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Father Time in 2014
that piston team was so good......
remember everyone questioning timmy? he was under the pressure that series everyone was talking down on him like he couldnt get it done
Father Time in 2014
03 Sonics! Jerome James!
2005 Pistons
LOL all these people here parroting the ESPN storyline of the 2014 Heat sucking. The 2014 Heat were an awesome team than ran into a ing buzzsaw. The Pistons series in 05 only went 7 because Duncan was on two bad ankles. You put 04 Duncan or even 06 Duncan (pf and all) and the Spurs mop the floor with Detroit. I know the 05 Spurs were the best team in franchise history on paper, but Duncan wasn't healthy.
Maybe not the greatest team we beat but as far as the toughest series I can remember would have to be the Suns in 2007. Phx had a uva team that year and should've won that series tbh. Detroit in 2005 was a tough series as well but from what I remember that Suns series was nerve-racking as , and for me, the toughest series I can remember the Spurs ever playing.
Parroting the ESPN storyline of the '14 Heat sucking? Thankfully some of us are capable of independent thought. If my opinion seems to mirror ESPN's, that's only by coincidence. I could care less what they say. I personally don't get too excited about the Heat's accomplishments just yet. I'm always more impressed by the team that makes it out of the West in one piece. They did win two, obviously, but their current form was so completely weak compared to 2012 and 2013. Wade was physically not right and they lost Mike Miller. Battier was also a s of himself. Their lack of multiple three point shooters exposed them considerably on offense.
Take the '14 Spurs and Heat and have them trade conferences. There's no way in the Heat make it to the finals in the West. The Spurs were a machine this year, no doubt, but I personally feel that they played against the worst Heat team of the last 4 finals teams this year. They lacked any depth and their second best player was a s of himself.
If it weren't for the Spurs in '07, that PHX team would have been the champs that year. That was an awesome, awesome team. Who knows what would have happened if it weren't for those suspensions???
Wade was way stronger this time around than in 2013, when he was genuinely hurt.
No credit given to Danny Green even on a Spurs forum.
Ibaka doesn't have to do much that's what makes him special, it's pure intimidation. Players see him in the paint, suddenly they are forced to change the angle of their shot, an easy layup becomes a difficult floater. Nobody likes getting swatted, it's embarassing. Teams then choose to shoot jumpers instead of attacking, and that's how you beat a team, make them make low % jumpers.
Maybe you and I watched a different finals, but THAT was not the Dwayne Wade I've seen in the past. He looked good (not great) in earlier series, but he was slow and lethargic against the Spurs. Was he better physically than 2013? Perhaps, although I wouldn't get too excited about a 75% Wade being better than a 60% Wade. That's not saying much.Wade was way stronger this time around than in 2013, when he was genuinely hurt.
No credit given to Danny Green even on a Spurs forum.
Soooo we have a 75% Wade, NO Mike Miller/basically no Battier/and NOOOOO Chalmers (which leads to little spreading of the floor/3 point shooting).....how is this team equal to the '13 Heat? Or the '12 Heat? They were the best the East had to offer, no doubt, but that's like saying you're the smartest kid in the "special" class. The East was historically weak. A special win for San Antonio after '13 no doubt, but OKC was a better team win for SA if you take away the storyline from '13 and the Finals. Winning game 6 in OKC was HUGE.
And Danny Green was awesome, by the way. He brought really good defense, regardless of whether or not his 3 point shot was falling. If you're trying to say that he should get the credit for Wade's terrible finals??? I'd definitely put some of that on his and Kawhi's D, of course, but a 100% Wade is very much like a 100% Lebron/Durant/Melo/Kobe. They're the type of players that you can only make work hard, but they'll get their numbers. What we saw in the finals was not a 100% Wade.
I thought about this hard but voted for Miami. You could also argue for 2003 Lakers, 2005 Pistons. I guess it's hard to distinguish between how good a team was on paper, and how well they were playing at that time. I can't take any of those Suns teams seriously since the Spurs beat them year after year. They never even went to 7 games. Nash and Amare didn't have what it takes to win a championship.
Wade looked pretty healthy when Green was on the bench other than Game 5. The 2014 Spurs team was way better defensively than the 2013 team that played a gimmick defense against Miami. All they did in 2013 was pull a 2004 Lakers, packing the paint and giving up wide open jumpshots. And I never said the 2014 Heat were equal to the 2013 Heat. Obviously they weren't as good as the 66 win team that won a le with its second best player at 50-60%. But we're only considering teams the Spurs beat.Maybe you and I watched a different finals, but THAT was not the Dwayne Wade I've seen in the past. He looked good (not great) in earlier series, but he was slow and lethargic against the Spurs. Was he better physically than 2013? Perhaps, although I wouldn't get too excited about a 75% Wade being better than a 60% Wade. That's not saying much.
Soooo we have a 75% Wade, NO Mike Miller/basically no Battier/and NOOOOO Chalmers (which leads to little spreading of the floor/3 point shooting).....how is this team equal to the '13 Heat? Or the '12 Heat? They were the best the East had to offer, no doubt, but that's like saying you're the smartest kid in the "special" class. The East was historically weak. A special win for San Antonio after '13 no doubt, but OKC was a better team win for SA if you take away the storyline from '13 and the Finals. Winning game 6 in OKC was HUGE.
And Danny Green was awesome, by the way
And I do think the 14 Heat make it out of the West if the Spurs are in the East. OKC looked like against Memphis but they're beating a Heat team they match up badly with? The Game 6 win in OKC was huge because they're a terrible matchup for the Spurs, not because they're some world beater.
2005 Pistons. They were Joe Frazier. Not flashy but just kept beating on you.
was thinking the same thing. That ball was in the cylinder!! then he makes the shot for us against the pistons. crazy!!!
2005 Pistons embodied team and they were the defending champs. Its not even close.
As for some of the others:
99 Blazers? We swept them.
2003 Lakers: Dysfunctional but talented.
2014 Heat? They were weak and older than Spurs.
2014 OKC? No bench. Spurs took them to deep waters in OKC and trounced them in SA.
Terrible matchup? The times they are a changing. Spurs crushed them at home, adjusted to Ibaka's presence and took them out in 6. KD is a great offensive player but Westbrook is the guy that puts spurs defenders on their heels with his drives to the hoop and quickness on the defensive end. They are no longer the boogeyman except to many Spurs fans.
If the Spurs play OKC again next year in the playoffs, it will be even easier. They have them figured out.
It wasn't very easy this time. They come an incredible block by Kawhi from possibly needing to go to a seventh game. Oklahoma City is still going to be a hard matchup next year.
They aren't a boogeyman, but doesn't change the fact that it's a bad matchup for San Antonio relative to the other teams in the west (as presently cons uted anyway).
4 of the 5. Tayshaun Prince didn't make the cut.
Isn't that what the Spurs are now? Haven't we just finished having all these discussions about how a great TEAM > individual play? The Pistons were a solid team to be sure.
Oh and your take on the Thunder? Just....no.
2005 Pistons. That D was something else, not to mention those starters. 2014 Heat is up there too
2007 Cavaliers
Pretty sure you meant 1999 Timberwolves!
Just a little side trivia:
The 1995 champion Rockets defeated in the playoffs the 4 teams with the 4 best records in the NBA that season;
Jazz 60-22, beat 3-2
Suns 59-23, beat 4-3
Spurs 62-20, beat 4-2
Magic 57-25, beat 4-0
Beat all 4 teams giving up home court advantage.
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