senorglory
03-23-2010, 02:36 PM
Perkins: No Post-Season Magic For The Spurs
By: Chris Perkins Last Updated: 3/23/10 2:09 PM ET
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15721#ixzz0j1vQjpp2 (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15721)
It'd be easy to convince yourself those venerable, reliable San Antonio Spurs could crank up that old veteran magic and make an unlikely playoff run that ends in the Western Conference finals or beyond.
Wipe those thoughts from your mind. Because even though the Spurs have won seven of their last 10 games, the big picture is they're currently 42-27 and trying to avoid a first-round playoff matchup with the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. There won't be any playoff magic. Not this year.
"I think we've got a pretty long way to go, but it's good to see improvement," guard Manu Ginobili said. "It's good to see steady defense and solid work rebounding, but it's kind of hard to say we're back rolling or we're ready to make a run for the championship when we've lost so many tight games."
In fact, considering the nagging health problems to the talent core this season - forward Tim Duncan (knee) and guards Tony Parker (broken hand, ankle issues) and Ginboili (ankle) - we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of the Spurs' Era of Excellence.
In almost every season since 1999, when they won their first of four titles under Coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs have been considered title contenders. But they understand the magnitude of their current situation. It just doesn't feel right.
"We haven't played well all season," Duncan said. "This is probably our best stretch of play so far. It does feel different, but we always talk about at the end of the season trying to be healthy and trying to playing our best basketball, and I think we're rounding up to that. If we can get Tony back toward the end of the season we can get everybody back on the floor and see what we can do."
The Spurs made fairly major additions this season with forward Richard Jefferson, forward/center Antonio McDyess, swingman Keith Bogans, rookie forward/center DeJuan Blair and center Theo Ratliff (now in Charlotte) among them.
Popovich said injuries, poor defense and a lack of team chemistry are the biggest reasons the Spurs have underachieved. But the No. 1 reason, he said, is because of injuries and inconsistent play from Duncan, Parker and Ginobili.
A word of caution dealing with Popovich: don't blame this mess on Jefferson, who has showed improvement recently, but has been a disappointment overall.
"We had some important players not play very well pretty consistently for a long time this season," he said. "Sometimes the new players were catching the grief for that. This guy doesn't know this and this guy was a disappointment. That's all (expletive). Everything has to go together. Your main players have to play well on any team to be successful. That's No. 1. If that's not happening on a consistent basis, it makes it even more difficult if you've got seven new players to try to get into that rotation. It was a bad combination."
And it could signal the beginning of the end of a downslide for the aging Spurs.
***
By: Chris Perkins Last Updated: 3/23/10 2:09 PM ET
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15721#ixzz0j1vQjpp2 (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15721)
It'd be easy to convince yourself those venerable, reliable San Antonio Spurs could crank up that old veteran magic and make an unlikely playoff run that ends in the Western Conference finals or beyond.
Wipe those thoughts from your mind. Because even though the Spurs have won seven of their last 10 games, the big picture is they're currently 42-27 and trying to avoid a first-round playoff matchup with the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. There won't be any playoff magic. Not this year.
"I think we've got a pretty long way to go, but it's good to see improvement," guard Manu Ginobili said. "It's good to see steady defense and solid work rebounding, but it's kind of hard to say we're back rolling or we're ready to make a run for the championship when we've lost so many tight games."
In fact, considering the nagging health problems to the talent core this season - forward Tim Duncan (knee) and guards Tony Parker (broken hand, ankle issues) and Ginboili (ankle) - we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of the Spurs' Era of Excellence.
In almost every season since 1999, when they won their first of four titles under Coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs have been considered title contenders. But they understand the magnitude of their current situation. It just doesn't feel right.
"We haven't played well all season," Duncan said. "This is probably our best stretch of play so far. It does feel different, but we always talk about at the end of the season trying to be healthy and trying to playing our best basketball, and I think we're rounding up to that. If we can get Tony back toward the end of the season we can get everybody back on the floor and see what we can do."
The Spurs made fairly major additions this season with forward Richard Jefferson, forward/center Antonio McDyess, swingman Keith Bogans, rookie forward/center DeJuan Blair and center Theo Ratliff (now in Charlotte) among them.
Popovich said injuries, poor defense and a lack of team chemistry are the biggest reasons the Spurs have underachieved. But the No. 1 reason, he said, is because of injuries and inconsistent play from Duncan, Parker and Ginobili.
A word of caution dealing with Popovich: don't blame this mess on Jefferson, who has showed improvement recently, but has been a disappointment overall.
"We had some important players not play very well pretty consistently for a long time this season," he said. "Sometimes the new players were catching the grief for that. This guy doesn't know this and this guy was a disappointment. That's all (expletive). Everything has to go together. Your main players have to play well on any team to be successful. That's No. 1. If that's not happening on a consistent basis, it makes it even more difficult if you've got seven new players to try to get into that rotation. It was a bad combination."
And it could signal the beginning of the end of a downslide for the aging Spurs.
***