Sorry, just speaking from the heart....but not aimed at you, Bruno.
Maybe this summer, things will change for the Spurs AND the French NT. One can only hope.
I'm still optimistic. With all the adversity (injuries), the Spurs still managed to get the 3 seed! I realized that the Spurs severely lack athleticism and talent, but the Spurs good fundamentals are able to compensate for that, at least for the most part. That's why Magic could not compete in the series against the Lakers. They had the talent, but the Magic lacked the mental-toughness needed to win the championship.
BELIEVE!
I read it !
This was a very rough season, it was even hard to watch Spurs games at some points during the season, the offense and defense were just that horrendous and inconsistent.
That being said, I agree with you 100%. Despite everything, even if the Spurs were healthy, I'm not sure their championship odds increased by that much. The talent around the Big 3 is very non-existent, especially when you take into consideration how the leagues other top championship caliber teams are built; all with young, athletic, or long players.
There's an easy answer to all of this:
Your team is old and on its last legs.
All good things must come to an end, the Spurs had a great run rattling off 4 les in 9 years and staying in contention every season.
We already knew all that
Kobe Bryant to Mitch Kupchak circa Summer '07.
not if they trade both for superstars
god finally a decent thread...
I'm sure they will do their due diligence but with Pop not trading up once in a draft in 15 years, it's difficult to believe that this will suddenly be the year. Plus most teams want cash for picks and it's doubtful Holt would hand over $3 million.
A draft day trade definitely makes sense since Oberto's contract is expiring but my guess is that they'd trade for an actual NBA player before they trade for a draft pick.
True. That probably expedited the "choke" but there's no way he was going to hold up to the pressure in any scenario.
Mostly spot on, just a few comments about a couple of the points:
- Even if it was Finley's best season as a Spur, we all knew he simply wasn't better than Bowen. I still remember watching Durant in the last few games of the reg season tearing Mike a new asshole. This is one thing we ALL saw coming, but somehow Pop still decided to go his way.
- Matt Bonner had his last 'great' game in January. After that the fans here were divided into the Bonner-haters and the Bonner-apologists. By March, everybody was lighting up a candle to Gooden, including the coaching staff. Yet, Bonner kept on playing... And I disagree his defense was anything other than mediocre. I think his flop on Dampier on the Dallas series summed up the big black hole that guy was in the paint.
- The perceived lack of interest from Pop by the time the playoffs came around was heart breaking. Game 3 against Dallas has to be up there with the worst display of disinterest from a coaching staff for a playoff game. That one game really hurt. I thought it resumed pretty well what the end of the season was like from a coaching standpoint: stick with my stubborn plan until we flame out. And flame out we did.
A forgettable season in many respects to me. What worries me most going into next season is not really Manu, but Timmy. More specifically, how is the team going to address the marked lack of help Tim is getting night in and out. His problem can be chronic, and he WILL require more monitored minutes during the season. But with the west being what it is nowadays, we have nobody else to hold the fort for us right now. So I'm really intrigued to see how the FO is going to tackle that specific issue.
Matt Bonner was Pop playing what he was delt. Had the front office known Oberto would have zero gas left, and Mahinmi would injure his ankle for 15 months in a row, i guarantee you we sign another big man some way, earlier.... which is why you saw us go after Gooden when he became available.
I just hope Mahinmi isn't a total abortion, if the guy can jump (and is not a wuss) he will already improve our front court dramatically, beyond that we need length and athleticism. ASAP.
We also need defense from him. I obviously don't expect him to be Duncan-level of defense, but he needs to be at the very least an improvement over Bonner.
Spurs don't play defense anymore.
yeah the season was bad from the start. Manu was out. Ian was out. Tony missed a few games. Tim wasn't 100% by the playoffs. The Spurs didn't have their turnaround at all this year. They were inconsistent. As shown in threads and posts throughout the year, we saw "The Spurs will take 09" and "The Spurs suck." It could be that the fans were bipolar but the Spurs showed that one night they could light it up and other nights they look like a crap team. The Spurs luckily got out of losses thanks to Mason and Parker buzzer beaters.
Once the playoffs came around, the scoring only came from Tim and Tony. It's sad to know the next best player in the playoffs was a rookie who lost playing time prior to the playoffs. I really wonder if number 5 will come in the Duncan era with the way things are now. If it doesn't then i'm thankful for the four les and I'll be a fan for life even after the Duncan era.
as I said in the other threads, our next season will depend on health, 1 or 2 significant moves, and some luck..
health being Duncan and Ginobili..
1 or 2 significant moves being for a starting big man(Gooden or Villanueva?) and a bench role player..
luck being rolling the dice on Ian, Hairston/Williams, Gist or a draft pick and hoping 2 of them can be good enough to make the rotation next year..
system is still elite, just need some youth/talent to compliment the big 3..
To understand last year, you've got to look at the blunders made after the last championship.
The Scola trade was a distinct turning point. Fanboys may equivocate, but history will not be kind.
hey now, this is 7 weeks worth of introspection!
wow, great piece of work!
a few thoughts:
I wouldn't rank Pop's try to play Mason at the point as a coaching mistake in the first place. I think it was a try for a damage control. RM was running out of gas in the middle of the season, not a persistent athlete to begin with, he also had to compensate for the loss of Manu at the begin of the season. Mason had to play 30+ minutes and had to defend the starter SGs from other teams, usually guys much more athletic than him. that depleted him. I think Pop tried to find a new role for him, one that was less exhausting. didn't work as we know. still worth the try IMO.
the question is: what role is Mason able to cover next season.
(in the best case Manu is back totally healthy and plays his usual 30 minutes and RM takes what is left at SG and a few in other line ups, likely small lineup alongside Manu, so his minutes are limited to about 20.)
lack of talent: that's probably the dark spot in the decisions of Pop and RC of the last years. limited money, late picks etc. are of course a big reason, but there are still some questions remaining. from whatever perspective we look at it, many decisions of the last years don't look good. and it can't always be blamed on the others to be responsible. the lack of talent is the result of a lot of misjudgement.
however, even the failed tries from the last months give hope, that it could have went into the right direction, because at least the ideas looked right. like trading for Salmons. (probably they should have tried harder and added some more teasers). or Mike Miller. or for Camby. or sign Maggette. (no matter what people say today. if he had signed for the MLE last year, our season would have looked better). even the plan to sign Bouroussis wasn't a bad idea IMO. (luckily also the not so good ideas failed. like signing Najera or Giricek)
so let's hope there is still the willingness for a significant move this summer, to at least get a quality role player.
I like timvp.
Great recap. The lack of the second playmaker (Manu) had a real impact on guys like Bonner who cannot get their own shot. It is not as simple as that but that was a big part of it. The Spurs never had a chance to settle in to what they wanted to do all year. However, I really enjoyed the heart, hustle and desire they displayed through it all. The final game with NO was amazing as they played their guts out without regard to seeding and what winning or losing meant. And when they played without #21 and #20 and beat up Dallas....wow how great was that? Tony was fantastic...I am really looking forward to next year with great optimism. GSG!!!
I realize that these players are slightly better, but walton and fisher played similar minutes to bonner and finley for the lakers. I think a lot of people discount how much pressure a healthy big 3 takes off the rest, but in terms of talent bonner and finley are not as bad as people make them sound (and I frequently criticize bonner!)
I think its more a matter of how the roster is constructed. too many old 3pt shooters, not enough athletic defense. the lakers bench complemented their stars and each other well. Ours was littered with redundancy, and to top it off they didnt know what their roles were and played with no motivation. Does anyone else think bowen, hill, mason, thomas, and to a lesser extent oberto finley and bonner can't be useful ROLEPLAYERS? I think a lot of it falls on pop, for not handling the situation better, either by improving the roster or getting the best out of what he had.
awesome post!
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