You cannot win a championship with a point guard as your best player.

[marbles1991]

I'm no Parker hater but this happens to every elite PG in the playoffs. Someone puts a stopper with length on them and they are shut down. Sefolosha, Lebron, Green on CP3 and Curry, same shit different day. Hopefully the front office learns from this and makes the offense less Parker dependent next year. Leonard can be an all-star as soon as next year, lets get the new era started.

[Kineto]

28'

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Magic anyone.
Oscar Robertson anyone.

But Parker needs help. Given Kawhi more of a role on offense and sign a slashing SG like Mayo. Move Green to the bench where he belongs.

[Baam]

An injured Parker put us in a position to win game 6, stop it.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crvrrRl3F3Y

This was one of the few games I actually watch of the Mavs this year. Imagine this next to Parker and Kawhi on the wing.

[Bill_Brasky]

Apparently you can, we just didn't.

[Kidd K]

OP, no. I think you mean you can't win with a bed-shitting, unreliable, sloppy-playing SG as your 3rd best player and 2nd best ballhandler.

Parker failed to score like a champ, but at least he took care of the fuckin basketball despite hurting his hamstring. He was the only dude on the team doing that right all series. Parker needs more help from the rest of the backcourt. He isn't gonna carry the whole fuckin backcourt for the entire season and postseason.

[Baam]

OP, no. I think you mean you can't win with a bed-shitting, unreliable, sloppy-playing SG as your 3rd best player and 2nd best ballhandler.

Parker failed to score like a champ, but at least he took care of the fuckin basketball despite hurting his hamstring. He was the only dude on the team doing that right all series. Parker needs more help from the rest of the backcourt. He isn't gonna carry the whole fuckin backcourt for the entire season and postseason.

Exactly, two games without TO against the most disruptive defense in the league, game 1 and game 6 the two close ones and we know the game 6 loss was despite him and not because of him...

[Darius McCrary]

Yes you can. We proved that. It's just very very difficult.

[weeks]

yeah, we can. it wasn't parker's fault we lost game six.

[Mark in Austin]

We completely agree.

Signed,

Isiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Chauncy Billups

[coyotes_geek]

yeah, we can. it wasn't parker's fault we lost game six.

Well, he played a part. 6-23 isn't a good outing by any stretch of the imagination.

[Juggity]

Isiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Chauncy Billups

Isaiah last won 23 years ago.
magic was a 6'9 behemoth of a point guard who broke the mold.
Chauncey was not the best player on the championship Pistons team.

No team has won with a PG as the best player in 23 seasons. The league has changed. You can't win a title with a PG as your best player.

[coyotes_geek]

Clearly Tony Parker being both a PG and the Spurs best player is what made Ray Allen's miracle 3 go in.

[marbles1991]

Yes I know we were close but looking at it objectively Parker was not the best player on the team these finals. It was Duncan/Green/Leonard. Parker was shut down most of the time. Maybe my point is instead that you cannot win a championship with such a point-guard dependent offense. In these finals, I thought it was Duncan's team more than Parkers especially in game 6 and 7 when things got tight.

[Harry Callahan]

The Spurs SHOULD have won this thing in six, and some one-in-a-million things happened to prevent that. They did everything in their power to win, and four or five specific events prevented that (some of them their fault, some of them Miami's ability to execute).

This is what is killing me on this situation, THEY WERE GOOD ENOUGH to win and it's just totally maddening.

Let's be honest, with less than 30 seconds in the game, LeBron bricked two of three three point shots and a lack of defensive rebounding cost us the title. Simple as that. He would have been RIPPED if those rebounds went to the Spurs. They didn't. What's done is done now.

This one will never really go away.

I hate it for the players, the coaches, the fans.

Losing in 5 or 6 games by wide margins in the losses is a lot easier to deal with. This thing was fought to a standstill over seven games and it didn't work out. GRRRRR!!!! The Spurs players deserved a better fate than this. The Heat will be in this position again in the near future (in all likelihood). This was the Spurs last stand (in all likeihood with this current cast). It would have been a tale for the ages to defeat Miami - an improbable victory. Instead, the Spurs are left to explain what went wrong and try and pick up the pieces.

The national media tools like the chumps on M&M in the Morning want to focus on Pop being short with the media for some reason rather than congratulating the Spurs on their great run get to the final game of the season. When you make no effort to point out the steady brilliance of the Spurs for years and years and years, why should POP have to delve into his deepest thoughts to them after what has got to be as disappointing a series loss as he will ever have. Did ESPN want POP to cry up there? I don't know what they expect - Pop congratulated the opponent and gave them credit. He refused to throw his players under the bus. He refused to give them what they wanted.

[AntiChrist]

2007 says hello

[da_suns_fan]

We completely agree.

Signed,

Isiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Chauncy Billups

This.

Likewise, suns would have won 07 championship if Stern hadnt suspended Amare and Boris.

[Juggity]

This.

Likewise, suns would have won 07 championship if Stern hadnt suspended Amare and Boris.

Nah, the spurs would have won that series anyhow.

[024]

It's not impossible but very improbable. 2007, everyone knows Duncan was the best player on that team and Ginobili was still an all star. In 2004, Billups had 3 other all stars. Isiah Thomas? That was a different era. The way the Spurs are structured where Parker is supposed to be the best player... that won't end well. Players have become more athletic and players in the wing position have the quickness and length to keep up with even the fastest point guards. Once Parker's penetration is cut off, the majority of the Spurs offense is gone. Most of the Spurs offense is based on Parker's penetrating ability because that opens up shots for the shooters. Without that, it'll be a 38 year old Duncan posting up or Ginobili turning the ball over.

[coyotes_geek]

Maybe my point is instead that you cannot win a championship with such a point-guard dependent offense.

Maybe your point should be that it doesn't matter what position your best player is so long as your team outperforms your opponent's team.

[spursfan09]

This is ridiculous. Blame every where. They 28 secs away from the championship. We almost did win with an injured tp

[Kobulingam]

Are you fucking dumb? The highest concentration of fluke prevented the Heat from losing game 6.

[tesseractive]

Yes I know we were close but looking at it objectively Parker was not the best player on the team these finals. It was Duncan/Green/Leonard. Parker was shut down most of the time. Maybe my point is instead that you cannot win a championship with such a point-guard dependent offense. In these finals, I thought it was Duncan's team more than Parkers especially in game 6 and 7 when things got tight.
1. Parker injured his hamstring

2. Among a hundred other things, an 80% FT shooter went 1 for 2 in at the line in the final minute of game 6. If he goes 2 of 2, we win. Was Kawhi destined to miss that free throw because Tony is a point guard?

Terrible thread, tbh.

[Kidd K]

Exactly, two games without TO against the most disruptive defense in the league, game 1 and game 6 the two close ones and we know the game 6 loss was despite him and not because of him...

Yep. I am giving Tony credit for being an amazing ballhandler in a series where the rest of the team couldn't hold on to their own balls against Miami if they really wanted them. I'd even go as far as to say there's hardly another player in the NBA I'd rather be handling the ball than Tony.

Tony carried our backcourt throughout the series. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say his scoring was diminished because of his hamstring, but even with that he didn't suck. Manu on the other hand. . .I couldn't stand even seeing him on the court half the time. We looked like shit any time Timmy and Tony weren't on the floor.

[r-nice]

We looked like shit any time Timmy and Tony weren't on the floor.

The absolute truth. Every time they were both on the bench it was pointed out by the announcers because we struggled.

[mrjap2x]

Well depends on your definition of a point guard, it will be probably more accurate to replace the point guard with 6'4 and under.

[spurraider21]

OP is a clown. Did us being a point guard led team cause is to lose game 6 ad the title the way we did? Go jump off a cliff. I would say you already did, but I mean literally.

[Brunodf]

You cannot win a championship with a coach being outcoached by Erik Spolstra

[Juggity]

OP is a clown. Did us being a point guard led team cause is to lose game 6 ad the title the way we did? Go jump off a cliff. I would say you already did, but I mean literally.

Fact is, the spurs had to stop being a point guard led team (which they were all season long until the finals) to even compete with the Heat. Timmy was the leader in this series.

If Tony had been the leader (as he was all season), this would've been another near-sweep like WCF 2012. After all these years, there's still no solution to the infamous "Tony Parker vs. long, athletic defender" problem.

Teams these days don't win when they are led by a point guard. It's a simple fact. Isaiah Thomas was the last one to do it, 23 years ago.

[Doctor J]

Don't forget Walt Frazier of NY Knicks in 1973.
Don't forget Dennis Johnson of Sonics in 1979.

Isaiah, Magic... too.

In 1957, Bob Cousy was clearly the best player in the league.
Yes, Bill Russell, the rookie, was great.
But it was Bob Cousy's team. He was the league MVP, too.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

I'm no Parker hater but this happens to every elite PG in the playoffs. Someone puts a stopper with length on them and they are shut down. Sefolosha, Lebron, Green on CP3 and Curry, same shit different day. Hopefully the front office learns from this and makes the offense less Parker dependent next year. Leonard can be an all-star as soon as next year, lets get the new era started.
Very good point. Leonard is without doubt the future of this team. He is such a well-rounded player.

[Boomersgold]

Magic anyone.
Oscar Robertson anyone.

But Parker needs help. Given Kawhi more of a role on offense and sign a slashing SG like Mayo. Move Green to the bench where he belongs.

Oscar Robertson, the best player of the 70s Bucks? LOL. Kareem's just face-palmed himself.

[BatManu20]

We DID essentially win a championship with a PG as our best player. We just choked the victory away like dogs.

[TheGoldStandard]

Yes you can.. Spurs will start the rebuilding process this offseason and get players around Kawhi and Parker.

[Man In Black]

You can...provided you have a really competent BACKUP PG with size that can still be a triple threat and not have to have the sets change because Parker is out.

A guy like Shawn Livingston would help our team.

Spurs in... 2014 and EVEN YEAR TITLE...Why not them?

[SA210]

:lol a point guard who won't pass the ball

[Twisted_Dawg]

If might help if we had some guy with some fucking balls that knew how to correctly set a pick for Parker.

[SA210]

You cannot win a championship with a coach being outcoached by Erik Spolstra

[Boomersgold]

You cannot win a championship with a coach being outcoached by Erik Spolstra

Coach Spoelstra during a timeout:
"Guys, here's what we're going to do. If you get the ball, pass it to Lebron"
" And Lebron, win me that championship."

[Mr Bones]

The Spurs were 20-something seconds away from winning it with an injured Parker, so clearly it's possible. But I do agree that a great PG is not essential to winning it all. Just look at Stockton, Nash-- two of the best and purest PGs of their times, and no rings. Look at the best Bigs of recent times: Duncan and Shaq... they've got 8 rings between them. There's no single way to construct a winning team. Jordan's and Lebron's teams did it without great PGs or centers, but Walt Frazier, Chauncey Billups, Magic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas certainly didn't hurt, either.

[Brunodf]

Coach Spoelstra during a timeout:
"Guys, here's what we're going to do. If you get the ball, pass it to Lebron"
" And Lebron, win me that championship."
Yeah...And Pop lost to this guy :lol

[Agloco]

Yeah...And Pop lost to this guy :lol

You missed the gist of that message. Pop lost to LeBron. Keep laughing if you must.

[41times]

DumbWade did it in 2006

[Brunodf]

You missed the gist of that message. Pop lost to LeBron. Keep laughing if you must.
:lol good one
1- Pop played their game after game 3
2- Benched the best defender/rebounder with 30 seconds left and a 5 points lead
3- Pop choose to let Lebron wide open

If u don't think that Pop hurt his own team u are blind.

[Stabula]

I'm not confident Leonard is going to be enough to keep this franchise viable for the next several years when Tim and Manu leave.

[Agloco]

:lol good one
1- Pop played their game after game 3
2- Benched the best defender/rebounder with 30 seconds left and a 5 points lead
3- Pop choose to let Lebron wide open

If u don't think that Pop hurt his own team u are blind.

I'm definitely not saying that Pop has clean hands here. I do think people are trying to heap all of the blame on him unfairly.

To your points though:

1) We saw what Splitter did/ did not do in this series. Don't pretend that having him out there for 10 more minutes/game would have helped our cause. He played about as poorly as Manu did.

2) They've done that for the past 5 years. That it failed in a big moment is unfortunate but they've been one f the best teams at defending the three in that situation for that stretch of time. That said, I don't agree with that strategy. I would have liked to have seen Timmy out there.

3) Playing LeBron to take jumpers is the correct thing to do. What's your answer to this?

[Brunodf]

I'm definitely not saying that Pop has clean hands here. I do think people are trying to heap all of the blame on him unfairly.

To your points though:

1) We saw what Splitter did/ did not do in this series. Don't pretend that having him out there for 10 more minutes/game would have helped our cause. He played about as poorly as Manu did.

2) They've done that for the past 5 years. That it failed in a big moment is unfortunate but they've been one f the best teams at defending the three in that situation for that stretch of time. That said, I don't agree with that strategy. I would have liked to have seen Timmy out there.

3) Playing LeBron to take jumpers is the correct thing to do. What's your answer to this?

1- I will take Splitter 2-3 missed layups+defense over Neal zero defense and poor offense any day of the week.

3- Spurs didn't play Lebron to take jumpers(like they did in games 1/2/3/5), they gave him 2 full bodies lenght

Pop is the one to blame, there is no way to spin that

[lefty]

Tp is not our best player

[Josepatches_]

Well, he played a part. 6-23 isn't a good outing by any stretch of the imagination.

Agree

he made 2 clutch shots but he played awful

[spurraider21]

a) Tim is our best player, so this thread is talking about the Clippers IMO
b) if you are insinuating tony is our best player, we were a kawhi or manu free throw or defensive rebound from the title, so you'd be wrong anyway

[Knoxxx]

TP tweaked hammy we needed him 100% against Miami elite D bad break tbh.

[Josepatches_]

2007 says hello

Says what?

Tim Duncan led the team all season and playoffs. The Finals were a joke

[therealtruth]

1- I will take Splitter 2-3 missed layups+defense over Neal zero defense and poor offense any day of the week.

3- Spurs didn't play Lebron to take jumpers(like they did in games 1/2/3/5), they gave him 2 full bodies lenght

Pop is the one to blame, there is no way to spin that

The people who focus on Splitter's missed layups/blocked shots don't realize the impact he had defensively with TD in keeping Lebron on the perimeter. I think it was a little too much to ask Duncan to be our last line of defense against Lebron and drop 20 and 10. Spoelstra's decision to start Mike Miller won the series. He forced Pop to abandon his defensive advantage.