The Down Years (1985-1989)

[tlongII]

Dude, Bird was drafted in 1978. LOL Portland passing on Bird for Thompson, Jordan for Bowie, Durant for Oden.

LOL the Blazers also traded Moses Malone to get that pick.

tlongII

[Mugen]

Dude, Bird was drafted in 1978. LOL Portland passing on Bird for Thompson, Jordan for Bowie, Durant for Oden.

LOL the Blazers also traded Moses Malone to get that pick.

tlongII

[Maddog]

Haha Bob Weiss. I was a little kid and went with my dad to the Spurs draft party when they drafted Johnny Dawkins, and I saw Bob walking by and asked "Why did you bring back MIKE BRITTAIN!?!" He just kind of threw a hand up in the air and said "eh" while giving me a look like it wasn't his idea.

I sort of feel Bob Weiss got screwed. He was slowly building a team and just before Robinson came aboard- Boom- McCombs brings in Larry Brown. At the time I thought it was a great move but in retrospect?
Of course Brown brings in Pop as an assistant and so it went...
In some ways Larry Brown may no have been the best coach for that team. Strickland remained a problem child after he left- Willie Andersons career was still headed down with injuries and bad behavior ....

[Brazil]

Dude, Bird was drafted in 1978. LOL Portland passing on Bird for Thompson, Jordan for Bowie, Durant for Oden.

LOL the Blazers also traded Moses Malone to get that pick.

tlongII

are you kidding ? I did not realize they passed on Bird too.. wtf

[Brazil]

Bird too ?

oh god

[baseline bum]

are you kidding ? I did not realize they passed on Bird too.. wtf

To be fair, the Celtics used a loophole to draft Bird. Namely, they drafted him after his junior season, so he went back to Indiana State for the 1978-79 season and the Celtics signed him to a contract before the 1979 draft so that he wouldn't be eligible for it. What's funny is the Lakers had the #5 pick that year and traded it (Bird was taken #6). Otherwise, they could have had Bird, Magic, and Abdul-Jabbar.

But still, Portland traded Moses Malone away.

[Brazil]

To be fair, the Celtics used a loophole to draft Bird. Namely, they drafted him after his junior season, so he went back to Indiana State for the 1978-79 season and the Celtics signed him to a contract before the 1979 draft so that he wouldn't be eligible for it. What's funny is the Lakers had the #5 pick that year and traded it (Bird was taken #6). Otherwise, they could have had Bird, Magic, and Abdul-Jabbar.

But still, Portland traded Moses Malone away.

The Jordan fiasco would have been enough to make Portland the unluckiest / most uncompetent FO ever and then you just add Durant, Malone etc... being a portland fan must suck... spurs fans that already a lot about Spurs FO draft would have killed themselves a long time ago if they were Portland fans

[SuperCam]

blazers are still only team in the league with reg season winning records vs spurs though

[Thomas82]

To be fair, the Celtics used a loophole to draft Bird. Namely, they drafted him after his junior season, so he went back to Indiana State for the 1978-79 season and the Celtics signed him to a contract before the 1979 draft so that he wouldn't be eligible for it. What's funny is the Lakers had the #5 pick that year and traded it (Bird was taken #6). Otherwise, they could have had Bird, Magic, and Abdul-Jabbar.

But still, Portland traded Moses Malone away.

WOW!!

[wildbill2u]

Par for the course back then. Ticket prices are out of control, nowadays.

My original season tickets were on the floor, eight rows up from the Spurs Bench. They were $5.00 per ticket per game. I had four so my wife and kids could go and my best friend had two next to me. In those days a family with a middle class income could go to the games. Tickets had a slow but steady rise over the years, but occasionally the Spurs would have special sales on the nosebleed seats in the upper decks of the old Hemisfair Arena. By the time of the Down Years of this thread I think my seats were in the $15--20 range. Eventually, around 1987-90, I moved down to a couple of front row seats on floor level across from the visitors bench and they were $50 per game. I moved out of town just in time before the huge increase in those seats along with the new requirement to have to buy a membership in the Corral which used to be free to anyone who wanted to go in. I couldn't afford any of those season tickets today.

[Thomas82]

My original season tickets were on the floor, eight rows up from the Spurs Bench. They were $5.00 per ticket per game. I had four so my wife and kids could go and my best friend had two next to me. In those days a family with a middle class income could go to the games. Tickets had a slow but steady rise over the years, but occasionally the Spurs would have special sales on the nosebleed seats in the upper decks of the old Hemisfair Arena. By the time of the Down Years of this thread I think my seats were in the $15--20 range. Eventually, around 1987-90, I moved down to a couple of front row seats on floor level across from the visitors bench and they were $50 per game. I moved out of town just in time before the huge increase in those seats along with the new requirement to have to buy a membership in the Corral which used to be free to anyone who wanted to go in. I couldn't afford any of those season tickets today.

Wouldn't it be nice if tickets could be that cheap again? A man can dream.

[wildbill2u]

Wouldn't it be nice if tickets could be that cheap again? A man can dream.

My son learned to love the Spurs from going to the games with me. One of the things about being a father I can point to with pride. He returned the favor in 2013 and 2014 by flying in from Las Vegas and taking me to a home Finals game. The game in 2014 was the championship game.

Going to a finals game with your son: $850 ticket Spurs winning the championship at the game: Priceless

[Thomas82]

My son learned to love the Spurs from going to the games with me. One of the things about being a father I can point to with pride. He returned the favor in 2013 and 2014 by flying in from Las Vegas and taking me to a home Finals game. The game in 2014 was the championship game.

Going to a finals game with your son: $850 ticket Spurs winning the championship at the game: Priceless

Yeah, you can't put a price tag on that.

[hsxvvd]

Great thread. Enjoyable read. As an international fan who jumped aboard in 91 it's great to hear some 'history' from the fans.

[Thomas82]

Great thread. Enjoyable read. As an international fan who jumped aboard in 91 it's great to hear some 'history' from the fans.

Cosign!! I'm not old enough to remember anything before 1988.

[gospursgojas]

I thought the down years were 08-11.

Roger Mason Jr
Keith Bogans
Kurt Thomas
Matt Bonner
Ime Udoka
Dejuan Blair
Richard Jefferson

[fusionjazzman72]

At the time I was stationed in the DC area and one time I went to a Spurs/Bullets game. There was a lull in the game and I yelled at the top of my lungs "One more year!" to coach Bob Weiss and he knew I was referring to Robinson, who was drafted but doing his Navy time. Weiss laughed and smiled. As for that time period, man, I remember there was a photo run in te newspaper and Johnny Moore was like unconscious on a stretcher going into the ER and everyone thought he was dead, Im so glad he pulled thru and the guy I still tink was the second best PG we ever had. Somebody brought up Fitzsimmons, man I hated that asshole. He replaced Albeck (who was great) and started the era of "Rotten Ball".

Let's not forget that Stan Albeck was being pursued by the New Jersey Nets, was still under contract with the Spurs and from what I remember Albeck became the first Coach ever traded for players. That to me was the beginning of the dark era, then ice being traded etc ..

[Gervin44Silas13]

OMG Yes

Gervin Being traded....
J. Moore Getting Desert Fever
I think in 1984 the Spurs had like 22 Different players on that team

Alvin Robertson was the only highlight of those dark days till he was traded

Calvin Natt, Albert King, Walter Berry, Peter Goodmonson, Kurt Nimphius, Jon Sunvold (That sucked when he got injured), David Greenwood...that got sucker Mycheal Thompson, Kevin worth I mean Duckworth, Willie Anderson, Johnny Dawkins.....

and when everyone was a Lakers Celtics Bulls and Piston fan... you all cause u hated the Spurs cause they were losing band wagon s!!!

This is the reason why I ing hate these teams!!!

[Thomas82]

Let's not forget that Stan Albeck was being pursued by the New Jersey Nets, was still under contract with the Spurs and from what I remember Albeck became the first Coach ever traded for players. That to me was the beginning of the dark era, then ice being traded etc ..

Those things are what accelerated the team's decline.

[wildbill2u]

The years from 1983-1990 were the pits for Spurs fans. We had become used to having teams that won over 50 games and had some really exciting players. We were spoiled and thought our team was going to win all the time.

All of a sudden, our first group of super stars, Gervin and Silas and Larry Kenon, were gone and although we had some stars like Artis Gilmore and Alvin Robertson, the team just didn't have enough quality players--and maybe coaching--to deliver the success we had become used to. That's when you learn to love the effort put out by lesser players in regular season games and cheer for the wins like never before because they were so hard to come by.

It's the true test of a fan base, my friends. And we will be very very lucky to avoid a down phase here when the Big 3 leave. Sure the FO is trying to replace them, but they are irreplaceable. You just don't have 3 Hall of Famers on one team for so many years any more. The continuity as much as their individual skills has been a significant part of the unbelievable run of 16 Fifty-plus Win seasons. Most NBA coaches and players believe that is a record that will probably never be equaled. So we are spoiled rotten--and probably don't appreciate what we have had over this long period of time. I'm gonna wring every last drop of the juice out of this experience and so should all of us.

No other team's fans have had this wonderful run of success--or will ever have it again.

[Thomas82]

The years from 1983-1990 were the pits for Spurs fans. We had become used to having teams that won over 50 games and had some really exciting players. We were spoiled and thought our team was going to win all the time.

All of a sudden, our first group of super stars, Gervin and Silas and Larry Kenon, were gone and although we had some stars like Artis Gilmore and Alvin Robertson, the team just didn't have enough quality players--and maybe coaching--to deliver the success we had become used to. That's when you learn to love the effort put out by lesser players in regular season games and cheer for the wins like never before because they were so hard to come by.

It's the true test of a fan base, my friends. And we will be very very lucky to avoid a down phase here when the Big 3 leave. Sure the FO is trying to replace them, but they are irreplaceable. You just don't have 3 Hall of Famers on one team for so many years any more. The continuity as much as their individual skills has been a significant part of the unbelievable run of 16 Fifty-plus Win seasons. Most NBA coaches and players believe that is a record that will probably never be equaled. So we are spoiled rotten--and probably don't appreciate what we have had over this long period of time. I'm gonna wring every last drop of the juice out of this experience and so should all of us.

No other team's fans have had this wonderful run of success--or will ever have it again.

+1

[bigfan]

I remember Albeck as a damn good run and gun coach, the Spurs were fun to watch when he was here; as soon as he left it went to .

[Harry Callahan]

Par for the course back then. Ticket prices are out of control, nowadays.

My parents bought courtside floor seats for me in '79 when I was a kid and they were $9. Different times.

[Harry Callahan]

The years from 1983-1990 were the pits for Spurs fans. We had become used to having teams that won over 50 games and had some really exciting players. We were spoiled and thought our team was going to win all the time.

All of a sudden, our first group of super stars, Gervin and Silas and Larry Kenon, were gone and although we had some stars like Artis Gilmore and Alvin Robertson, the team just didn't have enough quality players--and maybe coaching--to deliver the success we had become used to. That's when you learn to love the effort put out by lesser players in regular season games and cheer for the wins like never before because they were so hard to come by.

It's the true test of a fan base, my friends. And we will be very very lucky to avoid a down phase here when the Big 3 leave. Sure the FO is trying to replace them, but they are irreplaceable. You just don't have 3 Hall of Famers on one team for so many years any more. The continuity as much as their individual skills has been a significant part of the unbelievable run of 16 Fifty-plus Win seasons. Most NBA coaches and players believe that is a record that will probably never be equaled. So we are spoiled rotten--and probably don't appreciate what we have had over this long period of time. I'm gonna wring every last drop of the juice out of this experience and so should all of us.

No other team's fans have had this wonderful run of success--or will ever have it again.

The Spurs have been lucky AND smart since Pop and RC took over the show.

I saw a number of games in the post Gervin/pre Robinson period and it was ugly at times but in reality it was a really brief window of bad basketball.

I think SA played in the Western Conference finals the first year of Artis Gilmore being on the team. It sank quickly after that.

Alvin Robertson was a very very talented player, but like you say there was little to surround him with. The team was bad and he rolled up strong numbers. Alvin's anger issues were always a concern and eventually got the best of him with the criminal activity.

The Spurs have had one bad year since 1989 - ONE! The fateful 1996 - 1997 team. We're fortunate/spoiled for sure.

I will get to the arena this year for sure so I can (hopefully) see Duncan, Parker, and Manu on the floor again. It's been an awesome journey, and good things may still be in the future with the supporting cast now in place.

[Harry Callahan]

I remember Albeck as a damn good run and gun coach, the Spurs were fun to watch when he was here; as soon as he left it went to .

I think Stan got crosswise with Managing General Partner Angelo Drossos (not the first time that happened to a coach). Stan was a fine coach in the early 80's.

Does anyone remember Morris McHone? The Spurs had a bad start in 1983 (11-20) and Bob Bass fired him and took the job. This was the start of the only truly bad stretch of basketball for the Spurs over several years. Seems like an eternity ago.

I looked on Wiki and found Mo McHone had a job with the Austin Toros in the last 4-5 years.