If we lose to OKC without Ibaka...

[moisaenz]

we lose and that is that.

[Sean Cagney]

Itz true

Nah man, they should have won it all last year TBH. That loss sucked

[therealtruth]

+1. Pop only goes as far as Duncan can take him and 2007 was the ending of Duncan's prime. If Duncan cant average 20 and 10,,,,we're done. Last years Finals proved it,,,,Duncan, turning the clock back, with 30 and 18 in game 6 in the Finals only for Pop to bench him with a 5 point lead and 28 seconds to go. If Duncan doesn't go 30 and 18,,,,we get crushed.

It's kind of ironic. Duncan from what I hear would have been MVP if we had won but Pop got in the way and made sure he wasn't on the court. Have you heard of your Finals MVP not being on the floor to close the deal? Think about what could have happened if TD played. He would have anchored the defense and made sure everybody was in their spots defensively. He probably even would have made a huge defensive play like he has throughout his career.

Another irony is like you said if Duncan didn't have 30 and 18 we probably get crushed in that game. But on the other hand getting blown out of that game would have probably given us a better chance at getting game 7.

[dg7md]

It's hard to say that is the case, because a lot of the NBA hasn't really gotten much better. It would definitely be a detrimental loss to the franchise, but it's never going to be impossible to get back to the Finals when we have a team with as much offense as we do.

We would have to get Pau in free agency I fee, to have another legitimate shot at a le next year. Something would have to change in free agency to make the team a little bigger and stronger. Having some more mobility would help, too.

On the flip side, Kawhi's window to greatness is still opening, so if he continues to get better then I think we will continue to have shots at the Finals so as long as our team stays remotely the same the next few years.

It's very apparent Duncan and Ginobli are on their last legs for us, but even if they aren't up to their top performance, we still aren't completely lost without them.

[EVAY]

…then we truly are not the better team and OKC deserves the win.

[cjw]

middle school refers to 6th-8th grades you

You didn't see what I did there (saying window closing in two years when Duncan retires)

[Johnny RIngo]

If Durant/Westbrook both have a great series and Parker fails to show up, it's more than possible. Biggest reason we struggled against the Mavs is because Parker played some of the worst bball of his life against Dallas(until game 7). Still think Spurs win in six - assuming TP is ok.

[xmas1997]

Hard to say. I think TD will reup for a couple more years. Manu will probably retire after next year though.
A lot depends on who we get in the draft, we have one 1st rounder at the end and two 2nd rounders.
They might trade up.

[Budkin]

at this thread. The differentials for how much we score with him in and out of the game are astounding. We simply are not losing this series. Not after what we went through to get here.

[TheyCallMePro]

We can't lose...Ibaka completely changes the Spurs offense. With him in the game, we CAN'T penetrate, which means our shooters can't get open on the perimeter. Now they can. It's over. All we have to do is make open 3's.

Spurs in 5.

[cjw]

Let's not forget what Ibaka adds on the offensive end too. His ability to hit 15 footers stretches the defense as well. Now that gets replaced by Adams/Collison/Thabeet who don't pose that threat, or guys who are just spot-up shooters from outside that add little else.

Durant, Westbrook and Jackson will get theirs.

[spurs10]

…then we truly are not the better team and OKC deserves the win.

This