This isn't just the end of an era

Posted by wenyue on December 8th, 2016

  He aged better than KG and was still dominant in his way right up until the very end, even as his box score numbers cratered. This isn't just the end of an era, it's an epoch.We'll get into how the Spurs move forward in due time, but first we owe the Big Fundamental a proper farewell. Cheap NBA 2k17 MT Coins You've argued that Duncan is the greatest power forward of all time and the second-greatest big man ever, after Kareem. Anything else to add to that, sir?You and Pop can share a nice Chianti and sob together.A lot of people are writing this team off. Not as a good team, or even as a top-two seed in the West, but as a team that can actually, seriously beat the Golden State Warriors. Let's re-establish that the Spurs will be fine. They have one of the best two-way forwards in the world in Kawhi Leonard. They have a reliable All-Star big man scorer in LaMarcus Aldridge. They still have Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. They have Pop. I'm not worried about the Spurs.People are taking them too lightly, aren't they?Okay, I'm a little worried about the Spurs, mostly because of their trouble with the Thunder, one of whose stars is now on the West’s juggernaut with even more help.Cheap NBA 2K17 MT Some of the Spurs' trouble was specific to the unfavorable Parker-Westbrook match-up. But half of that equation is Parker, who has noticeably slid over about three years. He's not mentioned among the elite point guards anymore, and for good reason. He's going to have to guard either Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson if the Spurs meet the Warriors in the playoffs.Now Kyrie Irving managed to survive that test, so it's possible Parker gets out relatively unscathed. But can Parker still wear down dudes when he's on offense? Cheap NBA 2k17 MT Coins The Spurs offense doesn't really work like that these days.All that is valid and explains why the Spurs aren't thought of as a true foil to Golden State the way, say, the Cavaliers are. And yet, these are still the Spurs and they will still be solid defensively and a machine offensively. Maybe even more so on the offensive end given they replaced Duncan's declining production with a still-vital Pau Gasol.I'm fully on board with the Spurs as a top team -- a tippy-top team -- and I think they'll win somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 games again. Kawhi Leonard is an MVP favorite for me, LaMarcus Aldridge is really good and Parker is still an A-minus point guard at worst. Plus Danny Green, Patty Mills, Pau, Manu and Tim -- err, uh, sorry. David Lee? Yeah. Plenty of complements to the main pieces.

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wenyue
Joined: May 9th, 2016
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