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

[BballTim]

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.

   You have to consider the reason for the patience though. They've had TD for 17 years and knew that they had a very long window around him. They could afford to be patient and wait for players to come from europe or to develop. We traded away almost all of our assets aside from PP/TA/RR/KP and a lot of current/future picks as well. So we had few tradeable assets and a very short window to contend. We didn't have the luxury of time that they did, and it had a drastic effect on how Danny was able to add players to the team.

[Fred Roberts]

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.

Good points! Two #1 picks who were huge non-busts! David Robinson gave them a full decade of MVP caliber play and franchise respectability before missing most of a season w/ back problems. Luckily, whoops . . . oh boy, they landed Tim Duncan, an even more MVP caliber  transcendent big man super-duper star than Robinson. Even better . . . .they had the chance to have both of them for a couple years before Robinson retired. Not hating (that much) at all. Just pointing out the luck that they had here.

Since then, they've managed their personnel extremely well with limited options, and they've coached like hell. Amazing drafting, player development and coaching has ELONGATED their reign as a contender for many years longer than it might have. That said, it did all start with incredible luck that struck TWICE.

Finding gems in the rough like Parker (late 1st round), Ginobili (2nd round), Leonard (Hill trade) were amazing but without the Duncan factor, everything folds.

[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.

So the Celtics did not do a thorough physical??

I'm writing based on an article I read some time ago. The Celtics could have missed it.

[kraidstar]

spurs are the st louis cardinals of the NBA - everything they touch turns to gold, mediocre players play like borderline stars, old players play like young guys. i remember watching duncan a couple years ago and thinking he looked like he was done. he seems to be rejuvenated.
spurs are the exception rather than the rule; look at how the lakers have fallen apart, most older teams don't fare well. but the spurs have some pro vets, they draft remarkably well, they have incredible conditioning, and they are well-coached.
had we gotten david west, or had bradley not gotten hurt in the playoffs a few years ago, who knows, we might have another title or two. c's have had WAY more key injuries than the spurs over the last few years.
and let's not forget that the spurs struggled in the playoffs up until last year, it hasn't all been perfect for them - they had some early exits against more athletic teams that suggested they were done, but, again, they seem rejuvenated, which is very unusual for an older team.
had the c's big three gotten together earlier in their prime i don't hink we'd be as concerned about what happened at the very end of their careers, what the spurs are doing is amazing.

[GreenFaith1819]

Spurs are amazing organization.

But I'll take the 1-1 NBA Finals record over their run....give or take a KG knee injury and Perk getting hurt, we'd be 2-0 in the NBA Finals during the KG-Pierce-Ray years.

Additionally, Russell-Cousy help set the stage for many of our 17 Banners, from late 50s through the 60s.

Then, Hondo-Cowens took over in the 70s...

Then Larry-Chief McHale...

Injuries/tragedies/mismanagement have marred the late 80s through the 90s for BOS...Bias/Lewis...the Lean Years (which weren't TOO lean considering that Paul Pierce fell to us in that draft).

Drafting Paul Pierce would set the stage for our 1-1 Finals run in the late 2000's.

So, to me (and this is not discounting the Spurs in ANY way)....BOS has accomplished a lot even with the bad stuff that's happened. Could've/would've did more...I just can't change a thing from the past.

Drafting Duncan would've kept us from trading for KG...it was AWESOME seeing KG and Ray in Green....I wouldn't change a thing.