Why couldn't the Celtics do what the Spurs are doing?

[D.o.s.]

If Rondo's playing at Parker's level thirteen seasons into his NBA career, I'll be stoked.

[wdleehi]

In addition to our guys aging poorly, Rondo isn't as good as Parker, especially in terms of running the type of offense the Spurs do.

And you base that on ...?

Parker at times playing at an MVP level the past couple of seasons. 


Running the well oiled machine that is the Spurs.

So if I'm driving a perfectly well maintained Porsche around the track while you are driving a broken down old Chevette with two of it's 4 tiny cylinders misfiring, that makes me the better driver, right?

In a race where the goal is to win, yes. 

[Donoghus]

If Rondo's playing at Parker's level thirteen seasons into his NBA career, I'll be stoked.

I think everyone here would be. 

[BballTim]

If Rondo's playing at Parker's level thirteen seasons into his NBA career, I'll be stoked.

  Parker's only 31-32 or so. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rondo playing at a high level at that age. Most players do.

[BballTim]

In addition to our guys aging poorly, Rondo isn't as good as Parker, especially in terms of running the type of offense the Spurs do.

And you base that on ...?

Parker at times playing at an MVP level the past couple of seasons. 


Running the well oiled machine that is the Spurs.

So if I'm driving a perfectly well maintained Porsche around the track while you are driving a broken down old Chevette with two of it's 4 tiny cylinders misfiring, that makes me the better driver, right?

In a race where the goal is to win, yes.

  Whatever the goal is, the winner will almost always be the best car no matter who's the better driver.

[showtime]

Rondo is nowhere close to Parker. Doc was/is nowhere close to Pop. Ainge is a step or two down from the Spurs GM, other than that we could very easily be like the Spurs.

[BballTim]

Rondo is nowhere close to Parker. Doc was/is nowhere close to Pop. Ainge is a step or two down from the Spurs GM, other than that we could very easily be like the Spurs.

  Swap KG and Duncan's health/playing level since 2009 and we'd be looking to add to the 3 or so titles we'd won since we traded for him while the Spurs would be in a rebuild.

[The One]

They added Leonard and Splitter through the draft.  The Celtics added no one at that level.


They didn't overpay role players. 




But mostly, Duncan and Manu are aging well, capable of bringing the same level of play, just in smaller time samples.  The Spurs built the depth to allow that.

You said it, wdleehi!

Build the depth, use the depth, then trust the depth.

http://grantland.com/features/san-antonio-spurs-bench-international-manu-ginobili-rc-buford/

[CFAN38]

Aside from the Duncan vs KG aging, Parker vs Rondo style and Doc VS Pop coaching ability I think the biggest difference was the Spurs ability to find exact role players and their patience to wait on euros.

They have been great at finding players of average talent who perfectly fit into niches for their team. Instead of going after aging vets to fill a bench they find young vet role players and put them in a position to excel. Their willingness to draft and stash a lot of euros has left them with some nice finds late in drafts. Look at the bottom of this link  http://www.basketballinsiders.com/san-antonio-spurs-team-salary/  the spurs have alot of 2nd rd euros who never see the NBA but by playing the averages they are bound to hit on a few and they dont waste roster space in the process. 

[Gari]

I think it's a matter of team culture that's built over the years. I think the Spurs are so reputed for their discipline and supreme organisation that when players join the team, they simply have a self-provoked urge to mature and grow as a player and fit well into their rotations, see Danny Green from the Cavs to Spurs. The players chosen to join the team have also been strictly chosen and most of them have well-defined roles. The Spurs GM really have some great scouting eyes as he can always find specialties from seemingly average players and make them maximize their potential within their system. It's quite sarcastic to see how players that left Spurs for bigger contracts often perform badly in other teams, see Gary Neal in Milwaukee.

Back to the Celtics, I think we have been lacking decent role players in different positions, unlike the Spurs who have all positions well-covered with depth. For years we lacked another defensive center to back up KG, sometimes we didn't have the plug-in scorer to save us from scoring droughts (Jet and Lee played so badly for the celtics last season...), and when rondo was down we were forced to go to Bradley to handle the point at some time. The Spurs are just too well organised to put every position with appropriate depth that whenever the starters are down or need rest, the bench are able to step up and still able to win.

Spurs are able to sustain their success by frequently filling voids in the bench thoroughly and saving their big three from the regular season for big performances in the playoffs. Our previous big three always got hampered by injuries and that's a huge factor that lead to the fact that we can't catch up what the Spurs are doing.

[badshar]

I think it's because we need a solid veteran Big 3 core (Pierce, KG, Allen), good role players, supportive fans and management and exceptional coach.

We have the coach, fans and management part. We need a solid core to build around and to put enough talent (and utilize it properly) so the Big 3 remains healthy to compete in the playoffs and the role players continue to get experience, so they can help in the playoffs too.

[badshar]

It was mainly KG's injury that really set us back. In some ways, you can blame Minnesota for it, since they knew about the bone spurs in KG's knee when they traded him to the Celtics and did not tell the C's about it.

So the injury came as a surprise.

[The One]

It was mainly KG's injury that really set us back. In some ways, you can blame Minnesota for it, since they knew about the bone spurs in KG's knee when they traded him to the Celtics and did not tell the C's about it.

So the injury came as a surprise.

So the Celtics did not do a thorough physical??

[Celtics4ever]

Even without the injuries SA plays better team ball than we did.   You 'd have to go back to 86 Celtics to get a team that played as good as team ball as SA.     The 2008 Celtics sacrificed some egos though but I do not think they moved the ball around as well as SA.

[get_banners]

Well, if we shamelessly tanked a season by sitting out a healthy superstar player and won the lottery to get one of the highest thought-of NBA prospects of the decade in Duncan like the Spurs did, yeah, we'd be like them. Also, as others have mentioned, if KG's knee didn't go boom, I think its highly likely that team would have won 3 straight titles, and possibly more. So...yeah...the Spurs tanked, got lucky in the lottery (something we never have), then got lucky to never have their superstar big man ever have a debilitating injury. Great franchise, no doubt, but they also benefit from great luck.