http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7597748/tim-duncan-manu-ginobili-mortality-san-antonio-spurs

Nice read, Rasher.

good article, san antonio should never have had an NBA franchise in the first place

WTF. Carles wrote this? Random, even by Grantland standards. This is like Spike Jonze directing an ad for Ricky Perry's presidential campaign.

Great article. Good insight on the fan/media perspective of the dynasty ending.

It kind of sucks where the Spurs are right now. Too good to blow it up and rebuild, but not quite good enough to be favorites in the West anymore.

Last year's playoff exit really stung. Pretty much felt like the end of the Duncan era. But then they come out playing another great regular season and inspire hope in me again.

It would be fantastic to see Duncan get another trophy this year. In many ways it would be the best one of all. It would solidify him as the best PF of all time and it would maybe get the attention of free agents like Dwight Howard.

To be quite honest, after last year, just getting to the WC Finals would be great, and another ring would almost be gravy.

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maybe get the attention of free agents like Dwight Howard

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definition of delusion. there is no reason for any bigtime FA to ever even consider signing with the spurs if the money is anywhere close to being even

What is amazing is the Spurs franchise success despite their location. No other small market franchise has been able to pull off what they have. Their title chances are pretty well gone, but even the kind of year they are having this year would be the envy of most the league.

And yeah, there won't be any superstars heading to San Antonio through any other means besides the draft.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 2/21/2012 5:51p).]

the packers have

In the near 40 years that the Spurs have been a franchise in both the ABA and NBA they have always had competitive teams and have only missed the playoffs a handful of times.

The Spurs will be ok when Duncan retires, they may suffer a few years of mediocre seasons but they will draft and pick up good players. San Antonio is not a horrible city to play in and players around the league enjoy the coaching staff and atmosphere of the Spurs.

Let us not forget that the only other teams to do this well in the past 15 years are the Lakers and Mavs. The Spurs will be just fine..

No state income tax and a low cost of living is something that is almost always overlooked by free agents here. That and being king of the seventh largest city in the US.

probably the most irrelevant large city in the entire country

And also the 25th largest Metro Area!!

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the packers have

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Compared to other NFL teams maybe. But the packers have only 16 playoff appearances in the last 40 years, and only 2 championships.

But I'll at least give you that it isn't an apples to apples comparison.

Who is the author and where is he from. Just curious as he speaks with some amount of conviction about San Antonio, which is a complex city culturally. It's not as hip as Austin? Give me a break nobody in SA gives a s***. Pretty halfass argument about SA fragility as a market comparing it to a city with zero pro sports. He (along with the posters above dogging San Antonio) comes off as someone who doesnt understand much about the city or has a skewed perspective of the Spurs' importance across all groups of the city.

Maybe I'm missing his point, I don't know. The Spurs will be fine as they've always been. And the city will continue to be comfortable in its own skin, content enough to not have to continuously compare itself to other cities.

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probably the most irrelevant large city in the entire country

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What is Cleveland, Ohio, Alec.

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Maybe I'm missing his point, I don't know. The Spurs will be fine as they've always been. And the city will continue to be comfortable in its own skin, content enough to not have to continuously compare itself to other cities.

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The Spurs are fundamentally flawed the passed 3 years because they don't play elite defense anymore. But the fans don't really care because they win a lot of regular season games and already overachieved for a small market team with the 4 titles. it's obvious the Spurs need interior defense help, but there's no urgency to make a move like there is in LA to get perimeter help. The Lakers have pressure from the media and fans to extend the Kobe dynasty while the Spurs have no pressure. The Spurs look like more of a Don Nelson Mavs team these days than a contender - great regular season, flame out in playoffs, no alpha dog superstar, weak interior defense, spectacular offense.

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It would be fantastic to see Duncan get another trophy this year. In many ways it would be the best one of all. It would solidify him as the best PF of all time and it would maybe get the attention of free agents like Dwight Howard.

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Duncan has been the GPFOAT since at least 2005. Nothing to prove there. Another title would help him compared to Kobe as greatest player of his generation and help him compared to Russell/Wilt/Hakeem/Shaq/Moses as greatest frontcourt player.

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To be quite honest, after last year, just getting to the WC Finals would be great, and another ring would almost be gravy.

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This quote from a Spurs fan illustrates the author's point. Very few Lakers fans feel this way, or Celtics fans during the dynasties.

Notice I said almost.

Every year the Spurs don't win a championship, I guarantee there is disappointment in San Antonio. As far as I'm concerned, anything less than a championship is a disappointment, be it a mild disappointment or a major one. Last year's exit was a major disappointment. This year it would probably a slightly lesser disappointment since we've now tasted a first round playoff exit, but on the other hand this team is deeper than last year's.

[This message has been edited by sharkenleo (edited 2/22/2012 2:44p).]

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No other small market franchise

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san antonio is the 7th largest city in the US

it's not a small market

Oklahoma City = Small Market

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No state income tax and a low cost of living is something that is almost always overlooked by free agents here.

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Free Agents usually dont give a rat's ass about taxes. See baseball

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Last year's exit was a major disappointment.

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Did you not see the writing on the wall after game 1? I fully expected the Grizzlies to beat the Spurs in 5(would have happened if not for Gary Neal lucky shot). The Spurs were vastly overrated while the Grizzlies were extremely underrated. Randolph and or Gasol outplayed Duncan when he was playing 4 or 5. The Grizzlies dominated that series and it wasn't even close.

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Free Agents usually dont give a rat's ass about taxes.

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Which is why many go broke.

Manu was injured and the Spurs didn't have a second post capable of doing the dirty work required to handle Randolph or Gasol... Memphis was a rough, tough team on fire coming into the playoffs, and a bad matchup for the Spurs. I spent weeks hoping they would either miss the playoffs or get the 7 seed. I still thought the Spurs would win (does anyone ever believe their team is going to lose?), but knew it would be a fight that would leave the Spurs tired and battered going into the second round.

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Last year's exit was a major disappointment.

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Did you not see the writing on the wall after game 1? I fully expected the Grizzlies to beat the Spurs in 5(would have happened if not for Gary Neal lucky shot). The Spurs were vastly overrated while the Grizzlies were extremely underrated. Randolph and or Gasol outplayed Duncan when he was playing 4 or 5. The Grizzlies dominated that series and it wasn't even close.

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Just because the Grizzlies dominated the series doesn't mean spurs fans can't be disappointed that they lost. Goodness.

You Spur haters come on threads and just look for places to throw them under the bus. It's hilarious.

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Did you not see the writing on the wall after game 1? I fully expected the Grizzlies to beat the Spurs in 5(would have happened if not for Gary Neal lucky shot). The Spurs were vastly overrated while the Grizzlies were extremely underrated. Randolph and or Gasol outplayed Duncan when he was playing 4 or 5. The Grizzlies dominated that series and it wasn't even close.

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gary neals shot was luck, was it?

the spurs lost for the same reason that every favorite loses, injuries and awful matchups. the spurs were lucky enough to get both.

jumping on a thread about the spurs and spewing BS and hoping something sticks just drips with pathetic midget dick syndrome.

Sounds like a vd to me.

The Spurs got beat last year they did not lose. The better team won that series. This year I would bet the Spurs would beat the Grizzlies in a playoff series simply because the Grizzlies have not played well. How about we wait till the playoffs this year to see who is the better team? The regular season this year has not had both teams at full strength, so I do not make a determination based on those games played between the two.

Got beat/lost? Really?

What is it you want me to tell you? Clearly Memphis was better than SA in the series. Are you ok now?

The Spurs would have beaten the grizzlies if they had Rudy Gay.

^ Huh?

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The Spurs would have beaten the grizzlies if they had Rudy Gay.

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Nice.

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san antonio is the 7th largest city in the US

it's not a small market

Oklahoma City = Small Market

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Way to not understand anything about major tv / pro sports markets.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 2/22/2012 10:21p).]

San Antonio is the 7th largest City but only the 25th largest metro area. There is a reason they only have one pro franchise.

San Antonio is the #37 media market and OKC is #45, not much difference. There's only one smaller market with an NBA franchise and that's New Orleans at #53. These are the numbers they talk about when they say "small market" teams. It's all about money generated from media markets.