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Watch the opening possession; you'll see Kobe and Shaq hacking; no calls (in SA, too). This one was decided before it began.
Side note: Shaq dissing D-Rob before tip off.
What exactly happened in the 2001 Western Conference Finals that made the Spurs get blown out by the Lakers the way they did? I remember the loss of Derek Anderson having a big impact on them. I remember Sean Elliott also being on his last legs. From everything I have seen, it looks to me like the deck was stacked against the Spurs. I didn't get to see the series because I was in Army basic training. The last game I saw that year was Game 3 of the previous series against Mavericks. Any insight would be appreciated.
Watch the opening possession; you'll see Kobe and Shaq hacking; no calls (in SA, too). This one was decided before it began.
Side note: Shaq dissing D-Rob before tip off.
Thanks man......this was painful to watch. I guess it's a good thing I was in basic training.
The 2001 WCF was basically the 2014 Finals except imagine Bosh/Wade being replaced by 2016 Hibbert/Kirby.
Whoa!! That's bad!!
It seems like the Spurs rushed Derek Anderson back for Game 4 out of desperation when his shoulder wasn't fully healed.
Antonio Daniels was way too short to guard Kobe Bryant, and the Spurs got massacred by him. Not that Derek Anderson would have been any better, I think Kobe dropped 38 a night on his ass too in the regular season (DA was about the worst defensive guard I have ever seen on the Spurs). The Spurs had no perimeter defense that year. An underrated performer that series was Rick Fox. Fox was really quick on his rotations, able to double in the post and still get out to disrupt Danny Ferry's three point shooting due to his size and quickness and how slowly Ferry was lining up that set shot. And then similar with Fisher on Porter. Ferry and Porter couldn't get good shots off and that killed the inside out game the Spurs relied so heavily on, making Duncan the only guy who could get a decent shot off the entire series. And then Fisher shot 75% from the three point line since Porter and AJ were on their last legs. Porter aged so much after the 1999-00 season. The Spurs were just too old and unathletic by 2001 and the Lakers were still pissed about the 1999 sweep.
Another huge factor was the aging of David Robinson, he couldn't play enormous minutes any more. I remember in Game 1 the Spurs got off to a great start and you thought yeah, this team can really match up with them since you can single cover Shaq. As soon as DRob went to the bench for a rest the Spurs defense went to complete and a 5 point lead became a 10 point deficit in no time. You also saw this in Game 2. The Spurs were killing the Lakers and then DRob got two really stupid fouls in the span of about 3 seconds of game time in the third and had to go to the bench the rest of the quarter in foul trouble. That's when the Lakers erased about a 10 point Spurs lead. And then they could just throw everything at guarding Duncan in the fourth with all the shooters cold, so the Spurs offense ground to a halt.
If that Spurs team had 1999 David Robinson they probably could have pushed that Lakers team to 6 or 7 since the Spurs had homecourt, but 2001 is when David's age really started to catch up to him.
Thanks for the info man.....was DA really that bad of a defender? He did lead the team in steals that year.
Game 3 the Spurs kept it pretty close until about 3-4 minutes left in the first half. Then AJ missed an easy layup, I think Kobe ran it back for a dunk, crowd went ape , Shaq got a couple of easy baskets in the post the next couple of possessions, and all of a sudden it's a double digit deficit and the Spurs were never compe ive again the entire series. They pretty much gave up after being crushed to end that first half they had played pretty well in until the end. The second half of Game 3 and all of Game 4 was just the Lakers running wild against a defeated team.
DA is easily the worst I have ever seen in a Spurs uniform getting major minutes. It was an automatic 20-spot for whoever he was guarding every single night. DA would throw down an amazing dunk or two every night, but watching him on defense was like watching Bonner trying to guard Gasol in the 2008 WCF.
The Lakers collapsed our twin towers, & then a few months later the other twin towers collapsed as well. ty year...
I still remember watching the Lakers post game show on KNBC after Game 4 and AJ had to leave in the middle of an interview with one of the LA media guys because I guess it struck him at that moment that his Spurs career was over. It was pretty funny hearing DA complain about money when they went and interviewed him next. You just got knocked out of the playoffs and you're talking to the other team's media about the contract you want in the summer?
those guys tbh. Glad we replaced them with TP/Manu and won the best championship in our franchise history 2 years later.I still remember watching the Lakers post game show on KNBC after Game 4 and AJ had to leave in the middle of an interview with one of the LA media guys because I guess it struck him at that moment that his Spurs career was over. It was pretty funny hearing DA complain about money when they went and interviewed him next. You just got knocked out of the playoffs and you're talking to the other team's media about the contract you want in the summer?
But the 01 WCF ended up being a great thing for the Spurs. It forced Pop to go after Bruce Bowen, it showed DA was a crybaby not worth keeping, and it forced a youth movement leading up to giving Tony Parker the reins at point instead of going for an aging vet (The Sonics offered Gary Payton for Parker, Malik Rose, and Antonio Daniels in the summer of 2001).
Anyways, here's the 2001 WCF in one photo
This was the one legit le of their 3-peat shaqs best year in my opinion.
LOLOLAnyways, here's the 2001 WCF in one photo
Anderson wouldn't have been a factor anyway, the way the Lakers were playing
What happened?
1. the lakers were better
2. Phil Jackson was in the Spurms' heads; he took their focus out of the actual games with his asterisk comments; he did the same with the Blazers in 1992 when he said during the season the Blazers are bound to self-destruct. Man, Terry Porter must hate Phil
Last edited by lefty; 02-19-2016 at 01:53 PM.
Spurs ofense was so static it was easy to shut Spurs down.
Look at out ofensive game this year ...
I'll never forget the long stretches Tim would play on the floor without Dave. That series was the first time where I watched the Twin Towers not playing together for long stretches. The other damning thing like you said was in the first two games the spurs jumped to leads but couldn't maintain them. I felt in both games when the Spurs had the leads they were going to easily dispatch the Lakers like they did in '99.
Spurs got to rebuild their twin towers unlike NYC. The current Tower that has recently opened in NYC looks like .
I heard that every time The Admiral went out for a rest the Lakers went on a run.
The Spurs started Danny Ferry, Terry Porter, and Antonio Daniels. Is there really a question as to why they lost?
Yes it was really that bad. In the first 3 games the Spurs had the early lead or were within striking distance of the Lakers but once Dave left the floor that's when the Lakers would go gangbusters on the Spurs. Fisher,Fox,Kobe were significantly better in 'the 01 series than they were in '99 which was also huge for the Lakers. Also the addition of Horace Grant really helped the Lakers. That series was just the perfect storm for the Lakers.
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