Who had the worst supporting cast to ever win a championship?

[tpols]

I agree. This notion that the Spurs sucked outside of Duncan is nonsense. Theres basically eight positions in basketball. PG, SG, SF, PF, C, 6th man, bench and Coach.

Compare them to what was around in 03. The Spurs had arguably the best Coach, 6th amn, PF, and Bench. They were arguably best at 4 of those 8 spots

That and they had amazing defense even outside Duncan. And their wcf opponent lost their best player plus finals comp was weak.



Best I've seen is Dirk.. even though his guys stepped up so did Dirk and they were underdogs without hca in every round after the first

[SouBeachTalents]

Alot of crappy teams talent wise won titles in the mid-late 70's, there wasn't much competition. That was probably the worst years the NBA ever had.

Since 1980 I would say...

'94 Rockets
'03 Spurs
'06 Heat
'11 Mavs

For those who saw the 2006 Heat know why I put them there. Outside of Wade and a past prime Shaq who didn't do much in the Finals it was a team filled with washed up misfit players who were past their prime or never played up to their potential.

No disagreement about the '06 Finals, but you'd still put the '06 Heat over the 2011 Mavs if you're factoring in the entire season? Shaq was still averaging 20 & 10 on 60% until the Finals

[MiseryCityTexas]

That and they had amazing defense even outside Duncan. And their wcf opponent lost their best player plus finals comp was weak.



Best I've seen is Dirk.. even though his guys stepped up so did Dirk and they were underdogs without hca in every round after the first

Lmao it was some guy in here earlier that actually said that said Tony Parker, SJax, and Ginobili did absolutely nothing to help the Spurs win in the play-offs/finals.

[MiseryCityTexas]

Alot of crappy teams talent wise won titles in the mid-late 70's, there wasn't much competition. That was probably the worst years the NBA ever had.

Since 1980 I would say...

'94 Rockets
'03 Spurs
'06 Heat
'11 Mavs

For those who saw the 2006 Heat know why I put them there. Outside of Wade and a past prime Shaq who didn't do much in the Finals it was a team filled with washed up misfit players who were past their prime or never played up to their potential.

Yeah because the best basketball talent played in the ABA, and not in the NBA during the early to mid 70s. Old farts that were past their primes like John Havlicek, and Oscar Robertson were still winning championships during that era.

[Prime_Shaq]

vs Lakers
Duncan 28 pts / 11.8 rebs / 4.8 asst / 1.3 blks 52.9%
Parker 14.8 pts / 2.8 rebs / 3.5 asst 40.5%
Manu 11.7 pts / 3.3 rebs / 2.5 asst 41.2%
Bowen 11.2 pts / 2.7 rebs / 1.8 asst 55.8%
SJax 8.3 pts / 4.2 rebs / 2.2 asst 32.7%

That's what you call a stacked team? Bowen had a good series (for him) - no one else. They knocked Lakers out because TD played extremely well - especially in the last game (37 pts / 16 rebs / 4 asst / 2 blks 64%)

Heartbreaker for me. This is why I hold Duncan real high in my book, he bested Prime Shaq.

[tpols]

Lmao it was some guy in here earlier that actually said that said Tony Parker, SJax, and Ginobili did absolutely nothing to help the Spurs win in the play-offs/finals.

People understate Duncan's cast because there was no star on the team.. much like the current spur teams. It was a total team effort.. spurs had hca throughout and people act like a team with the best record in the nba was some massive underdog.

Dallas was predicted to get bounced in the damn FIRST round.. and they won the championship. This shouldn't be a discussion.

[MiseryCityTexas]

People keep screaming that Rick Barry's Warriors had a bad supporting cast yet managed to beat a much better Washington Bullets team on paper. I think that 70s Warriors team could probably hang with today's soft, watered down league if a time machine existed.

[Shih508]

Duncan in 03 for sure. Their final opponent might be weak, but their road to Final was as tough as it gets.

Best Player post MJ era

[T_L_P]

That and they had amazing defense even outside Duncan. And their wcf opponent lost their best player plus finals comp was weak.



Best I've seen is Dirk.. even though his guys stepped up so did Dirk and they were underdogs without hca in every round after the first

Except...they were statistically a below average league defense without Duncan.

[T_L_P]

People understate Duncan's cast because there was no star on the team.. much like the current spur teams. It was a total team effort.

The Spurs with Duncan on the bench: 90 ORtg (#16 among Playoff teams), 104 DRtg (league average).

So the help around Duncan was average defensively and pitiful offensively. Oh yeah, complete team effort for sure, so much stacked.

The Box +/-s (Points Per 100 Possessions)

Duncan: 11.7 (2nd best for a title run ever)
Manu: 4.6
Robinson: 4.1
Kerr: 4.5
Jackson: 1.6
Bowen: 2.1
Claxton: 0.0
Rose: -1.1
Parker: -1.8
Ferry: -4.5
Willis: -2.0
Smith: -6.9

Compare that with the 2011 Mavs?

Kidd: 5.9
Terry: 4.8
Chandler: 4.3
Brewer: 4.3
Dirk: 3.8
Marrion: 3.1
Cardinal: 1.9
Haywood: 1.8
DeShawn: 0.9
Barea: 0.8
Peja: 0.7
Ian Mahinmi: -1.8

Now tell me which was more of a 'team effort'.

[Chadwin]

I called in to 790 today just to ask this.

Charlie says Hakeem.

[masonanddixon]

Duncan in 03 for sure. Their final opponent might be weak, but their road to Final was as tough as it gets.

Best Player post MJ era

I don't think they would have won against Dallas.