Nolan wrote:
We can win another chip with this core group. If we end up losing this series we'll need to make some changes with our role players. RJ and Bonner need to go and we need to pick up a could wing defender and a true center. Samuel Dalembert is a guy i'd love to see in a Spurs uni, he's the long defensive minded big that we need next to Duncan.
People need to stop hitting the panic button. This is still a really good team and will continue to be one. Our franchise has been so sucessful through the years because we never went out and blew up our teams, we retooled and stayed patient. If we would of dealt Robinson and Elliot when things turned crappy this team wouldn't of won those 4 chips. Pops and the front office know what they're doing and how to build a contender.
This is incredibly naive. The Spurs are not winning another championship with a core of Ginobili, Duncan and Parker. If they couldn't beat an 8-seed that really isn't that good, coming off a 60 win season, under what condition will they be able to defeat ascending teams like the Thunder, Bulls, Heat, going forward? You'll never be as young again as you are today. It's preposterous to think that Ginobili and Duncan in particular are going to elevate or even be able to maintain their current levels of play, which in Duncan's case, is already in severe decline.
Blowing up the Spurs wouldn't be a panic move. It would be a prudent calculation. The Spurs are now the Celtics from 20-years ago. Good enough to make it appear like they can compete, but too old and too limited to be a contender. What you're watching is a slow descent into mediocrity. Let's face reality. The Spurs caught lightning in a bottle. They tanked the year before Duncan came out because of an injury to Robinson, then they got lucky in the lottery, then they were fortunate to get some difference-makers in the draft later than team's normally can get them. That's not likely to happen again. This is a small-market team with some bad contracts. They're not going to attract marquee free agents nor can they afford them. It's easy to talk about "improving the roster", but how do the Spurs do that? They're not one or two role players away from another title run, don't kid yourself. It's not a Bruce Bowen or Robert Horry type who is going to save this team.
This franchise needs youth and it needs pieces they're only going to be able to get going forward by making trades with players that still have value. Duncan isn't carrying the Spurs to another title, but he could be valuable to a team that is on the cusp. Ginobili and Parker aren't carrying a team to a title without a dominant Duncan, but they can certainly be the piece for an ascending type franchise. If the Spurs don't make a move, you can watch them slowly decline. You can experience the sort of thing Boston fans went through as the Bird years came to an end, and relevance wouldn't come again for 20-years.