The Spurs Playoff "on-off switch"

[Kent_in_Atlanta]

It hurts me to admit it... but I thought the Spurs were done this year.

There seems to by a certain point; a mile marker in each season at which the Spurs come out of their regular season slumber, and begin playing championship level ball in preparation for the playoffs. But this year, the Spurs drove well past their usual "pull-it-together" mile marker.

They waited so long in fact, that I began to question whether or not NBA Champion Spurs were going to show up at all.

We didn't see THOSE Spurs until the last game of the regular season, when they routed the Jazz.

But still, I had to wonder... could any team really turn it on that quickly? Was it just one terrific game, or had the Spurs truly "flipped the switch".

Then came the playoffs.

As much as the media will focus on the Suns failings (rather than the Spurs dominance)... Phoenix is a damn good team. They just ran into a buzzsaw.

Now, as the Spurs are poised for what could be a Sweep of one of NBA's superpowers...

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw a championship caliber team flip a switch, and elevate their level of play this drastically, seemingly at will.

And I'm at a loss.

[m33p0]

they recently installed a turbo on the engine and changed the clutch from streetpro to pro. also have the cylinders widen and polished. they've also added a launch control system and pro level transmission. they can now go from slumber to playoffs in one game instead of the stock 1 month.

[michaelwcho]

Can anyone verify that we let the league in margin of victory last year, but were only around 10th this year? I heard it here on Phoenix radio, so take it for what it's worth. The same guy said the Spurs were 3-10 against playoff teams on the road, and more or less guaranteed a game 3 victory (for the Suns).

Assuming we can quickly finish off this series, the question then becomes: are we really good, or are the Suns really bad? That can only be answered by getting to the finals. If we can do that, I think we can decisively say that the Spurs flipped the switch.

[GrandeDavid]

Lakers flipped switches and hit bitches in 2001 and 2002.

[Rummpd]

The Spurs won 56 games on a mirage? This is not turning the switch - the coach limited minutes and did not make the best record in West or overall the end all. The fact is when the big three were on the floor the Spurs had a hell of a record. They had a mid-season slump but also finished up pretty well overall. This is no surprise.

[Cry Havoc]

Can anyone verify that we let the league in margin of victory last year, but were only around 10th this year? I heard it here on Phoenix radio, so take it for what it's worth. The same guy said the Spurs were 3-10 against playoff teams on the road, and more or less guaranteed a game 3 victory (for the Suns).

Assuming we can quickly finish off this series, the question then becomes: are we really good, or are the Suns really bad? That can only be answered by getting to the finals. If we can do that, I think we can decisively say that the Spurs flipped the switch.

This was also our most devastating year injury wise. When 1 of the three best players on your team was hurt for 80% of the season, it makes it tough to win games. Not only do you not have those points and assists that they bring, but it puts extra pressure on the bench, and perhaps even more importantly, the offense can never get settled into it's own rhythm of doing what it wants to do.

When the Spurs are healthy, they are very much a 3 headed Hydra. You can shut down one of them (sometimes), and if you're REALLY lucky, another one is having an off-game. But the 3rd always, always sticks a dagger in your back. Duncan in Game 1 was huge, and Parker in 2 and 3. Manu has been consistently very very good and letting the game come to him. This team is just very tough to stop when healthy, and all the media cares about is making hoopla over the new hype machine. They don't even KNOW that Parker, Manu, and Tim were all hurt this year, so they aren't exactly fit to judge who's going to send us packing.