Buck Harvey: The perfectly imperfect mix sinks the Spurs

[objective]

jesus.
are you sure you are talking about the right team or year?

2003 at this time the Spurs were just finishing the best rodeo trip in history (8-1). this was the trip, that finally consolidated the reputation that the Spurs are starting their season at the rodeo trip.
I fear you are the one who forgot history. this year is the exact opposite of the same time in 2003 in any aspect.

and btw. Vaughn is not a good shooter.

Exactly.

People making excuses are forgetting that the 2003 team had a bunch of young guys and rookies in the rotation, who had to learn the system and play well with the established stars, players like Jackson, Manu, and Claxton. Back then Parker was only in his second year as well.

This 07 Spurs team is filled with over-30 veterans who know the system, know how to play in the NBA, know their role. They just aren't good enough to win with. And they aren't going to get better. If anything, they are going to get worse.

[Supergirl]

Exactly.

People making excuses are forgetting that the 2003 team had a bunch of young guys and rookies in the rotation, who had to learn the system and play well with the established stars, players like Jackson, Manu, and Claxton. Back then Parker was only in his second year as well.

This 07 Spurs team is filled with over-30 veterans who know the system, know how to play in the NBA, know their role. They just aren't good enough to win with. And they aren't going to get better. If anything, they are going to get worse.

Are they?
Other than the big 3, Horry, and MAYBE Barry, who exactly "knows his role" on this team? Even Barry is a ? for this, esp considering he's thrown out as trade bait every few months. But we ask him to be a SG, a PG, to be our sixth man, to play 10-12 minutes a game - even he can't be settled in yet.

Finley - this is only his second year here, and he's adjusting to being one of "the big 3" to being a role player, to not getting as many touches.

Oberto/Udrih - still adjusting to being in the NBA, as well as to the team

Elson/Vaughn - new team, new style, new role

[Extra Stout]

I'm still not worried yet. People are so easily myopic when it comes to their teams - they forget history. We didn't look all that good in 2003 at this time either, but we went on to win the championship by sheer will.

I'm sorry, but that is wishful thinking. The 2003 team by mid-February had seen SJax replace an immobile and useless Steve Smith in the rotation, and had Manu Ginobili return from the ankle injury he suffered in the World Championships that summer. David Robinson points to Manu's return as the difference-maker that year.

And rather than stumbling in mid-February, that team was setting a record for consecutive road wins.

This team has done the opposite of that one. Rather than mixing in a bunch of new faces, this 2006-07 team already had solid corporate knowledge among its core of players. They surged past other teams who were still feeling things out early on. Whereas the 2002-03 team kicked it into another gear to pass teams and catch Dallas, this team is watching as the rest of the Western Conference kicks it into gear to catch and pass them.

This is an instance of what Stephen Colbert called "truthiness": believing what you would like to be true, regardless of the facts. It is the last refuge of hope for Spurs fans in 2007.

[objective]

Are they?
Other than the big 3, Horry, and MAYBE Barry, who exactly "knows his role" on this team? Even Barry is a ? for this, esp considering he's thrown out as trade bait every few months. But we ask him to be a SG, a PG, to be our sixth man, to play 10-12 minutes a game - even he can't be settled in yet.

Finley - this is only his second year here, and he's adjusting to being one of "the big 3" to being a role player, to not getting as many touches.

Oberto/Udrih - still adjusting to being in the NBA, as well as to the team

Elson/Vaughn - new team, new style, new role

1st, Barry hasn't been a PG on this team in over a full season. And he's been around the block in this league for a LONG time, he knows what to do.

Finley has been around the block a few times. He knows what's expected, and he knows the system.

And Elson in Vaughn are both vets who are OVER 30. They aren't going to make some big transformation into anything other than what they've been their whole careers. There's no progress to be made. Bowen is one of the few who I think could be said was better at 33 than at 30 for instance, but he's the exception.

That is all entirely different from 03.

[Holt's Cat]

Ownership believes they can put an inferior product on the floor and Spurs fans will still show up and tune in. that.

[Supergirl]

Ownership believes they can put an inferior product on the floor and Spurs fans will still show up and tune in. that.

Well, that's just called being a fan. If you only want to watch when the team is playing well, you aren't a fan.

But that's not what this discussion is about. This discussion is about whether this team has what it takes to win it all.

The other teams in the NBA have more faith in the Spurs than the fans on this board do. You talk to other teams, and they identify the teams they least want to meet in the playoffs as the Spurs and the Lakers, and I think for good reason. Because any team with Pop/Duncan or Kobe/Phil in the playoffs has a good chance of beating ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE LEAGUE, no matter what playoff position they come in at.

[Extra Stout]

The other teams in the NBA have more faith in the Spurs than the fans on this board do. You talk to other teams, and they identify the teams they least want to meet in the playoffs as the Spurs and the Lakers, and I think for good reason. Because any team with Pop/Duncan or Kobe/Phil in the playoffs has a good chance of beating ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE LEAGUE, no matter what playoff position they come in at.

Other NBA teams are too busy playing their season to have scouted the Spurs in sufficient depth to discern how much their veteran role players have declined, and how desperate their center situation is. They respect the rings.