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Yes the Spurs have underperformed, and yes, it shouldn't have come to a game 7, but the west is historically tough this year. This is why we fought for home court. Time for our guys to go and take care of business.
-Pound it to Timmy and Tiago. Make Dirk defend.
-No more step back 3s plz
-Play with fire
-Leave Ayers and Marco at the Dallas hotel
Tomorrow should be fun.
Spurs will win, but it may be ugly. And whatever Pop is thinking he's doing, he better be right about it. He's been uncharacteristically unwilling to adjust, and idk if it's because he's just coasting through the last years of his time with Duncan or if he knows the Spurs need every advantage possible going forward and so he's risking a series loss just to keep his cards close to the chest. It's not the West that concerns me - it's what the Spurs are going to do about the adversity.Quote:
Originally Posted by TDfan2007
Agreed. Sometimes I wonder if people here have even watched the playoffs before. It's fine to be disappointed/upset with how we've played so far this series, but some people are acting like it's unusual not to steamroll through every team you face on the way to the Finals. We're not the first title contender to ever struggle in the 1st round.
In '08, Boston got taken to 7 games in the 1st round against the 8th seeded Hawks and 7 games in the 2nd round against the 4th seeded Cavs. They then won the ECF in 6 games and went on to win the Finals in 6 games as well.
Phoenix got taken to 5 games (back when the first round was best-of-5) in the first round, 6 games in the 2nd round, and 7 games in the WCF before making it to the Finals in '93 and losing in 6 to MJ's Bulls.
Sometimes the road to the Finals isn't a cakewalk. Sometimes inferior teams are going to step their game up and give you a run for your money. All that matters is whether you advance or not. Sure, it'd be nice to get a little extra rest, but I'm not going to complain as long as we win tomorrow. We'll worry about Portland when we cross that bridge.
This.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpursFan86
As long as Pop has a plan, I'm fine with scraping past opponents.
I mean, literally every team aside from Portland is getting taken to 7 games in the 1st round. Is OKC no longer a serious contender now that they let Memphis nearly beat them in the 1st round? What about the Clippers? They're in danger of losing to a Warriors team that hasn't even had Bogut all series.
If Tim, Manu and Parker were all in their primes like the 08 Boston trio was then the Mavs and the whole NBA would be fucked.
No
Agreed. I'm just trying to show that there have been great teams that have went on to be successful in the postseason despite struggling in early rounds with inferior teams. Although it is worth mentioning that Boston blew out Atlanta every game they played at home in that '08 first round...they just couldn't beat Atlanta on the road for whatever reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas_Ranger
:lol Typical Spurs fan; there's always an excuse(s) for their failures
Other than a mild ankle sprain that Parker incurred mid series, the team is completely healthy and this isn't a match-up issue in the least. The reality is, there is no excuse, there's just the fact that this is a bunch of no confidence, mentally broken losers, who have found new ways to embarrass themselves four years running. No other team of their stature has fit this profile in recent memory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TD 21
TD with truff bombs. The Spurs are getting shat on by DeJuan Blair, I repeat, DeJuan Blair.
I am not sure what effect the extra games will have for the Spurs. They need their rest. They're not going to get enough rest before the next round and we saw what effect that had in '06. If they had gotten rid of the Kings sooner in '06 I think they could have beat the Mavs in the next round.
Loss means it`s end of an era.
Fatigue is not what cost the Spurs in 2006, they fought back from 3-1 down after close losses in Games 3 and 4 and were one stupid foul away from completing the comeback in seven games.Quote:
Originally Posted by therealtruth
:tuQuote:
It's the west, it's going to be hard. Get over it.
I would like to, using a nice wood baseball bat, smack this little bit of wisdom into more than a few posters on this site.
The 4/5 seeds have the shortest series...
It is indeed tough.
Memphis playing OKC very tough away without Randolph at the moment as well.
Spursfan will find an excuse every year they don't win a title. But of all of them, the one you bring up in 06 was probably the most painful as it was a better chance at a three-peat than 04.Quote:
Originally Posted by Horry Hipcheck
2000 - Duncan injury
2001/02 - Top two seed both years and ran into Lakers buzzsaw
2004 - Fisher 0.4
2006 - Dirk's And One
2008 - Fisher fouling Barry
2009 - Spurs were "too old"
2010 - G*@!# Dragic
2011 - Manu injury to close out the year / Battier in game 1
2012 - Thunderefs
2013 - 6
2014 - Vince Carter finally learned how to shoot with a flop to boot
Exactly what was said when we lost 2012 to the Thunder and the year before to the grizzlies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mal
Spurs on the brink of folding like a cheap lawn chair as the #1 seed in the West,,,,,again. Thanks, Pop.
The only year I think the Spurs legitimately had a shot was in 2006, and that season ended almost entirely because of one play. 2011, Memphis was a matchup problem and the Spurs didn't have the personnel to address it. 2012 was a good chance at the Finals, and should have gone 7 - the officiating was truly awful in Game 6, but that wouldn't necessarily have guaranteed a Game 7 win or a victory over Miami. The 2008 Spurs made a good run, and there SHOULD have been a foul on Fisher at the end of Game 4, but the Spurs would have lost that series anyway. 2006 and 2012 were both excellent opportunities at a title, and one of them didn't go the distance it should have due to officiating. Any loss this season will be due to coaching ineptitude, I imagine. The Spurs still have the talent to get back to the Finals, but adjustments aren't being made and I don't know that they will be.Quote:
Originally Posted by cjw
Tell me one thing from the regular season that made you so sure that we'd be worldbeaters. Oh, and don't point to our record. We preyed on shit teams all year, and the regular season is notorious for it's lower effort level and physicality.Quote:
Originally Posted by TD 21
Our best overall player is 38 and nearing retirement. He can't be our hero every night anymore.
Our offensive engine had a subpar year probably due to fatigue.
No superstar, and a bunch of unproven role players. This team massively overachieved, which has led to spoiled fans such as yourself developing unrealistic expectations.
Make no mistake. This team isn't soft, and they're very mentally tough. They just don't have as much elite talent and athleticism as other playoff teams.
Bad, bad example. Boston completely dominated every win. The Spurs have played one good game in the series, and won by 6. Game 1 they won because Dallas missed wide open shots over and over. Game 4 they won in the last minute on a Diaw three. This series should probably be over already with Dallas advancing.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpursFan86
Tomorrow night we get to reset the cliff jumpers to why the Spurs will never beat Portland. :lol
I believe fatigue caught up with the Spurs in the blowout win in game 2. It's interesting. I am wondering how often the Spurs have gotten blown out in the first round. It can't be too many.Quote:
Originally Posted by Horry Hipcheck
Honestly the spurs were not going to win '00 without Duncan. That is not even an excuse. Also the Lakers were the superior team in '01 and '02 there was no chance in hell winning against them. I'm not going to debate '04,'06,'08. Losing in '09 was going to happen the Mavs were just a bad matchup lol. 2010 the Suns were the superior team they had a better regular season. '11 The Grizzlies were just a bad match up. '12 the Spurs got overpowered by the Thunder's big 3 not much they could do just a bad matchup. You can say the spurs choked in '09 and '11 I personally don't care but half of the things you are calling the fans out about are not legit.Quote:
Originally Posted by cjw
Sides last years run (To an extent 012 as well) it ended in 08 to me when Horry, Barry and Bowen were gone soon after. The end of the real role players who don't dissapear for whole series and choke beyond belief (BELLI is one this year, he is worse than RJ even in the playoffs). TO ME there is BC and AC, before Chokers and after Chokers Spurs teams.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mal
I agree FULLY on 06, that was their TRUE shot at a three peat and they lost the game in OT, that one stings the worst to me of all of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Horry Hipcheck
2004 before Barry and Nazr I think Detroit would have beaten us in those finals, they took us 7 the next year and we were a better team overall than our 04 team (They were close but not on part with their 04 team). I think also in 08 we get beat by Boston as well if we win game one against LA and Barry foul is called, no win there IMO. I agree the only year I think the SPURS LEGITIMATELY had a shot was 06, that was the year to get the threepeat and they blow past an Amareless Suns (Who they even owned with him) and Beat the HEAT in 5 or 6, that was their year to win it all and the only one I saw as a complete dissapointment and failure.
mavs are a vet loaded team with capable players. it was going to be a tough series. just be glad, since we came out so rusty, that it wasn't against the grizz, they were the 3rd best team by W-L record from jan 1st 2014 on this season. they turned the corner and truly are tougher than their seed. spurs got lucky they dodged them.
If Vince Carter hadn't hit a miraculous game winner, we win this series in 5. Instead, everyone has pressed the panic button and thinks we're doomed.
Teams that get tested in the first round are typically better off through the rest of the postseason. If you went into these playoffs thinking we'd win any series easily you probably weren't paying close enough attention. The fact is, Dallas has presented some matchup problems, and we've had to learn the hard way Kawhi cannot stop speedy guards. That's Danny's job. We will come out of Game 7 a much stronger team if we pull it out.
Belinelli hasn't played well but that is ok. Guys who need space to get off their shot like he does are gonna suck against Dallas, who are sticking to our shooters like glue and daring our big 3 to beat us. Again, this series is over in 5 if VC doesn't hit an incredible shot. Tony has started to round into form the past two games, which is great news for us.
Keep your head up Spurs fans. No one said it would be easy.
The Spurs aren't choking any more than any other team has that had a game 7. You could argue that OKC had more choke moments than we did, because the Grizz pinned them against the wall multiple times, but they came together when they had to the most in the last game of the series. Hell, the same goes for the Pacers who were playing the worst basketball in the whole playoffs despite being the top seed in the East, and they came together in the end; the Spurs are more than capable of doing the same.
The Mavs are a good team that were in desperate mode the past 2 months of the season while we mostly cruised, despite our win streak. I don't really think it's a true "choke job" if we lose the series, although it sounds like it at first. An 8th seed beating a 1st seed sounds improbable until you realize that the gap between the teams in the West isn't nearly as severe as the East. All of the teams in the league have struggled in round 1, excluding the Wizards and the Heat.
I can't guarantee we'll win the game, because these playoffs have shown that anything can happen at any time. You just need to have some faith in our team, game 7's at home is why you fight so hard for the top seed in the regular season.
Well said. Finally a voice of reason on here.Quote:
Originally Posted by dg7md
Definitely not a criticism but a redux of the past 15 years. Shows how close we've been and how lucky we've been to be competitive each and every year. 2009-11 were the only years that the team wasn't a true title contender (notice how that coincided with a hole at the SF position) and outside of the Lakers, I think they were easily the #2 team in the league in 2001-02. Not much they could have done then though.Quote:
Originally Posted by daslicer
If you did this for most teams, the list would just be every draft pick they whiffed on.
Wow, thank you!Quote:
Originally Posted by TDfan2007
Spurs fans are THE most spoiled fans in the NBA.
We don't have a superstar in his prime to attract free agents anymore (not even Horry, Bowen's of the world, forget about LeBron/Harden/Howard's, and before you say anything I guarantee you Rockets would be a strong contender with Popovich replacing McHale to play with the same deck of cards), no one wants to play in a small market, and the team massively overachieved last year getting as close to the title as they did and came right back with the best record in the NBA despite a crushing defeat. Heck even Mav's has a better 1-2 punch than the Spurs! Dirk/Ellis > Duncan/Parker at this stage of their careers.
Spurs talent is nowhere near Heat/Thunder or even Rockets/Blazers(you will see in the next round if you get there), it beats these teams with mental toughness and great team work. But if these other teams develop mental toughness and team work like Thunder suddenly did in 2012 after two losses? Spurs has no chance! It saddened me to see Thunder regressed into their game 1 and 2 form against the Heat that year. The version that showed up against the Spurs in 3-6 would have won the title.
Talent wins championships, outside of 1999 with David Robinson still at the tail end of his prime, and maybe 2005 when Ginobili was at peak of his power with legendary role players like Bowen/Horry, Spurs just never had top talents. Even the 0.4 was really because the Lakers had vastly superior talents. Duncan made a super lucky shot and Fisher canceled it out. We got reverse swept because the other team figured out how to stop Parker and that was that.
It is end of the GDP era, I am enjoying every game of Duncan knowing this will be a lottery team for the foreseeable future. Anything they win is a bonus and should not be taken for granted.
YOU ARE THE LOOOOOSer!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by TD 21
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...apLcXa_gJysOqg
spurs are better for the adversity