In the years this decade that the Spurs have been in true championship contention (2001-now) talent-wise, the Spurs are always at the top of the West. Since 2000, other teams have come and gone as far as being tops in the West....From 2000-2004 it was SA, Dallas, Sacramento, and the Lakers as the top guns in the West. Then from 2004-2008, it was a three horse race with SA, Dallas, and Phoenix. Dallas and Phoenix have fallen off after four years, yet the Spurs are STILL standing there in the top three in the West and the Lakers have returned after being gone 4 years. After the Spurs and the Lakers, it's really hard to call any other team a best in the West team....
All these teams come and go and you don't hear their fans complain as much as we do. I don't understand all of the complaining. We aren't doing anything different this year than in past years. Since 2000, the Spurs have finished either 1st, tied for 1st, 2nd, tied for 2nd, or 3rd place in the West, never finishing lower and even winning a championship the year we finished lowest at 3rd.
So here we are yet again, April 1, 2009, the Spurs are in a virtual tie for 2nd place...what's all the complaining about? We needed more scoring and we got it (Mason), we needed another big and we got it (Gooden), we have other players who are new and are still adapting to Spurs Basketball.
I'll tell you why we are losing such close games (at the same time there's nothing to complain about, we're virtually tied for 2nd place in the West):
The Spurs need to be more y. This team has taken a silent-killer approach this decade and that's good and has worked for the most part, but with an influx of new, hungry, athletic young teams who go out and play with nothing to lose, it's time for the Spurs to start showing some edge and iness out there. In years' past, teams like OKC wouldn't have bothered showing up for last night's game. We are letting some of these teams get way too confident that they end up outplaying us. It's no wonder that the Spurs are always a top three West team yet are called "flying under the radar". We are kicking everyone's ass just as well as anyone else, but we just aren't y about it so no one notices.
I don't know exactly what TP's comment was about the Thunder game, but it came at the wrong time. If the Spurs were an already y team, that's a perfect comment to make to put a scare in a young OKC team and just go out and win the game.
This is only concerning the regular season. Coming out confident against the Spurs is good enough to beat us in the regular season. In the playoffs, you actually need to be better than us to beat us.
Decent take, SD. However, until [they] start sinking some of those 3's that have escaped [them] as of late (and hopefully, after that, the rest of the O will follow suit), the best [they] can muster is "false confidence" - the equivalent of shoving a tube sock down there.
Last edited by Fpoonsie; 04-01-2009 at 01:47 PM. Reason: force of habit...i did that "we"/"us" thing again
Derived from accomplishment Swagger is fearsome.
Swagger derived from mere bravado is hollow.
We have champions on our team, proud men with strong wills. We'll be alright.
people are complaining because despite our injuries we should have about 5-6 fewer losses that we do now, we have been playing like and getting OUR asses kicked lately, because we cant shoot for either 3's or freethrows and, most importantly, POPOVICH HAS LOST IT.
teams 'wouldnt bother to show up' as you say because of our brutal defense from the start. that defense is gone, largely because pop has insisted on benching our best defender(bowen), starting bonner instead of Thomas, cutting/benching/waiving the young athletic talent we had in favor of JV(wtf seriously?) i mean the list goes on.
when a young team comes out and we dont defend for , and their leader can get on a roll right away, and they get offensive boards and putbacks, of course they are going to be confident.
in all those other years you mentioned we have been playing at the highest level at this time. we locked people down and they lost. THIS YEAR is different than allo those other years, we are playing our worst right now. and pop is doing crazy shupid . thats why people are worried now.
I was thinking about this and " y" isn't the term. We need someone on the Spurs to get "Fired up". This even-keel temprement they have regardless of winning and losing is also making this team very complacent and unmotivated. I want someone to get pissed off; I want to see some emotion! We need someone to give is a spark out there so the rest of the team can feed off it. When things are sputtering we need someone to knock down a couple of j's and pump their chest with a snarl on their face. Thats what we lack on this team right now.
# 20?
They do need more s
^ Ben Wallace reminds me of Sho'Nuff the Shogun of Harlem in that picture. (from the movie The Last Dragon)
Catches bullets, with his teeth? Catches bullets.. WITH HIS TEETH!? Ninja please!
!
or
i don't know about that...
You're right! What an amazing excellent post. Of course, ALL the Spurs have to do is act confident, have that swagger, and they'll take care of business on the court. In fact, let's get that Riverwalk parade scheduled now.
Forget about, you know, playing better. They just need to act y.
I'm amazed no one else has thought of this.
- the complaining is normal for Spurs fans..this board has a lot of idiots that don't back up their complaints with legit arguments..
I don't know if " y" is the word..I made a thread about this a couple of months ago..we're missing an element that we always had, which is something Bowen brings..the ability to get in other teams minds..
flopping? absolutely...veteran tricks? absolutely...physical play? absolutely..we don't see ANY of these 3 things anymore..
look at the past Spurs teams..Bowen was the master..he was hated by EVERYBODY..he got in everybody's head..Manu and Oberto would flop better than anybody..Robert Horry did EVERYTHING..
we would push other teams around..
we aren't exploting anymore..the Lakers do this..they don't play physical, but they exploit the rules..Pau Gasol is the biggest flopper in the NBA..he flops on rebounds, he yells in pain whenever he takes ANY shot, he flops on D..Derek Fisher is the same..Odom and Kobe yell every time they drive inside..
Boston is the same team that we USED to be..they flop, they play physical, they're arrogant..
Fixed!The Spurs need more
keeping POPS would have increased the testosterone of this team by 22342%.
SJAX filled that role in '03, he was his own man despite team shooting slumps, timidness, etc...he just came out and said it im gonna score myself.
Mario elie filled that in '99, he was a veteren of the '95 rockets le team(best most clutch most heart team ever)
in '05 Manu broke out and was that guy.
and '07 we could get by without that spark cause the compe on was weak.
this year we need it bad, nobody seems to have that edge.
the OP is right...for as much winning as weve done the past DECADE, guys should FEAR playing us, the way we are when we play the Lakers.
More y? After a loss to OKC?
It would be going against character. I think only Parker is y by nature among all the Spurs buteven that is kept pretty much in check because of the team philosophy to stay humble.
jus coz some fans fear the lakers please dont insinuate duncan, parker and manu fear the lakers .......
People are complaining because the team is not playing well, has seemingly lost the ability to close out teams and is going through a precarious period of injury. On top of all that, the one constant (Popovich) has begun making very questionable decisions that deserve to be criticized.
What's not to understand? This incredible run that the Spurs have been on will eventually have to come to an end sometime. Perhaps what we're seeing is the beginning of that decline. We'll soon find out.
Personally, I could accept some slippage if the team was restocking on the fly and you could see tangible evidence that the next core of players were in place. At this current time, I don't see it. Even if they were, Pop doesn't trust anyone besides his veterans. The one bright spot (Hill) has been inexplicably benched. I don't believe the Spurs need to get y, they need some younger players.
One thing is for sure, if the end is near, no one will want to see it finally occur. It certainly wont be fun. But, it's been a uva ride, just the same.
lately they have played like they do. Gasol has been showing more heart and has outplayed duncan lately. inexcusable. our frontline get RAPED by theirs. KOBE bides his time then asserts his will trouble free.
until we start showing some edge and start getting serious like we wont have them rape us anymore, and get mad, then i will concede. until then, we have shown nothing to the contrary.
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