Does the Regular Season matter?

[EJK5032]

Pop does a great job of keeping his boys fresh for the playoffs, but you gotta wonder........if we had won just a few more games in the regular season, got home court, and played Denver and Utah before the Lakers, instead of Phoenix and New Orleans, would we be in the Finals right now?

In terms of caliber of opponent and intensity required to win the series, the Spurs essentially just played 3 Western Conference Finals Series in a row!

that'll wear a brotha' out

[dg7md]

Things could have been a lot different this postseason if we won just two more games than we did, since we'd have home court throughout the West.

[honestfool84]

yes.
i just texted pop; he said he'll make sure the spurs get home court all through out the playoffs next year.

[manufor3]

not really

[T Park]

The losses to Memphis and Seattle probobly lost them the title.

Seriously.

[mrspurs]

wasting games teaching mighty mouse the system cost us not only games, but also rythem(dont forget we just let beno go)....trading our only proven backup 7fter for an older 6'9 center so late in the season cost us valuable games and rythem....pop said before the playoffs started this season it wouldnt matter who had homecourt advantage because the west was so talented.........pop was dead wrong.............go spurs go

[Septic]

I believe so.

[Lakers14Titles]

Homecourt was a huge thing this year for most teams. Yes it matters. The Spurs weren't that good on the road this year, even you homers know that. They weren't that good in the playoffs either, apart from Game 7 in NO.

[ktmrider]

This is to Spurs fans....
Do you think the Spurs dominant will last forever? Don't be stupid.
After a while players aged and other teams will be better than yours.

Get over it and figure out how to be a better team next year.
do you think duncan is superman? even superman age....Shaq

If Shaq was in his prime, Shaq is better than Duncan in his prime

[CosmicCowboy]

Uhhhh...it depends.

NBA is looking at what happened out west this year and is already talking about letting the winner of a series "inherit" the path of the team they beat if it's better...

If thats the case, and it happens, expect the Spurs to try to coast to the 8th seed and try to knock off #1 (presumably the Lakers but we will see) in the first round.

[Lakers08Champs]

:nope You guys would still have to face the lakers and still lose in 5. :yield

[EJK5032]

nah, the lakers would have lost to the Suns in the first round

[GSH]

Heh. You want to play "what if" games about the regular season? How about this one?

The Western Conference was incredibly close. And the Spurs won some ugly games that they could have easily lost. But they would still have been the same team that went into the playoffs.

So what if the Spurs had fallen to the 8th seed, and met the Lakers in the first round, with a healthy Manu? An extra 6 points per game from him, and we could have taken the Lakers out in the first round.

As tight as the West was this year, that could have happened. And even the Laker trolls have to recognize the big leads the Spurs opened up. They had the skills to beat the Lakers, they just ran out of gas. But if they played them first?

Does the regular season matter. Some. But the playoffs are still a whole new season. Just ask the Mavs.

[angelbelow]

the regular season definitely matters, its where you build chemistry and shape and hone your basketball skills. i think its important to get at least the 3rd seed to ensure some sort of homecourt advantage.

[Tyler_Durden]

Spurs lost too many games they shouldn't have in the reg season and it cost them homecourt throughout playoffs.

Yes, the regular season matters.

[milkyway21]

it mattered.

we played against a younger team Hornets who didn't lose at home (how many games?), in the 2nd round

game 7 series.

then,

1 rest day, started the 3rd rnd series on the road against a well-rested younger team LA, who has not lost @ home since March 28

and our guys are "old":D

this is not the 2003/05 team who made a winning streak record on the road during rodeo days. This yr, if it's an indication, we struggled on the road. We were better at home.

1 win ahead of the LA/Hornets could have changed things.

[mikekim]

Heh. You want to play "what if" games about the regular season? How about this one?

The Western Conference was incredibly close. And the Spurs won some ugly games that they could have easily lost. But they would still have been the same team that went into the playoffs.

So what if the Spurs had fallen to the 8th seed, and met the Lakers in the first round, with a healthy Manu? An extra 6 points per game from him, and we could have taken the Lakers out in the first round.

As tight as the West was this year, that could have happened. And even the Laker trolls have to recognize the big leads the Spurs opened up. They had the skills to beat the Lakers, they just ran out of gas. But if they played them first?

Does the regular season matter. Some. But the playoffs are still a whole new season. Just ask the Mavs.

That's exactly what I was thinking...if the Spurs fell to the 8th seed, we would've had some serious heart attacks leading up to the playoffs but I actually have no doubt we would've taken care of the Lakers in the 1st round. Then the Jazz. Then probably the Hornets, who we would've beat in 7.

But then again, think of what would've happened if we lost a few more games and slipped out of the playoffs altogether...

yeah...spurstalk might have shut down.

[m33p0]

this season proved that. but its not every year such an occurence happens though.

[fishrap]

If the Spurs had taken out the Lakers in the first round they would be in the championship game and my house divided (mixed marriage - Spurs fan/Laker fan) would have been healed by now.

[hsxvvd]

You gotta make the playoffs and the Western Conference is so tough these days, we have to play our guts out just to make it. We need youth, not more old depth.

[1Parker1]

I think this year, more than any other year, HCA advantage really mattered. We saw a lot of young, hungry teams in this year's postseason; Hornets, Hawks, Sixers, Lakers. Teams with young players often play a lot better at home than on the road.

Also I know the Spurs won Game 7 on the road against the Hornets, but if the Spurs had HCA in that series, perhaps you could have seen that series end a little earlier. And with a little more rest you could have seen a different team against LA possibly.

Next year, HCA is going to be even more crucial. When I look at the West, it's hard to believe how many great, young teams there are going to be; Hornets, Lakers, Jazz, Blazers, Houston (though not really "young" I guess). The West is getting younger and more athletic every year. Spurs are going to have their work cut out for them.

[SenorSpur]

Not to older players

[EJK5032]

So what if the Spurs had fallen to the 8th seed, and met the Lakers in the first round, with a healthy Manu? An extra 6 points per game from him, and we could have taken the Lakers out in the first round.

As tight as the West was this year, that could have happened. And even the Laker trolls have to recognize the big leads the Spurs opened up. They had the skills to beat the Lakers, they just ran out of gas. But if they played them first?

Does the regular season matter. Some. But the playoffs are still a whole new season. Just ask the Mavs.


good point......a fresh Spurs team would have slaughtered the Lakers in the First Round !

[Spur-Addict]

nah, the lakers would have lost to the Suns in the first round

I def agree

[E20]

I actually would like the Spurs to lose more games and rest more. If it happend this year we would have been the 8th seed and played LA the 1st round and most likely would have won due to fresher legs.

[LLK0517]

regular season does matter, but i don't think this year it mattered for the spurs, they would have ran out of gas eventually, whether it would have been now or in the finals, i guess in a way its better to lose now than in the finals, because it hurts more when you lose in the finals, i don't know if they had the gas to win another championship this year, i try to be realistic with the spurs, they just need to get younger or they won't get it done just like this year