Is knowing they were done when they lost the lead...

turning your back on your team? After seeing them lose a 17 point lead and seeing them with no energy or momentum?

I said it was over when they lost the lead in the 3rd but still hoped they'd prove me wrong. Am I wrong or less of a fan for saying this? Is being a realist turning your back on the team or does a "true fan" say they will win no matter what?

I really wanted them to come back from the 3-1 deficit to make me quit posting for a year. I would've gladly sacrificed posting for another championship. But you can tell they were completely out of gas after half time. Is that wrong?

I will root for the Spurs if they only won 15 games in a season. Even if I know they won't win a ring. Does knowing they won't win make you less of a fan??

Realist > Blind Homer

People should have more respect for the pessimists in this world imfo.

No, it makes you an intelligent fan that is behind the notion that in a league of 30 teams, only 1 can really win out. I'm the same way. We lost. I'm still alive and got a good life, nothing to cry about over a game.

Soon as they took a dump at the end of the half, I was ready to pack it in. I held on to the slim hope that MAYBE they could hold the lead, but obviously that didn't happen.

I've never been more disappointed than I am this year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Strike

Soon as they took a dump at the end of the half, I was ready to pack it in. I held on to the slim hope that MAYBE they could hold the lead, but obviously that didn't happen.

I've never been more disappointed than I am this year.

---

2004 and 2006 were way more disappointing. This team played like shit all season, I'm just glad they made it as far as they did. A team with a 33+ average age making it to the WCF is pretty impressive.

But I want timvp and kori's response to this.

Not at all.

You could see the tank was empty.

If they were playing lazy or lackadaisical then you could be pissed, but they busted their asses.

No shame in tonight's loss.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Not at all.

You could see the tank was empty.

If they were playing lazy or lackadaisical then you could be pissed, but they busted their asses.

No shame in tonight's loss.

---

They played with chingos of heart. More heart than I've ever seen a team play with. I love my Spurs team and will continue to do so even though I knew it was over tonight.

For some reason, at the bottom of my stomach, I didn't feel like we had a 17 point lead.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reverend Midge

turning your back on your team? After seeing them lose a 17 point lead and seeing them with no energy or momentum?

I said it was over when they lost the lead in the 3rd but still hoped they'd prove me wrong. Am I wrong or less of a fan for saying this? Is being a realist turning your back on the team or does a "true fan" say they will win no matter what?

I really wanted them to come back from the 3-1 deficit to make me quit posting for a year. I would've gladly sacrificed posting for another championship. But you can tell they were completely out of gas after half time. Is that wrong?

I will root for the Spurs if they only won 15 games in a season. Even if I know they won't win a ring. Does knowing they won't win make you less of a fan??

---

I don't know how to say this, but I'm afraid it means your not a true fan.:(

Where was their heart in game 1? They were a bunch of choking dogs in game 1!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reverend Midge

2004 and 2006 were way more disappointing. This team played like poop all season, I'm just glad they made it as far as they did. A team with a 33+ average age making it to the WCF is pretty impressive.

---

I'm not even that mad either. Except for losing to the Lakers. Anybody but them! That is akin to Rome being sacked by hordes of heathen barbarians, who cared nothing for Rome's culture and tradition. And those hordes will be turned loose on L.A. in about 2 weeks, when the riots and looting begin.

But yes ... this team wasn't that good to begin with. Pop did a bang-up job with the stiffs he was trotting out there every night. 04 and 06 were way worse because those teams wee far better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr. Peabody

I don't know how to say this, but I'm afraid it means your not a true fan.:(

---

Why? Just because I'm not a homer and knew they were tired?

I knew they were toast at halftime, and it was confirmed when the Lakers started making everything in the 4th.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tlongII

Where was their heart in game 1? They were a bunch of tired dogs in game 1!

---

FIFY

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reverend Midge

They played with chingos of heart. More heart than I've ever seen a team play with. I love my Spurs team and will continue to do so even though I knew it was over tonight.

---

No question.

I was sitting there in the 4th looking at the team, Bowen holding on to his shorts, Duncan could barely get around picks and Gasol.

They literally had zip.

Their hearts are freakin gigantes.

Add some young blood and that will all this team needs. They are far from dead.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reverend Midge

Why? Just because I'm not a homer and knew they were tired?

---

I was just messing with you.

I felt the same way when they lost the lead. I felt that for the Spurs to win it had to be a blowout.

I've watched almost every single Spurs game since the 02-03 season when i first got the greatest gift known to mankind, NBA league pass. As I've watched through the years, I feel like I've come to really know this team. Like many of people here, I know when we're on and when we're off; when we're going to win and when we're going to lose.

As soon as the Lakers cut into our lead and made it 6 at the half, I knew we were toast. We had nothing left. Doesn't mean I wasn't hoping for a miracle, but you could just tell, it was the end of the road for this season. It sucks, but you can't win every game.

Oh well, I'm not as angry as I thought I'd be. We lost to a better team. I can accept that. But I hope one of Pistons or Celtics players decks Vujacic hard.

end of the third, i turned my tv off. waited for the news on nba.com while surfing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by beachwood

I've watched almost every single Spurs game since the 02-03 season when i first got the greatest gift known to mankind, NBA league pass. As I've watched through the years, I feel like I've come to really know this team. Like many of people here, I know when we're on and when we're off; when we're going to win and when we're going to lose.

As soon as the Lakers cut into our lead and made it 6 at the half, I knew we were toast. We had nothing left. Doesn't mean I wasn't hoping for a miracle, but you could just tell, it was the end of the road for this season. It sucks, but you can't win every game.

Oh well, I'm not as angry as I thought I'd be. We lost to a better team. I can accept that. But I hope one of Pistons or Celtics players decks Vujacic hard.

---

I have been watching every game since 96 but have been a fan since I can remember. I just never had cable to watch their games at an early age, living in a small rural town south of Corpus, but having watched them as much as I have I knew they were completely out of gas. I love them but knew they were done. I hated feeling this way but I had to be realistic.

I'm happy we didn't get blown out. We were operating on fumes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tmtcsc

I'm happy we didn't get blown out. We were operating on fumes.

---

Hell no.

They had to be freaking forced out hard.

I mean Parker's 3 had people shaking their heads.

Unreal effort. Unreal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Hell no.

They had to be freaking forced out hard.

I mean Parker's 3 had people shaking their heads.

Unreal effort. Unreal.

---

I agree with my nemeses T Park. They played out of their minds and gave every single thing they had.

Well, they did lose 4-1.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Hell no.

They had to be freaking forced out hard.

I mean Parker's 3 had people shaking their heads.

Unreal effort. Unreal.

---

True. Fighting till the end. That's what I love about this team.

The Spurs will never let you down.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tlongII

Well, they did lose 4-1.

---

How did the Trailblazers do you sheep fucking faggot?

I pretty much knew after the 1st half we were in deep you know what....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by beachwood

True. Fighting till the end. That's what I love about this team.

The Spurs will never let you down.

---

Yeah, I mean like I said, you could hear the groan from the Laker fans like "THese fuckers wont DIE!!" :lol

The look on the people's faces when parker made that layup to make it 83-81 was hilarious.

I mean hell after all that, Ginobili had a three that rimmed in and out to make it 84-83.

Oh well. Thats the breaks.

Up 17 at the time i planned on Marty Shottenheimervich losing it.
offense went into veg mode.
Barry taken out.:downspin:
playing not to lose vs playing to win.
In short, the Pop staples.

So it's not turning your back on the team when you expect them to lose?

Is everyone in agreement here?

Not this year.

Its a fine line.

Yeah, we had a great run in these playoffs and almost made it limping to the finish line. I am still amazed and proud that we beat the Hornets. That was just too much to overcome. The Hornets series going 7 and then going every other day with an injured Manu ?

We were the 3 seed and finished second. IF Manu was healthy, I think we win the West. How can anyone in their right mind, who has seen Ginobili have his best statistical year think that he wasn't playing hurt. The dude is tough as hell and played without making excuses.

He's still my favorite player on this team. We need to get Tim some help. Someone who can go to war with him under the basket.

ginoboli took a dump in the lakers series....;

someone dont give him toilet paper

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Not at all.

You could see the tank was empty.

If they were playing lazy or lackadaisical then you could be pissed, but they busted their asses.

No shame in tonight's loss.

---

There was a lot of lackadaisical defense tonight. And we got completely outhustled at home in game 4. Pile that on top of Manu's shitty series and I'm going to have to say I haven't felt this bad about an elimination since 2004 against LA. That one was definetely worse. But losing AGAIN to these damn Lakers and Phil, Tim struggling with his shot, Manu going MIA, Tony being SMIA, and Finley playing like ass I can't say I expected us to win this one.

Too many things stacking up against the Spurs this year. We played really poor basketball, somehow ended up 3rd in a fantastic Western Conference, then made it to the conference finals.

I honestly don't know how we managed to do this when this lineup was the most untalented lineup we've had since 2002. Just shows how good these guys can be with a few more tweaks.

Quote:

---

There was a lot of lackadaisical defense tonight

---

Your nuts.

The defense was NOT the problem.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

So it's not turning your back on the team when you expect them to lose?

Is everyone in agreement here?

---

agreed. I had the same feeling tonight but I kept watching because I still had hope. But I know this team way too well, it's really obvious to tell when they're going to lose because of their body language and the high frequency of stupid plays.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Your nuts.

The defense was NOT the problem.

---

In the 2nd half our defense was piss-poor, especially the 4th quarter. The Lakers missed a LOT of open shots. Our offense was definetely worse though. Watching Manu chunk ANOTHER pass into the stands, Tony force poor shot after poor shot (thankfully a few went in), and Tim miss easy shot after easy shot was just beyond deflating.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TDfan2007

In the 2nd half our defense was piss-poor, especially the 4th quarter. The Lakers missed a LOT of open shots. Our offense was definetely worse though. Watching Manu chunk ANOTHER pass into the stands, Tony force poor shot after poor shot (thankfully a few went in), and Tim miss easy shot after easy shot was just beyond deflating.

---

:lol

What you just described was the offense genius.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Your nuts.

The defense was NOT the problem.

---

Rebounding was the problem.

We need some young athletic legs in there next year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

Rebounding was the problem.

We need some young athletic legs in there next year.

---

Eh the rebounding can be chalked up to fatigue as well.

Spurs were the best defensive rebounding team all season long.

Gus like Splitter and Mahinmi (damn its becoming a broken record already) can totally fix that problem though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Eh the rebounding can be chalked up to fatigue as well.

Spurs were the best defensive rebounding team all season long.

Gus like Splitter and Mahinmi (damn its becoming a broken record already) can totally fix that problem though.

---

Splitter won't be around so will all the rebounding burden be on Mahinmi??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

Splitter won't be around so will all the rebounding burden be on Mahinmi??

---

Not really.

Splitter not being around is not 100% for sure, so don't chalk that up yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Not really.

Splitter not being around is not 100% for sure, so don't chalk that up yet.

---

I pray that you are right about that. I know his contract isn't signed for sure, but if he does sign is the only young person brought in Mahinmi? And if so does he bring enough youth to this team for another run?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

I pray that you are right about that. I know his contract isn't signed for sure, but if he does sign is the only young person brought in Mahinmi? And if so does he bring enough youth to this team for another run?

---

I doubt it.

Buford supposedly is on record as saying "We need to get younger next year" So they know it.

I think they will add a couple pieces here and there, but not totally OVERHAUL the roster.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

I doubt it.

Buford supposedly is on record as saying "We need to get younger next year" So they know it.

I think they will add a couple pieces here and there, but not totally OVERHAUL the roster.

---

But how can they get younger without a complete overhaul?

Will they trade all the vets for younger players?

Will they actually draft a player than can produce for them this year?

Will they bring over Sadintze(sp?) or Jakto vas(sp?)?

Will Splitter end up signing with them?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

But how can they get younger without a complete overhaul?

Will they trade all the vets for younger players?

Will they actually draft a player than can produce for them this year?

Will they bring over Sadintze(sp?) or Jakto vas(sp?)?

Will Splitter end up signing with them?

---

They can get younger by some signings and the draft.

Sanikidze I assume will be at summer league. Javtokas is never coming, hes a chicken shit who didn't want to compete with Francisco Elson for christ sakes.

Will they draft a player that can produce? Great question :lol


Will they trade the vets for younger players? We shall see. Doubtful due to other teams not wanting to help.


Its gonna be an interesting off season, we shall see.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T Park

Your nuts.

The defense was NOT the problem.

---

C'mon dude. The Lakers scored 58 points in the 2nd half. That is shitty defense. As an unbiased fan I can say that SA's defense sucked in the 2nd half. Attribute it to fatigue if you want, it was still shitty.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tlongII

C'mon dude. The Lakers scored 58 points in the 2nd half. That is shitty defense. As an unbiased fan I can say that SA's defense sucked in the 2nd half. Attribute it to fatigue if you want, it was still shitty.

---

Bingo. The most disturbing is when we would have a Faker bottled up under the hoop but Parker or GNobili would leave their man out by the arc to come triple team the Faker under the basket (totally unneccessary) and they flipped out to the arc guy who hit the shot late in the shot clock.
Very bad D.

As to the tiredness, why then did not FloppyCock use his bench much earlier in the series and game. Barry at the point. Derrr errr that was only suggessed since 2005.

Horry so bad he can't play 2 minutes tonight to spell someone? Bullshit.
JVaugn so untrustworthy he cant spell Parker for a minute 30. More bullshit, see last years playoffs. Sometimes the trust you give people helps them rise up to the task. This playoffs Lord Poppy put zero trust in them and tried milking GNobili to death when everyone could see he just didnt have it. Parker also looked very gassed at times, stupid turnovers and leaving Derek Swisher open for the only shot he can hit. :bang But dont dare rest Parker for a 100% fresh Vaughn or even Stoudamire for one minute, oh no.

8-17 now vs Phil including 1-3 in series. Pop clearly is Phils bitch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

Rebounding was the problem.

We need some young athletic legs in there next year.

---

More specifically, rebounding in the 2nd half. We were golden in the 1st quarter, but then something happened in the 2nd quarter... it was like you could see the team begin to wilt away. Even when we still had a lead. It was like game 1 all over again.

The Lakers turned it up a notch and we couldn't match their intensity. They played harder and smarter than we did in the 2nd half.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by midgetonadonkey

turning your back on your team? After seeing them lose a 17 point lead and seeing them with no energy or momentum?

I said it was over when they lost the lead in the 3rd but still hoped they'd prove me wrong. Am I wrong or less of a fan for saying this? Is being a realist turning your back on the team or does a "true fan" say they will win no matter what?

---

I said "this game is over" before they lost the lead. When Parker and Manu are letting other people handling the ball and Tim is the only guy on the court who actually seems to want to shoot, the Spurs are dead. I was hoping they'd get their heads on straight, but I was fairly certain it wasn't going to happen.

When the Spurs had that 17-point lead, I figured two things...

1. They would not have that big lead for very long.

2. If the Lakers took the lead, this game was over.

I was correct on both counts.

Oh, well...TFB...life goes on...see you all in November! :toast

Face it. We were lucky, damn lucky to have made it past NO.

Then we ran into another team that was much younger and had a hell of a lot more left in the tank after the long season.

But the team still fought to the bitter end. What more could you ask from them?

This has been a hell of a team. And probably will be broken up this off-season. So thanks guys. You gave it your all. You provided us with hours of great basketball. It would have been nice to have another parade, with a repeat, but it just wasn't meant to be. So we just have to live with being one of the most blessed franchises over the past 10 years. Many teams and many fans never get to have that for their team, the chance to reach the pinnacle almost every season.

I'm sure we'll be right there again next year. In the meantime life goes on.

Congrats on going a hell of a lot farther than probably you should have. I think you did it mostly on heart. See you again in November.

I was more pissed about my digital cable pixellating to hell when we were up 16. I couldn't watch the game, I couldn't watch the astros or anything but what was on my DVR. Thanks Time Warner, I have a service call on TUESDAY.