Four

[duncan228]

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

[FromWayDowntown]

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

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 ing that the Spurs don't have 5 or 6 les (or more).

[urunobili]

Parker
Manu
Bowen
Maggette
Duncan

bench:
Gist
Pargo
Splitter
Mahinmi
Oberto
Mason
Udoka

and who plays the 4 in that starting lineup Maggette?

[hater]

and who plays the 4 in that starting lineup Maggette?

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

[urunobili]

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

did you check my new sig?

[hater]

did you check my new sig?

please don't start.

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

[Brutalis]

Blah that makes me depressed thinking about it.

[BWS-1994]

Glad to have seen it all!

[whottt]

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

Better safe than sorry.....

[ShoogarBear]

Barry and Horry are gone. Life has no meaning.

[timtonymanu]

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.

[whottt]

And so it was

[timvp]

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

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

Hopefully his playoff run changes the plan . . .

[EricB]

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

[Kori Ellis]

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

Hopefully his playoff run changes the plan . . .

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.

[EricB]

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.

+1

[Amuseddaysleeper]

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.

[duncan228]

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

Me too.

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

[whottt]

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 mings 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.

[Thomas82]

Me too.

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

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

[1Parker1]

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 le.

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.

[SpursFan8179]

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!