Something for Spurs fans to think about

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kinda sick of hearing about how we lost to the Cavs twice in the regular season. There's a little more to the story than that:

We lost our last game to Cleveland in January - the month that the Spurs went 9-7. It probably didn't help that we shot 38% from the floor that night, either. Elson was hurt, Vaughn was a DNP, Horry started, and Beno got more minutes than both Finley and Oberto. Does that sound anything like the team that just won the WCF?

The other game we lost to Cleveland was in November. Pop was definitely fiddling with the rotation at that time. The Spurs shot 42% from the floor that night, and 53% from the free throw line. (18-34) And you can't give Cleveland all the credit for playing such great defense, either. It was, simply put, one of the sloppiest games of the season for the Spurs.

You might also take note of the fact that, while the Spurs were 9-7 in January, a couple of months later they blew through March with a 13-2 record. They also happen to be 12-4 in the playoffs...against Denver, Phoenix, and Utah. When we played Denver, a lot of "experts" were predicting that the Nuggets were good enough to make the finals. Phoenix was, in everybody's estimation, a powerhouse. And Utah was a tough, physical team that "matched up well" against the Spurs.

Bottom line...the Spurs team that lost to Cleveland early in the regular season would not have gone 12-4 in these playoffs. It's apples and oranges.

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Originally Posted by GSH

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kinda sick of hearing about how we lost to the Cavs twice in the regular season.

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I hear ya! We also lost to Phoenix and Denver in the regular season, which also proved to be a big fat "so fuckin' what?" :spin

No way in hell are the Cavs beating the Spurs. Pistons, on the other hand, have the potential to make it a great series but they are just playing like shit right now.

Spurs big 3>>>>>Sheed, Billups, Prince

If the Spurs can deal with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson on the same team, they can deal with Lebron James. The thing that gets me is their rebounding. From what I recall from the game, they killed us on the boards.

I wonder if Larry Hughes is going to continue to take novocaine shots for his heal. I hope he isn't doing any irreparable damage.

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Originally Posted by slayermin

If the Spurs can deal with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson on the same team, they can deal with Lebron James. The thing that gets me is their rebounding. From what I recall from the game, they killed us on the boards.

I wonder if Larry Hughes is going to continue to take novocaine shots for his heal. I hope he isn't doing any irreparable damage.

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Utah killed us on the boards too...

I like being the underdog.

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Originally Posted by GSH

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kinda sick of hearing about how we lost to the Cavs twice in the regular season. There's a little more to the story than that:

We lost our last game to Cleveland in January - the month that the Spurs went 9-7. It probably didn't help that we shot 38% from the floor that night, either. Elson was hurt, Vaughn was a DNP, Horry started, and Beno got more minutes than both Finley and Oberto. Does that sound anything like the team that just won the WCF?

The other game we lost to Cleveland was in November. Pop was definitely fiddling with the rotation at that time. The Spurs shot 42% from the floor that night, and 53% from the free throw line. (18-34) And you can't give Cleveland all the credit for playing such great defense, either. It was, simply put, one of the sloppiest games of the season for the Spurs.

You might also take note of the fact that, while the Spurs were 9-7 in January, a couple of months later they blew through March with a 13-2 record. They also happen to be 12-4 in the playoffs...against Denver, Phoenix, and Utah. When we played Denver, a lot of "experts" were predicting that the Nuggets were good enough to make the finals. Phoenix was, in everybody's estimation, a powerhouse. And Utah was a tough, physical team that "matched up well" against the Spurs.

Bottom line...the Spurs team that lost to Cleveland early in the regular season would not have gone 12-4 in these playoffs. It's apples and oranges.

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Excellent take!

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Originally Posted by Sec24Row7

Utah killed us on the boards too...

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No they didnt. they killed us on the boards in game 1 but we killed them on the boards in game 2. We out barded them in two of the other 3.

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Originally Posted by BlackFlagg

I hear ya! We also lost to Phoenix and Denver in the regular season, which also proved to be a big fat "so fuckin' what?" :spin

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EXACTLY!

The november game was too a b2b for Spurs.

just something rattling around in my head lately: bulls beat the pistons 3-1 in the regular season. got bounced by the pistons. pistons beat cavs 3-1 in the regular season, and seem poised to be bounced by the cavs. granted, dallas was crushed 3-0 by golden state in the regular season, but that was also a trend that dated back to the previous two seasons as well. not so with this spurs 0-2 regular season deficit to the cavs. but i will admit that i was feeling better about containing lebron before that 45-point monster (even though he was held to 29 points through 4 quarters, something the spurs managed to absorb by deron williams consistently and still win).

Something to think about, the Spurs themselves have been listening to 2 days's straight worth of how the Cavs have beaten the Spurs twice this year, the Cavs too although it plays differently in both team players minds.
It has a better effect on our boy's minds, they hate that shit and it feeds them plenty fire and energy. Hope it makes them take care of the ball better too.

Good take.

Wasn't the first game we played against Cleveland the second game of the season, and a back to back after we won in Dallas the night before? I wouldn't put much weight on that game. At the time, beating Dallas was exponentially more important than beating Cleveland and we did just that.

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Originally Posted by FuzzyLumpkins

No they didnt. they killed us on the boards in game 1 but we killed them on the boards in game 2. We out barded them in two of the other 3.

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I think he was referring to the regular season in this case.

I haven't decided which spurfan mentality to adopt:

Lebron will eat our children.

or

The NBA is fixed so Lebron can eat our children.

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Originally Posted by GSH

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kinda sick of hearing about how we lost to the Cavs twice in the regular season. There's a little more to the story than that:

We lost our last game to Cleveland in January - the month that the Spurs went 9-7. It probably didn't help that we shot 38% from the floor that night, either. Elson was hurt, Vaughn was a DNP, Horry started, and Beno got more minutes than both Finley and Oberto. Does that sound anything like the team that just won the WCF?

The other game we lost to Cleveland was in November. Pop was definitely fiddling with the rotation at that time. The Spurs shot 42% from the floor that night, and 53% from the free throw line. (18-34) And you can't give Cleveland all the credit for playing such great defense, either. It was, simply put, one of the sloppiest games of the season for the Spurs.

You might also take note of the fact that, while the Spurs were 9-7 in January, a couple of months later they blew through March with a 13-2 record. They also happen to be 12-4 in the playoffs...against Denver, Phoenix, and Utah. When we played Denver, a lot of "experts" were predicting that the Nuggets were good enough to make the finals. Phoenix was, in everybody's estimation, a powerhouse. And Utah was a tough, physical team that "matched up well" against the Spurs.

Bottom line...the Spurs team that lost to Cleveland early in the regular season would not have gone 12-4 in these playoffs. It's apples and oranges.

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I saw a sign on an old church east of Houston this week that sums it up. It said:

No excuses, just believe.

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Originally Posted by Sec24Row7

Utah killed us on the boards too...

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Total rebounds in that series was
Utah 38.60 total rebounds
San Antonio 37.20 total rebounds

Off rebounds
Utah 12.8
SAS 8.4

Def rebounds
Utah 25.80
SAS 28.80

I'd say we lost it by a small margin considering Utah is a monster when it comes to rebounding. In fact we had more defensive rebounds in the entire series.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Texas Fan

Total rebounds in that series was
Utah 38.60 total rebounds
San Antonio 37.20 total rebounds

Off rebounds
Utah 12.8
SAS 8.4

Def rebounds
Utah 25.80
SAS 28.80

I'd say we lost it by a small margin considering Utah is a monster when it comes to rebounding. In fact we had more defensive rebounds in the entire series.

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\
So did the Coyote get the other .2 rebound?

I am a fan of basketball and I do like LeBron, of course behind our beloved Spurs but, rest assured, NO WAY the Spurs are going to allow him to make 48 pts. or go on a 29 pt. run... I'm astonished the Pistons allowed that to happen....

I have faith in Bruce.

Oh, and actually total rebounds for that series was

Spurs 186.....Jazz 193..

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Originally Posted by SAGambler

Oh, and actually total rebounds for that series was

Spurs 186.....Jazz 193..

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You are correct but I was taking the average from all five games and I wanted to point out that the team had also done better with defensive rebounds. I broke down each game of the series and came up with those numbers.

yeah no way the spurs let lebron do what he did to the pistons IF[U] we play them in the finals........ if you watched the game you'd see the defense they played on him was soft, he hit a few crazy outside shots, but he got to the rim with ease........ that's where the pistons miss ben wallace, no one fears driving on the pistons cause they have webber in the middle waiting for you........... we'd do a much better job in containing lebron, we may not stop him, but we won't let him get 29 straight....... but all this lebron talk is premature, pistons still have 2 tries to win the seires

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Originally Posted by mavs>spurs

No way in hell are the Cavs beating the Spurs. Pistons, on the other hand, have the potential to make it a great series but they are just playing like shit right now.

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Yup...the Pistons would be able to take the series to 7 games just like in 2005. The Cavs would get run out of the gym by the Spurs.

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Originally Posted by koopa

yeah no way the spurs let lebron do what he did to the pistons IF[U] we play them in the finals........ if you watched the game you'd see the defense they played on him was soft, he hit a few crazy outside shots, but he got to the rim with ease........ that's where the pistons miss ben wallace, no one fears driving on the pistons cause they have webber in the middle waiting for you........... we'd do a much better job in containing lebron, we may not stop him, but we won't let him get 29 straight....... but all this lebron talk is premature, pistons still have 2 tries to win the seires

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Yup...I still think the Pistons will win both remaining games in the ECF and move on to face SA in the NBA Finals.

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Originally Posted by TampaDude

Yup...the Pistons would be able to take the series to 7 games just like in 2005. The Cavs would get run out of the gym by the Spurs.

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i don't think the pistons can take us to game 7......they are nothing like the 05 team, ben wallace isn't there and he was their heart and soul on defense, if we played them, parker and manu would have no problem getting to the rim

i think whoever we play we'll win in 6........if it's in the cavs, probably 5, but knowing the spurs they'll take a game off

yeah, it seems like the piston's D has had lapses vs Cavs, stand around and look defense won't work against any team, Piston's defense is on vacation right now in Chicago