It's a scary thought that the Spurs are just entering their prime. Look at their big 3: Tim Duncan, 31, is playing better than ever, dominant at both ends. As conventional wisdom says big men enter their prime at 30s, so if Duncan is healthy, he will maintain his level of play. Manu Ginobili, 30 by July, is always the X-factor. When Ginobili shows up, the Spurs are almost unbeatable. And we just find out the trigger for Ginobili to show up is a poke to his left eye. Ginobili should still be able to maintain his level of play for a couple of years. Tony Parker, 25, is playing his best basketball. And every year, he's improving. I am not surprised if he's better next season. Parker is one of the speediest PG in NBA. Parker can attck, good at finishing around the basket, shoot jumpshoot, and control the tempo of the game. This season, Parker even showed up in late games of the playoff series. What a surprise! Parker is no doubt one of top 5 PG in NBA right now. The Big 3 in the Spurs will have 2-3 prime seasons ahead. Then, Bruce Bowen, 36, is the defensive ace. Bowen is healthy and still playing at a high level. Will Bowen slow down? It maybe time for the Spurs to find a replacement to bring along. The rest of Spurs' roaster are some interchangeable parts. The Spurs will always attract some good veteran to join the team at a good salary because of their championship experience and the quest for some veteran to win a ring. Not to mention Greg Popovich is one the most respectable coach in the League. So, how many rings will Tim Duncan win in his career? My guess is at least 5.
Good point. Imagine if they had pulled the trigger on Barry for Smith. Those interchangeable parts do always seem to fall into their laps though. Stephen Jackson, Antonio Daniels, Nazr Mohammed, Michael Finley, Derek Anderson, etc... I don't know about 5 rings though. The Suns, Mavs, and hopefully the Rockets should have something to say about that...
I disagree... 5 better point guards: Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Baron Davis, and Chris Paul. Also, others are right there (just without the team success that the Spurs have because of Duncan) as well such as Andre Miller and Deron Williams. Hell, I think Deron is a better point guard - I guess we'll see in this series. Also - there are scoring point guards such as Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas that are also considered better players. Hell, Earl Watson averaged more assists per game than Parker this season. He's not all that great of a player in my opinion. He's definately good, but not top-5. He knows his role and he sticks to it - which is good, but don't be calling him a top 5 point guard because of that.
Utah and Dallas have better arguments about "entering their prime". I agree that the Spurs have a couple more big seasons in them but they have been in their prime since they drafted Timmy. The Jazz are going to be around for at least 6-7 more season assuming Boozer, Williams or Okur don't leave and they continue to surround them with solid parts. The Mavs have at least 4-5 championship level years in them assuming they keep their big 3 together.
I think certain players for the spurs are IN their primes, (Duncan and Ginobili), and Parker is really starting to enter his. However, they would not be this successful if they hadnt consistently retooled their team with great role players (Oberto, Finley, Barry, etc.) I think they have been able to maintain their prime as a team for multiple years because of this.
never heard of Boozer is soft? Boozer fears any kind of contacts. he was lucky that he had Yao guarding him.
The Spurs are also the oldest team in the league. TD is no spring chicken. They are championship contenders as long as TD can bring it MVP level in the playoffs, and only while then. How long, who knows. TD was at his peak 4-5 years ago and is only gradually declining. But 31/32 was right when Shaq started fading, fast. Other big men have maintained longer, just have to see. The Spurs certainly don't look like the position the Shaq/Kobe Lakers were (post 03), and we saw how fast that team suprisingly declined. In the end it was a whole lot more dependent on Shaq maintaining his level than anything Kobe could gain. I think the same with the Spurs. TP cannot possibly make up for when TD declines. Manu will also be 30 this summer, he certainly isn't going to be any better than he is now. TD and Manu both have a lot of professional and international milage on those bodies--this could easily be their last hurrah as much as the start of more things special.
U can have your own fave 5 list, no problem. But when I look at point guards, I look at certain criteria: drive and finish in the paint, shooting % & scoring, assist/turnover ratio, control the tempo of game/run the offense/make the right decision, and other intagibles - rebound & defense. I pick Tony Parker because of an overall impression from watching the games. You certainly can have other choices depends on your own criteria.
Yeah, but if Parker tries driving Duncan out of town like Kobe did to Shaq, management would just laugh in his face.
The Spurs really didn't make any changes this year...but I think they will probably look totally different next year if they win title...i think you will see a number of player retire Horry and Bowen, maybe Barry. And the Spurs might go after a few free agents who might helped a little bit more Gerald Wallace or Earl Boykins.
Duncan has 2-3 more good years left and they could get 2 more titles before the team implodes and time to rebuild. Tony Parker would be their future franchise players and the team would be built around him. In 2008 they would have about 10 million dollars to add something good via free agency. I think if the win this year then the gm might not re-sign some of the player and hold off their MLE or sign players to one year deals. If I were the GM, I would save all the money for the 2008 offseason especially if a guy like Dwight Howard might be available. Orlando has history of losing centers because their general incompetence and this would not be a surprise to me. Duncan and Ginobili would be free agents in 2010 and Spurs could add some more pieces then via free agency. Again Spurs are one of the best managed team and so I wouldn't be surprised if they quickly rebuild and make a few more runs in the next decade.
Duncan's reliance on fundamentals could keep him at a high level for several more years. He has never relied on supreme athleticism so I dont see him dropping off for awhile.
Well Hooray for you and your Spurs. They are nothing without Duncan. When he goes down it is over. How many years does he have left - if used sparingly in the regular season- a couple of more years. they are lucky this year that Golden State took care of Dallas. This is probably their last championship for many years-unless -hopefully the Pistons get fortunate..
