Harsh Reality

[BatManu20]

This team is old. We cannot rely on this core group anymore. We need some youth to invigorate this team and the only way to do that is to trade or tank, and we're not going to do the latter. Discuss.

EDIT* We go some youth to invigorate this team. Yaaaay!

[The Whopper]

We don't have a point guard.

[BatManu20]

We don't have a point guard.

A healthy Tony would've won us the game tonight, but not a Championship.

[BatManu20]

I miss SJAX already :depressed

[Sean Cagney]

A healthy Tony would've won us the game tonight, but not a Championship.

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[emanueldavidginobili]

It's been a great ride, last year was the year to win it. :(

[TD 21]

and it looks like we're stuck a 4 for a while, which is fine. That's a lot more than most teams can say. We should be appreciative.

I'm tired of this loser mentality. They've had one of the three-four best teams in the league three years running and yet they have zero Finals appearances (let alone a championship) to show for it. Not only that, but in a few weeks time, they could easily have two 1st round exits in that time. I don't care what they've done in the past or how much bad luck they've had, that's both pathetic and unacceptable.

[Budkin]

We collapsed against the Thunder last year and that was it.

[Harry Callahan]

Most teams with the Spurs makeup would not be winning 58 games. This group has been defying the odds for several years now. Unfortunately the roster was healthy only last year from the looks of it and lost a legitimate opportunity to win an NBA title - not that they would have beaten Miami in the finals, but you never know what can happen when you get there.

This team is too beaten up right now. Looking to blame someone is somewhat pointless because older teams get hurt. The teams that win titles generally have a superstar player(s) playing at the top of his game. The Spurs will not have that characteristic this year. An excellent team when healthy, but that is not realistic now.

I'm just bummed that TP is having health/energy issues now with all the wonderful things he has done this year to be one of the best players in the league.

I'm glad I got to see Manu, Duncan, and Parker on the floor together in person at a game this year (I live in the Metroplex, but I get to a home game in SA once a year).

Put Tony in a healing tank and hope for the best. Getting Manu back on the floor would mean 4-6 point per game more for Splitter in my opinion. Get well Spurs! I want to see a bunch of playoff games again this year.

[Homeland Security]

What I said a week ago is still true. This team as built makes it through about 70-75 games before breaking down, even with Pop limiting minutes. Last year, because of the shortened season, that threshold was crossed in the conference finals, rather than late in the regular season like this year and two years ago.

The way this team was built, it never had a great chance to win a championship. When was the last time an offense-first team with no true superstar won a title? That's not to say it didn't maximize its chances -- just that Tim Duncan's getting old made those chances slim.

Tony Parker's being hurt late in the year was unlucky, but Manu at 35 breaking down was predictable. Stephen Jackson breaking down was predictable. Boris Diaw isn't a spring chicken and never was in great shape. Tiago Splitter hitting a wall was foreseeable. Danny Green being inconsistent isn't a surprise. Scrubs being scrubs rather than blossoming into stars is only a surprise to Pollyanna homers.

These Spurs don't have great talent. They have very sophisticated schemes because their coach is Top 5 all-time, and when they're on their game they execute at a very high level, which allows them to accumulate a win total far beyond what their talent would suggest. In the dark, forgotten corners of NBA history one might find a lot of teams that played over their heads and won 60 games or thereabouts without great talent. They're forgotten because history remembers which teams made the NBA Finals, and on great occasion maybe which ones made a conference final. Talent is almost always a prerequisite to make it deep in the playoffs. The few exceptions have had four or five mid-level stars and historically great defense. History doesn't remember all the 55-60 win teams that lost in the second round. That's all these Spurs are really built to be.

Advanced schemes and great team chemistry can only take you so far. They can only offset a talent deficit so large. Tim Duncan, even with his resurgence, is not the player he was five or six years ago. Tony Parker at his best is not a transcendant talent like Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul. Manu Ginobili today is just a name with a reputation his aging body can't fill. Kawhi Leonard is a hope, not a reality.

With Parker hobbled, this team can't even meet its second-round ceiling. They are the weakest of the West playoff teams right now; whoever grabs the 7 seed gets an even easier draw in the first round than OKC will with the Kobe-less Lakers. Golden State and Houston would be remiss not to reprise Memphis' strategy from 2011 and tank their remaining games to try to grab the 7 seed.

[Homeland Security]

If the Spurs had an idiot coach rather than an all-time great coach, they would be having the season the Lakers are having, not finishing as the 2 seed.

What burns is that for the purposes of the playoffs, it won't end up making that much difference. Both teams will be out after Round 1.

[benstanfield]

If the Spurs had an idiot coach rather than an all-time great coach, they would be having the season the Lakers are having, not finishing as the 2 seed.

What burns is that for the purposes of the playoffs, it won't end up making that much difference. Both teams will be out after Round 1.

Yes, the Spurs will definitely lose to the Warriors. David Lee will shut down Timmy, and all of the Warriors playoff-tested young three point shooters will rain fire upon us.

Warriors playing style is just too well fitted for the POs for us to counter. Everyone knows the playoffs are about hitting jumpers, hitting jumpers, and hitting jumpers.

[Homeland Security]

Warriors playing style is just too well fitted for the POs for us to counter. Everyone knows the playoffs are about hitting jumpers, hitting jumpers, and hitting jumpers.
It's not a great style, but it is better than the Spurs' "nobody except almost-37-year-old-Tim Duncan does anything" style of the past month.

The Warriors really have nothing to do with it. The Blazers probably would beat the Spurs in a 7-game series right now, and they're on an 11-game losing streak. The Suns might beat them.

[benstanfield]

It's not a great style, but it is better than the Spurs' "nobody except almost-37-year-old-Tim Duncan does anything" style of the past month.

The Warriors really have nothing to do with it. The Blazers probably would beat the Spurs in a 7-game series right now, and they're on an 11-game losing streak. The Suns might beat them.

Goods

[rascal]

We collapsed against the Thunder last year and that was it.

They collapsed to superior athletes. The Spurs the last few years have gone the athletically challenged over the hill gang route and this is what buries them in the playoffs.

[Horse]

Blah Blah blah go kill yourselves

[Horse]

They collapsed to superior athletes. The Spurs the last few years have gone the athletically challenged over the hill gang route and this is what buries them in the playoffs.

The refs are good athletes for their age but I wouldn't call them superior.

[BatManu20]

Blah Blah blah go kill yourselves

Good day to you too! Glad to see people are in good spirits on this board, especially after yesterday's tragedy.