nixluva wrote:TMS wrote:dude, how am i not being fair?... MDA had the most talented roster in that playoff series, how can u possibly dispute this?... u wanna bring in other factors into the equation about playoff experience (which btw i already acknowledged played a factor in that defeat) but really that does nothing to disprove the fact that MDA had the best players to work with during that series... experience is an intangible factor, stats are not... Amare outperformed the Spurs' best player in that series & during the regular season & had an MVP calibre season himself that year putting up 26 & 9... they also had the NBA MVP Nash averaging 16 & 11 & leading the NBA in assists along w/another Allstar in Marion who averaged 19 & 11, better stats than Tony Parker & Manu G put up that year respectfully... the Spurs also had no one on their team that even came close to what Joe Johnson was already doing that early in his career either... Popovich utilized role players like Bruce Bowen, Brent Barry, Robert Horry & Rasho Nesterovic to their maximum potential & it showed in their ability to beat the Suns at their own game during that series... that's all fair & real, not some imagined stuff i'm cooking up in my head.
DID THE SPURS NOT WIN A TITLE IN 02-03? What exactly had PHX done in the years prior to 04-05 that could've prepared them for that kind of series, especially when they lost Joe the 1st 2 home games and it threw them off? The Spurs were FAR more battle tested and in terms of the stats you bring up for Mike's players, that is all a function of how he had them playing. That was an unheard of pace and of course they had great stats that year. Those individual stats have nothing to do with how one team compares to another in a 7 game series. Mike did what he always does and that is maximize what he has but that doesn't mean those players as a team are gonna be better than another team.
The Spurs as champs could pace themselves. They weren't trying to prove anything in the regular season, whereas an upstart team like the Suns did need to win and give it their all. So it makes it seem like they're so much better than a team like the SPurs but that's just window dressing. Teams like the Celts and Lakers have done this too after winning a title. It's not uncommon. The Suns were new and untested and the Spurs were champions and more experienced that does a lot to even out the so called talent gap. It was still a great campaign for the Suns and as I said that doesn't explain the GREAT job MIke did the next year in getting back to the WCF's with a much weaker team.
are you seriously trying to tell me that the Spurs purposely lost games in the regular season, or at least didn't give it their all to win every single game they could, so they could pace themselves for postseason play? dude, the Suns only won 3 more regular season games than the Spurs did... & you're complaining that i'm not even attempting to be fair here?
i never once said it wasn't a great campaign for the Suns that year... only a fool would suggest otherwise... i also recognized the experience advantage the Spurs had going into that series... the point i made was that MDA had the most talented roster to work with... you do understand the difference between those 2 concepts, don't u? but you somehow seem to think MDA deserves 100% of the credit for getting his players to achieve over their heads by putting up tremendous numbers over the regular season, but 0% of the blame for them not being able to beat a team that they had the talent to beat... IMO he got outcoached in that series by Popovich... nothing to be ashamed of, he's outcoached plenty of good coaches on his way to multiple titles, but even suggesting someone could possibly outcoach MDA & beat him at his own game seems to offend you to the core.
regarding the '06 Suns that made it to the WCF w/an undermanned crew, MDA deserves a ton of credit for the job he did in that series... probably 1 of the best jobs of coaching in the past decade... he got beat by the better team no one's holding that loss against him.
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.