[Note from ATS:  I wanted to put this on the front page a couple days ago, but thought I would do some formatting to make it more readable.  I agree with about 50% of it which is a 500% increase in how much of CC's posts I normally agree with.]

OK, here is  my attempt to analyze what went wrong with the Spurs and how to get better.

The Basics of winning playoff basketball. Much like John Wooden said, winning is a pyramid of success. The foundations are:

• A. Height
• B. Length
• C. Athleticism

Then, add on a second layer:

• A. The heart of a champion
• B. The brass of a bad ass

Then, a third layer:

• A. The wisdom of experience
• B. The energy of youth
• C. The grit of a defender
• D. The mind of an expert

For the X's & O's, the basics are these:

• A. Start with a shot blocking interior defense
• B. Press on the shooters and funnel them to the baseline. The baseline acts as an extra defender. Never allow penetration to the middle
• C. Never give up offensive rebounds
• D. On offense, work the ball inside to out, not the other way around
• E. Have a floor general on the court at all times
• F. Have a proven cold-blooded shooter(s) as your primary weapon in the last minutes of a game
• G. The ball must touch at least 3 sets of hands each possession, pass the ball around, avoid ball hogging

The overall goals

• A. Designing a team to beat your arch rival
• B. Defense
• C. Post Offense

Quickly, I will compare the 05 Spurs to the 09 Spurs

• The 05 bench towered over the 09 bench by 11 inches
• The 09 roster had no true shot blocker aside from Duncan
• The 09 roster had no mouthbusting bad ass
• The 09 roster had no backup floor general
• The 09 roster had only 1 roughneck in the post (Thomas), the 05 team had 5 (Mohammed, Nesto, Horry, Masenburg and Robinson)
• The 09 roster had a cold-blood shooter (Mason Jr), but destroyed his confidence and didn't play him in the clutch
• The 09 roster no new guy with championship pedigree (funny how great teams always have a Horry, Elie, Ron Harper, Sam Cassell, Fisher, etc....)

The breakdown by pyramid points.

2pt: Height
2pt: Length
2pt: Athleticism
3pt: Heart of a champion
1pt: Wisdom of experience
1pt: Energy of youth
1pt: Grit of a defender
1pt: The mind of an expert

Mohammed: H,L,A,E,G (8)
Nesterovich: H,L,G (5)
Horry: H,L,A,HE,W,G,M (12)
Barry: L,W,M (4)
Udrih:
Brown: A,E (3)
Massenburg G (1)
Robinson W (1)

TOTAL: 34 pts

Bonner: H (2)
Finley: W,M (2)
Oberto: H,W (3)
Thomas: H,W (3)
Uodka: E (1)
Hill: L,A, E (5)
Mason: M (1)
Gooden: H (2)
Vaughn: W (1)

TOTAL: 20 pts

So, the make up of the 09 team was not good, that is black and white.

Current Players Breakdown:

Duncan: Knees are gone. Still an all-star, but not a dominate post player every possession, has maybe a couple more good years left with limited minutes.

Ginobili: One of the greats, but ravaged by injuries. We need to pray he takes less money and stays healthy.

Parker: In his prime. Can not be the go to guy in the playoffs. A flight risk if not treated well.Taken a lot of abuse from Pop. Roll out the red carpet for him.

Mason Jr: Great clutch shooter. A solid two guard. Confidence shaken badly by having to play at the point. Gets a free pass to move onto next season. Needs to really work on his D.

Oberto: Fallen out of the rotation. Was never fast, but has slowed to a crawl. Still has great fundamentals, but not a legit interior defender any more. Gonzo.

Bonner: A three point specialist and ass clown, at three million a year one of the worst signings in the history of the Spurs, Scola makes the same money, nuff said. Fucking gonzo.

Thomas: A shaky midrange jumpshooter and ok banger inside. Giving up a first rounder for this dude was a horrible mistake. The association, Europe and D-League are filled with 6-9 guys that can bang inside and little else, he is on a nice downward spiral to boot, a disaster in my opinion. He could be a great mentor to a young power forward, problem is...we have the greatest power forward in history starting ahead of him, Duncan can mentor any new guy better than he can. Gonzo.

Udoka: Nice game, like his upside. He had the potential to be a mouthbusting bad ass, but never lived up to it. Not on par with real bad asses like Elie and Horry, had his chance and didn't display what was expected, he should have knocked some guys around but didn't. I like him, but...gonzo.

JV:A ghost of a roster spot. GONZO.

Hill: Not my first choice during the draft, but not bad, showed some heart, has long arms, can block shots at the guard position, played pretty well in the post season despite Pop mind fucking him, I say let him run the backup point, give him the ball and see what he can do. Free pass to next season. He is in.

Gooden: Almost, but not. Almost a good rebounder, almost good post offense, almost good post defense, almost good midrange jumper. Gonzo.

Finley: A great clutch shooter and heart guy, defense is a complete liability and that means he is gonzo, no room in the association for a two guard who can't play D.

Possible Free Agents/Trades:

Ben Gordon: His defense sucks ass. He is a complete ball hog and a serious no-go.

Brad Miller: On the downward spiral. Would make a nice third big man though if we could get him on the cheap. Fills the role of Will Purdue and Nasterovich.

Rasheed Wallace: He could fill the Robert Horry role as a defender and mouthbusting bad ass. If we can get him on the cheap, this is a definate go.

Marcus Camby: Could fill the role of Nazr but missing the energy of youth. If we can get him on the cheap he is a go. Like to have somebody younger.

Tyson Chandler: Ah, here is Nazr replacement, but doesn't seem as tough. If we can afford him, he is a go and a better pick than Camby.

Birdman: Would fill the role of a third big man, but absolutely not a starter. If we can get on the cheap, he is a go.

Anthony Carter: No.

Jamal Magloire: An Ok fill for Nazr. If we can afford him, he is a go.

Sheldon Williams: A nice third big man possibility. A gamble I would take.

Adonal Foyle: A poor man's shot blocking center. Lost behind Dwight Howard. He is a go.

Brandon Bass: Good roughneck if we can get on the cheap. Probably will be too expensive.

Splitter: We wil not sign him. Our recent record of dealing with players sucks. The dollar is extremely weak right now (Vegas is filled with Canadians and Japanese taking advantage of this..I was there during Christmas and have never seen so many foreigners there..a lady from Canada flat out told me what the situation is). This is a reach at very best. Had our chance, but flubbed it.

My rant on Pop, Peter and the organization will come another day, but there is the tale of the tape for today.

Final thought:

Ok, wrap your brains around this. Step back and look at history and the facts. The Lakers seem to win championships for a streak every decade or so. They hold a gun to somebody's head (Kobe trade), introduce a mole (Jerry West) or stuff Dominican bank accounts with huge wads of cash (Odom/Shaq). So, they are pre-destined to win championships and there is no way around that. But, they can not maintain that level of greatness for more than a couple years. Knowing that they are in a position of strength right now and for the next 2-3 years, do we want to start totally rebuilding to coincide with their decline?