Spurs Look Weak

[Doc Jerome]

I have been away for a while; however, I did manage to catch the last 2 games. Both were representations of the best and the worst of what this team is. They were virtually perfect against the Warriors and looked lethargic and very much unmotivated against the Bulls, . . . the latter at home no less.

I know it's still a young season and I know that Pop is giving an outward appearence of "That's OK we're still working things out and we will lose again this season." But, in reality, every Spur fan should be worried about what they saw between those 2 very different games.

If the world champs can't be motivated enough after a near perfect road game to come home and get the job done against an average good team in the NBA; and to not make plays because of lack of energy and hustle is a telling tale of things to come.

Noone can say that the Bulls were shooting the lights out either. They played well and beat the champs. The senario should be that any team of Chicago's caliber and below, should have to play a superbly outstanding game to beat a team of the Spur's pedigree (Team ladened with an MVP, some all-stars and savy veterans with championship experience).

I get the feeling Pop knows that this team's character is fragile to say the least, and is deeplay disappointed that he has to figure out ways to motivate them just to play, 'cause perhaps they think that they deserve the W just for showing up. The rest of the league notices cracks too, and they smell blood. :fro :fro

[mavsfan1000]

Yeah a friend was telling me about this. The spurs are soft. The best way to beat them is to have strong guards because Parker will avoid contact alot with those players. The Pistons are the team that seem to partially take advantage of this.

[Solid D]

The Bulls were waiting on the Spurs and had plenty of time to prepare for them. No worries. Mavs are the gold standard for "softness". The Spurs would have to pattern themselves after the Mavs to be really fall into a soft classification. They've got a ways to fall to get to that level. :smokin

[Spurminator]

I have been away for a while; however, I did manage to catch the last 2 games. Both were representations of the best and the worst of what this team is. They were virtually perfect against the Mavericks and looked lethargic and very much unmotivated against the Raptors.

I know it's still a young season and I know that Pop is giving an outward appearence of "That's OK we're still working things out and we will lose again this season." But, in reality, every Spur fan should be worried about what they saw between those 2 very different games.

If the hopeful world champs can't be motivated enough after a near perfect home game to go on the road and get the job done against one of the worst teams in the NBA; and to not make plays because of lack of energy and hustle is a telling tale of things to come.

Noone can say that the Raptors were shooting the lights out either. They played well and beat the Spurs. The senario should be that any team of Toronto's caliber and below, should have to play a superbly outstanding game to beat a team of the Spur's pedigree (Team ladened with an MVP, some all-stars and savy veterans with championship experience).

I get the feeling Pop knows that this team's character is fragile to say the least, and is deeplay disappointed that he has to figure out ways to motivate them just to play, 'cause perhaps they think that they deserve the W just for showing up. The rest of the league notices cracks too, and they smell blood. :fro :fro

[leemajors]

if they look soft in january and february then you have cause to be worried. until then, you gots to chill.

[exstatic]

Yeah a friend was telling me about this. The spurs are soft. The best way to beat them is to have strong guards because Parker will avoid contact alot with those players. The Pistons are the team that seem to partially take advantage of this.

Yeah, 'cause Detroit BEAT SA in the Finals...oh wait...no they didn't. :lol

[Doc Jerome]

Spurminator, that was cute. :angel

[FromWayDowntown]

INoone can say that the Bulls were shooting the lights out either. They played well and beat the champs. The senario should be that any team of Chicago's caliber and below, should have to play a superbly outstanding game to beat a team of the Spur's pedigree (Team ladened with an MVP, some all-stars and savy veterans with championship experience).


I don't necessarily quarrel with all of your points, but I have a problem with this one. The Bulls did shoot the ball well in that game. They were at or near 50% throughout most of the 2nd half and seemed to hit just about every open jump shot that they got in that half. If you're conceding that the Spurs should lose, but only when an opponent is in the 60% range, I'd vehemently dispute that. When an NBA team shoots in the neighborhood of 50% from the floor in a game, it tends to win, whether at home or on the road. When that team shoots nearly 50% and outrebounds its opponent by a fairly wide margin, the chances of winning go up substantially. That's exactly what the Bulls did.

I think the Bulls did play, for the most part, about as well as they could play, and at that, the Spurs had the ball and a chance to tie the game with less than a minute to go. The Bulls did play well, the Spurs did play poorly, and the combination lead to a home loss. It happens.

I don't think anyone is truly happy that it did (other than Bulls fans) but at the same time, it's unrealistic to think that the Spurs won't lose games to inferior teams (even at home) this year.

It's terribly unlikely that they'll roll to 38-3 at home again this year, even if they had no major injuries. Things happen, players are human. Call it a weakness if you will, but these guys know that there are bigger stakes down the road and have, in the Popovich era, shown an ability to raise their game and intensity as the season progresses.

[Tek_XX]

Yeah a friend was telling me about this. The spurs are soft. The best way to beat them is to have strong guards because Parker will avoid contact alot with those players. The Pistons are the team that seem to partially take advantage of this.

The Mav guy calling the Spurs soft?

The last game was the worst for the Spurs by far this season, that's not to say they've been playing great.

[Doc Jerome]

The Bulls did shoot the ball well in that game.

AND

these guys know that there are bigger stakes down the road and have, in the Popovich era, shown an ability to raise their game and intensity as the season progresses.

If the Spurs had played inspired, dare I say, motivated defense, I think that the Bulls' shooting percentage would have gone down a bit.

AND

True, but home court advantage will mean something in a finals matchup against the Pistons. That said, they need to win some games.

:angel

[IceColdBrewski]

... every Spur fan should be worried...

If the world champs can't be motivated enough after a near perfect road game to come home and get the job done against an average good team in the NBA; and to not make plays because of lack of energy and hustle is a telling tale of things to come. ...

http://soft.erased.info/images/teopetuk/chicken_little_erased_info_2.jpg

[mavsfan1000]

The spurs don't scare me this year. I think the mavs can knock them off. Also because Duncan isn't fired up enough to lead his team like most leaders do. Dirk will bring the best out of Dallas and fire them up. If not Dallas than the Pistons.

[Leetonidas]

The spurs don't scare me this year. I think the mavs can knock them off. Also because Duncan isn't fired up enough to lead his team like most leaders do. Dirk will bring the best out of Dallas and fire them up. If not Dallas than the Pistons.

Are you insane? Tim has looked very good this year. Tim is a leader, Dirk is not.

[xcoriate]

:lmao @ Spurm.

Did he really make the same post a year ago? :lol

[Doc Jerome]

http://soft.erased.info/images/teopetuk/chicken_little_erased_info_2.jpg

:lol That's great. :spin

[Solid D]

The spurs don't scare me this year. I think the mavs can knock them off. Also because Duncan isn't fired up enough to lead his team like most leaders do. Dirk will bring the best out of Dallas and fire them up. If not Dallas than the Pistons.

Keep up that positive self-talk. At least you will have one interested listener.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

wasnt there a mavfan on here that respected the spurs a lot? or is this person just a troll?? i coulda sworn there was a common poster that was a mavs fan that was constantly giving spurs props. im not saying a mavs fan has to give the spurs props but i coulda sworn it was mavfan1000 tho i may have her mistaken for someone else

[mavsfan1000]

wasnt there a mavfan on here that respected the spurs a lot? or is this person just a troll?? i coulda sworn there was a common poster that was a mavs fan that was constantly giving spurs props. im not saying a mavs fan has to give the spurs props but i coulda sworn it was mavfan1000 tho i may have her mistaken for someone else

Yeah but watching the bulls beat you and the pistons getting better along with the mavs gives me hope that the spurs lose. I guess the spurs are the team to beat but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if they loss.

[ploto]

Pop said today that the Bulls were the "best" team they had played this season.

[ploto]

He also said that right now the Spurs are stronger when they are playing big-- and that they are still getting Finley and NVE into the system so they are not as strong as they will be when they go small.

[mavsfan1000]

Well the mavs blowing the spurs out wasn't? Pop knows best. :rolleyes

[ploto]

He said the Spurs were not able to prepare for that game the way they did the Bulls game.

[Doc Jerome]

Pop said today that the Bulls were the "best" team they had played this season.

Really!? Wow! . . . Well, after thinking about it, perhaps. The losses to Dallas and Washington was due to one player's extraordinary shooting and effort for both.

[Vashner]

Wow it's even easier to I.D. when the fly by night bandwagoneer's show themself with a dumb post....

[ChumpDumper]

The Mavs can barely beat Toronto for Pete's sake.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

The spurs don't scare me this year. I think the mavs can knock them off. Also because Duncan isn't fired up enough to lead his team like most leaders do. Dirk will bring the best out of Dallas and fire them up. If not Dallas than the Pistons.

Yes, Mavs fans say this every year.

As for Duncan not being fired up, which Duncan are you watching??? He looks more energetic this year than he has since April 2003 when he was tearing the league a new one.

I'm not worried at all. We are ahead of the game IMHO. Normally the Spurs start slow, this year they are 10-3 and have only played really well a couple of times.

If they don't start to play consistently well by late Feb, I will start to worry. Until then, I'll take Tony's coming out party and a rejuvenated Tim as all the encouragement I need. :hat

[Doc Jerome]

Wow it's even easier to I.D. when the fly by night bandwagoneer's show themself with a dumb post....

It always amazes me how some people figure themselves to be an original Spur fan 'cause they feel like they have exclusive rights to cheer or comment on the (Spurs) team. Add to that a word like "bandwagoner" and they start thinking that all of this sub-culture stuff matters; maybe even that they practically own the team.

Such is your plight. Keep the fantasy, dude; 'cause reality would crush you. :fro

[leemajors]

dismiss his post all you want, you are still saying the season is in dire straits in november. it's gonna take some time for this team to come together. there is nothing wrong with that. i, for one, think the starters usually look good defensively out there. the dropoff comes in the first round of subs, and again, it will take time for finley and van exel to fit in.

[Doc Jerome]

Fine, then let him articulate that. Later for that bandwagoner BS.