Did 2003 Spurs have any weaknesses?

[ViceCity84]

Other than raw young talent and old Robinson

Duncan at his peak
Inside game-Duncan-Rose on offense and Duncan-Robinson on defense
Outside game-Parker/Bowen/Manu/Jack/Speedy-Youth athleticism playmaking/shotmaking
Defense Terror-Duncan/Robinson/Bowen
2 good Point guards-Parker/Claxton-Ton of speed
Strong 9-12 veteran quartet-Kerr Willis S.Smith Ferry
No one took them to 7 games despite raw talent
Strong at Point/Wings/Bigs


Most talented complete team they had

[HarlemHeat37]

The 2003 Spurs team is the most overrated Spurs team of the Duncan era on this forum, tbh..

It's my favorite Spurs title team, which is the case for most people here, which is why it has become overrated, tbh..

[baseline bum]

The 2003 Spurs were prone to blowing leads, like Game 5 against Dallas. I know people will point to Game 6 vs Miami this season, but big difference between the 2013 Heat and 2003 Mavs. They were extremely deep, but neither Parker nor Ginobili were close to the players they became later on.

[baseline bum]

I still think the 99 Team blows every other Spurs team out of the water. Say what you want about the backcourt, but they were impossible to get good shots on with Prime Duncan, Near-Prime Robinson, and then still having Elliott on the perimeter to funnel drivers into the towers.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Yeah it's overrated. D-Rob past prime. Ginobili and Parker very inconsistant, nowhere near the players they became. Jackson was also pretty damn inconsistant.

[And1Mak]

only 1 true superstar. load up on Duncan in 2003, and you have to rely on a guy like Steve Kerr to bail you out.
if dirk hadn't gotten injured in the WCF, they would've lose tbh. Spurs are forever grateful nellie held dirk out.

[baseline bum]

only 1 true superstar. load up on Duncan in 2003, and you have to rely on a guy like Steve Kerr to bail you out.
if dirk hadn't gotten injured in the WCF, they would've lose tbh. Spurs are forever grateful nellie held dirk out.

:lmao

[Floyd Pacquiao]

It's crazy how dependent the Spurs were on Duncan back in the days. The whole offense was pretty much give the ball to tim in the post and he either scores 1 on 1, creates a double and kicks to a 3 point shooter or passes to a cutter.

[MeloHype]

only 1 true superstar. load up on Duncan in 2003, and you have to rely on a guy like Steve Kerr to bail you out.
if dirk hadn't gotten injured in the WCF, they would've lose tbh. Spurs are forever grateful nellie held dirk out.
:lol

[BatManu20]

only 1 true superstar. load up on Duncan in 2003, and you have to rely on a guy like Steve Kerr to bail you out.
if dirk hadn't gotten injured in the WCF, they would've lose tbh. Spurs are forever grateful nellie held dirk out.

LOL

[BatManu20]

It's crazy how dependent the Spurs were on Duncan back in the days. The whole offense was pretty much give the ball to tim in the post and he either scores 1 on 1, creates a double and kicks to a 3 point shooter or passes to a cutter.

Yep. Every single possession would go through Timmy in the post. It's pretty remarkable actually when you think about it.

[spurraider21]

was probably the worst 'team' of our title teams, but the most dominant version of Duncan.

[Darius McCrary]

The 2003 Spurs team is the most overrated Spurs team of the Duncan era on this forum, tbh..

It's my favorite Spurs title team, which is the case for most people here, which is why it has become overrated, tbh..

:lmao overrating a Spurs team with the best NBA player at the peak of his powers :rollin


2003 was special. By midway that season, Bruce Bowen and Stephen Jackson were the most physical defensive wingmen combo of the league. No one wanted any part of them. I specifically remember Bowen making Bizzaro Jordan fall down from trying to take Bowen off the dribble.

Very tall defensive wings that shoot awesome 3's, +speedy ever-last pg, +Peak Duncan, +Robinson, + Kerr (whom we could give the ball to up 3 at any point in the game and we'd know he'd hit every FreeThrow in any situation, he was basically the coup de gras of every Spur win that year)

That team was money in the bank.

[freetiago]

05 was better
stretch 4 in Horry with Barry/Manu to still bail Tony out when he choked

[And1Mak]

whats so funny? OP asked for any weaknesses. IMO 1 superstar was their weakness--if you loaded up on Duncan, spurs had to rely on roleplayers to beat you, as opposed to a 2nd/3rd star like Manu/Parker. Throughout history, most championship teams have had multiple stud go-to guys. Duncan's 2003 Spurs are one of the few exceptions, along with Hakeem's championship Rockets and Dirk's 2011 Mavs. Obviously those teams won the title so they didn't have any glaring weaknesses, but when teams gameplanned against them, it usually involved trying to contain the 1 star and let the role players go nuts on you, or shut down all the role players and see if 1 guy can win a game by himself.

[Sean Cagney]

The 2003 Spurs team is the most overrated Spurs team of the Duncan era on this forum, tbh..

It's my favorite Spurs title team, which is the case for most people here, which is why it has become overrated, tbh..
That team could play any damn game you threw at them, period! You said it's your fave too, which means it was that good!

[Sean Cagney]

only 1 true superstar. load up on Duncan in 2003, and you have to rely on a guy like Steve Kerr to bail you out.
if dirk hadn't gotten injured in the WCF, they would've lose tbh. Spurs are forever grateful nellie held dirk out.

They blew game one at home, were basically easily up 2-1 when DIRK got hurt! They got you at home in 03 the first game and then DIRK GOT HURT! You were never in control of that series you idiot, get the FUCK outta here with your soft frontline you were not winning a title that year.

[hommeaetage]

That 03 team was overrated as hell. No way that team reaches the Final without Duncan playing god-mode, tbh

[And1Mak]

They blew game one at home, were basically easily up 2-1 when DIRK got hurt! They got you at home in 03 the first game and then DIRK GOT HURT! You were never in control of that series you idiot, get the FUCK outta here with your soft frontline you were not winning a title that year.

FWIW Mavs beat the Spurs 2-1 in the regular season when Dirk played, and the 1 Dallas loss went to OT which required herculean above average efforts from multiple spurs. And like you said, DAL stole homecourt with a healthy dirk in game 1 of the series. Up until Dirk got hurt, you could easily see DAL beating SAS. Mavs had too much firepower that year (finley/van exel/nash/dirk). That "soft" frontline actually helped tremendously by drawing out guys like Duncan from the paint and opening up the lane. There's no way to know what would've happened for sure, but let's not pretend the Spurs didn't catch a break by Dirk getting hurt.

[Sean Cagney]

FWIW Mavs beat the Spurs 2-1 in the regular season when Dirk played, and the 1 Dallas loss went to OT which required herculean above average efforts from multiple spurs. And like you said, DAL stole homecourt with a healthy dirk in game 1 of the series. Up until Dirk got hurt, you could easily see DAL beating SAS. Mavs had too much firepower that year (finley/van exel/nash/dirk). That "soft" frontline actually helped tremendously by drawing out guys like Duncan from the paint and opening up the lane. There's no way to know what would've happened for sure, but let's not pretend the Spurs didn't catch a break by Dirk getting hurt.
Spurs would have beaten the Mavs that year, you guys are lucky as hell C WEBB GOT HURT BRO! HAAHAHA get real son. When we beat LA we were winning it all that year, period end of fucking discussion.

[And1Mak]

Spurs would have beaten the Mavs that year
Maybe. No way you can say that with any certainty.
The record between the two teams in games w/ a healthy Dirk (3-2, Mavs), suggests otherwise.
Even after Dirk went down in the playoffs, Dallas managed to win game 5 in San Antonio.
It's very possible Dallas manages to win 2 games out of 4 with a healthy Dirk, 3 of which would have been in Dallas.
Maybe the Mavs were lucky CWebb went down, but the Spurs were also lucky he went down, as well as Nowitzki going down. Not to mention the pathetic Nets, which would've been a cakewalk for the Mavs, Kings or Lakers.

[tesseractive]

That 03 team was overrated as hell. No way that team reaches the Final without Duncan playing god-mode, tbh
Why does that mean they're overrated? The fact is, they did have god-mode Duncan, so that hardly seems like a reason for discounting them.

Yeah, they tend to be overrated on here. But that's not an outgrowth of reliance on Duncan, it's due to having 4 of the 5 best Spurs of all time on the team (top 5 in chronological order: Ice, D-Rob, TD, Tony, Manu), but having only one of them anywhere near his peak. People remember the names and how great those players are, but they weren't all great at that point in their careers.

[barakz21]

:lmao

I just had to cosign. :lmao

[tesseractive]

Maybe. No way you can say that with any certainty.
The record between the two teams in games w/ a healthy Dirk (3-2, Mavs), suggests otherwise.
Even after Dirk went down in the playoffs, Dallas managed to win game 5 in San Antonio.
It's very possible Dallas manages to win 2 games out of 4 with a healthy Dirk, 3 of which would have been in Dallas.
Maybe the Mavs were lucky CWebb went down, but the Spurs were also lucky he went down, as well as Nowitzki going down. Not to mention the pathetic Nets, which would've been a cakewalk for the Mavs, Kings or Lakers.
As long as we're talking about getting lucky in which teams you had to face, those Mavs would have been steamrolled by a Lakers team that the Spurs beat in 6. Shaq could have gone for a 40/20 against that Mavs team, and Kobe could have gotten any shot he wanted.

Half the reason the Mavs won game 1 was that the Spurs still had a hangover from vanquishing the 3-time champs.

The reality is that defense wins championships, and it's no accident that the Mavs never won a title until they figured that out.

[AchillesHeel]

05 was the best Spurs team, tbh. 03 Spurs I think Duncan was at his best but the team overall wasn't. I still love the 03 Spurs for spanking the Lakeshow

[And1Mak]

tesseractive: Mavs had a top 10 defense that year--that's good enough to win a title, and as stated above, a winning record against the eventual champion Spurs (when Dirk was healthy).
But yeah, like LeBron said, you need luck to win a championship. Respect to the Spurs that year, no doubt they were a great team. Well, not really a great "team" per say, but the fact that the greatest PF ever probably had his single greatest season that year made them a great team. I'm just saying that if we're looking for weaknesses as per the OP, their lack of offensive options would be their major weakness. The Mavs managed to use that to their advantage pretty well as long as Dirk was healthy. Look at the playoff stats. Steve freaking Kerr was the 2nd best offensive force on the team, and it was all due to Duncan.

[eds]

:lol

your avatar :lmao

[boutons_deux]

Two big weaknesses: TOs and FTs.

[dunkman]

Jack commuted many costly TO's that led to high % transition baskets.
Parker and Speedy couldn't shot, TP wasn't that reliable handling the rock.
Manu was a minor role player.
The Admiral was done, the Spurs were better with Rose.
Rose had stone hands and couldn't protect the rim.
Bowen couldn't drive.
FT's.

The '05 team was the best Spurs team, the '13 team was great too.

[racm]

The 2003 Spurs were the worst of the ringing teams; if it weren't for God Mode Duncan I'd take the 2013 team over them (rookie Manu ~= TOSB Manu, today's Tony >>>>>>>>> sophomore Parker, Kawhi >>>> Captain Jack, retiring D-Rob >>>> Splitter)

[michaelwcho]

Two big weaknesses: TOs and FTs.

I recall the free throws, they were terrible. And they had a seemingly nightly problem of losing 20 point leads and letting the opponent back in the game. Certainly a powerful team, though, I never perceived them to be as dominant as other dominant teams such as the 3-peat Lakers or Bulls.

[Obstructed_View]

only 1 true superstar. load up on Duncan in 2003, and you have to rely on a guy like Steve Kerr to bail you out.
if dirk hadn't gotten injured in the WCF, they would've lose tbh. Spurs are forever grateful nellie held dirk out.

Walt Williams and Raef Lafrenz were better than Dirk in that playoff run. The Mavs played over their heads just to get where they got.

Back to the OP, the 2003 Spurs' biggest weakness was how much better they were than everyone else. They routinely flipped the switch on teams.

[baseline bum]

FWIW Mavs beat the Spurs 2-1 in the regular season when Dirk played, and the 1 Dallas loss went to OT which required herculean above average efforts from multiple spurs. And like you said, DAL stole homecourt with a healthy dirk in game 1 of the series. Up until Dirk got hurt, you could easily see DAL beating SAS. Mavs had too much firepower that year (finley/van exel/nash/dirk). That "soft" frontline actually helped tremendously by drawing out guys like Duncan from the paint and opening up the lane. There's no way to know what would've happened for sure, but let's not pretend the Spurs didn't catch a break by Dirk getting hurt.

LOL revisionist history. The Mavs pulled out that Game 1 because they hit 49/50 free throws. It was one of the flukiest playoff wins I have ever seen. Then the Spurs won Game 2 by 13 and were up big in Game 3 when Nowitzki was injured in the fourth. I'm not trying to crack on Dirk because he became an amazing player, but 2003 Dirk was not prime Dirk who took them to the Finals twice and won them a title. The 2003 Mavs were horrendous defensively with Nash and Dirk on the floor; to Dirk's credit, he became a much better defender within the next 2-3 years, but he was awful defensively in 2003. And 2003 Nash is one of the worst defenders I have ever seen. The Spurs won that title when they beat LA, not when they beat Dallas.

[ViceCity84]

Walt Williams and Raef Lafrenz were better than Dirk in that playoff run. The Mavs played over their heads just to get where they got.

Back to the OP, the 2003 Spurs' biggest weakness was how much better they were than everyone else. They routinely flipped the switch on teams.

BINGO! They toyed with the league.The 05 Spurs got lucky vs Pistons and 07 Spurs got every break go there way in playoff bracket(CAvs in Finals Mavs upset round 1)
The 03 Spurs lost 6 playoff games by combined 13 points and their wins were big margins.They could of gone 22-2 in those playoffs if they were such a thing.
3 elimination games were double digit wins including 28 point pounding of Lakers in Staples.Toyed with da league.

[ViceCity84]

Spurs got lucky because of Dirk injury=LOL
Game 1-Spurs inexperience and arrogance blew 18 pt lead and Mavs shot silly 49-50
Game 2-Spurs bombed them out
Game 3-Mavs were down 20 when Dirk got hurt in 4th quarter.
Killed the Mavs in that series on inside-Duncan and Rose

Seem like Lakers were down 20 pts every game vs Spurs.
The Nets 2 wins were by combined 3 pts.They could beat them 6-0.

[kobyz]

Like every other spurs team: Pop! and chokness, lol losing game 1 against the mavs with Finley game winner...

[SpursFan86]

:lol at this dude bumping a 3 year old thread to say that...

But anyways, I actually think the '03 team was clearly the weakest of any Spurs title teams. They relied way too heavily on Duncan. Parker/Manu had their moments but were nowhere near the players they'd later become. Robinson was 36 or 37 and much inferior to his '99 self.

That playoff run was pretty much just Duncan putting the team on his back night in and night out and dragging them through the playoffs. Obviously there were moments where others chipped in, but there wasn't really any consistent 2nd or 3rd option.

[Darius Bieber]

Yeah, there was no stopping Tim Duncan that playoffs. Not to mention Speedy Claxt:loln bailing out Porker.

[dbreiden83080]

2003 team wasn't that good TBH. D-Rob on his last legs, Tony just a kid, Manu yet to emerge. TD carried them to the chip..

[Thomas82]

TD was unbelievable that year.......a MONSTER!!

[rmt]

Inexperience - would give up big leads.

[Spurs1234]

Did Duncan get 10 blocks in the clincher vs nets? I read some Reddit threads today where people claimed he wasn't credited for 2 blocks. Is this valid? I have tHe game on vhs I think I need to go back and watch it to count it. People claimed one block was flat out missed and one was questionable as Robinson got the credit-not sure where in the game the missed blocks were but I think both blocks were close together in the game.

[lefty]

Besides Porker?

No weakness tbh

[Jdspur20]

Turnovers.

[Budkin]

No lead was safe.

[Kawhitstorm]

For those of you too young for 2003 then imagine 2016 Finals Lebron w/ the 2015 Cavs supporting cast.

[boutons_deux]

2002/3, the Spurs were horrible at FTs and TOs.

Tim was incredible, but he had plenty of help from Tony and Manu were great, Philly cheesesteak rebounded, defended. Defense was best in the league.

[kobyz]

2013 still hunt me, It flashback to me at least one time a day in misery!

[Jdspur20]

Parker was either hot or cold that year in the playoffs too.

[horsielove]

Out of all the Spurs championships, 03 Spurs is the weakest. But out of all the championships, 03 Duncan is the greatest.

[keeferob25]

For those of you too young for 2003 then imagine 2016 Finals Lebron w/ the 2015 Cavs supporting cast.

Now add the incredible fact that Duncan didn't have a pathetic 3 round bye to the finals too like Lebron has had. He had to beat an athletic and feisty Phoenix team in the FIRST round that would have beaten any of the eastern teams bron faced, and then a lakers team fielding Prime Shaq and Kobe (BOTH made all nba first team), and then an allstar trio of Finley, Nash, and Dirk (two of which would go on to win MVPs). What Duncan did is simply not comparable, he was otherworldly.

[keeferob25]

2002/3, the Spurs were horrible at FTs and TOs.

Tim was incredible, but he had plenty of help from Tony and Manu were great, Philly cheesesteak rebounded, defended. Defense was best in the league.

Neither were REMOTELY great and his help certainly wasn't "plenty". No clue how people forget we were so bad (outside of Duncan) overall that we were down TEN points near midway in the 4th to the freaking Nets before Duncan (and SJax) took over. The Nets nearly forced a Game 7 where ANYTHING could've happened. Do you know how crazy that is? Duncan's quadruple double (yes he very clearly had 10 blocks) wasn't just a pretty statline...it was NEEDED from him for us to win. HE made his help "just enough".

[UNT Eagles 2016]

No, 2003 was middling, probably the worst team after 2007 and maybe 1999. (1999 we were dominant mostly because our competition sucked, Jordan had finally retired for good, Hakeem/Barkley were done, Kobe wasn't Kobe yet, and it was an overall down/rebuilding year for the league.)


2003 was characterized by:


- Our horrible/meh first couple months of the season (we started off 19–13 in our first 32 games, seemed like the Mavs were going to win the championship going away with some competition from the Kings)
- Turnovers (Sjax/Tony/Manu) and free throws (Tim/Bruce/Tony) being huge problems for us, as aforementioned by others
- The Lakers being bored and tired, and their role players had gotten too old and injured
- The Spurs chronically giving up 15+ point leads and either losing or winning by the skin of their teeth... all season long and in the playoffs
- Nobody around Tim was consistent at all, every time we'd win someone else would step up and score 20-30 points but then lay an egg the next game, meaning someone else had to step up like that for us to win the next game
- We took 6 games to beat everyone in the playoffs, which made for a great story but wasn't dominating at all


Loved the 2003 title team, it was an amazing experience as a newly-turned 9 year old.


But very stressful and painful at times, from the cheerless start to the season, to the "Mar-Buried" moment (and most of the next game until we came back and won), to the Jake Voskuhl game winner in game 4 (another huge Spurs letdown), to the Lakers game 4 comeback, to the nearly successful game 5 comeback that ended in Horry's lucky miss, to Finley's game winner after we let down big time, to the game 5 letdown, to coming back and almost winning game 2 against the Nets but Jackson missing a wide open practice shot to win, to the Nets playing us tough in NJ and seemingly having control of game 6 as well... there were a lot of struggles that season and in the playoffs, but we came out of it on top and it was amazing.

[tmtcsc]

Other than raw young talent and old Robinson

Duncan at his peak
Inside game-Duncan-Rose on offense and Duncan-Robinson on defense
Outside game-Parker/Bowen/Manu/Jack/Speedy-Youth athleticism playmaking/shotmaking
Defense Terror-Duncan/Robinson/Bowen
2 good Point guards-Parker/Claxton-Ton of speed
Strong 9-12 veteran quartet-Kerr Willis S.Smith Ferry
No one took them to 7 games despite raw talent
Strong at Point/Wings/Bigs


Most talented complete team they had

They were the most frustrating of all the Spurs Championship teams and had plenty of weaknesses.

Duncan was great BUT:

Ginobili was a rookie. He was about 70% the player he would eventually become.

Tony Parker was good at some things but still weak-minded and prone to disappearing. - Needed to be bailed out by Speedy Claxton on several occassions.

They blew home court advantage in every round if I'm not mistaken. They also wasted large leads against the Lakers and Dallas. That's what was so frustrating. When they played their game they were great, when they succumbed to feeling good about themselves, they had huge letdowns.

Pop was also at his most stubborn level. He almost cost the team Game 6 when he waited so long to play Steve Kerr. I remember cussing the old man out (on my 32 inch cathode ray tv) for being so damn stubborn. Dallas was without Dirk and they controlled the game for 3 quarters. TP's sorry ass was on the bench with a tummy-ache too.

They were losing game 6 at home against the Nets before erupting in the 4th quarter. The Nets couldn't buy a basket.

It was great seeing DRob go out with a Championship but they were far from a 'great' team. In my opinion, the 1999, 2006 and 2014 Championships were the best. The 1999 team was the most dominant.

[SASdynasty!]

05 was better
stretch 4 in Horry with Barry/Manu to still bail Tony out when he choked
Well I hope so...those guys were pretty much veteran age players at that point and Tony was early college years. But of course, Tony gave the Spurs way more production than either.

[tmtcsc]

Well I hope so...those guys were pretty much veteran age players at that point and Tony was early college years. But of course, Tony gave the Spurs way more production than either.

Huh? Dude was 23 years old. That's post college age.

[SASdynasty!]

Neither were REMOTELY great and his help certainly wasn't "plenty". No clue how people forget we were so bad (outside of Duncan) overall that we were down TEN points near midway in the 4th to the freaking Nets before Duncan (and SJax) took over. The Nets nearly forced a Game 7 where ANYTHING could've happened. Do you know how crazy that is? Duncan's quadruple double (yes he very clearly had 10 blocks) wasn't just a pretty statline...it was NEEDED from him for us to win. HE made his help "just enough".
Do you know if there were any writeups on this? I was at that game and was tracking Duncan's quad when he started getting close. I remember leaving thinking he got the extra two blocks but didn't get credit but I'm not sure that I've ever seen the proof.

[SASdynasty!]

Do you know if there were any writeups on this? I was at that game and was tracking Duncan's quad when he started getting close. I remember leaving thinking he got the extra two blocks but didn't get credit but I'm not sure that I've ever seen the proof.
Never mind...found a video where the guy explains the two extra blocks in the notes of this video:

https://youtu.be/nejQMtkyLgY

They both look like blocks btw. Not sure exactly why they wouldn't have been counted. Does anyone know if there was anything formal filed? Would be non-Duncan-esque, but man to shortchange him on something like that is crazy. Almost like the Galarraga blown call perfect game.

[T Park]

LOL revisionist history. The Mavs pulled out that Game 1 because they hit 49/50 free throws. It was one of the flukiest playoff wins I have ever seen. Then the Spurs won Game 2 by 13 and were up big in Game 3 when Nowitzki was injured in the fourth. I'm not trying to crack on Dirk because he became an amazing player, but 2003 Dirk was not prime Dirk who took them to the Finals twice and won them a title. The 2003 Mavs were horrendous defensively with Nash and Dirk on the floor; to Dirk's credit, he became a much better defender within the next 2-3 years, but he was awful defensively in 2003. And 2003 Nash is one of the worst defenders I have ever seen. The Spurs won that title when they beat LA, not when they beat Dallas.

The shot where Kerr hits his fourth three on a kick out from Duncan, and Nash doubles and then goes and just wanders away is one of the more amazing things Ive ever seen to this day in the game of basketball.


The Mavericks were such a paper tiger it was ridiculous, They were Phoenix without the athleticism. Their bench really wasn't that good. That series should've been a damn sweep TBH but the Spurs would do that then. They'd relax, they'd get lazy, sloppy and play dumb.

Also they were absolutely horrendous from the free throw line. like miss 20-25 FTs a day bad.

[T Park]

Huh? Dude was 23 years old. That's post college age.


Parker was in his second season and was either 20 or 21...

[T Park]

For those of you too young for 2003 then imagine 2016 Finals Lebron w/ the 2015 Cavs supporting cast.

Spurs supporting cast in 2003 was better than that.

Robinson was still good, their bench was damn good with Manu, Claxton, Kerr, Willis, Rose.

[ElNono]

Neither were REMOTELY great and his help certainly wasn't "plenty". No clue how people forget we were so bad (outside of Duncan) overall that we were down TEN points near midway in the 4th to the freaking Nets before Duncan (and SJax) took over. The Nets nearly forced a Game 7 where ANYTHING could've happened. Do you know how crazy that is? Duncan's quadruple double (yes he very clearly had 10 blocks) wasn't just a pretty statline...it was NEEDED from him for us to win. HE made his help "just enough".

That game had BAD OMEN written all over it, until Manu's steal on RJ... from that point on, I thought we turned the tide... Speedy started hitting a couple of mid-range shots and then Jax exploded... it was just sweet to send Big Dave out a champ...

[tmtcsc]

Parker was in his second season and was either 20 or 21...

SASDynasty was referring to FreeTiago's quote about the '05 team and how Horry and Brent Barry were able to bail out an early college aged Tony Parker. Tony was 23 then.

[tmtcsc]

Spurs supporting cast in 2003 was better than that.

Robinson was still good, their bench was damn good with Manu, Claxton, Kerr, Willis, Rose.

When the 2003 team was rolling, no one could keep up - including the Lakers. Unfortunately, they had stretches where they just couldn't gel and no one could make a damn shot. Hell, they went through stretches of the same game where they couldn't miss and couldn't make. -Specifically Game 5 against the Lakers and Game 6's against Dallas and New Jersey. It was nuts.

[keeferob25]

Never mind...found a video where the guy explains the two extra blocks in the notes of this video:

https://youtu.be/nejQMtkyLgY

They both look like blocks btw. Not sure exactly why they wouldn't have been counted. Does anyone know if there was anything formal filed? Would be non-Duncan-esque, but man to shortchange him on something like that is crazy. Almost like the Galarraga blown call perfect game.

Yep, that's where I got my confirmation from as well. I think they are rather clearly blocks, plus over Duncan's career going forward from 03 I noticed he has been NOTORIOUS for getting robbed of blocks, granted statisticians will miss plenty but with Duncan it was very noticeable to me. I have secretly dreamed that SOMEONE would send something into the league or wherever to re-evaluate that game by him. It just sucks to say a near-quadruple double as opposed to saying to accomplished the feat in a needed closeout like that in historic fashion. But it'll never happen :depressed

[Spurs1234]

Yeah let's send the footage into the nba and get those two blocks. For the historical implications maybe they would consider it. Now would be the time coming off his retirement. On the back of the disc let's put the fisher .04 shot as well. There was a guy that timed it going off the frames on the video and concluded he didn't get off in .04 but the clock person obviously started the clock late. That is the General spurstalk consensus right?

[Dingle Barry]

Can't believe that was more than 13 years ago. Where the fuck does the time go.

[Sean Cagney]

Can't believe that was more than 13 years ago. Where the fuck does the time go.Damn 13 years ago just seems like yesterday too, went fast.

[phxspurfan]

Never mind...found a video where the guy explains the two extra blocks in the notes of this video:

https://youtu.be/nejQMtkyLgY

They both look like blocks btw. Not sure exactly why they wouldn't have been counted. Does anyone know if there was anything formal filed? Would be non-Duncan-esque, but man to shortchange him on something like that is crazy. Almost like the Galarraga blown call perfect game.

I forgot about that other blown call. Google'd it. Crazy, the umpire, years later is scarred for life

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=5993137


I wonder if any of the Thunder refs are scarred for life after sh!tting on the Spurs so many years in a row.

[Snaq O'Meal]

I forgot about that other blown call. Google'd it. Crazy, the umpire, years later is scarred for life

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=5993137


I wonder if any of the Thunder refs are scarred for life after sh!tting on the Spurs so many years in a row.

Not when those sports entertainment refs were simply following the commissioner's orders.

[BillMc]

http://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b3fa/nqaxY8Ko4SA.jpg

[BillMc]

http://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b401/lBppsOaMF2A.jpg

[BillMc]

The man with the ball was a serious badass:

http://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b3ad/0a9TgNCxYJY.jpg

[BillMc]

http://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b359/Qiy3Nc6Edt8.jpghttp://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b29c/x34lbKMiHxs.jpghttp://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b32f/pPHmE3Q45Is.jpghttp://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b313/w0NSRwFtnfg.jpghttp://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b34b/dBkoICHr9lY.jpghttp://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b36e/dHYzorIf-HI.jpg
http://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b3de/50nUIA7SEkc.jpghttp://cs636519.vk.me/v636519782/1b3ec/VfXIUfcM9NY.jpg

[Darius McCrary]

No, 2003 was middling, probably the worst team after 2007 and maybe 1999. (1999 we were dominant mostly because our competition sucked, Jordan had finally retired for good, Hakeem/Barkley were done, Kobe wasn't Kobe yet, and it was an overall down/rebuilding year for the league.)


2003 was characterized by:


- Our horrible/meh first couple months of the season (we started off 19–13 in our first 32 games, seemed like the Mavs were going to win the championship going away with some competition from the Kings)
- Turnovers (Sjax/Tony/Manu) and free throws (Tim/Bruce/Tony) being huge problems for us, as aforementioned by others
- The Lakers being bored and tired, and their role players had gotten too old and injured
- The Spurs chronically giving up 15+ point leads and either losing or winning by the skin of their teeth... all season long and in the playoffs
- Nobody around Tim was consistent at all, every time we'd win someone else would step up and score 20-30 points but then lay an egg the next game, meaning someone else had to step up like that for us to win the next game
- We took 6 games to beat everyone in the playoffs, which made for a great story but wasn't dominating at all


Loved the 2003 title team, it was an amazing experience as a newly-turned 9 year old.


But very stressful and painful at times, from the cheerless start to the season, to the "Mar-Buried" moment (and most of the next game until we came back and won), to the Jake Voskuhl game winner in game 4 (another huge Spurs letdown), to the Lakers game 4 comeback, to the nearly successful game 5 comeback that ended in Horry's lucky miss, to Finley's game winner after we let down big time, to the game 5 letdown, to coming back and almost winning game 2 against the Nets but Jackson missing a wide open practice shot to win, to the Nets playing us tough in NJ and seemingly having control of game 6 as well... there were a lot of struggles that season and in the playoffs, but we came out of it on top and it was amazing.


:lol LOL guy born in 1997 telling us about 2003 Spurs :lol :lol

:lol millennial egos
:lol millennial know it alls

[Darius McCrary]

The shot where Kerr hits his fourth three on a kick out from Duncan, and Nash doubles and then goes and just wanders away is one of the more amazing things Ive ever seen to this day in the game of basketball.




:tu
I show that clip to all my maverick loving friends. A classic, for sure.

[SpursforSix]

Their biggest weakness was a starting point guard who would later get lazy and slow and loot the team for millions of dollars and keep them from getting more rings in the twilight of Tim Duncan's career and beyond.

[Spurtacular]

03 Spurs were probably not even the best team of that season let alone the Duncan era.

[timtonymanu]

I need to sit down and watch all of the 03 finals game again.

[Jdspur20]

When the 2003 team was rolling, no one could keep up - including the Lakers. Unfortunately, they had stretches where they just couldn't gel and no one could make a damn shot. Hell, they went through stretches of the same game where they couldn't miss and couldn't make. -Specifically Game 5 against the Lakers and Game 6's against Dallas and New Jersey. It was nuts.

That game 6 in Dallas though :downspin:

[Chucho]

Weaknesses #1-30: Malik Rose....People who want to point to Bonner as Pop playing ineffectual chumps that blow him...just remember who was first.

[scanry]

Weaknesses #1-30: Malik Rose....People who want to point to Bonner as Pop playing ineffectual chumps that blow him...just remember who was first.

Malik was a work horse tbh. His locker room presence more than made up for his short comings.

And he played well against the Mavs that year.

[Sean Cagney]

When the 2003 team was rolling, no one could keep up - including the Lakers. Unfortunately, they had stretches where they just couldn't gel and no one could make a damn shot. Hell, they went through stretches of the same game where they couldn't miss and couldn't make. -Specifically Game 5 against the Lakers and Game 6's against Dallas and New Jersey. It was nuts.
That 2003 team was bi polar, they would go through stretches where they were just on top of the world, then some times that 4th Q drought came and they blew a huge lead and scared the shit out of you. This happened too many times for my liking those playoffs on end, even at home in game 1 against Dallas, LA game 5 and Game 5 against Dallas at home too, way too many missteps and inconsistency but when on WOW what a team to watch.


I remember game 2 against Dallas too, they were up 63-37 and ROLLING, Dallas cuts it to 9 in the second half and I say here we go with this bullshit again. That team made you nuts.
Weaknesses #1-30: Malik Rose....People who want to point to Bonner as Pop playing ineffectual chumps that blow him...just remember who was first.

Malik had several great playoff games that year in 2003, he also had that huge dunk on Motumbo that sparked a win in a key game 3 in the series. He had a few big games against Dallas too, particularly game 2 when D Rob had to sit out. He came up huge.

Bonner never had a signature playoff game, no comparison. People bring up his famous OKC game 5 or 6 when he started and drew the guys out of the paint, reality is Diaw started the 2nd half and had a way better game and only then the Spurs blew a close game wide open........

[Sean Cagney]

You tell me when the piece of shit Bonner ever does a thing like this man :lol


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUVmDPyktRg

[Spurtacular]

Speedy Claxton was an awesome back-up PG who could ball down the stretch of big games.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

:lol LOL guy born in 1997 telling us about 2003 Spurs :lol :lol

:lol millennial egos
:lol millennial know it alls

:lmao can't subtract 9 from 2003

[UNT Eagles 2016]

Malik was a work horse tbh. His locker room presence more than made up for his short comings.

And he played well against the Mavs that year.

agree... we had to trade him in 2005 because we had no backup center and Rasho was too weak. Horry/Rose tandem off bench was borderline turd towers territory. We also had Massenburg and Rose's contract made signing another C outright practically impossible.

We wouldn't have won the 'ship with Rasho's soft tush going up against Ben Wallace.

[xXx]

2003 Spurs? Thank God for Stevie Kerr vs Dallas.

[tmtcsc]

You tell me when the piece of shit Bonner ever does a thing like this man :lol


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUVmDPyktRg

That was one of the best dunks in Spurs history.

[ViceCity86]

Who's ViceCity84?