Spurs will be a top 3 favorite to win the title next year and their entire core is under 23

They surpassed expectations this season tenfold

This is how sports work. Losing in the finals means people hate on you since you’re the last team they saw with mistakes

If they had lost those 4 games normally instead of choking them away they would be getting less criticism

It’s the way they lost. They were up 15 dam near every game. Choking a 29 point lead. They had a built in excuse being young until they proved they were capable of actually winning

the higher up the tree you climb the more voices/eyes/opinions there are…

yeah, for more evidence look at athe amount of criticism detroit is getting as a 60 win team that lost to a team new york swept.

Yep that’s what’s so annoying about sports discourse especially online. It is better to get to the finals than not to get to the finals. But people don’t know how to balance anything. There are 28 teams who did worse than them lol.

Putting aside the reactionary nature of everybody hating De’Aaron Fox because he didn’t play well coming off an injury…

Dylan Harper is obviously way too good to play 22 mpg next year. He needs to start, close, and play as many minutes in between as can be justified. There is a legitimate conversation around how Harper, Castle, and Fox fit together as three guys who are best with the ball in their hands and questionable at best as 3 point shooters.

Fox is obviously the odd man out even if he had played well in a losing effort.

They’ll win a title in the next three years if they keep this group together

Edit: maybe minus Fox

Yeah we probably are, but I would much prefer to cop the heat and criticism of losing in the finals (and really we choked) then getting done by the Wolves or Thunder.

Losing in the way we did was brutal, but also highlighted the flaws of the roster more than what an earlier exit did. Clearly Fox needs to go, and we also need more outside shooting and rebounding to win a title.

The narrative that the Spurs have an insanely long list of issues to fix is so hilarious to me. I think it just sums up the reactionary nature of social media and sports media in general.

Totally.

Why are they seemingly copping more heat than the Nuggets? The Rockets? Less heat than the way the Pistons absolutely collapsed? Less heat than the other #2 seed Celtics getting bounced in the first round?

Because the Spurs were the most recent to lose. The internet is hysterical and has a very short memory.

If your team’s good you’ve gotta accept that not everyone’s going to like you

It’s officially the off season. NBA media is gonna milk whatever they can get from now until October

The LeBron paradox 

Almost as if the Spurs were the favourites going into the Finals and choked away 4 winnable games.

With Game 2 and 4 being the two of the worst late game blunders in NBA history + giving up the biggest Finals comeback ever.

This is an ALL TIME choke job by the Spurs. It can be very, very hard to come back from that.

This is the most sane post I’ve read about the spurs since the end of game 5. Thanks

Just the nature of our current society. The Spurs just speed ran the process of going from scrappy underdog to favorite in a single run.

You can tell people couldn’t wait to tear Wemby down and he didnt help himself with the second round elbow.

We picked up some enemies along the way which ended with one of the largest fanbases in the world in absolute desperation mode in terms of wanting a title against us.

There’s a lot of noise and how the Spurs handle this public failure is a huge part of their story.

I’m more disappointed with our own fans than any outside noise. The Spurs sub is a dumpster fire of treating a few of our guys like they aren’t human beings. Its sad to me.

A DeAaron Fox hate thread on our own sub after making the finals is INSANE.

But yes the Spurs are fine and I’d say if they have the right offseason should be the favorites. Expectation next year should be the title which will come with more noise and more difficulty.

Nature of the beast. Embrace the process.

If they didn’t completely blow it in game 4 then no one would be saying anything. But they completely and utterly collapsed. You don’t lose a game when you are up 29 points with less than 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. You just don’t.

The Spurs definitely choked away a couple games, but they deserve more credit than criticism for their performance in the playoffs.

Their best player Wemby is just 22 and this is BY FAR the most minutes and games he’s ever played. He’s clearly still not close to his peak and still improving. Even a top 2 GOAT like Lebron didn’t exactly shine his first finals at 22. Other greats like Shaq, Hakeem and KD also lost their first Finals.

Their 2nd and third best players are only 19 and 21 years old! Harper and Castle are in their first and second season. It’s ridiculous that they were even in contention for the title. There is a reason no team with a core this young has ever even been to the NBA finals prior to this.

Spurs remind me of the 1995 Orlando Magic team. Shaq was in his age 22 season while Penny was in his 2nd season at age 23,

Both teams are super talented but the lack of experience, maturity and development were a huge disadvantage when facing equally matched veteran teams.

its funny this sub shits on Shaq and the RAAAANGZ argument yet does exactly that when it comes to the Finals

The AI slop would just be recalibrated to say they’re frauds in another round. Build to tear down.

Overall, everyone’s aware the Spurs have a lot of valid excuses for losing. Very young, inexperienced roster all the way to the coach.

But

1. Spurs had a big lead every single game, including a 30 point lead in game 4.
   
2. Coaching has been below mediocre with opponents allowed long runs without timeouts or adjustments.
   
3. Wemby was incredibly dirty and obviously getting protected by the league.
   
4. The poor sportsmanship to not congratulate the opponents at the end of the game.

It’s all quite opposite of the brand the Spurs have had for the last 30 years under Pop.

Idk who these critics are but it likely stems from most of them thinking the Western Conference Finals was the real Finals and the Spurs beat the defending champs aka Thunder. So everybody started crowning Wemby the next Jordan or LeBron and expected the Spurs to clear the Knicks.

None of these people respected or took the Knicks serious. Then the Spurs had the command of each game from the start and blew it each time by the fourth quarter while Wemby wasn’t big in critical moments. So as quickly as they hyped up the Spurs and Wemby is as quick as they’re ready to burn them. Welcome to human nature its a fickle bunch.

I really think if Fox plays as good as he did in the 2023 playoffs, the spurs win the chip

I truly believe all of their issues will be fixed with experience. They’ll be back, with a starting Dylan Harper.

The Spurs are young and overachieved. They’ll be a title favorite again next year. Wemby, Harper, and Castle will only get better. Fox can’t be any worse. Who cares what social media says. 

Well yeah. Wemby wouldn’t have gotten away with three uncalled flagrant fouls

Especially the Mitch Johnson hate, wouldn’t have heard anything if they went down in the WCF

The arrogant behavior by Wemby has triggered some backlash.

Yeah but that’s how it goes. Going into Finals = more chances to make mistakes.

Fox deserves all of those criticisms though.

I would even hazard they’d be getting shat on less if they had simply been blown out every game. Losing substantial leads every single game made it easy to nit pick. 

Because their supposed book-reading, chess-playing, meditating “ethical” best player exposed himself as a neck-elbowing, face-shoving, Brunson-slamming, taunting, cocky, disrespectful punk-ass fake bitch.

Any further questions?

And they would be getting less if they just lost in normal ways.

They were up 10 in the 4th in 3 different losses, including an nba finals record blown lead in game 4. That’s why they are getting so much criticism.

I mean this is just obvious.

The lights being brighter means more people are watching.

The Spurs derision is greatly overblown. The Spurs starting 5 could be playing in college right now and they had massive leads throughout the series.

Levelheaded people understand how abnormally good these guys are. They’re babies still.

You know what’s funny? If the Spurs just kept Chris Paul vs getting Fox, they likely sweep this series lol

spurs are ahead of schedule. the celtics young core went through the same thing. they will be alright.

The LeBron effect

When Michael Jordan was Wemby’s age he went 30-52

He also made the playoffs that year

Wemby can never be Jordan bc he isn’t perfect in the finals, yet MJ is 22 games under .500 and gets swept in first round and somehow that’s better than if he went all the way to finals and loss

NBA is apparently the only league where losing in the finals is worse than earlier rounds. NFL and MLB is certainly the opposite.

Not sure about Hockey

With a better coach they easily win Game 4 and likely the series so in terms of players they really arent that far off.

It’s the same every(alternate) year. A team runs the gauntlet of the Western Conference only to fall short at the final hurdle. The narrative then does a complete 180. Remember how the Mavs were raved upon by the entire subReddit and after the finals loss they were looked at as duds

Spurs faced one healthy team and got 4-1’d, Knicks even spotted them one of Mitch’s pinkies

Honestly, they made mental mistakes down the stretch in a series that played like a football game.

They play in a WAY tougher conference.

They just played OKC where a light touch or no touch causes a foul call and then they can’t get that same call.

Then they go to NY and it’s a street fight and nothing is called.

No rest between series.

This was a damn good showing and the league continued to show its whole ass right along with the city.

I think the reason they’re getting so much heat is the mental collapse that happened in 4 out of 5 games. If you’re ahead by double digits in 5 games, you can reasonably be expected to win at least 3 of them. To lose 4 out of 5 games despite significant leads after the first quarter, and be on the losing end of a record-setting comeback, you have to be pretty mentally weak as a team. They’ll get better, I’m sure, but it was a shockingly bad showing.

You make the finals you get judged like a finals-level team, simple. Same with Wemby. People were saying he was the best player in the league and the “real MVP” during the playoffs. If that’s the case, then he’s going to be judged at the same level as all those other top-tier guys. Can’t have it both ways.

Nitpicking is the nature of being in a higher tier. It’s like how it doesn’t make sense to be like “people always wanna bring up LeBron’s poor Finals performance in 2011 but why does Mario Chalmers totally get off the hook?”. Well, last I checked no one was calling Chalmers the greatest ever and comparing him to others who’re the best to ever do it. If you’re going to be considered in a certain tier of team or player, the standard is higher.

If they lost in 7 to OKC, everyone would be praising them for how ahead of they schedule are, how they’ll be scary for years to come, and Wemby being the future. They just lost to a more proven team, etc.

Now Wemby is a Communist Rudy Gobert, Mitch Johnson should be fired, and they’re frauds

People just keep repeating this and it makes no sense lmao

I too listen to the BS pod

Yep. Everyone would say they have a bright future just not this year. Good effort 👏

Yes because people would talk less about them to begin with

They aren’t being criticized for losing. They are being criticized for their hypocrisy and hubris.

Nah I think that after this finals run the spurs should trade wemby to the cavs for Mobley, defense wins championships… … … Fuck you Harrison and Cuban 😡

i mean yeah, people talk about jordan’s perfect finals record, ignoring the fact that he just fell short every other year

They do have some holes that need to be filled.

Well aye they made the nba finals

Yea I think ppl were saying they would only get to the first round…. but ppl always hate on good teams anyways, that’s sports

Experience was always their achilles. They had enough talent to beat most other teams down. They ran into an experienced juggernaut who we saw power through the end of every game making plays isntead of screwing up plays.

Their coach running young Wemby down with too many minutes, I think, played a part in this. A number of late game failed choices that could easily be chalked up to inexperience or just being tired without experience playing at that required playoff level where there isn’t room for multiple screwups.

Once they have that experience, like what they’ve learned now and the time between now and the next run they make…look out.

Why not just tip your hat to the Knicks who started slow every game but dominated down the stretch in every game. It’s always the Knicks got lucky and the Spurs blew it. Give the Knicks some credit for their poise, heart, and skill, as well as Brunson for closing the show in the clutch. The Spurs were really good this post season, but the Knicks were pretty spectacular.

Reddit discourse is always a mess. Most people are stoked and generally impressed considering the expectations at the start of the season.

Based on ability and talent alone, they’re the best team in the league. Having the mental strength to apply that is incredibly important though, & they don’t have that. Hell the whole team broke. They didn’t just slow down, they went from the most dynamic & dominant teams I’ve witnessed to the worst team I’ve witnessed. That’s Ben Simmons levels of fear, & that kind of fear is poisonous to a team, it spreads. Question is will they improve that, & how? You can’t simulate that playoff/finals pressure. Could easily run it back & find themselves in the same place next year.

They were up  by double digits for what seemed like the majority of the minutes played in that Final and to lose 4-1 is wild.  

It’s not a long list, it’s point guard. It was evident when Fox was out firs two games where Castle had 20 turnovers, and evident against Knicks where Fox seemed to always be making the wrong play at the wrong time. I know it’s not an easy issue to solve, but it’s by far the glaring issue. A lot of people act like just getting rid of Fox fixes it, but they need to ADD a player who is a great ball handler and decision maker. The right point guard with Wemby finishing would be LETHAL.

this was worse than the atlanta falcons.

LeBron won the east for 10 years and is criticized lol

Same thing happened to mavs and Luka after the Boston beat down. People disregarded them beating 3 of 4 best teams in the west to make the finals and instead diminished the team for losing to Boston.

Big difference is that the spurs had double digit leads in all the finals games and consistently choked leads.

This Finals series had Wemby’s story arc shift from hero to villain. It was pretty dramatic.

The Knicks run wasn’t “historic”, it was actually historic.

The spurs biggest mistake was not respecting OG the way everyone respects Wemby. He affected so many shots at the rim. I couldn’t believe they kept going at him

Its just simple, they just witnessed how SAS having a great potential in them… when you have haters that means many are already noticing your team…

what’s that one Tweet that goes “just found out about recency bias and it’s the best thing ever”

I don’t think the Spurs have to change much of anything other than addressing the fox situation other than that they can just run it back with what they have and hope that they stay healthy

If I were to bet, I’d place my money on the Spurs being closer to the 2013-2014 Spurs (wins 4-1 over the Heat after losing the 2012-2013 finals) than the 1994-1995 or 2008-2008 Magic. There are clear areas needed for growth, but this core probably will figure it out.

It reminds me a lot of the Yankees in the 2024 WS. Embarrassing losses combined with high expectations and lots of media coverage means the loser comes out looking a lot worse than if they weren’t there at all

Yeah that’s true. But they will get trolled mostly for how they played. I don’t think there’s a team with double digit lead every game lose in 5. They crumbled under pressure so freaking bad.

Wemby, Harper, Castle, reminds me of KD, Harden, Westbrook same problem no traditional point guard.

As a spurs fan you should know how this goes, being very good and going far gives way more criticism. And the farthest you can go is the finals and losing. That’s why they’re getting the most. Plus with the rockets everyone knew they weren’t going to go far at all and they had no real expectations. Nuggets outside of 1 run have shown us who they are. Not a full on contender. And I think everyone is under the impression that the pistons are not near the same tier as the thunder Knicks and spurs are. Celtics also gutted their roster and had their best player still working through coming back. No excuses but those teams didn’t have as high of expectations. But spurs are the 2nd best team in the league all year and they had the new found face of the league and the guy people are putting up as a a potential top 5 all time guy.

Also on the historic thing with the Knicks. They went 16-3 and dominated most of the playoffs. Historic teams win close games and their ability to win close games is part of what makes them historic. Their ability to find a way to win games at an insane clip is a massive thing.

Yeah it’s a bit over the top. When the finish line was unexpectedly within reach people started frothing at the mouth and forgot that even Spurs fans had hoped for maybe a 5 or 6 seed at the beginning of the season. The whole championship or bust mentality for a team whose core is 22, 21 and 20 years old is silly. NBA fans are the only ones stupid enough to think that coming 2nd is somehow worse than coming 10th

Beyond the general observations here, with which I agree, I think that everyone got it in their minds that the Spurs, with Wemby mania leading the way, are magical and destined for possibly-unimagined greatness.

That they would lose in “normal” competitive fashion kind of broke the spell.

Of course, that they made the Finals is more impressive than that they lost.

I don’t see a narrative that the Spurs have an insanely long list of things to fix, unless you’re talking about out of touch Redditors who haven’t watched a regular season game in 10 years.

Shut up

This is spot on. If you asked anyone in that franchise two months ago if they would take a finals loss, they would have taken it. I think OKC was so favored that getting to the finals for the Spurs was a win until they actually got there and now everyones acting like they underachieved. I don’t follow Vegas anymore but I’d bet that San Antonio was never the top odds to win at any point this season…

Once we realize how good they are, we started holding in higher standards, finals also exposed some of their bigger issues