Best team to lose in the Semifinals

[falcolombardi]

They won it and did so in impressive fashion, why wouldn't I?



This is true.


I think they are a rare case of putting forth a great regular season effort, only to show their age a lot as the playoffs went on. I don't get what's so controversial about my take.

because you are low on 2016 spurs for losing a close series against a much better team thab the 2014 mavs but not low on the 14 spurs for barely beating a much worse team

I am low on the 2016 Spurs compared to the Thunder or Warriors for having a relatively weak primary lineup and "padding" their SRS with bench units that don't see play in the postseason. Those are concerns that have never been answered in this forum.

The 2014 Spurs starters and top 5 lineups were a +14 (2016 Thunder or Warriors tier) compared to a +9 (great but not juggernaut) in 2016. Big difference.

fair enough

but the counter point to that is that their bench lineups were better then, and even in the playoffs those matter ( to a smaller degree admiteddly)

and that we are not comparing 16 spurs to 14 spurs or even 16 thunder but to other teams who lost in the second round

[Doctor MJ]

Which was the best team of all time among those that lost in their conference semifinals round?

My short list:
2003 Lakers
2004 Spurs
2006 Spurs
2007 Suns

Which contenders am I missing?

I said the Suns, but the truth is that if we're going across all eras, teams from eras that took way less 3's would have no prayer against 2010s teams.

So yeah, a team like the 2016 Spurs comes to mind.