Four

Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Tony Parker
Bruce Bowen


Since the 2003 season they've won 3 NBA titles and have formed the foundation for the best NBA Team of the new century...

By the end of this season they'll have been together for 6 years and played @ 400 games together.

I am sure that Games Played together mark will probably one of the top 5 marks in NBA history for 4 men...or at least since the merger.




Why am I bringing this up?



I strongly believe this'll be the last season those 4 players are together, and I want to make a toast to them....for the level at which they have played, the things they have accomplished, the length of time they have done it, and the utterly unselfish, ungreedy, and classy way they have accomplished it.


Well done guys, you are the best :toast

:toast

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Since the 2003 season they've won 3 NBA titles and have formed the foundation for the best NBA Team of the new century so far...

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Fixed

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whottt

Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Tony Parker
Bruce Bowen

I am sure that Games Played together mark will probably one of the top 5 marks in NBA history for 4 men...or at least since the merger.

Well done guys, you are the best :toast

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I can drink to that...the best starting 4 the Spurs have ever seen and one of the best 4 ever in the NBA. They were 1 silly foul away from a chance at 4 rings :toast

:toast

But I believe in 5.

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/2632/believeey7.jpg
:lobt2: :lobt2: :lobt2: :lobt2: :lobt2:

:toast to the fantastic 4

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http://i36.tinypic.com/mkynva.gif

true....:toast

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Originally Posted by Allanon

Fixed



I can drink to that...the best starting 4 the Spurs have ever seen and one of the best 4 ever in the NBA. They were 1 silly foul and one lucky shot away from a chance at 5 rings :toast

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FIFY

Is Bruce retiring after this season? What makes you believe so strongly that this will be the last season they play together? I can't see any of the 4 being traded. Bruce may not be a starter for much longer, but I still think he has enough in him to be a solid bench player for a couple more seasons.

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Originally Posted by carina_gino20

:toast

But I believe in 5.

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/2632/believeey7.jpg
:lobt2: :lobt2: :lobt2: :lobt2: :lobt2:

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Nice Carina! You are very talented.

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Originally Posted by 1Parker1

Is Bruce retiring after this season? What makes you believe so strongly that this will be the last season they play together? I can't see any of the 4 being traded. Bruce may not be a starter for much longer, but I still think he has enough in him to be a solid bench player for a couple more seasons.

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Bowen is signed through 2009-2010. Perhaps whottt is projecting a trade or injury.

The big 4 will guide us to # 5.

Of course you had better get whottt to define "together" before you assume anything.

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Originally Posted by whottt

I strongly believe this'll be the last season those 4 players are together, and I want to make a toast to them....for the level at which they have played, the things they have accomplished, the length of time they have done it, and the utterly unselfish, ungreedy, and classy way they have accomplished it.

Well done guys, you are the best :toast

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Absolutely agreed.

Too many take that quartet and all that they've accomplished -- and the way that they've done it -- for granted. As the end approaches (and it is approaching), I'm trying to appreciate the opportunities that I have to watch these guys work and to be thankful for the changes that those guys have brought to this franchise. They truly are the authors of the greatest chapters of Spurs history.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whottt

Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Tony Parker
Bruce Bowen

Since the 2003 season they've won 3 NBA titles and have formed the foundation for the best NBA Team of the new century...

By the end of this season they'll have been together for 6 years and played @ 400 games together.

I am sure that Games Played together mark will probably one of the top 5 marks in NBA history for 4 men...or at least since the merger.

Why am I bringing this up?

I strongly believe this'll be the last season those 4 players are together, and I want to make a toast to them....for the level at which they have played, the things they have accomplished, the length of time they have done it, and the utterly unselfish, ungreedy, and classy way they have accomplished it.

Well done guys, you are the best :toast

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

Too many take that quartet and all that they've accomplished -- and the way that they've done it -- for granted. As the end approaches (and it is approaching), I'm trying to appreciate the opportunities that I have to watch these guys work and to be thankful for the changes that those guys have brought to this franchise. They truly are the authors of the greatest chapters of Spurs history.

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Amen, as well, although I'm not sure this is their last season "together".

:tu That core is truly something special. It seems impossible in this day and age to think of a unit having that much success together without someone's ego getting too big for the bunch. It's a testament to these men's professionalism, and a testament to the ability of the FO to find guys whose benefit to the team didn't just end when they stepped off the court.

But let's not forget the contributions of Nabricisho Mohertovic.

:toast
we are spoiled

1's a great player.

2 are pretty good.

And the other 1's a complete hack.

I don't want this era to be over. Never.

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Originally Posted by spurs_fan_in_exile

But let's not forget the contributions of Nabricisho Mohertovic.

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:lmao :lmao :lmao

:toast

The embodiment of team.

Parker
Manu
Bowen
Maggette
Duncan

bench:
Gist
Pargo
Splitter
Mahinmi
Oberto
Mason
Udoka


:depressed :depressed :depressed :depressed :depressed

New Name For The Big 3!!!!


Earth,Wind,and Fire

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Originally Posted by JPB

:toast to the Four Horsemen

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http://i36.tinypic.com/mkynva.gif

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Fixed, because the FF eat it.

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Originally Posted by tlongII

1's a great player.

2 are pretty good.

And the other 1's a complete hack.

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Maybe you should start a thread about it and see what everybody else thinks about that.

Oh.......

Good thread Whottt. This core is going to be looked back upon as legendary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spurs_fan_in_exile

:tu That core is truly something special. It seems impossible in this day and age to think of a unit having that much success together without someone's ego getting too big for the bunch. It's a testament to these men's professionalism, and a testament to the ability of the FO to find guys whose benefit to the team didn't just end when they stepped off the court.

But let's not forget the contributions of Nabricisho Mohertovic.

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:lol:toast

Wonderful post whottt. Thanks for the opportunity to reflect and smile. It's an honor to be a fan of this team.

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Amen, as well, although I'm not sure this is their last season "together".

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I've been trying to soak in the moments for about a year now, already. I'm inclined to be both cynical and nostalgic, so I see the end of the era looming and don't want it to pass me by without having taken the opportunity to really appreciate it in its time. Whether the end for this foursome comes this year or next year or the year after that or at some other point in time, I'm not taking the continuation of this for granted, I guess.

As a Spurs fan for life, there were days (1979, 1983, 1985-1987, 1995) that I thought I'd never see a single championship.

Now I live in a world where people are bitching that the Spurs don't have 5 or 6 titles (or more).

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Originally Posted by hater

Parker
Manu
Bowen
Maggette
Duncan

bench:
Gist
Pargo
Splitter
Mahinmi
Oberto
Mason
Udoka


:depressed :depressed :depressed :depressed :depressed

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and who plays the 4 in that starting lineup Maggette? :lmao

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Originally Posted by urunobili

and who plays the 4 in that starting lineup Maggette? :lmao

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you laugh? its Pop's wet dream!: super small ball

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Originally Posted by hater

you laugh? its Pop's wet dream!: super small ball

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did you check my new sig? :hat

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Originally Posted by urunobili

did you check my new sig? :hat

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please don't start.

Chapu don't fuck with The Gist. Chapu is glad he went to Italy :downspin:

Blah that makes me depressed thinking about it.

:toast

Glad to have seen it all!

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Amen, as well, although I'm not sure this is their last season "together".

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Better safe than sorry.....

Barry and Horry are gone. Life has no meaning.

agreed. bowen is as important to the Spurs as the Big 3. he doesnt have it offensively, but he has it defensively. im not looking forward to the day these 4 separate.

And so it was :tu

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Originally Posted by whottt

I strongly believe this'll be the last season those 4 players are together

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Good call. Unless something unexpected happens, the Spurs will need to cut Bowen to get under the lux tax threshold to use the MLE :depressed

Hopefully his playoff run changes the plan . . .

If they did I'd say pop lobbies for him to come back at the minimum.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Good call. Unless something unexpected happens, the Spurs will need to cut Bowen to get under the lux tax threshold to use the MLE :depressed

Hopefully his playoff run changes the plan . . .

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My prediction is they cut him and he re-signs for the minimum. Sits at the end of the bench as a 15th man / player-defensive coach.

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Originally Posted by kori ellis

my prediction is they cut him and he re-signs for the minimum. Sits at the end of the bench as a 15th man / player-defensive coach.

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+1

I busted out the 2003, 2005, and 2007 Championship DVD's and they were great to watch.

It's amazing how this team was pretty much always contending for a championship from 1999 to the present.

I still think Duncan has one more in him before he calls it a day.

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Originally Posted by Amuseddaysleeper

I still think Duncan has one more in him before he calls it a day.

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Me too.

And he told Russell that he has another one in him.

Well I don't think Duncan is done...Duncan with gimpy knees or not can probably play until he is 40 just on skill alone. Yeah he won't be an MVP guy by then but he'll still be guy that can be a major piece of a championship team. Not worried about Duncan...if Drob could last until he was 38 when he his game was predicated on athleticism, Duncan can certainly do something similar with his game is predicated upon skill.

I mean Duncan has been playing on one knee since 2000 anyway....it's just that no one has noticed.

Parker's certainly not done, in fact I don't even think we can say Parker's even entered his prime yet...I think Tony's best seasons are still ahead of him.

Bowen is pretty much going to be an end of the bench guy now...

And I'm just not certain what is going to happen with Manu...he's definitely entering a rough period of his career, but Manu is the type of guy that can contribute in many ways even as a broken down player. He can still have impact in spurts. This is assuming he's breaking down now....I'm not 100% certain that he is, I'm not even saying that he is, but it is a possiblity. I've thought guys were done before and they ended up coming up with some productive seasons way down the road...Terry Cummings is a good example.


But anyway...the foundation of the Spurs being built upon these 4 players is now an era of the Spurs that has passed into history.


And sorry D...but this thread wasn't a year too early, it was a year too late.

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Originally Posted by duncan228

Me too.

And he told Russell that he has another one in him.

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I'll go out on a limb and say he has 2 or 3 left in him.

Call it a wild hunch...but I have a feeling the Spurs are going to come back strong next year and win the 2009-2010 title.

Manu is a wild card, you can't really tell if this season he just had a bad luck run of injuries or if it was the end of his career. He may never operate at 100% or even 95% again...but even an 80% healthy Ginobili is still an X-Factor that can help the Spurs win another championship.

The road to playing the Lakers in the WCF is a whole lot easier now. Spurs will take care of Dallas in 5 or 6. Dirk and J-Kidd suck. I hope we play Denver in the second round and show them how overrated they are as a #2 seed. Spurs will beat the Nuggets in 6 or 7. Then comes the rematch from last year's WCF. I know we'll stick it to the Lakers. This is who everyone wants to play here in SA. It'll be tough but we can beat them in 7. Then hopefully the Spurs can play "We Are Winless" again and beat them. Drive for Five starts Saturday baby!