Initial Reaction: Spurs vs. Lakers - Mar. 12

[timvp]

http://spurstalk.com/box1mar12.jpg
http://spurstalk.com/box2mar12.jpg

The Lakers are obviously the team to beat in the Western Conference and they proved that again on Thursday night. They played flawlessly in the first quarter and the Spurs were never able to dig their way out of the 18-point hole they allowed to develop in the opening stanza.

On the whole, the Lakers look even tougher than they did last season. Kobe Bryant is almost always under control now and the length and athleticism of players like Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza gives the Spurs a lot of problems. (And that's not even mentioning Andrew Bynum.) L.A. is going to be an extremely tough out this year in the playoffs.

The Spurs played well in the final three quarters but you can't lay an egg for an entire period when you are short-handed and going against arguably the best team in the NBA. That in itself was not championship level play on the part of San Antonio.

-Tim Duncan didn't play horribly but there's no way he's close to 100% healthy right now. He has to work just to make it up and down the court, he doesn't have any quickness and the explosion of his jump is severely lacking. The fact that he had both of his knees wrapped for the first time I can remember tells me he must be hurting. Duncan played better in the second half but if he's going to get handily outplayed by Gasol and the Spurs don't have Manu's services, that becomes a daunting equation.

-Tony Parker was pathetic in the first quarter. He couldn't make a shot from anywhere on the court. He was hesitating in the offensive sets. He was making poor passes. To top it off, he wasn't playing good defense. Parker started playing better in the second quarter but didn't completely break out of his slump until the second half. He played well after intermission but coming out of the gates impotently definitely cost his team.

-Thank the basketball gods for Michael Finley on this night. If it wasn't for his scoring early on in the contest, this game might have been a blowout of epic proportions. Finely looked like the only Spur not intimidated and not backing down from the pressure being applied by the Lakers. Overall, I thought he moved quite well and got good elevation on his jumper. His defense against Ariza let a lot to be desired but the job he did offensively outshined any faults in his game.

-Roger Mason, Jr. had an ineffective outing. He didn't shoot well and his shot selection was also shaky. His play at the backup point guard spot was extremely iffy, as was his defense. Mason had a few good possessions defensively against Bryant but he doesn't appear to give the Lakers superstar much of problem.

-I don't know if Matt Bonner is trying to lose his job but that's what his play would indicate. In his 13 minutes, he got demolished on the defensive end. He couldn't guard anyone and to compound the problem, Bonner was helpless when it came to rebounding. He didn't grab a single carom and had a plus/minus of -17. The one shot he hit was a lucky bounce off the back of the rim. Horrible showing.

-Kurt Thomas played decently well off the bench. I thought he struggled in his first couple of stints but he progressively got better. By his final minutes on the court, he was producing at a high level. Unlike Bonner, Thomas rebounded well, clogged the lane on defense and hit jumpers offensively to help the Spurs try to get back into it.

-George Hill couldn't continue his fourth quarter magic. The last two games, Hill had come off the bench to be arguably the team's best player in the final quarter. This time, he might have been the worst. He made a number of mistakes - everything from silly fouls to boneheaded violations. Hill got a shot against Bryant but he simply doesn't have the needed size. Bryant was able to shoot right over him.

-Ime Udoka continues his improved play. I liked his aggressiveness on the defensive. In fact, his toughness on that end seemed to change the momentum of the game at a point in which the contest could have gotten away from the Spurs. Udoka still has a lot of room for improvement but considering the depths of where he's come from, a Spurs fan has to be happy about his current level.

-Fabricio Oberto came off the bench for nine minutes and I actually really liked what I saw. He was physical on defense and seemed to be the only player who wasn't getting pushed around by Gasol. On offense, Oberto had a number of really good passes and set solid screens to open up shooters. With his recent play, the Argentine bigman is making a push to continue to have a role come playoff time.

-Drew Gooden got his first minutes of his Spurs career at the end of the first half and he played very well, all thing considered. Four rebounds and two points in four minutes without looking completely lost? I'll take that for a debut. His size when paired with Duncan gives the Spurs a more forceful look and he illustrated decent quickness out on the perimeter when forced to guard Odom. All in all, Gooden drew a promising portrait of what he could possibly bring to the table.

-Pop once again made a number of head-scratching decisions. The one I couldn't figure out was when he went to Hill at the end of the game after Mason picked up his fifth foul. First of all, that late in the game, you let a player stay on the court with five fouls. Secondly, if you are going for defense, there's one of the better perimeter defenders of all-time as an option. Going with Hill to defend Bryant when Hill was totally out of rhythm made no sense. I also thought Pop should have had a quicker hook with Bonner and there never seemed to be enough plays called for Duncan throughout the game. I do like that he got Gooden's feet wet in a no-lose situation and whatever he said to the Big Two at halftime obviously woke them up.

Tough loss. Time to swallow it and continue the mission of getting healthy and wrapping up the second seed in the West.

[SequSpur]

i agree.....

so can i be myself again? :wtf

[ducks]

the whole spurs thought they would lose when they first came out
WHY BECAUSE FUCKING POP AND THE MEDIA SAYS THEY HAVE TO HAVE MANU
I am sorry had spurs came out not scared they would have beat the lakers
and with gooden in he will help against the lakers next year

[whottt]

The way I look at it...if Ime Udoka, Finley and Thomas can play well against LA, we'll whup them severely when healthy.

These are 3 biggest letdown guys on the roster and they killed the Lakers tonight. Ime Udoka nearly singled handedly tied the game at one point tonight.

Thomas actually his open J's.

Finley played one of the best games I have ever seen Michael Finley play.


No worries, if Pop had wanted to win this game he would've trapped Kobe more instead of guarding him with Hill. Hill didn't do that badly he just doesn't have the height to guard Kobe. He did make Kobe miss the next shot he took after that 3.

We saw just about everything Phil will throw at us but Pop didn't throw everything at LA he could. It was almost like he wanted to see if we could beat them with our worst LA matchup supporting players carrying the team....and they almost won it for us.

[ducks]

spurs play well 44 minutes
made their free throws they win this game

[timvp]

Good points, whottt. The glass half full look at this game is that the Spurs played like death in the first quarter, didn't have Manu, Gooden wasn't available for a full workload ... and the Spurs still almost won.

Not sure I agree with an assessment that rosy but this wasn't a typical devastating loss to the Lakers.

[iggypop123]

finely went nuts otherwise it could have gotten away very fast for spurs

[Ice009]

the whole spurs thought they would lose when they first came out
WHY BECAUSE FUCKING POP AND THE MEDIA SAYS THEY HAVE TO HAVE MANU
I am sorry had spurs came out not scared they would have beat the lakers
and with gooden in he will help against the lakers next year

I'm actually going to agree with you Ducks. I wanted to say this about a week ago. I kinda started getting tried of Pop and the team always saying we need Manu, we need Manu, we need Manu, while true that is not really instilling confidence in the rest of your players if you keep saying that.

Ime is starting to play some ball now. Michael was great (sorry for jumping on Mike in the game thread) and I thought TP showed some real mental toughness in the second half.

I won't get on Tim anymore than I did in the game thread. I really don't know how much he is hurting to rag on him.

[completely deck]

Manu

[Ice009]

Good points, whottt. The glass half full look at this game is that the Spurs played like death in the first quarter, didn't have Manu, Gooden wasn't available for a full workload ... and the Spurs still almost won.

Not sure I agree with an assessment that rosy but this wasn't a typical devastating loss to the Lakers.

This Spurs team is tough. Healthy and in form I'd be happy with that. I think we got a shot.

Also, while I think Bonner is helpful against some teams I think he is pretty much useless against LA. I don't know if he should get any court time against them.

[whottt]

Good points, whottt. The glass half full look at this game is that the Spurs played like death in the first quarter, didn't have Manu, Gooden wasn't available for a full workload ... and the Spurs still almost won.

Not sure I agree with an assessment that rosy but this wasn't a typical devastating loss to the Lakers.

Look at the boxscore...Spurs basically outplayed them in every aspect of the game except FT shooting and rebounding.

Two things Drew Gooden does extremely well.


I saw Gooden come in and grab 4 boards in 3 minutes...and he wanted some more of the Lakers. If he's going to play against them like that and with that kind of focus...the Lakers are going to get their ass kicked.

Pop wasn't that worried about winning this game IMO. If he was he wouldn't put Hill on Gooden down the stretch.

[ducks]

Manu

spurs have to believe they can win without him
because he is not playing
the sooner they realize it the better
when spurs did not have manu and td
tp came out scored right away and spurs believed

basketball is a game of confidence spurs have to believe they can win with who is on the court
if not they are not going anywhere

[ducks]

booner is useless against lakers not other west teams

[Ice009]

Look at the boxscore...Spurs basically outplayed them in every aspect of the game except FT shooting and rebounding.

Two things Drew Gooden does extremely well.


I saw Gooden come in and grab 4 boards in 3 minutes...and he wanted some more of the Lakers. If he's going to play against them like that and with that kind of focus...the Lakers are going to get their ass kicked.

Pop wasn't that worried about winning this game IMO. If he was he wouldn't put Hill on Gooden down the stretch.

Hill on Gooden? That would not be a smart move from Pop ;).

[SenorSpur]

In each meeting with the Fakers this season, Bonner has been useless.

George Hill absolutely has no business guarding Kobe. If Pop doesn't trust him to run the backup PG spot, why would he entrust him with the single biggest defensive assignment of the game?

Drew Gooden needed more time.

As big of a Finley basher as I've been, the guy played great. If he has the hot hand, ride it until it falls off. Parker should've made sure Finley got as many touches while he was on fire.

Parker cannot have a bad game.

Duncan in clearly laboring.

Spurs unable to keep the Fakers off the glass. Rerun of last year's WCF.

At this moment and with Manu out and Gooden not up to speed, the Fakers are a terrible matchup for us.

[duncan228]

Tim Duncan didn't play horribly but there's no way he's close to 100% healthy right now. He has to work just to make it up and down the court, he doesn't have any quickness and the explosion of his jump is severely lacking. The fact that he had both of his knees wrapped for the first time I can remember tells me he must be hurting.

Thanks for not using words like 'soft' and 'no heart'.

I can't remember Duncan wrapping both knees either.

I think he's more hurt than we know. His left knee is chronic, and it was bugging him already this season before the tendonosis on his right came on.

I think his game is greatly impacted, and I've got to give him credit for playing through what's apparantly painful. I hope he can get some kind of decent rest to make the push for the Playoffs.

I was concerned before the tendonosis, now I'm moving toward worried.

[timvp]

Look at the boxscore...Spurs basically outplayed them in every aspect of the game except FT shooting and rebounding.

Two things Drew Gooden does extremely well.


I saw Gooden come in and grab 4 boards in 3 minutes...and he wanted some more of the Lakers. If he's going to play against them like that and with that kind of focus...the Lakers are going to get their ass kicked.

Pop wasn't that worried about winning this game IMO. If he was he wouldn't put Hill on Gooden down the stretch.It looked like Bryant wasn't trying too hard either. He was playing like in second gear out there.

I'm hopeful but it's going to take a heck of an effort for the Spurs to beat the Lakers. They'll need to be healthy plus Gooden will have to play a significant role. As well as KT played, he's not a very good matchup athletically to the Lakers. Gooden might be able to give the Spurs the lively big they need.

[milkyway21]

the Lakers shld have been more worried of their near-collapse in the 2nd half:p:

BTW, Spurs 8-16 FT :td

[timvp]

I can't remember Duncan wrapping both knees either.Yeah I tried to recall the last time I saw him with both of his knees wrapped but I couldn't think of a time. Maybe in the 2001 season.

Was it me or did it look like he added even more padding to his knees in the second half? His right knee looked like Barry Bonds' right elbow when he was at the plate.

:depressed

[Spursfanfromafar]

Timvp is right. Much of the loss' blame has to be put on Pop's head and his ridiculous decisions on personnel in the fourth quarter. All said and done, the Lakers showed that they are a better team. To beat the second best team in the conference at home and emphatically required them to be that and they showed that. Tough, considering that this was a back-to-back as well.

Waiting for Manu to be back. That should get the team over the hump.

[ducks]

spurs missed 8 free throws tonight!

[completely deck]

timvp, you're absolutely right. TD does not look like himself. Do you think Pop will start to rest TD a LOT more now that Drew has gotten his feet wet? Kind of slowly work TD out of the lineup for the remainder of the season, and work Drew in?

[Spur-Addict]

spurs missed 8 free throws tonight!

Giving up eleven offensive boards doesn't help either.

[ducks]

GOODEN IS GOING TO FIX THAT
have to play gooden against lakers

[timvp]

timvp, you're absolutely right. TD does not look like himself. Do you think Pop will start to rest TD a LOT more now that Drew has gotten his feet wet? Kind of slowly work TD out of the lineup for the remainder of the season, and work Drew in?Not really. If Duncan is going to play, it'd be difficult to limit his minuets any more than Pop already does.

The best hope is to wrap up the 2nd seed in time to let Duncan rest for at least a week before the playoffs begin.

[Spur-Addict]

timvp, you're absolutely right. TD does not look like himself. Do you think Pop will start to rest TD a LOT more now that Drew has gotten his feet wet? Kind of slowly work TD out of the lineup for the remainder of the season, and work Drew in?

Problem with that is, they need minutes together. You would assume TD is getting heavy minutes come playoff time.

[DeadlyDynasty]

spurs missed 8 free throws tonight!
and went 11-17 from the 3-point line...if not for that it would've been a laugher

[ducks]

and went 11-17 from the 3-point line...if not for that it would've been a laugher

and if the spurs did not have any turnovers in first quarter
spurs in a laugher

[Spursmania]

If we go against the Lakers and Pop starts Bonner we're in a lot of trouble. He plays consistently terrible against them. He was a liabilty out there tonight.

Pop left Hill in too long. Why didn't he put Bowen on Kobe in the last few minutes in the fourth? Bowen has proven he's as steady a defender as we can expect against a great like Kobe.

Poor Tim. It's probably killing him to play the way he's playing. He's stuck with his tendonosis for the rest of the season. Makes me sad. I hope he can get some rest.

I was excited to see Gooden out there. Impressive for thoses few minutes he played.

It will be a tough season. I'm not sure who we want first round??

[timvp]

The best thing about Gooden was his effort on defense. That play where he got the rebound after saving the ball was something never typically seen out of him.

Hopefully it wasn't just the excitement of his debut.

[Spursmania]

The best thing about Gooden was his effort on defense. That play where he got the rebound after saving the ball was something never typically seen out of him.

Hopefully it wasn't just the excitement of his debut.

He wants a long term contract.:toast

[whottt]

It looked like Bryant wasn't trying too hard either.

Kobe plays at his best when he's not trying too hard. Pop didn't give him much Bowen or see what Hairston could do against him, he didn't trap him down the stretch except like once.




I'm hopeful but it's going to take a heck of an effort for the Spurs to beat the Lakers. They'll need to be healthy plus Gooden will have to play a significant role. As well as KT played, he's not a very good matchup athletically to the Lakers. Gooden might be able to give the Spurs the lively big they need.
And I say LA was lucky to beat the Spurs last year. They didn't get the Spurs best shot in that series, no way, no how. In this game our 3 point shooting against them was good...they already know they can't leave Mason unguarded.

And you know...Gooden showed no intimidation of playing against LA, he wanted to clean glass like a mofo and seemed know exactly that that's what he does well that can help the Spurs the most. He played like he wants to prove he belongs on the Spurs...and if he has that attitude he will be a force even if it's only on the glass.

And you know...I thimk Udoka has a little Laker Killer in him after all. He tore them up when he came on the court in the fourth.

I just don't feel the Lakers are invincible to the Spurs. I look at the Spurs and see everything needed to beat LA on paper and I'm also seeing it in their attitude. And our 3 shooting does look like it will be good enough prevent doubles...if they can't double the Spurs, they can't stop Duncan and Parker.

[DeadlyDynasty]

and if the spurs did not have any turnovers in first quarter
spurs in a laugher

you were watching a different game tonight. Call us when the shuttle lands

[Spur-Addict]

The best thing about Gooden was his effort on defense. That play where he got the rebound after saving the ball was something never typically seen out of him.

Hopefully it wasn't just the excitement of his debut.

It probably isn't. I think it implies his understanding of how he must play in order to achieve success on a personal level for him in SA.

[Parker2112]

-Tony Parker was pathetic in the first quarter. He couldn't make a shot from anywhere on the court. He was hesitating in the offensive sets. He was making poor passes. To top it off, he wasn't playing good defense. Parker started playing better in the second quarter but didn't completely break out of his slump until the second half. He played well after intermission but coming out of the gates impotently definitely cost his team.

...

-Pop once again made a number of head-scratching decisions. The one I couldn't figure out was when he went to Hill at the end of the game after Mason picked up his fifth foul. First of all, that late in the game, you let a player stay on the court with five fouls. Secondly, if you are going for defense, there's one of the better perimeter defenders of all-time as an option. Going with Hill to defend Bryant when Hill was totally out of rhythm made no sense. I also thought Pop should have had a quicker hook with Bonner and there never seemed to be enough plays called for Duncan throughout the game. I do like that he got Gooden's feet wet in a no-lose situation and whatever he said to the Big Two at halftime obviously woke them up.

Tough loss. Time to swallow it and continue the mission of getting healthy and wrapping up the second seed in the West.

As for Parker, he finally showed the fortitude and the ability to beat L.A.'s scheme for keeping him out of the lane. If he drives the lane against this team THEY WILL CRACK. Our offense is predicated on pressure on the oppositions D to open up shooters on the perimeter. L.A. handles us because Parker had been unable to penetrate. BEFORE TONIGHT, THAT IS.

As for Pop, he didn't appear to want this game, or he would have went to Bowen in the closing quarter. Pop looked as if he wanted to evaluate Hill's D vs a world class offensive player. He likely also knows that this is Hill's last chance to gauge Kobe's game firsthand before we see them in the playoffs. In other words, rather than going for the kill, Pop seemed to be preparing for a time when the season will ride on the result.

[MarHill]

As for Parker, he finally showed the fortitude and the ability to beat L.A.'s scheme for keeping him out of the lane. If he drive the lane against this team THEY WILL CRACK. Our offense is predicated on pressure on the oppositions D to open up shooters on the perimeter. L.A. handles us because Parker had been unable to penetrate. BEFORE TONIGHT, THAT IS.

As for Pop, he didn't appear to want this game, or he would have went to Bowen in the closing quarter. Pop looked as if he wanted to evaluate Hill's D vs a world class offensive player. He likely also knows that this is Hill's last chance to gauge Kobe's game firsthand before we see them in the playoffs. In other words, rather than going for the kill, Pop seemed to be preparing for a time when the season will ride on the result.

I totally agree about TP. He has to get into the lane and w/o Manu tonight the Lakers were able to load up the paint off of screens and keep TP out.

When TP started to get into the paint...the game changed for the Spurs. The Spurs have to attacked the paint against the Lakers!!

[whottt]

It probably isn't. I think it implies his understanding of how he must play in order to achieve success on personal level for him in SA.

The questions with Gooden are not about his talent or his ability, they aren't even really about his desire(on offense anyway) they are entirely about his head.

I'm trying to think of if he's ever played around any vets like Duncan and Thomas before and I don't think he has. He's always been on young teams without leadership or with developing leaders. It's going to be tough for him to be an immatue screwoff working on the same frontline with Thomas and Duncan.

I personally liked what I saw from him...and I was not in favor of signing him initially.

[underdawg]

If we go against the Lakers and Pop starts Bonner we're in a lot of trouble. He plays consistently terrible against them. He was a liabilty out there tonight.

Pop left Hill in too long. Why didn't he put Bowen on Kobe in the last few minutes in the fourth? Bowen has proven he's as steady a defender as we can expect against a great like Kobe.

I could be wrong, but Pop could have been seeing how Hill would do against tougher competition versus the success he's had recently. I don't think Hill's D did us in - we struggled to come back after digging a deep hole in the 1st quarter due to lack of execution and turnovers. Our FT's didn't help us either. All in all - our D showed that they can compete against a very strong offensive team and the level we played tonight showed its progression. Everyone can hate on Hill all they want, but the truth is that he brings something to the table that the Spurs have lacked - speed and athleticism. Will he be ready by playoffs to be useful - I don't know but it would be nice to have that if he is.

[Spursmania]

As for Parker, he finally showed the fortitude and the ability to beat L.A.'s scheme for keeping him out of the lane. If he drives the lane against this team THEY WILL CRACK. Our offense is predicated on pressure on the oppositions D to open up shooters on the perimeter. L.A. handles us because Parker had been unable to penetrate. BEFORE TONIGHT, THAT IS.

As for Pop, he didn't appear to want this game, or he would have went to Bowen in the closing quarter. Pop looked as if he wanted to evaluate Hill's D vs a world class offensive player. He likely also knows that this is Hill's last chance to gauge Kobe's game firsthand before we see them in the playoffs. In other words, rather than going for the kill, Pop seemed to be preparing for a time when the season will ride on the result.


I agree that it seemed that Pop did not want this game. Why did he take Gooden out when he played a good few minutes. Why not put him in for a few more in the second? And again the big boneheaded move of not putting Bowen on on Kobe in the 4th. All seemed contrived.

[duncan228]

Was it me or did it look like he added even more padding to his knees in the second half? His right knee looked like Barry Bonds' right elbow when he was at the plate.

I haven't broken it down by half, but they are some serious knee pads.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/special%202/3-12-098.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/special%202/3-12-094.jpg

[rogcl1]

Saying that Mason's time as backup at the point was "iffy" I believe is being kind. I have been a supporter of his trial as the backup at point but against the Laker pressure at times each dribble looked like a struggle. Hard for me to come to any real conclusions based on this game other than if we don't come out with fire in our eyes we are going to get our asses kicked.

What concerns me though ,irregardless of the fact that Tim is struggling and Pop experimenting ,is that a team on the end of a back to back came in and totally outhustled the Spurs at the start. The Lakers early pressure had the Spurs looking like not only did Pop not care but possibly the whole team.

[timvp]

I haven't broken it down by half, but they are some serious knee pads.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/special%202/3-12-098.jpg



http://www.thehotjoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/barryswings.jpg

:(

[Spur-Addict]

The questions with Gooden are not about his talent or his ability, they aren't even really about his desire(on offense anyway) they are entirely about his head.

I'm trying to think of if he's ever played around any vets like Duncan and Thomas before and I don't think he has. He's always been on young teams without leadership or with developing leaders. It's going to be tough for him to be an immatue screwoff working on the same frontline with Thomas and Duncan.

I personally liked what I saw from him...and I was not in favor of signing him initially.

In regards to the frontline collectively? Definetly not. Big Z in Cleveland is about as Grizzly a vet on the front he ever had. Z certainly isn't a general. As for a team as a whole, he never had a team close to vet status.

More importantly, the level of coaching certainly is different. (Expectations etc.)

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Tim Duncan looked like he's finished out there. And I'm not even exaggerating. It was sad to see him give it his all, when he was obviously hurting.

I saw the same game you guys saw, and I just don't see any possible way we can keep up with the size the Lakers can throw at us. Especially with a gimp broken Manu, and a slower than normal Tim.

Anyone else notice how Parker has not had a quality start-to-finish game against the Lakers since like, ever?
Or how Bonner misses every fucking shot he takes against the Lakers?

The sad thing is, if any team CAN beat the Lakers, it's us.

[Lebowski Brickowski]

You can say whatever you want. Pop ddn't coach to win (what . . . ever) no Manu, Gooden isn't worked in yet -- blah blah blah...

Spurs lost this game because TD played like shit. Flat. Out.

He was totally flat-footed on defense and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on offense.

I saw Tim stand like a frozen statue 10 feet from a spot up open Odom on the baseline and then WATCH him line up 2 easy points.

I saw him get out muscled and out rebounded by skinny ass pau gasol and luke walton all game long.

Personally, I think Tim was getting mugged inside all game but the refs didn't start calling anything until TD finally started going strong to the rack -- that started 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter.

Tim played HORRIBLY tonight. He finally started fighting at the end. He's obviously hurt.

If Timmy played a 1/2 way decent game, Spurs win.

[xtremesteven33]

Tim Duncan looked like he's finished out there. And I'm not even exaggerating. It was sad to see him give it his all, when he was obviously hurting.

I saw the same game you guys saw, and I just don't see any possible way we can keep up with the size the Lakers can throw at us. Especially with a gimp broken Manu, and a slower than normal Tim.

Anyone else notice how Parker has not had a quality start-to-finish game against the Lakers since like, ever?
Or how Bonner misses every fucking shot he takes against the Lakers?

The sad thing is, if any team CAN beat the Lakers, it's us.



Blazers
Hornets

have a damn good chance at beating them before we have to.....

[MI21]

All in all, Gooden drew a promising portrait of what he could possibly bring to the table.

I see what you did there.

[DMX7]

We lost this game on the boards.

[The Truth #6]

You can say whatever you want. Pop ddn't coach to win (what . . . ever) no Manu, Gooden isn't worked in yet -- blah blah blah...

Spurs lost this game because TD played like shit. Flat. Out.

He was totally flat-footed on defense and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on offense.

I saw Tim stand like a frozen statue 10 feet from a spot up open Odom on the baseline and then WATCH him line up 2 easy points.

I saw him get out muscled and out rebounded by skinny ass pau gasol and luke walton all game long.

Personally, I think Tim was getting mugged inside all game but the refs didn't start calling anything until TD finally started going strong to the rack -- that started 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter.

Tim played HORRIBLY tonight. He finally started fighting at the end. He's obviously hurt.

If Timmy played a 1/2 way decent game, Spurs win.

You realize he's playing on zero good legs right now, right?

[angelbelow]

i thought pop might play dead for the phil and lakers. the number of "head scratching decicions" described by timvp kind of reinforcements my thoughts before the game. lets just hope hes trying to throw phil off course.

[timvp]

You can say whatever you want. Pop ddn't coach to win (what . . . ever) no Manu, Gooden isn't worked in yet -- blah blah blah...

Spurs lost this game because TD played like shit. Flat. Out.

He was totally flat-footed on defense and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on offense.

I saw Tim stand like a frozen statue 10 feet from a spot up open Odom on the baseline and then WATCH him line up 2 easy points.

I saw him get out muscled and out rebounded by skinny ass pau gasol and luke walton all game long.

Personally, I think Tim was getting mugged inside all game but the refs didn't start calling anything until TD finally started going strong to the rack -- that started 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter.

Tim played HORRIBLY tonight. He finally started fighting at the end. He's obviously hurt.

If Timmy played a 1/2 way decent game, Spurs win.Properly emphasized.

[JWest596]

I'm in the monirity but I liked what I saw just not the ending. Whay was and could have been an embarrassing blow out did not occur. And getting back to within 3 against the Lakers is doing something.

There's about 18 games, rest Tim as much as possible and to avoid rust. Get Drew into the system. Keep working on defense Play the second team a lot, Get Manu up to speed while maintaining the 2nd seed. I beleive we can do this as it's not an impossible task.

It's about the playoffs now. It's all we should prepare for.

[MI21]

I was going to make a few points about this game, but I'm just going to cut it down to one thing.

If Tim Duncan is going to play like that (whether it is because of injury I don't know) then the Spurs will be extremely lucky to take a single game from the Lakers in a series. LA looked like they were in cruise control tonight.

[Lebowski Brickowski]

You realize he's playing on zero good legs right now, right?

I guess so. That's why they lost.

[ThaiFanofSpurs]

The way I look at it...if Ime Udoka, Finley and Thomas can play well against LA, we'll whup them severely when healthy.

These are 3 biggest letdown guys on the roster and they killed the Lakers tonight. Ime Udoka nearly singled handedly tied the game at one point tonight.

Thomas actually his open J's.

Finley played one of the best games I have ever seen Michael Finley play.


No worries, if Pop had wanted to win this game he would've trapped Kobe more instead of guarding him with Hill. Hill didn't do that badly he just doesn't have the height to guard Kobe. He did make Kobe miss the next shot he took after that 3.

We saw just about everything Phil will throw at us but Pop didn't throw everything at LA he could. It was almost like he wanted to see if we could beat them with our worst LA matchup supporting players carrying the team....and they almost won it for us.

Agreed.

[Showtime24 LAKERS]

35 points in the first quarter?!! talk about defense.....:lmao

[ElNono]

This game was the prime example why Manu is so important to beat these guys. Tony was hesitant pretty much all the way to the third quarter to drive to the bucket. He needs to know that we need his penetration, and if he can't finish then he needs to kick it out and try again. Sometimes he looks like he's scared of getting blocked or something. The Lakers do a good job of clogging the paint, but Manu somehow manages to still get in there and break them down. Tony needs to learn how to do that too. Eventually, Tony started hitting his jumpers and got more aggressive. He ended up having a decent game overall, just not enough of what we need to break the Lakers interior D.

[Spursmania]

I could be wrong, but Pop could have been seeing how Hill would do against tougher competition versus the success he's had recently. I don't think Hill's D did us in - we struggled to come back after digging a deep hole in the 1st quarter due to lack of execution and turnovers. Our FT's didn't help us either. All in all - our D showed that they can compete against a very strong offensive team and the level we played tonight showed its progression. Everyone can hate on Hill all they want, but the truth is that he brings something to the table that the Spurs have lacked - speed and athleticism. Will he be ready by playoffs to be useful - I don't know but it would be nice to have that if he is.

I agree with you, especially about Hill, I really like Hill and believe he can add some intangibles that we haven't had for awhile. I'm thrilled to have him. However, I still think Bowen has proved himself time and time again that he's a great defender, and we needed him in the last couple minutes to hold off the Lakers surge. It will be interesting to see how the rotation will pan out come play-off time.:toast

[bigfan]

For now the Lakers are a better team. We will see if they remain so during the playoffs.

[roycrikside]

spurs have to believe they can win without him
because he is not playing
the sooner they realize it the better
when spurs did not have manu and td
tp came out scored right away and spurs believed

basketball is a game of confidence spurs have to believe they can win with who is on the court
if not they are not going anywhere

You can trot out all the rah-rah speeches you want Ducks, but Pop is not a dummy and neither are his players, so it'd be stupid to treat them that way. He's not using not having Manu as an excuse for the team to play poorly, but the fact that Ginobili's absence negatively affects the team is a reality your peanut-sized mind cannot seem to grasp.

The guy is arguably our 2nd best player. He is a difference maker. If the Manu Ginobilis of the world didn't affect the outcomes of basketball games (think Gasol being out for LA) then fans wouldn't care about them so much, people wouldn't buy their shoes and jerseys, they wouldn't make ridiculous salaries and coaches and GMs wouldn't go crazy trying to find future Manus and Tims and Tonys.

It's a star-driven league and the reason the Spurs have been so good is not the esprit-de-corps or some poem about a rock. It's because they've had three of the best 20 players in the world on the same team simultaneously, without egos or contracts ruining it. This is incredibly rare.

When you miss a player of Manu's quality, it is going to hurt, just like breaking your arm is going to hurt. You can try to close your eyes, plug your ears and pretend that it won't, but eventually the pain will take over.

We can beat mediocre teams without Manu. We can occasionally catch the Mavs or Blazers on an off-night (or maybe they were over-confident). To beat LA though, when they came in this focused and determined, you need all hands on deck. Beating them even with Manu is an accomplishment.

So, in the end, take three pieces of advice.

1) Pray Ginobili comes back healthy (and really mean it).

2) Pray Tim's knees start feeling better.

3) Don't get mad at Pop because he doesn't feel the way you do about Manu's importance to the team's success. I think he knows how to coach his team better than you do, and if he wants to treat them like grown men, that's his right.

[peskypesky]

I was going to make a few points about this game, but I'm just going to cut it down to one thing.

If Tim Duncan is going to play like that (whether it is because of injury I don't know) then the Spurs will be extremely lucky to take a single game from the Lakers in a series. LA looked like they were in cruise control tonight.

Every one of the Big Three is going to have to bring their A game if we're going to beat the Lakers in the playoffs. Duncan. Parker. Ginobili. As we saw last year, a hobbled Ginobili led to a 4-1 Lakers win.

Duncan is clearly hurting. That is not a good sign. Manu is not even playing. Another bad sign.

But there were at least two bright spots in today's loss. One, Michael Finley is apparently alive and well! And two, Drew Gooden looks VERY promising as a post presence.

So we shall see.

[Joe Schmoogins]

I've got to disagree with the Hill haters tonight... His defense on Kobe was impressive. Kobe couldn't shake him. Every shot Kobe took Hill was right in his grill. Of anyone sent to defend Kobe tonight Hill played him the best. However, Kobe sank a few shots on him but they weren't due to any flaws in Hill's D. They were due to the fact that Kobe is too long for Hill and Kobe was in the zone. I'm not a Hill homer, but don't discredit his D. Credit Kobe's length and clutchness.

[HarlemHeat37]

That's the point though..Hill is a PG, Kobe has a huge size advantage..I realize Hill has great length, but it doesn't make a difference when he's so much smaller than Kobe..

[Bruno]

I was quite optimistic about Duncan knees because I thought that he would be able to play through the injury at a good level.
It obviously isn't the case and his tendinitis/tendinosis likely won't get better for the playoff. It doesn't look good at all. :depressed :depressed :depressed

[The_Game]

the Lakers shld have been more worried of their near-collapse in the 2nd half:p:

BTW, Spurs 8-16 FT :td

why should lakers be worried? they were playing on a back to back..the fact they won says how good a win it was for them..spurs were rested and still managed to lose. the main spurs weakness showed up tonight...

[Rogue]

It's the destiny for mise to be eaten by cats, tmac to be a second round virgin... and it's also the an unavoidable destiny for spurs to lose to lakers. Lakers spurs and suns are just like "scissors, stone and cloth".

[NewJerSpur]

What happened to destiny in 2003?

[raspsa]

I didn't catch the game. Naturally I was hoping for a Spurs victory but after reading some accounts of how the game went and how the Spurs performed individually, I'm just glad they showed enough heart to rally and cut the lead to a single basket.. to me this is still part of the learning process or chpiping away at that mythical stone until the Playoffs arrive then things get serious. Hopefully by then manu is close to the manu he has to be for the Spurs to seriously contend. Maybe Timmy will be rejuvenated, parker will show greater consistency. maybe.Maybe. I'm happy that Finley had a terrific offensive game. And Gooden got off to a good start as a Spur. And that Hill got a chance to pair off against Kobe and he didn't back down. lots of little things that hopefully come together over the next month.. I really think the Spurs will be ready when the playoffs start and I expect them to play their hearts out, win or lose. That's all anyone can ask of them.

[Rogue]

What happened to destiny in 2003?
2003 seems even older than the spurs. :lol

[NewJerSpur]

Answer the question.

[Blackjack]

I've got to disagree with the Hill haters tonight... His defense on Kobe was impressive. Kobe couldn't shake him. Every shot Kobe took Hill was right in his grill. Of anyone sent to defend Kobe tonight Hill played him the best. However, Kobe sank a few shots on him but they weren't due to any flaws in Hill's D. They were due to the fact that Kobe is too long for Hill and Kobe was in the zone. I'm not a Hill homer, but don't discredit his D. Credit Kobe's length and clutchness.

:tu


That's the point though..Hill is a PG, Kobe has a huge size advantage..I realize Hill has great length, but it doesn't make a difference when he's so much smaller than Kobe..

I thought Hill showed that he CAN be an option on Kobe, as a change-up/situational defender throughout the course of a game, but you're right about him not having the size to be a primary defender.

On the game overall, it really came down to that 1st quarter.

You've got to give the Lakers some credit for absolutely catching fire and really making shots from the perimeter that you'd usually like to see them take, but the Spurs compounded it with a tenative offense, being weak/careless with the ball, and the inability to defensive rebound on the rare occassion the Lakers left an opportunity. With the way the Lakers came out shooting, you could almost understand an 8-12 point deficit, but 18? That's just unacceptable.

I'm also pretty disappointed in Pop's decision to dress Vaughn over Hairston. Pop had Hairston as his first sub off the bench for a little stretch there, seemingly proven that he could contribute and might be of more help than Udoka at times, but has completely gone away from Hairston ever since. It's almost as if his head and eyes were/are telling him that the rookie Hairston provides more of what the team needs at this junction, but his heart and gut are telling him to go with the vet. in Udoka. I guess it makes since for Pop, playing the odds as usual, but sometimes you've got a take a chance to be rewarded.

Hairston was actually, at times, the most impressive on-ball defender the Spurs had when he was given minutes. For him to miss A rotation (something Spurs defenders have all done on more than occassion this year) and be yanked and banished to the bench, after playing no more than a couple of minutes, it really makes no sense. It almost seems as if Pop was looking/hoping Hairston would fail (for this year anyway) so he would have sufficient reason in his mind to go exclusively with Udoka down the stretch.

I'm not rooting against Udoka (I hope he can be what the Spurs need against the better teams) but I remain skeptical. Even as a rookie, Hairston has just shown me more ability to play the type of on-ball defense that puts the opponent on their heals, and not vice-versa. Hell, if Pop's going to experiment with Hill on Kobe, why wouldn't you see what you've got with Hairston in the final Laker game of the reg. season? /Hairston rant

[polandprzem]

I haven't broken it down by half, but they are some serious knee pads.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/special%202/3-12-098.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/special%202/3-12-094.jpg

Holly fook !!!

This is way more serious then we thought.
Look at this metal pieces on the sides of the pads. That pretty drastic move consideing he was playing without it in a long stretch now. That's bad as I can see it.

The season was all good till the all star braek. Manu was getting into rhythm and spurs was steadly playing better. And now all have changed :pctoss

Damn as I was watching the game against Dllas I could see the pain on Duncans face. And he was helpless, more then in 2005. :(

-------------

I haven't seen the game but it looked like a typical "before playoffs Popovich." Trying many things that might have work and not trying the things he knows that works.

LA again was too much for Bonner and Parker.Jax always was clogging the lane so TP could not drive and that's bad situation cause you are left with 10 sec on a clock and you must figure out a new play.

ehhh

We need that 2 spot. !
Good to hear that Gooden is healthy I really would consider not playing Duncan in all remaning games in this season and let a new guy adopt to spurs system. Even without Timmy. We need Timy as healthy as he can be till the playoffs.

[Bruno]

Duncan's knee pads could just be a cautionary measure against hits.
Knee pads are quite popular among players lately. For example, Miami Heat coaching staff asks its players to wear that as a protection.

[polandprzem]

Duncan's knee pads could just be a cautionary measure against hits.
Knee pads are quite popular among players lately. For example, Miami Heat coaching staff asks its players to wear that as a protection.

They probably are. But we all see Tim in those kind of pads in his history of playing.
And Tims movement is far away from the decent Tim Duncan movement

[WalterBenitez]

I agree, probably hte best props should go to TP and Finley (OMG am I saying this?), what we are losing is the momentum, hard to explain but we were very sure that we could catch this game, but never had chance (IMO).

[ceperez]

If Gooden plays as well as I've seen him play in the past (the 4 minutes he played was a good glimpse of that), then we definitely have a very good chance against the lakers in the playoffs. That turn-around jump shot that he made was something Oberto, Bonner and Thomas could never make in a million years. He's much quicker than these 3 to the rebound and defending other players. He's also willing to use his body to bang around. If Gooden and Duncan are healthy in the playoffs, we are guaranteed at least reaching the conference finals.

The two nagging concerns would be

(1) Our backup point guard seems wilt against the Lakers pesky defense.

(2) Finding a player with enough length and athleticism to guard Kobe. What happened to Pops Mensah Bonsu?

[polandprzem]

Bonsu bensu doing good with rapsu repsu

[kobyz]

if we want to win against the lakers we must dominate the boards. we can't get kill on the boards every time we played the lakers!!

[Capt Bringdown]

-Pop once again made a number of head-scratching decisions. The one I couldn't figure out was when he went to Hill at the end of the game after Mason picked up his fifth foul. First of all, that late in the game, you let a player stay on the court with five fouls. Secondly, if you are going for defense, there's one of the better perimeter defenders of all-time as an option. Going with Hill to defend Bryant when Hill was totally out of rhythm made no sense.

The only thing that seems to make a smidgeon of sense is that Pop wanted to give Hill a baptism by fire?

That doesn't make much sense, but I don't know how else to process the decision not to put Bowen on Kobe, and/or the kneejerk reaction to pull Mason out. This year everything will have to go right in order for us to win a ring, and that includes Hill. Maybe Pop wanted to give him a taste of playoff intensity by being posterized.

I agree, Duncan looks creaky. Might as well rest him, HCA is a lost cause and we need to get healthy to prepare for what will likely be our last chance to go deep into the playoffs with this team as we know it.

[kace]

hard to be optimistic right now.

Manu is still injured and we don't know if he'll be able to get back at full strenght for the PO. Probably not considering the time he took him to get back at full strenght (did he anyway ?) from his last injury.

Tim will probably not be at 100 % for the PO either.

Tony is carrying us for a long time now and this heavy efforts he provides could strike back in the PO too.

I have good hopes in Gooden level but i just can't see him able to be really efficient with so few time left till the PO.

i think that Bonner, Hill and probably Mason too will all be at best decent in the PO. I just can't see them at a very high level in the PO.

And despite all that, i still believe in our chances. i think we can beat every team in the west. but NO or Utah would be very hard to beat and LA is a big favorite against us.

i think it will all depends again on the Big four (tim, tony, manu and bruce), i'm not waiting too much from the others players and considering the health issues, it could be worrying.

[AussieFanKurt]

we have worst luck with injuries in playoffs
i wish manu hadn't played for argentina :(

[Capt Bringdown]

we have worst luck with injuries in playoffs
i wish manu hadn't played for argentina :(

Yeah, that decision ain't looking too good now. Thanks, Manu.

[MI21]

A key adjustment from the Spurs in the second half was the way they attacked the Lakers extended half court defense. The Lakers, unlike most teams, play pretty tight defense out 10-15 feet past the 3 point line. The Spurs were trying to set the plays from out there and it was making the passes much more difficult and was bogging down the offense. Once Parker started attacking the defense from further out, the Spurs played some decent offense and I think it's a big part of beating this extended, pressuring Lakers half court D.

[DarrinS]

No moral victories, but I was happy to see the Spurs fight their way back into that game.


There's no way Bonner should ever start against the Lakers. They're just too big and athletic. I was impressed with Gooden, even though he only played a few minutes.


More than any other team, Phil really has a good scheme to defend Tony Parker.

[urunobili]

We saw just about everything Phil will throw at us but Pop didn't throw everything at LA he could. It was almost like he wanted to see if we could beat them with our worst LA matchup supporting players carrying the team....and they almost won it for us.

:tu I want to believe this...

and BTW... this Laker team is perfectly beatable if we get to play them healthy... i am not scared of them at all... :toast

[Brazil]

I've already said that but sometimes I'm lost with Pop. Why playing Drew just 4 minutes in the third ?? In 4 minutes he gave 2 pts, 4 rebounds and hope for what ? just to see if he can play 4 min against the lakers ? try to kill his confidence ?

I'd prefer not seeing him at all than 4 miserable minutes.

For the rest everything has been said. I particulary agree with the stop saying we miss manu it doesn't help the rest of the team to go through this reg season and maybe PO.

[urunobili]

And you know...I thimk Udoka has a little Laker Killer in him after all. He tore them up when he came on the court in the fourth.

Last yeah after a breakout series against NOH he CHOKED big time against LA... so until he proves us wrong he aint no Lakers Killer... yet... :nope

[1Parker1]

Was I watching the same game as Whottt? I saw nothing positive to take away from this game. Yes, the Spurs played well for 3 quarters, but a large part of the reason that the Spurs were able to come back was because of Lakers bench players coming in. In the playoffs, I doubt Phil gives his bench that long of a run.

The biggest reason why I highly doubt the Spurs will beat the Lakers in a 7 game series, should it come to that, is Kobe. Spurs have absolutely NO ONE to guard him. Bruce Bowen is your best bet, and even he has lost a step which was noticable. Not only that, but the defense he provides does not make up for the offense that is lost at the other end of the court. You cannot play 4 on 5 against this offensively potent Lakers team and expect to win.

Secondly, Lakers role players have too much length and atheletism for the Spurs role players to defend. Ariza, Gasol, and Odom basically had their way with the Spurs. And even that stupid Luke Walton always seems to play great against us :pctoss

Thirdly, Duncan did not look like Duncan, and that is not good news. Period.

You can argue that the Spurs were missing Ginobili and Gooden hasn't had a chance to play yet, etc. but the Lakers were also without Andrew Bynum. As great as Ginobili is, I'm not sure even he can be the person that carries us over the top against this Lakers team. It's just a plain bad matchup for the Spurs any way you look at it.

[Lebowski Brickowski]

A key adjustment from the Spurs in the second half was the way they attacked the Lakers extended half court defense. The Lakers, unlike most teams, play pretty tight defense out 10-15 feet past the 3 point line. The Spurs were trying to set the plays from out there and it was making the passes much more difficult and was bogging down the offense. Once Parker started attacking the defense from further out, the Spurs played some decent offense and I think it's a big part of beating this extended, pressuring Lakers half court D.

+1
l.a. does a grreat job of perimeter D on S.A. They disrupt the whole offense and Spurs end up shooting poor shoots at the shot clock. l.a. typically makes Tony look bewildered. Last night Tony finally started to impose his will.

[2Cleva]

In the past it was the Spurs that use to jam the triangle up high.

They can't do that anymore.

[superbigtime]

Bonner was useless and basically hurt the team each minute he was on the court. I hope Pop stops starting him automatically and instead subs him for Drew and Kurt. Hell, Fab was better. Bonner's play completely lacked confidence and purpose.

Hill had no business guarding Kobe.

Bruce was underplayed AGAIN. Ime was nice, but I would never count on him. Finley had an incredible night. If he only had scored his average, we would have been blown wide open.

It took Parker an entire half to yank his tampon.

Mason did not look sharp at all. He does an awful job of creating his own shot. Stop with the low percentage long distance pull up 3s four feet beyond the arc Mase! Leave that shit to Rasheed.

Tim is not looking good at all...that's the most worrisome thing of all. When he runs up the court it's a lumbering plodding gait. Ouch, just hurts to watch.

Spotting the WC champs 18 pts in the 1st Q, grabbing only 3 offensive rebounds, committing 16 turnovers and missing 8 FTs won't get it done.

[hater]

Better thank Phil Jackson let go off the accelerator pedal in the 2nd quarter or this would have been a beating of historic proportions. Also thank Finley.

[vander]

duncan got owned all game long.

[xtremesteven33]

Was I watching the same game as Whottt? I saw nothing positive to take away from this game. Yes, the Spurs played well for 3 quarters, but a large part of the reason that the Spurs were able to come back was because of Lakers bench players coming in. In the playoffs, I doubt Phil gives his bench that long of a run.


Wrong.

Kobe nearly played 40 minutes.
Gasol played over 40 minutes.

[TheManFromAcme]

Good game. Loved the win (of course) but here are my observations:

- Spurs are really under-estimating the value of even a 70-75% healthy Manu. We know he's good for 20-25 points (or more when healthy) so if mathematical logic holds true, wouldn't a 70-75% healthy Manu give you 15-20 points?

- Pop just may be pulling his CIA antics to feel us out. I liked what I saw in Gooden last night. Why he didn't play more is beyond me. Thanks Pop!

- I love Bynum. Good defensive presence but maybe (just maybe) we are a little quicker w/o him and and having him last night may have thrown things off chemically speaking. Follow me Spur fan?

- Even I have to admit. I expected more from the Spurs. That run in the 3rd could have been the clincher had Mason hit more of his shots.

- Bonner? I may be in the minority here but Oberto seems to have more "girth" to give some of the LA front line some physicality.

Anyway, I still want to see Manu in to really gauge us.
Can't stand the Spurs but hope you guys get healthy to see you at the WCF's.

Don't lose hope just yet dudes!:toast

[NFGIII]

Tough loss for the Spurs. And it's Pop's fault, too. That pregame speech of his really inspired the Spurs to come out and hand the Lakers an 18 point 1st Q lead. He even admitted that his speech prior to the game was pathetic when he was interviewed right after the 1st Q was over on ESPN. :p:

Anyway the Spurs can't give an opponent like the Lakers that kind of lead after one Q and expect to win many of them. They out played them for the next 3 Qs but it wasn't enough. I understand that our FTs sucked - 8 for 16 - but it all boils down to what we did in the 1st Q. After that it was all uphill. We almost pulled it out but just couldn't get over the top.

We have injury problems with the Spurs - Manu and TD. TD's knees looked pretty bad and like some others here have already stated I haven't seen that kind of brace on him ever, as well as him with the icebags. As for Manu it's a wait and see situation. I wasn't too happy to hear that he had soreness in the right ankle after the shootaround the other day. It may be nothing and that's what I hope it is. Just some soreness due to inactivity and nothing more. This is a concern since we all know that in order to win a title this team/any team has to be healthy. We need both TD and Manu back healthy. Period. This is a no-brainer from my point of view.

As for Bonner he really doesn't match up with the Lakers at all. No rebounds? That's terrible for a starting C. And if he can't score then he's worthless as the -17 indicated. This is a tough call for Pop. Bonner has played well for the most part this season but isn't a good matrchup against the Lakers. How can we hide his liabilities against them besides the obvious (bench)? Tough to change your starting lineup in the POs IMO. I think you have to go with him initially but with a quick hook. Hopefully by then Gooden has become comfortable in the system (as well as you can hope for considering how late he got here) and can take the extra minutes. Seeing him get 4 rebounds in 4 minutes is quite encouraging.

I'm still optimistic about uor chances in the POs. But we won't have any if TD and Manu aren't at least 85% or better and even that might not get it done, either.

[MateoNeygro]

Tim Duncan looked like he's finished out there. And I'm not even exaggerating. It was sad to see him give it his all, when he was obviously hurting.

I saw the same game you guys saw, and I just don't see any possible way we can keep up with the size the Lakers can throw at us. Especially with a gimp broken Manu, and a slower than normal Tim.

Anyone else notice how Parker has not had a quality start-to-finish game against the Lakers since like, ever?
Or how Bonner misses every fucking shot he takes against the Lakers?

The sad thing is, if any team CAN beat the Lakers, it's us.

Or the Celtics....Because they did it last year. But I do think the Spurs can beat the Lakers in the playoffs it's just gonna take a lot of effort and luck (healthwise)

[Flux451]

Gooden test....testing....1, 2.

I think Pop saw and knew what we could do with him. I think he was trying to win without him. I don't think this win was as important as many think. There is no way we are catching the Lakers for first. I believe after tonight, Pop saw who he can play in rotations against the Lakers.

Props to our 2nd unit!!! Fun to watch them. In the 2nd half it was hard to watch our 1st unit come back and watch them slow our momentum the 2nd unit built.

Anyone else getting tired of Mason pulling the trigger on 3's 5ft away from the line? I like his deep threes, but the unneccesary ones with out passing and ball movement urk me.

Bonnner starting was a huge mistake. Oberto should of got his minutes.

Overall, if Pop wasn't worried about winning, why play Duncan a lot of mins, why not rest him?

I like the chances against the Lakers. Some more free throws and rebounds and win in our pocket.

[ploto]

Trying to be optimistic- maybe the knee pads are hindering Duncan's movement.

Oberto has always been the best Spurs big on Gasol.

The signing of Gooden seems to have put Bonner back in his funk.

Lakers beat the #3 team in the West and the #2 team in the West on back-to-back nights on the road. They are just that good.

[TwinTowers]

Good game. Loved the win (of course) but here are my observations:

- Spurs are really under-estimating the value of even a 70-75% healthy Manu. We know he's good for 20-25 points (or more when healthy) so if mathematical logic holds true, wouldn't a 70-75% healthy Manu give you 15-20 points?

- Pop just may be pulling his CIA antics to feel us out. I liked what I saw in Gooden last night. Why he didn't play more is beyond me. Thanks Pop!

- I love Bynum. Good defensive presence but maybe (just maybe) we are a little quicker w/o him and and having him last night may have thrown things off chemically speaking. Follow me Spur fan?

- Even I have to admit. I expected more from the Spurs. That run in the 3rd could have been the clincher had Mason hit more of his shots.

- Bonner? I may be in the minority here but Oberto seems to have more "girth" to give some of the LA front line some physicality.

Anyway, I still want to see Manu in to really gauge us.
Can't stand the Spurs but hope you guys get healthy to see you at the WCF's.

Don't lose hope just yet dudes!:toast

You forgot to mention Bowen. He is the only spur that can play decent defense against Kobe, but in offense is a total liability. He can get hot a hit some 3s from time to time, but don’t bet on that for a PO series. Actually when he was in the game, Lakers were able to play better defense allowing Kobe to help inside, and rotate timely to outside shooters. Besides health issues, and size inside, the biggest question mark for the spurs right now is how to stop kobe; he only scored 23 last night, but we all know he’s capable of more.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

[VI_Massive]

You forgot to mention Bowen. He is the only spur that can play decent defense against Kobe, but in offense is a total liability. He can get hot a hit some 3s from time to time, but don’t bet on that for a PO series. Actually when he was in the game, Lakers were able to play better defense allowing Kobe to help inside, and rotate timely to outside shooters. Besides health issues, and size inside, the biggest question mark for the spurs right now is how to stop kobe; he only scored 23 last night, but we all know he’s capable of more.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

I agree on Bowen. It would be great to have him out there, but he's a hole on offense and the Lakers take advantage of that. They'll put Kobe or Fish on Bowen and they'll leave him to double Parker, Manu, or Duncan. They'll keep doing it until they get killed by open 3s which may or may not come from Bruce. Its like they did last year in the Finals against Rondo, because they didn't respect his jumper. It caused serious problems for Boston until Rondo burned them a few times.

If someone can't hurt them offensively, the Lakers just won't guard that guy and will direct their defensive attention elsewhere.

That's why Hill was out there against Kobe. Pop's trying to give him some shots at guarding Bryant to see if its a usable match-up in the playoffs (I think it is, on a limited basis) and Hill was hitting shots last night and had to be guarded.

[TheManFromAcme]

You forgot to mention Bowen. He is the only spur that can play decent defense against Kobe, but in offense is a total liability. He can get hot a hit some 3s from time to time, but don’t bet on that for a PO series. Actually when he was in the game, Lakers were able to play better defense allowing Kobe to help inside, and rotate timely to outside shooters. Besides health issues, and size inside, the biggest question mark for the spurs right now is how to stop kobe; he only scored 23 last night, but we all know he’s capable of more.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

Your right. Bowen has had some damn good games against Kobe but his offense has been questionable. I don't think we should under-estimate Manu. They boy CAN play some ball and has killed us in the past with his penetrations although I am almost confident our line-up should put a little damper on Manu's game should he come back, but I am stilil not going to underestimate Gino. Got to admit. He is an intricate part of that offense.
I am just not putting our Lakers leagues and leagues ahead of the Spurs. They are 2nd for a reason and Pop is no Isiah Thomas as far as coaching goes. The man knows his stuff.

Edge to Lakers nontheless. :toast

[xtremesteven33]

This game didnt bother me at all.

Our current health status does though. :depressed

[TwinTowers]

Your right. Bowen has had some damn good games against Kobe but his offense has been questionable. I don't think we should under-estimate Manu. They boy CAN play some ball and has killed us in the past with his penetrations although I am almost confident our line-up should put a little damper on Manu's game should he come back, but I am stilil not going to underestimate Gino. Got to admit. He is an intricate part of that offense.
I am just not putting our Lakers leagues and leagues ahead of the Spurs. They are 2nd for a reason and Pop is no Isiah Thomas as far as coaching goes. The man knows his stuff.

Edge to Lakers nontheless. :toast

There is no doubt we can't take the Spurs lightly, and Manu has enough game to take over games. We might be better than SA right now, but we have to be more consistent come playoff time specially against those teams that we are likely to face in the first round.

Last night's game gave us a chance to test our toughness, and it was nice to see the team keep their composure when the Spurt cut the lead two 2 points.

[Brazil]

Good game. Loved the win (of course) but here are my observations:

- Spurs are really under-estimating the value of even a 70-75% healthy Manu. We know he's good for 20-25 points (or more when healthy) so if mathematical logic holds true, wouldn't a 70-75% healthy Manu give you 15-20 points?

- Pop just may be pulling his CIA antics to feel us out. I liked what I saw in Gooden last night. Why he didn't play more is beyond me. Thanks Pop!

- I love Bynum. Good defensive presence but maybe (just maybe) we are a little quicker w/o him and and having him last night may have thrown things off chemically speaking. Follow me Spur fan?

- Even I have to admit. I expected more from the Spurs. That run in the 3rd could have been the clincher had Mason hit more of his shots.

- Bonner? I may be in the minority here but Oberto seems to have more "girth" to give some of the LA front line some physicality.

Anyway, I still want to see Manu in to really gauge us.
Can't stand the Spurs but hope you guys get healthy to see you at the WCF's.

Don't lose hope just yet dudes!:toast

classy post

[Brazil]

You forgot to mention Bowen. He is the only spur that can play decent defense against Kobe, but in offense is a total liability. He can get hot a hit some 3s from time to time, but don’t bet on that for a PO series. Actually when he was in the game, Lakers were able to play better defense allowing Kobe to help inside, and rotate timely to outside shooters. Besides health issues, and size inside, the biggest question mark for the spurs right now is how to stop kobe; he only scored 23 last night, but we all know he’s capable of more.

I think after last night's game Pop has more questions than answers

When the big 3 is healthy we don't need the Bowen scoring, it's hard to defend 4 out of 5 Offense threats especially when you know that you cannot let the corner 3 open for the fifth element. I think and maybe I'm worng that in PO mode you will see much more Bowen.

[EricB]

Mason's off night, no Ginobili, Duncan not at 100%, and lose a squeeker against the best team in the league?

Eh, nothing to be 100% worried about.

Very intrigued to see how Gooden does tommarow against Houston.

[Spurs Brazil]

Trying to be optimistic- maybe the knee pads are hindering Duncan's movement.

Oberto has always been the best Spurs big on Gasol.

The signing of Gooden seems to have put Bonner back in his funk.
Lakers beat the #3 team in the West and the #2 team in the West on back-to-back nights on the road. They are just that good.

That what make me very mad at Bonner. He has 0 mental toughness.

Gooden to the Spurs started on March 1st and in march Bonner is shooting 8-22 from 3PT. This for a guy who was shooting 50%.

Bonner was playing a very good season and I'd like to see that Bonner in the playoffs. If Bonner keep playing scared bench him and start Gooden

[lefty]

i agree.....

so can i be myself again? :wtf

:lmao

[lefty]

Good game. Loved the win (of course) but here are my observations:

- Spurs are really under-estimating the value of even a 70-75% healthy Manu. We know he's good for 20-25 points (or more when healthy) so if mathematical logic holds true, wouldn't a 70-75% healthy Manu give you 15-20 points?

- Pop just may be pulling his CIA antics to feel us out. I liked what I saw in Gooden last night. Why he didn't play more is beyond me. Thanks Pop!

- I love Bynum. Good defensive presence but maybe (just maybe) we are a little quicker w/o him and and having him last night may have thrown things off chemically speaking. Follow me Spur fan?

- Even I have to admit. I expected more from the Spurs. That run in the 3rd could have been the clincher had Mason hit more of his shots.

- Bonner? I may be in the minority here but Oberto seems to have more "girth" to give some of the LA front line some physicality.

Anyway, I still want to see Manu in to really gauge us.
Can't stand the Spurs but hope you guys get healthy to see you at the WCF's.

Don't lose hope just yet dudes!:toast

:toast

[aka_USAPA]

No worries, if Pop had wanted to win this game he would've trapped Kobe more instead of guarding him with Hill. Hill didn't do that badly he just doesn't have the height to guard Kobe.

So Popovich tanked the game? Is that what the Spurs have turned to? Tankers? If that's true, Pop should be fired!!!:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol

[xtremesteven33]

If the Spurs had a 18 point lead in the first half and blew it to lose the game...

then i would be worried about this teams chances of winning it all.

im just worried about health right now. IF healthy we are just as good as the Lakers IMHO

[hater]

Good points, whottt. The glass half full look at this game is that the Spurs played like death in the first quarter, didn't have Manu, Gooden wasn't available for a full workload ... and the Spurs still almost won.

Not sure I agree with an assessment that rosy but this wasn't a typical devastating loss to the Lakers.

wake up. Phil Jackson took his foot off the accelerator in 2nd quarter and his team cruised after that point.

Do not fool yourself. This loss was BAD, the scoreboard does not show it but IMO it is equivalent to a 40+ pt loss. The Lakers and especially that asshole Jackson was toying with us. :(

only positives I saw was Spurs remained poised and did not get totally rattled. That is a huge positive. Another positive, Gooden looks good.

[xtremesteven33]

wake up. Phil Jackson took his foot off the accelerator in 2nd quarter and his team cruised after that point.

Do not fool yourself. This loss was BAD, the scoreboard does not show it but IMO it is equivalent to a 40+ pt loss. The Lakers and especially that asshole Jackson was toying with us. :(

only positives I saw was Spurs remained poised and did not get totally rattled. That is a huge positive. Another positive, Gooden looks good.


Playing Gasol and Kobe over 40 minutes after a B2B isnt toying....:rolleyes

[hater]

Playing Gasol and Kobe over 40 minutes after a B2B isnt toying....:rolleyes

I agree Lakers bench is their achilles heel. But regardless they were cruising

[TwinTowers]

When the big 3 is healthy we don't need the Bowen scoring, it's hard to defend 4 out of 5 Offense threats especially when you know that you cannot let the corner 3 open for the fifth element. I think and maybe I'm worng that in PO mode you will see much more Bowen.

Still I don't know if he would be able to play heavy minutes regardless the rest he is getting. Personally, I don't expect him to have the same impact he had in previous season, but like you said "maybe I'm wrong"

[urunobili]

Playing Gasol and Kobe over 40 minutes after a B2B isnt toying....:rolleyes

:owned

[PDXSpursFan]

We need to these changes immediately:

1) Gooden = starter, Bonner = backup
2) Manu = starter, Mason = backup
3) No more Mason as PG
4) No more Hill as SG

[Chomag]

No Manu...

Guys we really can't keep playing the Manu card anymore. There might be a possibility he will no play this season. Even if he does there is still that possibility he wont be healthy,nor he wont have much time to get back into his rhythm.

Hey, I miss him too but we can't keep saying "I wish Manu was here" every game the Spurs play because the fact is he isn't. I know how important he is to our team,and how great he is but we have to think about trying to find ways to win without him.

As for TD, I'm really worried about him. Those knees just will not get better unless he can rest them. If TD is struggling this bad why wont they just give him a week or 2 off? Why keep playing him and not allow him to heal since he can't contribute much right now at his current state?

Hill IMO did a very good job on Kobe. You got to cut the Kid some slack. Why do some of you want to bash him for that one 3pt shot Kobe made on him? Honestly Kobe would have made that same shot on any of our defenders. He has made those shots many time ageist us and many other teams in the past and it wasn't Hill guarding him. Yes, Kobe is an ass but he has alot of talent and hitting that shot when it matters is one of them.

Bowen is still our best defender on Kobe but it really does look like he has lost a step or two. To bad Hairston is in Pops dog house. He did a awesome job on LBJ when he was given a chance and I would have loved to have seen what he can do for us against Kobe.

The weakness of our team is greatly exploited when we play up against Athletic teams. Thankfully we do have that High IQ from our vets and we are going to need the best of that from them to overcome them. I still believer we have the pieces to win a Championship this year but there is no doubt other teams feel the same way. its going to be a very competitive playoffs this year and I can't wait.

All in saying that :flag: bring us a 09:lobt2:

[DrHouse]

The Lakers didn't cruise but you could tell they were getting tired in the 2nd half.

Spurs took advantage and clawed their way back into the game.

Still one has to wonder how a team can shoot 65% from 3pt land and still lose the game.

[PDXSpursFan]

No Manu...


No Manu... = No realistic chance to beat Lakers as simple as that :(

[callo1]

The Spurs came out and played as bad in the 1st quarter as they have all year and they still had a great shot to win this game late in the 4th.

The Spurs won 3 of the 4 quarters. (yeah I know, they lost the game)


Fin, Ime and Hill are all playing well.

We got nothing from Bonner, and TD had a crappy game.

Drew looked great in the 4 minutes he got.

I don't feel worried in any way about this loss...frustrated by giving away the 1st quarter...yes, worried, no.

It was clear that the Lakers wanted the game more by the energy they played with in the opening quarter.

Life goes on:)

[Flux451]

The Lakers didn't cruise but you could tell they were getting tired in the 2nd half.

Spurs took advantage and clawed their way back into the game.

Still one has to wonder how a team can shoot 65% from 3pt land and still lose the game.

One has to wonder how a team can shoot 50% from the free throw line and win this game.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

The Lakers didn't cruise but you could tell they were getting tired in the 2nd half.

Spurs took advantage and clawed their way back into the game.

Still one has to wonder how a team can shoot 65% from 3pt land and still lose the game.

5-13 on ft's and outrebounded by 9

Not that hard to fathom. If anything, the 3 point shooting is what kept us from getting really blown out.

[lefty]

Ime Udoka continues his improved play. I liked his aggressiveness on the defensive. In fact, his toughness on that end seemed to change the momentum of the game at a point in which the contest could have gotten away from the Spurs. Udoka still has a lot of room for improvement but considering the depths of where he's come from, a Spurs fan has to be happy about his current level.

Udoka pissed me off; his focus wasn't there, he didn't block players out at all, allowing them to take eaaaaasy rebounds.
He also had a retarded foul

[EricB]

5-13 on ft's and outrebounded by 9

Not that hard to fathom. If anything, the 3 point shooting is what kept us from getting really blown out.


Spot on. A healthy Duncan IMO brings that gap down and if Gooden can get healthy and bring what he did last night then that evens it 100%.

[EricB]

Udoka pissed me off; his focus wasn't there, he didn't block players out at all, allowing them to take eaaaaasy rebounds.
He also had a retarded foul

Eh, I think he didn't have the best of games, but I don't think he was as bad as you think he was.

[lefty]

Eh, I think he didn't have the best of games, but I don't think he was as bad as you think he was.

He wasn't bad overall, but he had 2-3 horrible sequences that led to easy Lakers baskets

[EricB]

He wasn't bad overall, but he had 2-3 horrible sequences that led to easy Lakers baskets


You could point to probobly every player that did that.

Still don't understand why Udoka is singled out.

[lefty]

You could point to probobly every player that did that.

Still don't understand why Udoka is singled out.

We have to have a different scapegoat every 2 games :lol

[superbigtime]

You could point to probobly every player that did that.

Still don't understand why Udoka is singled out.

Because he sucks ass and you can't count on him.

[MI21]

Some of the stuff being said in this thread rings of people not actually having seen the game. The boxscore and final score doesn't tell the story of this one.

[Laketown]

I love my Spurs to death but even with Manu I still dont think the Spurs can beat the lakers in all honesty! They are just a better team hands down. Esp when noone can buy a damn shot!

Are you kidding me? If you guy have a healthy Manu and with the addition of Gooden, the Spurs definitley have a shot. Do not underestimate your own Spurs they have the heart of a champion. The Lakers better come prepared if we expect to beat you guys.

[underdawg]

Some of the stuff being said in this thread rings of people not actually having seen the game. The boxscore and final score doesn't tell the story of this one.

stats = win; honestly the only stat that matters is the fact that the Spurs came back from an 18 point deficit to make it a game. I don't know how many key regular season games that the Spurs have played in the past 3-4 years that once they were down by a big margin, they pretty much turned it in. The resilience that they showed is very comforting in the cajones department and it made this loss easier to accept than usual. I don't mind if the majority feels the Spurs are incapable of beating the lakers in the playoffs - what matters to me are these signs of hunger that frankly this year's squad has that last year's squad didn't have.

[ploto]

Why act as if the Spurs are the only team with injuries and that if they were just healthy it would all be great! This just may be the most injury-riddled season of the NBA that I can remember. Lots of teams are hurting.

[ploto]

honestly the only stat that matters is the fact that the Spurs came back from an 18 point deficit to make it a game.

Actually, the only stat that matters is this one:
LA 102
SA 95

[DrHouse]

stats = win; honestly the only stat that matters is the fact that the Spurs came back from an 18 point deficit to make it a game. I don't know how many key regular season games that the Spurs have played in the past 3-4 years that once they were down by a big margin, they pretty much turned it in. The resilience that they showed is very comforting in the cajones department and it made this loss easier to accept than usual. I don't mind if the majority feels the Spurs are incapable of beating the lakers in the playoffs - what matters to me are these signs of hunger that frankly this year's squad has that last year's squad didn't have.

The Spurs coming back had more to due with the Lakers being on a b2b and Phil keeping the bench unit in too long than anything else. I wouldn't place too much importance on it.

[ILoveOranges]

Kobe plays at his best when he's not trying too hard. Pop didn't give him much Bowen or see what Hairston could do against him, he didn't trap him down the stretch except like once.

And you know...Gooden showed no intimidation of playing against LA, he wanted to clean glass like a mofo and seemed know exactly that that's what he does well that can help the Spurs the most. He played like he wants to prove he belongs on the Spurs...and if he has that attitude he will be a force even if it's only on the glass.

I just don't feel the Lakers are invincible to the Spurs. I look at the Spurs and see everything needed to beat LA on paper and I'm also seeing it in their attitude. And our 3 shooting does look like it will be good enough prevent doubles...if they can't double the Spurs, they can't stop Duncan and Parker.

The more I think of Pop putting Hill on Kobe for such an extended period of time, and giving only 4 minutes to an excited Gooden, the more I think he truly is just poking and prodding; messing around till the playoffs. It's an interesting thing to see Pop just mess around with the lineups.

Going in line with everyone in the world, I know that Manu will completely change the makeup of this current Spurs team. It's a smart move to keep Manu out till there is no inkling of an injury; he's a game changer and the Spurs need him to be 100%. Given his history of injuries and being a skinny white man, resting seems to be the best option until he and Gooden can make their big minute debuts together. That's when we'll see the true Spurs team. Until then, I figure Pop will keep experimenting and seeing what works, rather than truly putting every effort towards winning.

It's truly painful to watch Duncan struggling. When Gooden works his way into the lineup, I feel he should spot in minutes for Duncan, at least for a week or two, so Duncan can get some well-needed rest. The last thing this team needs is for one major injury to a star player to follow another.

[underdawg]

The Spurs coming back had more to due with the Lakers being on a b2b and Phil keeping the bench unit in too long than anything else. I wouldn't place too much importance on it.

true because the lakers are so old - that's a crap excuse and you know it. The main difference was that the Spurs started playing defense. That started in the 2nd quarter just after the lakers were on fire for the 1st quarter. So, you're telling me that a b2b caused the lakers to go cold in only the 2nd quarter? How many minutes did Kobe, Gasol and Odom have?

[MI21]

Why act as if the Spurs are the only team with injuries and that if they were just healthy it would all be great! This just may be the most injury-riddled season of the NBA that I can remember. Lots of teams are hurting.

Why act as if the Spurs aren't one of the best teams in the NBA this season, every season, and sometimes they are actually the best team evidenced by a few championships. Why act as if the Spurs don't have a 75% win/loss ratio with Ginobili playing. Why act as if everything the Spurs have ever done is wrong.

[aka_USAPA]

Thanks for not using words like 'soft' and 'no heart'.

I can't remember Duncan wrapping both knees either.

I think he's more hurt than we know. His left knee is chronic, and it was bugging him already this season before the tendonosis on his right came on.

I think his game is greatly impacted, and I've got to give him credit for playing through what's apparantly painful. I hope he can get some kind of decent rest to make the push for the Playoffs.

I was concerned before the tendonosis, now I'm moving toward worried.

If you're hurt, don't play. If you play hurt, don't say anything about it nor should you make it an excuse for failure. That's what Duncan is doing. He is not soft. He is all heart. The Lakers have the Spurs' mojo. They know how to play the Spurs. That's just all there is to it.

[Josepatches_]

You can say whatever you want. Pop ddn't coach to win (what . . . ever) no Manu, Gooden isn't worked in yet -- blah blah blah...

Spurs lost this game because TD played like shit. Flat. Out.

He was totally flat-footed on defense and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on offense.

I saw Tim stand like a frozen statue 10 feet from a spot up open Odom on the baseline and then WATCH him line up 2 easy points.

I saw him get out muscled and out rebounded by skinny ass pau gasol and luke walton all game long.

Personally, I think Tim was getting mugged inside all game but the refs didn't start calling anything until TD finally started going strong to the rack -- that started 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter.

Tim played HORRIBLY tonight. He finally started fighting at the end. He's obviously hurt.

If Timmy played a 1/2 way decent game, Spurs win.


Disagree.Lakers won the game in the first quarter.TP played really worse than TD in the first quarter so it wasn't only TD's fault.
After 1st quarter down by 18 the game was over.You are facing the Lakers,not the Grizzlies.

About TD take a look

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119609

We didn't use him in the low post when Lakers was taking the big lead so I can't put the defeat on his shoulders.

And the only reason i can't find is TD was far away to be healthy because he usually was the first option in that kind of situations.

[DrHouse]

Any team can look back at a game and say they would have won if so and so happened.

It doesn't matter. All that matters is the end result. Stop making excuses and accept the loss. It's still the regular season, the slate gets wiped clean come playoff time.

[J.T.]

Duncan's injuries are self inflicted. After winning the 2005 title on two bum ankles, he's going to one up himself by winning the 2009 title on two bum knees. I'm sure that next in line is 2013, which will be known as the "Jordan + 1" title, which will be won by Tim Duncan on two broken legs. This is all assuming the odd numbered year legend holds true and 2011 becomes the "21 = 23" title.

Actually I'd be more than thrilled if Duncan hung it up with six titles as long as #6 is "the repeat".

[NewJerSpur]

Any team can look back at a game and say they would have won if so and so happened.

It doesn't matter. All that matters is the end result. Stop making excuses and accept the loss. It's still the regular season, the slate gets wiped clean come playoff time.

Exactly.

The Spurs have time to implement Gooden into the game plan and see what he can and cannot contribute to the team.

People forget that Manu (when healthy ENOUGH) not only contributes points and energy but helps with regard to ball distribution and floor spacing; both of which are keys to the Spurs style of offense. He is also a difficult guard that will make overly aggressive defenders (like Ariza, Artest) get into foul trouble or play him differently to avoid it. I say all this to again reitirate that Manu changes the dimension and style of play of the Spurs when he is able to give quality minutes.

Everyone starts at 0-0 come playoff time and with good fortune shining down on both teams we'll see each other again in the WCF.

[Blackjack]

There's been plenty of good, rational points made on behalf of the Spurs and Lakers throughout this thread, so I'm not going to re-hash what's already been said.

Bottom Line... The Spurs can not only compete against the Lakeshow, but they can ultimately defeat them. If the Spurs do have a healthy Manu, a well integrated Gooden, a 85-90% Duncan, and the Parker who's shown flashes recently of taking ownership of the games like a point-guard version of Wade.... Then, Yeah. The Spurs can come out on top.

The problem is, the odds of all that coming to fruition are pretty slim. Not impossible, but slim.

The Lakers superior size, length, and atheticism can be overcome with guile, heart, and championship experience, but the margin for error is hovering somewhere around zero.

I'm not giving up hope for the Spurs, crazier, less probable things have happened, so I'll just reiterate what Pop always makes a point of saying.

You've got to get a couple of breaks, be healthy, and even a little lucky sometimes to win a championship.

The Spurs are probably going to need all of the above.

[J.T.]

I don't know why a fan of any team would want to face the Spurs in the post-2003 era, where you either lose to the Spurs, or beat them and then lose in the Finals. Either way, you're still a loser.

[aka_USAPA]

I don't know why a fan of any team would want to face the Spurs in the post-2003 era, where you either lose to the Spurs, or beat them and then lose in the Finals. Either way, you're still a loser.

That must make you sleep better at night, huh? :lol:lol:lol