Zach Lowe ranks the Spurs as bottom-tier team in his "league pass" ranking..

[skin27]

thisis a joke

[Obstructed_View]

The 03 team? I feel like the 14 or even 07 team were more talented. 03 team had lots of new/old guys and TD lol

Literally every Spurs team was a mix of new guys, old guys and Duncan. And just because I think the '03 team has the most talent, doesn't mean I think they could necessarily beat any of the other teams. I don't think they had the maturity. If I had to wager on one over the others, I'd take the '99 team because they played for 48 minutes. The '05 run was probably the most fun to watch, just because it was such a grind. And the '14 run is probably tied with 99 as my favorite, just because the wins were so special.

The '06 team is the one that's lost to history. The regular season version of that team was better than a couple of the other le teams. If only Nazr had just let the clock run out.

[DeRozan m8]

lol he just has terrible taste.

[cutewizard]

Just put the Spurs as the lowest seed in the whole NBA.....

AND THEN WE WIN THE NBA LE!!!!

Swwwwweeeeetttttttttttt!!

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Great discussion everyone.

I've touched on this before, but Lowe has become extremely biased as he's gained more currency around the league. Whoever he's buddy buddy with, he props up; whoever is more guarded, he s on. What's worse, his word has become gospel for his disciples of snobby, stat geek wannabes, with their group think.

Obviously, the Spurs aren't at their '12-'14 zenith, but 19th is still ridiculous.

Not sure I agree with this. I couldn't wait to watch Spurs games during the Beautiful era, and long before for widely varied reasons, but last season I found LMA really stopped the ball and it was ugly to watch. When the second unit were playing the Beautiful game before Manu got injured I looked forward to watching the bench far more than the starters.

If LMA ball-stops 19th in watchability might be a bit low, but 15th is about right.

PS The D last year was a thing of beauty no doubt. But moreso to the avid than the casual fan.

[bklynspursfan]

Literally every Spurs team was a mix of new guys, old guys and Duncan. And just because I think the '03 team has the most talent, doesn't mean I think they could necessarily beat any of the other teams. I don't think they had the maturity. If I had to wager on one over the others, I'd take the '99 team because they played for 48 minutes. The '05 run was probably the most fun to watch, just because it was such a grind. And the '14 run is probably tied with 99 as my favorite, just because the wins were so special.

The '06 team is the one that's lost to history. The regular season version of that team was better than a couple of the other le teams. If only Nazr had just let the clock run out.

I meant moreso the real talented guys (Ex: TP/Manu) were young and pretty inexperienced at that level and obv D-Rob was on his way out. Most feel like that was TD's weakest collective supporting cast, so when I think talent, I guess maybe I'm looking at a different angle than you.

Potentially no doubt, they had talent, but I guess from a production standpoint I felt like they weren't as strong as the other le teams. I agree with you though 14 and 99 were special. 03 was special just cause it sent D-Rob out on top and the way they dismantled LA in the process

[Kidd K]

Probably most useless ranking system I've ever seen. "I ranked them based on how much I enjoy watching them as opposed to how good they are!"

Calls Spurs announcers "stupid", when they easily one of the most insightful. Clearly salty because Sean bashed players and teams he liked. Homers? Yes (as are all home announcers). Stupid? Absolutely not.

[GSH]

Keep it simple: Just about the time they got LMA settled in, they effectively lost Tim to injury. Tim was never the same, and the team was missing a critical element for the rest of the season. Instead of getting better from January-April, they had to try and find other ways to win.

This year they have Gasol in place of Duncan, and most of the important team members returning. I don't think they'll be any worse to watch than last year.

[eric365]

Honestly the spurs were not great to watch last year

[TD 21]

Great discussion everyone.



Not sure I agree with this. I couldn't wait to watch Spurs games during the Beautiful era, and long before for widely varied reasons, but last season I found LMA really stopped the ball and it was ugly to watch. When the second unit were playing the Beautiful game before Manu got injured I looked forward to watching the bench far more than the starters.

If LMA ball-stops 19th in watchability might be a bit low, but 15th is about right.

PS The D last year was a thing of beauty no doubt. But moreso to the avid than the casual fan.

Many of the top players in the league are ball stoppers. The Spurs becoming more of a typical team is supposedly ugly, but the average team (with lesser players) isn't or is less so? That doesn't make any sense.

Aldridge gets too much blame anyway. The offense of the starters wasn't the same in '15, too. It has more to do with Parker's decline.

[MaNu4Tres]

Many of the top players in the league are ball stoppers. The Spurs becoming more of a typical team is supposedly ugly, but the average team (with lesser players) isn't or is less so? That doesn't make any sense.

Aldridge gets too much blame anyway. The offense of the starters wasn't the same in '15, too. It has more to do with Parker's decline.

Agree with a lot here, except the bolded part. Parkers decline was evident in 14' as well. A lot of the offensive onslaught that run happened with Parker on the bench and you know what else I'm about to say regarding the constant diving action in PnRs that run -- offense coming from the weakside happened much more frequently. Not just that, but most of the players in the rotation that run all were playing incredible. It was a perfect storm, and it was beautiful to watch. It was something Parker had little to do with --advanced stats back that up as well as Parker was 12th in BPM, 8th in W/S, and 10th in VORP that playoff run.

The reason for the short runs the past two seasons can simple be blamed on not having enough players playing well -- Parker included.

[TD 21]

Agree with a lot here, except the bolded part. Parkers decline was evident in 14' as well. A lot of the offensive onslaught that run happened with Parker on the bench and you know what else I'm about to say regarding the constant diving action in PnRs that run -- offense coming from the weakside happened much more frequently. Not just that, but most of the players in the rotation that run all were playing incredible. It was a perfect storm, and it was beautiful to watch. It was something Parker had little to do with --advanced stats back that up as well as Parker was 12th in BPM, 8th in W/S, and 10th in VORP that playoff run.

The reason for the short runs the past two seasons can simple be blamed on not having enough players playing well -- Parker included.

Parker's decline was evident in '14, but he was still an All-Star caliber player then, with occasional stretches of his not so distant prime. By '15, that wasn't the case.

For sure, they weren't overly dependent on him in '14 and had virtually everyone playing well, but I meant in general, the way the offense looked from '12-'14, Parker was the offensive foundation of that era and as such, his falling off a cliff in '15 was the biggest reason for the offense not looking the same.

As far as roll men in '15, they still had an All-Star Duncan, a becoming a rotation player Baynes and the 5 minutes Splitter was somewhat healthy.

[tonight...you]

Being an alleged contender is much more watchable than a cellar-dweller. I don't care how "fun" they are.
I like to watch wins. And championships... I like watching them also. Glad I've been a Spurs fan.

[SAGirl]

Tony got in this thread too lol

[tonight...you]

Tony got in this thread too lol

Tony is living rent-free in so many heads... I worry.
No I don't.

[SAGirl]

Tony is living rent-free in so many heads... I worry.
No I don't.

Lol it's hilarious for those of us who don't care. Lol dude is everywhere...

[spurs10]

Obviously a team's main fan base doesn't need to have "League Pass" if they are able to watch all the games on TV or see them live. Is this trying to insinuate we have a weaker fan base abroad? So what? With as many international players as we have I doubt it, but there are many places in the world that basketball just isn't on their radar. I got LP last time I was in Europe and it was wonderful have.

Now it practically took a lawsuit to get rid of it. There was no easy way to quit it. So beware of that if you live in the US and just getting it for a brief run.

[YGWHI]

But to acknowledge Kawhi as a transcendental talent who is still 25 and not maxed up on his potential, then say he and his team are 19th in the league in watchability is hypocritical. It's basically him saying that he's not a fan.

What I find extremely hypocritical is most media say they love the passing/shooting game, Lowe said Spurs beautiful game is gone/there are too many boring Kawhi/LMA post-iso plays now...

But when an Iso play won last NBA championship, all sports writers found entirely new ways to praise Cavs/Irving

[Texas_Ranger]

first i was like yea ok, the Spurs offense looked pretty ty last year to watch, but then he put Memphis infront of the Spurs so I think he's an idiot.

[YGWHI]

I wonder if LP's management group read Lowe's article, realize no one wants to watch Spurs games, they will start giving us promo codes/discounts for Spurs games...

[DMC]

Guy writes opinion piece I disagree with because homerism... ergo he's a ty writer.

Same guy writes opinion piece I agree with because homerism, ergo GOAT writer.

Homer teams are always more fun to watch to homer fans. It's why they are fans in the first place. duh ing duh

[DMC]

What I find extremely hypocritical is most media say they love the passing/shooting game, Lowe said Spurs beautiful game is gone/there are too many boring Kawhi/LMA post-iso plays now...

But when an Iso play won last NBA championship, all sports writers found entirely new ways to praise Cavs/Irving

You're talking about different things. Iso-ball isn't fun to watch. It could be effective, and writers will praise it for that if it is, but they won't list it as exciting to watch for anyone but fans of the winning team.

[YGWHI]

You're talking about different things. Iso-ball isn't fun to watch. It could be effective, and writers will praise it for that if it is, but they won't list it as exciting to watch for anyone but fans of the winning team.

Maybe, maybe not. The media try to capture the attention of bball fans writting about what fans like to watch/read, the one on one is the essence of basketball for the majority of those NBA fans.
Sure, the run & gun is so fun to watch but casual NBA fans love Isos for some reason.

[DMC]

Maybe, maybe not. The media try to capture the attention of bball fans writting about what fans like to watch/read, the one on one is the essence of basketball for the majority of those NBA fans.
Sure, the run & gun is so fun to watch but casual NBA fans love Isos for some reason.

Why do so many Spurs fan about being isolated where ratings and excitement are concerned but are fans of a team who historically shies away from coverage, who's coach, although quotable, is a notorious media hater, and who's biggest star ever never even showed up to say he's retiring to his fans? He had to mail it in from somewhere else. Low key, that's how Spurs fans like it, and with that comes the low ratings and low excitement ratings from writers not based in San Antonio.

[itzsoweezee]

Keep it simple: Just about the time they got LMA settled in, they effectively lost Tim to injury. Tim was never the same, and the team was missing a critical element for the rest of the season. Instead of getting better from January-April, they had to try and find other ways to win.

This year they have Gasol in place of Duncan, and most of the important team members returning. I don't think they'll be any worse to watch than last year.

Completely agree.