Where does Brent's shot stand in Spurs' lore?

[CosmicCowboy]

How can you rank anything that happens in a first round game two with the 8th seed as a "top" anything?

[Samr]

I cannot believe how consistently forgetful you all are, as a group.

The far most important shot, ever in Spurs history, was Avery's jumpshot to close out the Knicks and win San Antonio's first championship. Sean's MMM may have come at a more crucial point in the series, but Avery's won the CHAMPIONSHIP.

I rank it:

1) Avery jumper (Avery had a jumper?)
2) Memorial Day Miracle
3) Horry's Dad's Day whatever
4) Stephen Jackson's 3-point barrage to beat the Mavs in '03 (not a single shot, but crucial nonetheless)
5) Kerr's imitation of the above in the Finals
6) Barry's

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I cannot believe how consistently forgetful you all are, as a group.

The far most important shot, ever in Spurs history, was Avery's jumpshot to close out the Knicks and win San Antonio's first championship. Sean's MMM may have come at a more crucial point in the series, but Avery's won the CHAMPIONSHIP.

I rank it:

1) Avery jumper (Avery had a jumper?)
2) Memorial Day Miracle
3) Horry's Dad's Day whatever
4) Stephen Jackson's 3-point barrage to beat the Mavs in '03 (not a single shot, but crucial nonetheless)
5) Kerr's imitation of the above in the Finals
6) Barry's

While I'm the biggest Avery fan and I'm constantly in search of a photo of that shot for my wall, without the MDM, that doesn't happen.

The MDM killed a tough Blazers squad on the spot and propelled the Spurs to the Finals.

Forever, the Spurs were also-rans...after that and the championship, the Spurs were perennial WCF and NBAF stalwarts.

The collective breath of the Spurs Nation forced Sean's shot in and I bet anybody not in front of a TV or radio at that moment in San Antonio heard an audible roar from wherever they were at in the city.

That shot finally put the Spurs over the hump to be championship contenders.

That shot is the most important in Spurs history. Horry's is a close second for sheer will and the fact that is was in Detroit. Avery's is third because of the fact that NY basically dared him to shoot it with his history and he nailed down the Spurs first championship.

As of today, I think Barry's is #4 in Spurs modern history. I'm sure the fans from before '90-'91 and historians of the game can find others to alter the list.

[ShoogarBear]

Still, the Spurs swept the Blazers, as they swept their opponents before them, they were by far the best team in the NBA, with no equal that year.

BS. If Sean misses that shot, Portland beats the Spurs.

The Blazers should have won game 1 that year, but couldn't cash in down the stretch. If they had won game 2, they would have had all the confidence in the world coming back home. Instead, they had a glazed look in their eyes the rest of the series.

Sean's shot is the one that forever changed the Spurs. It was the first huge game winner in franchise history, and the reason we're sitting on #3 going on 4.

1. MDM
2. Horry
3. Avery

[timvp]

How can you rank anything that happens in a first round game two with the 8th seed as a "top" anything?

Yep. It was a damn good shot but it's still the first round of the playoffs. The Kings were without Artest and even if the Spurs lose the game, they'd still be overwhelming favorites in the series.

[timvp]

Sean's shot is the one that forever changed the Spurs.

Yeah, I agree with that. That shot has to always be number one. Without it, the Spurs remain the Spurs. With it, the Spurs became champions.

[boutons_]

Brent's shot is somewhat devalued in historical perspective because the game wasn't that important. Make that shot in June, and we got a shot to engrave on a monument.

[whottt]

AJ's shot was not the same type of shot...AJ's shot was with a freaking 1 minute left in the game, that is not a last second shot, it's not even a late shot, and we were up 3-1 in the series. Geez.

As for if these shots count before the finals...of course they do, but only if we win a championship...if it wasn't during a championship run it doesn't belong on any list. Ask Sacremento and Laker Fans if they remember Horry's shot agsainst them in 2002...that wasn't in the finals.


With that said...

1.Sean Elliott's MDM is easily #1 on the list. That was a freak shot.

#2.Horry's Father's day trey(I forgot who called it that but I liked it).

[ShoogarBear]

There is one very famous shot that Brent's should be compare to . . .

*pulls up rocking chair*

A shot by, believe it or not, Don Nelson, in Game 7 of the 1969 Finals for the Celtics against the Lakers. I thought of that one the instant Brent's dropped through.

There's a (legal) video of it on nba.com. It's #12:
http://www.nba.com/playoffs2004/grea...s_moments.html

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Brent's shot is somewhat devalued in historical perspective because the game wasn't that important. Make that shot in June, and we got a shot to engrave on a monument.

You never know about the subtle nuances.. Think about Brent's confidence and the Spurs confidence in grind-em-out games this season. They blew it a couple times in the regular season. And that bounce could be the difference maker between a doubting Spurs team in close games or a confident one. That shot also takes the Pressure off Horry. It also confuses the upcoming Opponents. Who's it gonna be Horry? Tim? Manu? Barry? If we could get Nick, even Tony to make more minor, clutch shots. Our Opposing Coaching/Defense will have hard time reading crucial plays.

[Jimcs50]

Nice thoughts here. Sean's shot was great, but still the Spurs were the better team, and swept the Blazers. Detroit would have repeated had Horry's shot not gone down in OT, that is a fact.

[whottt]

Come to think of it I am wrong....it does count even if it doesn't win a le...

For instance...ask a Spurs fan if the number .04 has any meaning to them... ask a LakerFan.

[timvp]

Come to think of it I am wrong....it does count even if it doesn't win a le...

For instance...ask a Spurs fan if the number .04 has any meaning to them... ask a LakerFan.

Laker fans wouldn't put .4 on any of their lists of best shots ever because they didn't go on to win the championship.

[whottt]

Nice thoughts here. Sean's shot was great, but still the Spurs were the better team, and swept the Blazers. Detroit would have repeated had Horry's shot not gone down in OT, that is a fact.

No one can say if we go on to beat the Blazers if we don't make that shot...

And BTW, no one can say we go on to beat the Kings if Barry doesn't make his. We weren't that heavily favored over the Kings...many people expected them to give us a good fight.

[ShoogarBear]

There are special cases where a play that doesn't lead to a championship can count.

Every Celtic fan remembers Bird's steal and pass to DJ against the Pistons, but Boston lost to the Lakers in the Finals that year.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

No one can say if we go on to beat the Blazers if we don't make that shot...

And BTW, no one can say we go on to beat the Kings if Barry doesn't make his. We weren't that heavily favored over the Kings...many people expected them to give us a good fight.

I can agree with that.

If the Spurs lose last night, Sacramento can take many positives from how they played the game.

Like how the does Bonzi Wells get into the lane that easily? Sure, he had some shots you just have to say "damn" on, but that was maybe three or four, not all of them.

[whottt]

Laker fans wouldn't put .4 on any of their lists of best shots ever because they didn't go on to win the championship.

I bet they do...it gets mentioned over at Lakerground quite a bit.

I bet if you took a poll of LakerFans, not only does that shot make the list, but even if the fans are old school, Jerry's West non championship winning -half court buzzerbeater against the Celtics makes the list too. I know they show that shot by Jerry West all the freaking time on TV...

[Jimcs50]

Laker fans wouldn't put .4 on any of their lists of best shots ever because they didn't go on to win the championship.

Yes, but Spurs fans put it on their worst shot against them in their history.

It took me a month before I could get over that shot.

Barkey's shot over DRob was another than comes to mind, but they were the better team. SA was better than LA in the 0.4 shot.

[ShoogarBear]

Yeah, I think Laker fans still get satisfaction over 0.4* the way Celtic fans get satisfaction over Bird's steal.

[ShoogarBear]

I bet if you took a poll of LakerFans, not only does that shot make the list, but even if the fans are old school, Jerry's West non championship winning -half court buzzerbeater against the Celtics makes the list too. I know they show that shot by Jerry West all the freaking time on TV...

Against the Knicks, youngster.

[Jimcs50]

No one can say if we go on to beat the Blazers if we don't make that shot...

.

I do, because SA was the best team, they went 15-2 in the playoffs, which was a record at the time.

[whottt]

Against the Knicks, youngster.

Thank you Shoogar for proving my point...

See TimVP, Shoogar remember that shot...it didn't win a championship...It was a half century ago.

And I've always had a hunch Shoogar was a bit of a Celtics fan prior to the Spurs existence.

[FromWayDowntown]

Nice thoughts here. Sean's shot was great, but still the Spurs were the better team, and swept the Blazers. Detroit would have repeated had Horry's shot not gone down in OT, that is a fact.

I'm with the crowd that believes the MDM was the biggest shot in the history of this franchise. You keep saying the Spurs were the better team and swept the Blazers, but that Memorial Day weekend in 1999, the Blazers sure looked like a team that could compete with those Spurs.

The Blazers played Game 1 of that series with one day's rest after beating Utah and had to travel to SA to play a day game on Saturday. The Spurs had been sitting at home for almost a full week. The Blazers fought and clawed and were right there in the end. Rasheed Wallace missed a jumper with a few seconds left, and the Spurs won.

Those cir stances made Game 2 (Memorial Day) all that much more important. The Spurs couldn't put away a tired team in Game 1 and in Game 2, the Blazers ran out to an 14 point lead at the half. The Spurs whittled it down in the 3rd and the 4th, mostly because Elliott was unconscious from behind the arc. Even with all of that, the Spurs couldn't get over the hump and take a lead in the game and were down by 8 with less than 2 minutes left. They never took a lead until Sean hit his shot (Bob Costas' line at the end of the game was something like "The Spurs' only lead of the day is the final score.").

The point of all of that is that Portland was very, very close to being up 2-0 heading back to Portland. The Game 1 loss was tough on the Blazers, but losing Game 2 as they did truly broke their spirit. It also was a sea change for the Spurs franchise. Before that shot, the Spurs were always the team that had the big lead late, only to see somebody daggar them in the end (Robert Horry in 1995, for example). It was the first time that there was really reason to believe that the Spurs would win the big series and advance to the Finals.

That shot turned the Spurs from a good organization that had won a lot into an organization that believed it could win les.

[FromWayDowntown]

I do, because SA was the best team, they went 15-2 in the playoffs, which was a record at the time.

So, 1999 happened before 1983 (when the Sixers went 12-1)? Just curious.

[ShoogarBear]

And I've always had a hunch Shoogar was a bit of a Celtics fan prior to the Spurs existence.

Them's fightin words. I was a Knicks fan (Clyde+Pearl=Best Backcourt Ever) and a, believe it or not, Virginia Squires fan before SA got a team. Which of course meant I despised the Celtics, always have, always will.

Living in Boston for 17 years was sheer torture in that regard.