Why are the Spurs so good

[Cavaliers Rule]

Would someone who actually knows something about the Spurs tell me why they are so good this year?

[ClingingMars]

http://sportsline.com/nba/story/10218805

-Mars

[samikeyp]

Teamwork, cohesion and a healthy Tim Duncan. An improving Tony Parker helps too.

[Marcus Bryant]

Spurs are top 4 in the NBA in FG% (2nd), 3pt FG% (4th), own turnovers (4th), opponents' FG% (4th), opponents' 3pt FG% (2nd), opponents' points per game (1st), own personal fouls (1st), own ejections (1st), opponents' assists per game (1st), & assist differential (3rd). Spurs were also 6th in rebounds allowed.

A way to understand the Spurs' success is that their defense is not reliant on shotblocking or contact but rather on foot movement, positioning, and smart help defense.

Offensively, they are committed to ball movement, finding the open man, and patience.

Fundamentally they are a team which operates under an egalitarian rule of law, with special treatment to none. If a player doesn't accept that they will find themselves run out expeditiously.

[duncan228]

If you don't know you haven't been watching.

[Cavaliers Rule]

Thanks for the good takes. I can really appreciate the collective basketball IQ on this site.

[naico]

Dallas were seriously overrated, suns got too much media attention= Makes people think they dominate the nba.

The truth= San Antonio Spurs

[ChumpDumper]

They're always good cavfan. They are written off every year because they traditionally start the season off slowly and the press on each coast firmly attach themselves to the testicles of other teams for five or six months. Then in April or May, a couple of the smarter ones realize that Kobe isn't going to do shit in the playoffs and that the Spurs have one of the best records since the beginning of the calendar year or the all star break and acually take the time to find out why. Now they look like geniuses.

[~~Ice Man 2000~~]

It's all James White really.

[picnroll]

They have carefully honed a team that can read the rules book and remember the rules.

[judaspriestess]

Third, no fan likes a dynasty by a team other than theirs, the success makes people envious.

Who ever posted this on CBS says it all.

[BigBeezie]

Would someone who actually knows something about the Spurs tell me why they are so good this year?

It starts at the top down. Great owner, HOF coach, Tim Duncan is a genius, Manu and then Tony. We have the best role players in the league as well.

When you can get guys like Finley, Horry and Barry at a discount...then you can build a special team.

[easjer]

It helps that they are good guys and hardworkers on and off the court. It's easier to root for good guys.

[BWJACKETS]

Would someone who actually knows something about the Spurs tell me why they are so good this year?

Good fundamental squad combined with teamwork, leadership by Duncan, and favorable officiating.

[johnsmith]

Who ever posted this on CBS says it all.


You're absolutely right. Spurs fans need to learn to stop taking it so personal when people attack their team. They need to enjoy the fact that they are now the most hated team in the NBA as far as fan(s) support goes. Not every franchise gets an eight year run at success. When your team is on top, it's natural for everyone else to hate that team.


Enjoy it now Spursfan, it's not going to last forever, ask the Yankees, Cowboys, Lakers, (hopefully the Patriots), etc.

[HJNTX]

Good fundamental squad combined with teamwork, leadership by Duncan, and favorable officiating.
LOL ..Aweee, what an objective view ...

[EastsBeasts]

Good fundamental squad combined with teamwork, leadership by Duncan, and favorable officiating.

Exactly how your team got past the Pistons.

[ChumpDumper]

:lol

sunfan will tell you, the fish taste especially bitter this summer.

[BWJACKETS]

Exactly how your team got past the Pistons.

LOL

[BWJACKETS]

LOL ..Aweee, what an objective view ...

LOL, just trying to ruffle some feathers a little bit.

[BlackFlagg]

Google Spurs stats. Duncan's all-around threat, Parker's speed and precision, Bowen's bulldog defense? And of course there are many intangibles that comprise a well-oiled machine, and right now the Spurs are just that.

[word]

Who ever posted this on CBS says it all.

Followed by: The Spurs are all bite and no bark.

[Fast Dunk]

Would someone who actually knows something about the Spurs tell me why they are so good this year?

They were fortunate that the Warriors knocked out Dallas and that the league office suspended Amare and Diaw, this is the real reason they are playing in the Finals...

Don't forget the Mavs matchup real well against the Spurs.

The Suns series could've gone 7 games with Amare and Diaw and the Suns possibly winning

[ChumpDumper]

And the cavs had a really tough road to the finals....

[picnroll]

They were fortunate that the Warriors knocked out Dallas and that the league office suspended Amare and Diaw, this is the real reason they are playing in the Finals...

Don't forget the Mavs matchup real well against the Spurs.

The Suns series could've gone 7 games with Amare and Diaw and the Suns possibly winning
So seeing how badly LeBron and the Cavs sucked against SA in game one I'm guessing you're thanking God they didn't have to face the mighty Mavs or Suns?

[timvp]

The Spurs try hard on defense and then on offense have three guys who are hard to guard.

[MadDog73]

So seeing how badly LeBron and the Cavs sucked against SA in game one I'm guessing you're thanking God they didn't have to face the mighty Mavs or Suns?


LOL. Yeah, why are Cavs fans intent on dissing a team that's going to kick their ass, or conversly, even if the Cavs win "Well, Cavs just lucky it wasn't teh Mavs or Sunz."

Way to put down your own team, genius.

[Marcus Bryant]

The Spurs try hard on defense and then on offense have three guys who are hard to guard.

The Spurs also work on playing defense without a lot of contact. That's why they had the fewest personal fouls of any team in the league this season, unless you believe Stern is a masochist and seeks to promote a "boring" team in the league's smallest media market.

[FromWayDowntown]

It's incomprehensible to me. The Spurs only have maybe one guy who can finish spectacularly at the rim and have a shot at making the SportsCenter Top 10. A team needs more guys like that to be really good.

[Marcus Bryant]

It's incomprehensible to me. The Spurs only have maybe one guy who can finish spectacularly at the rim and have a shot at making the SportsCenter Top 10. A team needs more guys like that to be really good.

...and they aren't a big shotblocking team nor have anyone who can be considered to be an 'enforcer' ala Lambeer (Horry's hip check notwithstanding).

That they are able to execute so well on both ends of the court without the aerial dunk artists and shotblockers is a testament to the Spurs' focus on the fundamentals of the game.

[Leetonidas]

http://www.hoopsvibe.com/IMG/tim_duncan-arton20946-240x240.jpg

[FromWayDowntown]

...and they aren't a big shotblocking team nor have anyone who can be considered to be an 'enforcer' ala Lambeer (Horry's hip check notwithstanding).

That they are able to execute so well on both ends of the court without the aerial dunk artists and shotblockers is a testament to the Spurs' focus on the fundamentals of the game.

I think the point is that the Spurs are as good as they are because the organization understands that it's rarely the spectacular that wins.

What makes the Spurs good is an understanding of what actually wins at this level. Of course it all starts with Duncan, who makes everything possible. But once the Spurs figured out what they had in Ginobili and Parker, I think it became clear that if you could find some guys who can hit 3's and accept roles on both ends, the Big 3 become that much more difficult to guard. It would have been tempting -- indeed, some on this board have been so tempted -- to go out and find 2 or 3 more guys who can get to the rim with some regularity and to build a team of slashers. But doing that wouldn't make the Spurs better. It's the combination of slashers and shooters that makes defending the Spurs offense more difficult than it might seem to someone who expects offensive greatness only from teams with glittering weapons all over the floor.

On the defensive end, the Spurs block their fair share of shots, but they general do it in ways that makes the shot block a useful defensive tool -- don't swat it into the seats; deny the shot and create an opportunity to run. The Spurs grab their fair share of steals, but they don't overplay looking for opportunities to steal the ball because they realize that staying within the team concept gives them a great chance to limit scores anyway. Again, it means the Spurs don't look spectacular to someone who defines great play by the wow factor; but it sure looks good on the scoreboard, which is the only place that matters.

But even that wouldn't work unless you had a group of guys who do what they're supposed to do. Everyone on this team has a role. Each of them, it seems, accepts the role; by and large, each does what he's supposed to do. And because there is consistency in that aspect, there's a great deal of trust among the Spurs. That allows for truly team concepts to be the norm and not the exception.

[spurster]

The Spurs tanked in the 1996-97 season and cheated the Celtics to get the #1 draft pick: Tim Duncan.

[Obstructed_View]

Because David Stern suspended Amare for wandering away from the bench a little bit when it was all the cocksucker Horry's fault.

[thispego]

The Spurs try hard on defense and then on offense have three guys who are hard to guard.
haha. i think that'll fit in a nutshell

[Don Quixote]

They were fortunate that the Warriors knocked out Dallas and that the league office suspended Amare and Diaw, this is the real reason they are playing in the Finals...

Don't forget the Mavs matchup real well against the Spurs.

The Suns series could've gone 7 games with Amare and Diaw and the Suns possibly winning

I personally would go for affixing an asterisk on Cleveland's season.

(1) Came out of the East. They -- maybe -- beat only two or 3 of the West's lower seeds if they were in the West. Played the majority of their games against inferior competition, which contributed to their won total.
(2) Played Washington without Arenas and Butler. Had those two cats played, the Cavs may have gone down in the 1st.
(3) Detroit choked.
(4) Got to play NJ, who were missing Krstic. Only Kidd and Jefferson showed up, and VC for about 45 minutes the whole series.

Any more?

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2007 East Champions*, the Cleveland Cavaliers!

[Jelly]

They were fortunate that the Warriors knocked out Dallas and that the league office suspended Amare and Diaw, this is the real reason they are playing in the Finals...

Don't forget the Mavs matchup real well against the Spurs.

The Suns series could've gone 7 games with Amare and Diaw and the Suns possibly winning

Give. Me. A. Break. It is not an accident that the Spurs are in the Finals. They are the best team. Period. What's your conspiracy theory for why we made it to the finals (and won!) the last three times??

Also, Diaw was a non-factor in the final game. Even after Stoudemire's return, they couldn't stand up to the Spurs. People who believe the Suns would have won that series are from the flat earth society. And keep in mind, we were without Horry and were handicapped for TWO games.

Yeah, the Spurs don't belong in the finals. It's obvious by how badly they've gotten owned by the Cavs. :worthy:

Sorry, but you're an idiot if you really believe all that crap.