This One Hurts

[Cant_Be_Faded]

06 and 04 still hurt more from single season basketball standpoint

From a dynasty standpoint, this one hurts the most and its not even close.

Like you said, everything stacked up in our favor.
Health.
playoff seeds.
The mid season acquisitions.

And this was the last chance to get another one.

when 04 and 06 happened, I was able to say "see you ers next year"

But I can't say that this time.

of a team, but I only wish we could have stretched this to 7

[Gooshie]

Yes, this one hurts, but to me, 2006 was the biggest stomach punch. For one, we actually made it to a Game 7. Secondly, we pretty much had the game won if not for Manu's foul on Dirk. And finally, the heart we showed coming back from 3-1 down and 20 points in Game 7 was all forgotten because we couldn't finish it off.

Had we won that year, we could have seriously won 3 straight, and the "Dynasty" tag would no doubt apply. Now, people can always just point to the fact that we never won back-to-back les to dispute the Dynasty claim.

Personally, what made matters worse was that I live in Phoenix and had tickets to Game 7 between the Clippers and Suns, which immediately followed Mavs-Spurs Game 7. After watching the heartbreaking Spurs loss at a nearby bar, I reluctantly walked to the US Airways Center with my head down (but with my Spurs beanie still on).

As soon as I entered the arena, I heard the PA announcer relay the Mavs-Spurs score to the crowd. I tell you, I have never heard Suns fans so loud and happy. It was the biggest cheer of the night by far, even though the Suns crushed the Clips in that deciding game. What that told me was those fans feared the Spurs like no other. And that's a big difference between now and then - nobody fears us anymore.

Look, any time you know your team is good enough to win it all and you come up short, it hurts. But I think we can all agree that this year's success came as a pleasant surprise. We weren't supposed to win. In 2006 we were, and that's why that loss still lingers and always will.

[cheguevara]

From a dynasty standpoint, this one hurts the most and its not even close.

disagree, we all thought window was closed long ago.

Suns sweep was one time everyone thought we were done.

last year same thing.

anything could happen next year. this is not an issue.

[Juggity]

Had we won that year, we could have seriously won 3 straight, and the "Dynasty" tag would no doubt apply. Now, people can always just point to the fact that we never won back-to-back les to dispute the Dynasty claim.

The "no repeat=no dynasty" argument is probably one of the dumbest in sports. " le defense" is a term invented by lakerfans to artificially prop up their team. There's zero difference between a trophy won a year apart and a trophy won back to back. It's still gold and shimmery, and still indelible, tbh.

[ALVAREZ6]

I've been butthurt about it all week. I was MOST worried after the game 4 loss, that's when the reality hit me. After game 3 I thought the Spurs threw the game and Pop would make some adjustments and take the series back, but clearly that didn't happen. Once I saw the series go back to 0-0, with OKC momentum, I thought it was going to be a miracle if the Spurs won this series.

After winning so convincingly for the past 2 months, going 10-0 in the first 10 games of the postseason, this hurts. It would have been my favorite season of sports, the tired old bags from San Antonio once again proving everyone wrong and winning a championship in an extremely unlikely year. The perfect way for Pop, Tim, and Manu to bring their careers to an end (maybe play a year more or w/e but you get the idea).

They let this last chance get away from them.

[spursfan09]

3rd time I cried over the Spurs

2006
2008
2012.

Even number years suck.

[100%duncan]

06 and 04 still hurt more from single season basketball standpoint

from a dynasty standpoint, this one hurts the most and its not even close.

Like you said, everything stacked up in our favor.
Health.
Playoff seeds.
The mid season acquisitions.

And this was the last chance to get another one.

when 04 and 06 happened, i was able to say "see you ers next year"

but i can't say that this time.

of a team, but i only wish we could have stretched this to 7

+1

[thispego]

"Nothing the spurs could have done would have changed the results"

bull . They could have shot better than 40% in the 2nd half which would have nullified the reffing.

when the league wants a team in the finals THAT TEAM WILL BE IN THE FINALS

there is nothing the spurs could have done.

[Spurs Brazil]

This one was painful but for me it's not close to 2006.

2006 we were a Manu foul of a le. We'd kill Suns and Miami. And 2006 team was better than this one. We had TD, Bruce, TP and Manu at their prime.

For me is

2006
2012
2004
1995

[TheChillFactor]

2006 was the worst. If you think the calls last night were bad, go rewatch that series. That was when we still had MVP Tim Duncan. This team to be honest was held together with duct tape and when Bonner, Green, Neal etc. choked it wasn't that shocking to those of us who suspected it might happen.

The idea that this team was one of the greatest teams of all time or the best Spurs team was just media hyperbole. We don't have a top 3 player in the NBA.

[VBM]

at the Spurs are done talk. I'm usually a pessimist when it comes to the Spurs, but going into next year, it'll still be OKC on a tier by itself with the Spurs/Lakers/Mavs/Clippers/Grizzlies all bunched together. Denver and Utah will still be on that 3rd tier. Spurs won't be a 1 seed next year more than likely. , they may not even have HCA in the first round. But they'll still compete against that 2nd tier of teams, and if Kawhi improves, and the team is healthy, the Spurs will be underdogs, but will be in the mix.

[silverblk mystix]

1979 getting robbed after being up 3-1 on the Washington Bullets.

Spurs leading by dbl-digits in landover maryland and then the lights go out--literally the ing lights in the building go out. Game Delay.

Later Spurs still up by 6 or 8 points ...3 to 4 OFFENSIVE fouls in a row!

ABA teams were not supposed to beat original NBA teams...ABA teams were not really welcomed by NBA teams and the league did not want to be embarrassed. NBA teams and officials had claimed that the ABA was inferior and the talent was not equal-yet here were the Spurs about to embarrass one of the NBA's best.

I still remember the asshole refs name: Jake mutha in' Odonnell...I wanted to kill him.
Pretty painful to a youngster.

Gervin,Silas,Kenon,Paultz,Olberding,Bristow....I loved those guys.

2006 sucked too.

[timvp]

We had TD, Bruce, TP and Manu at their prime.

Yeah, that's the best argument for 2006. That team should have won it. Everything about it screamed NBA champion.

Nothing about the 2012 screamed NBA champion other than they were really, really damn good for a while. But:

-Teams built around a point guard who passes as much as Parker haven't won in a long, long time.

-Championship teams don't have rookies in the starting lineup.

-The Spurs didn't have a top ten talent in the league. Parker was damn good this year but no one would say he's a transcendent talent. He just played his azz off and is really, really good. You can't compare him to a physical beast like Durant or LeBron though.

-As much as we wanted to fuzzy the math throughout the year, the defense was average.

-Championship teams don't rely on a ten-man rotation.

-At 36, Duncan was old to be carrying the amount of load the Spurs needed him to carry.

-Championship teams usually don't rely on midseason additions as much as these Spurs did.

-Ginobili was still pretty damn good but his pedestrian plus/minus numbers throughout the playoffs indicate he's fallen from his perch.

-Kawhi, Green, Neal, Splitter ... that's 40% of your rotation with two or less years of experience.












All that said, now thinking how great it would have been for this team to defy the odds and win the championship, it hurts to have gotten so close.

[rascal]

You allowed the homerism to take over your generally good reasoning. Had you looked at both teams neutrally, you would have seen OKC big 3 are much better, younger, hungrier than Spurs big 3. You would have seen OKC frontline is built for a championship. Spurs frontline of Bonner/Tiago/Blair, o???

no way in this defeat is as bad as 04, 06. Even the 11 defeat was worse than this one. This one was too obvious.

Good post. Expectations were too high coming off the regular season. Lessons should have been learned from last season but they weren't for many on this board.

The Spurs still had the same frontline more or less that they had last season. That issue was not addressed by the front office.

WCF was very good for the roster the Spurs had and they needed the good fortune of staying healthy and getting easy early playoff matchups to get there.

[spursparker9]

2012
2004
2006

2012 because it is our last chance of winning. OKC is really young and they will dominate the west for a long time. In 2004 and 2006, at least we still knew that Duncan and Ginobili were still in their prime and Parker was a rising star.

But losing game 6 in the WCF, I have the feeling watching a sun setting...

[Man In Black]

It sux.

Normally, the Spurs can overcome bad officiating but man, you give a guy a tech for looking at a coach who was badmouthing directly at you during a 3 point attempt, you give a guy a charge call when he's never taken a charge at all in his career, and then you give an actress a flop when a play had developed into a made 3 pointer?

WTF Was that?

Thispego has got it pegged O!

[boutons_deux]

when the league wants a team in the finals THAT TEAM WILL BE IN THE FINALS

there is nothing the spurs could have done.

Bull , repeat ad finitum

Shooting under 40% for 2nd half in elimination game ain't the reffing.

[rascal]

It sux.

Normally, the Spurs can overcome bad officiating but man, you give a guy a tech for looking at a coach who was badmouthing directly at you during a 3 point attempt, you give a guy a charge call when he's never taken a charge at all in his career, and then you give an actress a flop when a play had developed into a made 3 pointer?

WTF Was that?

Thispego has got it pegged O!

Stop it. Jackson was taunting the entire game after he started hitting his 3 pt. shots.

[td4mvp21]

I think 2004 and 2006 hurt worse for me, but it's been so long that I don't really care. I hate this. They went on a tear for months and have nothing to show for it.

[Doe]

This one hurts a lot in the big picture sense. But I don't think anything will touch 2004. I've never gone from such a high to such a low, although 2006 was really close.

[SpurinDallas]

It hurts now because it's so fresh and I was guilty of it last night too, but I'm not going to buy into the "its all over now" talk. If our creative front office can figure out a way to beef up the frontline with defensive players who rebound and play smart, physical ball, get in here a legit backup point guard and trim the dead weight off this team, we'll be right back in the mix as long as Pop continues to successfully manage minutes like he did this season.

Wouldn't hurt to have an assistant coach with balls step up to Pop when he throws out ridiculous lineups that make no sense and swing the game's momentum to the other team.

[100%duncan]

Yeah, that's the best argument for 2006. That team should have won it. Everything about it screamed NBA champion.

Nothing about the 2012 screamed NBA champion other than they were really, really damn good for a while. But:

-Teams built around a point guard who passes as much as Parker haven't won in a long, long time.

-Championship teams don't have rookies in the starting lineup.

-The Spurs didn't have a top ten talent in the league. Parker was damn good this year but no one would say he's a transcendent talent. He just played his azz off and is really, really good. You can't compare him to a physical beast like Durant or LeBron though.

-As much as we wanted to fuzzy the math throughout the year, the defense was average.

-Championship teams don't rely on a ten-man rotation.

-At 36, Duncan was old to be carrying the amount of load the Spurs needed him to carry.

-Championship teams usually don't rely on midseason additions as much as these Spurs did.

-Ginobili was still pretty damn good but his pedestrian plus/minus numbers throughout the playoffs indicate he's fallen from his perch.

-Kawhi, Green, Neal, Splitter ... that's 40% of your rotation with two or less years of experience.












All that said, now thinking how great it would have been for this team to defy the odds and win the championship, it hurts to have gotten so close.

The last but not the least: No coach blows up a formula that gave him success throughout the season in the WCF.

[rascal]

1979 getting robbed after being up 3-1 on the Washington Bullets.

Spurs leading by dbl-digits in landover maryland and then the lights go out--literally the ing lights in the building go out. Game Delay.

Later Spurs still up by 6 or 8 points ...3 to 4 OFFENSIVE fouls in a row!

ABA teams were not supposed to beat original NBA teams...ABA teams were not really welcomed by NBA teams and the league did not want to be embarrassed. NBA teams and officials had claimed that the ABA was inferior and the talent was not equal-yet here were the Spurs about to embarrass one of the NBA's best.

I still remember the asshole refs name: Jake mutha in' Odonnell...I wanted to kill him.
Pretty painful to a youngster.

Gervin,Silas,Kenon,Paultz,Olberding,Bristow....I loved those guys.

2006 sucked too.

Yes this was the most disappointing moment in Spurs history for those who were alive then.

The Spurs have already won les so this year is no where near the disappointment level it was back then. Back then the Spurs were still just trying to reach the top for the first time.

[gameFACE]

It hurts for me because TD is older. Back in 2004 or 2006 that hurt too but you know they were still in their prime. Watching Tim play as hard as he can with a brace and still kicking ass but knowing he's 36, hurts. The Admiral was lucky that Tim was here so he could retire with a swan song championship. Tim doesn't have that. If big time free agents never came here they definitely won't come now.

My hopes got high after the way they played this year and the first two series and first two games of the WCF. But After last years exit, knowing the inadequate size of our bigs and losing TJ Ford there was still a sense of skepticism in the back of ny mind.

Maybe the Tim will take a low contract and there could be a restructuring of a couple of others. And then MAYBE they could lure another big time player. Who knows? Not likely.

[thispego]

Bull , repeat ad finitum

Shooting under 40% for 2nd half in elimination game ain't the reffing.

how many missed shots contributing to that 40% shooting were the result of non-called defensive fouls?