This Week's Power Rankings: Spurs #1 across the board

[duncan228]

For those interested.

*********************

NBA.com (http://www.nba.com/2011/news/powerrankings/02/07/week15/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1)

1. San Antonio (42-8)
Pace: 95.1 (13), Off: 109.0 (3), Def: 100.7 (7)
Thanks to Antonio McDyess' tip-in, the Spurs were able to beat the Lakers with Tim Duncan scoring just eight points. A night later, they beat the Kings with Duncan playing less than 13 minutes. Maybe Tiago Splitter (16 points and nine rebounds in Sacramento) can help them this season after all.

2. Boston (38-12)
3. Miami (37-14)
4. Chicago (34-15)
5. L.A. Lakers (35-16)
6. Dallas (35-15)
7. Oklahoma City (33-17)
8. Orlando (32-20)
9. New Orleans (32-20)
10. Atlanta (33-18)

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/powerrankings/02/07/week15/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

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Marc Stein, ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/season/2011/week/15)

1 (1) Spurs 42-8 Normally I'd agree that the 50-game mark is too soon to be talking about magic numbers when it comes to clinching No. 1 in the West. These Spurs, though, have a seven-game cushion on their closest pursuers.

2 (7) Mavericks 35-15
3 (2) Celtics 38-12
4 (4) Heat 37-14
5 (3) Bulls 34-15
6 (5) Lakers 35-16
7 (9) Thunder 33-17
8 (6) Hornets 32-20
9 (8) Magic 32-20
10 (12) Grizzlies 27-25

http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/season/2011/week/15

*********************

Hollinger, ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings)

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings

*********************

ProBasketballTalk (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/07/nba-power-rankings-antonio-mcdyess%e2%80%99-tip-keeps-spurs-on-top/)

1. Spurs (42-8, Last Week #1). They are on the annual rodeo road trip (a rodeo kicks them out of their arena for a couple weeks) and early on they got a quality win over the Lakers because Antonio McDyess wanted a rebound more than Lamar Odom. They are starting to get more out of Tiago Splitter, which is good for Tim Duncan.

2. Celtics (38-12, LW #2)
3. Heat (37-14, LW #3)
4. Mavericks (35-15, LW #7)
5. Bulls (34-15, LW #4)
6. Lakers (35-16, LW #6)
7. Thunder (33-17, LW #9)
8. Magic (32-20, LW #5)
9. Hawks (33-18, LW #10)
10. Hornets (32-20, LW #8).

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/07/nba-power-rankings-antonio-mcdyess%e2%80%99-tip-keeps-spurs-on-top/

[awktalk]

Two of these Power Rankings talk about Splitter. Hopefully Pop uses this opportunity to get him consistent minutes.

[Darkwaters]

Two of these Power Rankings talk about Splitter. Hopefully Pop uses this opportunity to get him consistent minutes.

Amen

[tmtcsc]

It kind of annoys me that people are still calling this record a "start." the season is more than halfway done. The word "start" should only be used to describe the season up until January 1st.

Excellent point. Of course some would argue that the NBA regular season is an extended pre-season. So I could see it that way too. But yeah, 50 games in with 32 to go is beyond a start.

[Phillip]

It kind of annoys me that people are still calling this record a "start." the season is more than halfway done. The word "start" should only be used to describe the season up until January 1st.

likely they are referring to it still as a "start" because the yearly injury bug and yearly slump that hits pretty much every team through a season has not hit the spurs yet. lets see how they face some adversity when it strikes. they have been extremely fortunate to have gotten such consistent jumpshooting out of everyone and no major injuries all season.

[jestersmash]

likely they are referring to it still as a "start" because the yearly injury bug and yearly slump that hits pretty much every team through a season has not hit the spurs yet. lets see how they face some adversity when it strikes. they have been extremely fortunate to have gotten such consistent jumpshooting out of everyone and no major injuries all season.

False on many levels.

1. Spurs haven't had any major injuries to star players, but they've had injuries nonetheless. Nevertheless, you did qualify by specifying "major" injuries so I'll let this one go.

More importantly though,

2. Plenty of players have been through hot streaks and slumps this year. R.J. started off shooting absurdly well from the outside and has since tapered down...a lot...and the spurs are still winning.

Ginobili hasn't played anywhere near the level he was playing at during the beginning of the season. He's been through numerous shooting slumps. So has Tony Parker (Parker is now playing extremely well as per the last 10 or so games). George Hill has been up and down. Gary Neal is in a shooting slump right now.

We've already endured numerous "jumpshooting" slumps from numerous players, and we're winning. Don't be deluded into thinking that the Spurs are only winning games because they are shooting excessively well from the outside. Your premise is false to begin with.

[Phillip]

False on many levels.

1. Spurs haven't had any major injuries to star players, but they've had injuries nonetheless. Nevertheless, you did qualify by specifying "major" injuries so I'll let this one go.

LMAO james anderson is about the only extended "injury" the spurs have had


2. Plenty of players have been through hot streaks and slumps this year. R.J. started off shooting absurdly well from the outside and has since tapered down...a lot...and the spurs are still winning.

Ginobili hasn't played anywhere near the level he was playing at during the beginning of the season. He's been through numerous shooting slumps. So has Tony Parker (Parker is now playing extremely well as per the last 10 or so games). George Hill has been up and down. Gary Neal is in a shooting slump right now.

We've already endured numerous "jumpshooting" slumps from numerous players, and we're winning. Don't be deluded into thinking that the Spurs are only winning games because they are shooting excessively well from the outside. Your premise is false to begin with.

LMAO thinking jefferson shooting over 40% from 3 and bonner shooting over 50% from 3 = normal

[jestersmash]

Bonner's currently injured, and he's the only player on the team that has been shooting consistently well from 3 point land all season long.

You say "spurs," but it's really Bonner, maybe Jefferson as well. Ginobili/Parker/Duncan/Neal/Hill - all rotation players - have been through "slump land" and back.

I don't know why you even brought up James Anderson. He's completely irrelevant to the Spurs. He's not a rotation player, and chances are it'll stay that way throughout the remainder of the season (and into the playoffs).

Bonner's injury affects the Spurs. James Anderson being injured is irrelevant. They sent him back to the Toros already. He has no business seeing rotation minutes right now.

[Phillip]

Bonner's currently injured, and he's the only player on the team that has been shooting consistently well from 3 point land all season long.

You say "spurs," but it's really Bonner, maybe Jefferson as well. Ginobili/Parker/Duncan/Neal/Hill - all rotation players - have been through "slump land" and back.

I don't know why you even brought up James Anderson. He's completely irrelevant to the Spurs. He's not a rotation player, and chances are it'll stay that way throughout the remainder of the season (and into the playoffs).

Bonner's injury affects the Spurs. James Anderson being injured is irrelevant. They sent him back to the Toros already. He has no business seeing rotation minutes right now.

LMAO matt bonners injury = major in gnsf eyes

[jestersmash]

I realize you're new here but that form of trolling has been outdated for at least a year now. It doesn't work on anybody.

[Gutter92]

LMAO matt bonners injury = major in gnsf eyes

Uh, a 50% 3 point shooter isn't a big piece to a team...? Just answer the question tbh.

[Gutter92]

Also, George Hill missed 6 games this season...

you'd figure Mav fan would count George Hill as a major injury

LMAO 29 pts in the playoffs on the Mavs

[Fpoonsie]

I realize you're new here but that form of trolling has been outdated for at least a year now. It doesn't work on anybody.

lol new

But, Phil, I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that SA will indeed suffer a major "Dirk out for weeks" type a' injury. It's certainly a possibility, but hopefully limiting minutes on key players lessens that likelihood.

[Phillip]

I realize you're new here but that form of trolling has been outdated for at least a year now. It doesn't work on anybody.

LMAO thinking im new


Uh, a 50% 3 point shooter isn't a big piece to a team...? Just answer the question tbh.

on the level of say manu, parker, duncan, or say dirk, butler, chandler... no, not even close to being a big piece.


Also, George Hill missed 6 games this season...

you'd figure Mav fan would count George Hill as a major injury

LMAO 29 pts in the playoffs on the Mavs

LMAO getting raped by goran dragic in the playoffs


lol new

But, Phil, I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that SA will indeed suffer a major "Dirk out for weeks" type a' injury. It's certainly a possibility, but hopefully limiting minutes on key players lessens that likelihood.

no, its definitely possible that they could manage all the way through the season in good health to their main pieces, and if so, they will definitely finish with a phenomonal record. its just that generally, there will be some sort of injury that happens to most teams. its very rare that a teams top players all make it through the season completely healthy the way the spurs have so far. truth is, in the end, being healthy and in sync in the playoffs is what matters most, as perfectly evidenced in 07 when the mavs generally were in sync all season and werent too badly affected by injuries, and they won 67 games. unfortunately they ended up finishing the season not on a very strong note, and had a bad team slump against the warriors. on the other hand, the spurs were battered all year, but they were healthy and ready come playoff time, and made a title run.

as regards to my slump comments earlier that apparently gnsf is too stupid to comprehend, what im saying is that most teams at least once a year will have a strech where the team as a whole seems to get off beat, adversity strikes, and the teams ends up slumping as a whole. the spurs havent really had that yet, and for them, they had best hope that either they get really REALLY fortunate and not have to deal with a slump like that (which i dont know if that has ever happened), or that if the slump hits them, it hits them well before the playoffs start.

[jestersmash]

:lmao @ this needledick mouthbreather raging because I'm not respecting his trolling seniority on this site as he continues to provide patently uninformed and irrelevantly speculative takes

[Gutter92]

LMAO George Hill pulling a Dragic on the Mavs :lmao

[Fpoonsie]

no, its definitely possible that they could manage all the way through the season in good health to their main pieces, and if so, they will definitely finish with a phenomonal record. its just that generally, there will be some sort of injury that happens to most teams. its very rare that a teams top players all make it through the season completely healthy the way the spurs have so far. truth is, in the end, being healthy and in sync in the playoffs is what matters most, as perfectly evidenced in 07 when the mavs generally were in sync all season and werent too badly affected by injuries, and they won 67 games. unfortunately they ended up finishing the season not on a very strong note, and had a bad team slump against the warriors. on the other hand, the spurs were battered all year, but they were healthy and ready come playoff time, and made a title run.

as regards to my slump comments earlier that apparently gnsf is too stupid to comprehend, what im saying is that most teams at least once a year will have a strech where the team as a whole seems to get off beat, adversity strikes, and the teams ends up slumping as a whole. the spurs havent really had that yet, and for them, they had best hope that either they get really REALLY fortunate and not have to deal with a slump like that (which i dont know if that has ever happened), or that if the slump hits them, it hits them well before the playoffs start.

Ya know, I hadn't watched too many of DAL's games that season, much less their stretch run to end it, but I simply assumed they ran into a matchup nightmare and a coach that knew how to exploit it (similar to my feelings on the DAL/SA matchup the year before). I didn't realize they'd been "slumping" weeks prior.

I don't remember the injury bug catching up to them at the end, so how does a team (collectively) slump after playing so well for most of the year? If a team is playing with chemistry all season, what makes them suddenly lose said chemistry? I can't imagine every shooter hits a rough patch simultaneously...

[Phillip]

:lmao @ this needledick mouthbreather raging because I'm not respecting his trolling seniority on this site as he continues to provide patently uninformed and irrelevantly speculative takes

LMAO massively misinformed asshurt gnsf


LMAO George Hill pulling a Dragic on the Mavs :lmao

LMAO 4 rings faggot


Ya know, I hadn't watched too many of DAL's games that season, much less their stretch run to end it, but I simply assumed they ran into a matchup nightmare and a coach that knew how to exploit it (similar to my feelings on the DAL/SA matchup the year before). I didn't realize they'd been "slumping" weeks prior.

I don't remember the injury bug catching up to them at the end, so how does a team (collectively) slump after playing so well for most of the year? If a team is playing with chemistry all season, what makes them suddenly lose said chemistry? I can't imagine every shooter hits a rough patch simultaneously...

yeah, they definitely started slumping a bit. went 6-4 in april. it definitely was a bad matchup in some ways, but at the same time, stackhouse and terry both were getting a ridiculous amount of WIDE OPEN shots from all the doubles and triples that dirk was drawing, and they were bricking damn near every last one of them, putting all kinds of pressure on dirk to have to force offense through the doubles and triples, resulting in a poor shooting series for him as well.

in the end, it was just a strange combo of a bad matchup, as well as awful slumps by Terry and Stackhouse (the two players i felt were MOST responsible for the series loss).

[Cessation]

Ratface chocking in the playoffs is normal.

[SA210]

Two of these Power Rankings talk about Splitter. Hopefully Pop uses this opportunity to get him consistent minutes.

[DMC]

Excellent point. Of course some would argue that the NBA regular season is an extended pre-season. So I could see it that way too. But yeah, 50 games in with 32 to go is beyond a start.
That would be a stupid fucking argument. If the regular season were just an extended pre-season, then there's no post season, or no regular season. Might as well say the season is just the Finals and that there are only 2 teams in the NBA.

[DMC]

Ratface chocking in the playoffs is normal.

Just as you misspelling "choking" is normal, unless you mean he's got a boat trailer and he's putting a block behind his wheels.

[Cry Havoc]

:lmao at Phillip, who's just jealous that our 6'10" white boy shoots AND plays better defense this year than their turtle-man. :lmao

How much does it suck that a guy you're paying $11,400,000 next year is worse in every aspect of the game than Matt Bonner?

tl:dr for this entire thread:

BONNER >>>>>>>> TERRY
:lmao :lmao :lmao :lmao :lmao :lmao

[Cessation]

Just as you misspelling "choking" is normal, unless you mean he's got a boat trailer and he's putting a block behind his wheels.

You still butthurt?

[jestersmash]

http://paintsinthepoint.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/capt_1e737e6e68f942b6aa6d2f37054530f8_pistons_mave ricks_basketball_dna102.jpg?w=409&h=353

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4189068631_86f4e62fc0.jpg

[Cessation]

lol at the resemblance

[jestersmash]

lol at the resemblance

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9651/boshost.jpg

[Brazil]

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9651/boshost.jpg

:lol

[DMC]

You still butthurt?
You mean buthrut?

[silverblackfan]

Celtics just lost to the Bobcats. 1 more game in the loss column helps.
Thanks Charlotte!

[Phillip]

:lmao at Phillip, who's just jealous that our 6'10" white boy shoots AND plays better defense this year than their turtle-man. :lmao

How much does it suck that a guy you're paying $11,400,000 next year is worse in every aspect of the game than Matt Bonner?

tl:dr for this entire thread:

BONNER >>>>>>>> TERRY
:lmao :lmao :lmao :lmao :lmao :lmao

crofl at the amounts of asshurt in this thread

:cry :cry :cry 4 rings faggot!

[ducks]

all this talk about splitter and pop will not play him for a game
just like he did with neal

[jestersmash]

lmao asshurt lol asshurt lol lol asshurt asshurt asshurt

:cry :cry :cry am I trolling anybody yet?


Not yet. Keep trying though! You gotta bait 'em all to be the troll-kemon master someday.

http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/060/0/6/Ash_Ketchum_Cosplay_by_Garitter.jpg

[Yorae]

Now that they're talking about Splitter, expect Pop to sit him for the next 10 games.

[jag]

Phil is a smart mav fan but he's out on a limb by suggesting that the Spurs haven't been hit with the injury bug they're "supposed" to be hit with. "Major" injuries to stars are the exception, not the norm.

And jetersmash is one of the better analytical posters on ST.

Getting shit on and then answering with 'lol gnsf' doesn't exactly clean you up.

[WeNeedLength]

crofl at the amounts of asshurt in this thread

:cry :cry :cry 4 rings faggot!

Yeah that 42-8 record really has got us asshurt! Obvious troll fail is obvious...

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/13/troll.gif

1st round failure faggot :(:(:(:(

[Martin R]

HCA is somehow overrated once you are playing a plyoff series. You only have to lose 1 game to hand it over to the 8th seed....

[Cessation]

You mean buthrut?

lol caring about spelling on the internet

lol you mad?

[Phillip]

Phil is a smart mav fan but he's out on a limb by suggesting that the Spurs haven't been hit with the injury bug they're "supposed" to be hit with. "Major" injuries to stars are the exception, not the norm.

And jetersmash is one of the better analytical posters on ST.

Getting shit on and then answering with 'lol gnsf' doesn't exactly clean you up.

IIRC a number of times, i said that my point was that the spurs have not faced any major adversity yet. usually they come in the form of an injury to a major player, or the team gets off sync and goes through a slump. all teams have one or the other, its incredibly rare that a team gets through a season without both.

fpoonsie seemed to have no issue with understanding my point, something jetersmash aka mr analytical was unable to do, then you have dumbasses like CH waltzing in saying "Bonner >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TERRY, stupid fucking turtlehead!!!!!!! LOLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!" when terry was never even remotely a part of this discussion.

perhaps i didnt clarify my comments very well in the initial post that i put up, but i certainly clarified them when replying to fpoonsie, and suddenly jetersmash had no retort other than to bleed out his ass because he thought i was making an attempt to troll, when i wasnt.

[Frenzy]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/13/troll.gif


:lol wtf

[Cessation]

Why does terry look like a rat?

[jestersmash]

IIRC a number of times, i said that my point was that the spurs have not faced any major adversity yet. usually they come in the form of an injury to a major player, or the team gets off sync and goes through a slump. all teams have one or the other, its incredibly rare that a team gets through a season without both.

fpoonsie seemed to have no issue with understanding my point, something jetersmash aka mr analytical was unable to do, then you have dumbasses like CH waltzing in saying "Bonner >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TERRY, stupid fucking turtlehead!!!!!!! LOLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!" when terry was never even remotely a part of this discussion.

perhaps i didnt clarify my comments very well in the initial post that i put up, but i certainly clarified them when replying to fpoonsie, and suddenly jetersmash had no retort other than to bleed out his ass because he thought i was making an attempt to troll, when i wasnt.

Wrong.

You made an assertion that was false. You claimed that the Spurs were somehow shooting excessively well from the field and that there was some inevitable jump shooting slump that hadn't come yet.

Go back and read the exchange.

I explicitly granted your point about spurs not enduring major injuries. I mentioned it briefly in my response, but that wasn't the emphasis of my post.

I mentioned Ginobili, Parker, Hill, and Neal as having gone through shooting slumps, and your response was "lmao thinking jefferson shooting 40% from 3/Bonner shooting 50% from 3 = normal." I didn't mention Bonner or R.J. in my initial response. You made a claim that our jumpshooting has somehow been so consistent from the field and it was destined to drop markedly. I gave you names of players who have already been through slumps - often during different times of the season (Parker has played well while Ginobili has been in a slump, and vice versa, for example).

Where's your concern with Boston? They lead the entire league in field goal percentage, and they take their fair share of jump shots.

You made a poor argument and you don't seem to be well informed about how the spurs are playing at all, and in your defense, I wouldn't expect you to be well-informed as a non-spurs fans.


as regards to my slump comments earlier that apparently gnsf is too stupid to comprehend, what im saying is that most teams at least once a year will have a strech where the team as a whole seems to get off beat, adversity strikes, and the teams ends up slumping as a whole.

Provide evidence to back up your claim, and be careful and explicit with your definitions. Do all rotation players need to be in a slump to meet your definition? How many games does a "stretch" encompass?

Frankly, I think you're talking out of your ass here, but I'm completely willing to admit I'm wrong if you can bring any semblance of substance and objectivity to your claim.

I don't believe most teams go through some sort of inevitable stretch where the entire team goes through a jump shooting slump. Mind you, I'm not asserting the negative here. I'm merely rejecting your premise due to insufficient (utterly lacking, actually) evidence.

Your argument and subsequent "lmao" responses were just so mind-numbingly idiotic, I couldn't help but think that you were trolling! You didn't clarify a thing by responding to Fpoonsie. You agreed with him, and then gave your 67 win Mavericks as a sole example of what you deem to be the "norm" for "most teams."

[Phillip]

I don't believe most teams go through some sort of inevitable stretch where the entire team goes through a jump shooting slump. Mind you, I'm not asserting the negative here. I'm merely rejecting your premise due to insufficient (utterly lacking, actually) evidence.

lets take the last three championship runs of the spurs for example

in 06-07, there were two separate stretches of 5 losses in 8 games, and during those stretches, the team was quite inconsistent on offense, shooting extremely poorly as a whole for the most part, and the defense was clearly out of sync, allowing over 50% shooting several times. and there were no injuries to the major rotation players like Manu, Tim, Tony, Finley, Oberto, etc...

in 04-05, they hit similar rough patches in february and march. some of it was due to missing timmy, some of it was simply inconsistent play by the spurs.

02-03 saw some pretty rough patches in november and december.

generally, all teams go through rough patches of inconsistency and lack of chemistry for a short while, whether its due to injury, poor shooting, or just unknown reasons, it happens. i never said it is a 100% chance that it will happen, just that generally, if you go through most every championship team, they had a rough patch or two. all ive said is that this years spurs team has not hit that rough patch, and perhaps they never will, who knows? but going by history, most teams do. maybe you should do your own research on your own fucking team before acting like the ignorant shitbag you are. :rolleyes

[ducks]

all this talk about splitter and pop will not play him for a game
just like he did with neal

YEP:rolleyes