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Exactly damn right about Coach Pop.
San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons – The End of the Road
by Tim Furious
betus.com
If you go back over the last seven years of NBA action, two teams will stand out above all others. San Antonio has won four NBA les since drafting Tim Duncan. The Detroit Pistons have been to the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and won the esteemed le in 2004 after acquiring a man simply known as “Sheed”. No two teams have proved to have more staying power in the NBA Playoffs than the Spurs in the West and the Pistons in the East.
However, like the Roman Empire, the U.S. Economy and the career of Tom Cruise, you can’t stay on top of the mountain forever. San Antonio and Detroit were both first round victims in the 2009 NBA Playoffs. I hate saying it because I’ve loved tracking these teams for the past ten years – but it’s the end of an era in the NBA.
The Pistons’ Joe Dumars had a sharp eye for under-song heroes. In 2001 he brought Ben Wallace on board to anchor his defense, while shipping an oft-injured Grant Hill to Orlando. The following year, he signed Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and drafted a gangly character named Tayshaun Prince.
The final piece of the puzzle was an unexpected savior from a team affectionately known as the Portland JailBlazers. At the trade deadline in 2004, the Pistons acquired Rasheed Wallace. I still remember seeing that headline flash across the ticker while watching ESPN, turning to my buddy Mikey, a long-time Detroit supporter and saying, “Congrats. You guys just won the championship.”
And they did. Detroit won the Eastern Conference by muscling past the Pacers and then vanquishing an insanely feared Lakers team that had bolstered Kobe and Shaq with Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Nobody gave Detroit a chance, and all they did was post three double-digit wins, and closed the series as NBA Champions after a 14-year drought. In 2005, Detroit would run in to another team trying to assert themselves on the NBA.
NBA fans cringed when Detroit and San Antonio met in the NBA Finals. It’s really no surprise either. A lot of casual NBA fans hate 5-on-5 basketball centered around defense and team play. But when the series went to seven games, with the Spurs eventually toppling Detroit’s chances of earning back-to-back championships, everyone was glued to their TV’s.
The Spurs won four conference les and four NBA Championships between 1999-2007, happily earning a right to claim the le of “dynasty” that Detroit so desperately tried to achieve.
The story these days, is so much different. Detroit imploded around the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, failed to replenish its diminishing bench with trades and free-agency and watched Rasheed Wallace slowly fade from NBA relevancy. They also failed to get psychiatric help for Tayshaun Prince after LeBron dropped fourteen billion dunks on his face over the last three years. Honestly, go back to that historic performance by LeBron and count forwards. Has Tayshaun ever been the same feared defensive player since then? Nope.
For San Antonio, the story is so much different. Injuries have crippled this team. Tim Duncan hit the 1,000 game mark which brings the health of his knees in to question. Manu Ginobli played in just 44 games this season, starting only seven, and scoring just 15.5 points per game. Manu and The Big Fundamental are slowing down, while Tony Parker is hitting his prime. It’s bad timing if anything.
You can hardly blame the players. Joe Dumars was a genius in putting together perhaps one of the most feared starting five in recent NBA history. Rip Hamilton was a deadly defender and a lethal scorer. Tayshaun Prince was shutting everyone not named LeBron James down like a landlord in a low-income neighborhood. Rasheed and Big Ben were the most feared interior defense in the league. And Chauncey was a leader. Who is the future of Detroit now?
Joe Dumars let his own head get to him, and tried desperately to give the Pistons one last push by bringing on Allen Iverson who hit the IR faster than you can say “practice?!”. Now the Pistons are left in ruins, trying to piece together a team that has plummeted in to the depths of its twilight years. You won’t be hearing about the Pistons anytime soon.
The Spurs, on the other hand, may be down…but they’re far from out. Timmy Duncan is a hard nosed leader who will still has a few NBA years left in him while he watches Tony Parker inevitably take over the team. The real engine for San Antonio is Greg Popovich, who is hands down the best coach in the NBA today. His players are fiercely loyal. They all buy in to his scheme. He demands respect and commands the locker room. That’s the leader you want when a dynasty is on the verge of collapsing.
Either way you cut it, the Lakers are taking over the West with Houston and Portland on the up-and-up. Detroit barely clawed their way in to the playoffs this season, and don’t have the pieces in place to make a run next year.
The early part of the new millennium will be remember for two teams that sat on the verge of greatness. One team let hubris and a refusal to replenish the bench stand in their way, while the other made the most of what they had by notching four NBA championship.
All good things must come to an end. But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of all good things. In the wake of San Antonio and Detroit’s fall from grace comes the impending dynasty of LeBron James. If he stays in Cleveland, or bolts to greener pastures in New York, LeBron is the one guy to watch take over from 2009 onwards. The Cavs need to learn from both San Antonio Detroit’s mistakes.
You can sit on a good thing all you want, but constantly striving to grow, evolve and mature is paramount to taking advantage of a superstar’s potential. Aligning The King with Delonte West, Mo William, Big Z and countless other role players in Cleveland has given the Cavs all they need to become the next dynasty in the NBA. All that stands in their way is the summer of 2010.
Exactly damn right about Coach Pop.
Good article, hopefully we have one more run next year.
The Spurs have been extraordinary for the last 10 or so years. Pop has put together a solid system that maximized the strengths of the core group, allowing the team to compete for a championship every year while keeping financial responsibility.
The Spurs will do better next year for sure with a (hopefully) healthy Duncan and Manu. The role players have another run at the system, and I hope that an elusive rebounding big would be joining next year.
A lot will depend on off-season moves by both teams. Lets reserve judgement til then.
Detroit's been to the Eastern Conference Finals 6 times recently, not two times!
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
man the spurs need to pick up some shooters. you know why the lakers didnt win last year and the cavs are going to have a hard time this year? no veteran shooters. vet bigs, no vet shooters. mo williams hasnt gotten better. trust me. i live in milwaukee and i saw him play exactly like this before. the worst shot choice since bobby simmons. and delonte is the same player, just stronger. no vet 2's and 3's. dont say wally szcerbiak. he is one of the dumbest players ive ever seen. they need to get a 2007 mike fin. look at the championship teamsof the last 20 years. they all have had one thing in common: veteran shooters who come thru in the clutch and make smart plays. cavs have none. lakers have derek fisher. thats it. its gonna be a boring playoffs with no horry's in it. nothing to watch. bulls c's? cmon. if these morons who are proclaiming it the best series ever had watched it, theyd see it s chock full of bad coaching and worse d until nobody has legs from all the minutes the re coaches give them and they cant make a shot so the d looks good. little note too: rondo and rose are the two worst defensive guards ive ever seen. including steve nash and marbury and iverson. worst yet.
I agree with the Pistons part but not the Spurs.
We have a chance to get younger this year with our contracts are are going to expire, we hopefully will have Manu healthy next year. We have some nice youth but not much of it. George Hill who can potientially be a good point guard in the next couple of years. Ian Mahammi who can do good if he can stay away from his injuries. I don't really know the exzact names of our international players that are not on the team yet but they must be good if the Spurs drafted him.
nah spurs still got a chance
lol!they also failed to get psychiatric help for tayshaun prince after lebron dropped fourteen billion dunks on his face over the last three years.
Spurs are still there
SPURS WILL BE BACK for another run.
I'm sorry...what star player on Detroit's team was injured throughout the season and playoffs? I seem to have forgotten.
To say that the Spurs and the Pistons are in the same situation right now is just stupid.
The Pistons were finished after the 2005-06 season. They pretended they weren't for a couple more seasons in a friendly conference, but they really were.
They are in one respect. They are both first round playoff losers.
Spurs still have pieces to work with, but two of them are on their decline and are beginning to appear to be injury prone. Pistons are on complete blow-it-up rebuild mode. So, I would agree that the two teams are not in the same situation. But to be honest, neither is in a very good position right now. Spurs still have a few great stars. Pistons have a couple young, good players and some flexibility to make moves. Depending on whether you look short term or long term, you could argue for either being in a better situation. But, again, neither is a very good situation right now.
That was my point. But i see what you're saying. Both teams are in decline but that means something different to each team. To the Pistons it means possibly being lottery bound and to the Spurs it means possibly no longer being a top 4 team in the West. But with Manu and Tim 100% next year i wouldn't be surprised to see another typical Spurs playoff run that we've all been accustom to seeing. The same can't be said for the Pistons.
Spurs and Pistons do it right. Neither team got the benefit of questionable trades (Garnett, Allen, Gasol) to make their teams better. It was all hard work and playing basketball the right way.
However, it is too boring for the casual fan to see the Spurs and Pistons play. But, Spurs will be back! I would love to see the Pistons get it back together as well. Spurs and Pistons are very similar. Both teams played such great defense, that the league changed the rules on them!
You're looking at one of the better case scenarios because I could argue that I don't see Manu and Tim being 100% anymore.
I could also say with all this cap space the Pistons have, I wouldn't be surprised if they trade for Chris Bosh and make a few other changes and do become a factor once again.
Either way, what you foresee and what I can suggest are both predicated on things that are far from guaranteed.
Pistons got the benefit of a pretty lopsided trade for Rasheed Wallace, a superstar talent with an at ude problem, questionable mental approach, and bad reputation. It's not quite the same as KG or Gasol, but the Pistons did get the benefit of a pretty questionable trade. There were GMs that were upset with both the Hawks and Danny Ainge (who helped make the trade happen by chipping in a first round pick to Atlanta) for getting Rasheed to Detroit. And while it wasn't "questionable," the Spurs got crazy great fortune to land Tim Duncan in the draft the season David Robinson was injured. Both franchises got quite a bit of luck to help attain their success.
There were definitely similarities. I don't think the Pistons were in the class of the Spurs though, other than being teams that played unselfish team basketball, played possession basketball, and tough defense. The Spurs still had a true, superstar franchise player in Duncan. The Pistons had very good players at every position but no superstar. As much as there were similarities, there were also obvious differences.However, it is too boring for the casual fan to see the Spurs and Pistons play. But, Spurs will be back! I would love to see the Pistons get it back together as well. Spurs and Pistons are very similar. Both teams played such great defense, that the league changed the rules on them!
which is not such an impressive performance regarding how weak the East was back then
2005 Finals basketball was a great piece of basketball.
No finals were better since
What a great Boyz 2 Men song.
I can sing it in Spanish too, one of my go to songs at parties with karaoke.
I gets mine!
Yeah damn good run!!!!
Detroit went to the Eastern finals 6 years in a row, but only got past it twice. Can you imagine if they hadn't ed up in the 2003 draft? If they had drafted Carmelo, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Josh Howard (or even David West or Chris Kaman) instead of Darko? I'm pretty sure they'd have won at least 2 more Championships. At least.
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