With the Lakers No Longer a Threat...

[Ghost Writer]

... the Spurs are winning the title, huh?

Detroit is not the same.

Indiana had the whole fight thing.

The Sonics have no one inside.

The Spurs crushed the runnin' Suns.

Dallas still has no D.

Minnesota isn't good now that Spree and Cassell are worried about themselves.

Sacramento's window already closed.

Houston should be better.



The only team that kinda scares me is Miami, because of the Shaq/Wade factor, but how can they win the Finals in their fiurst year with Shaq?



I hate to be optimistic, but I really can't see any team in the NBA beating the Spurs in a playoff series.


Right or wrong?

[BigVee]

If the playoffs started today, I would agree. But, still a long way to go. Come June, I hope you are right and barring injury suspect you will be.

[Slo spurs fan]

Right!

Or maybe Sonics are threat?
They beat Spurs two times this season! :rolleyes

[Kona]

still kind of early, but i imagine the heat, pacers, pistons, suns and seattle(we still haven't beat them yet) wouldn't exactly be pushovers.


i still think we are the favorites right now. this team is way more lethal offensively than in the last couple of years, and we're maintaining defensive dominance to boot.



if pop would seriously address the free throw shooting problem, i think we'd be unstoppable, barring injury of course.

[Solid D]

You may be right, G-Dub, but the Sonics cannot be discounted easily. Fortson is a load in the middle and when he's in there, the Sonics are a different team. Ridenaur/Daniels is about as effective a PG duo as there is in the NBA (excepting the Spurs with TP/Beno).

Don't discount Detroit, either. They can play with the Spurs.

[Frenchise player]

If the Spurs plays their max D and O their is no team who can handle them, even Miami isn't really a threat considering their record against western conference teams is 6-6

[Jimcs50]

There is no one out there that can beat SA in a series.

Phoenix has the best chance of all.

[boutons]

RE: SAC, and 4 others SA loseses. (including the 4 to LA last May)

Spurs are by far the worst enemy the Spurs have. HTF do they sandwich a masochistic fiasco like SAC between magnificent adjacent victories over PHX, POR, MIN, and LA?

A very frustrating team.

Spurs are a like box of chocolates, you never know which Spur team you're gonna get, quarter to quarter, game to game.

I think the Spurs should help tsunami effort and let JO get 75, and all the Poohcers gets 5.

[Jimcs50]

Spurs are a like box of chocolates, you never know which Spur team you're gonna get, quarter to quarter, game to game.


Not true, the Spurs are the most consistant team in the NBA year in year out.They have the Top 4 defensive team the last 7 years. They play great D 98% of the games and really only have bad games when they shoot horribly.

watch other teams if you disagree...the Spurs are so much more consistant than all of them.

[bigzak25]

health means everything. don't jinx us. knock on wood.

detroit will be tough.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It will come down to us vs. Miami, and it will go seven games.

[ducks]

I think lakers could be a more of a force the wolves

lakers are still learning each other and are not that far behind the wolves record

kobe needs to learn his teamates more

sure the spurs would beat the lakers in the postseason
but I think they could beat some of the teams in the first round IF THEY START PLAYING BETTER AFTER THE ALLSTAR BREAK

[Ghost Writer]

You guys actually think that the Sonics' jumpshooting will hold up in the pressurized playoffs?

Phoenix has tons of talent, but they still don't have any one player on Duncan's level.

And the Spurs are playing the best D in the NBA right now.

I still don't respect the East.

[Rummpd]

Spurs (through a tough series over revived Wolves in 2nd half), then over Pacers who will make a charge with O'Neil and Jackson.

MadDoc

[boutons]

"Phoenix has tons of talent, but they still don't have any one player on Duncan's level."

Forget about "talent" or MVP stuff.

Amare this season has been as fundamental to PHX's success as Nash has, and as fundamental as Tim is to the Spurs. When Amare was ejected last night, MIN was able to get within a basket or two of PHX. No Amare, no PHX. No Duncan, no Spurs.

And Spurs were unable to stop Amare, not that the they needed to stop him. But maybe in PHX in 2 weeks, if the Spurs need to stop Amare, will they be able to? We know Duncan is very stoppable.

We also can see how well PHX is tightening up their defense as the season progresses, allowing MIN only 115 pts. :)

[Nikos]

Miami is a team you simply have to look out for. Shaq + Wade and guys who are willing to take and make a high percentage of 3pt shots. Plus a solid (but not great) defense?

They have a good chance as any to win the title.

[iminlakerland]

For the first time in a while im kinda glad that i was at work and didnt have to watch that game last night. What the hell. Thanks for handing our asses to us on a Silver platter last night.

Too top everything else off i wanted Oklahoma to win in the Orange bowl and what do they do? Im glad i didnt have to watch any of that crap on tv last night.

[boutons]

Spurs are consistent in the big picture, but they are not consistent this season game-to-game, qtr-to-qtr and that inconsistency has led them to giveaway 5 games to inferior teams.

[Rick Von Braun]

Spurs are consistent in the big picture, but they are not consistent this season game-to-game, qtr-to-qtr and that inconsistency has led them to giveaway 5 games to inferior teams.I agree in principle, but no team is that consistent. Rotations, change of momentum, and normal misses make it very difficult for a team to sustain their defense and offense at a high level over each quarter of each game.

Having said that, and to further contradict my own point http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif, I think the lack of consistency you see in some games is mainly due to 2 factors:

1) Lack of defensive intensity, in particular fighting and rotating fast on pick and roll or screen and roll plays.

2) Lack of adaptation when using a stagnat static offense, in particular when the opponents adjust to Tim (by doubling him), Tim is not having a good night, and the exterior shooting is not falling.

Luckly, those two cases do not happen very often. http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smidrunk.gif

[FromWayDowntown]

Spurs are consistent in the big picture, but they are not consistent this season game-to-game, qtr-to-qtr and that inconsistency has led them to giveaway 5 games to inferior teams.

You know, there are those trifling opponents to deal with -- they might have something to say about causing the occasional inconsistency by attacking or defending the Spurs in new ways or with different types of players.

It's like you expect playoff intensity on a nightly basis during the regular season. For a group like the Spurs, the regular season is entirely about the learning and refining process. There will be some bumps and some inconsistency, particularly because this is still a relatively young group. It's not like they're the 1996 Bulls or anything.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Sorry to anyone who thinks anyone other than Miami is coming out of the East. Miami is what LA used to look like with Shaq and Kobe, sans Kobe's egomaniac ass sticking his nose in everything.

[Frenchise player]

Sorry to anyone who thinks anyone other than Miami is coming out of the East. Miami is what LA used to look like with Shaq and Kobe, sans Kobe's egomaniac ass sticking his nose in everything.
kobe>wade
phil jackson>Van Gundy

[T Park]

I agree with you up to a point Aggie,

the point of dissagreement, is that the surrounding cast around them is pretty mediocre.

IF they add a few solid pieces in the offseason, theyll be title contenders IMO.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

kobe>wade
phil jackson>Van Gundy

Wade is playing better this season than Kobe, and is a better compliment to Shaq than Kobe ever was.

As for the coaching side of things, sorry. Phil was a good coach, his "greatness" came from being a coattail rider.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Oh, and Tpark, as to the role players...

Damon Jones is the best three point shooter in the league. Eddie Jones is having his best year in a long time and playing solid defense on the perimeter. Haslem does the dirty work down low.

Miami's starting five is better than anything the Lakers had for any of their title runs.

[Matrix]

Wow over a mllion post for Ghost Writer, I don't think I have ever seen that. :wow

[ChumpDumper]

Miami is coming out of the east unless Detroit gets their act together.

Are we still underrating Seattle this badly?

You might want to see who rates #1 in FT per 48 (10 FT per game against our team and hits .855 for the season to boot) before you say they have nothing inside. He's the key to their play when things slow down -- something Phoenix doesn't have.

[Medvedenko]

Aggie Hoops Fan...you're an idiot....just reading your BS makes me laugh...Wade better than Kobe...sure he is...better for Shaq than Kobe...where do you come up with this stuff...It's pretty sad. Yes, the Heat are good team...put them in the west they would be middle of the pack.

[ALVAREZ6]

Yes, the Heat are good team...put them in the west they would be middle of the pack.

Put them in the west and they would be ahead of the Lakers, making them at least 5th team.

[boutons]

"it's like you expect playoff intensity on a nightly basis"

It's exactly like I DON'T expect playoff intensity. I expect the Spurs to play their average game consistently, and find ways to win games to weaker teams on bad nights, just like they will have to find ways to win against the better teams in the playoffs.

Here's what I expect, per the 5 giveaway losses:

1. @TOR, no Vince Carter. We blow them out for 3 qtrs, then collapse in 4th. inconsistent

2. SEA. We play them even first quarter, then totally disappear for 2nd quarter, offense scores only 12!! @SBC, defense allows 29. Go to the half -19. Blow Sonics out the 3rd qtr, and outscore them in 4th qtr, but -19 was too much. inconsistent for 1 qtr.

3. @SAC was an entire game suck job by some strange guys in Spurs uniforms, way below avg spurs pefomance. tim/tony/bruce sucked end-to-end, so Pop plays the suckers in crunch time, rather than the guys who weren't sucking, we lose to inferior team who is playing a mediocre game, 15+ pts below their avg PPG.

4. MEM, probably a non-playoff team, early in the season. Doesn't take playoff intensity to beat those guys. We are better than we were in the playoffs sweep, and they are worse. They are an inferior team. If Spurs play 75% of their game, they win.

5. ORL. Level at the half, ORL blows us out in 3rd qtr (12-28, @SBC!), then we blow them out in 4th qtr (28-15) to save the win, whew. but the 3rd qtr?? Then we go to ORL, our offense sucks and defense let's ORL play their avg game, ORL wins. Bad game to inferior team.

The fastest start in Spurs history, 27-6, and they still gave away 5 games that could have been 31-2. 4 losses to inferior teams. I don't mind "getting beaten" in good games by MIA, MIN, DET, IND, PHX, SEA, DAL. I do mind "giving away" the 5 losses teams above because the Spurs can't bring consistency, at least defensive consistency when the shots aren't falling, qtr to qtr, game to game.

The milk is spilt. It's still a great season so far.

But I really don't want to have a remaining Jan where the Spurs have the excellence and consistency to go 6-1 or 5-2 or even 4-3 in this group:

Indiana
Dallas
@ Houston
@ Phoenix
@ Sacramento
Sacramento
@ Seattle

and then have inconsistency/suck job to give away even one game to this inferior group:

Denver
@ Utah
Milwaukee
Washington
L.A. Clippers
@ Portland
New Orleans

[ALVAREZ6]

I think the Spurs should play with play-off intensity every game.

There's no excuse not to. Why wouldn't you?

It's almost like saying, don't start trying until the play-offs, that's what counts..
which is wrong.

Playing with intensity will make the Spurs get used to it, so they will do it more often.

Boutons, remember that what the Spurs are doing on the court is their job. They're getting paid like crazy, might as well play the best you can every game

[ShoogarBear]

The biggest concerns for the Spurs right now:

1. Health
2. Ghost Writer is optimistic

[MannyIsGod]

Dude, Ghost predicting a Championship in Janruary? Holy fuck, now I KNOW we're not going to win it.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Hey Medvedumbass...


Dwyane Wade
PPG 24.1
RPG 5.4
APG 7.5
SPG 1.65
BPG 1.03
FG% .500
FT% .758
3P% .273
MPG 39.1
TO/G 3.9
EFF 25.16

Kobe Bryant
PPG 28.5
RPG 6.9
APG 6.8
SPG 1.45
BPG 1.10
FG% .401
FT% .805
3P% .319
MPG 43.1
TO/G 4.69
EFF 25.00

I'll give you Kobe's scoring a bucket more a game, and turning it over nearly one more a game (Kobe is #1 in the league in turnovers by the way), but about the only thing Kobe is doing better than Wade right now is leading his team to a .500 record (Wade is well above that one).

Kobe's a has been. His defense sucks, he wanted personnel and coaching moves done to suit him, they have been, and now his team sucks.

And like I said originally, Wade is a better compliment to Shaq than Kobe is or was.

Their skills are more complimentary, and Wade treats Shaq like a teammate, not as a verbal punching bag.

Wade's legacy will be greater than that of Kobe, but both will be eclipsed by King James.

[Brodels]

and then have inconsistency/suck job to give away even one game to this inferior group:

It's not as easy as that. Good teams and bad teams both have some talent. The difference is that good teams turn their talent into wins on a fairly regular basis. They win more consistently, even if they don't play their best every night.

The 'inferior' teams have NBA talent, too. And while they might not have the talent that SA has, they certainly can put together a good game now and again. On any given night Charlotte can play better than Phoenix and Golden State can play better than San Antonio. It's not going to happen often, but any team can beat any other team on any given night. We're talking about NBA talent here, and any team can put together a great game once in a while.

That's why it's unrealistic to expect the Spurs to beat every 'inferior' team they play. It simply can't be done, and it's never been done.

[boutons]

Dammit, I'm obviously not talking about the well-known "on any given night" where you really "get beaten" (not "give away") by an inferior team, or even by one player, having an extraordinary performance (Alan Houston @SBC spring 03, TMac @HOU recently).

I'm talking about all the other nights when the Spurs "give away" a game, not being able to produce an average effort, "find a way", sufficient to win, when playing inferior teams who are playing their average inferior ball.

[fonzy16]

I agree with Aggie H. - the Miami is a clear threat. Shaq with any team should not be taken lightly. I predict they will come a top in the east and win ECF.

[FromWayDowntown]

The fastest start in Spurs history, 27-6, and they still gave away 5 games that could have been 31-2. 4 losses to inferior teams. I don't mind "getting beaten" in good games by MIA, MIN, DET, IND, PHX, SEA, DAL. I do mind "giving away" the 5 losses teams above because the Spurs can't bring consistency, at least defensive consistency when the shots aren't falling, qtr to qtr, game to game.

Why is it that Sacramento, which has a better record than Minnesota, Detroit, Indiana, and Dallas, isn't in that group? Aren't you being a bit subjective now?

Last I checked, in their loss at Sacramento, the Spurs held the Kings substantially under their season average points (as you say, 15+ points). It may not have been the best defensive game the Spurs ever played, but 86 points allowed is one basket (or so) above the Spurs' season average -- and, frankly, its about as good as you can realistically expect to do in Sacramento. So, basically, the Spurs shot the ball horribly, but played a good defensive game on the road against a good offensive team (and a team with a top 5 record, regardless of how you view them), held that team well under its seasonal average, and you're upset about that loss!!

Look, I agree that the loss in Toronto was a bad one. I would agree that the Memphis game was another that the Spurs could have gotten -- but as you acknowledge, there are going to be those any given nights in the NBA; that night in Memphis may have been one of those (and it's not like Memphis played without any motivation -- they certainly had great motivation to beat the team that convincingly swept them out of the playoffs, and the Spurs, playing their 4th game in 5 nights on the road, and their 5th in 7 nights overall in November, were ripe for the picking -- it happens).

Beyond that, though, this team has been about as consistent as you'll find in the NBA. Really, who's been more consistent than San Antonio? Just name me the team. I'm curious about who you think is more consistent (other than New Orleans, which is simply atrocious every night).

[Useruser666]

I rather beat every playoff team and drop one to shitty teams now and then.

[boutons]

WTF, put SAC in there if you want, it was an oversight. They obviously should be in that group of Top 5 or 6 in WC, and a couple from EC.

The low-scoring game by SAC was due to the pace of the game, or something, (anomalously, the "game time" was kinda fast, 2:01) where FB points were quite low, Spurs 10, Kings 4, rather than Spurs "holding" SAC, who still shot their near-avg 44% FGs, and 47% 3Gs (typical Spurs weak defense on 3's), and were not disrupted from getting their avg number of ASTs.

ie, I maintain the Spurs game was sub-average (I'm only looking for a more clustered average performances with less swings hi and lo), giving the game away (rather Spurs playing well but getting beat) to an inferior but close team, rather than their avg performance, which would have won the SAC game easily.

Spurs year-on-year consistency is the best, but the Spurs don't play years, they play quarters, they play games. So, I'm not talking about anything but this "special" season, and, furthermore, only about the Spurs give-away losses.

"Who is more consistent?", in my context of this season only? Very clearly, Suns.

Last night was typical, PHX got out front all game, HOU O sucked, HOU was going to lose pretty bad. Amare ejected (like Spurs losing Tim), HOU wakes up, but not much, and gets within a basket, and PHX holds on to win without Amare.

ie, PHX was supposed to beat HOU, and they did.

SA was supposed to beat HOU, but played a shitty game and lost (the Miracle was only possible because Spurs let down in the crunch time and let HOU gets close enough for the miracle, and the Spurs played the last minutes pretty badly).

If you look at PHX's 4 losses, PHX was CONSISTENTLY "beat" by only the top teams (@CLE, SAC, MIN, @SA), from the upper band of teams. PHX has not "given away" games to inferior HOU, ORL, TOR the way the Spurs have. PHX has yet to lose a game by playing so badly they give it away to an inferior team.

I completely believe SA is the best team, better than PHX (only because of the Spurs defense. We'll see if the Spurs D holds 21 Jan). But their losses show very clearly that SA is not playing as consistently as PHX, so SA has 7 losses to PHX's 4.

I'm not bitching, I'm observing that the Spurs are better than their record indicates. But PHX, so far, is playing better. Had the Spurs not given away games, had played as consistently as PHX, the Spurs would be, are good enough to be, at least, 30 - 3.

Will PHX maintain their consistency?
Will the Spurs reduce their consistency?

I'm a more than a little greedy and spoiled. If PHX can do it this year, the Spurs can do it. Let's see how it looks on 20 April.

[Spurminator]

I'm skeptical about Wade. I think he's overachieving, along with some of the other players on the team. He's not nearly as good an outside shooter as Kobe, and when teams figure out how to keep him out of the paint, the Heat are in trouble.

That said, he'll still end up putting together a better season than most of us expected.

[Nikos]

Wade is an awesome player and damn near elite at his position already.

If he keeps this up he will be right up there with pretty much any SG in the league.

I am also curious to see if Wade can keep this scoring efficiency up while still racking up assists and rebounds etc...

Wade right now is better than pretty much any PLAYER in the league at getting to the FT line. He is easily the best SG at it relative to his shot attempts. Thats not particulaly lucky. But perhaps as time passes he won't get to the line as much as he does now.

But you can't argue against his 24ppg 7.5apg 5.4rpg and near 50% shooting and elite ability to get to the line. He is a special player despite not having shooting skills. One thing he can do however, is shoot off the bounce under heavy defensive pressure. Maybe not from deep range, but he has a way of manufacturing a shot even if the player is laying off of him.

Right now Shaq and Wade are a deadly combo, and with those shooters Miami has, I think they can be a championship team if healthy.

[Ghost Writer]

The Heat will come out of the East.

Seattle might win one playoff series. Defintiely not 2. They are predicated too much on jumpshooting with no inside presence.

I see the Spurs only potential flaws as:

1. 3s stop falling

2. Parker's consistency

3. Beno's inexperience (Claxton did well in his first playoffs, so this may not be an issue)

4. Rasho, Rasho, Rasho

5. Free throws

6. Fourth quarter scoring



If we sign Malone, we win the title.