Are we beginning to face reality?

[Raven]

i don't think the system is to blame. The problem, if anything, is that we have gone away from the system. Playing belinelli big minutes, benching cojo for no reason, going kawhi or tony iso all the time, giving danny scraps every 10 minutes.. that's not how we are supposed to play. We are supposed to have the best defensive lineup against the starters, and then kill them with the bench offense when the opponent's bench is in.

[Raven]

oh and we'd sweep houston.

[Old School 44]

Not a Parker hater, but he's bought into the false notion that if he's not scoring or a leading contributor, the Spurs have no chance.
Don't get me wrong, it's not all on Parker, Pop needs to make adjustments.

I think they should go through Kawhi almost every time down. He did a great job with the double team. Not sure why on some possessions he just stands in the corner like a spot up 3-pt shooter.

Not that Kawhi needs to shoot it all the time, but he gets the defense moving, creating oportunities for others.

[Mugen]

This team has just been inconsistent all season, especially on the road. Injuries + more re losses than your usual Spurs season (Utah, Lakers, Knicks, Detroit, etc.) have doomed their playoff chances...

Championship teams don't lose that final game in New Orleans after moving up to the 2 seed and they most certainly do not lose a game like yesterday after lucking out from another chokejob in game 2...

Again, it's been a tough season but anything after last year was icing. We got to see more TD and Kawhi blossom into a legit franchise guy you can start building around. I would have been ecstatic if you told me that in preseason tbh.....

No shame in losing to a hungrier, better coached team with two top 10 players. This was the Warriors season anyways....

[EVAY]

MOTIVATION AND FOCUS

Last year, we had both in spades, and as much as we tend to forget it after the fact, there were plenty of times during last year's playoffs (at least before game 3 of the Finals) where people were saying the Spurs were done.

But the team really really wanted it last year like no time ever before.

This year, other teams, like the Warriors and the Clippers, seem to want it more. The Clippers in general and Chris Paul in particular have been called out for not getting beyond the second round ever. This year, Doc and Chris Paul really seem to feel they have something to prove, kind of like we did last year.

I believe that we CAN win again, but I acknowledge that part of the 'reality' that we may be facing is that last year 5 was so satisfying it seems to be difficult to get that level of focus and motivation back again.

But I will continue to hope and root for us!

[EVAY]

Am I the only one here who thinks the Spurs (if they advance) would have a somewhat easier time against Houston in the 2nd round? They dont have a true PG, especially an elite PG like Paul. They also dont play anywhere near the defense that the Clippers can play.

I agree with this.

[K...]

No shame in losing to a hungrier, better coached team with two top 10 players. This was the hawks season anyways....

[703 Spurz]

The Spurs of 2013 and 2014 were historic teams in regards to roster construction..

Tony Parker was a star in 2013 and Kawhi was beginning to develop into a star in 2014, but for the most part, the Spurs won a le and should have had another with a roster that was entirely centered around a system + role players playing their roles at an extremely high level(Green, Diaw, Splitter, Mills, etc)..

The NBA is a superstar's league, it's rare to win a championship without star players..most of the time, having just 1 star isn't even sufficient, unless you have a generational player(2003 Duncan, 1994 Olajuwon, 2013 Lebron, etc)..Kawhi is a top 10 player in this league, but he's not there yet, obviously, nor does the team fully understand how to utilize him, it's still early..

This forum is blaming role players like Danny Green, Splitter, Parker, Ginobili, etc, but is it simply time to face reality that the Spurs formula of winning without multiple stars just isn't sustainable? Especially considering the mileage of the past few years?

The Spurs have never had top dollar to give to free agents nor have they ever had a high pick in the draft. To sustain their 50+ games despite all of this is ing grand.