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We robbed Detroit this year in game 5 just like LAL robbed us last year so I say 2 is about right. I thought Detroit was a better team last year than this year because of their bench.
We've all seen 2005 Spurs vs 2005 Pistons. Spurs in 7.
So if .4 doesn't happen, the Spurs win Game 5 vs LA and the momentum carries them to the 2004 Finals vs Detroit...
who wins?
We robbed Detroit this year in game 5 just like LAL robbed us last year so I say 2 is about right. I thought Detroit was a better team last year than this year because of their bench.
For as much as Hedo sucked, he would have matched up well with Prince. It would have been a good series. For emotional sake, I'll say the Pistons win.
Saying that the Derek Fisher shot came in the way of a three-peat would pick at the scab on the Fisher wound.
I'm saying if we had won that game last year, everything changes. We may have beat Detroit in 7 last year, or we might have lost. Just getting to the finals might have changed our team make-up this year. We might not have gotten Barry, might have kept Malik, not gotten Big Dog, etc. Also, Karl Malone might have decided that we were a good fit for him and might have come along to get a ring. With these changes, who knows if we win this year?
Maybe Detroit doesn't even get to the finals and then we lose to an exceptionally angry Shaq. Or maybe Detroit does get to the finals, is mad that we beat them last year and wipes the floor with us. Or saying that we lost last year, maybe we don't get to the finals this year.
Bottom line, we could say that we would have won last year had it not been for .4, but winning that game would have changed our entire season.
The Detroit team was playing out of teir mind last year during the postseason. I think tha this year's Spurs are better then last year's Spurs. And this year's Pistons are worse then last year's Pistons. Rip Hamilton was playing much better last year imo. Also, Ben Wallace's numbers have been down this year. I think that this year the Spurs are more mentally tougher. Ginobilli has truely blossomed this year. There are many intengibles, one of which is luck. I guess my answer is , I don't know. I still don't like to talke about .4, lol . But again, I do think that last year's Pistons were > Last year' Spurs.
Uh...if not for the Lakers it might have been a 5 peat...unfortunately for us, LA existed.
its impossible to say.
I don't think so. It wasn't like Hedo was lighting up Memphis in the previous round. 3-point shooting was huge in this series for the Spurs, and they just did not have it last season.
who knows, Hedo might have heated up.
There is soo many freakin ifs and couldves its not worth it.
I thought about this for a second and then someone reminded me about Turkoglu. I like Brent Barry a uva a lot more than Hedo.
Maybe the Spurs threepeat and maybe they don't. I do know one thing. This 2005 team is my favorite to date.
I think so.
Ugh, just remembering Hedo is giving me the shivers. I hated the guy even before the big time playoff choke job he did. He always seemed a little shady to me...anyone else feel that way?
The T-Wolves would have killed the Spurs...
<-----(ducking)
seriously i don't think so.
we depended on Tony a lot those days and Manu ain't used a lot...
Sorry Tony i'm not hating on you really but i haven't seen any hint that says you can retaliate when his penetration is stopped.
detroit's bench was much better back then too.
Hedo for all his offensive and emotional liabilities could be used a lot guarding the bigger guards... we could've put Gino on Billups Hedo on Prince and Bowen on Rip
hwoah
wait a minute i don't know man that would negate 70% of their offense... and mcdyess was a too man... i don't know... we could've shoulda woulda etc
that's all in the past now.
but man we would've been a defensive monster if hedo wasn't traded.
Speaking of Hedo, haven't seen Taruky in a while.
The Pistons of last year were better than this most recent incarnation. the simple fact that they had Okur, who seems to own the Spurs for some bizarre reason, might have been enough to beat the Spurs. Frankly I don't think the Spurs could have done it. They didn't have a timely shooter like Horry last year, Parker and Ginobili came along by leaps and bounds this year (I don't know how they would have handled the Pistons D last year), and I think that .4 was kind of a motivating factor for the Spurs this year. I don't know that they would have had the same fire.
With that said, if that series had actually happened I'm sure I would have picked the Spurs and spent the all my time explaining the weakness of the eastern conference, and how the Spurs were somehow perfectly designed to face the challenges that the Pistons presented. I can only bring myself to pick against the Spurs in hypotheticals, I'm afraid.
I'd like to think it would've been a three peat but being honest...I just don't know. It's not like we can go back and see, there are so many intangibles that affect the game.
As much as I hate to think about .4, and how the Spurs got robbed by the referee not starting the clock on time. I mean, honestly, how can a guy catch, land, turn, and shoot in less than half a second? I can't even do that when I'm facing the basket. And furthermore....
Sorry, I get a little heated when I think about that.
Anyways, looking back, it might have been the best thing for the Spurs at that point. They were in a transitional year, looking for players that fit right within the system. They had lost several players from their championship team the year before, and were looking for suitable replacements. There's no way you can replace David Robinson. Kerr wasn't coming off of the bench anymore to hit put those daggers into team's hearts. Stephen Jackson left a void at the 2-guard. Ginobili started, but had no suitable backup. When Jackson was there, you had Manu coming off the bench for him. Turkoglu obviously wasn't a good fit for the Spurs.
The biggest reason that the Spurs lost that series to the Lakers was because they couldn't buy a basket after games 1 & 2. If they could have scored consistently enough, they would have won that series. Having gotten past the Lakers, I have no doubt they would have beaten the T-Wolves, but the Pistons probably would have overcome them in the Finals. San Antonio couldn't score against the Lakers, and they definitely wouldn't have been able to score very well against the Piston's tough "D". I think that they would have given the Pistons a tougher series than the Lakers did, but they probably wouldn't have won. The Pistons were playing out of their minds by the time the Finals rolled around.
Last season's defeat at the hands of the Lakers, though, set the stage for this season's success. The Spurs realized that they needed more consistency on offense. They needed someone who could stretch the defense, and they found that in Brent Barry. Manu also had another year to mature, and he was dynamite in the playoffs this year.
Yeah, as much as I hate the memory of .4, it was probably the best thing for the Spurs at the time.
So, for all of you that believe in "learning from your mistakes" and those who say that last years .4 nightmare is what motivated the Spurs this season........
....How do you all think Pistons will respond next year to their own Game 5 nightmare from this season? Think it'll be the same motivation as it was for the Spurs this year to regain le?
I'm gonna say NO.
Last year we were not as good as we were this year overall , and the Pistons were better last year than this year.
Plus, if we had gone upagainst them last year and lost - can you imagine all the talk and mind-mojo-voodoo crap that would've gone on this finals??
I did find myself thinking about this recently. Then I reached for another beer.
ive thought about this topic too.
but what the heck. its the past. Whats happenin now is more important. were champs.
thats all that matters to me now.
No, they don't even get past the Lakers. Don't forget they lost game 6. The spurs were not as good last year .
Of course the Spurs wouldn't have advanced. They didn't have Vince Carter!
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