SpursDynasty
04-20-2007, 05:25 PM
As Dallas proved last year, winning a championship isn't done with just personnel and scoring alone. There's something to be said about the quiet, non-trash talking confidence of the Spurs.
1. "I hear all this about other teams being more athletic than us. So basically we just need to figure out how to score one more point. How much more athletic is that?" - Poppovich's comments after the Game 7 defeat at the hands of Dallas. He's pretty much right. A firm, non trash talking statement.
2. At the end of Dallas' 95-92 win against SA this season, Dirk very clearly fouled Finley while he was shooting a 3, but no foul was called to end the game. Poppovich's reaction? He just grinned in a way seemed to say "Alright, let's just go and get on the plane for our next game".
3. Duncan cracking up at Crawford's ridiculous foul call. He had the last laugh eventually.
4. After SA's 90-85 loss to Dallas, Poppovich says "We're in good shape if we can hold Dallas to 88 points". The last 2 points were garbage points, again, a non-trash talking confidence about Coach Pop.
5. This team knows the league doesn't owe them a championship, they may complain during a game (Name a team that doesn't), but they never claimed to have given away a series to a team, nor blame a series loss on referees. They will go out and play to win every night.
6. They were confident enough to rest their Big Three on the final 2 games of the season. You can't say the same about the other West powers.
A controlled confidence + personnel (A team who goes 25-3 doesn't win 25 of 28 by accident. Duncan sat out the last 2 1/4 games of the final 3 games which were losses. Parker and Ginobili sat out the last 2.) Also, Detroit twice, Houston, Utah, and Phoenix (held to a season low FG%) were all included in that stretch.
Don't expect this team to just go away this year. Of course they need to not go small, but we've heard that on here countless times.
1. "I hear all this about other teams being more athletic than us. So basically we just need to figure out how to score one more point. How much more athletic is that?" - Poppovich's comments after the Game 7 defeat at the hands of Dallas. He's pretty much right. A firm, non trash talking statement.
2. At the end of Dallas' 95-92 win against SA this season, Dirk very clearly fouled Finley while he was shooting a 3, but no foul was called to end the game. Poppovich's reaction? He just grinned in a way seemed to say "Alright, let's just go and get on the plane for our next game".
3. Duncan cracking up at Crawford's ridiculous foul call. He had the last laugh eventually.
4. After SA's 90-85 loss to Dallas, Poppovich says "We're in good shape if we can hold Dallas to 88 points". The last 2 points were garbage points, again, a non-trash talking confidence about Coach Pop.
5. This team knows the league doesn't owe them a championship, they may complain during a game (Name a team that doesn't), but they never claimed to have given away a series to a team, nor blame a series loss on referees. They will go out and play to win every night.
6. They were confident enough to rest their Big Three on the final 2 games of the season. You can't say the same about the other West powers.
A controlled confidence + personnel (A team who goes 25-3 doesn't win 25 of 28 by accident. Duncan sat out the last 2 1/4 games of the final 3 games which were losses. Parker and Ginobili sat out the last 2.) Also, Detroit twice, Houston, Utah, and Phoenix (held to a season low FG%) were all included in that stretch.
Don't expect this team to just go away this year. Of course they need to not go small, but we've heard that on here countless times.