'14 Spurs vs '05 Spurs.

[longhornfan1234]

I think '14 team and '05 team are the best Spurs teams. Which team is better?

[JohnnySic]

I think '14 should be regarded as a historically great team. '14 >

[SsKSpurs21]

this is tough.

the ball movement, player rotations, and shooting on the '14 team produced record breaking stats.

i think '05 team was much better defensively and they had manu in prime and duncan prime to carry the offense if it stalled. also had bruce bowen as the premiere perimeter defender.

ill go with '05 team.

[T_L_P]

Definitely the two best Spurs teams.

I actually think I'd give 05 the edge. Horry, Barry and Bowen were the really effective role players and the rest were just kind of "eh". Compare that to last year where we had Green, Splitter, Mills, Marco and Diaw giving us great play.

Parker was about as effective then as he is now (I'm talking about the Playoffs here because I don't remember much of the regular season).

The breaking point is Duncan and Manu. They were superstars. Manu was at his absolute peak (2011 RS > 2005 but 2005 Playoffs >>>> 2011). Duncan was still in his prime and a defensive juggernaut.

I just trust stars more than I do a bunch of role players. Definitely my favourite team too. Duncan, Manu, Bones, Bowen and Bob all on the same team? Defense-heavy basketball? 4-Down? :eek:

[Eric Cartman]

We saw what the '14 Spurs could do against a stars in KD/Westbrook/Wade/Lebron/Dirk/Aldridge/Lilliard.

Wouldn't be any different against prime Manu/Duncan + scrubs.

I'll go with '14 Spurs in 6.

[r0drig0lac]

05 no doubt, prime manu, bowen and duncan

[SCdac]

05 no doubt, prime manu, bowen and duncan

same

and another thing to keep in mind, the 05 Spurs nearly swept the #1 seeded Phoenix Suns who had the fastest, highest rated, offense and a duo of MVP Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire.

Duncan averaged 27 ppg & 14 rpg in the series :applause:

[fpliii]

Definitely the two best Spurs teams.
Am I the only one who's still super high on the first championship squad? Robinson was a bit older but he was fully recovered from the injury, and for Duncan's first two years I'd say they were both legit superstars.

[T_L_P]

Am I the only one who's still super high on the first championship squad? Robinson was a bit older but he was fully recovered from the injury, and for Duncan's first two years I'd say they were both legit superstars.

The age of that squad stops me giving it a ton of praise. I think Duncan and Malik were our only real players under 30. Our main players were 33 year old Avery, 30 year old Elliott, then guys like Ellie and Jaren Jackson, Will Perdue and Antonio Daniels.

Duncan and Robinson were really only the elite players, and there wasn't any offensive system other than Duncan/Robinson high-low post and pick and roll. A good squad, but behind 05, 14 and 07 as Spurs title casts. And then behind 2013, 2006, and 2004 as non-title casts. :confusedshrug:

[SCdac]

Oh 99 team was awesome, no doubt. Outside of the twin towers, can't underestimate the veteran presence of Elie, Elliott, Avery, and crew. Mario Elie was kind of like the Spurs' Bowen before they got Bowen, in mentality and tough defense at least. They went through KG's team, Shaq's team, a tough Portland team, and then the duo of Sprewell & Houston. Only lost 2 games in the playoffs. The franchise and veteran, ringless, lineup had alot to prove at the time. Personally I have them: 05, 14, 07, 99, 03 (Duncan basically was the team around this time before Manu and Parker blossomed into AS's).

[VIP2000]

The '05 team had Glenn Robinson, so that one.

[Upgrayedd]

'14 was the best team with Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. Better than '03, '05 and '07. '14 played good defense AND easily the best Spurs team on offense.

[Upgrayedd]

same

and another thing to keep in mind, the 05 Spurs nearly swept the #1 seeded Phoenix Suns who had the fastest, highest rated, offense and a duo of MVP Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire.

Duncan averaged 27 ppg & 14 rpg in the series :applause:

The '14 Spurs were like those '05 Spurs and '05 Suns combined. Played good defense and were just like those Suns on offense. Even better. Because the Suns were screwed every time they took Steve Nash out of the game. The Spurs were so deep and didn't have to rely on just one player to keep the offense going.

[T_L_P]

The '14 Spurs were like those '05 Spurs and '05 Suns combined. Played good defense and were just like those Suns on offense. Even better. Because the Suns were screwed every time they took Steve Nash out of the game. The Spurs were so deep and didn't have to rely on just one player to keep the offense going.

But the godly defense of 04 and 05 bro. 14 wasn't matching that. :bowdown:

[Upgrayedd]

But the godly defense of 04 and 05 bro. 14 wasn't matching that. :bowdown:

The Spurs offense this season was so good that I don't think even the '05 Spurs could have stopped them.

Tony Parker now > Tony Parker back then
Tim Duncan is about the same, just not relied upon as much as he was back then to carry the whole team.
Ginobili when healthy hasn't really lost that much of a step since back then.
The Spurs' big 3 supporting cast is WAY better on '14 than it was back then. I'll take Leonard, Green, Joseph, Mills, Boris Diaw, Splitter over the supporting cast in '05.

And they defeated a Miami team with LeBron, Wade and Bosh. That was way better than the '03 Nets, '05 Pistons and '07 Cavs.

[Odinn]

H2H matchup? 2005 Spurs
Greatness? 2005 Spurs
Legacy? 2014 Spurs [defeating LeBron in the finals helped on this one]


As for 1st title winning Spurs team; they went 46-7 (0.868) on the last 53 games of the season. [surely, the playoffs are included]
IMO, they are in the conversation.

[HurricaneKid]

05 team had more talent but the 14 team played better as a team. That ball movement... I would take the 14 team comfortably. I really think the game is far more advanced now than it was in 05. Good question though.

[DeuceWallaces]

This isn't even close. Last year's team destroyed the Heat in 5 and the 2005 team was one bad double team from losing in 6 to probably a worse team.

[Jacks3]

Tim Duncan is about the same, just not relied upon as much as he was back then to carry the whole team.

:oldlol:

[rmt]

Alltime - I'd pick the 05 Spurs which matched up better with the traditional, big man, inside-out teams of old. They had the big man size and depth (Duncan, Nazr, Rasho, Horry) to defend against great centers like KAJ, Russell, Wilt, Shaq, Hakeem. 14 team would not have been able to defend teams in the past with great centers - they were okay with an old Duncan, Splitter and Diaw last year but only because the league is so lacking in great big men now.

I think that the 05 Spurs are the most versatile, balanced (offense and defense) of the Spurs championship teams with Duncan, Manu, Bowen in their prime and Parker in the early stage of his prime. I always felt that they could get stops when necessary. With 14 team I don't feel that way about the defense and offense (beautiful as it was in the last 3 Finals games) - well, sometimes the shots go in and sometimes they don't.