After Losing to Dallas, how big is the game @ Utah?

[The_Game]

On wednesday night?

Considering Utah have started 12-2 and maybe 13-2 after tomorrow night..how big is this game for a regular season game?

Both Dallas and Utah may be the main two challenges for the Spurs in the playoffs along with the Suns.

Utah's frontcourt will be a handful as will Deron Williams.

I know many will see this as bigger for Utah to prove themselves against one of the best but how key is It to the Spurs?

[dg7md]

Very big, but it's just a regular season contest, there are statement games, but even this might still be too early to be one, teams are just starting to click and begin to fold. I think they can pull it off despite a very good Utah team.

I'm glad Utah is doing good, it's good to see those fans have something to be happy about since Malone left them.

Spurs got to get business done with Seattle and Golden State (who just beat the Jazz) before they start worrying about Utah.

These three road games will be tough, but they seem to come together on the road better than at home.

[boutons_]

Don't count on the Spurs doing before April, they will break your heart.

[smeagol]

If we win, people will claim we are the next champions; if we lose it will be mass suicide.

[td4mvp21]

It's important, we need to show Utah that we are still the boss even if they have a better record.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Just play a tough zone and the Spurs will win.

Just gotta deny Boozer the ball (like the Warriors did) and they suck, plain and simple

[xamila rey]

If we win, people will claim we are the next champions; if we lose it will be mass suicide.

hehe true. but it is just NOVEMBER!

[SenorSpur]

HUGE. If the Spurs are going to be the rulers of the West, then it's imperative that they start knocking of those who seek to contend for the same spot (i.e. Dallas, Utah, Phx).

That's why Friday night's loss to the Mavs is so disappointing.

[ShoogarBear]

Not nearly as important as the Dallas game.

We know the Mavs will be a roadblock to the WCF. It's still not clear that Utah will be any more than this year's Memphis.

[sa_butta]

This is a must win for the Spurs. They are on fire, and it would be nice to stop the streak and continue one for us.

[Emanuel20]

is manu playing at all this game?

[The_Game]

Just play a tough zone and the Spurs will win.

Just gotta deny Boozer the ball (like the Warriors did) and they suck, plain and simple

You actually think a Sloan coached team will struggle every game when a team plays zone? c'mon

he will make adjustments, thats what great coaches do.

it's like saying all you have to do to beat Denver is purely don't let them fast break and they are terrible.

[zero signal]

If we win, people will claim we are the next champions; if we lose it will be mass suicide.

[Mavs<Spurs]

Not nearly as important as the Dallas game.

We know the Mavs will be a roadblock to the WCF. It's still not clear that Utah will be any more than this year's Memphis.

I agree that it is not nearly as important as the Dallas game, but we have beaten Dallas once already.

It is more important because we lost to Dallas than it would have been otherwise.

It is still November.

Detroit killed absolutely everybody in the regular season and stunk up the place in the playoffs.
That's the norm. The stats tell us that over the last 20 years or so, the team with the best record normally did not win it all and just because a team had the best record, they did not normally win it all.

Those are two different statements. In the second statement, if two teams had an equally good record, obviously only one of them won it, turning the numbers in an even more pronounced way.

Example: last year the Heat weren't even close.
Spurs didn't have the best record in 05.
Detroit didn't in 04.

[Mavs<Spurs]

You actually think a Sloan coached team will struggle every game when a team plays zone? c'mon

he will make adjustments, thats what great coaches do.

it's like saying all you have to do to beat Denver is purely don't let them fast break and they are terrible.

If you don't have outside shooters, then you are more likely to struggle when a team plays zone against you.

Denver is a bad team if you don't turn the ball over and let them fast break.

Truisms become truisms because they are true. That's why you get cliches.

[Zunni]

The Utah game will amount to 1/82 of our combined win and loss total, as have each of the Dallas games.

[Mavs<Spurs]

The Utah game will amount to 1/82 of our combined win and loss total, as have each of the Dallas games.

Game 6 was 1/6 of the Finals. Therefore, it was of the same importance as the others. But this ignores the fact that it was the first victory on the road for the Heat and the fact that the Heat knew they only needed to get this one game on the road and they were world champs.
Game 3 was only 1 game of the Finals. But it would have put Dallas up a practically insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Same type of reasoning seems to be incorrect, imo.

[Mavs<Spurs]

The Utah game will amount to 1/82 of our combined win and loss total, as have each of the Dallas games.

Are you afraid we will lose to them or something?

I'm trying to figure this one out.



Does the term tiebreaker carry any special significance to you?

[Mavs<Spurs]

We lost. But I still expect that at the end of the day, it's going to be too hard to beat Tim Duncan in the playoffs in a 7 game series.

[Mavs<Spurs]

You actually think a Sloan coached team will struggle every game when a team plays zone? c'mon

he will make adjustments, thats what great coaches do.

it's like saying all you have to do to beat Denver is purely don't let them fast break and they are terrible.

Without Stockton and Malone, he became a mediocre coach.
Or only he had to deal with crucial injuries. The others did better because they had no injuries to deal with.

[Mavs<Spurs]

Without Stockton and Malone, he became a mediocre coach.
Or only he had to deal with crucial injuries. The others did better because they had no injuries to deal with.

Doug Collins had Pippen and Jordan on his team just like Phil Jackson.


What was Sloan's record last year?

[Mavs<Spurs]

The Utah game will amount to 1/82 of our combined win and loss total, as have each of the Dallas games.

HCA???





epistemology: the study of how one obtains certainty in knowledge.

What the nontheist needs, desires, seeks and yet cannot obtain without being logically inconsistent.

e.g. Is murder morally wrong? How do you know for certain? Do you have an absolutely perfect source which told you so? If not, then you don't know for certain that it is wrong. It is simply like an ugly t-shirt. It doesn't suit your particular taste, but for another it might be totally cool. Is it majority opinion (so that if murder were more popular, it would then be morally irreproachable?
Murder and rape, for the nontheists, can at most be inconvenient for the victim, but they can never be known to be a violation of moral absolutes.

[Zunni]

Game 6 was 1/6 of the Finals. Therefore, it was of the same importance as the others. But this ignores the fact that it was the first victory on the road for the Heat and the fact that the Heat knew they only needed to get this one game on the road and they were world champs.
Game 3 was only 1 game of the Finals. But it would have put Dallas up a practically insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Same type of reasoning seems to be incorrect, imo.

Playoffs <> Regular season

The regular season is for assembling and teaching your team. If the Spurs win 61 games this year, a VERY reachable goal, they'll have a 5 year average of 60 wins. That's a pretty damn good average, and if you want to attach more importance to one regular season win than another, be my guest. I just care about a healthy, cohesive team entering the playoffs with a 1 or 2 seed in the West.

[Mavs<Spurs]

Playoffs <> Regular season

The regular season is for assembling and teaching your team. If the Spurs win 61 games this year, a VERY reachable goal, they'll have a 5 year average of 60 wins. That's a pretty damn good average, and if you want to attach more importance to one regular season win than another, be my guest. I just care about a healthy, cohesive team entering the playoffs with a 1 or 2 seed in the West.

So, then, each playoff game is of different value, but each regular season game is of equal value?

I understand what you are saying, but I find that regular season games carry importance for seeding (especially in previous years), carry hca importance still and can give confidence for a team in the playoffs.

I agree that being healthy is paramount, so long as we have a good seeding.

[Zunni]

Utah doesn't scare me, not even if they have a higher seed. They lack deep playoff experience. They remind me of the 2003 Mavs or the 2002 T'Pups, teams fast out of the gate that you know you can catch.