Best of...2018-19 Spurs Season

[TDomination]

We have just completed our first Post Big 3 season and it went...okay? I'm really not sure how to summarize this year. We are the true basketball version of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde. This team has bi-polar issues. Or we can say that it has schizophrenia. Whatever disease you want to say this team has, it still has a heart beat. And that in itself can be seen as a miracle.

So I wanted to look back at this odd season and find the "Best Of" for our Spurs. If you can think of any Best of categories, lay them out there. This is all just based on my opinion.

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE
Spurs 154 vs OKC 147 - 2OT - 1/10/2019
Reason: This was the most points scored by a Spurs team since 1990. Granted we had 2OT's but it was still going to be a high scoring game regardless. Lamarcus Aldridge got a new career high with 56 pts! On top of that, we went 16 of 19 from 3pt land. Thats a stunning 84% from long range. We hit our first 14 three pointers! Including 3 in a row by Marco that got the crowd on its feet in the 1st quarter. Add the fact that it was against OKC and it made that night even better!





BEST FINISH
Spurs 143 @ Lakers 142 F/OT - 10/22/2018
Reason: This game was a rematch for old rivalries. Lebron vs Demar and Spurs vs Lakers. And even though this was only game 3 of 82 for the Spurs, this game had a playoff atmosphere. And little did we know that this would be the Lakers only taste of what the playoffs would be like this year. Clutch shots in OT by Forbes, Gay and Patty! Yes, Patty! Being down by 6 with less than a minute to go and still winning, not too shabby.

[TDomination]

MOST SATISFYING GAME
Spurs 125 vs Raptors 107 - 1/3/2019
Reason: In this highly anticipated game, known as the Kawhi game, the Spurs played near perfect basketball to come out with a dominating win against a top Eastern Conference team. But the best part of it were the fans. The fans behavior for the game was epic. Extremely satisfying and I loved every second of it. And based on the # of pages on that thread, so this Spurstalk fans. I believe it was the game with the most pages for a Game Thread. The booing of Kawhi was not only glorious, but well deserved! Especially hearing Danny Green get a loud ovation followed by boos for Kawhi. Simply beautiful. On top of that, getting a dominating win made it a perfect night.

[TDomination]

BEST COMEBACK
Spurs 133 vs Lakers 120 - 12/7/2018
Reason: Spurs were down 12 at the beginning of the 4th quarter. We were 11-14 at the time, we had just lost to the Lakers the game before after blowing an 8pt lead with only a few minutes remaining. We were on the verge of a true downward spiral and a serious consideration for a top draft pick. Spurs fans were already accepting our fate. But then the 4th quarter happened. And I chose this game not only because we came back and won by double digits, but because after that game our season turned around. Yes we still had bad moments and losing streaks but if there was 1 moment that we could pinpoint when the season was saved, this was it. After starting the season 11-14 spurs went 37-20.

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[Robz4000]

This is like talking about the best times of a cancer treatment. Sure there were some highs but it was generally dark, depressing, and a part of your life you never want to think about again as long as you live.

[vavvi]

Raptors game was by far the best game of the season.

As for players... I wouldn't say somebody turned out to be a major surprise or a major disappointment.
White is the closest we have to revelation but we kind of expected him to be like that before the season.

Too many losses to bad teams; some good wins against decent teams. Overall a normal season.

[TDomination]

BEST OVERALL GAME
Spurs 111 vs Warriors 105 - 3/18/2019
Reason: So for a mid to late March game, it was unusual to see everyone playing. I got used to seeing Pop rest players in a "Big" game in previous years. Well this year we didn't have much opportunity to rest our guys. We needed every win we could get. So playing against a lineup of Curry/Thompson/Green/Durant/Bogut, the only one missing was Cousins. The Spurs were not intimated and played very well against the defending Champs. The most impressive part about this game was how we were up most of the 1st half by double digits, but then the Warriors made their comeback and took the lead but the Spurs did not waiver. They took the lead right back and held on to it and won the game with some big shots at the end. Including a big shot by DeMar Derozan. Yes, unclutch Demar hit a nice clutch shot over Thompson. Lets hope we can see some more of that in the playoffs!

[TDomination]

This is like talking about the best times of a cancer treatment. Sure there were some highs but it was generally dark, depressing, and a part of your life you never want to think about again as long as you live.

Haha true
But even with the cancer there were still nice moments. Hopefully those nice moments and translate to something in the playoffs. We'll see.

[Mugen]

Best overall game was the W against the Raptors tbh.

That was basically the only championship the Spurs are going to sniff for the next few decades and I thoroughly enjoyed it tbh

[MannyIsGod]

I know that are "fans" here who will endlessly about this season, but I enjoyed it. It was nice to see Derrick White flash what he has the potential to become. I appreciate LMA more and more each year. It felt like the team was always an underdog and it was cool to see a team progress and improve over the year.

I'm actually really excited for what next year holds. The young guard trio + 2 more first rounders. Maybe Poetl and Bertans step up a bit more. Hopefully an offseason signing that helps.

[TDomination]

BEST OO'S AND AHH'S PLAY
Demar Derozan 360 layup
In what was DeRozans return game in Toronto, he gave the crowd a nice little display of athleticism and body control with this spectacular layup. Crowd loved it. It would have been more amazing if he was able to not turn the ball over at the end of the game but I'll just give him credit for this layup. Pretty good!

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[ZeusWillJudge]

Best overall game was the W against the Raptors tbh.

That was basically the only championship the Spurs are going to sniff for the next few decades and I thoroughly enjoyed it tbh

Heh. I don't know about "decades".

That Raptors game was important to Spurs fans. Nobody wanted Nephew to come in and embarrass the team, and whether they admit it or not pretty much everybody was dreading that possibility. DeRozan gave an electric performance. It was god for him to show his old team, but I think that was probably the high point of the season for most fans. If they can somehow get past Denver, I guess that would change.

[ZeusWillJudge]

I know that are "fans" here who will endlessly about this season, but I enjoyed it. It was nice to see Derrick White flash what he has the potential to become. I appreciate LMA more and more each year. It felt like the team was always an underdog and it was cool to see a team progress and improve over the year.

I'm actually really excited for what next year holds. The young guard trio + 2 more first rounders. Maybe Poetl and Bertans step up a bit more. Hopefully an offseason signing that helps.

Did you really? I agree with a lot of the things you say, truthfully. But damned if I enjoyed this season. The bad was just obscenely bad, I guess, and they managed to make tight games out of too many games they should have blown out. It was sort of exhausting to watch - for me, anyway.

[FkLA]

Good thread OP. I'm enjoying it. Don't pay any mind to the negative nancies.

[FkLA]

MOST SATISFYING GAME
Spurs 125 vs Raptors 107 - 1/3/2019
Reason: In this highly anticipated game, known as the Kawhi game, the Spurs played near perfect basketball to come out with a dominating win against a top Eastern Conference team. But the best part of it were the fans. The fans behavior for the game was epic. Extremely satisfying and I loved every second of it. And based on the # of pages on that thread, so this Spurstalk fans. I believe it was the game with the most pages for a Game Thread. The booing of Kawhi was not only glorious, but well deserved! Especially hearing Danny Green get a loud ovation followed by boos for Kawhi. Simply beautiful. On top of that, getting a dominating win made it a perfect night.

I still have PTSD from it so I avoid any games, videos, etc involving Nephew. Every time I actually watch something involving him it still feels surreal that he's gone. I just watched that video right now and it's like man that dude was our golden boy and heir apparent to the great Timothy Theodore Duncan just last season.

[azarel]

Thanks OP. Appreciate the effort. Looking forward to the playoffs!

[MannyIsGod]

Did you really? I agree with a lot of the things you say, truthfully. But damned if I enjoyed this season. The bad was just obscenely bad, I guess, and they managed to make tight games out of too many games they should have blown out. It was sort of exhausting to watch - for me, anyway.

Well its not even the worst and most frustrating season of the past 2. For me anyway, YMMV. I was really frustrated at points this year but for me it was also seeing Pop do what he could with this team. I still looked forward to all the games. I was definitely disappointed at times but I still looked forward to the games. I'm still hopeful they can pull off an upset in the playoffs.

I've watched some really ty sports teams over the years that have been incredibly frustrating. The Spurs have always been one of the few teams that has rarely let me down. I'm just gonna keep enjoying them being a playoff team while it lasts because going 30-52 is really going to suck when it happens.

[SouthTexasRancher]

Gotta go with Most Satisfying - Spurs over KaWhitter and the Raptors at home. Very loud and a lot of excitement that night at the AT&T. Loved the boos for the nephew. He deserved em for being gutless and not having any balls.

[21209]

The 1-7 rodeo road trip and the three 30 point blowout losses in that one week span from late November to early December were definitely the lowest points of the season.

Just a strange regular season, but Derrick White was a pleasant surprise as he improved throughout the season running the spurs offense.

Pau Gasol, Dante Cunningham were deadweight players when they got PT.

[21209]

The other most disappointing thing about this season were the Spurs road meltdowns in the final minutes of games against the Sixers, Raptors and Rockets.

Those were the type of games that the Duncan and company regime rarely choked away.

[ElNono]

BEST PERSONNEL NEWS

[TDomination]

THE 'BREAK MY TV' GAME
Spurs 120 @ Sixers 122 - 1/23/2019
The Spurs were underdogs this game but they played well enough to win. After a big Belinelli 3-pointer with less than 3 minutes to go, the Spurs saw themselves up by 8 and in perfect position to win this game. But thats when it all fell apart. A dunk by Simmons, a 3 by Shamet and then a 4pt play by Re and all of a sudden we are down 1 less than 2 minutes later. And of course we compound the frustration with stupid turnovers and stupid shot attempts. This game made me throw my remote across the room. I didn't break it, it landed softly on to my couch. But still, I don't think I did that with any other game this year. Stupid plays down the stretch made this the most frustrating loss of the year.
Honorable Mention: Spurs 117 @ Raptors 120, Spurs 103 vs Grizzlies 104.

[TDomination]

BEST PERSONNEL NEWS

The Gasol move was by far the best thing to happen to this team besides D White this year.

[YGWHI]

Great thread!! When people ask me why I think the Spurs will beat Nuggets/Thunder...the Kawhi's game is the proof.

When this team is on the same page trying to make a statement about team-work/system success they can beat any team in this league.

[superbigtime]

I was at that OKC 2OT game and it was pure bball ecstasy. The season has been entertaining and frustrating, and hey that's sports. Wish Spurs could've pulled out a 50 win season. Seems like there was a lot of instability and shakiness in the first third of the season and I wish they could've sustained a high win %age the last 3 weeks of the season, but overall I'm pleased. One great accomplishment this season is that the Spurs have distanced themselves from the lost season last year. Manu's retirement was epic and thank God they aren't playing the Warriors again. Very glad Pau is gone.