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Well, according to all the "experts" the grizz were just plain ol' better than us by a mile so we shouldn't feel all that bad..
I've followed the Spurs since 95. I remember once watching Robinson get worked up by Olajuwon after that incredible regular season as MVP, and that sucked.
I remember losing to the Suns back in 2000 without TD, that sucked.
I remember losing to the Lakers two years in a row (2001-2002) in what felt like a seemingly inevitable mountain to climb, that sucked.
I remember the .4 second shot, that ing sucked.
I remember the Ginobili foul, that ing sucked.
I remember the 08 playoffs, were Manu played on one ankle, that really really sucked.
I remember the 09 playoffs, were TP and Duncan were the only contributors to a team with a roster, that sucked.
I remember the 10 playoffs, when we were swept, I still have no words for that tbh.
And now this, 2011 playoffs; first round, getting knocked off by the Grizzlies.
In light of winning four championships, what do you think is the worst moment in Spur playoff history?
IMO, it has to be this year.
We had a dominant regular season, winning 61 games. Looked primed for a deep playoff run until the latter part of the regular season began to show signs that this Spurs team would have to face some adversity to win number 5.
All in all, this is a really disappointing season. More disappointing then the rest.
Here's to a great run, but a bitter end.
Well, according to all the "experts" the grizz were just plain ol' better than us by a mile so we shouldn't feel all that bad..
Right here, right now...
At least with your other Duncan era examples, next season always seemed to have hope for a return to contention...this is the door closing on hope and it hurts more than any of the others...
No way... it was obvious that our weaknesses were going to kill us in the playoffs. Nothing, nothing was worse than blowing two almost sure thing chances at repeats. 0.4 was hands down the worst moment in Spurs playoff history followed by Manu's idiotic foul. We could have won both those years.
Very hard to take.
Part of being a diehard fan is losing more often than not...
I remember 1979...we were up 3-1 to the Washington Bullets and lost the series...and I loved that team...that one hurt...
When the Spurs finally won a le in 1999...it was the sweetest feeling as a fan...to be blessed with 3 additional les after that was just more than we ever dreamed of.
Winning number five someday will taste a whole lot sweeter because of disappointments like the last couple of years.
We are not a glitter or glamour franchise that gets break after break and favorable trades and free agent signings and other "perks"...but we are still a respected franchise.
As former Spurs announcer Terry Stembridge used to say, "there will be another game."
You should think about the good times not the bad. I remember watching Duncan Slay the Lakers Dynasty in 2003 and sending the Admiral out with a ring. Still my favorite season and Championship. Its just basketball man don't take it so hard.
2006 still hurts the most. The Spurs should have won a championship that year. I cried for about three days after the Spurs lost in 1995.
This year is like a mix of 2001 and 2010. Just a surprising, abrupt end.
I'd say this year is probably the toughest in the Duncan/Ginobili/Parker era---only because you figure it was probably the last with this core. As Spurs fans, even when DRob retired and was going downhil, we had hope after getting Duncan. Right now, the Spurs really don't have that.
Winning 61 games, I still figured the Spurs to have a remote chance getting out of the West. I just didn't think it would be this bad and in the first round.
I've felt much worse then this. 06 and 04 were by far the worst.
it sucks, but it really gets me that the grizzlies tanked their last game to play the spurs, and to top it off, the smack that Barkley has been saying about the team
We Spurs fans have been through the best of times and through the worst of times thats for sure. I've been a fan since I was born really, in 1988. I started watching basketball at a very young age, around 5, and naturally my team was the Spurs because San Antonio is only 2 1/2 hours away from where I live. I remember the ty days of the early 90's, even with D-Rob, they just could never get over the hump. Don't get me wrong watching D-Rob every night was amazing, but when you surrounded him with guys like Willie Anderson, Cadillac Anderson, Will Perdue, Vinny Del Negro, etc., it was hard to watch. I cried as a kid watching them struggle in the early 90's, getting owned every year basically by the Utah Jazz and that SOB Karl Malone. I really thought 95' was going to be "our year," until Hakeem came along and totally schooled David and the Spurs. And then David started with his back problems and Sean got hurt and everything went down hill...until the Spurs landed Tim Duncan. And everything was right in the world. I remember the 1999 championship clearly, I was a 5th grader cheering and yelling my little heart out. I had never been happier for Robinson, Elliott, and Avery. They all deserved it more than anyone. Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would win 4 championships. And they have. Yes we've had ty moments like TD going down in 2000, .4, the "Manu foul", the 08' plane incident, and now a 1st round exit as a number one seed. But if you would've told me back when I was a kid crying after another 1st round exit to the Jazz that in the next 10-15 years the Spurs would be the winningest team in ALL of sports and win 4 championships, I would have then cried tears of joy, and savored each championship just a little more......
Not at all for me. You could see this coming from a mile away once the team started nose-diving in March. Don't get me wrong; I expected them to be the ones on top 4-2 over Memphis, but I had no illusions of the Spurs competing with OKC or LA by the beginning of March. '04 is still by far the worst for me, as that team was ridiculous. I think they had a 19-game win streak and had been embarrassing the out of LA before they just rolled over and died 4 straight when LA employed a gimmick defense. Turkoglu was the only thing that kept the 04 Spurs from being a legendary team.
2006 was the wasted opportunity. The Spurs were far and away the best team in the league and Pop decided to go small for no reason whatsoever, robbing Duncan of a threepeat.
This team was doomed the day Pop decided that Splitter wasn't a center and Bonner/Blair were. Ever since 2006 I've been pretty resigned to the fact that Pop's going to find ways to up a good thing, mistaking being different for being clever.
1995 hurt, but history has shown that Hakeem had far far better teammates than Robinson did to take the pressure off him, and the fact that he stepped up for the only time in his career, not for his teammates, but because he felt personally slighted, speaks volumes about his character.
I thought we would get farther, but the writing was on the wall... it's always tough, but '04 and '06 I thought we had a much better shot, so the disappointment was bigger.
to me, this doesn't hurt anywhere near as bad as the .4 loss to the Lakers, or the loss to the Mavs when Manu fouled Dirk, or yeah, that loss to the Bullets in the 70s.
why doesn't this one hurt as much? for one thing, because Tim's already brought 4 trophies home. for another, everyone knows the Spurs are long in the tooth, and way past their prime, so you just can't expect as much from them as when they were younger and more athletic. sure, the regular season wins were cool, and the promise of HCA throughout the playoffs was really nice, but we ALL knew this team had holes and question marks.
did i expect a first-round exit? of course not. but i did think we might have serious trouble if we faced the Lakers or the Mavs. and ever since the collusion of the Gasol - Kwame Brown trade, the chances of anyone in the west beating the Lakers just about evaporated.
+1. And who would've thought that was possible after D-Rob had just retired the year before? If Stephen Jackson had only taken that damn contract the Spurs offered him instead of turning it down and eventually playing for $1 million in Atlanta, the Spurs would have another trophy in the AT&T Center....
We had a great season but you should have all known this team wasn't playoff ready. It showed in March and in this series. The run and gun is ok in the regular season but if you can't have solid D it doesn't get you anywhere.
This franchise has become a pretty significant staple in my family. There is nothing that can happen to this team that can make my opinion of them change. They are MY team of choice, and noone is going to make me think differently. They can never win another championship or be the worst team in the league until I die, but I will still be buried in a silver and black coffin with my championship dvd's.
Hmmm, okay... how about the actual topic's question?
I mostly agree with this.
2006, 2004, 1995 were all much harder to swallow. 2001 was worse than 2010 too.
This year feels pretty similar to last year - sad, but predictable. I am not surprised we lost this series at all given that we'd been steadily declining since early March, but it is a little sad because we were so good for so long early in the season.
That's a pretty good point.
2000 - No Duncan. Didn't have a chance.
2001 - Duncan young. Robinson still has juice.
2002 - Duncan young. Parker looks good! Ginobili coming!
2004 - Duncan young. Parker, Ginobili blossoming. Understandable fall from Robinson to Rasho.
2006 - Arghhhh. Duncan now 30. Role players aging. Had easy road to championship after Mavs.
2008 - Manu hurt. Just gotta hope for a healthy Manu next year.
2009 - Manu hurt. Just gotta hope for a healthy Manu next year.
2010 - Manu hurt. TP hurt. Duncan worn down. Hope for health.
2011 - Pretty damn healthy all year. Not sure if health is enough. Duncan officially old. TP and Manu probably declining. Miiight have one more chance.
So yeah, big picture this one stings.
To Anyone who doesn't think that this is the hardest moment for Spursfan, as yourself this: What if this is what your last memory of Duncan/Parker/Ginobili era?
2011 is also the hardest for the simple reason that the Spurs don't even have any tradeable chips to really change and surround Duncan/TP/Ginobili with the kind of players need to make 1 more run.
2011 is also the worst year in Spurs fans memory because it's the year we resigned Matt Bonner and Richard Jefferson
I would say it's been dwarfed by all the great memories. Even then, game 5 was still a of a thing to see.
I'll remember how stupid it was of whoever broke up a group consisting of the best starting backcourt in the NBA and a top three frontline defender because of re ed decisions about the players around them and the inability of the coach to make adjustments or get his players ready for the playoffs.
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