Why were the Spurs unable to win a championship between 2008-2013?

[Budadiiii]

Duncan is a joke, who went to the Finals 6 times won 5 of them with 3 FMVP 2 MVP. But hes just a joke

What does Durant have that Duncan dosnt?? a nice scoring chip???

Durant would win every single year with Pop and that supporting cast.. get real

[Jlamb47]

Durant would win every single year with Pop and that supporting cast.. get real

I am getting REAL, and no he wont. Durant dont play defense like Duncan

[Budadiiii]

I am getting REAL, and no he wont. Durant dont play defense like Duncan

And Duncan has never played offense like Durant. Scoring > defense or else Tony Allen would be the best player in the league

[Mrofir]

Speaking of cliffs, this thread started off pretty well, and went over a cliff.

It is now drilling a hole into the core of the earth

[ralph_i_el]

Because it's hard as hell to win a chip and every season ~5 real contenders go home without one.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Peak Kobe, miracle Ray Allen shot, mismatches and injuries vs. OKC and Memphis.

[T_L_P]

Durant went God mode and ruined their shot in 2012, backdoor swept their asses.

2013 choke. Duncan is actually a massive choker. Never been a late game monster like Durant. Dude over-thinks it and ends up failing miserably. Remember that bunny he missed in game 7 to tie? LOL, dudes a joke.

Stephenson slip, missed a floater, missed the game-saving shot.

MVP season and he wasn't even the best player on his team in the Playoffs

[Budadiiii]

Stephenson slip, missed a floater, missed the game-saving shot.

MVP season and he wasn't even the best player on his team in the Playoffs

Stop trolling.

[rmt]

Let's be honest: from 2008-2010 Duncan was terrible, as his teammates got older he couldn't let them carry him like he wanted them to since he fell off a cliff (only being good for his size and length). He and his team were terrible and it didn't affect his all time rank for some reason. 2009 he loses to a mediocre Dallas team and in 2010 he and the spurs embarrassingly get swept by the suns, with Duncan being embarrassed by the young rookie goran dragic IN THE PAINT. 2011 they change their philosophy but the supposedly top 10 and in some peoples mind top 5 player of all time gets embarrassed by Zach Randolph, a player who used to air ball 3s in NYC, and his 8th ranked grizzlies. Even with HCA the supposed "best power forward of all time" choked and was showed to be a fraud. Now from here on out it gets interesting. Duncan actually became the player he was in 2008 from 2012-2013 but as always relies on good teammates and bad opponents in order to win. They lose in 2012 to okc and despite a valiant effort by the entire team lose to Miami. Miami fell off a cliff in 2014 season and that plus manu ginobli turning back into the old player he used to be helps them rout the heat. While Duncan deserves some credit, his having fallen off a cliff isn't mentioned by his proponents simply because he has 5 titles.

2007-08 regular season
19.3 pts / 11.3 rebs / 2.8 asst / 1.9 blks 50%FG in 34 mins.

2008 playoffs
20.2 pts / 10.9 rebs / 3.3 asst / 2.1 blks 45%FG

2008-09
19.3 pts / 10.7 rebs / 3.5 asst / 1.7 blks 50% in 34 mins.

2009 playoffs
19.8 pts / 8 rebs / 3.2 asst / 1.2 blks 53%FG

2009-10 regular season
17.9 pts / 10.1 rebs / 3.2 asst / 1.5 blks 52% in 31 mins

2010 playoffs
19 pts / 9.9 rebs / 2.6 asst / 1.7 blks 52%FG

2010-11 regular season
13.4 pts / 8.9 rebs / 2.7 asst / 1.9 blks 50%FG in 28 mins

You really should check your info before spouting off nonsense. Seems to me that 2010-11 was the only year he was as you say terrible. And those stats aren't bad for a 35 year old in 28 mins. You only think they're bad because he has been consistently excellent and the bar is set so high for him. Duncan is the primary reason why San Antonio has 5 championships.

[rmt]

2012-2013 .. we should give the Spurs some credit in this season. They didn't win but they were damn close.

Prior to that, there was a number of things:

- Bruce Bowen got old(er) & Spurs traded him for an under-performing/ill-fit Richard Jefferson. RJ was horrible in playoff losses against the Suns (10 ppg @ .42%) and Grizzlies (7 ppg @ .39 FG%). Spurs started getting better the moment he left.

- Spurs relied too heavily on Matt Bonner (67 starts in 08-09), who generally shrunk in the playoffs, and Antonio McDyess on his last legs (though to his credit he guarded Dirk excellently in 09-10 first round). The moment Spurs began starting Tiago Splitter they became even better defensively and offensively.

- DeJuan Blair was undersized, weak on D, and got into pop's doghouse. Has the skillset of a center (solid post moves ala Luis Scola) but is too short, jump shot not really solid enough to be full time PF.

- George Hill was awesome at times, a fan favorite, but didn't pan out and Spurs managed to upgrade, trading him for Kawhi Leonard on draft day (a player who was projected to go higher).

- Ginobili missed the playoffs in 09 and played through a broken arm in 11 loss to the Grizzlies.

- Adding Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, and Belinelli and bringing them off the bench made Spurs one of if not the deepest team in the league. Diaw - who won MIP on the Phoenix Suns mind you - is unique in that he can pass, shoot, defend, and play like a guard or a big. He thrives in SA's system.

- Duncan's resurgence (should have won DPOY in 2013) made Spurs lethal again, he trimmed down his weight and never went away from his mid-range jump shot, allowing Tiago (a natural center) room to maneuver and do his thing. TD's longevity can't be overstated.

- Spurs coaching staff reevaluated their offense as Timmy aged and begane integrating more fast breaks, uptempo style while retaining a focus on defense.

there are other reasons and I probably forgot some but those are biggest ones to me

This. In a nutshell, RJ, Bonner and Blair (instead of the current supporting cast of Diaw, Green, Splitter and Mills AND the emergence of Kwahi). And of course, there was the natural decline due to age of Duncan and Manu.

[T_L_P]

This. In a nutshell, RJ, Bonner and Blair (instead of the current supporting cast of Diaw, Green, Splitter and Mills AND the emergence of Kwahi). And of course, there was the natural decline due to age of Duncan and Manu.

Pop's an all time great coach (#2 in NBA history in my book), but he never "got" the Stretch 4. The only reason we have Daye on the team is because loves the idea of having one.

[gcvbcat]

They should never have lost in 13, good thing they won in 14.


still mad about 13 though.

[Budadiiii]

They should never have lost in 13, good thing they won in 14.


still mad about 13 though.

They wouldn't have won in 14 if they hadn't lost in 13.

The Spurs last year were just as desperate and hungry as the Heat were in 2012. You can't re-create that

[Spurs5Rings2014]

Stephenson slip, missed a floater, missed the game-saving shot.

MVP season and he wasn't even the best player on his team in the Playoffs

R.I.P. Budadiiii

[Anaximandro1]

And Duncan has never played offense like Durant. Scoring > defense or else Tony Allen would be the best player in the league

- From 1999 to 2007, Duncan was the best offensive player in the game (Shaq had the best offensive peak)




non-Spurs fans had 3 problems :

- 1 ) Spurs' players don't care about regular season stats

- 2) Spurs played at a glacial pace during Duncan's youth

- 3) NBA Offensive Ratings collapsed in the late 90s and early 2000s



prime Duncan was an incredible offensive player relative to his era.

He was great at creating his own shot in the half court; he was great at reading the defense, drawing constant double teams, and finding the open man; he was a phenomenal offensive rebounder ... at his peak, Duncan was the best player on both ends of the floor, a rare feat.


Why were the Spurs unable to win a championship between 2008-2013?

- Duncan's physical decline was pretty severe (2008 - 2011) -> the Spurs spent years reinventing themselves.

- Spurs' offense started to revolve around Parker, they acquired Jefferson, drafted DeJuan Blair, Ginobili suffered some injuries... things didn't pan out as planned.

- Kawhi Leonard was the missing piece. He is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, an elite rebounder, decent offensive player ... great asset for the team. Kawhi is a beast, tbh.