Assuming we sweep and Clip-Grizz goes 7...

[sharkenleo]

Spurs could get as much as a week of rest.

Will that be welcome rest or will it be too much rest? That's iffy territory. After five or six days, rust starts to set it. We need to keep everyone in shape, especially Ginobili who is still not 100%.

What do you guys think?

[FromWayDowntown]

In that scenario, it would be more than a week. If there's a game 7 in either SA/UTH or LAC/MEM, it will be played on Sunday May 13. The earliest the league would conceivably start the conference semifinals in that scenario is Tuesday, May 15.

The downside to that is rust. The upside -- potentially -- is that when the second round Game 3/Game 4 back-to-back comes up, there will be a bit less wear and tear on the team that finished early.

[Fabbs]

Good q but GOAT teams learned to deal with it.

1986 Celtics practices were said to be like a playoff game.
Bob Parish and a healthy Billy Walton going at it at the center position was as good as it gets. Spurs could have some nice intrasquad games too.

Ditto the Jordan Bulls practices.

So if it goes sweep-7 i say Spurs have to show their mettle and deal with it.

[sharkenleo]

In that scenario, it would be more than a week. If there's a game 7 in either SA/UTH or LAC/MEM, it will be played on Sunday May 13. The earliest the league would conceivably start the conference semifinals in that scenario is Tuesday, May 15.

The downside to that is rust. The upside -- potentially -- is that when the second round Game 3/Game 4 back-to-back comes up, there will be a bit less wear and tear on the team that finished early.

Are they really doing b2b's in round 2? That is beyond stupid. Why would they have 2 days between games in round 1 and b2b's in round 2? Just have one day off between games the whole way through.

[TDMVPDPOY]

its stupid to have b3b playoff games even if it was a shortened season, they only thingit affected was no. of rs game, why should it affect playoff games if its the same format and goes as long as usual

[sharkenleo]

Exactly. No reason is should affect playoffs. So the finals go until mid-June. So what?

[TampaDude]

I'd be a bit worried about rust if they had a full week off, especially since Stern would almost surely give the Spurs another noon game for Game 1 of the WCSF.

[TE]

I hope the Clip-Grizz series ends in 5-6. We can't have anymore rest considering how we are clicking. A week off would potentially result in a few steps the wrong way.

[DesignatedT]

That's a whole lot of assuming.

[Jimcs50]

Bad for Spurs. Better for us to sweep, and Clippers to finish up in 5. Otherwise, LA-Oklahoma City get their round going way ahead of Spurs-Clippers or Griz, and then they get rest waiting of us to finish our second round.

Spurs do not need any rest prior to the next round at all, in fact, they are better off without much rest, until the start of WCFs.

The Spurs have had tons of time off lately as it is, especially the Big 3

[sharkenleo]

I agree, Clippers finishing it off in 5 would be ideal.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

For an "old" team like the Spurs, yes, rest beats out rust concerns any time.

[justinandimcool]

Do extended practices/scrimmages. Not rocket science.

[Mr. Body]

Not ideal to rest so long. There will be tons of rust if they have to wait that long.

HOWEVER... look at all the injuries going around. The packed schedule has taken its toll and is still taking players out. Baron Davis popped a kneecap today. In this regard, the more rest the better.

[admiralfats]

i think we would get better with time off. We could really work on defense and make sure it's crisp.

[Wild Cobra Kai]

For an "old" team like the Spurs, yes, rest beats out rust concerns any time.

Rest is not an issue. The EARLIEST that we can start is Friday, and that's if the Clips back door sweep them in 5 and finish Wednesday.

[Cow Eye]

Rest is good, but a week rest makes me antsy about it being too much. Ideally, I'd really rather then not get more than 2 days rest at a time throughout the playoffs. 2 days is plenty. 7 is getting a little crazy.

And I agree that having b2b like this is retarded.

[Spursfan092120]

Good q but GOAT teams learned to deal with it.

1986 Celtics practices were said to be like a playoff game.
Bob Parish and a healthy Billy Walton going at it at the center position was as good as it gets. Spurs could have some nice intrasquad games too.

Ditto the Jordan Bulls practices.

So if it goes sweep-7 i say Spurs have to show their mettle and deal with it.

But Pop couldn't handle running practices like that...he sucks.

[Spursfanfromafar]

In that scenario, it would be more than a week. If there's a game 7 in either SA/UTH or LAC/MEM, it will be played on Sunday May 13. The earliest the league would conceivably start the conference semifinals in that scenario is Tuesday, May 15.

The downside to that is rust. The upside -- potentially -- is that when the second round Game 3/Game 4 back-to-back comes up, there will be a bit less wear and tear on the team that finished early.

Upside is that Pop gets extended practice time to prepare for certain kind of matchups and to run schemes for certain guys together like Tiago and Tim.

Should only help the Spurs in balance, I suppose. Not to mention that either of the Clips/ Grizz will be suffering from some kind of fatigue after a grueling 7 gamer.

[JustinJDW]

Haha, "rust". Do you think these guys just sit around on their asses after a Playoff series? I hope Memphis/L.A.C goes seven games. More rest and game planning for us. Good for Timmy. Good for Manu.


Do extended practices/scrimmages. Not rocket science.This. I mean give me a break.

[jiggy_55]

I hope the Clip-Grizz series ends in 5-6. We can't have anymore rest considering how we are clicking. A week off would potentially result in a few steps the wrong way.

Ya, hopefully Clipps pull off a game 4 win. That series would likely end in 6 games.

[Fireball]

Haha, "rust". Do you think these guys just sit around on their asses after a Playoff series? I hope Memphis/L.A.C goes seven games. More rest and game planning for us. Good for Timmy. Good for Manu.

This. I mean give me a break.

Rust is not something to laugh off. Just compare games 1 (the Big Three had a week of rest before) and 2 against Utah. Spurs executed way better in game 2 than in game 1. Practices and scrimmages cannot be compared to a playoff game. Its also about mental rust and staying in game rhythm. It was no problem against Utah in game 1, but having to rest 6 or more days and then face e.g. the Grizzlies who just won an 6-7 game series and thus are encouraged, motviated and in rhythm, cannot be seen as positive.

[Bruno]

Do you want to have b2b in the second round?

If yes, root for Clippers/Grizzlies to go to 7 games.
If no, root for a 5 or 6 games series.

Given that Duncan, who has been Spurs second best player this year, struggles in a b2b setup, the choice is obvious to me. Spurs fans shouldn't wish to have a 7 games series between Clippers and Grizzlies.

[Dex]

Do you want to have b2b in the second round?

If yes, root for Clippers/Grizzlies to go to 7 games.
If no, root for a 5 or 6 games series.

Given that Duncan, who has been Spurs second best player this year, struggles in a b2b setup, the choice is obvious to me. Spurs fans shouldn't wish to have a 7 games series between Clippers and Grizzlies.

This. Can't afford to have a down game in the playoffs. One loss can totally change the complexion of a series.

Also, with the Spurs rolling the way they are, it would be terribly hard to carry that momentum forward after over a week of rest.

[Jimcs50]

Rust is not something to laugh off. Just compare games 1 (the Big Three had a week of rest before) and 2 against Utah. Spurs executed way better in game 2 than in game 1. Practices and scrimmages cannot be compared to a playoff game. Its also about mental rust and staying in game rhythm. It was no problem against Utah in game 1, but having to rest 6 or more days and then face e.g. the Grizzlies who just won an 6-7 game series and thus are encouraged, motviated and in rhythm, cannot be seen as positive.


Ideal rest for Spurs is one day off between games. They totally rocked the NBA with way less rest than 1 day off betw games, so it follows that the Spurs do not need 4-5 days off before next series.

I want them to start 2nd round at same time that LA starts their series, not 3 days later. Figure LA will close it out on Tuesday and start on Friday against Ok City at worst(maybe even Thursday) so I dont want Spurs starting on Sunday.

[Vito Corleone]

15 guys on the playoff roster with about 3 other guys not under contract but part of the organization. I say pop vs assistant shirts vs skins two teams of 8.

[rmt]

Do you want to have b2b in the second round?

If yes, root for Clippers/Grizzlies to go to 7 games.
If no, root for a 5 or 6 games series.

Given that Duncan, who has been Spurs second best player this year, struggles in a b2b setup, the choice is obvious to me. Spurs fans shouldn't wish to have a 7 games series between Clippers and Grizzlies.

This. Duncan needs rest. His legs look so good this year with the depth/less playing time.


I want them to start 2nd round at same time that LA starts their series, not 3 days later. Figure LA will close it out on Tuesday and start on Friday against Ok City at worst(maybe even Thursday) so I dont want Spurs starting on Sunday.

Want them to start at same time as LAL/OKC. Don't want that winner rested and waiting for Spurs if LAC/MEM series goes on too long and Spurs have b2b in 2nd round.

[Fireball]

Ideal rest for Spurs is one day off between games. They totally rocked the NBA with way less rest than 1 day off betw games, so it follows that the Spurs do not need 4-5 days off before next series.

Two days rest are ideal (because now the Big Three have to play a little more minutes), but I get the point ...

[Keepin' it real]

What the hell people? Too much rest??? One of the big topics on this board all season has been Pop's controversial decisions to "rest" players on nights they were healthy. Now all of a sudden there might be too much rest???

You sound like those dumb-ass farmers on the news every year, who say "Oh my, we need rain. Please pray for rain." Then a few months later, they're like "Oh my, this is too much rain. Please pray for the rain to stop."

How about just taking what you get and STFU.

[Jimcs50]

What the hell people? Too much rest??? One of the big topics on this board all season has been Pop's controversial decisions to "rest" players on nights they were healthy. Now all of a sudden there might be too much rest???

You sound like those dumb-ass farmers on the news every year, who say "Oh my, we need rain. Please pray for rain." Then a few months later, they're like "Oh my, this is too much rain. Please pray for the rain to stop."

How about just taking what you get and STFU.

The point of resting the older players (TD, Manu) is to keep them fresh for playoffs, numbnuts. Mission accomplished. The playoffs are here now, the time for rest at this point is in offseason.

Playing 3-4 games a week is most they will play now, and they are in good enough shape to do that without tiring out.

[kaji157]

That would be the worst case scenario because it would not only mean a lot of time without games but that there will probably be a b2b set in that series.
Most convinient scenario for the Spurs is that the Mem-Clips series end the same day as the Lal-Den, that way will mean a bit of rest and no b2b.

[FromWayDowntown]

Do you want to have b2b in the second round?

If yes, root for Clippers/Grizzlies to go to 7 games.
If no, root for a 5 or 6 games series.


This. I suspect -- though the league hasn't said it yet -- that if you can start your second round series this coming weekend (Sat., May 12 or Sun., May 13) you can avoid the back-to-back. If Memphis/LAC goes to 6, Game 6 will be on Friday and getting started on Sunday depends, I think, on how the league sets the schedule for the likely Lakers/Nuggets series and the likely Heat/Pacers series.

If those are scheduled to have Sunday games, I think the only way to most assuredly avoid the back-to-back is to hope the Clippers get it done in 5 and the league doesn't screw around with the second round schedule for TV purposes.

[Keepin' it real]

I think the only way to most assuredly avoid the back-to-back is to hope the Clippers get it done in 5 and the league doesn't screw around with the second round schedule for TV purposes.

:greedy:greedy:greedy You're kidding, right? The only reason the NBA does anything is for TV purposes.

[Jimcs50]

:greedy:greedy:greedy You're kidding, right? The only reason the NBA does anything is for TV purposes.

With the money that ABC, TNT and ESPN is paying the NBA, you can not blame them, right?

[SpurinDallas]

Hopefully we sweep and the Clips-Grizz goes 7 and Game 7 is a 5 OT thriller, and then we tip off Game 1 2 days later.

[FromWayDowntown]

:greedy:greedy:greedy You're kidding, right? The only reason the NBA does anything is for TV purposes.

Yeah, I understand that.

I'm talking more about a situation where the second round series in this part of the bracket is ready to start on Sunday, but gets pushed to Monday because the league would rather play LAL and MIA games on Sunday (even though those games could have been played on Saturday).

[Budkin]

That would be way too much rest... we would be rusty as hell in game 1.