Playoff Preview: Spurs vs. Nuggets - 2019 First Round Series

The seventh-seeded San Antonio Spurs begin the 2019 NBA playoff on the road in Denver against the second-seeded Nuggets. Oddsmakers have made the Nuggets the favorites but give the Spurs a better chance than most teams that enter the postseason seeded seventh.

While the Spurs had a roller coaster season featuring impressive highs and depressing lows, the Nuggets were perched atop the Western Conference standings for much of the season before they clinched the second seed on the final day of the regular season. Overall, the 54-28 Nuggets finished six games ahead of the 48-34 Spurs.

What can we expect in this series? Let's dig in.

Why The Spurs Can Advance

The Nuggets Have Cooled

While the Nuggets have been firmly in the top half of the West for literally the entire season, they've slowly but surely become increasingly mediocre as the season progressed. After winning nine of their first ten games and 37 of their first 52, Denver won only 17 of their final 30 outings. In their last 22 games, they're 12-10.

If you look at the season as a whole, the Nuggets have outscored opponents by 4.0 points per 100 possessions -- the eighth best mark in the league and much better than San Antonio's mark of 1.4 points. But if you zoom in and look at games after the All-Star break, Denver has outscored opponents by 1.9 points per 100 possessions, which is 11th in the NBA and trails the Spurs (3.4 points) over the same time frame.

Over the last 22 games in which the Nuggets went 12-10, they've outscored opponents by 0.1 points per 100 possessions. During that time, the Spurs have outscored opponents by 5.3 points per 100 possessions. Sure, there's definitely some cherry-picking going on with those statistics, but it's safe to say the numbers suggest the Spurs have been the better team since the beginning of March.

Mile High Asterisk

This is a battle of two bad road teams. In fact, the Nuggets (20-21) and the Spurs (16-25) are the only two Western Conference teams that made the playoffs with a losing record on the road.

It's also a battle of two very strong home teams. San Antonio was 32-9 at home, which was tied with the Portland Trail Blazers for the second best home record in the West (and tied along with the Toronto Raptors for third best in the NBA). The team with the best home record in the league? Yes, the 34-7 Nuggets.

However, it should be remembered that Denver has a built-in, verifiable advantage: elevation. Playing a mile above sea level gives the Nuggets an edge -- backed up by research.

While Denver's home record was likely artificially boosted, it's obviously impossible to know how many extra wins they got this season due to that advantage. One? Four? All things equal, the Nuggets are likely at least a little bit worse than a typical 54-28 team. And for San Antonio's sake, let's hope that they can get acclimated to the elevation at some point this series. The fact that the Spurs, due to the scheduling, have multiple days off prior to each of the first three games in Denver could be very beneficial in terms of neutralizing that advantage.

Offensive Rebounding Rebuffed

One area where the Nuggets thrive is on the offensive boards. They led the league by grabbing 30.8% of available offensive rebounds. Denver also led the league in second-chance points at 15.5 points per game; their per 100 possessions rate was far and away the best mark in the league in that category.

The Spurs, however, are equipped to deal with this potential problem. They grabbed 74.4% of available defensive rebounds, which was tied for fifth in the league. They were also one of the better teams in the NBA at limiting second-chance points.

Things look even rosier for San Antonio when you factor in that Jakob Poeltl is very likely to start next to LaMarcus Aldridge. When those two were on the court together this season, the Spurs pulled down 76.4% of defensive rebounds -- a mark that would have led the league.

With much of the NBA going small, the Nuggets have made a living out of utilizing big lineups featuring two of Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee. That type of size and strength overwhelms a lot of teams these days. But the Spurs, using the Poeltl and Aldridge combination, can counter from the opening tip and hopefully minimize what is typically one of Denver's areas of dominance.

Depth Reliance

The Nuggets had such a successful regular season largely due to their unselfishness, talent and depth. They have nine players who averaged at least 20 minutes per game during the regular season and a tenth who averaged 19.4 minutes. They also didn't have a player who averaged more than 33 minutes; Jamal Murray led the way for the Nuggets at 32.6 minutes per game.

Ironically, this Denver team is built a lot like the 2010 to 2015 Spurs in that way. Those Spurs were obviously talented but they had to utilize depth to make up for the fact that their big guns were no longer capable of logging big minutes.

In the playoffs, though, depth is simply not as important or helpful as it is during the regular season. Depth isn't bad, mind you, but in the postseason it's better to have star players who can play 42-plus minutes when it's needed. For example, San Antonio experienced exactly that in multiple series against the Oklahoma City Thunder when OKC could simply play their three future MVPs nearly the entire game, which would more than nullify the Spurs depth advantage.

Looking at this series in particular, the Spurs have a couple players in Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan who can play extended minutes if needed. The Nuggets, on the other hand, have a superstar in Jokic whose main weakness is he gets fatigued relatively easily. In fact, the center from Serbia didn't play more than 40 minutes in any game this season.

Perhaps Murray, Denver's second best player, can flip the switch and play big minutes but he doesn't have much experience doing that either. If the Nuggets lose this series, one of the reasons will be because their depth advantage on paper didn't translate to the postseason.

Green Nuggets

How much does experience help in the playoffs? It's difficult to quantify but I think it's safe to conclude that experience helps to some degree.

With that in mind, it's important to reflect on just how young these Nuggets are and their playoff inexperience. Murray plays like a savvy vet but he's only 22 years old. Malik Beasley is also 22. Jokic, Gary Harris and Monte Morris are only 24. Torrey Craig is 28 but he's only been in the NBA for a year and a half. None of the aforementioned players have ever been to the playoffs. It'll be interesting to see how they react to the limelight. (Jokic, it should be noted, has had trouble keeping his emotions in check at times. Could the pressure of the postseason exacerbate that issue?)

Denver's one source of playoff experience is 34-year-old Paul Millsap. San Antonio has a few green players as well but they also have a handful of players with vast playoff experience. Oh, and a coach who knows a thing or two about the postseason.

Why The Spurs May Lose

Ugly Preview

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fact that these two teams played each other ten days ago and the Nuggets destroyed the Spurs by a final score of 113-85. Denver, playing in front of their home fans, never trailed and basically ended the game in the third quarter.

Watching that game, the Nuggets looked a lot more talented than the Spurs. They were simply better at every facet of the sport and made the good guys look old and slow in comparison.

However, while the Nuggets looked much better than the Spurs on that day, remember that San Antonio was playing on the second night of a back-to-back and that Pop got ejected a couple seconds into the affair. Give Denver credit, certainly, but it wasn't exactly the fairest of fights.

Clutch Versus Not So Much

What's not debatable is the fact that the Nuggets have been much, much better in clutch situations this season. In close games, they had the NBA's best winning percentage at 67.4%. During clutch situations, the Nuggets outscored opponents by 12.9 points per 100 possessions.

Compare that to San Antonio, who outscored opponents during clutch situations by a mere 1.2 points per 100 possessions, and that doesn't paint a pretty picture for the forthcoming fourth quarters in this series.

Not only have the Nuggets been money down the stretch of games, they had a number of remarkable comebacks this season. In one game, they erased a 25-point second half deficit to stun the Memphis Grizzlies. In the final game of the season, they beat the Sacramento Kings despite trailing by 11 points with four minutes remaining in the fourth by scoring the contest's final 15 points.

And then there was that game in San Antonio back in early March when the Nuggets climbed out of a 21-point hole and almost won it. If you remember correctly, they were down ten points with 2:31 remaining, scored nine straight points and then had three shots that could have won it in the game's final 16 seconds.

The moral of the story is no lead is safe against this bunch. They've proven that this season.

Three-Point Limitation

A fascinating battle will take place behind the three-point line on San Antonio's side of the court. While the Spurs led the league in three-point percentage at 39.2%, the Nuggets had the league's best three-point percentage defense at 33.9%.

The Spurs don't rely heavily on three-pointers (they were last in the league in three-pointers attempted) but they do rely heavily on the spacing created by the threat of their three-point shooting marksmen. If the Nuggets can shutdown the Spurs three-point shooters without bending their defense too much, things could clog up in a hurry for San Antonio.

Athleticism, The Lack Thereof

This Spurs team is not athletic, to put it kindly. In fact, it's safe to say that they are one of the most unathletic teams in the NBA. They have one high-quality perimeter defender in Derrick White and only a couple players capable of staying in front of even average slashers.

The Nuggets, conversely, are stuffed to the gills with athletes. I pointed out the possible downsides to their youth earlier but with that youth comes a level of athleticism the Spurs will really struggle to match.

Hypothetically, even if White is able to take away one of Denver's weapons, the Nuggets will always have at least a couple more weaknesses on the perimeter to exploit. That's a scary proposition for San Antonio.

The hope for the Spurs is that things will slow down in the playoffs and they can rely on team-defense in halfcourt settings (along with clever coaching tactics) to mitigate their lack of athleticism. That hope is bolstered by the fact that the two teams played at almost the exact same pace during the regular season, so this series is unlikely to be a case where Denver will simply be able to run San Antonio out of the building using their superior athletes.

Joke's On You

The old NBA saying is that the team with the best player usually wins the playoff series. In this case, the best player in the series is Nikola Jokic. He was an MVP candidate all season long and he earned every bit of the praise.

For the season, Jokic averaged 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists, while shooting 51.1% from the field and 82.1% from the line. On top of that, he's a legit three-point threat, his big body can be disruptive on defense and his feel for the game is as good or better than any bigman in the history of the league.

Things To Watch

Playoff DeMar: Don't Panic

A lot has been made about DeMar DeRozan's playoff struggles in his career. And, yes, he'll have to rightfully carry that reputation until he can prove otherwise.

But I think DeRozan's struggles in the postseason have been a little bit overstated. While he's been bad in series that featured LeBron James on the other team, DeRozan has had pretty good series against other teams. Last season, for example, he averaged 26.7 points per against the Washington Wizards with decent to good efficiency numbers. In 2017, he put up similar stats against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Don't write him off completely just yet. That said, let's hope DeRozan avoids reverting to hero-mode down the stretch of playoff games. The Spurs are best in fourth quarters when White, DeRozan and Aldridge share the playmaking.

Gary Harris And His Hopeful Twin

After last season, Gary Harris looked like a potential star in the making. He averaged 17.5 points, shot the ball great and played strong defense. This year, though, injuries sidetracked his campaign.

Instead of becoming a star, Harris turned into Bryn Forbes. Seriously, if you look at their numbers, they were almost the same player this season -- except Forbes shot a lot better.

https://i.imgur.com/7i5EZpx.jpg

If Harris can regain his star-in-the-making ways, that'd give the Nuggets a huge lift. Similarly, if Forbes can outplay Harris, that'd be a momentous win for the Spurs.

Derrick White's Homecoming

The way this team is constructed, San Antonio must have Derrick White play well to be successful. There's no two ways about it: If White plays well, the Spurs are a quality team. If White struggles, all cohesion is lost and sustained success is impossible.

Why is he so important? As I stated previously, he's the team's best perimeter defender -- by a mile. He's also the team's best pick-and-roll orchestrator, best passer and has the best court vision. Down the stretch of games, you can already make the case that he's the most composed and the most trustworthy to make the correct play.

At times in the last month or so, White has looked tired. Dead tired. It looked like he may have smashed into the dreaded rookie wall.

Going against his hometown Nuggets, let's hope White can summon the needed energy. Remember, his season took off after he played an excellent ballgame in Denver back in late December.

Doubling Jokic: Suicide Or Good Idea?

How the Spurs opt to defend Jokic will be a key strategy decision to pay attention to as this series unfolds. If the regular season is any indication, the Spurs will double-team Jokic early and often.

On paper, that looks like a risky idea because Jokic is such a good passer that he can eat double-teams for lunch and spit out a wide open three-pointer for a teammate. But in reality, the Spurs coaches apparently believe that if you take away his scoring, the Nuggets will struggle to find dependable alternatives.

Look for the Spurs to send double-teams Jokic's way in Game 1, at least at the beginning. If he shreds the defense with his passing, they'll adjust.

Then again, perhaps Pop knows the Nuggets will prepare for the double-teams and will instead throw a curve ball by single-teaming Jokic. We'll see.

Will The Real Spurs Please Stand Up

The 2018-19 Spurs have been an interesting bunch. They've been terrible at times (see their 11-14 start to the season or the forgettable Rodeo Road Trip) but they've also been elite at times. Don't forget that from mid December to mid January, they were amazingly both the best offensive team in the NBA and the best defensive team in the NBA. They also had that impressive nine-game winning stream coming out of the Rodeo Road Trip.

The real Spurs are somewhere between the two extremes. I think they are closer to the positive side than the negative side ... but the playoffs will be the test, right?

Prediction

The Nuggets are a formidable opponent. Jokic is a superstar. Their supporting cast is deep, talented and athletic. I believe there will be times when the Spurs struggle to deal with Denver's physical advantages.

But I think, overall, this is a good matchup for San Antonio. They have the big lineup to negate some of the Nuggets strengths. They have a notable experience advantage. Aldridge is playing really well right now and I think that will continue. I believe White will be re-energized and DeRozan stay within the offense. The Nuggets have a bright future but my prediction is the seventh-seeded Spurs advance in six games.

thanks brah.

Thanks for the preview. Agree with most of it.

This year is the first time in ages I don’t have a clear feel of the team and what they are capable of in postseason. Spurs were always solid. Even last season the team was very clear: trying and skillful on D with lack of offensive talent. This year as you said the team had its highs and dreadful lows. So which kind of team we’ll see against the Nuggets is a mystery.

as for Jokic I like his game but I’m still not sure he can single-handedly beat us scoring 40. I would try single-coverage first.

Nice write up bro, you've recovered nicely from your dreaded spurs-grizzlies 2013 playoff preview.

It's going to be pretty disappointing if they shit the bed in this series. They have just about the best possible playoff draw they could have gotten. If it's competitive and they lose in 6 or 7 with all the games being close then that wouldn't be unexpected. But if they go out in 5 putting up minimal resistance then they need to take a hard look in the mirror and decide whether or not this team is worth keeping together.

That said, I do feel like this will be a good series...probably the best of the first round. My gut says all the home teams win and game 7 is a toss up.

The terrible road performance combined with numerous choke jobs in the clutch this season are more indicative of how good this team really is IMO.....

Those (road play and clutch play) are a measure of mental toughness, execution, great coaching, etc.....that become significantly more important come playoff time.

The Nuggets frankly have more of a cushion due to their superior talent and athleticism (I get your point about Harris v Forbes but it's not close, not even close especially with GH coming on stronger this last month). They have the leeway to survive some coaching mistakes and youthful mistakes in a series where they have HCA....

Again, to be even more frank, I really don't trust Pop (haven't since 2014) to push the right buttons in-game when the Nuggets have adjusted to his gameplan. There will be very obvious instances (to anybody besides him) where Patty, Bryn, Marco should be subbed out and he leaves him in a few minutes too long. The superstars who can play extended minutes won't come into play because Pop won't give them a chance (we know Dante will see some time when the Spurs are down 3-1) Those minutes turn in to 6-0 runs and those are the difference in playoff games.

The "rookie wall" thing is very much a Pop(Sucker) cop-out IMO. First of all, he's a second-year guy and we've seen many, many rookies buck that narrative...the fact is he'll probably be relegated to somewhere around 30-33 mpg this series by the old man when he should easily be getting 36-40 but those extra minutes will go to who he trusts...Patty.

I've been saying Nuggets in 6 since Wed but remembering back on Pops' last several playoff series outside of the Rockets makes me want to go Nuggs in 5.

Do you know the last time Pop has coached the Spurs to a series win when they didn't have HCA? 2010. It's been almost 10 years and frankly Pop has been VERY mediocre in the playoffs outside of 2014.

To ask an absolutely terrible road team like this year's Spurs to win against literally the best home team all year is a tall order IMO.

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Originally Posted by bklynspursfan

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B - can you tell me if they beat a playoff team during that 5-3 record?

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Originally Posted by Mugen

The terrible road performance combined with numerous choke jobs in the clutch this season are more indicative of how good this team really is IMO.....

Those (road play and clutch play) are a measure of mental toughness, execution, great coaching, etc.....that become significantly more important come playoff time.

The Nuggets frankly have more of a cushion due to their superior talent and athleticism (I get your point about Harris v Forbes but it's not close, not even close especially with GH coming on stronger this last month). They have the leeway to survive some coaching mistakes and youthful mistakes in a series where they have HCA....

Again, to be even more frank, I really don't trust Pop (haven't since 2014) to not push the right buttons in-game when the Nuggets have adjusted to his gameplan. There will be very obvious instances (to anybody besides him) where Patty, Bryn, Marco should be subbed out and he leaves him in a few minutes too long. The superstarts who can play extended minutes because Pop won't give them a chance (we know Dante will see some time when the Spurs are down 3-1) Those minutes turn in to 6-0 runs and those are the difference in playoff games.

The "rookie wall" thing is very much a Pop(Sucker) cop-out IMO. First of all, he's a second year guy and we've seen many, many rookies buck that narrative...the fact is he'll probably be relegated to somewhere around 30-33 mpg this series by the old man when he should easily be getting 36-40 but those extra minutes will go to who he trusts...Patty.

I've been saying Nuggets in 6 since Wed but remembering back on Pops' last several playoff series outside of the Rockets makes me want to go Nuggs in 5.

Do you know the last time Pop has coached the Spurs to a series win when they didn't have HCA? 2010. It's been almost 10 years and frankly Pop has been VERY mediocre in the playoffs outside of 2014.

To ask an absolutely terrible road team like this year's Spurs to win against literally the best home team all year is a tall order IMO.

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2014 they didn't have a chance cause they won it all with HCA, the last few years shouldn't count considering the circumstances. 2011 Manu's injury (even tho they had HCA) you make it seem as if every year is the same thing.

The whole it's been 10 years thing isn't true when you look at context. & They've been better on the road since the RRT (better than Denver)

Really hope they pull something out of their ass because if they beat Denver, I think they easily go to the WCF. (I think OKC is even shittier and more poorly coached and Portland is obviously banged up)

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Originally Posted by Mugen

B - can you tell me if they beat a playoff team during that 5-3 record?

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Certainly... The Celtics. It was quite dominant actually.

Could this be 2008 all over again where both teams blow the other one out at home?:lol

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Originally Posted by bklynspursfan

2014 they didn't have a chance cause they won it all with HCA, the last few years shouldn't count considering the circumstances. 2011 Manu's injury (even tho they had HCA) you make it seem as if every year is the same thing.

The whole it's been 10 years thing isn't true when you look at context. & They've been better on the road since the RRT (better than Denver)

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Sounds like a ton of excuses IMO and blatant disregard of 2015, one of the worst coached series I can remember from any coach in a long time tbh (2016 OKC was right there as well).

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Originally Posted by bklynspursfan

Certainly... The Celtics. It was quite dominant actually.

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Ah forgot about the Celtics. Good call. But the other 4 were lottery teams and Boston was at their lowest at that point. Still, my mistake tbh.

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Originally Posted by Mugen

Sounds like a ton of excuses IMO and blatant disregard of 2015, one of the worst coached series I can remember from any coach in a long time tbh (2016 OKC was right there as well).

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Of course, 2015 he was outcoached. 2016 probably too, 2012 debatable, but the refs definitely played a factor.

Just saying, context matters. Especially the last 2 years with the Zaza/Nephew crap. Heck Pop didn't even coach last year all series.

I would really love for Pop to stagger DWhite and Derozan's minutes this series.

Morris and Beasley are a much much better backcourt than Patty/Beli and has potential to be a huge x-factor in the series. I would hope Pop negates some of that mismatch by playing DWhite (or Derozan) instead of one of the guys but I doubt it'll happen.

Gay being huge this series would also help negate that mismatch, really hope he shows up.

Watch the end of the 1st half and 3rd quarters tbh. If Patty is the guy closing those situations, the Spurs will be in deep deep trouble.

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Originally Posted by bklynspursfan

Of course, 2015 he was outcoached. 2016 probably too, 2012 debatable, but the refs definitely played a factor.

Just saying, context matters. Especially the last 2 years with the Zaza/Nephew crap. Heck Pop didn't even coach last year all series.

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I won't even hold 2012 against Pop because that was 3 HOFers finally figuring it out against the Spurs.

2011 saw Tiago rotting on the bench while old man McDyess was left out to dry by his coach
2013 - We all know his coaching mistakes but fine 3 HOFers figuring it out
2015 - Horrible, absolutely horrible
2016 - Same as 2015. See 2011 note about McDyess and apply to Timmy.

I'll concede 2017 and 2018 to the Pop suckers as well.

I'm just saying that I don't think the Spurs have some kind of huge coaching edge here and the gap is even less (it's probably even tbh) when we talk about in-game coaching.

I do think Pop will have a good gameplan heading into Game 1. Hope is the Spurs execute it and steal it because I think that'll be enough to rattle the Nuggs.

That huge loss against denver was mainly due to the fact that the nuggets were highly motivated after a curb stomping from the warriors. I wouldn't consider that game a preview of what's to come.

spurs in 5. fuck it playoffs mode. bought a shirt

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Originally Posted by Mugen

The terrible road performance combined with numerous choke jobs in the clutch this season are more indicative of how good this team really is IMO.....

Those (road play and clutch play) are a measure of mental toughness, execution, great coaching, etc.....that become significantly more important come playoff time.

The Nuggets frankly have more of a cushion due to their superior talent and athleticism (I get your point about Harris v Forbes but it's not close, not even close especially with GH coming on stronger this last month). They have the leeway to survive some coaching mistakes and youthful mistakes in a series where they have HCA....

Again, to be even more frank, I really don't trust Pop (haven't since 2014) to push the right buttons in-game when the Nuggets have adjusted to his gameplan. There will be very obvious instances (to anybody besides him) where Patty, Bryn, Marco should be subbed out and he leaves him in a few minutes too long. The superstars who can play extended minutes won't come into play because Pop won't give them a chance (we know Dante will see some time when the Spurs are down 3-1) Those minutes turn in to 6-0 runs and those are the difference in playoff games.

The "rookie wall" thing is very much a Pop(Sucker) cop-out IMO. First of all, he's a second-year guy and we've seen many, many rookies buck that narrative...the fact is he'll probably be relegated to somewhere around 30-33 mpg this series by the old man when he should easily be getting 36-40 but those extra minutes will go to who he trusts...Patty.

I've been saying Nuggets in 6 since Wed but remembering back on Pops' last several playoff series outside of the Rockets makes me want to go Nuggs in 5.

Do you know the last time Pop has coached the Spurs to a series win when they didn't have HCA? 2010. It's been almost 10 years and frankly Pop has been VERY mediocre in the playoffs outside of 2014.

To ask an absolutely terrible road team like this year's Spurs to win against literally the best home team all year is a tall order IMO.

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Pretty much of all of this. You nailed it, Mugs..:tu

I really tried hard to make a homer pick, but still couldn’t bring myself to trust a Derozan-led, post-2014 Pop coached team, so I opted Nuggets in 7.

Even as big skeptic/critic of this team, I thought this was a winnable series for us, but the lows of 2018-19 Spurs have been too brutal for me to think they can pull it off despite the lack of pedigree of their opposition.

Would love to be proven wrong..

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Originally Posted by Mugen

Ah forgot about the Celtics. Good call. But the other 4 were lottery teams and Boston was at their lowest at that point. Still, my mistake tbh.

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Kyrie played lol consider it a good win

I legit might pick last year's Spurs team against this Nuggets team. I honestly think they are fools gold-- the type of cute little regular season we have each year.

Many thanks OP. Let's get this series and get it off to a good start tonight.

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Originally Posted by spursistan

I legit might pick last year's Spurs team against this Nuggets team. I honestly think they are fools gold-- the type of cute little regular season we have each year.

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Last year's team couldn't score the ball. I doubt they could keep up

The nuggets are not an experienced playoffs team nd that alone could be their biggest kryptonite. I also agree with what you said about dd's playoffs struggles. He has had great series performance and even game winning/daggers. Unfortunately we only tend to remember the worse of the worse. I have the spurs in 6 for the simple reason the nuggets are inexperienced.

The only big advantage for Denver from a personnel standpoint is their bench athleticism IMO..that's going to be an issue for the Spurs..

Otherwise, Denver is full of hit-or-miss players on the perimeter..you have no idea what you're going to get from Murray, Barton and Harris on any given night, they could struggle for an entire series just as easily as they could get hot with their poor shot selection..

I've been saying Denver is the most overrated team in the NBA all season(along with the Clippers), but I'd still pick them to win the series, although it's kind of by default..I can't pick the Spurs with their road record and the amount of defensive liabilities on the roster..this is certainly a very winnable series, though, Denver is one of the least intimidating 2nd seeded West teams I've ever seen..

Nuggets in 7. Good stuff though, LJ

It would be typical of this year’s team to shit away an opportunity like this. Only having to face Denver, Portland and OKC in the first 2 rounds and avoiding the top 2 west teams until the WCF. Golden opportunity for the Spurs to make the WCF. It’s all about showing heart and effort which this team doesn’t.

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Originally Posted by timtonymanu

It would be typical of this year’s team to shit away an opportunity like this. Only having to face Denver, Portland and OKC in the first 2 rounds and avoiding the top 2 west teams until the WCF. Golden opportunity for the Spurs to make the WCF. It’s all about showing heart and effort which this team doesn’t.

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:toast

Reading OP’s analysis, one gets the sense that he wanted to pick Denver, but that he had to save face and pick the Spurs because of his prior post on the playoff seeding thread. :lol

yeah you cant blow your load about playoff seeding results and then pick the spurs to lose tbh :lol

Spurs sweep.
https://media.tenor.com/images/18d9f...c652/tenor.gif

What made 2015 so terrible. Was it the hack Deandre?

Three things to offer a counterpoint to OP: 1) DeRozan is athletic, arguably the most athletic player we've had in years, and his athleticism has never been in question. 2) The Jokic being a Superstar and that his feel for the game is as good as any big in NBA history assertion is EXTREMELY over-the-top, IMO. No way should he be placed along the likes of Jabbar, Wilt, Russell, Hakeem, Admiral, Shaq, Ewing to name a few legends even if it's in terms of "feel for the game." And he is a star, indeed but a Superstar? Debatable at this point in his career. He is a bonafide All-Star, indeed, though. 3) You forgot to mention Isaiah Thomas also has playoff experience for the Nuggets and is active after missing most of the season due to injury. If he gets some play time in this series, he can be an X factor for them, which would be dangerous for us.

ESPN's "experts" go 19-1 for the fuckin' Nuggets to win this series..

Damn how the mighty have have fallen..:lol

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...9-nba-playoffs

Appreciate it LJ. Good write-up. Lots of good info.

I'm hoping LaMarcus and DeMar step up as they should.

I think Rudy Gay, Forbes, and Poeltl are going to be the X factors.

The only thing that worries me is the road games. If the Spurs can actually win on the road then they'll win this series.

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Originally Posted by spursistan

ESPN's "experts" go 19-1 for the fuckin' Nuggets to win this series..

Damn how the mighty have have fallen..:lol

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...9-nba-playoffs

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Looking at the rest of their picks, they still have this series as the most competitive in the first round, tbh.

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Originally Posted by BlackAndWhite

What made 2015 so terrible. Was it the hack Deandre?

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Injuries.
Splitter hobbled
Tony hobbled
Boris chunkier

Our team seems streaky. When we start losing it snowballs. When we get hot we get hot for a few games in a row. I'm happy we won the last 3 games. I'm hoping Forbes can stay hot and LaMarcus and can play well.

Honestly as far as game 1 goes, I just want it to be competitive. I hope it's not a double digit deficit going into the 4th.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpurPadre

Three things to offer a counterpoint to OP: 1) DeRozan is athletic, arguably the most athletic player we've had in years, and his athleticism has never been in question. 2) The Jokic being a Superstar and that his feel for the game is as good as any big in NBA history assertion is EXTREMELY over-the-top, IMO. No way should he be placed along the likes of Jabbar, Wilt, Russell, Hakeem, Admiral, Shaq, Ewing to name a few legends even if it's in terms of "feel for the game." And he is a star, indeed but a Superstar? Debatable at this point in his career. He is a bonafide All-Star, indeed, though. 3) You forgot to mention Isaiah Thomas also has playoff experience for the Nuggets and is active after missing most of the season due to injury. If he gets some play time in this series, he can be an X factor for them, which would be dangerous for us.

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1. Eh, DeRozan's decently athletic but he's only slightly above average for NBA swingmen. Defensively, though, his athleticism doesn't translate because he doesn't have quick feet and he's slow laterally.

2. Granted, "feel for the game" is a nebulous term but as far as reading plays before they develop and passing anticipation, Jokic is as good as any bigman in league history, IMO. Shaq and Ewing, for two, weren't in the same solar system in those areas.

3. Thomas has been completely out of the rotation for more than a month. He's a glorified mascot at this point. After he returned from injury, he was terrible and making the Nuggets worse ... so they stopped playing him. The only reason he wasn't waived is because he's friendly with Mike Malone. If he plays in this series, that'd be great news for the Spurs since he's easily the worst player on either roster.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Clutch Versus Not So Much

What's not debatable is the fact that the Nuggets have been much, much better in clutch situations this season. In close games, they had the NBA's best winning percentage at 67.4%. During clutch situations, the Nuggets outscored opponents by 12.9 points per 100 possessions.

Compare that to San Antonio, who outscored opponents during clutch situations by a mere 1.2 points per 100 possessions, and that doesn't paint a pretty picture for the forthcoming fourth quarters in this series.

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This actually means that the Nuggets are even more overrated than some think. Being great in the clutch means that they were not as good for the rest of the game. Clutch performance tends to revert to the mean, while the larger sample of the entire season gives more predictive power.

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Originally Posted by Mugen

2015 - Horrible, absolutely horrible

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I'd be genuinely interested in what coaching mistakes you think were made in that series, tbh. The way I remember it, the Spurs lost because: Kawhi suffered some shriveling and allowed Matt Barnes to shut him down in key moments; Parker, Ginobili and Green were all bad (looking back, Parker hit only 36.3% of his shots and Ginobili and Green were even worse -- tough to win when three key cogs shoot bricks, tbh); Splitter was injured per usual and sucked, Baynes replaced the injured Splitter and sucked even more and Diaw went from big boned to chunky and got destroyed by Blake Griffin. Going player-by-player, only Duncan and Belinelli played at or above their expected level for the Spurs. For the Clippers, Griffin, CP3, Redick, Jordan and Barnes all played well.

I think Doc Rivers is an underrated coach and deserves credit for coaching well that series but I don't remember Pop being "horrible, absolutely horrible," tbh. What am I misremembering? I know there was some second-guessing his sitting of Kawhi for a stretch in Game 7 but other than that, I don't remember anything too blatant. Judging by the poor performances Pop had to work with, it looks miraculous that the series even went seven games -- much less to the buzzer of the seventh game.

All that said, I don't think the Spurs have too much of a notable coaching advantage against the Nuggets. Malone's a good coach and runs smart schemes. I'd give Pop a slight edge due to experience but coaching is overblown in the postseason. IMO, coaches can't really win or lose series in the NBA other than extremely rare circumstances.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

I'd be genuinely interested in what coaching mistakes you think were made in that series, tbh. The way I remember it, the Spurs lost because: Kawhi suffered some shriveling and allowed Matt Barnes to shut him down in key moments; Parker, Ginobili and Green were all bad (looking back, Parker hit only 36.3% of his shots and Ginobili and Green were even worse -- tough to win when three key cogs shoot bricks, tbh); Splitter was injured per usual and sucked, Baynes replaced the injured Splitter and sucked even more and Diaw went from big boned to chunky and got destroyed by Blake Griffin. Going player-by-player, only Duncan and Belinelli played at or above their expected level for the Spurs. For the Clippers, Griffin, CP3, Redick, Jordan and Barnes all played well.

I think Doc Rivers is an underrated coach and deserves credit for coaching well that series but I don't remember Pop being "horrible, absolutely horrible," tbh. What am I misremembering? I know there was some second-guessing his sitting of Kawhi for a stretch in Game 7 but other than that, I don't remember anything too blatant. Judging by the poor performances Pop had to work with, it looks miraculous that the series even went seven games -- much less to the buzzer of the seventh game.

All that said, I don't think the Spurs have too much of a notable coaching advantage against the Nuggets. Malone's a good coach and runs smart schemes. I'd give Pop a slight edge due to experience but coaching is overblown in the postseason. IMO, coaches can't really win or lose series in the NBA other than extremely rare circumstances.

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When all those guys you mentioned were playing so bad, it’s fair to blame the coaching for failing to motivate them. Phil Jackson (who I think is better than Pop) knew the right buttons to push to motivate his team. Pop failed at that in 2015.

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Originally Posted by spursistan

ESPN's "experts" go 19-1 for the fuckin' Nuggets to win this series..

Damn how the mighty have have fallen..:lol

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...9-nba-playoffs

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Impressive hive mind.

Picking the Nuggets is fine since the series is really close to a coin flip but 19-1 is pretty absurd, tbh.

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Originally Posted by HWoodNixon

When all those guys you mentioned were playing so bad, it’s fair to blame the coaching for failing to motivate them. Phil Jackson (who I think is better than Pop) knew the right buttons to push to motivate his team. Pop failed at that in 2015.

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:lol @ players needing motivation in the playoffs. I can see that being a coaching fault during the regular season but in the postseason? Come on ... like Parker shot 37% and Ginobili shot 34% because they weren't sufficiently motivated to win.

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Originally Posted by timvp

1. Eh, DeRozan's decently athletic but he's only slightly above average for NBA swingmen. Defensively, though, his athleticism doesn't translate because he doesn't have quick feet and he's slow laterally.

2. Granted, "feel for the game" is a nebulous term but as far as reading plays before they develop and passing anticipation, Jokic is as good as any bigman in league history, IMO. Shaq and Ewing, for two, weren't in the same solar system in those areas.

3. Thomas has been completely out of the rotation for more than a month. He's a glorified mascot at this point. After he returned from injury, he was terrible and making the Nuggets worse ... so they stopped playing him. The only reason he wasn't waived is because he's friendly with Mike Malone. If he plays in this series, that'd be great news for the Spurs since he's easily the worst player on either roster.

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I'd say Jokic is like a young, inferior version of an after his prime Arvydas Sabonis, which is still great, but still nothing that hasn't been seen before.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

:lol @ players needing motivation in the playoffs. I can see that being a coaching fault during the regular season but in the postseason? Come on ... like Parker shot 37% and Ginobili shot 34% because they weren't sufficiently motivated to win.

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Phil would throw Kobe, Mj, Pau, etc under the bus to the media when they performed pooorly. Pop was too chicken to do that or plant seeds in the minds of the refs to get good calls.

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Originally Posted by HWoodNixon

Phil would throw Kobe, Mj, Pau, etc under the bus to the media when they performed pooorly. Pop was too chicken to do that or plant seeds in the minds of the refs to get good calls.

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So if Pop was brave enough to throw Manu under the bus to the media, that would have caused Manu to play with an ample amount of motivation in the playoffs? That's the argument you're going with, to be clear?

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Originally Posted by timvp

So if Pop was brave enough to throw Manu under the bus to the media, that would have caused Manu to play with an ample amount of motivation in the playoffs? That's the argument you're going with, to be clear?

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Absolutely. Maybe instead of playing ‘harder,’ manu would play smarter.

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Originally Posted by HWoodNixon

Absolutely. Maybe instead of playing ‘harder,’ manu would play smarter.

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Alright. So if Manu got thrown under the bus to the media more often, he would have been motivated to play smarter. Got it.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Alright. So if Manu got thrown under the bus to the media more often, he would have been motivated to play smarter. Got it.

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Spurs would have at least 6 or 7 rings (probably a back to back somewhere in there) if Phil coaches instead of Pop.

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Originally Posted by HWoodNixon

Spurs would have at least 6 or 7 rings (probably a back to back somewhere in there) if Phil coaches instead of Pop.

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K.

Thank you TIMVP! Your analysis the most reasonable! I agree with you, not those ESPN 19 "experts" who picked against spurs. Playoff experience does mater. Recent play does mater. The spurs are a better team. Spurs in 6 or less is a no brainer.

I hope the Spurs were rushed off the court after the Mavs game and onto a plane headed for Denver to acclimate.

I don't think the Spurs are going to be doubling jokic. Make him take 25+ shots a game. That's not what he likes to do. Maybe start doubling in crunch time and watch these first-timers fold down the stretch

Nuggets in 5

Too many bad defenders who lose their guys all the time, and even when they stay with them, can be driven on right to the rim. Denver is made for bucket after bucket followed by Marco, Mills and Forbes just shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

I'd be genuinely interested in what coaching mistakes you think were made in that series, tbh. The way I remember it, the Spurs lost because: Kawhi suffered some shriveling and allowed Matt Barnes to shut him down in key moments; Parker, Ginobili and Green were all bad (looking back, Parker hit only 36.3% of his shots and Ginobili and Green were even worse -- tough to win when three key cogs shoot bricks, tbh); Splitter was injured per usual and sucked, Baynes replaced the injured Splitter and sucked even more and Diaw went from big boned to chunky and got destroyed by Blake Griffin. Going player-by-player, only Duncan and Belinelli played at or above their expected level for the Spurs. For the Clippers, Griffin, CP3, Redick, Jordan and Barnes all played well.

I think Doc Rivers is an underrated coach and deserves credit for coaching well that series but I don't remember Pop being "horrible, absolutely horrible," tbh. What am I misremembering? I know there was some second-guessing his sitting of Kawhi for a stretch in Game 7 but other than that, I don't remember anything too blatant. Judging by the poor performances Pop had to work with, it looks miraculous that the series even went seven games -- much less to the buzzer of the seventh game.

All that said, I don't think the Spurs have too much of a notable coaching advantage against the Nuggets. Malone's a good coach and runs smart schemes. I'd give Pop a slight edge due to experience but coaching is overblown in the postseason. IMO, coaches can't really win or lose series in the NBA other than extremely rare circumstances.

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I can't speak for you you're asking, but the Hack-a-player in that series was beyond stupid and cost them big. It only ever made sense against a team like the Nash-Suns by disrupting their rhythm and slowing them down. Against the Clippers was awful.

Pop had giant errors in clutch that whole season. What did they lose, 2 or 3 games on final possession inbound plays by making Duncan the inbounder? I seem to remember they had 2 3OT losses that had wtf coaching moments.

Great analysis. I really hope Pop plays DeRozan with the bench a lot. Our bench doesn't function well with Mills as a playmaker, he makes the wrong read almost every time. Add Belinelli at SG and that's a recipe for disaster on defense. DeMar playing point for the bench unit raises their efficiency because they get better looks through his drive and kick game. One of White and DeRozan should be out there all the time and also one of Aldridge and DeRozan should be out there all the time. And maybe Pop can pull a rabbit out the hat like he did against Houston in 2017

One problem with White is, that because he was sat all last year despite obviously being one of the 4 best guards on the team, is that the referees treat him like a rookie despite being a second year player.

He gets zero respect and worst damn calls. Because these refs didn't ref him a bunch last year.

And it'll happen with Lonnie next year. He'll get shit fouls called on him, and bad no-calls on drives.

Because playing him as a rookie wouldn't be fair to the team, this year is not for Walker.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

I'd be genuinely interested in what coaching mistakes you think were made in that series, tbh. The way I remember it, the Spurs lost because: Kawhi suffered some shriveling and allowed Matt Barnes to shut him down in key moments; Parker, Ginobili and Green were all bad (looking back, Parker hit only 36.3% of his shots and Ginobili and Green were even worse -- tough to win when three key cogs shoot bricks, tbh); Splitter was injured per usual and sucked, Baynes replaced the injured Splitter and sucked even more and Diaw went from big boned to chunky and got destroyed by Blake Griffin. Going player-by-player, only Duncan and Belinelli played at or above their expected level for the Spurs. For the Clippers, Griffin, CP3, Redick, Jordan and Barnes all played well.

I think Doc Rivers is an underrated coach and deserves credit for coaching well that series but I don't remember Pop being "horrible, absolutely horrible," tbh. What am I misremembering? I know there was some second-guessing his sitting of Kawhi for a stretch in Game 7 but other than that, I don't remember anything too blatant. Judging by the poor performances Pop had to work with, it looks miraculous that the series even went seven games -- much less to the buzzer of the seventh game.

All that said, I don't think the Spurs have too much of a notable coaching advantage against the Nuggets. Malone's a good coach and runs smart schemes. I'd give Pop a slight edge due to experience but coaching is overblown in the posted son. IMO, coaches can't really win or lose series in the NBA other than extremely rare circumstances.

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While I agree with your points there were some coaching mistakes in that series. Like going to hack-a-Jordan when the Spurs were hot or not being able to defend the double screen pick and roll that the Clippers ran to death that series. Parker while injured got overplayed. Mills was the one hitting shots that series and should've clearly played more minutes, but Pop was riding with Tony. They are basically equal on defense so it would've made a difference.

Denver is a year away (in player development, coaching and becoming battle tested) from being a perennial powerhouse. But right now, I'd say Aldridge and DeRozan are better than Jokic and Murray. If White, Forbes and Gay can match Harris, Millsap and Barton (or whoever is their 6th man these days), Spurs will be in good shape to steal a game in Denver and hold serve at home. If White shits the bed, Gay gets hurt (again), or Denver's kids go supernova, we're toast.


Don't double Jokic. Make him beat you 1 on 1 and limit his assists totals (similar to how teams are playing Houston with Harden). Also, work through LMA ball and make Jokic work every possession on defense to tire his fat ass out. Slow down the game to prevent Murray and Harris from destroying Mills/Forbes more than most teams destroy Mills and Forbes. Try and hold their starting backcourt to under 40.

It’s all about playing defense.

Great thread! Looking forward to this series! Spurs in 6 will work!
:flag:

Beautifully written!! The thread starter should be working for a sports channel.

I think our guys can make a series out of this if they can slow down the pace of the games. I also feel that we should single cover Jokic mostly. He is so good of and a willing passer that doubling him helps jump start a lot of their other players offensive game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

I'd be genuinely interested in what coaching mistakes you think were made in that series, tbh. The way I remember it, the Spurs lost because: Kawhi suffered some shriveling and allowed Matt Barnes to shut him down in key moments; Parker, Ginobili and Green were all bad (looking back, Parker hit only 36.3% of his shots and Ginobili and Green were even worse -- tough to win when three key cogs shoot bricks, tbh); Splitter was injured per usual and sucked, Baynes replaced the injured Splitter and sucked even more and Diaw went from big boned to chunky and got destroyed by Blake Griffin. Going player-by-player, only Duncan and Belinelli played at or above their expected level for the Spurs. For the Clippers, Griffin, CP3, Redick, Jordan and Barnes all played well.

I think Doc Rivers is an underrated coach and deserves credit for coaching well that series but I don't remember Pop being "horrible, absolutely horrible," tbh. What am I misremembering? I know there was some second-guessing his sitting of Kawhi for a stretch in Game 7 but other than that, I don't remember anything too blatant. Judging by the poor performances Pop had to work with, it looks miraculous that the series even went seven games -- much less to the buzzer of the seventh game.

All that said, I don't think the Spurs have too much of a notable coaching advantage against the Nuggets. Malone's a good coach and runs smart schemes. I'd give Pop a slight edge due to experience but coaching is overblown in the postseason. IMO, coaches can't really win or lose series in the NBA other than extremely rare circumstances.

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Your forgetting a few things.
-Pop hacking deandre jordan unnecessarily in game 6 when the spurs were on a run and about to blow the game open, killing their own momentum.
And pop ultimately not having the guts to bench Tony Parker who had one of the worst playoff series of any starting point guard in NBA history. If pop just plays Corey Joseph or any other guard for that series the spurs win it going away.

Lowry played awful today!!!

Lmao If Spurs go deeper than Raptors

Feels like the game 1 winner takes the series. Spurs need to pounce on this reeling team. Given their lone star, lack of pedigree, regression to the mean post All-Star break and their organization blatantly tanking down the stretch, deep down they have to be questioning just how good they are right now. If that's not exploited/capitalized on, it's difficult to envision the Spurs winning this series.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Offensive Rebounding Rebuffed

One area where the Nuggets thrive is on the offensive boards. They led the league by grabbing 30.8% of available offensive rebounds. Denver also led the league in second-chance points at 15.5 points per game; their per 100 possessions rate was far and away the best mark in the league in that category.

The Spurs, however, are equipped to deal with this potential problem. They grabbed 74.4% of available defensive rebounds, which was tied for fifth in the league. They were also one of the better teams in the NBA at limiting second-chance points.

Things look even rosier for San Antonio when you factor in that Jakob Poeltl is very likely to start next to LaMarcus Aldridge. When those two were on the court together this season, the Spurs pulled down 76.4% of defensive rebounds -- a mark that would have led the league.

With much of the NBA going small, the Nuggets have made a living out of utilizing big lineups featuring two of Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee. That type of size and strength overwhelms a lot of teams these days. But the Spurs, using the Poeltl and Aldridge combination, can counter from the opening tip and hopefully minimize what is typically one of Denver's areas of dominance.

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I'm actually concerned about this. Reminds me some of the '11 Grizzlies. Jokic and Millsap in particular, are bulky types, capable of physically overpowering Spurs bigs.

Gay is crucial in this series. They won't score enough by leaning heavily on 2 big lineups and Bertans can probably only get by as a 4 the brief moments they either play Craig at it or dust off, Lyles/Hernangomez. Gay has to be able to do the job on the defensive board against Millsap/Plumlee, as well as defend the former on the block.

Just put 50 down at Sportsbook in WV - to win 110 - not a big play but think might win this one

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Originally Posted by D-Robinson 50 fan

Beautifully written!! The thread starter should be working for a sports channel.
...

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Hey. Whatchu talkin' bout. SpursTalk is a sports channel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

I'd be genuinely interested in what coaching mistakes you think were made in that series, tbh. The way I remember it, the Spurs lost because: Kawhi suffered some shriveling and allowed Matt Barnes to shut him down in key moments; Parker, Ginobili and Green were all bad (looking back, Parker hit only 36.3% of his shots and Ginobili and Green were even worse -- tough to win when three key cogs shoot bricks, tbh); Splitter was injured per usual and sucked, Baynes replaced the injured Splitter and sucked even more and Diaw went from big boned to chunky and got destroyed by Blake Griffin. Going player-by-player, only Duncan and Belinelli played at or above their expected level for the Spurs. For the Clippers, Griffin, CP3, Redick, Jordan and Barnes all played well.

I think Doc Rivers is an underrated coach and deserves credit for coaching well that series but I don't remember Pop being "horrible, absolutely horrible," tbh. What am I misremembering? I know there was some second-guessing his sitting of Kawhi for a stretch in Game 7 but other than that, I don't remember anything too blatant. Judging by the poor performances Pop had to work with, it looks miraculous that the series even went seven games -- much less to the buzzer of the seventh game.

All that said, I don't think the Spurs have too much of a notable coaching advantage against the Nuggets. Malone's a good coach and runs smart schemes. I'd give Pop a slight edge due to experience but coaching is overblown in the postseason. IMO, coaches can't really win or lose series in the NBA other than extremely rare circumstances.

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Pop never figuring out how to defend the Clippers high double screen with DJ and Blake. It was free points for them. Pop overplaying TP when he didn't have it. He lucked out with TP's injury in game 2 because that allowed them to win it. With Splitter injured DG was the best Blake defender. I think Pop could've used that matchup more.

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Originally Posted by TD 21

Feels like the game 1 winner takes the series. Spurs need to pounce on this reeling team. Given their lone star, lack of pedigree, regression to the mean post All-Star break and their organization blatantly tanking down the stretch, deep down they have to be questioning just how good they are right now. If that's not exploited/capitalized on, it's difficult to envision the Spurs winning this series.

I'm actually concerned about this. Reminds me some of the '11 Grizzlies. Jokic and Millsap in particular, are bulky types, capable of physically overpowering Spurs bigs.

Gay is crucial in this series. They won't score enough by leaning heavily on 2 big lineups and Bertans can probably only get by as a 4 the brief moments they either play Craig at it or dust off, Lyles/Hernangomez. Gay has to be able to do the job on the defensive board against Millsap/Plumlee, as well as defend the former on the block.

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'11 Grizzlies was easily avoidable if Pop had committed to playing Splitter instead of Turd Towers. It wasn't till Bynum grabbed 30+ rebounds the next season he finally figured that out.

So with Poetl and Aldridge it's less of an issue although Aldridge should be a much better rebounder for his size.

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Originally Posted by Mugen

The terrible road performance combined with numerous choke jobs in the clutch this season are more indicative of how good this team really is IMO.....

Those (road play and clutch play) are a measure of mental toughness, execution, great coaching, etc.....that become significantly more important come playoff time.

The Nuggets frankly have more of a cushion due to their superior talent and athleticism (I get your point about Harris v Forbes but it's not close, not even close especially with GH coming on stronger this last month). They have the leeway to survive some coaching mistakes and youthful mistakes in a series where they have HCA....

Again, to be even more frank, I really don't trust Pop (haven't since 2014) to push the right buttons in-game when the Nuggets have adjusted to his gameplan. There will be very obvious instances (to anybody besides him) where Patty, Bryn, Marco should be subbed out and he leaves him in a few minutes too long. The superstars who can play extended minutes won't come into play because Pop won't give them a chance (we know Dante will see some time when the Spurs are down 3-1) Those minutes turn in to 6-0 runs and those are the difference in playoff games.

The "rookie wall" thing is very much a Pop(Sucker) cop-out IMO. First of all, he's a second-year guy and we've seen many, many rookies buck that narrative...the fact is he'll probably be relegated to somewhere around 30-33 mpg this series by the old man when he should easily be getting 36-40 but those extra minutes will go to who he trusts...Patty.

I've been saying Nuggets in 6 since Wed but remembering back on Pops' last several playoff series outside of the Rockets makes me want to go Nuggs in 5.

Do you know the last time Pop has coached the Spurs to a series win when they didn't have HCA? 2010. It's been almost 10 years and frankly Pop has been VERY mediocre in the playoffs outside of 2014.

To ask an absolutely terrible road team like this year's Spurs to win against literally the best home team all year is a tall order IMO.

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:lmao

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Originally Posted by Mugen

:lmao

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Like clockwork :lol..

Calling it: the Nuggets will win this series now...They let them off and will only grow in confidence from here..

:lmao my dude. Such an easy call with Pop