Spurs up 2-0...do you still think teams can't win without a super superstar?

[CelticG1]

People really think Tony Parker is a superstar? Talk about a stttrrrrrrreeeetttcccchhh

[wdleehi]

Duncan is a top 10 player of all-time. Easily passes Kobe with another title.

He already is the better player. 

[slamtheking]

teams can definitely win without a superstar.  SA is good proof of that (so far) this year.  Someone else posted a nice list of SA's team attributes earlier in the thread that explains why they're doing so well.  One critical item that was left out is HEALTH.   That is absolutely playing a big part in SA's run this year.  

Give the C's team this year healthy bodies and they'd be a juggernaut in these playoffs too.  A healthy Ray, Bradley, Green, Wilcox, JO, Steimsma, PP and Pietrus-->they'd be barreling over the East in the playoffs even if those other teams were healthy too --> and the C's don't really have a superstar either.  All-stars, sure, but no one really considered the best in the NBA anymore

[moiso]

Do you honestly think the Spurs don't have top-tier talent?

 

They do. They have 3.

But those 3 are not superstars. Unless you think that Ginobli, Duncan (of right now) and Parker is in the level of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Dywane Wade, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Dwight Howard.

As of now, those guys belong on that list.  Ginobili is awesome when he is healthy- which he happens to be.  Duncan is better than half of that list, and Parker belongs on that list with the two point guards.

[pearljammer10]

parker is one of the top 10 players in the league (according to coaches). And, this year, played as the number 2 point guard in the league. How can you not think he is a superstar?

Plus, Duncan is one of the best players the game has ever seen. When you put two guys like that in a fabulous system such as San Antonio, success breeds itself.

[Fafnir]

We also almost won with a Spurs kind of squad (balanced talent among top 3 or 4 players and good depth) in 2010.

This isn't a surprise, but its harder to set up this kind of team than it is to create a contender around a full blown MVP caliber player.

[LA_33]

People really think Tony Parker is a superstar? Talk about a stttrrrrrrreeeetttcccchhh

Parker was easily one of the ten best players in the NBA this season, and quite possibly five best.  He scored 34 points last night on only 21 shots, with 8 assists, despite the entire opposing defense being focused on slowing him down.  That's the best game anyone has had in the playoffs.  

If your definition of "superstar" doesn't include a legit MVP candidate who can do that in a conference finals game, that version of "superstar" has nothing to do with the kind of elite talent that's required to win a championship.  

Sure, this is a bit more of an "ensemble" group than many NBA champions, but Parker was just as good this year as KG was in 2008; did that C's title team lack a superstar?  

Even beyond Parker, Duncan is also one of the best players of all time, and still one of the best defensive bigs in basketball (and top 20-30 overall), and Manu remains the most underrated great player of this era.    

Their depth of above-average talent is also absurd; Kawhi is going to be their next all-star, they have SIX guys shooting over 40% from three in the post-season (plus Green, who was their best shooter in the regular season, at 38%), and DeJuan Blair, who might start for all three of the other conference finalists, is currently their 12th man and has been DNP-CD for four straight games.

The 2004 Pistons these guys are not, since barring major injury, they're on their way to their 4th title with the current three stars.

[Q_FBE]

Greg Popovich is the Bill Belichick of the NBA. He gets all the role players involved. I think this is San Antonio's year and I would be honored to play them for the NBA Championship.

[SHAQATTACK]

not even stern and his refs can save the cHeat from a SPURs annihilation .  I'm gonna enjoy watching the Spurs stick a slow painful dagger into the cHeat.

[Fafnir]

Parker had a good year, but he isn't in the same category as KG 2007-2008. Too much of a one-way player as he doesn't have an impact defensively.

His year was similar to Nash with the Suns teams in their prime years. (I firmly believe Nash shouldn't have won either of his MVPs, 3rd to 5th similar to Parker would have been right)

[Celtics18]

We also almost won with a Spurs kind of squad (balanced talent among top 3 or 4 players and good depth) in 2010.

This isn't a surprise, but its harder to set up this kind of team than it is to create a contender around a full blown MVP caliber player.

That may be true, but it's much more enjoyable to root for a team that does it by playing as a legitimate team.

It is for me anyway.

[EDWARDO]

I remember a few months back that there was talk here about how teams cannot hope to win without top tier talent. Does celticsblog still think this is the case?

Best two players in the world willed their way to the Finals. Looks like having a superstar is still the trump card.

[BballTim]

I remember a few months back that there was talk here about how teams cannot hope to win without top tier talent. Does celticsblog still think this is the case?

Best two players in the world willed their way to the Finals. Looks like having a superstar is still the trump card.

  A couple calls go the other way in game 2 and the best player in the world gets beat in 5 games by the Celts.