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Excellent insight.
Obviously, it's incredibly frustrating being a Spurs fan right now considering all the excitement going into the season and the the Spurs inability to play consistent basketball for 48 minutes. However, I was going over the last 10 games and while it sucks to see the Spurs drop so many games, the compe ion they faced was much tougher than their records indicated.
Here's the last 10 games and the streak that opponent was on during a 10 game stretch:
Wed 13 @ Oklahoma W 109-108 (Won 8 of their last 10)
Fri 15 @ Charlotte L 76-92 (In the midst of winning 9 out of 10)
Sat 16 @ Memphis L 86-92 (Won 8 of their last 10)
Mon 18 @ New Orleans W 97-90 (Won 8 of their last 10)
Wed 20 vs Utah L 98-105 (In the midst of going 9-1)
Fri 22 vs Houston L 109-116 (Won 5 of their last 10)
Mon 25 vs Chicago L 93-98 (In the midst of going 9-2 in 11 games)
Wed 27 vs Atlanta W 105-90 (won 8 of their last 10 at the time)
Fri 29 vs Memphis W 104-97 (Won 8 of their last 10)
Sun 31 vs Denver L 89-103 (Won 8 of their last 9)
The only game that looked somewhat lopsided was the Denver, and that score is a bit askew as the Nuggets broke the game open in the final minutes. Otherwise it was a 2 point game with 5 minutes left or so. So while the defense needs to really improve, I think this Spurs slump has just as much to do with the Spurs facing very hot compe ion that wasn't just beating the Spurs, but a lot of teams during this stretch.
I bring this up because I feel it's something to think about and take into consideration. This RRT will be huge but I don't think it's necessarily doomsday for the Spurs going into their next 10 games.
So the Spurs aren't playing great, but the compe ion are playing well and not just against the Spurs. At least during the time they faced the Spurs.
Excellent insight.
Good research. Helps balance out the doomsday scenario's out there.
Hopefully, the Spurs can get over the hump on this RR trip.
What's your point? Everybody knows they're good teams, the problem is that our record in those 10 games is 4-6... with 6 of those games at home...
I think we all know we can beat bad teams, what we're having problems with is the good teams...
Point is it isn't just losing to "good" teams, but good teams that were winning at an 80% clip around the time they faced us. Yet we still kept a lot of those games close. If we're still in games despite the numerous troubles this team is facing, I'm sure they can really benefit down the stretch.
RJ and Dice are gonna make are break this team. They've shown potential, but now we just need consistency.
And hopefully Manu gets his shot back soon.
I don't care. We can win those games. All the Spurs have been doing is padding the other team's win column.
So, your saying the Spurs hit a spell of bad luck.
How nice, more rationalizing of losses. This team is supposed to be a top five regular season team and a legitimate contender (including better than EVERY TEAM played in that stretch). Those teams don't use any type of schedule as an excuse to lose as consistently as this team does, particularly against the good teams. There is no excuse, there's just the reality, which is that, until proven otherwise, this team is a pretender.
We've been "close" in every freaking game. I can't recall getting straight blown out this season. We even had 20 point leads against good teams. We obviously beat the champs.
What we've been unable to do is win with defense. Whenever we needed to get a stop on a close game, we've failed miserably and consequently lost the game. Sunday was a good test because it was a game where we didn't shot well, but we could have won if we made stops at the end. Unfortunately, we folded, at home, again.
I still think we can turn this around, but it's going to take a big improvement on defense.
I don't care about win/loss as much as how the team is playing. I can live with losses when the team plays well, but runs into, as you eluded to, a hot team. These loses are not encouraging though. They showcase the Spurs glaring problems. There is no silver lining at this point, although I have seen flashes of greatness that give me a glimmer of hope.
Interesting POV though.
Last edited by DPG21920; 02-01-2010 at 11:33 PM.
doesnt matter. spurs should have been winning these games. if anything this stretch just shows how ty our team is against winning teams. im scared of the playoffs. i dont know who's a safe bet to play in the first round.
Well you better care about win/loss at this point in the season if you're remotely interested about this team at least doing some damage in the playoffs. I don't know many 4-5 seeds that do that (3 is still possible). Don't you guys get it? You don't "run into a hot team" every two out of four games. At some point, it's you (not really you; the Spurs) that's the problem. This team can't execute at either end and in virtually all aspects, down the stretch of games. We've see it all season. It's either turnovers, or failing to get key defensive rebounds, or failing to execute a drawn up play, or missing wide open three's, or failing to contain dribble penetration. With Parker limited due to plantar fasciitis, they don't have a devastating scorer, save for the odd game where Duncan is just relentless and drags them to victory.
It's not at all an interesting point of view; it's a foolish one. Aside from blind hope or a significant trade, there is nothing to be optimistic about at this point.
FWIW, Sacramento, our next rival, is taking the Nuggets to overtime in Denver right now...
Can't sleep on anybody these days...
And what is the current record against +500 teams so far this season? If the team was doing so well would you really need to find any excuse to rationalize their poor play?
Good. The Kings have been so bad for so long that they were due for a game against an unsuspecting good team where they, at minimum push them, if not beat them. I figured that team would be the Spurs, but hopefully it's the Nuggets. Not only is that a team that it's always beneficial for the Spurs if they lose, but it likely means that, should the Kings win, they'll be right back to their losing ways next game, because the slight pressure that a team that bad feels will be off for the next while.
Billups can't hit a 3 to save his life tonight...
Its about getting the full picture, not about rationalizing suckage.
Great post, Amuseddaysleeper. When analyzing the recent struggles to win, your research should rightfully be included. Obviously, it doesn't make up for any of the losses or make the current situation look any rosier, however it's indeed interesting and perhaps in hindsight will make the recent woes more understandable.
Against us as most though of course they hit them at a 60% or so clipBillups can't hit a 3 to save his life tonight..., GO FIGURE! Teams light up against us for some reason, it's a damn curse I tell you.
Whatever, Spurs are at risk to miss 50W and the playoffs.
what's more annoying is the people not known for scoring or the inconsistent guys going off?Against us as most though of course they hit them at a 60% or so clip
Nuggets - Afflalo
Bulls - Hinrich
Mavericks - Howard and Terry (all the ing time)
Jazz - Kirilenko and Boozer
the list goes on and on.
actually most times something lik ethat happens, a good executing team is expected to weather it and still win. We are defintely good enough to compete with any team .... prob is 4th quarter/3rd quarter execution, when push comes to shove, this team needs to find an iden y. Its not impossible, its just difficult since so many people are new. But they will get there.
All this tells me what we've known all season long. They can't beat the good team.
Now imagine if we'd have just won a few more of those games and made some statements.. RRT is here, we needed some quality wins for our confidence and we didn't get em. Look forward and hope we don't find ourselves hunting after yet another silver lining, because this team is steadily approaching 'BREAK' if everyone, coach included, doesn't step up (if they can...)
Afflalo pretty much hit the game winner for Denver in overtime last night...
And Kirilenko flat out destroyed the Mavs in the 4th with Boozer out last night also...
So, it's definitely not just against us that they shine...
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