Are the Spurs winning this way one of the best things that could happen for basketball?

I want to say that the Spurs offense is the natural result of the elimination of illegal defense. Unfortunately, for a team to play that way, it takes a great coach and players that buy into the european style.

I doubt hero ball will be going away anytime soon.

 

I am soo glad the Spurs are handing it to Mia.

I hope Morey takes notes, we do not need a 3rd superstar, we just need a Jeff Teague type point guar or a Paul Milsap type PF and use the rest of that money on a strong bench.

But the most important aspect that Morey is flagrantpy ignoring is a competent to great Head Coach.

As much as people trust in his name, he has had his fair share of mishaps, and blatantly willing to have an inept coach to have control over the basketball team is going to hinder us from true Championship contention and waste an incredible window we have right NOW.

 

Hate the spurs........go Spurs.....haaaaaa lebron wade bosh.

 

One thing I really love and respect about the Spurs is that none of them care about their numbers as long as they win. There have been games this season where Duncan or Parker plays their full minutes and have sub-par numbers, but they don't care as long as they win the game in the end. They could of had a horrible game, but for them all that matters is that they won.

All the Spurs' players have that "winning is the bottom line" mentality and it's refreshing to see that in a team, rather than some players who need to reach a statistical quota and winning comes as a close second. Having great individual players who put up amazing numbers nightly is great, but there is something special about at team that puts winning first and everything else a distant second.

 

You'll never convince teams like the Knicks, Lakers, etc to not try and out purchase other teams to a championship. Teams that can afford it will always try to squeeze together 3+ megastars if there's an opportunity.

It's the small markets that need to take a cue from the Spurs. Not simply a draft&keep notion. You've got to take pains to have razor sharp guys in your front office and scouting. And saying all that, the Spurs still enjoyed blind luck landing a top 20 all time player and arguably greatest PF/C of all time in Duncan.

But you look at the other small markets:
OKC has done things right (minus the Harden trade)
Mil has a poor track record in the draft
Mem has made pretty good moves the last several years
NO has been righting the ship post-Shinn
Char is taking baby steps but could stand a far superior front office
Tor is forever in flux and still suffers from US stars wanting out asap
Minny will be set back badly if Love gets out
Sac has been a huge mess, we'll see if new ownership makes a difference
Orlando has gone through 3 cycles of landing and losing a franchise guy, partly because the city is so small and the last two times because they were so terrible at building around the guy.
The Cavs lost LeBron because they surrounded him with hot garbage, and their attempts at rebuilding with multiple high draft picks has been just as pathetic.

With a couple of exceptions, the biggest thing shooting all the small markets is their inability to build a complete roster. Almost all of them have been able to draft at least one or two studs. No one is going to stick around to lose with a crummy roster.

 

Exactly, repped.

 

I hope Leonard (or Diaw) wins the Finals MVP. That would be a poetic testament of team ball with a role player winning the FMVP award.

I hate the "you must win with 3 stars nowadays" sentiment.

 

This is what happens when players have a great coach and they actually respect and listen to everything he says. Emphasis on great coach.

 

I 100% agree but Pops' greatness was helped by the fact that his great players (from Robinson to Duncan to Manu to Parker) were all coachable and allowed themselves to be yelled at by Pop when needed. If Pop had primadonnas as superstars his system would never work and he'd be out of a job long ago. I'm envious of everything they have in that organization.

 

Spurs are playing international style basketball just with the NBA players. Years ago, Argentina team with Scola won the gold medal with less skill players than USA team. Heats just play one-one game with the US style. Spurs coach is just too smart.

 

This. What people often forget is at the end of the season, its all about the money, not the wins. Sure, there are a couple teams that care about winning, but for the most part, its all dollars and cents. Big flashy stars bring in more money than sacrificing for team play with wins.

Unfortunately, the NBA is bleeding fans. Many of the people I grew up with have long since quit following the NBA.

 

they should have won it last year too if ray allen wasn't such a douche and listened to rondo! he should have stayed in boston. He can't hit a game tying three from boston. F u jesus shuttlesworth

 

It isn't the Jordan years, but the NBA is more popular now than 10 years ago. The spurs used to win with defense and really they weren't very enjoyable to watch.

 

George R.R. Martin wrote the ending for this series.

 

I don't know what the impact long term is going to be, however if the team offense and defense of the Spurs convinces more "all stars" to put their ego's on the back burner and play more of a team and 2-way game (*COUGH*) then that's great for basketball in general.

Even dodgy teams like Portland know that you should exploit bad defenders.

The Spurs have raised it to an art form. 100 more passes in Game 4 by the Spurs than by the Heat. Think about that... the Spurs don't just make the extra pass, they make the extra, extra pass until they get the wide open shot or the clock forces them to throw the ball up.

And players don't just stand around when the ball isn't in their hands. Every player moves with purpose and precision either to create an open passing lane, get an open shot, to act as a decoy to create space, or to act as a screen for their team mate.

You rarely see anyone trying to pound the ball into the paint. The passes fly around so fast that you could be the most athletic player on the planet and there's no way that you can make all the rotations and close outs required to defend it flawlessly for 50+ possessions a game. Let alone have all 5 guys do it for 48 full minutes.

If the Rockets don't win next year, I'd love to see the Spurs repeat next year... if to do nothing else than drive home the point that this Fundamental basketball thing isn't such a bad thing.

Team > individuals.

It's been that way since Naismith put the ball in the first peach basket. And it will be that way long after this series is a distant memory in the record books.

 

team ball wins a title once a decade or so, and then we return to the regular scheduled event.

 

You need a good coach for that. Morey can only control the personnel. For him, the best way to win is by stacking the team. Also, the Spurs are on their way to... ONE title playing this brand of basketball. Just one. If they win.

The rest of the titles? They're won by stars and the Pistons once. Morey is choosing the logical route.

 

worst teams? They have only missed the playoffs twice in their history...

 

You grow up hating SA as a Rockets fans form an inner state rivalry prospective.

As a basketball fan, that offense is just a thing of beauty. The magical thing about it is, how much it has changed as Duncan keeps aging. Since he isn't the main focal point anymore, the maximized the players efficiency. Its changed over time because he had to adjust the the team's needs.

Looking back a couple made shots, or unforced errors; last year with Ray Allen or Derek Fisher's last second shot 12 years ago, he'd have had a few more rings.

Pop should get all the admiration for what he has accomplished in the last two years alone. The Western conference was brutal, and to completely wipe the floor to the team boasting arguably the greatest player of all time?

 

I don't there is a clear way of winning. Imagine if the spurs had keith van horn vs tim duncan. I will say the evolution of Popovich has vaulted him into top 5 coaches of all time. He went from a high-low, 3pt, pound it low offense, to a flex/triangle type offense. Defensively,they're principaly sound,not great,but fluidity at which their system runs is really good. Its like jerry sloans offense with better players. That's why offensive wise, they get good shots,like utah, regardless of who is in there.

I may have gotten off topic,but watching the spurs is one of the reason I think we need to keep parsons. You don't see the spurs develop a guy,then when the time for a payday,they trade him.