Attention: "Spurs have lost ..."

[Kori Ellis]

I heard everyone saying the Spurs have lost "11 out 18" (or whatever) of the last games against teams above .500.

This is so misleading.

The Spurs have actually WON 7 out of their last 13 games against teams that are above .500.

To create their shock and awe stat, they took things back far enough to make it look bad for the Spurs.

I'm not saying everything is all roses and lollipops for the Spurs right now. But don't get so hyped up about that "11 out of 18" were losses. It's actually 7 out of 13 were wins. Who cares what happened in the beginning of January and prior. That was along time ago and the Big 3 were banged up back then.

Jan
Wed 23 vs LA Lakers W 103-91
Sat 26 vs New Orleans L 78-102
Mon 28 @ Utah L 91-97
Thu 31 @ Phoenix W 84-81
Feb
Sun 10 @ Boston L 90-98
Mon 11 @ Toronto W 93-88
Wed 13 @ Cleveland W 112-105
Sat 23 vs New Orleans W 98-89
Thu 28 vs Dallas W 97-94
March
Fri 07 @ Denver L 96-109
Sun 09 @ Phoenix L 87-94
Mon 10 vs Denver W 107-103
Wed 12 @ New Orleans L 75-100

[Kori Ellis]

If they would have just won the last two, then the media would be saying, "Wow, the Spurs won 9-out-13 against .500 and above opponents."

It's funny what a difference a couple games makes.

[Princess Pimp]

If they would have just won the last two, then the media would be saying, "Wow, the Spurs won 9-out-13 against .500 and above opponents."

It's funny what a difference a couple games makes.

Wait until they lose the next 3 games.

[DespЏrado]

Nice find! This loss is getting so overblown... I would rather have Manu, Tony, and Timmy over anyone going in to the playoffs right now. Hell Manu on his own, when he is on, is more than enough to beat most of this years run of pretenders.

[Kori Ellis]

Wait until they lose the next 3 games.

Cool. Will you stop posting then? When are you going to change your screen name and jump on the next bandwagon? Hornets have some openings.

[Brutalis]

Sucks. I'm in home stretch mode. Playoffs can't get here quick enough.

[bobbyjoe]

There's a lot of Spin in this post.

You point out that the Big 3 was injured so the previous 5 games are less important.

Fair enough, however:

-2 of these wins you cite are against Cleveland and Toronto. These teams, esp Toronto are only .500 plus because they are in the East. Their record against SA is irrelevant. At this point, all that matters for SA is their records against West opponents and then DET/BOS. They will not play CLE or TOR again.

-The LA game was pre-Gasol. Obviously the landscape has changed a ton.

-Spurs did have a nice Phoenix win on the road, but then lost to the Shaq Suns which are the version you'd face if there was a playoff matchup. Shaq always has caused problems for SA.

-The biggest reason I'd be worried if I were a Spurs fan is that there a lot of blowout losses on this list, but most of the wins have been scraped out. This is just not what you think of when you think of the Big Bad Spurs. Point differential is negative.

Theres a reason why 9 teams are so tightly bunched in the West. Forget the past, there is no dominant team out West. Anyone can win the Conf, even the #7 or 8 seed. Every matchup will be a tossup series just about and yes, that inlcudes a series SA is involved in as well.

[Kori Ellis]

There's no spin. The Spurs are clearly playing like crap lately and several teams in the West are playing better.

All I'm saying is that media is hyping up that stat.

[rascal]

7 out of 13 is not good. It is not a team playing at a championship level.

[Kori Ellis]

It is not a team playing at a championship level.

Yeah I'm pretty sure I said that.


I'm not saying everything is all roses and lollipops for the Spurs right now.


The Spurs are clearly playing like crap lately and several teams in the West are playing better.

[urunobili]

Kori did you have to stand the NOH broadcasters? that was just lame.. i mean.. i can;t find a word to describe how they dis-respect us on every level.. it was unbearable... :depressed

[Southwest Texas Fan]

Sucks. I'm in home stretch mode. Playoffs can't get here quick enough.


I'm not sure I want the playoffs to start. The Spurs are not playing good basketball period and with only 18 games left I don't know if they will be ready. Last nights game was disturbing in so many ways. I hope they can turn things around and start playing Spurs BB. Aside from the Big Three and Bowen no one else is stepping up. Last night I caught myself saying POP play Bonner do something I wanted a spark. Believe

[Sportcamper]

What is with the baking utensils on the rings? Is that like, “get in the kitchen & bake me a pie” kind of thing?

[Lady M]

they lose 1 home game and 5 road games and won 1 road game (with TP injured)
stupid news

[ploto]

No offense, Kori, but you are just as guilty by choosing January 23 as your "random" cut off for the statistic because before that date the Spurs LOST their 5 previous games to teams over 500.

You can manipulate it however you want, but the fact is the Spurs have not played well against the Top teams in the NBA. Look just at your list- one double digit victory over a team over .500 since January 1 and that was the Lakers before Gasol and without Bynum. Even their wins have not been strong, and some of their losses have been really bad.

Then look at the games not included- the teams under .500- even many of those victories have been slim; Miami by 1; Minnesota by 1; Milwaukee by 2; Knicks by 4 and by 7; and a loss to Seattle.

[Extra Stout]

7 out of 13 is not good. It is not a team playing at a championship level.
There are some things in life that just happen like clockwork. They are the rhythms of nature.

In the morning, the sun rises in the east. In the evening, the sun sets in the west.

In the spring, the trees sprout new leaves. In the autumn, the leaves turn colors and fall.

When the Spurs are winning, rascal disappears. When they start losing, he starts posting again.

[T Park]

No offense, Kori, but you are just as guilty by choosing January 23 as your "random" cut off for the statistic because before that date the Spurs LOST their 5 previous games to teams over 500.

You can manipulate it however you want, but the fact is the Spurs have not played well against the Top teams in the NBA. Look just at your list- one double digit victory over a team over .500 since January 1 and that was the Lakers before Gasol and without Bynum. Even their wins have not been strong, and some of their losses have been really bad.

Then look at the games not included- the teams under .500- even many of those victories have been slim; Miami by 1; Minnesota by 1; Milwaukee by 2; Knicks by 4 and by 7; and a loss to Seattle.


Do the world a favor and swing from the shower rod.

[wildbill2u]

In the past, the Spurs were the aggressors, chewing up teams down the stretch, even those with better than .500 records.

Think about this. Houston has won 20 in a row, the last 8 without Yao. Last night they shot .30 percent and still won on the road by hanging around with great defense and hitting some timely shots at the end. They gutted it out and found a way to win.

Does this remind you of Spurs teams of the past? Does this remind you of this year's Spurs team?

[polandprzem]

If they would have just won the last two, then the media would be saying, "Wow, the Spurs won 9-out-13 against .500 and above opponents."

It's funny what a difference a couple games makes.

It's always been like this in basketball especially in NBA and especially in America where people love statistics.
But more important thing is how the team can adjust and how the team can react in diferent situations and what to do to be as best as possible at the right time.
So many things can go wrong or right. As Pop said: when the spurs winning we are experienced but when the spurs losing they are old.
That's about right not going into the details.

IMO spurs are in slight slump (Manu catched it as I was predicting), but it is not big of a deal considerating that there is still few weeks left till playoffs, but it's coming a bigger deal when you lookat the western PO picture. So many teams started to fight for life after ASG it's insaine.

They can pick it up :)

[Spurminator]

2 of these wins you cite are against Cleveland and Toronto. These teams, esp Toronto are only .500 plus because they are in the East.

Cleveland has a better record against the West (17-12) than they do against the East (20-16).

Toronto is one game below .500 against the West (12-13).

[Kori Ellis]

No offense, Kori, but you are just as guilty by choosing January 23 as your "random" cut off for the statistic because before that date the Spurs LOST their 5 previous games to teams over 500.

Of course. That's pretty much the point of the thread... you can manipulate the records to indicate whatever you want. Personally, I don't think the games in December/January mean much, considering how bad Tony was struggling with injury and how that was effecting other players like Bowen and the others shooters. I was just going to include February onward ... the record is 5-4, but I figured y'all would bitch about sample size so I took it back a little further.

[Cry Havoc]

There are nearly 20 games left in the season. This is a team that was at the top of the Western Conference and only trails by a game now.

So answer me this, if the Spurs are playing THIS horribly and are still only one game away from grabbing a #1 seed, what does that say about the potential of this team?

Does anyone think Popovich is worried? Concerned, sure, bothered, sure, but with 18 games left to play, that's a lot of time to turn around a ship... and then win one.

What happens if we only play .500 ball for another 8 games or so, and then win the final 10 games in a row? Because this team is obviously capable of destroying their opponents when they -need- to. I've never known the 67th game of the regular season to be a "must win".

No, we aren't playing our best, but that doesn't mean it's too late to start, or that it won't happen.

And if the other West teams are SO dominant and playing SO much better, why are the Spurs still right at the top of the standings? Oh, right, because they're losing too.

[Shelly]

Nothing to add, but I just noticed your avatar, Kori!

:lol