State of the Spurs

[SpurSwag]

Hey guys, just felt like writing some thoughts that I've had about our 15-3 start. I think I might do this every so often just because I really like discussing the spurs without everyone complaining about something or making dumb Jim and Kirby jokes lol

- After a rough start, Tim is finally rounding into form and should start to look more and more like the player he was last year. It's unbelievable that this guy just had a 20-20 night at age 37, and the more I think about it the more I think the guy has a case for top 7 players of all time. His longevity is just undeniable, and I will never be able to express just how grateful we should all be for watching someone so loyal and consistent for all these years.

- Despite the never ending criticism he gets, I actually think Manu has had a fantastic start to the year. Though he only hit 1 tonight, his shooting has looked a lot better in recent games and his attacks to the rim have had much greater purpose this year. His passing has also been fantastic for the most part, and he just looks much more controlled and calm than he has in years pass. Hopefully that leads to less injuries as well

- While on the topic of Manu, the Manu-Marco connection is one of the most fun pairings the spurs have ever had tbh they really do think exactly the same and Marco's off ball movement has been fantastic. Marco's shooting has been off the charts obviously, but there's no reason why he can't be a ~43% shooter from downtown with the looks he's been getting.

- Parker has been consistent as ever, attacking the rim fearlessly. The one thing I have to nitpick is his turnovers, I feel like he's been a little more out of control this year than in the past couple, but hopefully that's just a weird funk. Athletically he still looks quick as ever, which is good after the long summer he had. Hopefully he keeps it up, as we can't do anything without him in his peak in spring.

- hands down the biggest surprise for me has been Boris, and honestly I can't say enough about his game. It's gotten to the point where I'm genuinely surprised whenever he misses any shot, the guy just picks his shots perfectly and finishes at such a high clip. This Boris can honestly be the difference this year, as it makes our bench so formidable.

- Tiago has also been great for the most part, playing tougher than ever and converting more of those hooks than ever. The numbers about his around the rim defense are great to read, adn I'm sure nobody's happier about that than Tim. We've been clamoring for another big to protect the paint so Timmy can save himself, and thank god Tiago is that guy

- Kawhi and especially Danny have been a bit invisible this year, but I have no doubt they'll be there when it matters. Teams just aren't leaving Danny as open as they did last year, and Kawhi is struggling a bit from the outside. I really want Pop to rest the Big 3 soon so Kawhi can get as many touches as he needs to get himself going and get his confidence up. Same goes for Danny, but his defense has been pretty solid for the most part and as long as he doesn't force anything and defends well, I can't complain.

- Patty has been a blast to watch this year, and his constant energy and pressure have led to so many baskets this year. I'm really happy he won the back up point guard spot, he always seemed like the one with the most potential out of the lot.

15 - 3 is a fantastic start to the regular season, and we all need to appreciate the fact that we have seen nothing but greatness for the past 15 years. We only have 1-3 more years left at this level, so I've been really trying to savor it all and I suggest you do the same. Hopefully this year ends a little better than last year, because lord knows no one deserves it more than Timmy :toast

[ElNono]

So Jim and Kirby walk into a bar...

:lol

[ElNono]

thanks for the writeup :tu

[SpurSwag]

So Jim and Kirby walk into a bar...

:lol

:rollin

[Spur|n|Austin]

:toast

[Darius Bieber]

I think I'll hold off to any early season assessments until the Spurs play the Pacers this Saturday. If the Spurs manage to lose, they would still have yet to beat a capable competitor this season...

[Hoops Czar]

What a morbid performance tonight. Probably deserved to lose.

[mute]

Duncan woulda probably went #1 after his freshman year out of college. Think about what that woulda done to his stats, thats like 8,000 more points, 5000+ more rebounds and like 250+ more blocks (but who is to say the reason he was so good his rookie year was because he stayed 4 yrs in college... who knows? food for thought)

I thought Manu was unfairly criticized last year in the finals. Like I said before, he's the only guy on our roster with the size and handles to break Miami's trap and to create for himself and others. Tony parker is just too small with they trap with two dudes over 6'7" on him. You realize by having the ball in Manu's hands and him turning it over 8 times... you're actually DECREASING the amount of total turnovers you would have had right? We simply didn't have the athletes... and we know gary neal and danny green can't dribble for shit. THAT BEING SAID, 28 seconds... up 5... (i will NEVER get over game 6)

Parker cannot continue to be our bread and butter. Don't be fooled by the regular season success. The Spurs 2nd team is better than most team, and the reality is that most teams suck and will get blown by us. It's a bad sign when you're winning games on the back of Tony Parker. It's tough because he's our leading scorer AND our main ball handler... see OKC and see MIA

but yeah, no games until maybe march really matters. it's all about mixing and matching lineups and finding out what works. of course, we want to win a ton of games to wrap up seeds

[SpurSwag]

Duncan woulda probably went #1 after his freshman year out of college. Think about what that woulda done to his stats, thats like 8,000 more points, 5000+ more rebounds and like 250+ more blocks (but who is to say the reason he was so good his rookie year was because he stayed 4 yrs in college... who knows? food for thought)

I thought Manu was unfairly criticized last year in the finals. Like I said before, he's the only guy on our roster with the size and handles to break Miami's trap and to create for himself and others. Tony parker is just too small with they trap with two dudes over 6'7" on him. You realize by having the ball in Manu's hands and him turning it over 8 times... you're actually DECREASING the amount of total turnovers you would have had right? We simply didn't have the athletes... and we know gary neal and danny green can't dribble for shit. THAT BEING SAID, 28 seconds... up 5... (i will NEVER get over game 6)

Parker cannot continue to be our bread and butter. Don't be fooled by the regular season success. The Spurs 2nd team is better than most team, and the reality is that most teams suck and will get blown by us. It's a bad sign when you're winning games on the back of Tony Parker. It's tough because he's our leading scorer AND our main ball handler... see OKC and see MIA

but yeah, no games until maybe march really matters. it's all about mixing and matching lineups and finding out what works. of course, we want to win a ton of games to wrap up seeds

I don't really agree about the Parker thing, personally I see no reason why we can't win a championship with him playing the way he has. Maybe I'm misinterpreting your post, but last year (honestly i pretty much consider last year a championship season in terms of player performances and what we need to win considering we win it all without a colossal collapse) parker was really clutch for us and came through time and time again. It's very underrated that we had no business winning game 6 until parker goes super saiyan and knocks down some huge jump shots. The only thing is he really needs Manu to be a scoring threat if he is going to be successful, as it seemed last year in the finals it was all up to him to provide perimeter scoring.

Totally agree about Manu, though. Game 6 was the only game that he really did deserve the criticism just because several of the turnovers just weren't necessary, but people don't seem to understand that Manu was still a net positive when you factor in how many open looks he constantly creates for that second unit

[Blue Duck]

Bravo, very nicely done. That about sums it up, biggest improvements this year, definitely Boris and Beli. Now all we need is last year's Danny and Kahwi. I think we'll be fine. Once again, nice write up, thanks. Go spurs.

[SpurSwag]

I think I'll hold off to any early season assessments until the Spurs play the Pacers this Saturday. If the Spurs manage to lose, they would still have yet to beat a capable competitor this season...

Fair enough, and yeah that'd be a fantastic game to win just for confidence sake. The record is nice but it's kind of annoying that this Hawks team was one our best wins of the season. We've been great against the Pacers for a while and hopefully Timmy continues to lock Hibbert up as he did last year, but that dude George is talented as fuck. Great matchup with Kawhi and him, as I know many of us on here consider that to be what we really want Kawhi to develop into.

[Chomag]

Diaw should win the most improved played award this year, and the vote shouldn't even be close.

Dude has always had the talent just never had the confidence in himself like he does now.

[Kidd K]

the more I think about it the more I think the guy has a case for top 7 players of all time

Good overall post, but I felt the need to pick this out. Duncan's been #7 since he won #4. Kobe never passed him even with the 5th title since he's an inferior player. At this point it's an argument between Shaq and Duncan for who's 6 and 7 imo. And that's only if you put Wilt and Russell above them both (which I do for history's sake. I know Shaq and Duncan would beat them in their primes since the game was different then).

If Duncan got #5 last year he would be easily #4 on the all time list since only 3 team-leading HOFers would've had more rings than him. MJ, Jabaar, Russell. Duncan shits on Kobe and Magic because he's leagues better defensively and still a major offensive threat.

[ElNono]

I think I'll hold off to any early season assessments until the Spurs play the Pacers this Saturday. If the Spurs manage to lose, they would still have yet to beat a capable competitor this season...

Yeah, if they don't beat the Pacers it's probably time to sound the alarms, tbh :\

I mean, it's going to be early December already, I can't think Holt would be too happy with the current state of the team.

[SpurSwag]

Good overall post, but I felt the need to pick this out. Duncan's been #7 since he won #4. Kobe never passed him even with the 5th title since he's an inferior player. At this point it's an argument between Shaq and Duncan for who's 6 and 7 imo. And that's only if you put Wilt and Russell above them both (which I do for history's sake. I know Shaq and Duncan would beat them in their primes since the game was different then).

If Duncan got #5 last year he would be easily #4 on the all time list since only 3 team-leading HOFers would've had more rings than him. MJ, Jabaar, Russell. Duncan shits on Kobe and Magic because he's leagues better defensively and still a major offensive threat.

Tbh right after I made this post I thought about that and wanted to change it to top 5, but felt that sounded a bit ridiculous. It may very well be warranted, but it just sounds so ridiculous to think that we have a top 5 all time player on our team. For now I'm going to say number 6 or 7 (he's definitely better than shaq in my opinion, longevity both in terms of Timmys production and his teams production is too overwhelming for shaq's case), but should Timmy get another ring he is definitely top 5

[SpurSwag]

Diaw should win the most improved played award this year, and the vote shouldn't even be close.

Dude has always had the talent just never had the confidence in himself like he does now.

I don't think Boris can win the award simply because he's won it before and I don't think this new aggressiveness will receive any media attention. I'm not sure if he will, but tbh Paul George deserves it again if he keeps this pace up. The guy transformed into a borderline star last year into a borderline superstar this year

[Hoops Czar]

The state of the Spurs is real simple. They'll go as far as the big three will take them. Notice, I didn't say big four.

[Brazil]

Parker T/Os are exactly the same in 13-14 than previous years at 2,6 per game. his assists per t/o is a bit down tho but in line with career average fwiw

[Darius Bieber]

Yeah, if they don't beat the Pacers it's probably time to sound the alarms, tbh :\

I mean, it's going to be early December already, I can't think Holt would be too happy with the current state of the team.

I can understand sarcasm after being third place in the league this early, but name me a game where you were proud of the Spurs win? The Warriors gave the Spurs a little problem even without Curry.

By this time last season, the Spurs managed a nice victory against OKC on the second game of the season with a Tony Parker jumper..

[PlayNando]

The state of the Spurs is real simple. They'll go as far as the big three will take them. Notice, I didn't say big four.
It's a team effort tbh. Don't underestimate the rest of the team tbh.

[Kidd K]

Tbh right after I made this post I thought about that and wanted to change it to top 5, but felt that sounded a bit ridiculous. It may very well be warranted, but it just sounds so ridiculous to think that we have a top 5 all time player on our team. For now I'm going to say number 6 or 7 (he's definitely better than shaq in my opinion, longevity both in terms of Timmys production and his teams production is too overwhelming for shaq's case), but should Timmy get another ring he is definitely top 5

Well you're right about him being #7 really. At best he's #6 because you have to give the HoF team-leaders with more rings the spots above him (this excludes Kobe since he didn't lead 3 of his title teams), and have to give Wilt his due (I do, I guess you don't have to though), but he is at worst #7 imo. Arguably #5 but you gotta do some solid arguing to play him up to that spot.

Getting a fifth title would've been a tremendous boon to his legacy, especially considering that amazing game 6 he had. He would've probably grabbed Finals MVP and been a hero for his 5th title, putting him up there on the Mt Rushmore of GOATs. A shame that didn't pan out. Still time, but I wanna be realistic about our chances this time. Even if he does get it, it's hard to imagine he'll be as good as last year since that was his best year in long time, so the ring won't quite mean as much as it would've last year. Still counts though. :)

[PlayNando]

15-3 TBH!!!

[SpurSwag]

Well you're right about him being #7 really. At best he's #6 because you have to give the HoF team-leaders with more rings the spots above him (this excludes Kobe since he didn't lead 3 of his title teams), and have to give Wilt his due (I do, I guess you don't have to though), but he is at worst #7 imo. Arguably #5 but you gotta do some solid arguing to play him up to that spot.

Getting a fifth title would've been a tremendous boon to his legacy, especially considering that amazing game 6 he had. He would've probably grabbed Finals MVP and been a hero for his 5th title, putting him up there on the Mt Rushmore of GOATs. A shame that didn't pan out. Still time, but I wanna be realistic about our chances this time. Even if he does get it, it's hard to imagine he'll be as good as last year since that was his best year in long time, so the ring won't quite mean as much as it would've last year. Still counts though. :)

He might be on his way to a similar year, his last 3-4 games he's looked tremendous

[ElNono]

I can understand sarcasm after being third place in the league this early, but name me a game where you were proud of the Spurs win? The Warriors gave the Spurs a little problem even without Curry.

By this time last season, the Spurs managed a nice victory against OKC on the second game of the season with a Tony Parker jumper..

I enjoy every win, tbh... feel privileged to watch these guys battle it out on the court. I can't think of one single season where there were no struggles at some point or another. It's a long process.

[Brazil]

I enjoy every win, tbh... feel privileged to watch these guys battle it out on the court. I can't think of one single season where there were no struggles at some point or another. It's a long process.

spoiled fans are spoiled tbh

The fact Spurs are still among the best team of the league is amazing considering Tim and Manu are closest to 40 than 35. Everybody should enjoy and relax

[Mel_13]

spoiled fans are spoiled tbh

The fact Spurs are still among the best team of the league is amazing considering Tim and Manu are closest to 40 than 35. Everybody should enjoy and relax

The vast majority of Spurs fans do exactly that. The complainers here on ST comprise a very tiny subset of the Spur fan base.

And :tu to the OP for a solid post.