Luck of the Draw for the Spurs in the West

[FoxPerez]

San Antonio will look forward to a playoff schedule that calls for no back-to-back games or three games in three nights, although the Spurs swept all six of their games that were played on three consecutive nights. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Stephen Jackson will benefit the most with Tiago Splitter also appreciating the rest as he’s dealt with some injuries himself this season.

All signs point to them making quick work of Utah, but the best thing about the way the playoff bracket shook up is that the Mavs, Thunder, and LA Lakers are all on the other side of the bracket. On the Spurs side is Utah, the Memphis Grizzlies, and LA Clippers. San Antonio went a combined 9-2 against those teams in the regular season and one of those games came with the Big 3 on the bench. This isn’t the same Memphis Grizzlies team that beat the Spurs last year. Zach Randolph hasn’t recovered from injury to carry the team the way he did last year and they’re just not as good when Rudy Gay is running the show. Tony Parker has torched the Clippers whenever the two teams have played.

Oh, and most of those wins came without Manu Ginobili who will be healthy for the playoffs along with a fully healthy Spurs team that hasn’t been this ready for the playoff since 2007… the last time they won a championship.

I'm penciling San Antonio into the Western Conference Finals. Hell, I'd write it in blood I'm so confident that they'll make it at least that far this year.

[DesignatedT]

I wish the Clippers would have held onto homecourt because I don't see them beating Memphis now and Memphis is still a scary matchup. I don't think they can beat us again but I would have much rather faced the Clips.

[Fabbs]

I think it's looking as good as it ever has for coming out of the West.

tbh even when we do face the better teams I'd rather we do so and win in style like 2005. Say what you want about Phx, they had a good team. Yet we took them head on and had some excellent games against them. Then the epic series with Detroit. It was back when hoop was played by men, not burqua wearing fags hoisting a fake trophy.

I'd just as soon we play and beat the good teams for another legit earned Championship.

[smackdaddy11]

1. Manu has an elbow in one piece

2. Leonard already has proven he can reduce Gay's production.

3. Shane is with the heat.

4. Arthur is missing.

5. Randolph is a motal again. Don't see him raining 3 balls like last year.

6. TP and Tim are both playing way better than last year.

[Budkin]

Memphis scares me still but Rudy Gay takes possessions away from Z-Bo and Marc Gasol. We're going to face them for sure.

[acoelho1]

The Grizz are playing the 2nd best ball right now at the end of the season so I don't consider that piece a lucky draw. Make no mistake, they will be a tough out and it will probably go 6 or 7 games. However, this year's Spurs are a completely different team than last year. Enter Leonard, Green, Jackson, Diaw and more playing time for Splitter, the Grizz won't be able to bully us like last year. I'm confident we will prevail and it should be sweet redemption.

[TampaDude]

The NBA has been tinkering with the idea of a back-to-back in the second round of the playoffs, which for us would come at Memphis games 3 and 4.

If it's gonna happen, Stern will put it wherever it hurts the Spurs the most, you can count on it. It doesn't matter though...the Spurs are winning it all this year.

[silverblackfan]

1. Manu has an elbow in one piece

2. Leonard already has proven he can reduce Gay's production.

3. Shane is with the heat.

4. Arthur is missing.

5. Randolph is a motal again. Don't see him raining 3 balls like last year.

6. TP and Tim are both playing way better than last year.

This might bite us in the ass if the Heat make it to the finals. Thank goodness we have Jackson to handle him.

[z0sa]

Start the playoffs already!!!!

[Spurtacus]

1. Manu has an elbow in one piece

2. Leonard already has proven he can reduce Gay's production.

3. Shane is with the heat.

4. Arthur is missing.

5. Randolph is a motal again. Don't see him raining 3 balls like last year.

6. TP and Tim are both playing way better than last year.

[Obstructed_View]

Why this year is not last year
...in order of importance

• Manu Ginobili has two working arms.
• Tony Parker is playing well going into the postseason.
• Popovich is not afraid to start Duncan and Splitter together.
• Richard Jefferson is now Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson
• George Hill is not playing point guard.
• Duncan is completely healthy and playing well.
• The corpse of Antonio McDyess is now Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw.

[Cry Havoc]

1. Manu has an elbow in one piece

2. Leonard already has proven he can reduce Gay's production.

3. Shane is with the heat.

4. Arthur is missing.

5. Randolph is a motal again. Don't see him raining 3 balls like last year.

6. TP and Tim are both playing way better than last year.

Fucking excellent post.

Griz will still be tough, no doubt, but every single player on their team played out of their minds against us, and make no mistake, we are a MUCH better team this year.

Diaw, Splitter playing more, and we have Danny Green AND Kawhi Leonard instead of RJ.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

You guys should hope you get the Grizzlies

You just know this season that Stern and his cronies will be pulling for an all LA WCF (the tv ratings would be off the charts)

Facing the Clipps in the 2nd round would be a nightmare coz of all their flopping

[therealtruth]

WC teams definitely have their work cut out if they want to challenge the Spurs. The key for the Spurs will be continuing to impose their style of play and not changing.

[pgardn]

Why this year is not last year
...in order of importance

• Manu Ginobili has two working arms.
• Tony Parker is playing well going into the postseason.
• Popovich is not afraid to start Duncan and Splitter together.
  
• Richard Jefferson is now Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson
• George Hill is not playing point guard.
• Duncan is completely healthy and playing well.
  
• The corpse of Antonio McDyess is now Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw.

Legitimate options are so nice to have.

I cannot exactly figure what Blair has turned into but its not so important.

[pgardn]

You guys should hope you get the Grizzlies

You just know this season that Stern and his cronies will be pulling for an all LA WCF (the tv ratings would be off the charts)

Facing the Clipps in the 2nd round would be a nightmare coz of all their flopping

Against the Thunder it could have been even bigger.

I wonder if the NBA has control over the networks showing that Ebow...
I am interested to see if they milk the Artest v. Harden, Evil v. Good angle.
If it does indeed occur 2nd round.

It could backfire with some fans asking why Artest is even playing... Should be interesting, I hope we get that series.

[T Park]

This might bite us in the ass if the Heat make it to the finals. Thank goodness we have Jackson to handle him.

Shane lost a step.

He can still hit a jumper, but his defense isn't what it was last year either..

[T Park]

Why this year is not last year
...in order of importance

• Manu Ginobili has two working arms.
• Tony Parker is playing well going into the postseason.
• Popovich is not afraid to start Duncan and Splitter together.
• Richard Jefferson is now Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson
• George Hill is not playing point guard.
• Duncan is completely healthy and playing well.
• The corpse of Antonio McDyess is now Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw.

This plus the SG position is upgraded with Danny Green this year defensively and offensively.

[DPG21920]

Spurs still have a lot of question marks as far as a title team is concerned (has a title team ever had a rookie start? has a title team ever relied on so many of their bench players that weren't ultra talented? Can they stay healthy? Is the front court good enough?), but they have given me everything I wanted this year. Those questions still remain, but those weren't the questions I was most concerned about anyways. The questions I hated answering in my mind were the "what-ifs". What if Manu was healthy? What if Tim was healthy? What if they didn't draw the toughest match up in the 8th seed?....Those questions were the frustrating ones for a fan that wanted just one last legit run, win or lose, without the what-ifs. They have given me that this year.

They were competitive and fun to watch.
They are healthy.
They got rid of everyone that dragged the team down.
They brought in guys who are tough and will fight.
They got by all accounts the best possible path you could ask for.

Now, win or lose, there will be no what-if's. If they lose, it will be because they just weren't good enough. We will know the ride is over and it will be easier to swallow because there will be no what-if's.

Spurs have a great draw this playoffs & I can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Blake]

How is this a luck of the draw for the spurs

[DPG21920]

How is this a luck of the draw for the spurs

Because they have OKC, DAL & LA on the opposite side of the bracket.

[therealtruth]

Spurs still have a lot of question marks as far as a title team is concerned (has a title team ever had a rookie start? has a title team ever relied on so many of their bench players that weren't ultra talented? Can they stay healthy? Is the front court good enough?), but they have given me everything I wanted this year. Those questions still remain, but those weren't the questions I was most concerned about anyways. The questions I hated answering in my mind were the "what-ifs". What if Manu was healthy? What if Tim was healthy? What if they didn't draw the toughest match up in the 8th seed?....Those questions were the frustrating ones for a fan that wanted just one last legit run, win or lose, without the what-ifs. They have given me that this year.

They were competitive and fun to watch.
They are healthy.
They got rid of everyone that dragged the team down.
They brought in guys who are tough and will fight.
They got by all accounts the best possible path you could ask for.

Now, win or lose, there will be no what-if's. If they lose, it will be because they just weren't good enough. We will know the ride is over and it will be easier to swallow because there will be no what-if's.

Spurs have a great draw this playoffs & I can't wait to see how it turns out.

They're good enough. I think it's just a matter of using the right strategies and playing the right players enough minutes.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I don't want to look too far ahead, but once the Spurs face a dynamite team in the Finals (Chicago, Miami) I think it could be a rude awakening.

[TheSkeptic]

I don't want to look too far ahead, but once the Spurs face a dynamite team in the Finals (Chicago, Miami) I think it could be a rude awakening.

My suspicion is that Chicago is going to be upset in the second round tbh. But I get your sentiment which is why I'm hoping the Spurs can work on those final touches on the way there.

As DPG said, the good thing about all this is that there won't be any more "what ifs" this time around. I can live with losing as long as I feel like the team did everything it could to win. No matter what happens next here it's all good (unless Miami wins the championship).

[Blake]

Because they have OKC, DAL & LA on the opposite side of the bracket.

Not really luck, imo

[KenziE]

1. Manu has an elbow in one piece

2. Leonard already has proven he can reduce Gay's production.

3. Shane is with the heat.

4. Arthur is missing.

5. Randolph is a motal again. Don't see him raining 3 balls like last year.

6. TP and Tim are both playing way better than last year.

dont forget SAM YOUNG that dude gave the spurs hell as well

[Obstructed_View]

...and Greivis Vasquez.

I spelled that correctly?

[smackdaddy11]

dont forget SAM YOUNG that dude gave the spurs hell as well

I knew I was forgetting a Griz guy. Thanks.

They aren't the same as last year at all.

[jmanu20]

[QUOTE=TheSkeptic;5830449]My suspicion is that Chicago is going to be upset in the second round tbh. But I get your sentiment which is why I'm hoping the Spurs can work on those final touches on the way there.

Disagree. The Celtics went 1-3 vs. them this season and one of those wins was without D-Rose.

[jmanu20]

All signs point to them making quick work of Utah, but the best thing about the way the playoff bracket shook up is that the Mavs, Thunder, and LA Lakers are all on the other side of the bracket. On the Spurs side is Utah, the Memphis Grizzlies, and LA Clippers. San Antonio went a combined 9-2 against those teams in the regular season and one of those games came with the Big 3 on the bench.


I'm hoping that the Spurs will bring the speedball out and see how long it takes before Corbin abandons his 3 bigs lineup.

In regards to the 9-2 record, the other loss was vs. the Clippers with Parker out. Pretty sure that if Parker had played that game it would have been another W.