Game 5 Thoughts - The Laker Side - End of an Era

[2Cleva]

Congrats to a great year Spurs fans. Your boys lost not because of their head or hearts but because of their legs. All dynasties run their course and it really feels like an end of an era here.

:clap

For almost 10 years the Spurs have unquestionably been the Lakers biggest rival - starting with the sweep that took out the Forum. I remember like it was yesterday - where a near silent Forum crowd looks at the damage - one fan yelling "Play with some heart LA" in the final game.

Now, it feels like it has finally came full circle. Yes, LA has beat the Spurs in the playoffs since but now they have clearly took the mantle as the best team in the West and barring a miracle acquisition (like LA got) the Spurs will continue to be dangerous but are clearly a step below LA for the near future. (Will any MLE acquisition be a bigger upgrade than Bynum will be for the Lakers?)

Winning is new to this Laker crew (sorry for the Sasha 3) but they are primed for a long run at the top. Its been fun talking hoops with fans of an organization that I respected and feared but I don't see the Spurs continuing at that elite level.

So, good luck to the Spurs and maybe they can rebuild soon to challenge LA in the future. Your team has done nothing that warrants bashing or for fans to hang their head.

:toast

Today likely will be my last day at SpursTalk for a while as well. Been a fun ride but unless SA does something with their roster to step up their game, they won't be true rivals, just as the Lakers weren't true rivals the past 3 years.

Again, its been a great run for the Spurs but all good things come to an end.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

:king

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

its amazing that the Spurs have been so good without getting gifts from the league like Gasol.

[michaelwcho]

Man, you have a talent for being completely polite and very mean at the same time!

[Borosai]

Think again. They won't rebuild like other teams (not for a while anyway). They'll simply reload with a few different pieces and contend again next year.

[2Cleva]

NuGGeTs-FaN - No gifts. Just small hookups (getting Barry back) as well as the luck of the ping-pong balls.


michaelwcho - LOL.


Borosai - Yes, they will try to reload. LA did the same thing for a few years after the 3-peat. But you can't deny Father Time. If Duncan isn't capable of the monster games to put the Spurs over the top then you're basically hoping for a 4th All-Star to join the crew. Very tough.

[MadDog73]

hey, now, Spurs aren't done!

Beat us in an even year, then we'll talk. ;)

[Allanon]

hey, now, Spurs aren't done!

Beat us in an even year, then we'll talk. ;)

ODD year is what you mean I think :)

[MadDog73]

ODD year.

LOL. Whoops, yeah, that's what I meant.

BTW, no slam intended on the Lakers. I'm just not convinced that a rested, healthy Spurs team with HCA will lose next year.

Guess I'm stubborn that way.

[2Cleva]

LOL. Whoops, yeah, that's what I meant.

BTW, no slam intended on the Lakers. I'm just not convinced that a rested, healthy Spurs team with HCA will lose next year.

Guess I'm stubborn that way.

I would have believed that would have been the case this season, not next. Cool to be stubbron though.

Pop got his guys through the season by not cracking the whip for the top record in the West. Can he really do that next year for HCA and keep the team fresh? Even when taking it easy he couldn't get the Big 3 through the playoffs healthy.

And even without a Finals trip, it still has been a long season for the Spurs, plus a summer of Olympic ball afterwards.

LA has the depth and youth to handle it. As of now, the Spurs don't.

[Spurminator]

The Lakers are in trouble. The last two teams to beat the Spurs in the Playoffs have suffered huge upsets in the Finals and plummeted in the following season.

It's a curse. I wouldn't be counting on any long runs for the Lakers. :toast

[florige]

The Lakers are in trouble. The last two teams to beat the Spurs in the Playoffs have suffered huge upsets in the Finals and plummeted in the following season.

It's a curse. I wouldn't be counting on any long runs for the Lakers. :toast


Yeah that is a good point. :lol

[Bigzax]

see you next year...

Spurs Reloaded: Coming Soon


:flag:

[MadDog73]

I would have believed that would have been the case this season, not next. Cool to be stubbron though.

Pop got his guys through the season by not cracking the whip for the top record in the West. Can he really do that next year for HCA and keep the team fresh? Even when taking it easy he couldn't get the Big 3 through the playoffs healthy.

And even without a Finals trip, it still has been a long season for the Spurs, plus a summer of Olympic ball afterwards.

LA has the depth and youth to handle it. As of now, the Spurs don't.

I admit, it doesn't look good.

But it didn't look good in 2005 or 2007 either. (or 2003, for that matter. Who expected the Spurs, a COMBINED 1 - 8 previously against Jackson's Lakers in the Playoffs would win in 6?)

It's funny (sort of). Spurs seem to lose when everyone expects them to win, and win when everyone expects them to lose.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

I really laughed at the naivete of this post.

The spurs could have won this series hadn't game 1 gone into the toilet like it happened. Legs was definitely a factor for that to happen and for losing 4-1.

But considering the Era finished is dangerous. Every serious Spurs fan knows this because the core is intact and it just didn't happen. The pieces around the core just didn't work as expected and it was game over after going up hill most of the time against many external obstacles.

Winning championships is hard. I laugh when people say you need to repear to be called a dinasty like if it was easy to win just one. I laugh when I hear a fan, not a player, making this statement.

And when I hear a player making that statement and that player has never won anything, that doesn't make me laugh, it makes me feel sorry for his ass.

The Spurs are in really good shape for the near future.

[DDS4]

Injuries are part of the game. Manu was injured this series.

But keep in mind, the Lakers are a Kobe knee injury away from having a jenga dynasty.

[Borosai]

...

[K-State Spur]

Man, you have a talent for being completely polite and very mean at the same time!

it's called a back-handed compliment.

the essence of the post is to declare the spurs 'done' - but it's veiled around some kind words.

[dbreiden83080]

LOL, oh if only Manu was not hurt this crap would have been avoided. What is funny is all this talk that the Lakers are set up to win all these titles will go in the gutter with a finals loss. The "Bynum will makes us a dynasty" crap is so over the top it is hilarious.

[dbreiden83080]

Winning is new to this Laker crew (sorry for the Sasha 3) but they are primed for a long run at the top.


Is that right?? So if the Spurs retool a bit in the off-season, come into next year a bit younger and with a healthy Manu, they got no shot huh?? How about, Paul and the Hornets you discounting them too?? Oh that's right i forgot you savior Bynum will kick everyone ass and help deliver Kobe 10 rings in a row. This is the same guy, Kobe once said "sucked and trade him for Jason Kidd". :rolleyes

[Allanon]

Oh that's right i forgot you savior Bynum will kick everyone ass and help deliver Kobe 10 rings in a row. This is the same guy, Kobe once said "sucked and trade him for Jason Kidd". :rolleyes

Kobe and practically 100% of the Laker fans were wrong. You're right, Bynum is the saviour.

IF he comes back to playing like he was before he went down, I really don't know if anybody can challenge the Lakers. Having Pau, Kobe, Lamar and Bynum on the same team is a severe unfairness in the NBA.

He was THAT good.
#1 FG % in the NBA
Top 10 Rebounder
Top 10 Blocker

He would easily average 20 points and 15 rebounds and 2-3 blocks in 40 minutes of play. He already has a 28 point game and has the potential for 40 point games.

Solid footwork
Solid shooting touch
Solid Free Throws
Solid post moves
Solid defense
Solid blocking
Solid hands (he can catch anything)

And aggressive style of play, no softy here. He's already a better player than Pau and 90% of the NBA centers. And he has a mean streak.

At 20 years old, that is impossible to find.

9efsJwJxYEk

[mikekim]

Congrats to a great year Spurs fans. Your boys lost not because of their head or hearts but because of their legs. All dynasties run their course and it really feels like an end of an era here.

:clap

For almost 10 years the Spurs have unquestionably been the Lakers biggest rival - starting with the sweep that took out the Forum. I remember like it was yesterday - where a near silent Forum crowd looks at the damage - one fan yelling "Play with some heart LA" in the final game.

Now, it feels like it has finally came full circle. Yes, LA has beat the Spurs in the playoffs since but now they have clearly took the mantle as the best team in the West and barring a miracle acquisition (like LA got) the Spurs will continue to be dangerous but are clearly a step below LA for the near future. (Will any MLE acquisition be a bigger upgrade than Bynum will be for the Lakers?)

Winning is new to this Laker crew (sorry for the Sasha 3) but they are primed for a long run at the top. Its been fun talking hoops with fans of an organization that I respected and feared but I don't see the Spurs continuing at that elite level.

So, good luck to the Spurs and maybe they can rebuild soon to challenge LA in the future. Your team has done nothing that warrants bashing or for fans to hang their head.

:toast

Today likely will be my last day at SpursTalk for a while as well. Been a fun ride but unless SA does something with their roster to step up their game, they won't be true rivals, just as the Lakers weren't true rivals the past 3 years.

Again, its been a great run for the Spurs but all good things come to an end.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

:king

Wow...Laker fans are cocky and ignorant even when they're trying to be insightful and gracious.

I have to say I like that other REAL Laker fan's opinion more, but I think this post probably reflects the thoughts of most real Laker fans. It's sad but true.

[dbreiden83080]

IF he comes back to playing like he was before he went down, I really don't know if anybody can challenge the Lakers. Having Pau, Kobe, Lamar and Bynum on the same team is a severe unfairness in the NBA.


The big ?? about him is can he stay healthy and can he play with Gasol?? I never buy into all the hype about what a team is going to do on paper. 4 years ago the world handed the Lakers the title when they got Malone and Payton, a NBA finals spanking at the hands of the Pistons later that was reevaluated. Shaq at his best is better than Gasol and Bynum combined. Bynum can be better than Gasol he hasn't done enough yet to say he already is but Gasol is so soft and plays such bad D he is really overrated in my view anyway. So we'll see what develops here but if the Lakers lose to the Celts in the finals i don't think it is some sort of lock for them to win it all next year because of Bynum. Kid has a lot to prove before he is given that kind of respect.

[Allanon]

The big ?? about him is can he stay healthy and can he play with Gasol?? I never buy into all the hype about what a team is going to do on paper. 4 years ago the world handed the Lakers the title when they got Malone and Payton, a NBA finals spanking at the hands of the Pistons later that was reevaluated. Shaq at his best is better than Gasol and Bynum combined. Bynum can be better than Gasol he hasn't done enough yet to say he already is but Gasol is so soft and plays such bad D he is really overrated in my view anyway. So we'll see what develops here but if the Lakers lose to the Celts in the finals i don't think it is some sort of lock for them to win it all next year because of Bynum. Kid has a lot to prove before he is given that kind of respect.

I don't know either, I just know that I underestimated Bynum big-time last year, I never would have guessed it and actually thought he was overrated until December.

That's a good post, the big IF.

[ATXSPUR]

i read the first two sentences. FUCK OFF!!

[ATXSPUR]

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/5197/stsweetoddsala400yi2.gif

GENIUS!!!

[timaios]

Kobe and practically 100% of the Laker fans were wrong. You're right, Bynum is the saviour.

IF he comes back to playing like he was before he went down, I really don't know if anybody can challenge the Lakers. Having Pau, Kobe, Lamar and Bynum on the same team is a severe unfairness in the NBA.

Salary of Andrew Bynum next year : $2,769,300.
And after that ???

2009/2010
Kobe Bryant $23,034,375
Pau Gasol $16,451,250
Lamar Odom ??? ($14,559,000 in 08/09)

That a lot of money for 4 players, about 70 mil !!!

Future of lakers = salary cap problems.

[TheManFromAcme]

There is a storm in the horizon. It will produce a new type of tornadoe. Forget the F-5 being the most powerful. It's now THE F-17................ANDREW BYNUM.

To hypothesize that that Pau and Drew will not get along is flat out stupid. If you can get along with Phil and Kobe (as evidenced by this years Lakers) you can get along with anyone. Pau and Drew WILL BE fine. Pau is a humble young guy who knows Kobe is "the guy". Enough said.

Spurs fan is in serious denial and actually fears next years Lakers. Bynum is the real deal and to deny that is sheer ignorance.

The Lakers being in the finals is all gravy for me personally as a Laker fan being that we don't even have the presence of Drew in there. The Lakers ARE GOING TO BE THAT MUCH MORE DANGEROUS NEXT year whether you want to fact it or not.

1 year from now Spurs fan, us Laker "trolls" will be back in here. Same time. Same board, putting up with your stupid justifications as to why you lost again and how the Lakere are, as you pea-brains so graciously put it, "not all that".

Be worried Spurs fan. The time is here and your reign is over.

So the Lakers get knocked off this year by Boston........and?
Point is, YOUR NOT THERE and it will be L.A. poised to take it from you more often than you think from now on.

Swim in your ocean of denial all you want. The rest of the basketball world already knows better.

[mikeanthony21]

Congrats to a great year Spurs fans. Your boys lost not because of their head or hearts but because of their legs. All dynasties run their course and it really feels like an end of an era here.

:clap

For almost 10 years the Spurs have unquestionably been the Lakers biggest rival - starting with the sweep that took out the Forum. I remember like it was yesterday - where a near silent Forum crowd looks at the damage - one fan yelling "Play with some heart LA" in the final game.

Now, it feels like it has finally came full circle. Yes, LA has beat the Spurs in the playoffs since but now they have clearly took the mantle as the best team in the West and barring a miracle acquisition (like LA got) the Spurs will continue to be dangerous but are clearly a step below LA for the near future. (Will any MLE acquisition be a bigger upgrade than Bynum will be for the Lakers?)

Winning is new to this Laker crew (sorry for the Sasha 3) but they are primed for a long run at the top. Its been fun talking hoops with fans of an organization that I respected and feared but I don't see the Spurs continuing at that elite level.

So, good luck to the Spurs and maybe they can rebuild soon to challenge LA in the future. Your team has done nothing that warrants bashing or for fans to hang their head.

:toast

Today likely will be my last day at SpursTalk for a while as well. Been a fun ride but unless SA does something with their roster to step up their game, they won't be true rivals, just as the Lakers weren't true rivals the past 3 years.

Again, its been a great run for the Spurs but all good things come to an end.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

:king

EXTREMELY premature.

[michaelwcho]

it's called a back-handed compliment.

the essence of the post is to declare the spurs 'done' - but it's veiled around some kind words.

Yes, or the "superior person's word" of _charientism_. A charientism is an insult disguised as a compliment.

Kobe, I love your eyes--the way each one is completely different is quite charming! Very T-Mac!

[tmtcsc]

Congrats to a great year Spurs fans. Your boys lost not because of their head or hearts but because of their legs. All dynasties run their course and it really feels like an end of an era here.

:clap

For almost 10 years the Spurs have unquestionably been the Lakers biggest rival - starting with the sweep that took out the Forum. I remember like it was yesterday - where a near silent Forum crowd looks at the damage - one fan yelling "Play with some heart LA" in the final game.

Now, it feels like it has finally came full circle. Yes, LA has beat the Spurs in the playoffs since but now they have clearly took the mantle as the best team in the West and barring a miracle acquisition (like LA got) the Spurs will continue to be dangerous but are clearly a step below LA for the near future. (Will any MLE acquisition be a bigger upgrade than Bynum will be for the Lakers?)

Winning is new to this Laker crew (sorry for the Sasha 3) but they are primed for a long run at the top. Its been fun talking hoops with fans of an organization that I respected and feared but I don't see the Spurs continuing at that elite level.

So, good luck to the Spurs and maybe they can rebuild soon to challenge LA in the future. Your team has done nothing that warrants bashing or for fans to hang their head.

:toast

Today likely will be my last day at SpursTalk for a while as well. Been a fun ride but unless SA does something with their roster to step up their game, they won't be true rivals, just as the Lakers weren't true rivals the past 3 years.

Again, its been a great run for the Spurs but all good things come to an end.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

:king

Say what ? Like the Mavs ? Dude, you gotta win a ring with this crew first or your season will be just as shitty as ours. No ring=failure. This is how we roll - Rings every other year.

Try beating Boston before beating off about the future. Kobe = 3 rings / 0 w/o Shaq.