
Houston could still beat LA in an alternate reality involving a still-healthy Yao.
But the truth is...no team deserves an asterisk...they got there..it's not their fault someone else got hurt. Things happen. Yes, things are easier for Cleveland and LA now, but that doesn't change the fact that it's never easy to win an NBA title...Like it or not, both of these teams were picked to go to the Finals even BEFORE these injuries.

[pauls931]

Last year in the west was pretty entertaining. Seemed like everyone was at full strength and it was a slugfest.

[VI_Massive]

It's not truly an asterisk discussion - IMO, the asterisk already exists. This is not just one team with a major player out, its every contender but Lakers/Cavs.

KG and the Celtics just won the NBA title and can't properly defend it.
SA with Manu and Tim 100% healthy is a title contender.
Jameer Nelson was looking like he was the difference maker in Orlando.
Houston could still beat LA in an alternate reality involving a still-healthy Yao.

I get what you're saying, it seems like it has been an especially injury-laden year. Especially for players on premiere teams. I would really like to see some stats on NBA injury rates over the years and be able to tell objectively if they are increasing over time or if it is just our perception because of who is getting injured.

But part of health is luck and part is skill -- some players are for whatever reason better at not getting hurt, coming back more quickly if they are hurt, etc. The skill part should be addressed at the GM level when picking players and the luck part can't be helped. There are luck aspects to every championship, whether it is with injuries, refs, shots rimming out, whatever.

I just think we go too far with asterisking every achievement.

[VI_Massive]

Last year in the west was pretty entertaining. Seemed like everyone was at full strength and it was a slugfest.

Manu. Ankle.

[z0sa]

But the truth is...no team deserves an asterisk...

no, we don't and yet people still throw 99 in our faces like our team got some special attention or something.

Well, you can take 09 LA or CLE, all the injuries have posited just that.

[pauls931]

Manu. Ankle.

Did he hurt it stepping on suns players going for game winning layups? I forgot he was hurt last year.

[VI_Massive]

Did he hurt it stepping on suns players going for game winning layups? I forgot he was hurt last year.

I don't know exactly when he injured it but he was pretty well hobbled during the LA series and not very effective.

[DrHouse]

Nobody can control injuries. They are just as much a part of the game as anything else.

To win a title you need talent, heart, determination, AND luck to avoid injuries.

Nobody cried for the Lakers when they lost Magic and Scott in the Finals against the Pistons. That's just how the ball bounces sometimes.

[VI_Massive]

Oh man am I agreeing with DrHouse? Somebody unplug my router!

[Spursfan092120]

Nobody can control injuries. They are just as much a part of the game as anything else.

To win a title you need talent, heart, determination, AND luck to avoid injuries.

Nobody cried for the Lakers when they lost Magic and Scott in the Finals against the Pistons. That's just how the ball bounces sometimes.
:tu So you agree...no asterisks?

[baseline bum]

But .. but... but ... we were missing Rick Fox in '03!

[Cant_Be_Faded]

not spurs fault nash is easily prone to nose bleeds

:rollin
Funniest Quote Of The Month.


:smchode:

[z0sa]

Nobody can control injuries. They are just as much a part of the game as anything else.

To win a title you need talent, heart, determination, AND luck to avoid injuries.

Nobody cried for the Lakers when they lost Magic and Scott in the Finals against the Pistons. That's just how the ball bounces sometimes.

When was the last time 3 out of the previous season's 4 conference finalists had major injury problems?