Best Spurs team of all time

[baseline bum]

Nice when you have a ref that hands you a series on a silver platter. They were so good at closing that they needed to play 5 on 8 to beat the Kings.

While that game was garbage, how do you explain the other three that series? I watched almost every Laker game that era, and they destroyed teams in the clutch over and over and over. Off hand the only team I have ever seen that was comparable in close games was the 99 Spurs.

[Sec24Row7]

This team would have trouble against prime Duncan and Bowen rotation.

Remember... We haven't faced a dominant defensive big for a full series...

Ibaka scared the out of us for 2 games in OKC.

These last two beat downs are a matchup issue for the heat.

When you can get easy shots and consistently get the O rebound for another try... PLUS hold the other team to 1 and done... It's over...

A dominant rebounder makes this series MUCH tighter.

[Spur|n|Austin]

Many Spurs heroes of championships past wouldn't even get minutes on this team.

ಠ_ಠ

Everyone gets minutes on this team..

[DarrinS]

This 14 Spurs team with 2003 Duncan on it would have won 70+ games and gone undefeated in the playoffs.

Well, yeah

[Budkin]

I don't give a . Just win another game.

[DarrinS]

Just to show how dominant Tim was in '03

http://www.basketball-reference.com/.../NBA_2003.html

[Sec24Row7]

Well, yeah

Rofl... Pop would have played Him 20 minutes a game for the last 1/4 of the season.

On another note... Leonard's 1v1 game is so good right now, that if he played for anyone else... He would already be an all star...

It's amazing how good that kid is when he decides it's his turn in the system.

[rascal]

the 2014 Spurs are by far the best Spurs team, tbh..

I have never seen a team this good in all my years of watching NBA ball..they won't receive the credit, though, because they're the Spurs and because they don't have the star power at the top..

However, based on any advanced metric, this is the deepest le team in NBA history..they did something that has never been done before, win by utilizing depth, rather than star power..

- 3 great passing bigs, including one of the best passing bigs in NBA history
- GOAT coach
- Parker and Ginobili to run pick&roll
- 2 great wing defenders that can shoot 3s
- 3 capable wing, ISO scorers(Leonard, Manu, TP)
- A ton of shooters
- A great all-around defensive big and a great rim protecting big
- Capable of playing both defensive grind basketball or run&gun offensive ball

Not the best team of all time. Lakers and Celtics le winners in the 1980s are better teams. The Celtics would turn the spurs into a 3 point jump shooting team and choke off any parker penetration and the Spurs offense would stagnate like the two game Ibaka played when he just came back . Celtics had too much frontcourt size and defense. The lakers fast break up and down the court break would be too athletic for the Spurs to matchup with. Magic and Abdul-Jabber would be matchup nightmares for the spurs.

[hitmanyr2k]

For anyone using the 2005 argument, There's no way 2005 Manu could 'torch' Leonard. His ball-handling was too wild, luckily guys like Prince and Daniels never tried to swipe the ball away. Leonard would tap the ball out of his hands time and time again, just like he did with Westbrook/Durant/James/Wade.

Seriously? None of those guys are as crafty and unorthodox as Prime Ginobili. His first step and change of direction was world's better than today. He torched every defender in '05 including Prime Shawn Marion.

Not to mention the amount of pressure he would apply on every possession. Put Green on Parker, add a very mobile Splitter around the paint, all of a sudden the '05 squad doesn't have any fire-power on the perimeter.

You're talking about the '05 Spurs as if all they had was a perimeter game like the '14 Spurs. 2005 Duncan erases all of this. That team could beat you inside/out. The '14 Spurs haven't played a single team in the playoffs with a legit post player. '05 Duncan would absolutely MURDER the '14 Spurs team in the paint. Who's going to stop him? Geriatric Duncan? Splitter? Prime Duncan would have a field day and command serious defensive attention which would have the '14 Spurs defense scrambling with double-teams on Duncan and then having to get back to the plethora of 3 point shooters (Ginobili, Barry, Horry, Bowen) that the '05 Spurs had.

[hitmanyr2k]

This team would have trouble against prime Duncan and Bowen rotation.

Remember... We haven't faced a dominant defensive big for a full series...

Ibaka scared the out of us for 2 games in OKC.

These last two beat downs are a matchup issue for the heat.

When you can get easy shots and consistently get the O rebound for another try... PLUS hold the other team to 1 and done... It's over...

A dominant rebounder makes this series MUCH tighter.

Beat me to it.

[phxspurfan]

Also, Big Shot Bob would hip check the outta Patty Mills. And Bowen would jump kick Leonard in the crotchile region.

[Findog]

the 2014 Spurs are by far the best Spurs team, tbh..

I have never seen a team this good in all my years of watching NBA ball..they won't receive the credit, though, because they're the Spurs and because they don't have the star power at the top..

However, based on any advanced metric, this is the deepest le team in NBA history..they did something that has never been done before, win by utilizing depth, rather than star power..

- 3 great passing bigs, including one of the best passing bigs in NBA history
- GOAT coach
- Parker and Ginobili to run pick&roll
- 2 great wing defenders that can shoot 3s
- 3 capable wing, ISO scorers(Leonard, Manu, TP)
- A ton of shooters
- A great all-around defensive big and a great rim protecting big
- Capable of playing both defensive grind basketball or run&gun offensive ball

As a Mavs fan, obviously you don't want one of your biggest rivals to win another le...but as a basketball fan, the way these Spurs play is just breathtaking. What the Spurs organization has been able to accomplish with their culture is amazing. They went from being a defensive-oriented team that got by with Duncan's post game on offense in the early part of the Duncan Era...to an offensive juggernaut that plays at a much faster pace and breaks teams down with their unselfishness and continuity on offense. The way they share the ball and pass until they find the open man and defeat Miami's aggressive traps, the way they can generate these open looks when nobody on the Spurs by himself commands a double team, it's just breathtaking. Every single player on the Spurs roster 1-12 is making a contribution and making a positive impact when they see the floor...Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Leonard are the blue chip talents on the roster...Green, Diaw, Mills, Bellnelli, all castoffs that other teams didn't want anymore.

If there's one silver lining to watching one of your major rivals win a championship, maybe what the Spurs are doing will catch on around the league, with teams and even players starting to value chemistry and team-oriented basketball over star power and one on one play. It's fun to watch the way they carve teams up with their passing and off the ball movement. How basketball is meant to be played, and it overwhelms teams that are longer, faster and more athletic (Thunder, Heat).

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

As a Mavs fan, obviously you don't want one of your biggest rivals to win another le...but as a basketball fan, the way these Spurs play is just breathtaking. What the Spurs organization has been able to accomplish with their culture is amazing. They went from being a defensive-oriented team that got by with Duncan's post game on offense in the early part of the Duncan Era...to an offensive juggernaut that plays at a much faster pace and breaks teams down with their unselfishness and continuity on offense. The way they share the ball and pass until they find the open man and defeat Miami's aggressive traps, the way they can generate these open looks when nobody on the Spurs by himself commands a double team, it's just breathtaking. Every single player on the Spurs roster 1-12 is making a contribution and making a positive impact when they see the floor.

If there's one silver lining to watching one of your major rivals win a championship, maybe what the Spurs are doing will catch on around the league, with teams and even players starting to value chemistry and team-oriented basketball over star power and one on one play. It's fun to watch the way they carve teams up with their passing and off the ball movement. How basketball is meant to be played, and it overwhelms teams that are longer, faster and more athletic (Thunder, Heat).

Mavs had this style in their run in '11, besides Terry (which I hate), I was glad to see Dirk, Kidd, Marion, etc get a ring. They played awesome team ball and were fun to watch. I though it was asinine for Cuban to break up that team for the mere aspiration to sign Howard or DWill. They could have easily repeated the following year.

[TampaDude]

Wow...y'all gonna need about 100 rolls of paper towels to clean up all the premature ejaculation in this thread.

I'm bookmarking this thread and will be back on the 21st to throw in all your faces after the Heat pull off the miracle of the century.

HEAT IN 7, ES!!!

[Horse]

Hard to argue but I will always have a soft spot for the '99 team they just shut teams down in the 4th and it was game over.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Wow...y'all gonna need about 100 rolls of paper towels to clean up all the premature ejaculation in this thread.

I'm bookmarking this thread and will be back on the 21st to throw in all your faces after the Heat pull off the miracle of the century.

HEAT IN 7, ES!!!

I think a Heat fan down there in FL put a mind controlling chip in TampaDude this morning, at the very least hacked his account.

[TampaDude]

I think a Heat fan down there in FL put a mind controlling chip in TampaDude this morning, at the very least hacked his account.

Just steeling myself for the inevitable heartbreak. There is a very, very miniscule chance that I'm wrong, about .00000000001%, but it's gonna be Heat in 7 unless a ing asteroid hits the Earth.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Just steeling myself for the inevitable heartbreak. There is a very, very miniscule chance that I'm wrong, about .00000000001%, but it's gonna be Heat in 7 unless a ing asteroid hits the Earth.

Don't blame you. Like I would tell my wife when we first got married, "The lower the expectations you have from others, the less disappointment you will have in life. And when they actually exceed those expectations, you actually are ecstatic and have something to be happy about."

[TampaDude]

Don't blame you. Like I would tell my wife when we first got married, "The lower the expectations you have from others, the less disappointment you will have in life. And when they actually exceed those expectations, you actually are ecstatic and have something to be happy about."

If this were a Finals in 2012 or earlier, I wouldn't be worried. It would just be the Spurs marching towards inevitable victory in the Finals. 6 changed all that. Frankly, I'm paranoid about this whole thing. I still expect us to blow it.

[Findog]

Mavs had this style in their run in '11, besides Terry (which I hate), I was glad to see Dirk, Kidd, Marion, etc get a ring. They played awesome team ball and were fun to watch. I though it was asinine for Cuban to break up that team for the mere aspiration to sign Howard or DWill. They could have easily repeated the following year.

The only guy I regret they didn't resign was Tyson. Everybody else I was okay with Cuban not overpaying to retain.

This Spurs team is really fun to watch, and there is so much delicious schadenfreude watching this Heat team fail. Hopefully Tim, Manu and Pop decide to go out on top and not defend their le next year.

[smeagol]

I wouldn't say that. The Spurs game back in such fashion against the Mav and GS recently with both of their squads being fully healthy. Like commentators said, Spurs were just hitting everything at that point and Lebron more than likely wouldn't have made a difference.

Being that the Spurs have done it before, I wouldn't pin it solely on Lebron's cramps.

Did you watch game 1? We were down by 7 untl Lebron left the gym. It was then when the Spurs turned it around.

[baseline bum]

Did you watch game 1? We were up by 2 when Lebron left the gym. It was then when the Spurs turned it around.

fify

[Sec24Row7]

If this were a Finals in 2012 or earlier, I wouldn't be worried. It would just be the Spurs marching towards inevitable victory in the Finals. 6 changed all that. Frankly, I'm paranoid about this whole thing. I still expect us to blow it.

I'm with you.

It's impossible for the spurs to pull off a win against a motivated Miami.

They couldn't do it in 2 tries last year. What makes people think this team could do it in 3... Especially since we destroyed them by over 30 in game 3 of the finals last year.

This is lining up perfectly for a Classic Miami win.

They have the spurs right where they want them.

[florige]

I think a Heat fan down there in FL put a mind controlling chip in TampaDude this morning, at the very least hacked his account.

I'm pretty sure this is a Heat troll that somehow hacked TD's account. He doesn't even talk that way.

[rmt]

14 spurs play beautiful basketball sometimes but i question its mental toughness. if the 14 mavs can take them to seven games, how would they do vs 06 Mavs? i also question this frontcourt going up against a prime shaq and horry. imagine splitter having to play against shaq! 14 sas is the perfect matchup for the heat but are lucky to get by aan ibaka injured okc. i still think 05 spurs are the best big 3 close to their prime hardened veteran role players deep versatile with bigs (rasho, nazr, td horry) to handle just about anyone even shaq DEFENSE three point shooting ball handling skills and mental toughness. 2014 Spurs must have a big lead dont trust in crunchtime close games since theres no superstar to throw it to to get a bucket