Spot Number 23 - Top 50 Spurs

[timvp]

SpursTalk's Top 50 Spurs
1. Tim Duncan
2. David Robinson
3. George Gervin
4. Gregg Popovich
5. Angelo Drossos
6. Manu Ginobili
7. Tony Parker
8. Sean Elliott
9. James Silas
10. Bruce Bowen
11. Larry Kenon
12. Avery Johnson
13. Alvin Robertson
14. Johnny Moore
15. RC Buford
16. Artis Gilmore
17. Peter Holt
18. Mike Mitc
19. Bob Bass
20. Malik Rose
21. Robert Horry
22. Red McCombs

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To pass the time until the start of preseason, let's see how SpursTalk.com ranks the Top 50 Spurs. Those eligible for the list include all players, coaches and owners. I don't want to define "top" too narrowly, but I think the best way to do it would be to think of the list as a list of the 50 most influential people who have helped make the Spurs one of the most successful franchises in the history of sport.

For more information on what we are doing, check out this thread.

In this thread, we will vote for spot number 23. Please place your vote. If you will, also explain in this thread why you voted how you did.

Thanks.



P.S.

Poll options listed in alphabetical order. If you want to vote for someone not on the list, post in the thread and I'll add the person.

Voting will end 2AM CST Monday morning.

Please vote only once.

[Kona]

Tc.

[Brutalis]

Doug Moe was my vote.

[urunobili]

i still can´t believe Carlesimo is getting more love than Budenholzer who has been in all 4 rings with us...

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

i still can´t believe Carlesimo is getting more love than Budenholzer who has been in all 4 rings with us...

Neither are even gonna get a spot til like 31.

[manufor3]

doug moe

[Spooky]

Terry mings

[Rummpd]

Steve Kerr directly saved a championship.

[century]

The remaining ones are just ants. No ranking makes sense at this point.

[rAm]

The remaining ones are just ants. No ranking makes sense at this point.

a great addition to the discussion

[tlongII]

Walter Berry

[Obstructed_View]

Since I won't claim to have any knowledge of the Spurs before 1990, I'm going with the priorities: Winning les and keeping the Spurs in San Antonio. There are a few guys who were instrumental in championship runs, and so I'm going to focus on them. The most important one, in my opinion, is the '99 squad. The Spurs of the 90's were a very good to great regular season team that suffered a playoff upset nearly every single year, all but once if I remember correctly. The beginning of the '99 season was completely underwhelming. They didn't play well, and when it got tough, they just folded. I remember the Sunday game against the Jazz because I was watching it from a hotel in Orlando and was sick to my stomach the whole flight back to Texas that day.

After that game Mario Elie took emotional control of the team, and there was a change in the way the Spurs carried themselves, and a change in the way fans believed as well. He taught those guys how to step up and take what they wanted. Tim Duncan and David Robinson were not that kind of player before 1999, and I credit Elie with much of that. I don't think the Memorial day miracle happens without Mario's influence. I don't think AJ's jumper from the baseline happens without Mario's influence. I think the '99 Spurs without Elie finish with a five or six seed and lose in the first round. Again. They certainly don't beat, let alone crush great teams like Portland and LA.

Guys like Kerr, Manu and Jack would help with later le runs but the rest of the guys believed that it was possible by that time, which just helped everyone's confidence. There's not much actual data to reinforce the pick, but I'm taking Mario here.

[Spurs Brazil]

Mario Elie.

He put fire in the 99 team

[whottt]

I'm sorry but RC Buford does not belong on a list of the top 100 Spurs much less in the top 20....and I like him. Ditto McCombs and Holt.


Too much corporate idolatry on this list IMHO. Drossos, Bass and Pop are the only ones that deserve to be in any top 50 list....much less all in the top 20. And the only one of them I think belongs in the top 20 is Pop.

Having money and trying to make money is not a good reason to be in the top 20 SpursTalk, you disappoint me.

[The Truth #6]

Walter Berry

The Spurs could use The Truth of 20 years ago this year, but this spot is high for him. However, he was my favorite player of the post-Gervin/pre-Robinson era.

[The Truth #6]

I understand the argument for Mario Junk Yard Dog but I think it's unfair to reduce the list to just winning championships. Iceman never won anything but he came close.

Terry mings greatly helped Robinson and the Spurs burst out in the 89/90 season. If we had beat Portland that year, then everything that followed in the 90s could have been different. Big if, I realize, but I think TC should be recognized for his part in helping the Spurs make their big turnaround that year. No, he didn't help us win a le but if we focus solely on that then SJax should get thrown in here for all the 4th quarter game 6 3 pointers he hit that year on the way to a le.

[samikeyp]

Moe.

[Brutalis]

What is Walter Berry's story anyway? Why did he leave the NBA??

[The Truth #6]

What is Walter Berry's story anyway? Why did he leave the NBA??

Lazy. Horrible at ude. Played horrible defense. I think he had some run-ins with Alvin Robertson. One of them chased the other around a hotel with a butter knife, though I believe Alvin was the one with the knife. Along came Larry Brown and Walter Berry was probably the least likely player to play for LB. At least that's what I remember.

However on offense he had a unique game. Very unpredictable. No real jumper to speak of. Everything was mid-range at the most. Usually he backed his player in and made some hard to stop and hard to make shot, which benefitted from him being a lefty.

He shot around 60% from the field, which is why I say we could use someone like him for his offensive skills. He was a decent rebounder. A true small forward. Incredible college career. What else, in the late 80s when Mike Tyson was involved in a street fight with another boxer (I think his name was 'Blood' Green), Walter Berry was there hanging out with Tyson.

I'm guessing Red got sick of his bad at ude and got rid of him but I can't remember the details. He was in Europe shortly afterwards for good.

[Sean Cagney]

Lazy. Horrible at ude. Played horrible defense. I think he had some run-ins with Alvin Robertson. One of them chased the other around a hotel with a butter knife, though I believe Alvin was the one with the knife. Along came Larry Brown and Walter Berry was probably the least likely player to play for LB. At least that's what I remember.

However on offense he had a unique game. Very unpredictable. No real jumper to speak of. Everything was mid-range at the most. Usually he backed his player in and made some hard to stop and hard to make shot, which benefitted from him being a lefty.

He shot around 60% from the field, which is why I say we could use someone like him for his offensive skills. He was a decent rebounder. A true small forward. Incredible college career. What else, in the late 80s when Mike Tyson was involved in a street fight with another boxer (I think his name was 'Blood' Green), Walter Berry was there hanging out with Tyson.

I'm guessing Red got sick of his bad at ude and got rid of him but I can't remember the details. He was in Europe shortly afterwards for good.

LOL Alvin was a nutcase!!!!!!

[baseline bum]

Walter Berry was cool. He gave me a pair of his shoes after the game one time.