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View Full Version : December Doldrums...


Cry Havoc
10-20-2014, 11:36 AM
Looking ahead in our schedule a bit this year...

http://www.nba.com/spurs/schedule

18 games in the month of December. 6 back to backs.

Normally our crunch time is in March, but the month of December could be the make or break for our playoff seeding this year. I can't see Duncan or Manu playing on many of those scheduled losses.

Thoughts? If we're healthy, I think we'd be realistic to expect no better than a 12-6 record over that time, and very possibly something like 10-8 or 11-7. That is a brutal schedule of games. I could see a lot of our starters being listed as *inactive* for many games, hence the thread title.
admiralsnackbar
10-20-2014, 11:50 AM
I think you do not know what this doldrums word means, seņor.
Cry Havoc
10-20-2014, 12:01 PM
I think you do not know what this doldrums word means, seņor.


I could see a lot of our starters being listed as *inactive* for many games, hence the thread title.
Cry Havoc
10-20-2014, 12:01 PM
Plus December games are boring. :lol
EVAY
10-20-2014, 12:03 PM
I think you do not know what this doldrums word means, seņor.

I assumed that CH was referring to 'doldrums' for fans while our team is getting beat down. He may by more sanguine about the reactions of spurs fans on this forum than is warranted, however. Rather than making the fans dulled by losses, the fans are more likely to be made insane by losses. There will screams for trades and cries for Pop to be fired.

The team members may end up looking like they are in the doldrums but it will be fatigue that creates that look rather than ennui, imo. CH is actually one of the most literate posters on this forum.
EVAY
10-20-2014, 12:03 PM
^^^^^Sorry CH - you beat me to the explanation. I was typing while you were explaining.
admiralsnackbar
10-20-2014, 12:09 PM
I just don't see 18 games in a month constituting doldrums for fans or players, but that's just my opinion. I'm actually excited to watch how the youngsters apply themselves over the stretch.
boutons_deux
10-20-2014, 01:11 PM
Plus December games are boring. :lol

I think it was Dec 04 when Spurs had 13 game win streak, with Tony having 10+ AST in all the Ws.
ElNono
10-20-2014, 01:19 PM
December 1st! I hope to be there with the team in Philly!
Cry Havoc
10-20-2014, 02:36 PM
I assumed that CH was referring to 'doldrums' for fans while our team is getting beat down. He may by more sanguine about the reactions of spurs fans on this forum than is warranted, however. Rather than making the fans dulled by losses, the fans are more likely to be made insane by losses. There will screams for trades and cries for Pop to be fired.

The team members may end up looking like they are in the doldrums but it will be fatigue that creates that look rather than ennui, imo. CH is actually one of the most literate posters on this forum.

Why thank you, sir.


I just don't see 18 games in a month constituting doldrums for fans or players, but that's just my opinion. I'm actually excited to watch how the youngsters apply themselves over the stretch.

I think basically regular season games 20-60 are all pretty meh in the grand scheme of things. I get excited because I'm watching the Spurs play, but I'm also a hardcore basketball fan who enjoys watching the sport regardless of the teams. I doubt I account for more than 20% of the NBA's fanbase. And even then, it's hard for me to get up for a game in December/January when it's the TWolves on the road on the 2nd night of a B2B.
admiralsnackbar
10-20-2014, 09:15 PM
No intention of impugning your fandom... all cool if the early games bore you, chief. I'm an 82 game guy, but it's not a badge of honor -- probably just an indirect admission of alcoholism -- but I just like watching the team develop. Makes the post-season more meaningful for me, personally. Anyway, cheers.
wildchild
10-20-2014, 11:03 PM
This has nothing to do with the thread but when I read 6 back to backs in december, it reminds me what Tony said about b2b, 44' game, and preseason games.


San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker is on the list of players who don't like the 44-minute-game idea, preferring instead to focus on limiting back-to-backs. In order to do that, he'd like to cut the preseason in half and start the regular season earlier

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24759423/spurs-tony-parker-has-a-sensible-suggestion-for-nba-scheduling
Cry Havoc
10-21-2014, 02:46 AM
No intention of impugning your fandom... all cool if the early games bore you, chief. I'm an 82 game guy, but it's not a badge of honor -- probably just an indirect admission of alcoholism -- but I just like watching the team develop. Makes the post-season more meaningful for me, personally. Anyway, cheers.

I enjoy watching them, but do they feel meaningful? Not at all.
admiralsnackbar
10-21-2014, 03:22 AM
I enjoy watching them, but do they feel meaningful? Not at all.

Different strokes, I guess. You don't rack up a conference title (or put yourself in a position to pick and choose seeding privileges, better said) without approaching the vast majority of games as though they are meaningful/winnable. For a lot of fans, I concede that early-season wins aren't a glaring priority, but they are no less important than games towards the end of the season... they just have less media attention because MLB and NFL attract all coverage during the beginning of the NBA season. EG: If one is a salesman and is measured by quarterly earnings, the last two months are the most terrifying/exciting, but the first two months usually decide whether sales targets will be met. So goes my reasoning, at least. YMMV.
thekingrobert
10-21-2014, 03:45 AM
wake me when the playoffs start
Mouth is Bleeding
10-21-2014, 07:10 AM
There will always be schedule/travel-loses, that's just how the NBA is but we've been one of the better back-to-back teams in recent years simply because we're so good that because of all the blowout games that are decided way early POP pulls the stars and they'll often be pretty good to go the upcoming games, back-to-backs or not.

In 09 or 10 a back-to-back felt like an automatic loss almost but that's not the case the last few years with the team being so dominant many nights.
EVAY
10-21-2014, 09:18 AM
Different strokes, I guess. You don't rack up a conference title (or put yourself in a position to pick and choose seeding privileges, better said) without approaching the vast majority of games as though they are meaningful/winnable. For a lot of fans, I concede that early-season wins aren't a glaring priority, but they are no less important than games towards the end of the season... they just have less media attention because MLB and NFL attract all coverage during the beginning of the NBA season. EG: If one is a salesman and is measured by quarterly earnings, the last two months are the most terrifying/exciting, but the first two months usually decide whether sales targets will be met. So goes my reasoning, at least. YMMV.

I agree completely that the early games (once the season starts, at least) count exactly as much toward HCA as do the games in April. It is easy for people to gloss over this, I think. The last two years have clearly shown how important the HCA is come playoff time (think OKC and Miami) so all the games are very important. Having said that, the b2bs that Pop hates so much are not good for a team with a lot of aging players, and last year our ability to come out of them with lots of wins had a lot to do with a bench team that was almost as good as a lot of teams' starters. I wish we were going to have Patty back in December for those b2bs but it looks like it will be too soon for him, all of which makes me think we will struggle and the fans on this forum will not handle it gracefully.