48MoH: The winter of the Duncan Dynasty

[Cane]

Yea I see the Spurs leading the second tier of teams, first tier of course being the Heat and the Lakers. Only Tiago Splitter played for his national team this summer so the Spurs should be the healthiest and most NBA-ready in years. Finally Manu and Tony are able to spend the offseason training and working on their shots for the NBA season instead of being the MVP for their national teams. George Hill is a prime example of how much a player can get better in the offseason especially with the Spurs staff combined with the player's motivation and professionalism.

I still think health is going to bite the Lakers in the end though since Odom played a key role for the undersized Team USA these past few weeks and Kobe and Bynum have had surgery this summer. Not to mention this is a team that has been to the Finals for the past three seasons already, during that timespan many of the guys played international basketball too....thats a lot of miles and all Spurs fans knows what can happen when the NBA + international basketball miles pile up. Bryant's had a noticeable decline in these past two seasons as well and they don't have much in the way of dynamic guards after that. Then there's the rule of not having two headcases on your team....and they might have two of them in Barnes and Artest. But they do have Phil Jackson, Fisher and Kobe to manage any idiocy.

The Heat seem like a video game team thats going to flat out dominate the league even through their inevitable growing pains. They seem crazy dominant but time will tell.

[TJastal]

To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect the Spurs to win the le with the team they had back in 2007.

The number one team the Mavs got upset in the first round by the Warriors.
The Spurs upset the Suns courtesy of Robert Horry.
The Spurs meet a inexperienced team in the Cavs.

So what did the Spurs do when they got lucky.

The next year they sign Bonner to a multi-year contract and send Scola to a compe or for nothing.

With Scola the spurs would have had a legitimate chance to extend the championship window 3-4 more years. I just think about the intangibles (such as chemistry w/ Manu) he could have brought to the spurs and the support he would have gave Tim Duncan in shouldering the scoring load and it really blunts all the good feeling from the championship years. Tim Duncan deserved to end his career with a all-star caliber big to help him out, not a ing imbecile like Bonner. And now we got to endure another 4 years of this on top of that.

[ezau]

I don't expect a championship this year, like I used to in many previous years. However, I think it's within the realm of possibility, and that's more than blind optimism and homerism. The Spurs still have a ton of talent, and at least three players easily capable of making the All-Star team this year. Not many teams can say that.

That said, the Spurs will need a lot of good breaks, aligning of the stars, and flat out luck to win it this year. They need inspired performances by half their roster, and solid performances from the other half. They need an improvement in both individual and team defense that many doubt they have the personnel to accomplish. They need better chemistry than you would ordinarily expect given the amount of time many of the players have been together.

If it sounds like a tall task, a long shot, that's because it is. But the Spurs are one of about 5-10 teams that have the talent, potential, coaching, and veteran leadership that a championship team needs. The other 20-25 teams would love to be in that situation.


....Now if only the season would start so we can all enjoy it.

in amazing post

[ezau]

Yea I see the Spurs leading the second tier of teams, first tier of course being the Heat and the Lakers. Only Tiago Splitter played for his national team this summer so the Spurs should be the healthiest and most NBA-ready in years. Finally Manu and Tony are able to spend the offseason training and working on their shots for the NBA season instead of being the MVP for their national teams. George Hill is a prime example of how much a player can get better in the offseason especially with the Spurs staff combined with the player's motivation and professionalism.

I still think health is going to bite the Lakers in the end though since Odom played a key role for the undersized Team USA these past few weeks and Kobe and Bynum have had surgery this summer. Not to mention this is a team that has been to the Finals for the past three seasons already, during that timespan many of the guys played international basketball too....thats a lot of miles and all Spurs fans knows what can happen when the NBA + international basketball miles pile up. Bryant's had a noticeable decline in these past two seasons as well and they don't have much in the way of dynamic guards after that. Then there's the rule of not having two headcases on your team....and they might have two of them in Barnes and Artest. But they do have Phil Jackson, Fisher and Kobe to manage any idiocy.

The Heat seem like a video game team thats going to flat out dominate the league even through their inevitable growing pains. They seem crazy dominant but time will tell.

And Brazil getting eliminated early on is a great thing

[2Cleva]

I disagreed. Andrew is drinking the 4-letter kool aid. That's fine. You can be like Sean Elliott, grow tired of it and bail on the 4-letter or continue to fall in line. Again, there are more Davids than there are Goliaths. My response is there. You can read it if you want.
But, if the Spurs are dead like these haters are saying, then why is there at least 1 national publication that says the Spurs will be in the Conference Finals? IT ain't just certain Spurs fans that see the potential, there are other people who think contending is reality. It can be.

Blaming it on ESPN? Did you even read the article?

People picking LA to win is basing on them still having the most talent in the league and oh yeah - they won it the past 2 years and got there 3.

ESPN has nothing to do with it. The talent and results do.

[kaji157]

While i agree there is little hope for a championship next year i also believe that the Spurs are set to a strange scenario for next year, they could either be as good as last year and fall in semifinals. Or go all the way, with a lot of luck and choosing the moments to play their best.
They are set to start a ride that they no longer need to cruise throuh, but rather survive, while a lot of the contenders will think they can cruise, is that survival race we might have that might end setting an scenario where our experience can give us something extra and for once be consistent throught the whole playoffs.
And i think that is the goal, or that should be.
To have a consistent team come playoffs time. You then can go on and win it all or lose in the conference finals, but as long as you know that every part of your team played as good as possible.
After that, there is no one else to blame, and nothing to be ashamed of.
A great run is what i expect, a le is what i hope.

[DPG21920]

Blogging sucks.

Why do you dislike blogging?

[carina_gino20]

Well, the years that the Spurs went on to win the championship, I never expected it. I expected it in 2006 and 2008 and everybody was raving about our moves last year and look where the Spurs are. So many things happen during the course of the season that it's kind of stupid to write off the Spurs even before the season starts.

[Man In Black]

Blaming it on ESPN? Did you even read the article?

People picking LA to win is basing on them still having the most talent in the league and oh yeah - they won it the past 2 years and got there 3.

ESPN has nothing to do with it. The talent and results do.

I read the article. It's an eye opener, but I disagree. Would you say that your team won the le in dominating fashion? It took an injury to Perkins in Game 6 to get to game 7, and then an unlikely savior in Ron Artest, plus lots of trips to the FT line in the 4th quarter alone, to get a le. That's not in a dominating fashion. Dominating fashion would mean that you swept or took 5 games at most to win it all. People picked LA in 03 too after winning 3 in a row. That didn't happen. Same for 04 and 08. Again, it didn't happen. Steve Blake still isn't s stud perimeter defender and both Kobe & Bynum are coming off of off-season injury. So, while I think Andrew can write what he wants to, I disagree with the context of him being premature, that's very LAL like and I expect better.