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None really come to mind...
won a championship with one of its main players (manu caliber) injured?
im talking before that team even got to the playoffs.
None really come to mind...
The lakers come to mind when they lost Kareem.
Boy that was a long time ago.
Were the '77 Blazers missing anyone?
Knicks with Willis Reed.
Reed played throughout the playoffs.
He was injured in the Game 6 of the Finals.
1990 New York Giants
I think that was just a one game thing.
The Lakers were going to sit Kareem in Philly and them play him in LA when the series returned for the clincher. But Magic stepped in at center, won the game, and the series never got back to LA.
The 2006 Mavs were missing Steve Nash.
well, they didn't win, but the Lakers got to the Finals without Bynum last year.
also, no Championship, but the Knicks got to the Finals without Ewing.
edit: he played through most of the playoffs before getting injured
spurs is done..they will definitely lose this playoff. We can be Spurs fans even if the team fall in the playoffs. If we prepare this mentally, than there will be no dissapointment thread if that really come true. By the way we like surprises though
its great to see spurs fan are realistic
I've seen teams lose their starting QB's and win the Superbowl or the NCAA in football or their best hitters or pitchers in baseball and win the WS, but I can't recall a basketball team ever losing one of it's best players to injury and winning.
In fact, I've seen championship basketball teams lose a role player and fail to repeat because of it.
Baseball teams are 9 men on the field, football teams are 11, basketball is only 5, any single important player in basketball is a much bigger PCT of the team than they are on football or baseball.
That said...it's certainly not impossible. Less talented teams than the current Spurs(including some of the other Spurs le teams) have won the NBA championship.
If Duncan can draw doubles and the shooters can knock down the open shots he gets them, and they play Spurs D, the Spurs can win the championship. The 99 and 03 teams won using this formula primarily.
Cornbread Maxwell of the '85 Celts is maybe a good comparison. Both 6th men. Maxwell was MVP of the '81 Finals and in '84 Champs he helped the Celts take down the Fakers with his Gm 7 dogging of Magic. Some of the best hoop ever and certainly a great expose of beating Fakerism. Fair refs to boot.
1985 he got hurt and altho he played in the playoffs, it was obvious he was a s of his former self and his minutes were limited. Kind of like Manu playing in last years 2008 playoffs at 60%, but Moronovich not limiting his minutes and taking until Gm 5 to get him out.
Back to '85, Maxwell was just never was the same. Celts got to the Finals due to the end of game choke job by the Pistons, but lost in the Finals to the Fakers after blowing a 16 point late 3rd qtr Gm 4 lead Popavich style. Red Auerback blamed Maxwell for not rehabbing hard enough and traded him (sentenced him) to the Clippers but Maxwell disputes the rehab effort as in those days that injury was very debilitating.
Last edited by Fabbs; 04-07-2009 at 01:08 AM.
damn... not the answer im looking for
guess the spurs are really done.
at least if we think about it that way (spurs are done) then if the spurs pull off a miracle then we'll be overjoyed.. then if they go fishing.. its ok coz its expected anyway.
but still..
GO SPURS GO!
I remember that!
But what Maxwell was to then Celtics is no comparion to what Manu is to Spurs.
Yes, he won the 1981 Finals MVP, and I still believe it was the joke of the Finals MVP history. The best player of both the playoffs and the Finals in 1981 was by far Larry Bird with second being Moses Malone.
Manu is as important as Robert Parish or Tiny Archibald of the 81 Celtics.
That's the difference.
The team with the most success after losing a star of Manu's caliber that I can remember was the 83 Lakers. They lost James Worthy to a broken leg I think, he missed the entire playoffs, and they still made the Finals (where they were swept).
The Sydney Kings (Australia) had an injured Dontaye Draper for the final. They failed.
Yup. That's right.
But Worthy was a rookie and he was probably the 5th best player in the Lakers squad after Kareem, Magic, Jamal Wilkes and Norm Nixon.
Then-Worthy was equivalent to Roger Mason or George Hill of the current Spurs squad.
Last edited by Doctor J; 04-07-2009 at 03:41 AM.
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