1999 Spurs

[ShaqAttack3234]

For my money, this is one of the greatest teams of the past 15 years and the best Spurs team in their history. It's a shame that their defensive-oriented style and the lockout has prevented people from truly appreciating them. They started off the season just 6-8, but finished the regular season on a 31-5 run and they completely crushed every team they faced in the playoffs going 15-2 and They had the best defensive team in the league allowing just 95 points per 100 possessions and they held teams to just 84.7 ppg on 40.2% shooting during the regular season. In the playoffs, they held teams to just 81.2 ppg on 39.9% shooting.

Duncan emerged as the best player in the league with an incredibly polished low post arsenal, a polished face up game and increasingly dominant defensive game. Along with Robinson they formed the greatest interior defensive duo I've ever seen. Duncan was the star, but Robinson was still an excellent player. He was definitely a top 5 defensive player, very mobile for a center even after the back surgery, a very good passer and he hit mid-range shots with consistency. Duncan and Robinson's high/low plays were amazing to watch and both players were versatile enough to play either power forward or center at either end. A lineup with two seven footers causes enough match up problems, but when they're this skilled offensively and so good defensively, they become a true match up nightmare. The most impressive series for this duo were the semi-finals when Robinson did an excellent job defending Shaq while Duncan carried the scoring load and the finals when their size allowed them to seemingly do whatever they wanted. Those 2 alone almost guaranteed a great defense, but the role players bought into this as well. Avery Johnson was an excellent leader who ran the offense, distributed the ball very well and despite his limitations, found a way to score by getting to the basket and he made himself into a decent enough 15-18 footer shooter when he was open. Jaren Jackson and Sean Elliott also gave the team 3 point shooting.

The defense only allowed over 90 points twice during that playoff run and they held teams under 80 points 7 times in the playoffs. They were 4-0 in games decided by 5 points or less. And when you add their well-balanced offense in with their dominant defense, they become virtually unbeatable. They had atleast 3 players in double figures in every playoff game, they had atleast 4 players in double figures in 13 of their 17 games and they had 5 players in double figures in 6 games.

20+ games
Duncan- 12
Robinson- 3
Johnson- 2
Jackson- 2
Elliott- 1

20/10 games
Duncan- 9
Robinson- 3
Johnson- 1

Double/doubles
Duncan- 10
Robinson- 9
Johnson- 3

The team had a great cast of veterans, a superstar big man in Duncan, another great big man in Robinson and every one on the team played like winners stepping up in crucial times whether it be Avery Johnson's jumper from the corner in Madison Square Garden or Sean Elliott's miracle 3 vs Portland. Elie and Kerr had already won multiple championship teams which can't hurt. With that type of size, experience, depth and talent you'll always have a chance to win. However, when you have one of the best coaches of all-time like Gregg Popovich, those odds become even greater.

Here are the numbers for each key player in the 4 series.

1st round vs Minnesota (Spurs won 3-1)
Avery Johnson- 19.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1 spg, 2.3 TO, 59.3 FG%, 73.7 FT%
Tim Duncan- 18.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 3 bpg, 1.8 TO, 46 FG%, 77.3 FT%
David Robinson- 14.8 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 3 apg, 2 bpg, 2 spg, 1.8 TO, 50 FG%, 65.4 FT%
Sean Elliott- 12 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2 apg, 1.3 TO, 43.6 FG%, 50 3P% (4/8), 83.3 FT%

Semi-finals vs the Lakers (Spurs won 4-0)
Tim Duncan- 29 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2 bpg, 1 spg, 4.5 TO, 51.3 FG%, 80.9 FT%
Sean Elliott- 13.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4 apg, 1.5 TO, 44.4 FG%, 40 3P% (4/10), 76 FT%
David Robinson- 13.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1 bpg, 1.5 spg, 2 TO, 50 FG%, 73.1 FT%
Jaren Jackson- 12.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.5 apg, 51.4 FG%, 43.5 3P% (10/23), 60 FT%
Avery Johnson- 10.8 ppg, 3 rpg, 8.8 apg, 2.3 spg, 3.3 TO, 43.6 FG%, 61.5 FT%

Conference Finals vs Portland (Spurs won 4-0)
David Robinson- 17.5 ppg, 9 rpg, 3 apg, 3.3 bpg, 2.3 spg, 4.3 TO, 53.3 FG%, 84.6 FT%
Tim Duncan- 16.5 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 3.5 bpg, 2.5 TO, 52.1 FG%, 56.7 FT%
Sean Elliott- 15 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1 TO, 58.3 FG%, 47.4 3P% (9/19), 81.8 FT%
Avery Johnson- 12 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 7.5 apg, 1 spg, 2 TO, 40.7 FG%, 80 FT%

Finals vs New York (Spurs won 4-1)
Tim Duncan- 27.4 ppg, 14 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 bpg, 1 spg, 3.4 TO, 53.7 FG%, 79.5 FT%
David Robinson- 16.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 3 bpg, 1 spg, 1.6 TO, 42.4 FG%, 68.8 FT%
Mario Elie- 11.6 ppg, 4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.6 TO, 44.7 FG%, 30.8 3P%, 87 FT%
Avery Johnson- 9.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg 7.2 apg, 4 TO, 50 FG%, 60 FT%

I hope I'm not the only one who appreciates this team. While they weren't the greatest team of all-time, I'm not sure you'll see another team like this ever again. A very unique team that won in a way that wasn't appealing to the casual fan.

[jlauber]

Great post! Good to hear from you again.

[branslowski]

Great Post..

They were a very great team...Although I've questioned this before (due to as you stated "The Lockout") i've come around and did the research and noticed how defensively dominant this team was. They get my respect.

Repped.

[RUCKER]

David Robinson was washed up at that point.

Avery Johnson? The hell out of here. Basically a Poor Man's Derek Fisher.

Tim Duncan? Basically a Poor Man's Karl Malone.

That team is the most overrated team in NBA history. Once Shaq burst onto the Western Conference scene it was over for the Spurs. Hence why the Lakers went on to 3-peat.

You're acting like it's some All-Star Dream Team, when it was anything but. Bunch of overrated has beens and never weres like Avery Johnson and Poor Man Karl Malone's on that team.

The current Spurs team would run circles around that old ass team. Steve Nash would've picked the 99' Spurs team apart, single handedly. That Spurs team played at a time where nobody had stepped up quite yet. MJ had retired, so it was open season, Kobe and Shaq had yet to come into their own.

That championship was a f*ckin gift to the Spurs. There couldn't have been a more "Free-Bee" championship given out than that one. If I was a Spurs fan, or even a Spurs player on that team, I would not be proud of that worthless championship.

[Rose]

Since you said that Timmy and the Admiral are the best big defensive duo you've seen where would you rank sheed and big ben?

Also pretty good read. And repped.

[RUCKER]

Since you said that Timmy and the Admiral are the best big defensive duo you've seen where would you rank sheed and big ben?

Also pretty good read. And repped.

Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas would smash all over a prime Robinson/Duncan, and Rasheed/Ben Wallace.

IMO they're the best defensive tandem this game has ever seen. Hands down, bar-none.

[jlauber]

Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas would smash all over a prime Robinson/Duncan, and Rasheed/Ben Wallace.

IMO they're the best defensive tandem this game has ever seen. Hands down, bar-none.

You are kidding, right?

[ShaqAttack3234]

Since you said that Timmy and the Admiral are the best big defensive duo you've seen where would you rank sheed and big ben?

Also pretty good read. And repped.

Thanks, and it's tough to say. The 2004 Pistons after the Sheed trade may have been the best defensive team I've ever seen period, but I liked Duncan/Robinson better, more size and shot blocking. Both Duncan and Robinson had legit center size, while Robinson was the guy to guard Shaq, iirc(haven't seen any of the games since the series), Duncan typically did a good job when he did have to guard him. Having 2 guys with enough size not to get bullied by the biggest centers as well as the mobility to guard power forwards and the length and timing to block shots is about all you can ask for.

The advantages the 2004 Pistons had as a team were that they had Prince who was a better perimeter defender than anyone on the '99 Spurs and Billups big size advantage over Avery Johnson also gives them an advantage, but as far as PF/C? I'd still have to rank that duo as the best defensively.

Oakley and Ewing is also up there, then consider the depth that team had with Anthony Mason(who did a very good job on Hakeem in the '94 finals when he guarded him). Though nobody could truly stop Hakeem at that point.

[Rose]

Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas would smash all over a prime Robinson/Duncan, and Rasheed/Ben Wallace.

IMO they're the best defensive tandem this game has ever seen. Hands down, bar-none.

Even my Bulls bias/Tyrus Thomas bias....doesn't extend far enough to agree with you.

[Bigsmoke]

here are the teams i think that could beat the 1999 Spurs

00-02 Lakers
2005 Spurs
08 Celtics
10 Lakers "with a healthy Bynum"

[BlueandGold]

David Robinson was washed up at that point.

Avery Johnson? The hell out of here. Basically a Poor Man's Derek Fisher.

Tim Duncan? Basically a Poor Man's Karl Malone.

That team is the most overrated team in NBA history. Once Shaq burst onto the Western Conference scene it was over for the Spurs. Hence why the Lakers went on to 3-peat.

You're acting like it's some All-Star Dream Team, when it was anything but. Bunch of overrated has beens and never weres like Avery Johnson and Poor Man Karl Malone's on that team.

The current Spurs team would run circles around that old ass team. Steve Nash would've picked the 99' Spurs team apart, single handedly. That Spurs team played at a time where nobody had stepped up quite yet. MJ had retired, so it was open season, Kobe and Shaq had yet to come into their own.

That championship was a f*ckin gift to the Spurs. There couldn't have been a more "Free-Bee" championship given out than that one. If I was a Spurs fan, or even a Spurs player on that team, I would not be proud of that worthless championship.

Although I don't agree with everything this poster has to say there is a degree of truth to this post. The league was watered down due to expansion and this was the first "post-jordan" season in the NBA, which also happened to be a shortened season due to a lockout.

As far as star players and hall of famers, the Spurs don't match up to the 80s Celtics/Lakers/Pistons, the 90s Bulls or even the 00 Lakers or this current Laker/Celtic squads. Sure Duncan/Robinson is a fearsome twin tower force, even with Robinson in the twilight years of his career, but I believe that the reason why they went 15-2 in the playoffs was because of the quality of the playoff teams at that point (bunch of new teams out west, beat a Knicks team in the finals without Ewing) due to over-expansion.

[Alhazred]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to ShaqAttack3234 again.

Good post, would rep if I could. Do you think the Knicks would have had a chance to win that year had Ewing been healthy? That was something that I was always curious about.

[SCdac]

all these Spurs teams were just that, the epitome of "team". It's made it very easy to be a fan. there were solid veterans (easiest part to underrate) and there were hungry player in Antonio Daniels and Malik Rose. but certainly the teams were lead by Duncan. In the third quarter of the last finals game (game 5) he carried the team, don't remember the exact numbers but I remember Robinson didn't score a point and Tim was the definition of "reliable" hitting turnaround jumpers and doing everything to start the second half.

as a 14-15 year old in 1999, it was Mario Elie and Avery Johnson who were my favorite Spurs players at that time. Both defensive, both tough, and both could hit a clutch shot.... I remember when we finally won a/that championship, my father who is more of a diehard spurs fan than anybody (he grew up in Dallas, listening to SA games back when they were the "Dallas Chaparrals" in the early 70's, then moved to SA in early 80's - he watched Gervin fall flat in the 80's, Robinson be labeled soft in the 90's, a slew of head coaches come and go, and the Spurs play in multiple arenas ), after knocking out the Knicks, it was probably the happiest I had ever seen him, it's hard to explain but it almost felt like he had another child! lol. And maybe the happiest I had ever seen SA, it was great for the city, you'd go outside and just hear people honking their car horns every where you go. I still got one of the original championship t shirts they wore after the game (well, a replica), though it's like 3 sizes too small now.... Spurs not only won, but they won in all the right ways, with teamwork, relentless/focused defense, resiliency, and sparked by playing a 22 year old Tim Duncan 43.1 minutes per playoff game... somebody who wasn't then, but went on to become the best power forward ever.

After 26 years of franchise disappointment ... and the first of the ABA teams to go all the way


Going 15-2 in the playoffs is dominant.... as is sweeping a team in the Finals almost 10 years later.... Spurs definitely deserve a good amount of credit, whether the team is filled with popular "names" or not.

[ShaqAttack3234]

As far as star players and hall of famers, the Spurs don't match up to the 80s Celtics/Lakers/Pistons, the 90s Bulls or even the 00 Lakers or this current Laker/Celtic squads. Sure Duncan/Robinson is a fearsome twin tower force, even with Robinson in the twilight years of his career, but I believe that the reason why they went 15-2 in the playoffs was because of the quality of the playoff teams at that point (bunch of new teams out west, beat a Knicks team in the finals without Ewing) due to over-expansion.

Well, no teams from the late 90's/00's come close to the great 80's teams in terms of being stacked and even though the Lakers chemistry was crap due to the coaching changes midseason, the midseason trade of Jones and Campbell for Rice, the Rodman distraction and the Shaq/Kobe feud, that Laker team was still very talented. Sweeping a team that talented is an accomplishment in itself and sweeping just about any team in the conference finals like they did to Portland is as well.

But aside from big names(and Duncan/Robinson were considered a star duo at the time), how many of those teams had better defenses? And the Spurs balance was remarkable, Duncan dominates offensively averaging 29 in the WCSF and 27 in the finals, yet Avery Johnson leads them in scoring in the 1st round and David Robinson leads them in scoring in the WCF.

Good post, would rep if I could. Do you think the Knicks would have had a chance to win that year had Ewing been healthy? That was something that I was always curious about.

If you would have asked the young version of me at the time, I would have said yes, but in hindsight, I doubt it. Then again, it's hard to say what a healthy Ewing was at the time, he was always playing through injuries and he was closer to 40 than 30 at the time.

But it would've made the series more competitive. LJ was getting abused in the post, Duncan was schooling him with moves and when he had to guard Robinson, David would just turn and shoot over him. Kurt Thomas is only about 6'8" and Marcus Camby was in constant foul trouble. Oddly, in short stretches, Chris Dudley seemed to do the best job on Duncan out of any New York big man.

[Rose]

Thanks, and it's tough to say. The 2004 Pistons after the Sheed trade may have been the best defensive team I've ever seen period, but I liked Duncan/Robinson better, more size and shot blocking. Both Duncan and Robinson had legit center size, while Robinson was the guy to guard Shaq, iirc(haven't seen any of the games since the series), Duncan typically did a good job when he did have to guard him. Having 2 guys with enough size not to get bullied by the biggest centers as well as the mobility to guard power forwards and the length and timing to block shots is about all you can ask for.

The advantages the 2004 Pistons had as a team were that they had Prince who was a better perimeter defender than anyone on the '99 Spurs and Billups big size advantage over Avery Johnson also gives them an advantage, but as far as PF/C? I'd still have to rank that duo as the best defensively.

Oakley and Ewing is also up there, then consider the depth that team had with Anthony Mason(who did a very good job on Hakeem in the '94 finals when he guarded him). Though nobody could truly stop Hakeem at that point.

Yeah Both Duncan and Robinson were just amazing at containing shaq in his prime/near his prime. Here's what I've got personally.

Timmy/Robinson
Sheed/Ben are so close though it's not funny.
Ewing Oakley
then Hakeem/Ralph Sampson.