Rummpd
04-28-2012, 10:14 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/britt_robson/04/27/playoff.rankings/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a6
1
Seed: West No. 1
San Antonio Spurs (50-16)
The Spurs won their season series against every West team in the playoffs except for a 2-2 split with Dallas, a seventh seed that wouldn't face them before the conference finals. San Antonio beat first-round opponent Utah three out of four, with the only loss being a road game that the Spurs led in the fourth quarter even though coach Gregg Popovich rested Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. The Spurs went 4-0 against their most likely second-round opponent, fourth-seeded Memphis, and they won two of three against the Clippers, Lakers, Thunder and Nuggets. Unlike last season, they are peaking late instead of early, averaging 108.6 points and shooting 50.1 percent from the field since the All-Star break (a 26-6 stretch), while lifting their defense into the top 10 in points allowed per possession. The road to Duncan's fifth ring is full of challenges, among them the fact that he turned 36 on Wednesday, and that the Spurs have at least the psychological disadvantage of having lost their only encounters with the East elite, Miami and Chicago. (The Feb. 29 loss to the Bulls, at a time when San Antonio had been rolling, is the more significant.) But Parker, a former Finals MVP, is at the top of his game. Ginobili, finally healthy, is one of the great clutch players. Center Tiago Splitter is much improved, and two role players who have shined in the playoffs before and since fallen on hard times, late-season pickups Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw, have rounded out a strong rotation. If any team is the one to beat in this packed, unpredictable season, it is San Antonio. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/britt_robson/04/27/playoff.rankings/index.html#ixzz1tOaOfRHw
1
Seed: West No. 1
San Antonio Spurs (50-16)
The Spurs won their season series against every West team in the playoffs except for a 2-2 split with Dallas, a seventh seed that wouldn't face them before the conference finals. San Antonio beat first-round opponent Utah three out of four, with the only loss being a road game that the Spurs led in the fourth quarter even though coach Gregg Popovich rested Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. The Spurs went 4-0 against their most likely second-round opponent, fourth-seeded Memphis, and they won two of three against the Clippers, Lakers, Thunder and Nuggets. Unlike last season, they are peaking late instead of early, averaging 108.6 points and shooting 50.1 percent from the field since the All-Star break (a 26-6 stretch), while lifting their defense into the top 10 in points allowed per possession. The road to Duncan's fifth ring is full of challenges, among them the fact that he turned 36 on Wednesday, and that the Spurs have at least the psychological disadvantage of having lost their only encounters with the East elite, Miami and Chicago. (The Feb. 29 loss to the Bulls, at a time when San Antonio had been rolling, is the more significant.) But Parker, a former Finals MVP, is at the top of his game. Ginobili, finally healthy, is one of the great clutch players. Center Tiago Splitter is much improved, and two role players who have shined in the playoffs before and since fallen on hard times, late-season pickups Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw, have rounded out a strong rotation. If any team is the one to beat in this packed, unpredictable season, it is San Antonio. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/britt_robson/04/27/playoff.rankings/index.html#ixzz1tOaOfRHw