Question about the Robinson/Duncan Spurs

[WOX_69]

Laker fan here. I have a question about Robinson/Duncan Spurs, especially in their 1999 and 2003 Championship runs. Having not been able to watch the Spurs on the level some of you did (Laker fan since I was born in 87, native Angelino), I have a question as to how they played together.

How was their offensive coordination? How was their defensive coordination? Specifically, how was their transition defense? I'm especially interested as to how things had evolved up until 2003. Mike Brown was an assistant coach from 2000-2003 and said he wanted to make the Laker's offense this year like the old Spurs offense, what he termed (When I saw him at an event before this season began) the "Double Post High Corner" offense. How did it look? What were Duncan's and Robinson's respective roles? What were the roles of the other three positions? How did it look when everything was clicking?

Thank you to those who do answer. Good luck with the rest of the playoffs.

[co_laper]

1999, Both Duncan and Robinson was dominant. They were more 1A 1B or atleast Robinson was a close 2. Not so in 2003 because by then Robinson was merely a defensive specialist. He didn't get many touches and usually get midrange jumpers.

Now when it comes to this year's Lakers, I originally envisioned a 1999 Spurs team, not the 2003 one because neither was that old.

So on with 1999, The thing that is different is both Spurs bigs could shoot.

In the case of Robinson, the faceup jumper has always been his bread and butter, mixed in with a few post moves. But there's no denying that Robinson scored most of his points by facing up for a jumper and getting to the rim if the defender got to close. IMO, this is somewhat what Mike Brown is trying to turn Pau Gasol into. Problem is ofcourse, this turns Pau strictly into a faceup scorer/facilitator mode. And Gasol don't get the ball much downlow because Bynum can't shoot. Spurs could take turns on who's getting a post up because both are able to playoff each other. In Lakers case, I think Gasol can play off Bynum, but Bynum can't play off Gasol. So instead of making each other better, Gasol is left to be the one who accepts lesser role.

Also, we didn't have a big time scorer in the perimeter. I would say pretty much 99% of the offense revolves around TD/Robinson and how they defended them. No team could guard them one on one, it always took double/triple teams and that's how the Spurs shooter got their open shots. The Lakers, however, revolves their offense around the big time perimeter scorer, so their bigs don't get nearly as much touches as the Spurs bigs. And while Spurs were filled with shooters like Elliott, Elie, Jaren Jackson, Kerr, etc, Lakers are devoid of shooting.

Defensively, I'm seeing something similar to be honest. Spurs back then were slow on the perimeter also. Elie, Avery, and Sean weren't quick or strong defensive players, but they were solid and Elie brought a certain toughness to the defense. It's comparable with the Lakers' perimeter defense maybe. But the defensive ability of both Robinson/Duncan surpasses what Bynum/Gasol does. As good as Bynum is defensively, he's no Robinson. And Gasol is no Duncan on the defensive end.

Those are probably the biggest differences I can see with the 99 team.

The 2003 is a little different. Duncan I guess operates like Bynum too. I doubt we ever run "4 down" more than 2003. He almost always gets the ball in the low post too. Robinson at this point always guard the opposing best big man. He doesn't get many shot attempts and while he's still athletic, He doesn't really get to the rim much anymore nor does he post up. I even remember that his bread and butter jumpers have become inconsistent by this time. But whatever we get offensively was a plus. Robinson's biggest and only attribute comes on the defensive end. I guess this is too like what Gasol is doing. Only problem is, Gasol can't defend like Robinson can.

The perimeter was a little closer to what the Lakers are right now. By this time, we have a lot of speed on our team. Parker, Manu, Jackson, Claxton, Bowen, Devin Brown. But these guys, especially Manu and Parker was still merely a role player at this time. Parker didn't score much. I remember Parker's biggest thing was his speed but that it didn't really translate much because he was a rookie who had big big troubles finishing at the rim. I don't believe he has his floaters and craftiness at the paint yet. Manu was incredibly inconsistent especially in his passing game. He's like Jason Williams turning the ball over but he's electrifying. He can lose you games as much as win you games at that time. Even so, compared to the Lakers, the Spurs still ran "4 Down" exclusively while Lakers go Kobe ISO a whole lot. As much as Lakers try to establish Bynum, Kobe is still the number one option.

And again, the Spurs at that year still have shooters on their team. Steve Smith, Kerr, Sjax, Ferry.

What the Spurs showed over the years is that our PG don't need to be 3 point shooters. Avery Johnson always shot the ball at the FT line area. Parker never had 3 point distance even now. But because the PG doesn't need to space the floor, you can only have one other non-shooter on the floor, and that's usually one of the big man. With the Spurs, everyone can always shoot other than the PG. Lakers have trouble because they have non-shooters all over the place. Bynum can't shoot. Gasol can spread the floor alright. So can Kobe. Sessions can't. Artest can't do it well enough. So now all your spacings are extremely bad.

Alright. Finished. Sorry if too long. Wrote out whatever got in my head

[WOX_69]

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.

[Beethoven]

wow....nice write up.