2007 Spurs 1995 Rockets

[ibby]

I'm trying to come up with the best comparison for this team (granted they really have won nothing yet).  The two teams that I keep thinking of are the 1994-1995 Houston Rockets and the 2006-2007 San Antonio Spurs.

The Rockets traded for Drexler, looked old during the season, finished with I think the 6th best record in the West.  Everyone picked against them, but they ended up sweeping Orlando in the Finals.  Most people thought that Drexler didn't have it, the bench wasn't deep enough, and the team as a whole was very disappointing though the season

The 2006-2007 Spurs were also pretty banged up though out the season finished with a 58-24 record, and 3rd seed in the West.  Popovich and Bowen admitted that they basically took the regular season to recooperate from injury.  And they swept the Cavs in the Finals.  This was also the true coming out party for Tony Parker as a prime-time player as he won the Finals MVP after annihilating the Cavs and romping through the Nuggets (v. Iverson), the Suns (v. Nash), and the Jazz (v. Williams though he was not who he is today).

Both of these teams had previously won a championship (the Rockets in 94, the Spurs in '05).  '07 was the Finals that put Popovich in the conversation of great coaches as was '95 with Tomjanovich (though he couldn't sustain it).  Both teams were given no shot to make it out of their conference.  However, the '07 Spurs were favorites against the Cavs in the Finals, while the Rockets were overwhelming underdogs.

I know that I would take a comparison to either team because they won it all.  Which do you think compares favorably to this Celtics bunch?

[misha]

TP. I was thinking about 95 Rockets comparison during the last weeks. Nobody thought that they can win it all because of the weak regular season and they were considered too old. But they proved everyone wrong, just like the C's gonna do.

[Roy Hobbs]

The 1969 Celtics are one that's been touched on previously, and the '95 Rockets are a good comparison in terms of the tough road to the playoffs.

Another team that fits the mold is the 1978 Bullets (who finished the season on a losing 30 of their last 59 games). 

[ibby]

I just see a lot of comparisons between the Rockets and Spurs teams.  Tomjanovich=Rivers, Parker=Rondo, Olajuwan/Drexler=Garnett/Pierce/Allen, and the infamous this is the real season (though I think that was actually a Shaq quote).