Looks like the spurs are the team to beat. They are the stepchild of the nba, and no one wants to 'go there' in free agency. We complain about free agents not wanting to sign in houston and the spurs seemingly aren't bringing any attention for howard,williams,lebron bosh(when he was deciding) etc. It's like the spurs aren't even on the radar of conversation and never were. Seems like getting melo or williams or howard might be shortsighted guys. I agree it was chicken **** when they tanked for duncan ..I dont condone that, but the adding of parker and ginobili worked out well. I dont even know the spurs owner name but if it was mark cuban one thing can be assured - 99.9% of this bbs would be slobbing his knob. I mean wheres the hype? It's funny how some people get all the love. not the spurs. I hated them when they had robinson only because everyone tried to hype him over the dream. Well dream took care of that and dismantled the admiral... So after that I never really hated the spurs, and while the rockets began to suck I casually watched them. Today I happened upon their game against clippers. So I am still not a fan of them, but watching them execute team basketball is fun to see. I can appreciate that, and they are good. If I had any cash I might be laying it down for them in vegas right about now.
The Spurs aren't worried about getting a superstar because they already have one. It is amazing how much easier building a team is when you have one.
Superstar? they have one of the greatest PF and PG of the last decade. They also have a guy name Ginoboli whos pretty good and one of greatest Coaches ever.
I don't think the Spurs have a superstar. They have all stars but no superstar. And yeah, it just took 18 straight wins and by far the best record for some people to say they are legit.
I admit this and pretty much the point I was trying to make. They do have superstars in duncan ginobili and parker but no one talks about 'going there' I mean it's not even part of the conversation. Whereas we hear all the time about NY, Miami, Lakers etc Spurs keep right on going. Spurs are the rodney dangerfield of the nba. I am guilty of forgetting them too.
They do not have a superstar, and have not had one in the last 3 or 4 years. They have good players who play well as a team. DD
I still consider Tim Duncan a superstar. Elite on both ends, and efficient. Also, tony Parker was the best PG in the NBA this season.
They do not have a superstar. No one on their team would command the max on the open market. The reason they're so good right now is they haven't had any injuries. It's a bit of a fluke. If you could have banked on one team getting a significant injury this year, it would have been them. So far it hasn't happened. No one will believe that they'll stay healthy the entire year until it actually happens.
That's not a good way of defining a superstar, because pretty much then no 33 or older player could be defined as a superstar. I'd argue that Duncan this year has proven himself to be just as good as Griffin. Ergo, this year, he is a superstar. As a max contract looks at multiple years into the future, it's not a good means of determining superstars.
The reason nobody called them legit is because they were the number 1 seed last year and got knocked out by Memphis. This year they have been the most impressive team in the playoffs so now they are starting to gain back that respect.
Ginobili missed a bunch of games due to injury. They don't have a superstar per se, but they do get 30 minutes of superstar-level production from Duncan every night. They have enough other really good players (and a great coach/scheme) that it makes up for it.
I cant stand them and still root for the other team unless the other team is the Lakers, but there is no denying the talent the team has and the terrific job Pop has done managing an aging team.
With guys like Buford and Popovich at the top how can you go wrong? Solid drafting and amazing coaching has gotten them to where they are.
Superstars can be counted on for more than 30 minutes a night. Superstars don't need their minutes limited.
The main reason the Spurs are 7-0 in the playoffs & on a 18 game winning streak is because Pop had the foresight to rest the big 3 multiple times during the regular season. I think he did that because of what happened in last year's playoffs. Now he has the healthest & most rested team in the playoffs.
