I see Duncan passing the torch to Aldridge this year when Spurs loses to the Blazers

[xmas1997]

That is if they get pass the MAV's which is not guaranteed.

Depth means very little in the post season, Pop's minute management and brilliant system masked this team's flaw in the regular season, but too many things can go wrong if you need more than 2 players to carry the team at critical times. Last year Danny Green was an act of god honestly, without him playing like Reggie Miller reincarnated, Spurs would have lost in 5.

I have to say Barkley is absolutely right, the 20/10 Duncan we know and love can show up in stretches, but he can not do it consistently anymore. Parker is too tired from the national's. Manu can explode for one game every now and then. Everyone else just role players. Kwahi is a super duper role player, but can not be relied on to take over the game yet, I really wish Pop gave him more alpha dog status earlier in the season so he would have the mentality, but he is at least year away and the GDP core is simply inferior to the core of elite teams. In post season unless we get another Green type of historical performance from role players we can not go deep.

Aldridge reminds me so much of a young Duncan with more mid-range jumpers, less post-up's. If the Spurs window has closed, I hope Alridge closes it and carries the torch forward. I honestly don't see Blazers bench and role players worse than the Spurs. Aldridge feels like young Duncan and Liliard feels so much like young Parker, they feel like the Spurs re-incarnated and has a chance for a le if they get a couple more pieces.

Griffin = Amare
Alridge = Duncan

Duncan when he was a rookie took a lot more medium range jumpers, the bank shot is very similar in purpose as Alridge fade away.

I like Aldridge, but you did say "this year" right?
So what happened then?
Or was this supposed to happen in some alternate universe?
Still waiting tbqh.

[DPG21920]

He's just incredibly hard to win with. On offense, he would be fine although what you get from his spacing and ability to hit that 18 foot shot more consistently than Tim you give back in worse screens, passing and low post play when needed. He would fit overall fine though although I don't think it would be a net gain overall IMO.

Then on defense, despite Tim not being as great in PnR/Perimeter anymore, you get a pretty big fall off. Team would be a a playoff team no doubt and a good one, but I just don't like guys like Aldridge overall despite being a really good player.

[DPG21920]

I like Aldridge, but you did say "this year" right?
So what happened then?
Or was this supposed to happen in some alternate universe?
Still waiting tbqh.

All you do is try and call out other posters for the takes they were wrong and you have literally never had a meaningful basketball take that I have seen. You just troll and cry and have a picture of a cat in your avatar.

[xmas1997]

All you do is try and call out other posters for the takes they were wrong and you have literally never had a meaningful basketball take that I have seen. You just troll and cry and have a picture of a cat in your avatar.

And your takes are better?
Ever heard of the word hypocrisy?
Apparently not.

[DPG21920]

And your takes are better?
Ever heard of the word hypocrisy?
Apparently not.

Here's a deal. You make a poll and ask ST who's takes are better (make it public). If you win, I will leave forever. If I win, you leave forever. You say you want to clean up trolls and what you consider to be bad posters. Here's your chance.

[Rebounds]

This is just another big man that can score that people have proceeded to overrate. I think honestly some people have forgotten just how great Tim Duncan actually was in his prime. I remember in game 1 of the 2003 finals he had 32pts, 20 rebounds and 7 blocks. At one point he blocked a shot, grabbed the ball out of the air and throw a full court pass to I think Stephen Jackson for a dunk. Tim could literally control the game on both ends in his prime. Some good big men have come along since 2003 but none of them have been anywhere close to Tim..

[poop]

That is if they get pass the MAV's which is not guaranteed.

Depth means very little in the post season, Pop's minute management and brilliant system masked this team's flaw in the regular season, but too many things can go wrong if you need more than 2 players to carry the team at critical times. Last year Danny Green was an act of god honestly, without him playing like Reggie Miller reincarnated, Spurs would have lost in 5.

I have to say Barkley is absolutely right, the 20/10 Duncan we know and love can show up in stretches, but he can not do it consistently anymore. Parker is too tired from the national's. Manu can explode for one game every now and then. Everyone else just role players. Kwahi is a super duper role player, but can not be relied on to take over the game yet, I really wish Pop gave him more alpha dog status earlier in the season so he would have the mentality, but he is at least year away and the GDP core is simply inferior to the core of elite teams. In post season unless we get another Green type of historical performance from role players we can not go deep.

Aldridge reminds me so much of a young Duncan with more mid-range jumpers, less post-up's. If the Spurs window has closed, I hope Alridge closes it and carries the torch forward. I honestly don't see Blazers bench and role players worse than the Spurs. Aldridge feels like young Duncan and Liliard feels so much like young Parker, they feel like the Spurs re-incarnated and has a chance for a le if they get a couple more pieces.

Griffin = Amare
Alridge = Duncan

Duncan when he was a rookie took a lot more medium range jumpers, the bank shot is very similar in purpose as Alridge fade away.

[xmas1997]

Here's a deal. You make a poll and ask ST who's takes are better (make it public). If you win, I will leave forever. If I win, you leave forever. You say you want to clean up trolls and what you consider to be bad posters. Here's your chance.

Ooh, upset now, are we?
Get real, please.

[DPG21920]

That literally doesn't make any sense.

[xmas1997]

That literally doesn't make any sense.

Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
You should be old enough to know better tbqh.
But then so many on here are not.
No offense meant.

[Chinook]

I wouldn't mind Aldridge, either, although I'm not a fan of his..his style of play will translate well with age, too, especially since he has said that he will begin working on a 3-point shot this Summer..

However, comparing him to prime Duncan is stupid on every level, tbh..

I also hate when "analysts" and fans compare current Duncan to prime Duncan based on per-36 numbers, etc..Duncan in his prime was one of the most complete players of all-time, including being able to step out and defend the perimeter on switches, unlike current, 38-year old Duncan, which people seem to ignore..

I agree with this. I think we need to just go ahead and realize that there will never be another Duncan. We can't hope the Spurs just plug another player into his shoes when Tim retires and just keep going along their current path. LA isn't Duncan. Marc Gasol isn't Duncan. Love isn't Duncan. , Prime Davis won't even be Duncan. The Spurs are going to have to completely change the way they do things when 21 hangs them up.

That being said, life does go on. Just because those guys aren't Duncan doesn't mean they aren't players the team can build around. I do think a player like Aldridge could come in and give championship-level play from the four spot. If the Spurs can keep their current core (the SL minus Duncan plus Diaw) together and add LA and a couple of young role-players, they can challenge for a le. In that regard, I think Aldridge could take the mantle when Duncan retires. Sure, he wouldn't be the same ballpark as Prime Tim, and he won't even do many of the things Current Tim does. But he could be good enough.

And yes, I agree Current Tim is somewhat overrated. Rather, the supporting cast is really underrated. They're the ones that cover Tim's weaknesses and allow him to play to his strengths.

[xmas1997]

I agree with this. I think we need to just go ahead and realize that there will never be another Duncan. We can't hope the Spurs just plug another player into his shoes when Tim retires and just keep going along their current path. LA isn't Duncan. Marc Gasol isn't Duncan. Love isn't Duncan. , Prime Davis won't even be Duncan. The Spurs are going to have to completely change the way they do things when 21 hangs them up.

That being said, life does go on. Just because those guys aren't Duncan doesn't mean they aren't players the team can build around. I do think a player like Aldridge could come in and give championship-level play from the four spot. If the Spurs can keep their current core (the SL minus Duncan plus Diaw) together and add LA and a couple of young role-players, they can challenge for a le. In that regard, I think Aldridge could take the mantle when Duncan retires. Sure, he wouldn't be the same ballpark as Prime Tim, and he won't even do many of the things Current Tim does. But he could be good enough.

And yes, I agree Current Tim is somewhat overrated. Rather, the supporting cast is really underrated. They're the ones that cover Tim's weaknesses and allow him to play to his strengths.

I agree with most of this.
I wouldn't mind Aldridge, or Hibbert either for that matter, but neither will ever happen here I doubt.
However, I disagree about TD being somewhat underrated.
I don't think anyone overrates him anymore due to his age. Certainly he isn't what he was in his prime, but I don't think anyone seriously expects him to be.
But he is still doing quite well considering that and I think he could be serviceable for a few more years yet.

[hooperflash]

Aldridge is Amare w/ a jumper.

That's a pretty damn good player, tbh.

[Mugen]

DPG, come here and

[Juan]

[DPG21920]

Still feel the same - the fact Spurs were able to bring in LMA while keeping the main core is huge. He's going to fit well and we dont have to worry about a LMA led Spurs with no Tim.

[Mugen]

[Juan]

Still feel the same - the fact Spurs were able to bring in LMA while keeping the main core is huge. He's going to fit well and we dont have to worry about a LMA led Spurs with no Tim.

So you're not a fan at all?

[PingPong]

Nothing to worry, Aldridge's kriptonite is in the East, OKC is ed, Mavs is the Mavs, Houston has Coward and Bin Harden. The biggest issue is GSW.

[DPG21920]

So you're not a fan at all?

I think LMA is really, really good (like I said) - but I am not a fan overall in terms of building teams around guys like him. But Spurs have a lot of players so it's not so LMA centric like POR was. Of course I'm thrilled LMA is on SA - but the fact he's a Spurs doesn't change the flaws he's had.

Again, he should fit really, really well, especially because it wasn't a passing of the torch with Tim leaving & LMA coming in.

[Chinook]

Really annoyed that Parker and Mills took away Splitter's chance to stay with the team, as I think the Spurs could have been great for the next six years had he stayed. But at the same time, this year could be REALLY special. And the Spurs will have a decent chance at grabbing the center they'll need in 2017 (maybe even Splitter himself). Or maybe they find a way to grab Horford next off-season and become just insane for a while longer. I would not have thought that LMA/Horford was possible, but this off-season shows me that the Spurs can recruit their asses off when they want to.

[SpursFan86]

I think LMA is really, really good (like I said) - but I am not a fan overall in terms of building teams around guys like him. But Spurs have a lot of players so it's not so LMA centric like POR was. Of course I'm thrilled LMA is on SA - but the fact he's a Spurs doesn't change the flaws he's had.

Again, he should fit really, really well, especially because it wasn't a passing of the torch with Tim leaving & LMA coming in.

Yup...obviously LMA is a fantastic player, but I don't think he's a guy capable of carrying a team to a le.

Luckily we've surrounded him with a metric ton of talent, and he won't have to carry the team night in and night out. You could very well argue that Kawhi is still the best player on this team (especially if he continues to improve). Duncan is still one of the best bigs in the league. Green is one of the best 3&D players in the league. Parker was ty last year but I'm still hopeful he can get back to at least being a solid PG. Quality bench guys like Manu, Boris, and Patty. Throw in having one of the best coaches in the history of basketball...Aldridge isn't going to be doing this on his own like Tim was doing in the early-2000s.

[DPG21920]

My comments were OP focused. Meaning that if the Spurs blew it up (Tim retires, Manu retires, etc...) that I would have rathered go younger vs signing an older star. Spurs still could have been good and a playoff team which isn't all bad, but personally I would have rather focused on longer term if this was the end of the Spurs as we knew them.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

Nothing to worry, Aldridge's kriptonite is in the East, OKC is ed, Mavs is the Mavs, Houston has Coward and Bin Harden. The biggest issue is GSW.

We actually got better against GSW, since Splitter and Baynes are almost unplayable against their small lineup anyway. The main issue is that we got worse against Memphis and perhaps Houston.

[PingPong]

We actually got better against GSW, since Splitter and Baynes are almost unplayable against their small lineup anyway. The main issue is that we got worse against Memphis and perhaps Houston.

Well, their smallball is still better than Spurs.