Why The Spurs Win the '07 Ring: 101 (Class Begins Now)

1) I think bringing Manu off the bench with 6:00 - 6:30 to play in the first and third quarters is genius. Barry gains confidence when starting.

2) Manu doesn't mind too much coming off the bench and he can provide an extra punch doing so. This works because having the "Big Three" in at the start of the game (or half) gives the Spurs three options. With Pop's normal game plan, and the recent production of Finley, Bonner (and, subsequently, Barry returning from the bench) Manu has options while making his drives to the basket with them open for big J's.

3) Fin has been hot lately. I think he's getting in form for playoff time. When he comes in and the Spurs have seen their lead cut a bit, he contributes...He's not the starter and clutch player he used to be. Instead, he has become the bench clutch player. He started the season cold, but now coming off the bench hits major jump shots when the team needs them most. I think his FG% has risen from 32% to near 40%. 40 isn't great, but there's a reason it's gone up. (Also, see: playoffs vs. Mavs in '05).

3) When Tony wants to drive to the hoop he is more effective scoring or dishing to a wing to score or have the wing move the ball around to an open shooter...like Barry (what, 45% on the year from 3?).

4) Timmy gets doubled...pick your poison (see: '99 championship team with Sean on the wing; or see: Barry hit a 3 to force OT against Kings in '06).

5) Barry's ability to score on the end of a fast break and/or his ability to hit crucial free throws.

6) As with the 03/23 game against Detroit...Manu doesn't have play too many minutes to be effective; and he doesn't have to score to do so. He scores when the team needs it the most (we all know that). Other than that, he can play 15-17 minutes, be the most effective player on the floor and still effect the outcome of the game.

7) Pop is near genius. I only say NEAR because the Spurs haven't won 5 rings.

8) Spurs have won 3. The Mavs and Suns have 0...combined. They haven't learned yet how to win ONE. Once they do, then we should fear either.

9) Division titles mean what? Mavs have won a few of those and only one conference title...and they were afraid of raising even that banner in front of the Spurs on opening day. Why? (You know why).

10) Spurs ALWAYS do their best while they coast through the season "under the radar." And if you don't believe that notion, hey, they win in odd numbered seasons ('99, '03, '05).


If anyone wants to give bets, I'll give 50:1 odds to the first bidder.

By the way, should the Spurs lose to the Mavs in their final regular season game I will raise the odds to 60:1 in your favor.

actually I'm starting to think the opposite. Manu's been sucking a lot for the last few games so I'm wondering if we should start him again. I just think we need to get him more involved earlier in the game. I noticed he's only taking 7 or 8 shots a game (where most of those come later on). No matter what we need more out of him if we're going to get anywhere and the continued contributions of Brent and Finley.

I agree with you 100% on the Spurs winning it in '07, but on here, its pointless. There's some underlying theme on this board that the Spurs won't win the championship this year and that Dallas is the team to bow down to, no matter what we say and how it turns out. For example, I said that starting on February 7th through the end of the season, the Spurs would coast through and rack up a lot of wins. People told me I was wrong on here. The Spurs are 16-4 since I said that, and people still find a way to tell me that everything I say is BS.

I just hope I don't get banned here, so that way in June (when the Spurs hold the trophy) I can come on here and rub it in. That'll be fun.

If I wasn't a Spurs fan, which means I can't bet against my team, I would take the League versus the Spurs at 50:1 with $5000 and bankrupt your arse.

Watch out that some Mavs or Pistons fan doesn't find this thread, come in and clean you up.

Your arguments are okay, although you haven't convinced me we will win the championship (not if we stutter in the 4th as we have all season), and you have no idea what odds mean.

Oh, and if pop is such a genius, what the hell did he put that ridiculous lieup out there to start the 4th quarter for? They lost us our lead, and it was Pop's fault.

The most important reason they'll win is that it's an odd numbered year! :smokin

Actually, the Spurs will only get as far as how much the veteran role players produce.

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Originally Posted by freemeat

1) I think bringing Manu off the bench with 6:00 - 6:30 to play in the first and third quarters is genius. Barry gains confidence when starting.

2) Manu doesn't mind too much coming off the bench and he can provide an extra punch doing so. This works because having the "Big Three" in at the start of the game (or half) gives the Spurs three options. With Pop's normal game plan, and the recent production of Finley, Bonner (and, subsequently, Barry returning from the bench) Manu has options while making his drives to the basket with them open for big J's.

3) Fin has been hot lately. I think he's getting in form for playoff time. When he comes in and the Spurs have seen their lead cut a bit, he contributes...He's not the starter and clutch player he used to be. Instead, he has become the bench clutch player. He started the season cold, but now coming off the bench hits major jump shots when the team needs them most. I think his FG% has risen from 32% to near 40%. 40 isn't great, but there's a reason it's gone up. (Also, see: playoffs vs. Mavs in '05).

3) When Tony wants to drive to the hoop he is more effective scoring or dishing to a wing to score or have the wing move the ball around to an open shooter...like Barry (what, 45% on the year from 3?).

4) Timmy gets doubled...pick your poison (see: '99 championship team with Sean on the wing; or see: Barry hit a 3 to force OT against Kings in '06).

5) Barry's ability to score on the end of a fast break and/or his ability to hit crucial free throws.

6) As with the 03/23 game against Detroit...Manu doesn't have play too many minutes to be effective; and he doesn't have to score to do so. He scores when the team needs it the most (we all know that). Other than that, he can play 15-17 minutes, be the most effective player on the floor and still effect the outcome of the game.

7) Pop is near genius. I only say NEAR because the Spurs haven't won 5 rings.

8) Spurs have won 3. The Mavs and Suns have 0...combined. They haven't learned yet how to win ONE. Once they do, then we should fear either.

9) Division titles mean what? Mavs have won a few of those and only one conference title...and they were afraid of raising even that banner in front of the Spurs on opening day. Why? (You know why).

10) Spurs ALWAYS do their best while they coast through the season "under the radar." And if you don't believe that notion, hey, they win in odd numbered seasons ('99, '03, '05).


If anyone wants to give bets, I'll give 50:1 odds to the first bidder.

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1) I will be STUNNED if manu is still coming off the bench come playoff time. Every year Pop has manu off the bench at some point and every year he puts him back in the starting 5

2) Fin has played well lately and his performance in the playoffs against Dallas was impressive. However, if his shot doesn't go down he can't really contribute in any other aspect of his game for the most part. The spurs are a team based on a talented big man and 2 other all stars plus a majority of one dimensional role players

3) When tony can get into the lane he's unstoppable. But that's the problem. When he can't get into the lane he's useless. He isn't much of a playmaker outside the key, and his outside shot is still way too sketchy that if you take away his penetration, you pretty much take away his game.

4) timmy gets doubled

see: 2000-20002, 2004 with hedo, 2006 with no one else doing shit but him. he had probably the best series of his CAREER.....and we still lost. he can go for 60 ppg, but if no one else wants to chip in, a one man show isn't gonna stop dallas

5) barry can hit ft's and has a sweet 3. but he's still a big big big question mark come playoff time. if he's not gonna be aggressive we'll be screwed.

6) I agree


7) Pop used to be. And then after the mavs 2006 playoff series, he went small ball and completely turned away from what makes the team flow. Even tonight, him keeping TD in he last 5 seconds was completely inexcusable. Did he not learn anything from the phoenix game??? I think he's a tremendous coach but when there's something 95685987 posters on this board can see that he can't it makes me wonder wtf he's thinking sometimes. I actually think his small ball scheme will be the #1 reason we would lose to the mavs

8) That doesn't mean shit in this season. While experience helps, the mavs beat us last year without any rings and they have a solid chance to do so again this year. If we have so many rings why didn't we win last year? The heat had 0 rings prior to last season and they still won.

9) and #3 seed means what? oh yeah, a much tougher road to the finals.

10) sadly, that's probably the most hopeful thing going into this year's playoffs. it's an odd year.........an odd year indeed

With much respect to the Mavericks for their win in the series against us last year, it is extremely absurd to say that the rest of the Spurs didn't help out in that series. Yes, Tim Duncan was phenomenal given that he was playing with plantar fasciitis. However, Basketball History will forever remember that series because BOTH teams played their hearts out. In each of the seven games, key players on each team played crucial roles. The Spurs can defeat the Mavericks without complete dominance from Duncan, however, knowing Duncan, he won't allow himself to do anything but dominate in the playoffs, especially in close game situations and in potential elimination games if it comes to that. But you cannot rule out that now and in last season's playoffs that we would not have pushed the Mavericks to seven games without the play of role players on this team, especially Ginobili, Finley and Parker.

We would have been eliminated in Game 6 if not for Ginobili and Finley. Parker damn near disappeared in that game and Duncan for damn sure couldn't have picked up all of his slack. We have plenty of people on this team willing and able to play a role. I don't need to remind any of you that the Spurs were a foul away from turning the last 30 seconds of Game 7 into a free throw contest, in which Pop would have definitely put Barry, Finley, Ginobili and Parker into the game with probably Duncan inbounding. In that scenario, the ball gets into the hands of someone who shoots at least 70% or above from the line and god forbid any of them are fouled in the act of shooting and get a continuation. But I'm not here to talk about what should've happen. Manu fucked up on the hugest possible scale, he knows it, and I know he is going to do everything in his power to nullify that mistake in the playoffs this year.

I like our chances to win this year. Yes, we will more than likely have to go through Phoenix and Dallas if we get to the Finals again. And yes, we can beat them. We have players on this team dying to win a ring. We have players on this team dying to get back for what happened last year. Too many people on this board are looking at the current W-L column and writing off the Spurs because we're so damn far behind the top two teams. The Spurs have played very impressively as of late, but they've dropped some games they should have won. News flash: every good team loses games they should win sometimes. Look at the Mavericks, losing to GS twice this year. Look at the Pistons last year, getting swept by a Jazz team playing nowhere near full capacity in that season series. Good teams lose games sometimes. Seriously people, were you honestly expecting the Spurs to go 64-18 or better this season? Winning 50+ or possibily even 60 at this point is an extremely stellar accomplishment, one you all, as fans, should be damn proud of. We're going to lose games every season, get used to that. We're going to lose games we should win. Shit happens, get over it. For every game we've let get away from us, we've probably won two by playing kick ass basketball.

The Spurs are flying under the radar right now, but we're not flying stealth. People know we are dangerous. They've seen what we can do. I hate small ball just as much as the next guy, but just because the Mavs are nine games ahead of us and are playing damn good ball right now does not discount anything as far as what the Spurs are capable of. A couple plays either way in any game of that Dallas series and we win in 5-6 games, or they win. We nearly won that series with small ball, and given the personnel we had at the time I completely back Pop's decision. Keep lying to yourselves and think that Nesterovic or Mohammed would've prevented the Mavericks from pulling a 5 game sweep of us.

I'm tired of all the kool aid sipping going on around here. It makes me not want to post when I log on and on the first page I see threads like "Trade Ginobili" and "2008 Master Plan" and "Fire Pop". Have some faith in your team for Christ's sake. There are moments in every season when the Spurs play like crap, we've all seen it. There may be 95685987 posters on this board who think they can do a better job than Pop, but I bet only 200 of them know enough about the game to be able to even say that without looking like a total assclown. You try coaching a basketball team and then see how much of a mother fucking critic you are. This team was not playing its best basketball from late December until the tail end of the rodeo trip. After that, something started clicking and the Spurs are playing at a much higher caliber. Get past the idea that nine games behind Dallas equals a shit season. The Spurs can, and will, win playoff series as the underdog. Phoenix was the hot shit team in 2005, and they were lucky they weren't swept. I read the papers and watched SportsCenter prior to that series and people liked Phoenix to win or at least thought it'd go farther than 5 games. No one expected us to beat Phoenix at their own game. But we found a way, we beat them, and we won the title. There is no doubt in my mind that we can beat the Mavericks in the playoffs. This team won't let them take our heart away again. Some of you people need to get your heads out of the sand.

I am very optimistic about our chances. I know that there are holes that can be exploited in this team, and we've had some problems this season. But every teams has holes. However, don't deny that we've been peaking ever so slightly since the last two games of the rodeo trip. We're pretty hot right now. But anyone who can look me in the eye and say the Spurs are a definite out against Phoenix or Dallas in this season's playoffs is a hypocrite and doesn't deserve to call themselves a fan. We can beat them. It will take some damn good basketball to beat those teams, but it will take the same damn good basketball to beat us. Get over the fact that we have a worse record that last year and the Mavs are doing better than us right now. We can go far in these playoffs. Go Spurs Go. Believe.

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Originally Posted by J.T.

The Spurs can defeat the Mavericks without complete dominance from Duncan, however, knowing Duncan, he won't allow himself to do anything but dominate in the playoffs, especially in close game situations and in potential elimination games if it comes to that.

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i dont think you know what you're talking about.

domination by Duncan kept the Spurs from getting dominated. it doesnt matter who scores the points, but you know Duncan has a better chance of scoring then Elson, Finley, etc.

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Originally Posted by dallasmavsnfuego214

i dont think you know what you're talking about.

domination by Duncan kept the Spurs from getting dominated. it doesnt matter who scores the points, but you know Duncan has a better chance of scoring then Elson, Finley, etc.

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Are you kidding me? The Spurs are just as capable of beating the Mavs with balanced scoring (5-6 players in double figs) as they are having Duncan and someone else register huge games. Yeah, most of the time Duncan is the primary option on this team and if we play the Mavs again I've no doubt he will dominate again. But what I'm talking about goes a little further than that. So what if Duncan puts up 35 points...he keeps us in the game, makes some key plays for us, but what about when Finley hits a game winner with barely enough time left for the other team to get set up for a shot? What about when Ginobili is perfect on FTs down the stretch. What I'm saying is that Duncan will have help, and to say he was the only one on that team last season playing to win is a completely ludicrous statement.

I've watched Elson play some nice D on Dirk Nowitzki this season. I've seen Fabricio Oberto go 11-11 against the 2nd place Phoenix Suns. I've witnessed Manu Ginobili come off the bench and put up 40 points. I've watched the team use great ball movement to make sure they take the right shot on a possession. I've seen Finley hit game winners. Duncan is the primary option on this team, and he is one of the best players to ever play the game. But if you are trying to tell me that this team cannot attack from all angles, then you are a fool.

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Originally Posted by freemeat

1) I think bringing Manu off the bench with 6:00 - 6:30 to play in the first and third quarters is genius. Barry gains confidence when starting.

2) Manu doesn't mind too much coming off the bench and he can provide an extra punch doing so. This works because having the "Big Three" in at the start of the game (or half) gives the Spurs three options. With Pop's normal game plan, and the recent production of Finley, Bonner (and, subsequently, Barry returning from the bench) Manu has options while making his drives to the basket with them open for big J's.

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1 and 2. Dirk is a fourth quarter guy, look at his stats this season and when he scores most of his points in a game. Manu will not come off the bench in the playoffs but if he does, well, so does Stack.

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3) Fin has been hot lately. I think he's getting in form for playoff time. When he comes in and the Spurs have seen their lead cut a bit, he contributes...He's not the starter and clutch player he used to be. Instead, he has become the bench clutch player. He started the season cold, but now coming off the bench hits major jump shots when the team needs them most. I think his FG% has risen from 32% to near 40%. 40 isn't great, but there's a reason it's gone up. (Also, see: playoffs vs. Mavs in '05).

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3. Stack > Finley and they both will probably come off the bench.

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3) When Tony wants to drive to the hoop he is more effective scoring or dishing to a wing to score or have the wing move the ball around to an open shooter...like Barry (what, 45% on the year from 3?).

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3 (4 actually). Tony is probably better than Harris at this point in time but Harris can drive to the basket and is just as fast, if not faster, than Parker. Harris also probably plays better D, at least he can get the charges but he does tend to get into foul trouble.

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4) Timmy gets doubled...pick your poison (see: '99 championship team with Sean on the wing; or see: Barry hit a 3 to force OT against Kings in '06).

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4. Dirk gets double-teamed. You can put Elson and Oberto on Dirk but they are going to be about as effective as putting Diop and Damp on Duncan. Bowen has to guard someone, will it be Dirk or JHO?

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5) Barry's ability to score on the end of a fast break and/or his ability to hit crucial free throws.

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5. Mavs are the best free throw shooting team in the league, no problem with relying on just 1-2 guys to make most of the free throws and getting them in the basket, especially our franchise player. Barry might make free throws but you can be sure there will be times when opposing teams will be gunning to foul Duncan at the end of a game if his FT shooting is off, which is usually the case.

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6) As with the 03/23 game against Detroit...Manu doesn't have play too many minutes to be effective; and he doesn't have to score to do so. He scores when the team needs it the most (we all know that). Other than that, he can play 15-17 minutes, be the most effective player on the floor and still effect the outcome of the game.

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6. You may be right, but then, this is the playoffs and we're not talking about playing teams like the Grizzlies or Hawks. Manu is a key component of the Spurs team, he will be needed for much more than 15-17 minutes. During last year's playoffs he played 426 minutes in 13 games, nearly 33 minutes per game.

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7) Pop is near genius. I only say NEAR because the Spurs haven't won 5 rings.

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7. Avery learned from Pop, and also has the ability to adjust the team's play on offense as needed. Pop's great but Avery's not chopped liver.

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8) Spurs have won 3. The Mavs and Suns have 0...combined. They haven't learned yet how to win ONE. Once they do, then we should fear either.

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8. Spurs were in the same position back in 1999. Just because the Spurs have three rings doesn't mean they have a better chance of winning every single year, there are no BTB rings.

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9) Division titles mean what? Mavs have won a few of those and only one conference title...and they were afraid of raising even that banner in front of the Spurs on opening day. Why? (You know why).

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9. As we learned last year, from the Spurs having won the division and HCA, they mean nothing. Look at the years they've won the division title and not won the ring...12 out of 15 times. Anyway, Mavs have only won the division title once (not a couple of times) and that was nearly twenty years ago. Besides, look at question 8, always a first.

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10) Spurs ALWAYS do their best while they coast through the season "under the radar." And if you don't believe that notion, hey, they win in odd numbered seasons ('99, '03, '05).

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10. and then there's cross your fingers and jump up and down on one leg while rubbing your head in a clockwise fashion

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If anyone wants to give bets, I'll give 50:1 odds to the first bidder.

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Let me think about it. I usually put money down with a pro service but I may spring for a hundred bucks just for fun.

That said, I think both teams have a great opp to win it all.

Mavs fans are being more logical in this arguement than Spurs fans.

I haven't read this whole thread, but I did a search and the word "rebounding" is nowhere in it.

Unless something magic happens, the Spurs are going to get killed on the boards by everyone except maybe the Suns.

Spurs are just toying with the rest of the NBA now. They play bonner and beno and other crazy line ups just to get players rest and more experience for the playoffs. If not they win most games by 20 or more. Spurs are the only team that plays all 12 guys consistently.

How the Spurs could win

1) Bowan hitting the open shot. With Bowan and Duncan on the floor at the same time, Duncan will be doubled. It will not be Parkers man, it will not be Manus man, it will be Bowans man. If he hits the shot, the Spurs could win.

2) Somebody other then Duncan or Bowan can stay on the floor against Dirk. The series will turn on the fouls that Oberto/Elson get. Not only will Dirk hit the FT's, but with each foul, small ball gets closer and closer.

3) Parker must stay on the floor. Vaughn will be killed by the Mavs PG's, Parker has to avoid the charge calls and avoid fouling the Mavs PG's at the same time. Harris is starting to get the respect of the refs for his speed on defense.

4) Duncan cannot allow either Dampier or Diop to hang with him like they did last year, he must foul BOTH of them out. This goes along with the "Monster Domination" that he also has to do, as always in the Mavs-Spurs match-up. Diop and Dampier cannot stop him, but thats not why they are in the game, the two can rebound and block shots and are the keys to the Mavs defense. Duncan cannot allow the two to stay on the floor.

5) Manu must be big early in the game. A danger with him coming off the bench, is the Spurs getting behind and playing catch-up. The Mavs are not "most teams" our second team defenders are Buckner and George, not some scrubs. Having Manu come off the bench will only lessen his minutes, not have him play against "Second Teir" players. The Spurs will need his scoring to keep up.

6) Rebounding .... To win this, see #4. George and Howard are good rebounders for their size, in small ball, the Spurs will be out rebounded. Forcing the Mavs small with foul trouble (Through Duncan) could allow the Spurs to play with a center while the Mavs go small.

7) Finley or Barry have to post up Terry and back him down. I know that it is not their game, but they have the size and must make the Mavs pay for playing with a small back court, this could also get the Mavs guards in foul trouble.

How the Mavs could win

1) Dirk driving to the basket. Yes, some of the shots will be blocked, but more important, some will be fouls. The more aggresive Dirk is, the more likely a Mavs win.

2) Harris driving to the basket (see #1. Any foul on a Spur big is a GREAT PLAY). Harris aggression will also make Parker use energy on both ends of the floor.

3) Terry has to feast on whoever decides to pick him up. Neither Finley or Barry can stay with him, blow by them and .. well ... see numbers 1 and 2

4) Its all about the "O", in ths case Offensive rebounds. There is nothing like facing a great defense for 24 seconds and then hitting a three after an offensive rebound.

5) Make the open shots, I would give a name here, but the Spurs will have no one in particular to double from (no Griffen this year). Harris, Terry, and Howard only have to hit the open looks (they wont double from the post)

6) AJ must call the timeouts when the Mavs start shooting jumper after jumper. They still have that game in them, but it is the penertrations that will win the series. The Mavs have to stay aggresive to the rim and not fall in love with the jump shots.

Houston is taking out Dallas in Round 2

Without dallas in the mix, the Spurs win it all.

Houston's gonna win it all.. I hope Yao gets another injury because they IMO they have been playing much better than the rest of the league this point.

1. Pop slips into a temporary coma. The two molecules that make up the offensive basketball part of his brain are lost forever. He turns over the offense to PJ, ball motion open flow running with Elson is employed. Pop stays on a head coach and defensive coach. We roll the Suns and Mavs.

2. Dick Bavetta is hospitalized and is not able to bail Dirks butt out.

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Originally Posted by Fabbs

2. Dick Bavetta is hospitalized and is not able to bail Dirks butt out.

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:lol


Dan Crawford and Bennett Salvatore. Dirk wouldn't get "and one's" for stepping on defenders' feet.

So like I said, arguing in favor of the Spurs on here is pointless to most of us except probably myself just because other teams have 57 and 52 wins. Forget that SA is 13-2 since the All-Star break, if you count the 2 wins before that, SA has won 15 of 17 overall.

How can SA be 13-2 since the All Star break and still hear so much complaining?

SA could go 81-1, but if Dallas finishes 82-0, it's still not good enough for you all.

The Spurs and Mavericks are pretty damn equal teams. That's going to be another epic seasons with a point differential of like 2.3

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Originally Posted by DarrinS

:lol


Dan Crawford and Bennett Salvatore. Dirk wouldn't get "and one's" for stepping on defenders' feet.

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I think you mean Joey Crawford. Mavs fans hate -- loathe -- Danny Crawford, who is famous to them, among other things, for his "We're going to play playground rules, call your own fouls" to the captains before Game 3 of the 2003 WCF. I'll never forget the look on Finley's face when he said that.

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

I think you mean Joey Crawford. Mavs fans hate -- loathe -- Danny Crawford, who is famous to them, among other things, for his "We're going to play playground rules, call your own fouls" to the captains before Game 3 of the 2003 WCF. I'll never forget the look on Finley's face when he said that.

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:lol :wtf :lol wha? i didn't know that, that's hilarious.

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Originally Posted by mikejones99

Spurs are just toying with the rest of the NBA now. They play bonner and beno and other crazy line ups just to get players rest and more experience for the playoffs. If not they win most games by 20 or more. Spurs are the only team that plays all 12 guys consistently.

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might be time for me to once again post the minutes of spurs/mavs players. i've done this twice already when some spurs fan incorrectly assumes that the spurs are resting their guys and the mavs aren't (suns certainly aren't, i'll give you that!)...maybe you could save me the trouble and look up those stats for me again, it's tiresome to argue the same point with somebody who doesn't check the facts to back up his statements

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Originally Posted by ponky

might be time for me to once again post the minutes of spurs/mavs players. i've done this twice already when some spurs fan incorrectly assumes that the spurs are resting their guys and the mavs aren't (suns certainly aren't, i'll give you that!)...maybe you could save me the trouble and look up those stats for me again, it's tiresome to argue the same point with somebody who doesn't check the facts to back up his statements

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agreed, the mavs starters really aren't playing THAT many minutes, especially in comparison to the Spurs starters. This isn't like Phoenix's starters last season.

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Originally Posted by ponky

:lol :wtf :lol wha? i didn't know that, that's hilarious.

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Okay. Some Mavs fans. I shouldn't generalize.

I suspect that Mavs fans would prefer that they didn't see Danny Crawford ever during the playoffs, since they're something like 1-10 all-time in playoff games that Dan Crawford officiates.

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

Okay. Some Mavs fans. I shouldn't generalize.

I suspect that Mavs fans would prefer that they didn't see Danny Crawford ever during the playoffs, since they're something like 1-10 all-time in playoff games that Dan Crawford officiates.

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lol, i generally don't like danny crawford and i used to really dislike joey crawford because of all the crude things he's said about cuban and his wife...and just his napoleon complex in general but i've gotten over it, we have to deal with who we have officiating in any particular game, i don't pay much attention anymore, it doesn't make or break a game

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Originally Posted by J.T.

With much respect to the Mavericks for their win in the series against us last year, it is extremely absurd to say that the rest of the Spurs didn't help out in that series. Yes, Tim Duncan was phenomenal given that he was playing with plantar fasciitis. However, Basketball History will forever remember that series because BOTH teams played their hearts out. In each of the seven games, key players on each team played crucial roles. The Spurs can defeat the Mavericks without complete dominance from Duncan, however, knowing Duncan, he won't allow himself to do anything but dominate in the playoffs, especially in close game situations and in potential elimination games if it comes to that. But you cannot rule out that now and in last season's playoffs that we would not have pushed the Mavericks to seven games without the play of role players on this team, especially Ginobili, Finley and Parker.

We would have been eliminated in Game 6 if not for Ginobili and Finley. Parker damn near disappeared in that game and Duncan for damn sure couldn't have picked up all of his slack. We have plenty of people on this team willing and able to play a role. I don't need to remind any of you that the Spurs were a foul away from turning the last 30 seconds of Game 7 into a free throw contest, in which Pop would have definitely put Barry, Finley, Ginobili and Parker into the game with probably Duncan inbounding. In that scenario, the ball gets into the hands of someone who shoots at least 70% or above from the line and god forbid any of them are fouled in the act of shooting and get a continuation. But I'm not here to talk about what should've happen. Manu fucked up on the hugest possible scale, he knows it, and I know he is going to do everything in his power to nullify that mistake in the playoffs this year.

I like our chances to win this year. Yes, we will more than likely have to go through Phoenix and Dallas if we get to the Finals again. And yes, we can beat them. We have players on this team dying to win a ring. We have players on this team dying to get back for what happened last year. Too many people on this board are looking at the current W-L column and writing off the Spurs because we're so damn far behind the top two teams. The Spurs have played very impressively as of late, but they've dropped some games they should have won. News flash: every good team loses games they should win sometimes. Look at the Mavericks, losing to GS twice this year. Look at the Pistons last year, getting swept by a Jazz team playing nowhere near full capacity in that season series. Good teams lose games sometimes. Seriously people, were you honestly expecting the Spurs to go 64-18 or better this season? Winning 50+ or possibily even 60 at this point is an extremely stellar accomplishment, one you all, as fans, should be damn proud of. We're going to lose games every season, get used to that. We're going to lose games we should win. Shit happens, get over it. For every game we've let get away from us, we've probably won two by playing kick ass basketball.

The Spurs are flying under the radar right now, but we're not flying stealth. People know we are dangerous. They've seen what we can do. I hate small ball just as much as the next guy, but just because the Mavs are nine games ahead of us and are playing damn good ball right now does not discount anything as far as what the Spurs are capable of. A couple plays either way in any game of that Dallas series and we win in 5-6 games, or they win. We nearly won that series with small ball, and given the personnel we had at the time I completely back Pop's decision. Keep lying to yourselves and think that Nesterovic or Mohammed would've prevented the Mavericks from pulling a 5 game sweep of us.

I'm tired of all the kool aid sipping going on around here. It makes me not want to post when I log on and on the first page I see threads like "Trade Ginobili" and "2008 Master Plan" and "Fire Pop". Have some faith in your team for Christ's sake. There are moments in every season when the Spurs play like crap, we've all seen it. There may be 95685987 posters on this board who think they can do a better job than Pop, but I bet only 200 of them know enough about the game to be able to even say that without looking like a total assclown. You try coaching a basketball team and then see how much of a mother fucking critic you are. This team was not playing its best basketball from late December until the tail end of the rodeo trip. After that, something started clicking and the Spurs are playing at a much higher caliber. Get past the idea that nine games behind Dallas equals a shit season. The Spurs can, and will, win playoff series as the underdog. Phoenix was the hot shit team in 2005, and they were lucky they weren't swept. I read the papers and watched SportsCenter prior to that series and people liked Phoenix to win or at least thought it'd go farther than 5 games. No one expected us to beat Phoenix at their own game. But we found a way, we beat them, and we won the title. There is no doubt in my mind that we can beat the Mavericks in the playoffs. This team won't let them take our heart away again. Some of you people need to get your heads out of the sand.

I am very optimistic about our chances. I know that there are holes that can be exploited in this team, and we've had some problems this season. But every teams has holes. However, don't deny that we've been peaking ever so slightly since the last two games of the rodeo trip. We're pretty hot right now. But anyone who can look me in the eye and say the Spurs are a definite out against Phoenix or Dallas in this season's playoffs is a hypocrite and doesn't deserve to call themselves a fan. We can beat them. It will take some damn good basketball to beat those teams, but it will take the same damn good basketball to beat us. Get over the fact that we have a worse record that last year and the Mavs are doing better than us right now. We can go far in these playoffs. Go Spurs Go. Believe.

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Amen, thank you for the breath of positive air on this negative board. :flag:

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

I think you mean Joey Crawford. Mavs fans hate -- loathe -- Danny Crawford, who is famous to them, among other things, for his "We're going to play playground rules, call your own fouls" to the captains before Game 3 of the 2003 WCF. I'll never forget the look on Finley's face when he said that.

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Was that game 3 or game 2?

Game 1 we all know was the Bennett Salvatore 50 FT special.

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Originally Posted by ponky

lol, i generally don't like danny crawford and i used to really dislike joey crawford because of all the crude things he's said about cuban and his wife...and just his napoleon complex in general but i've gotten over it, we have to deal with who we have officiating in any particular game, i don't pay much attention anymore, it doesn't make or break a game

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Please get rid of that annoying picture..it;s too big and no point to have it in every one of your replies. Thanks

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Originally Posted by ponky

might be time for me to once again post the minutes of spurs/mavs players. i've done this twice already when some spurs fan incorrectly assumes that the spurs are resting their guys and the mavs aren't (suns certainly aren't, i'll give you that!)...maybe you could save me the trouble and look up those stats for me again, it's tiresome to argue the same point with somebody who doesn't check the facts to back up his statements

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Ok, you got me curious about the minutes, so I went and looked at espn.com. I don't actually understand your position that the Mavs are playing fewer minutes--if you're taking the position that the differential is not significant, I can understand that better and I don't necessarily disagree, although I don't really have any way of gauging whether an average of 2 minutes per game more is important or not. But here's what ESPN had, with 100 players listed (criteria being that they be on pace to play 70 games or 2000 minutes):

# 14 Dirk Nowitzi played 67 games average 36.9 minutes
# 20 Josh Howard 58 games 35.7
# 24 Jason Terry 68 games 35.6
# 31 Tim Duncan 68 games 34.5
# 37 Tony Parker 65 33
# 43 Bruce Bowen 68 30.7
# 54 Manu Ginobili 63 27.7
# 63 Devin Harris 67 26.1
# 65 Erick Dampier 65 25.6

ETA--I accidentally submitted the post without finishing, so sorry about that. After Dampier come Finley, Buckner, Oberto, Diop and Horry, at 21.2 minutes, 18.1 minutes, 17.7 minutes, 16.9 minutes, and 16.9 minutes, respectively. It's interesting to me that both teams have players who've played most of the games on the schedule so far.

Now that I re-read your original comment, perhaps you're not contending that the Mavs are actually playing fewer minutes, only that the minutes are similar--maybe I'm arguing (with myself) about angels on the head of a pin at this point. . . .

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Originally Posted by SpursDynasty

SA could go 81-1, but if Dallas finishes 82-0, it's still not good enough for you all.

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it wouldnt be good enough, cause you'd be one game short :lol

Better to be one game short in the regular season than one game short in the playoffs. That's what all these ship jumpers here need to get their heads around.

Spurs are good, but their road to the Finals is probably the toughest it's ever been:

If the current seeds remain, they'd have to go from playing a tough Suns team...whom by the way I still think could probably beat the Spurs this season in the playoffs and go immediately to a tough Mavs series. This is why I think the Mavs locking in the #1 seed is probably the thing that's going to end up giving them the edge in the playoffs. It's a much easier road for them to get to the Finals. While the Spurs/Suns will beat eachother up in the second round, Mavs may face a lagging Rockets team or a Utah Jazz team that really hasn't been playing good basketball for over a month now.

Either way, as Shoogarbear mentioned, Spurs lack of rebounding, an atheletic swingman, and a Center who can consistently play decent defense will probably end up being their demise. The problem isn't the Spurs Big Three and Bowen, it's the rest of the supporting cast which is suspect.

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Originally Posted by SpursDynasty

I agree with you 100% on the Spurs winning it in '07, but on here, its pointless. There's some underlying theme on this board that the Spurs won't win the championship this year and that Dallas is the team to bow down to, no matter what we say and how it turns out. For example, I said that starting on February 7th through the end of the season, the Spurs would coast through and rack up a lot of wins. People told me I was wrong on here. The Spurs are 16-4 since I said that, and people still find a way to tell me that everything I say is BS.

I just hope I don't get banned here, so that way in June (when the Spurs hold the trophy) I can come on here and rub it in. That'll be fun.

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I think most Spur's fans on here think the Spurs have a good chance to win the title but they are intelligent enough to realize that Dallas will be very difficult to beat. It's called being realistic. Obviously, it's your choice but If you would bring some of that to your posts it might help give more weight to some of the decent points that you make. It's the same with some Mav posters. The ones that don't think the Spurs or Suns won't be a serious challenge are not being realistic and/or watching many Spurs/Suns games.

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Originally Posted by ponky

might be time for me to once again post the minutes of spurs/mavs players. i've done this twice already when some spurs fan incorrectly assumes that the spurs are resting their guys and the mavs aren't (suns certainly aren't, i'll give you that!)...maybe you could save me the trouble and look up those stats for me again, it's tiresome to argue the same point with somebody who doesn't check the facts to back up his statements

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This also touches on the subject of players-minutes-teams.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62865

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

Was that game 3 or game 2?

Game 1 we all know was the Bennett Salvatore 50 FT special.

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It was Game 3: http://www.nba.com/games/20030523/SASDAL/boxscore.html

So did freemeat really give someone 50:1 odds and how much was the bet?