This isn't just on Pop...

[ffadicted]

This is on Duncan. This is on Manu. This is on Parker. This is on Jefferson, on Dice. This is on our bench. This is on all the players on this squad that layed down and took a beating from the thugs of Memphis. This is on the players that gave up in the face of adversity.

We were their bitches this series. Doesn't matter what Pop did, we were never gonna win like this with this type of play. This is an embarrassment to the spurs. It's an embarrassment to the city, to the fans. This is an embarrassment to basketball.

Spurs don't even look like kids out there, they look like fucking pansies being slapped around by a bully. No heart, no effort, no fight. I'm ashamed of this team honestly. I'm a die hard fan and I'm not throwing the towel until the 48th minute of one team's 4th win, but the series might as well be over if we come out at home like this.

Will the real San Antonio Spurs please stand up?

[TheChillFactor]

This isn't on Duncan asshole he has nothing left to give. A little respect please.

[Warlord23]

Yeah, it looks bad on everyone from top to bottom. But tell me this:

- When was the last time a 3-point happy team won it all?
- When was the last time a team played a bunch of midgets in their big man rotation and won anything?
- Why did the Spurs, who won 4 titles on the strength of their defense, decide to try and emulate a Suns-type offense and sacrificed interior D?

I know they are getting owned top to bottom by the Grizz, but this matchup was primarily decided by the team structure and coaching philosophy of the 2 teams.

[ffadicted]

This isn't on Duncan asshole he has nothing left to give. A little respect please.

If you have nothing left to give, retire. There's no room for sympathy in the NBA. Respect is for the retired. If you're lacing up, you better fucking come hard. And give me a break, has nothing left to give? 6 and 7? Really? Stop being such a blind homer.

[jeebus]

This is all on Bonner and Pop. Everyone knows this.

[ChumpDumper]

Nah, it's all on Pop.

[nadroj117]

If Duncan doesn't have anything to give he shouldn't be playing. We both have seen Duncan nutt up a number of times, even this season. They just haven't been able to turn it on. But the start of the half was a disgrace. Everyone is to blame.

This was a team that relied on the 3 way too much. And matched up against a HUGE memphis team that we weren't able to get post scoring against to open up the shots. And any shots we are getting we aren't hitting. Tough to watch, but shocked at what I just witnessed.

[nadroj117]

If Duncan doesn't have anything to give he shouldn't be playing. We both have seen Duncan nutt up a number of times, even this season. They just haven't been able to turn it on. But the start of the half was a disgrace. Everyone is to blame.

This was a team that relied on the 3 way too much. And matched up against a HUGE memphis team that we weren't able to get post scoring against to open up the shots. And any shots we are getting we aren't hitting. Tough to watch, but shocked at what I just witnessed.

[DDUBB1770]

If you have nothing left to give, retire. There's no room for sympathy in the NBA. Respect is for the retired. If you're lacing up, you better fucking come hard. And give me a break, has nothing left to give? 6 and 7? Really? Stop being such a blind homer.

Sad but true... nothing left give how bout a prideful effort holy shit it has been beyond sub par!

[Refocus]

Pop isn't making the Spurs play like absolute shit.

[Caeman]

The team has p*ssy written all over it. Don't stress it because you can't control sh*t like that.

[Blue-Lightning]

I disagree. This is on Popovich and Parker. Here's why:

Ginobili has one freaking arm. ONE FREAKING ARM. He still has scored well and made fantastic plays.

Duncan played as well as he has all season. If you thought he could play better and was holding back, you were the fool.

Parker has sucked this entire season - if he had played anything like his normal self, we'd be up in this series. It is sad that a one-armed Manu has outplayed Parker.

Pop has been absolutely terrible... as in he needs to resign. And I'm not a sensationalist: Pop needs to resign. He let a terrific asset in Splitter waste away all season and then finally inserts him in a good lineup today with fantastic results. He fails to return to the court in a sensible lineup the rest of the time. The Bonner/Blair combo is ridiculously stupid. It's assenine. Pop regularly has been taking players out the lineup when they get hot only because it's "time." Manu and Duncan sitting on the bench at the beginning of the fourth, when Manu has been the only thing going the entire game... that's fire worthy.

And then people want to talk about Manu not guarding with five minutes left, down by twenty? I'm sorry... I don't know how he sat on the bench without throwing the towel down and walking in the locker room. Any average person could manage a game better than Popovich.

[NRHector]

Nah, it's all on Pop.this

[pjjrfan]

Yeah, it looks bad on everyone from top to bottom. But tell me this:

- When was the last time a 3-point happy team won it all?
- When was the last time a team played a bunch of midgets in their big man rotation and won anything?
- Why did the Spurs, who won 4 titles on the strength of their defense, decide to try and emulate a Suns-type offense and sacrificed interior D?

I know they are getting owned top to bottom by the Grizz, but this matchup was primarily decided by the team structure and coaching philosophy of the 2 teams.

Points well taken, but our big Three have given us a ride for the ages. they've gotten old, at least Tim and Manu, never gonna be ashamed of these guys, our supporting group just couldn't help out and our top three were just to worn out to carry them..Plus it ain't over till it's over. So I still have hope.

[peskypesky]

i blame Eva

[Reck]

Of course it is.

It doesn't matter how good players are, if there isn't a good play being drawn up by the coach, you just have a bunch of street ballers out there.

Greg Popovich should recognize his atrocious coaching and step down himself. Save some grace.

I will not even bother with this team if they bring that sorry ass coach back next year.

[stealthjbravo]

They are a bunch of pussies. That is all

[SpurOutofTownFan]

This is actually mostly on Pop. For several reasons.

He played with rotations the entire year
He wanted to rest people for playoff time and coming playoff time he continued doing the same thing he had done during the year
He also had bad calls at particular sensitive times during most games

This isn't a coach like Spoelstra where his players do whatever they want - this is Pop and his players respect him all the time. So if you as a coach demand absolute respect and compliance then you have to know that most of the responsibility is on you.

You can blame the team and players on some turnovers and stuff like that but this is mostly on Pop. Plenty of examples IMO.

[Brutalis]

Pop started Splitter. Amazing.

We still got beat.

And quit.

This is on the players. Not Pop.

[Death In June]

Of course it is.

It doesn't matter how good players are, if there isn't a good play being drawn up by the coach, you just have a bunch of street ballers out there.

Greg Popovich should recognize his atrocious coaching and step down himself. Save some grace.

I will not even bother with this team if they bring that sorry ass coach back next year.Pop has the biggest ego in the organization. Guy isn't gonna step down or even admit he has done as poor a job coaching as the players have playing.

[Cane]

Parker's been the worst Spur. The Grizz do play physical defense but his decision making and basic stuff like holding on to the ball has gone out the window. 7 turnovers and 1 assist tonight compared to Conley's 7 assists and 1 turnover.

Ginobili's playing with one arm and he's a streaky shooter even without an injury.

Duncan's playing with a bad ankle from that injury near the season's end, tweaked it earlier in the game, and he's going up against a bigger, physical and younger guy in Gasol.

Dice is on the verge of retirement and has endured several tweaks to his knee as the season closed plus that stinger in game 3.

Spurs need to be healthy and they almost got away with it until all that shit happened...not sure wtf is wrong with Tony though.

[Warlord23]

Points well taken, but our big Three have given us a ride for the ages. they've gotten old, at least Tim and Manu, never gonna be ashamed of these guys, our supporting group just couldn't help out and our top three were just to worn out to carry them..Plus it ain't over till it's over. So I still have hope.

The lesson that this coach and franchise will hopefully learn from all this is to never get too comfortable and complacent based on past glory. Stashing draft picks in Europe, letting Scola slip through their fingers, signing washed-up veterans, favoring corporate knowledge over potential - these were all mistakes that we forgave because of the 4 rings. But they were definitely mistakes.

Today was just an exclamation point to the gradual decline. As you said, the horses are now too old to carry the load. But Pop was exposed for trying the same old shit and hoping for results. He needs to drop the smug act and introspect on the way he runs this team.

[Capt Bringdown]

Yeah, it looks bad on everyone from top to bottom. But tell me this:

- When was the last time a 3-point happy team won it all?
- When was the last time a team played a bunch of midgets in their big man rotation and won anything?
- Why did the Spurs, who won 4 titles on the strength of their defense, decide to try and emulate a Suns-type offense and sacrificed interior D?

I know they are getting owned top to bottom by the Grizz, but this matchup was primarily decided by the team structure and coaching philosophy of the 2 teams.

Bingo. I'm gutted but not surprised. What we're doing doesn't work - why we went down this route expecting different results is what pains me.
What a pity.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Actually as bad as Parker has played this postseason I can't put the blame squarely on him... this is also Pop's responsibility if one of your main players can't play shit. I'm starting to think that he screwed with TP's head when he started believing that Hill is a PG.

[Borosai]

The new Spurs suck, and that starts at the top.

Fix the system, and get the right type of players to form a balanced team that resembles the championship teams. Yeah, that means size and defense. Parker has sucked, but he's still very good. Manu and Tim just can't carry the load like before. Get players who can help them. This is up to the front office and Pop, and they have failed up to this point.

[SenorSpur]

It's all so obvious. Memphis is younger, quicker, more athletic and hungry. They scored points at will versus the porous defense of the Spurs. Meanwhile, the Spurs crumbled under the Grizzlies swarming defensive pressure, they carelessly turned the ball over and they struggled to score. Not scoring a basket until 7:15 of the 3rd quarter sealed their doom. Not having the necessary youth, energy, athleticism and physicality around the Big Three, to match the Grizz and the other up and coming teams has ended their run.

[Capt Bringdown]

How do you get better? Defense.
Pop: "Nah, I think I'll try gimmicks, that'll work."

[SenorSpur]

Yeah, it looks bad on everyone from top to bottom. But tell me this:

- When was the last time a 3-point happy team won it all?
- When was the last time a team played a bunch of midgets in their big man rotation and won anything?
- Why did the Spurs, who won 4 titles on the strength of their defense, decide to try and emulate a Suns-type offense and sacrificed interior D?

I know they are getting owned top to bottom by the Grizz, but this matchup was primarily decided by the team structure and coaching philosophy of the 2 teams.

^ All of this. And I mean, all of it.

[beirmeistr]

Doesn't really matter where the fault lies. The spectatcle before our eyes is tragic. I don't want to see Duncan perform like a doddering old man, looking for balls down on his feet, getting outplayed by younger, hungrier players. I don't like seeing Bonner miss all the threes that he made during the regular season. I don't like to see Dice look like a shadow of his old self, or the bench playing like scared little girls. How did this same team win 61 games? Tragic that the Spurs have lost 7 out of their last 8 playoff games going back to last year's playoffs.
A tragic ending to the dynasty of the last decade.

[ElNono]

It's hard to fight when you realize you're surrounded by a bunch of pussies that don't even blink when they get their shit pushed in... Duncan is battling Gasol... he can't come over and also guard ZBo because Matty is too soft... those days for Tim are long gone...
Same with Manu watching RJ/Hill walking around like they're happy to be there...

The older they get the more help they need...

[Capt Bringdown]

Not scoring a basket until 7:15 of the 3rd quarter sealed their doom.

Those were the most painful minutes in recent history, a mortal blow to the Duncan era.

[jag]

It's hard to fight when you realize you're surrounded by a bunch of pussies that don't even blink when they get their shit pushed in... Duncan is battling Gasol... he can't come over and also guard ZBo because Matty is too soft... those days for Tim are long gone...
Same with Manu watching RJ/Hill walking around like they're happy to be there...

The older they get the more help they need...

[Warlord23]

Actually, 2005 was Pop's "peak" as a coach. In 2006, he went small against the Mavs. We didn't really fix that problem in 2007, but thankfully the Mavs went down to GS and all we needed to do then was to beat the undersized Suns one more time and then handle a Cavs team that was in over their head.

After that, the Lakers got Gasol, and the Spurs as they were constructed had little chance against them. In the 5 years since 2006, Pop has failed to plug the frontcourt hole next to Duncan, instead resorting to one gimmick after the other. Today simply was (hopefully) the last chapter.

If Pop wants to redeem himself, he and RC need to start over and construct the team the right way. It doesn't matter if we have a bad few seasons, but the Spurs need to put together a combination of size, defense, physicality and athletic ability.

[Harry Callahan]

Duncan is the best big we have and as I feared all year, he is WORN OUT. The second or third best big on our team made his playoff debut tonight.

It was a sad, pathetic performance tonight. The Spurs officially have become yesterday's news. Duncan giving up that layup to Gasol on the rebound was just disgusting. Tim is a complementary player now.

It's been a great run, but this day always comes at some point. The roster is too old in some places (Duncan, Dyess) , not skilled enough in others (Bonner), injured at the end of the year every year (Manu), disinterested/distracted (Parker).

I don't think anything will significantly change on the roster next year at this point - the loss of confidence that they are showing now could translate into a pretty bad record next year (if there is a season).

This series is not over officially - the funny thing is SA could still make this interesting with a win on Wednesday, but I'm not sure Popovich can get these guys interested enough to compete at an adequate level.

The Grizzlies are a nice team, but this series has been about effort and smarts and SA has lacked very badly in both areas.

I'm still a little numb by that pile of crap rolled out there tonight. Sucks.

At least the NFL draft is Thursday.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

After that, the Lakers got Gasol, and the Spurs as they were constructed had little chance against them. In the 5 years since 2006, Pop has failed to plug the frontcourt hole next to Duncan, instead resorting to one gimmick after the other. Today simply was (hopefully) the last chapter.

This.

And also failures to replace Bowen which caused the Spurs to abandon their identity as a grinding defensive team.

The Udoka grooming experiment didn't work out at all.

Beno didn't work, nor Hill or Neal, etc. Even NVE etc. The Spurs have tried to get a dependable backup PG for about 6 years now. They tried to replace Bowen and gave up, etc.

And as far as the big man hole, well, you just said it pretty well.