Poll: Greatest of the 4 Title Teams?

UGh, im so torn between 2003 and 1999….

The 1999 squad ranks as one of the greatest defensive teams of all time ( I forgot the formula used to calculate this in the article I read some time ago. It was done by Hollinger)

But the 2003 unit was stacked as well. Captian Jack as your starting shooting guard and MANU as your Backup ? DAY-UM

Id have to say the the 1999 squad would win a seven game series versus the 2003 squad in six or seven games.

Im goin with 1999. There was nobody scoring inside with Duncan in his prime and David still able to lock it down in his twilight. Not to mention Sean Elliott, Mario Elie and Jaren Jackson harassing the hell out of the “oppenents” wings.

2003. I think that team was deep and balanced.

MVP: Tim Duncan
Young guns: Manu, Tony, Brown, Claxton
Tough guys: Rose, Willis, Robinson
Shooters: Bowen, Jackson, Smith, Kerr, Ferry
Fillers: Bateer, Goldwire

OK, so I’m one of those crazy people that actually think the 2005 roster was better than the others. B-ball IQ was ridiculous on that team, and that had to cut down an extremely good Detroit team to win it, not to mention the best team Phoenix ever fielded in the SSOL era – those teams played opposite styles, and the Spurs took them both down. That team was probably the most versatile team of the 4. I would have voted for the ‘99 team, but there just wasn’t much competition that year. Regardless, let’s hope we can add the 2010 team to this poll a year from now. :)

There is a very simple answer to this. It was the 03 team. They had Robinson,Duncan,Ginobili,Parker,Jakson,Rose and many other great vets on their team. MVP Duncan.

the 03 was the best defensive team i have ever seen. They were capable of shutting you down for long periods of time (6-8min). Also that team was unstopable on offense, you only had 2 options to play against that team: 1. You can guard Duncan one on one, or 2. Double team duncan. If playing duncan straight up was a very bad idea at the time. The guy was a killer, nobody could guard him. If you double team duncan, we had capt jack and manu, they had huge games when teams decided to double team duncan.

The 03 team had also the pertfect backup point in Claxton, who played great during the playoff and he was very consintent, and that was important because you didnt know which parker you were going to get.

The scary thing is I think the ’10 roster has the potential to really compete in this poll (if they win).

Tony Parker continues to improve. A healthy Manu is a healthy Manu no matter what our oppenents think. If you disagree, watch some of his highlights from last season and just think that he did all of that in a half season. Duncan might be seeing a decline in minutes and shot blocking ability, but he can still control the paint on defense and can take a game over on offense.

Then, add RJ who is better than Stephen Jackson on D and more dynamic on offense. Add McDyess who is the best rebounder Duncan has played with since Robinson. Add Ratliff who is the best shot blocker we’ve had since Robinson. Add Mason who will have another year in our system and a better defined role (not at the 1) and is one of the best 5th scoring options on any team in the league. Bonner is a great role player and can make teams pay for playing off him. He just needs to come off the bench. Add Blair and Mahinmi, for asuper young and athletic front court option that can get out and run both ways. Add Finley who is a beyond excellent 6-7th scoring option depending on how aggressive Dice is. Hill is a super athletic guard who can play D, finish at the hoop with authority, and can play on or off the ball. He is also young and can run the break plus has a knack for picking up fouls a la Manu. Then you round out the roster with Haislip, Hairston, and Williams to add some young hungry guys that will hustle every time they are on the court.

I feel like Artest right now…..we are just so deep next season.

I think they are one of the best teams of all time, Spurs or otherwise, and have never gotten their due thanks to the asterisk nature of their championship. This was the prime of the “Twin Towers.” By the time 2003 rolled around, Robinson was a shell of his former self as back injuries had taken their toll.

Unconfirmed reports that this is Phil Jackson and former assistant Kurt Rambus GOLing upon hearing that yet another Spurs fan has declared the Spurs as “team of the decade”.

Also unconfirmed Rambus said “Don’t they realize that if Shaq wouldn’t have been such a baby and gotten along with Kobe and showed for camp in shape instead of pounding cheeseburgers every summer the Spurs wouldn’t have half those trophies.”

Jackson added “Looks like we’ll have to slap an asterisk on a couple more of those banners they supposedly won.”

Automatically makes 99 the best. I don’t care if the wings are better, Sean Elliott and Mario Elie are good enough when you have 2 guys that averaged a combined like 45 points, 20+ rebounds, 10 assists, and 7-8 blocks a game. Unstoppable.

I chose ‘99 because it was extremely difficult to score on that team. The Twin Towers were amazine. If you just look at the rosters, it would probably be ’03, but a team sometimes is more than the sum of its individual parts. That’s why the ’99 team went 15-2 in the playoffs (one of the best marks in league history), which was preceded by a hot streak of something like 31-5 to end the regular season, after their slow start. They even swept Portland and LAL, which were considered by some to be the two most-talented teams in the league, at least on paper.

I gotta go with the ’05 team as the best. Sure, the ’99 squad was unstoppable, but you have to believe that the basketball world was waiting for the Spurs to choke away yet another good season as they had been wont to do in the past (a la ’95). Nobody took that team seriously until it was too late—Duncan and Co. were usually already up 2-0 in their playoff series. The ’03 team was the deepest, but you can really only appreciate that in retrospect. Who knew some rookie who was the 57th pick of the 2nd round would have such an impact? Parker had had an eye-opening rookie campaign, but still had his growing pains. Robinson was on his last legs—Kevin Willis was being leaned on to help Timmy down the stretch in some games. And nobody knew how journeyman Stephen Jackson would hold up in clutch situations. Then there were the reserves. For crying out loud, we had Speedy Claxton carrying us down the stretch in a couple Finals games, and had to rely on Steve Kerr heroics to even get us out of the WCF. The only widely respected threat on that team was Mr. 2 time MVP Timmy Duncan. In truth, the ’03 team was put together to allow us to take it apart later—no one expected them to explode for a 60-22 season.

But the ‘05 team had the hardest road to glory. The cat was already out of the bag about Parker and Ginobili—especially after the near miss in the ’04 campaign. The bench was strong—the supporting cast lethal with Horry late in the game. They had to take down Denver in rd 1 (which had the best record after the all-star break that year), a dangerous Sonics team in rd. 2, then go on the road against #1 seed phoenix at the zenith of the SSOL era. They really demonstrated a stunning variety of winning ways in those first three rounds, from grinding the Nuggets into submission with defense or simply outrunning and outgunning the suns in their own gym. Then the Finals series, which i regard to be the best a SA team has ever played. Not only was Detroit the mirror image of SA in the East, but they were the defending champions, and had everything to play for. Winning game 7 of that series legitimized the Spurs’ stronghold on the league. That’s why the ’05 team, for me, edges out the others as the best of the best Spurs squads.

for 5 simple reasons:

1. Tim Duncan

2. David Robinson

3. Tony Parker

4. Manu Ginobili

5. Bruce Bowen

any questions class?