Blast from the past: Spurs still Western contenders

[ace3g]

But the most surprising part of this little thought exercise?

It's easy to figure out who the Spurs, who won the title in 2007 and constantly flummoxed the rise of those other Western powerhouses (despite a 2006 loss to the Mavericks in a legendary series) are in this analogy.

It's the Spurs.

After the 2008 Western Conference Finals run, the Spurs switched to an offensive-centric approach. Coach Gregg Popovich has talked about how the team had to adapt to the personnel. The result has been an offense that has set the standard for execution over the past five seasons, but has slippped a little bit on the defensive end. They were bad in 20011, flawed in 2012, and very good last season.

So far this season, they're elite. The Spurs enter Friday's action with the second best defense in points allowed per possession and 10th in offensive efficiency. They are destroying everything in their path, basically. The result is a team that while it has looked shaky in some early meetings, has turned it on in the past week and is obliterating its competition. They're basically the death star at this point and Tim Duncan still has more shots than points. So it's not fully operational.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24238485/blast-from-the-past-spurs-still-western-contenders

[Chinook]

That last line...

[PÒÓCH]

http://filthypop.net/wp-content/uploads/mariah_applause.gif http://assets0.ordienetworks.com/images/GifGuide/clapping/1292223254212-dumpfm-mario-Obamaclap.gif

[TheGoldStandard]

If this team stays healthy it'll be a hell of a sight to see how they're running the offense and defense by All Star Break

[Arcadian]

Anything less than a championship is a failure this year.

[ElNono]

Anything less than a championship is a failure this year.

what do you mean this year? :lol

[tenbeersbold]

It's been ugly and honestly I don't get all jizzed up like y'all watching the second line-up play donkey ball against some of the WORST teams in the NBA

We haven't faced any real contenders yet(Golden Sate,no Curry and neither team should take any positives from that on court tragedy)

But a W is a W and they all count but once that 2nd line-up actually runs into a team that knows how to play the passing lanes and actual man defense it's gonna be interesting I think.

[HarlemHeat37]

It's been ugly and honestly I don't get all jizzed up like y'all watching the second line-up play donkey ball against some of the WORST teams in the NBA

We haven't faced any real contenders yet(Golden Sate,no Curry and neither team should take any positives from that on court tragedy)

But a W is a W and they all count but once that 2nd line-up actually runs into a team that knows how to play the passing lanes and actual man defense it's gonna be interesting I think.

You're really overrating the rest of the league, especially their 2nd units, tbh:lol..

[Arcadian]

what do you mean this year? :lol

season/year

[Mikeanaro]

Good old farts always smell, must be San Antonio tacos&burritos that keep Spurs alive

[TampaDude]

season/year

I think he meant that EVERY year, anything short of a championship is considered a failure.

[KaiRMD1]

Championship or bust, pretty much

[benefactor]

If the Spurs stay healthy they will win the West and go back to the Finals. The rest of the West is weak and flawed to the point where they can be exposed in the playoffs.

And :lol with the championship or failure talk already. Go cheer for the Hawks if you want to be continually emo and don't like winning 50 games a year every year.

[bigfan]

Have to give the guy credit for the prison rec league uniform comment, I don't agree but funny.

[sananspursfan21]

Overrating the Clips and the Timberwolves tbh.

[DPG21920]

I agree they are contenders (obviously) but even though most teams are flawed & even though the Spurs may be favorites their margin for error is nil. The West IMO is full of a several teams capable of beating each other and it not bring an upset. Spurs have more age/health concerns than the other teams too. But if healthy, they will be right there.

[DPG21920]

Also, I know ST loves lol'ng every team but the Clips & Hou are still both developing. We don't know their real ceiling quite yet.

[ElNono]

season/year

yeah I know... I was kidding. It seems like it's championship or bust every year, that's all. :lol

[Mugen]

In the last couple of years alone, the Spurs have survived a wave of new, young teams that were supposed to overtake them as lead dog in the West (:lol Presti, :lol overrating the Grizz after '11) but yet they remain the favorite to go back to the Finals again tbh.

Though it's pretty early, they're still one of 3 teams (probably 2 tbh) that has a realistic chance of winning the 'ship this year along with the Heat and the Pacers. The Thunder and Dubs can challenge out West but both those teams would lose to a healthy Spurs team in the playoffs.

As always, health will be a huge factor. But the Spurs are back where they always are, at the top of the conference, and have yet to even play great tbh.

[DMC]

There is such a huge dichotomy in the league now, and it's not symmetrical. Good teams look great because bad teams are atrocious. Spurs are playing like a good team, not a great one, despite their record. Just watch a game or two and see the bad decisions, turnovers and lack of production from the starting 5 most of the time and you'll likely agree. That's not a concern so much for the Spurs organization as it should be for the league. The league needs competition every night, not just once a week where a good team meets another good team. When you can play at a D-league level for 3 quarters and still be in striking range in the 4th, your opponent isn't much of a threat.

Then again, the Spurs have, for several years now, been fast out of the gate whereas other teams are taking a month or two to get acclimated to their rotations and roles. Around the break we'll see some teams go on a tear. So it's not how fast you can get up to speed, but how fast you can go when you get there. Spurs rely on getting there quickly, and they have, yet they don't have the most powerful engines in the league, at least on paper. Teams that find their rhythm late in the season can often present a problem for a team that has been moving along at the same pace for a few months.

[HarlemHeat37]

The only team in the West that matches up well enough with the Spurs to scare me is the Warriors, tbh..I don't think they'll ever win a title with their style of play, but in a 1 series scenario, they could give the Spurs trouble, particularly since Duncan can't stay on the floor against Curry's high pick&roll..

Every other contending team in the West is pretty weak in matchups against the Spurs IMO, especially the Clippers..

[MR-Clutch]

That last line...
Yeah, like what?

[ElNono]

The only team in the West that matches up well enough with the Spurs to scare me is the Warriors, tbh..I don't think they'll ever win a title with their style of play, but in a 1 series scenario, they could give the Spurs trouble, particularly since Duncan can't stay on the floor against Curry's high pick&roll..

Every other contending team in the West is pretty weak in matchups against the Spurs IMO, especially the Clippers..

Ditto. Warriors strike me as the team that can get hot for a given series and ruin the season for any team.

I also think OKC could be tough, due to the league constant promotion of KD and associated whistles, tbh

[Mugen]

RefKC and the fact that they still get treated like the 2000-2002 Lakers when it comes to whistles can still be a tough out in the playoffs tbh.

[ElNono]

RefKC and the fact that they still get treated like the 2000-2002 Lakers when it comes to whistles can still be a tough out in the playoffs tbh.

The difference being that the 2000-2002 Lakers had a legit dominant big man... who happened to suck at freethrows, so it was a good strategy to foul him.

What the league is doing with pizzaface is egregious, tbh...

[timtonymanu]

Agree with Mugen.

OKC has no depth outside of Beta, Westbrook, and Ibaka but I'm still worried about a Spurs-Thunder series due to their ref advantage alone.

[Mugen]

The difference being that the 2000-2002 Lakers had a legit dominant big man... who happened to suck at freethrows, so it was a good strategy to foul him.

What the league is doing with pizzaface is egregious, tbh...

Agreed, tbh. It's crazy to think of how more ridiculous it could have been if Harden was still around.

[Mugen]

We've seen the ceiling of this Clipper team in the form of the '08 Hornets tbh. Not really scared of them. The Rockets pieces just don't fit and really can't judge them until I see what they get for Asik.

Still real early but the Heat, Warriors, and Thunder are the only teams, as presently constructed, can eliminate a healthy Spurs team. All 3 have the length to defend us well and the options to exploit Duncan on the pick n pop. Should be an interesting year again but, overall, the league is very, very weak in terms of "elite" teams tbh.

[spurraider21]

The western conference as a whole has declined a lot the last couple of years. The clippers aren't much better than before, the thunder aren't as good as they were in '12. The warriors are a wildcard and gave us issues last year but if that's the best the west could muster up you've got to like our chances to represent the conference in the finals. The question is how good are the heat and can the pacers keep it up

[HarlemHeat37]

OKC had their usual officiating advantage in 2012 and it still took an elite effort from Harden to beat the Spurs..Westbrook rarely dominates against the Spurs, too..can't see them beating the Spurs in a series, tbh..they have a small chance since Durant can go off, though..

I disagree with Mugen about the Clipps being like the '08 Hornets..Chandler dominated that series on defense, DeAndre Jordan isn't a good defender, and even if he somehow becomes a quality defender by the end of the year, Pop is going to run hack-a-Jordan all game and take him off the floor..Spurs would dominate the Clippers in a series IMO..

Warriors are really the only team in the West that scares me, as long as the Spurs are healthy, which obviously isn't a given..

And ya, as I've been saying since the Harden trade and Wade's decline, the NBA is weak right now..if the Thunder had kept Harden, no team in the West would have even a dark horse chance at beating them from 2012 to 2016, tbh..

[ace3g]

While it is still early, good to see Kawhi on Klay still works and something that can carry over should they meet in the playoffs.

One thing I noticed during the Warriors/Thunder game; Barnes was able to force a lot of fouls on Durant in the post, something Spurs should try in their match ups this season.

Like some have mentioned it is still too early to draw any conclusions with the Clippers/Rockets.

[Arcadian]

yeah I know... I was kidding. It seems like it's championship or bust every year, that's all. :lol

Oh, I see. Well, I typically don't think that way - but this year I do because of the team trajectory over the past few years. Last year, for example, making the Finals alone was a huge success because nobody expected it. This year, however, it would not be. It is expected.

[hooperflash]

Hoping for another trip to the finals.

[Mikeanaro]

Guys I know West conference sucks right now, but what do you think about East?

[racm]

Guys I know West conference sucks right now, but what do you think about East?

Leastern Conference. Miami looks good but not great (:lol coasting), Pacers exploited a chump schedule and got owned by the first halfway decent team they played

[tmtcsc]

I'm happy with the record but the Spurs have a lot of room for improvement. Save for the Knicks game, they haven't really played great for 4 quarters straight in any of their games.

Once this team gets fluid, I fully expect them to win it all this year and we all know it should have been back-to-back Championships. Miami is Co-Champion at best. SMH...F'in rebounds.

[Harry Callahan]

"Prison Garb" uniforms? Really? Come on CBS article writer. The Spurs uniforms are great. That's why they haven't changed them in a long long time. I do wish they would roll out "San Antonio" black road unis as a throwback. Now that has to be the late 70's black lettering unis, not the hideous mid 1980's white lettering on the road unis.

By the way, the Spurs have already set themselves up for another 50 win season with this start. If the guys can stay on the court for the most part, they should be in good shape to give it another deep playoff run in 2014.

It's going to suck in the near future when the Spurs actually have a bad or mediocre season.

This run in the Duncan era has been unprecedented with the possible exception of the Russell Celtics. In their case the Celts had no salary cap to contend with in a league with much less raw talent. Tim's ability to play at a really high level for sooooo long is really a treat for us Spurs fans. We have had fewer down times/seasons than any other NBA team in our history with the possible exception of the Lakers. Besides, LA's "ability to rebuild" is based on "factors" outside of a talented front office anyway FWIW.

When a team like the Spurs has had only four or five top ten first round draft picks in their 37 year NBA history, they have done a great job putting competitive teams together in each of their generational eras (Gervin, Robinson, Duncan). Well done.