Denver will win 1 more game.

[Leetonidas]

We take the next two, Denver will win another, and Spurs take two after that.

Believe!

[T Park]

if Tim Duncan and select others could pull there collective heads out of their butts, then they could win the next 4.

I think the Nuggets gave their best punch.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

*sigh* People still keep underestimating Denver, I see.

[Tom_Foolery]

God, I hope so.

This year has been horrible in sports for me. First, my Dolphins go down to Lottery Heaven, and now my Spurs are in danger of losing the 1st round.

[T Park]

People still keep underestimating Denver, I see


well tell me, what are they gonna improve on in the next game??

More shots for Boykins???

Once again, Nuggets threw their best punch and the Spurs brought their D game.

That simple.

[The_Game]

nuggets missed alot of easy shots and didn't play great

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

You don't have to improve when you know the other team will be running the same shit on offense.

But, to play devil's advocate: they could improve on keeping Nazr off the boards.

They don't have to improve, they've got us on our heels.

[boutons]

"what are they gonna improve on in the next game??"

The Nuggets don't need to improve anything. The Nugs play with the same hustle and desire and confidence on Wed night, the soft Spurs choke again. Nuggets 2-0, but...

The Nuggets have already stolen HCA. They could fly back to Denver Tue morning, forfeit Wed night's game, get some rest. To be in back to Denver 1-1 with HCA in a 5-game series is a huge advanage, and a nightmare for the Spurs who haven't done shit on the road all year against good teams.

[T Park]

THey dont have to improve on anything???

Alrighty.....

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Shit, they are like 30-2 since the All-Star break. They just have to keep doing what they've been doing for the last two months.

Sorry this is lost on you, but then again you are the same person who thinks Pop's offensive playbook will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame when he quits coaching basketball.

Look, everything we do is predicated on Duncan. He is not healthy. Can Pop adjust to that and come up with another way to win? So far it's not looking too promising.

[T Park]

who thinks Pop's offensive playbook will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame when he quits coaching basketball.


link?


You said it yourself, if Duncan aint healthy we aint winning.

If he aint we aint, simple.

[Nikos]

Nuggets will not beat the Suns or even give em a good series IMO.

They are great on D and all, but their offense isn't that impressive. Andre Miller isn't gonna catch fire like that for the rest of the playoffs. Even though he did in the first half, in the fourth he was awful on offense, missing open shots and all.

I'm not impressed with their offense. With Duncan not being healthy, Denver's D is going to look even better.

[LakerGod]

We take the next two, Denver will win another, and Spurs take two after that.

Believe!
Of course you forgot to mention the pathetic road record the spurs have!

:lol

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I said if Duncan's not healthy, we need to run the offense through other people.

Here's an outside the box thought: let Duncan be the world's greatest role player and rebound, block shots, and set screens.

You've got Barry, Robinson, Tony, Horry, and especially Manu sitting out there waiting to go run some plays. Use them.

Duncan's not healthy enough to carry us at both ends, so quit asking him to.

ANd yeah, I said we'd lose if Duncan's not healthy, because Pop's glaring weakness is an inability to adapt and adjust without an off-season to figure it out, which means we're fucked.

[whottt]

Tell me one time you have seen the Spurs bounce back from shattered confidence like this...

Never.

And don't give me the title team from 03...that team knew it could beat anyone and was the best road team in the NBA...

This team choked down the stretch...Our starters choked down the stretch...not just a momentary choke...but a 3 minute long choke to give this game away.

This team has no chemistry.

I have never seen Pop fix a Spur team that lacked confidence...in fact it usually gets worse.

I don't see this team winning a title...there, I said it...

Prove me fucking wrong Pop...you son of a bitch...you alway do it every other time...

Prove me fucking wrong...I don't think you can pull this team out of it's tailspin...I don't think you can coach this team to a title. I don't think you can rebuild it's confidence...you couldn't do it in 01...you couldn't do it after .04...

[1Parker1]

Can we clone Bruce Bowen so that we can have someone defend BOTH Carmelo and Miller? :)

[ducks]

one good thing is duncan said he had a bad game but looked pissed
I think spurs come out more hungry next game

[Nikos]

It's amazing how everyone seems to exaggerate the myth of the 0203 team.

Lets be honest. That team was solid, and won the title and all, but it was hardly a magical CLUTCH filled run. They were supposed to beat the Suns, Mavericks without Dirk, and the Nets. The Lakers series was a little less uncertain given LA's dominance over them in the past.

They had some nice memories and clutch shots, but a lot of times they looked very shaky for a championship team. It was a great year, and a magical regular season. But again they played very shaky in the clutch against inferior teams. They were not the most clutch team of all time as many posters seem to allude to.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Who cares if Duncan's pissed? He is not healthy, he has no lift in his legs. Pop needs to quit asking the guy to save the fucking world and use his other teammates for something other than decoys.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

In '03 we had Buckets and Kerr around to bail us out in spite of our offensive ineptitude.

The only guys with an inkling of being that clutch were either on the weakside camping or on the bench tonight.

[whottt]

It's amazing how everyone seems to exaggerate the myth of the 0203 team.

Lets be honest. That team was solid, and won the title and all, but it was hardly a magical CLUTCH filled run. They were supposed to beat the Suns, Maverics without Dirk, and the Nets. The Lakers series was a little less uncertain given LA's dominance over them in the past.

They had some nice memories and clutch shots, but a lot of times they looked very shaky for a championship team. It was a great year, and a magically regular season. But they also played very shaky in the clutch against inferior teams.

That's not entirely true...yeah that team looked shakey blowing leads...but the flipside is that team had so many leads to look shakey as they lost them...that team was often up by 20-25 points on teams...

It was a dominating team that blew leads when it got conservative on offense...

That team actually played better from behind...they would whip the crap out of teams that had the lead late in the third...that team was a dominating team.

In case you missed it...this team didn't have any 20 point leads tonight.

[mookie2001]

pj needs to sit down and talk to pop
tell him that that the coach from judson is available for next season if he loses this series

[Nikos]

In case you did not miss it, the 0203 Suns, Mavs without Dirk, and maybe even the Nets aren't even as good as this Nuggets team.

I'll say the Lakers of 03 were better than this Nugget squad, but oh well.

The Spurs of 03 were far from dominating, several other non Spur fans would agree to that.

They did what they had to to win the title. But they WERE more shaky then they should have been.

[whottt]

In case you did not miss it, the 0203 Suns, Mavs without Dirk, and maybe even the Nets aren't even as good as this Nuggets team.

That's horseshit...this Nuggets team isn't shit...They won't win the NBA title this year...they won't make it past the Rockets, Pistons, Heat or the Suns.

This is all in the Spurs head...the Nuggets didn't even play that good tonight...the Spurs choked...they out played Denver in every facet of the game tonight except turnovers...This team lost because it didn't believe it could win...that's the only reason...it got tight under pressure...Pop got tight under pressure...

And Denver thinks they can beat anyone.


We are gonna lose because Pop doesn't believe in this team...he doesn't trust his bench...he won't use it...and the team senses it.






They did what they had to to win the title. But they WERE more shaky then they should have been.

Whatever...go find how many teams have beaten a 60 win team, a 3 time champion, and a returning NBA finalist, all in the same season.

[Nikos]

I never said the Nugz would beat the Suns.

In another thread/post I said the Nuggets won't even give the Suns a good series.

But they are better than the 0203 Suns and a DIRKLESS Mavs squad. And probably on PAR with the Nets of 0203.

[Nikos]

I agree, the Spurs folded like a cheap suit.

Nuggets are not impressive to me at all either on offense.

But they may beat the Spurs and Sonics because its a weak bracket if Duncan is not healthy.

Actually if Seattle is healthy they can beat Denver.

[unnosy]

you all sound pretty pissed and i guess you have a reason [if not more] to be.
but i live in nigeria [a 6 hour diference]
you cant imagine how pissed i am having to stay up at 1.30am to watch the spurs lose and still report for work for 7am.
i am so angry.
but i am happy for one thing though.
the spurs have played their worst, it can only get better.
short of locking the spurs and swallowing the keys, i do not see how the spurs will not bring their A game for the remaining 5 games.
i say 5 because the nuggs are good enough for one more.

[GrandeDavid]

LakerGod, you are an absolute IDIOT, the Spurs lost several road games while Duncan was out. Also, the Spurs have a winning road record. That is good. This is also the playoffs, where the Spurs win wherever they just. You are really a moron, you know that? I'm blocking your sig, I just cannot stand your wasteful posts. You are a complete waste of space. No go job yourself, loser.

[ladiesman]

shouldn't lakergod be fishin by now?

[boutons]

"the Spurs have a winning road record."

This is meaningless, for playoff purposes.

In the NBA, the Spurs, with 21-20, are lowest-ranked team in the group of teams with overall winning road records. yeah, yeah, "Duncan was hurt", but all other WC playoff teams have had starters hurt, too, like Steve, Erick, Dirk, Brad, Stromile, Pau, etc, etc.
So injuries to Tim, Rasho, Manu can explain a few road losses, but the same can be said for all WC teams, so the injuries don't explain totally why the Spurs have the worst road record among Title contenders.

But the Spurs aren't playing just anybody "overall" in the playoffs. Go check the road record for the Spurs vs WC playoff teams, then all WC/EC playoff teams. The Spurs are well below .500. In 03 Spurs, after 1 Jan, we like .600 on the road against WC playoff teams.

I got trashed when pointing this out 3 or 4 months ago (I was told "Spurs are so good at home, the road doesn't matter", blah, blah), but I think it's a season statistic that indicates how soft these Spurs are.

So now, the Spurs-so-dominant-at-home, where they will WIN IT ALL, have lost the first playoff game @SBC, a fucking disaster, giving HCA to Denver, and will be to trying to win the series @DEN against the Karl Nuggets who are 19-1 @DEN.

[Jimcs50]

We take the next two, Denver will win another, and Spurs take two after that.

Believe!


No way, Denver will not win another game.

[TwoHandJam]

Tell me one time you have seen the Spurs bounce back from shattered confidence like this...

Never.

And don't give me the title team from 03...that team knew it could beat anyone and was the best road team in the NBA...

This team choked down the stretch...Our starters choked down the stretch...not just a momentary choke...but a 3 minute long choke to give this game away.

This team has no chemistry.

I have never seen Pop fix a Spur team that lacked confidence...in fact it usually gets worse.

I don't see this team winning a title...there, I said it...

Prove me fucking wrong Pop...you son of a bitch...you alway do it every other time...

Prove me fucking wrong...I don't think you can pull this team out of it's tailspin...I don't think you can coach this team to a title. I don't think you can rebuild it's confidence...you couldn't do it in 01...you couldn't do it after .04...
You know Whottt, I agree with a lot of the things you say here but somewhere deep inside, the optimist in me doesn't believe the Spurs can choke away an entire series against a team like Denver. They are just not that good a team. Certainly nowhere near the Laker teams we've choked against before.

If they are going to dig themselves out of this one, they need to do 3 things.

1) Pop needs to trust his bench. You can't have a guy like Robinson languish on the bench for 3 goddamn quarters while Bowen clearly isn't helping and you're desperate for offense. You also can't force the offense through Tim when he clearly isn't himself.

2) Parker needs to pull his head out of his ass and perform. Miller abusing him for the first half is the main reason the Nuggets hung around and had a chance to win. I guarantee you that if he does not perform in this series his days in SA are numbered.

3) This team needs to find it's balls and fast. Pop needs to nominate Manu as their unquestioned leader at least until Tim is more healthy. He is the most mentally tough player we have on a team sorely lacking in mental toughness.

Man I feel for this guy. He is a never-say-die winner trying not to be dragged down by the sinking confidence of the rest of the team right now. You could hear the frustration in his voice when Cheryl Miller was asking him about that blown lead before halftime.

He needs to rip into this team as a peer player, not like Pop does all the time. The team responded to him when he called them out after the two road losses when Duncan went down in Detroit. With Duncan hurting right now and Pop looking like a confused schoolgirl, he is our only hope for righting this ship.

[td4mvp21]

That's not entirely true...yeah that team looked shakey blowing leads...but the flipside is that team had so many leads to look shakey as they lost them...that team was often up by 20-25 points on teams...

It was a dominating team that blew leads when it got conservative on offense...

That team actually played better from behind...they would whip the crap out of teams that had the lead late in the third...that team was a dominating team.

In case you missed it...this team didn't have any 20 point leads tonight.

Actually that is very entirely true......

Game 1 vs. Phoenix
Game 4 vs. Phoenix
Games 2 and 3 vs. Lakers
Games 1 and 5 vs. Mavericks
Games 2 and 4 vs. Nets

They looked very shaky in those games, not to mention every game 6 of each series where they went on a huge run to win the game after looking pathetic for three quarters.(not counting Laker game) What a lot of people think and want is for us to gracefully sweep through the playoffs with majestic wins and all this other crap. Well it doesn't go like this. If that was a regular season game, we would have won. Simple as that. The Spurs got a wake up call. Maybe they were too cocky I really don't know. All I know is Duncan and Parker need to step it up for us to be able to win. Duncan most of all. I'm glad he looked mad last night. I feel bad for him because as dissappointed as we are, imagine how dissapointed a superstar like him is on his birthday after going 7-22 in the first playoff game and losing. The point is, every team will be tested in the playoffs, thats just how it goes. Even the best will look shaky.