Seeing More of the Bright Side

[FromWayDowntown]

For all of the recent struggles (mitigated substantially, I think, by the Houston win), the Spurs could actually hold the overall #1 position (in real terms) by the end of this evening and be left with a magic number of 6 to win their division.

Phoenix plays the red-hot Nuggets at home tonight, after jetting back from their 5 game swing on the East Coast. Those first games back after long trips can be troublesome, particularly when playing a rested team bent on revenge. If Phoenix loses that game tonight, they fall into a flat-footed tie with the Spurs at 52-18, with the Spurs holding the tiebreaker.

More than that, the Spurs, Suns, and Heat would be tied with 18 losses apiece. Apparently, the Spurs hold the tiebreaker over Miami, too; in interconference ties, you look to head-to-head and then to each team's record against the opposite conference. The Spurs and Heat split, but the Spurs were 23-7 against the East, while the Heat have 11 losses against the West, meaning the Spurs hold the tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks start a nice run of games in the East with a tilt at the Palace tonight. The Spurs win the Southwest with any combination of 7 Spurs wins and Mavericks losses. A Detroit win tonight would take that number to 6, with Dallas facing games at Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland in the next week and still looking at home-and-homes with Seattle and Memphis in April.

And the Spurs can take a big step to securing no worse than the 2 seed with a win on Wednesday. The magic number to securing that position is 11 (but that assumes that a tie is no good to the Spurs -- if the Spurs win on Wedneday, they will also take the tiebreaker against Seattle by virtue of a better record against Western Conference teams).

Recent good play, coupled with the possibility of some good news, certainly makes things seem much brighter than they did about a week ago.

[Hook Dem]

Horray! Finally a real fan! I'm on your side!

[Ishta]

I love this...Spurs are getting back on track with a great win yesterday. Seattle has some injuries of their own so the game should be great!

[Kori Ellis]

Great post, FWD. Even with Tim/Devin out, the Spurs are still right there with Phoenix. I think Tim will be back in the second week of April or so. If the Spurs can hang tough, they'll be in fine position heading into the postseason.

[kskonn]

For all of the recent struggles (mitigated substantially, I think, by the Houston win), the Spurs could actually hold the overall #1 position (in real terms) by the end of this evening and be left with a magic number of 6 to win their division.

Phoenix plays the red-hot Nuggets at home tonight, after jetting back from their 5 game swing on the East Coast. Those first games back after long trips can be troublesome, particularly when playing a rested team bent on revenge. If Phoenix loses that game tonight, they fall into a flat-footed tie with the Spurs at 52-18, with the Spurs holding the tiebreaker.

More than that, the Spurs, Suns, and Heat would be tied with 18 losses apiece. Apparently, the Spurs hold the tiebreaker over Miami, too; in interconference ties, you look to head-to-head and then to each team's record against the opposite conference. The Spurs and Heat split, but the Spurs were 23-7 against the East, while the Heat have 11 losses against the West, meaning the Spurs hold the tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks start a nice run of games in the East with a tilt at the Palace tonight. The Spurs win the Southwest with any combination of 7 Spurs wins and Mavericks losses. A Detroit win tonight would take that number to 6, with Dallas facing games at Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland in the next week and still looking at home-and-homes with Seattle and Memphis in April.

And the Spurs can take a big step to securing no worse than the 2 seed with a win on Wednesday. The magic number to securing that position is 11 (but that assumes that a tie is no good to the Spurs -- if the Spurs win on Wedneday, they will also take the tiebreaker against Seattle by virtue of a better record against Western Conference teams).

Recent good play, coupled with the possibility of some good news, certainly makes things seem much brighter than they did about a week ago.

Nice breakdown. Really puts things in to perspective. You should look in to the writing opportunity that Kori Posted. It seems you enjoy doing research it might be right up your alley.

[exstatic]

I was glad to win against ATL, but that really didn't mean a lot, except for an end to the losing skid. Beating Houston was big, but I'll reserve judgement on the #1 or #2 seed possibilites until after the Seattle game. If we can beat them, I think we will have a better than even chance of #2. I still think the Spurs will struggle to win on the road against good teams without Tim, which pretty much puts #1 out of reach, barring any injuries to Phoenix.

[whottt]

This is a good article FWDT...makes sense and looks possible now.

I definitely had a bleaker outlook and pegged us to win about 4 games without Duncan...but the team has stepped up and Pop has shown more flexibility than I thought he was going to(based on his own comments).

I am still not impressed with the way the Spurs have played on the road this year compared to previous years...and I am not sure we won't look just as bad in our next road game as we did this past week on the road...but the Spurs continue to play well at home.

I'd just like to note that in that 4th quarter surge yesterday the bigmen were not touching the ball on offense...it was mainly Manu and a little of Barry handling the ball during our comeback...the Spurs have had success all season long when they have cut their extremely talented guards loose...and I hope it's something Pop won't go away from in the playoffs totally...the Spurs are very a good team with their small ball lineup...even when Rasho is the only big on the court...it doesn't matter who the big is.

I also think Manu and Barry play well together(everyone plays good with Manu but Barry really does) and they should get more minutes together somehow...because they both play the same style off offense...I have a feeling Barry probably planned on doing a little running with Manu when he joined the Spurs and he really hasn't gotten that much court time with him...I hope that is something the Spurs will consider doing more often after seeing how successful it was yesterday(and also in the Phoenix game)...we are a better team when we have some wrinkes in our offense...

To keep winning as you point out we need to make our guards the focus of the team while Duncan is out...as long as we do that I think we are capable of giving any team a game at home and hopefully on the road as well.

If the team keeps playing like it did yesterday, while Duncan is out, it is still capable of locking up HCA throughout the playoffs...and that would be amazing. They are still in the hunt for it as we speak.

[sickdsm]

A number one seed may very well earn first round playoff berth with the Grizzlies/Wolves.

Nuggets will end up the number 7 seed.

[leemajors]

nuggets hanging tight early, thank god for nba audio league pass.

[T Park]

first round playoff berth with the Grizzlies/Wolves

Spurs in 5 against either team.

Grizzlies dont seem to play as good as defense as they did last year, and the Wolves are a total fuckin joke.

[FromWayDowntown]

Unfortunately, neither the Nuggets nor the Pistons came through last night. Still, it's right there for the Spurs to go get.


I'd just like to note that in that 4th quarter surge yesterday the bigmen were not touching the ball on offense...it was mainly Manu and a little of Barry handling the ball during our comeback...the Spurs have had success all season long when they have cut their extremely talented guards loose...and I hope it's something Pop won't go away from in the playoffs totally...the Spurs are very a good team with their small ball lineup...even when Rasho is the only big on the court...it doesn't matter who the big is.

I noticed that, and particularly that with all of the problems Parker and Beno were having in initiating the offense on Sunday (lack of aggression, holding the ball for too long, etc. . . .), Pop did let Manu and Barry do some initiating. I'd like to see more and more of that.

When Barry signed here, there was a lot of talk about his ability to play the point. I think of it more as an ability to initiate the offense, regardless of position. I noticed some little things on Sunday that suggest to me that Brent is more and more comfortable and his recent good play is the byproduct of that comfort. I think the comfort may be coming from the absence of Devin Brown (assuring Brent of consistent and long minutes of play). In any event, during one deadball situation, Barry signaled an inbounds play without looking to the bench. I watched Pop ponder the situation for a moment, looking like he'd agree with Brent's call. Pop eventually changed the call, but only after thinking for a couple of seconds. It doesn't sound like much, but if Brent is comfortable enough to suggest calls, it might explain his improved play.

I also thought, as the endgame began to approach (and really, the endgame came at about the 5 minute mark on Sunday), it was going to be interesting to see if Pop stuck with a red-hot Barry for offense, or whether he would go to Bowen for defense. Van Gundy forced Pop's hand a bit, by going with a very small lineup (Sura, James, McGrady, Wesley, and Yao (and then Padgett)), but it looked like Pop was inclined to stick with Barry through that run. It's an encouraging sign, I think, that Pop is recognizing that his team needs some offensive boosting and that Manu and Barry, as a duo, can provide that spark. We'll see how long it lasts. Seattle should provide an ideal opportunity to use those two together again.

I'd agree, though, that teh