Did 2003 Spurs have any weaknesses?

[keeferob25]

For those of you too young for 2003 then imagine 2016 Finals Lebron w/ the 2015 Cavs supporting cast.

Now add the incredible fact that Duncan didn't have a pathetic 3 round bye to the finals too like Lebron has had. He had to beat an athletic and feisty Phoenix team in the FIRST round that would have beaten any of the eastern teams bron faced, and then a lakers team fielding Prime Shaq and Kobe (BOTH made all nba first team), and then an allstar trio of Finley, Nash, and Dirk (two of which would go on to win MVPs). What Duncan did is simply not comparable, he was otherworldly.

[keeferob25]

2002/3, the Spurs were horrible at FTs and TOs.

Tim was incredible, but he had plenty of help from Tony and Manu were great, Philly cheesesteak rebounded, defended. Defense was best in the league.

Neither were REMOTELY great and his help certainly wasn't "plenty". No clue how people forget we were so bad (outside of Duncan) overall that we were down TEN points near midway in the 4th to the freaking Nets before Duncan (and SJax) took over. The Nets nearly forced a Game 7 where ANYTHING could've happened. Do you know how crazy that is? Duncan's quadruple double (yes he very clearly had 10 blocks) wasn't just a pretty statline...it was NEEDED from him for us to win. HE made his help "just enough".

[UNT Eagles 2016]

No, 2003 was middling, probably the worst team after 2007 and maybe 1999. (1999 we were dominant mostly because our compe ion sucked, Jordan had finally retired for good, Hakeem/Barkley were done, Kobe wasn't Kobe yet, and it was an overall down/rebuilding year for the league.)


2003 was characterized by:


- Our horrible/meh first couple months of the season (we started off 19–13 in our first 32 games, seemed like the Mavs were going to win the championship going away with some compe ion from the Kings)
- Turnovers (Sjax/Tony/Manu) and free throws (Tim/Bruce/Tony) being huge problems for us, as aforementioned by others
- The Lakers being bored and tired, and their role players had gotten too old and injured
- The Spurs chronically giving up 15+ point leads and either losing or winning by the skin of their teeth... all season long and in the playoffs
- Nobody around Tim was consistent at all, every time we'd win someone else would step up and score 20-30 points but then lay an egg the next game, meaning someone else had to step up like that for us to win the next game
- We took 6 games to beat everyone in the playoffs, which made for a great story but wasn't dominating at all


Loved the 2003 le team, it was an amazing experience as a newly-turned 9 year old.


But very stressful and painful at times, from the cheerless start to the season, to the "Mar-Buried" moment (and most of the next game until we came back and won), to the Jake Voskuhl game winner in game 4 (another huge Spurs letdown), to the Lakers game 4 comeback, to the nearly successful game 5 comeback that ended in Horry's lucky miss, to Finley's game winner after we let down big time, to the game 5 letdown, to coming back and almost winning game 2 against the Nets but Jackson missing a wide open practice shot to win, to the Nets playing us tough in NJ and seemingly having control of game 6 as well... there were a lot of struggles that season and in the playoffs, but we came out of it on top and it was amazing.

[tmtcsc]

Other than raw young talent and old Robinson

Duncan at his peak
Inside game-Duncan-Rose on offense and Duncan-Robinson on defense
Outside game-Parker/Bowen/Manu/Jack/Speedy-Youth athleticism playmaking/shotmaking
Defense Terror-Duncan/Robinson/Bowen
2 good Point guards-Parker/Claxton-Ton of speed
Strong 9-12 veteran quartet-Kerr Willis S.Smith Ferry
No one took them to 7 games despite raw talent
Strong at Point/Wings/Bigs


Most talented complete team they had

They were the most frustrating of all the Spurs Championship teams and had plenty of weaknesses.

Duncan was great BUT:

Ginobili was a rookie. He was about 70% the player he would eventually become.

Tony Parker was good at some things but still weak-minded and prone to disappearing. - Needed to be bailed out by Speedy Claxton on several occassions.

They blew home court advantage in every round if I'm not mistaken. They also wasted large leads against the Lakers and Dallas. That's what was so frustrating. When they played their game they were great, when they suc bed to feeling good about themselves, they had huge letdowns.

Pop was also at his most stubborn level. He almost cost the team Game 6 when he waited so long to play Steve Kerr. I remember cussing the old man out (on my 32 inch cathode ray tv) for being so damn stubborn. Dallas was without Dirk and they controlled the game for 3 quarters. TP's sorry ass was on the bench with a tummy-ache too.

They were losing game 6 at home against the Nets before erupting in the 4th quarter. The Nets couldn't buy a basket.

It was great seeing DRob go out with a Championship but they were far from a 'great' team. In my opinion, the 1999, 2006 and 2014 Championships were the best. The 1999 team was the most dominant.

[SASdynasty!]

05 was better
stretch 4 in Horry with Barry/Manu to still bail Tony out when he choked

Well I hope so...those guys were pretty much veteran age players at that point and Tony was early college years. But of course, Tony gave the Spurs way more production than either.

[tmtcsc]

Well I hope so...those guys were pretty much veteran age players at that point and Tony was early college years. But of course, Tony gave the Spurs way more production than either.

Huh? Dude was 23 years old. That's post college age.

[SASdynasty!]

Neither were REMOTELY great and his help certainly wasn't "plenty". No clue how people forget we were so bad (outside of Duncan) overall that we were down TEN points near midway in the 4th to the freaking Nets before Duncan (and SJax) took over. The Nets nearly forced a Game 7 where ANYTHING could've happened. Do you know how crazy that is? Duncan's quadruple double (yes he very clearly had 10 blocks) wasn't just a pretty statline...it was NEEDED from him for us to win. HE made his help "just enough".

Do you know if there were any writeups on this? I was at that game and was tracking Duncan's quad when he started getting close. I remember leaving thinking he got the extra two blocks but didn't get credit but I'm not sure that I've ever seen the proof.

[SASdynasty!]

Do you know if there were any writeups on this? I was at that game and was tracking Duncan's quad when he started getting close. I remember leaving thinking he got the extra two blocks but didn't get credit but I'm not sure that I've ever seen the proof.

Never mind...found a video where the guy explains the two extra blocks in the notes of this video:

https://youtu.be/nejQMtkyLgY

They both look like blocks btw. Not sure exactly why they wouldn't have been counted. Does anyone know if there was anything formal filed? Would be non-Duncan-esque, but man to shortchange him on something like that is crazy. Almost like the Galarraga blown call perfect game.

[T Park]

LOL revisionist history. The Mavs pulled out that Game 1 because they hit 49/50 free throws. It was one of the flukiest playoff wins I have ever seen. Then the Spurs won Game 2 by 13 and were up big in Game 3 when Nowitzki was injured in the fourth. I'm not trying to crack on Dirk because he became an amazing player, but 2003 Dirk was not prime Dirk who took them to the Finals twice and won them a le. The 2003 Mavs were horrendous defensively with Nash and Dirk on the floor; to Dirk's credit, he became a much better defender within the next 2-3 years, but he was awful defensively in 2003. And 2003 Nash is one of the worst defenders I have ever seen. The Spurs won that le when they beat LA, not when they beat Dallas.

The shot where Kerr hits his fourth three on a kick out from Duncan, and Nash doubles and then goes and just wanders away is one of the more amazing things Ive ever seen to this day in the game of basketball.


The Mavericks were such a paper tiger it was ridiculous, They were Phoenix without the athleticism. Their bench really wasn't that good. That series should've been a damn sweep TBH but the Spurs would do that then. They'd relax, they'd get lazy, sloppy and play dumb.

Also they were absolutely horrendous from the free throw line. like miss 20-25 FTs a day bad.

[T Park]

Huh? Dude was 23 years old. That's post college age.

Parker was in his second season and was either 20 or 21...

[T Park]

For those of you too young for 2003 then imagine 2016 Finals Lebron w/ the 2015 Cavs supporting cast.

Spurs supporting cast in 2003 was better than that.

Robinson was still good, their bench was damn good with Manu, Claxton, Kerr, Willis, Rose.

[ElNono]

Neither were REMOTELY great and his help certainly wasn't "plenty". No clue how people forget we were so bad (outside of Duncan) overall that we were down TEN points near midway in the 4th to the freaking Nets before Duncan (and SJax) took over. The Nets nearly forced a Game 7 where ANYTHING could've happened. Do you know how crazy that is? Duncan's quadruple double (yes he very clearly had 10 blocks) wasn't just a pretty statline...it was NEEDED from him for us to win. HE made his help "just enough".

That game had BAD OMEN written all over it, until Manu's steal on RJ... from that point on, I thought we turned the tide... Speedy started hitting a couple of mid-range shots and then Jax exploded... it was just sweet to send Big Dave out a champ...

[tmtcsc]

Parker was in his second season and was either 20 or 21...

SASDynasty was referring to FreeTiago's quote about the '05 team and how Horry and Brent Barry were able to bail out an early college aged Tony Parker. Tony was 23 then.

[tmtcsc]

Spurs supporting cast in 2003 was better than that.

Robinson was still good, their bench was damn good with Manu, Claxton, Kerr, Willis, Rose.

When the 2003 team was rolling, no one could keep up - including the Lakers. Unfortunately, they had stretches where they just couldn't gel and no one could make a damn shot. , they went through stretches of the same game where they couldn't miss and couldn't make. -Specifically Game 5 against the Lakers and Game 6's against Dallas and New Jersey. It was nuts.

[keeferob25]

Never mind...found a video where the guy explains the two extra blocks in the notes of this video:

https://youtu.be/nejQMtkyLgY

They both look like blocks btw. Not sure exactly why they wouldn't have been counted. Does anyone know if there was anything formal filed? Would be non-Duncan-esque, but man to shortchange him on something like that is crazy. Almost like the Galarraga blown call perfect game.

Yep, that's where I got my confirmation from as well. I think they are rather clearly blocks, plus over Duncan's career going forward from 03 I noticed he has been NOTORIOUS for getting robbed of blocks, granted statisticians will miss plenty but with Duncan it was very noticeable to me. I have secretly dreamed that SOMEONE would send something into the league or wherever to re-evaluate that game by him. It just sucks to say a near-quadruple double as opposed to saying to accomplished the feat in a needed closeout like that in historic fashion. But it'll never happen

[Spurs1234]

Yeah let's send the footage into the nba and get those two blocks. For the historical implications maybe they would consider it. Now would be the time coming off his retirement. On the back of the disc let's put the fisher .04 shot as well. There was a guy that timed it going off the frames on the video and concluded he didn't get off in .04 but the clock person obviously started the clock late. That is the General spurstalk consensus right?

[Dingle Barry]

Can't believe that was more than 13 years ago. Where the does the time go.

[Sean Cagney]

Can't believe that was more than 13 years ago. Where the does the time go.

Damn 13 years ago just seems like yesterday too, went fast.

[phxspurfan]

Never mind...found a video where the guy explains the two extra blocks in the notes of this video:

https://youtu.be/nejQMtkyLgY

They both look like blocks btw. Not sure exactly why they wouldn't have been counted. Does anyone know if there was anything formal filed? Would be non-Duncan-esque, but man to shortchange him on something like that is crazy. Almost like the Galarraga blown call perfect game.

I forgot about that other blown call. Google'd it. Crazy, the umpire, years later is scarred for life

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=5993137


I wonder if any of the Thunder refs are scarred for life after sh!tting on the Spurs so many years in a row.

[Snaq O'Meal]

I forgot about that other blown call. Google'd it. Crazy, the umpire, years later is scarred for life

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=5993137


I wonder if any of the Thunder refs are scarred for life after sh!tting on the Spurs so many years in a row.

Not when those sports entertainment refs were simply following the commissioner's orders.

[BillMc]

[BillMc]

[BillMc]

The man with the ball was a serious badass:

[BillMc]

[Darius McCrary]

No, 2003 was middling, probably the worst team after 2007 and maybe 1999. (1999 we were dominant mostly because our compe ion sucked, Jordan had finally retired for good, Hakeem/Barkley were done, Kobe wasn't Kobe yet, and it was an overall down/rebuilding year for the league.)


2003 was characterized by:


- Our horrible/meh first couple months of the season (we started off 19–13 in our first 32 games, seemed like the Mavs were going to win the championship going away with some compe ion from the Kings)
- Turnovers (Sjax/Tony/Manu) and free throws (Tim/Bruce/Tony) being huge problems for us, as aforementioned by others
- The Lakers being bored and tired, and their role players had gotten too old and injured
- The Spurs chronically giving up 15+ point leads and either losing or winning by the skin of their teeth... all season long and in the playoffs
- Nobody around Tim was consistent at all, every time we'd win someone else would step up and score 20-30 points but then lay an egg the next game, meaning someone else had to step up like that for us to win the next game
- We took 6 games to beat everyone in the playoffs, which made for a great story but wasn't dominating at all


Loved the 2003 le team, it was an amazing experience as a newly-turned 9 year old.


But very stressful and painful at times, from the cheerless start to the season, to the "Mar-Buried" moment (and most of the next game until we came back and won), to the Jake Voskuhl game winner in game 4 (another huge Spurs letdown), to the Lakers game 4 comeback, to the nearly successful game 5 comeback that ended in Horry's lucky miss, to Finley's game winner after we let down big time, to the game 5 letdown, to coming back and almost winning game 2 against the Nets but Jackson missing a wide open practice shot to win, to the Nets playing us tough in NJ and seemingly having control of game 6 as well... there were a lot of struggles that season and in the playoffs, but we came out of it on top and it was amazing.

LOL guy born in 1997 telling us about 2003 Spurs

millennial egos
millennial know it alls