Notebook: Spurs will dispatch Nuggets -- and all comers
April 23, 2005
By Tony Mejia
CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/8410610

Hypothetically, say we had gone into hibernation around the All-Star break with orders to be released just before the playoffs began. Before we'd have hit the pillow and gone into a deep slumber, we would have proclaimed the San Antonio Spurs the future champs, citing their ability to play at any tempo and the likelihood that they would overcome Phoenix for the Western Conference home-court edge.

Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are more playoff-tested than any West guard tandem.

Awakening, we find the playing field has been leveled far more than expected. Tim Duncan's repeated ankle injuries and continued excellence from the Suns mean the road to the championship will go through America West.

San Antonio's first-round opponent, Denver, turned into a world-beater once George Karl took over and lit a fire under Marcus Camby, among others, helping the team ascend from a future filled with pingpong balls to the most dangerous No. 7 seed in recent memory.

Plus, knowing from personal experience how nagging ankle injuries can be and how easy it is to aggravate one, the thought of backing a team so reliant on Duncan is a sizeable gamble.

"The healthiest team will win the le," Seattle coach Nate McMillan told reporters earlier this week. "You've got to win so many games that if you lose a key player or two, or if they're not healthy, it makes it difficult. You'll have bumps and bruises, but if you have some serious injuries to some key guys, that makes it really tough."

That said, there's a reason the boys in Vegas have installed the Spurs as the favorites to capture rings in June. Quite simply, as compe ive as the West will be and as daunting as Miami or defending champion Detroit would be in the NBA Finals, if Duncan is still on the floor, even at less than 100 percent, San Antonio remains the smart choice to win it all.

Consider us smart and in agreement; the Spurs will win the 2005 NBA championship.

Duncan, brought along gingerly by coach Gregg Popovich once he returned in the season's final games, proved he's still the most dominant big man west of Shaquille O'Neal. Backcourt mates Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, blossoming into s om, are playoff-tested veterans. They're still young, but inexperience is not a factor. In fact, when you consider their opposition will likely be Denver's Andre Miller/DerMarr Johnson, Dallas' Jason Terry/Michael Finley and Phoenix's Steve Nash/Joe Johnson, they'll have a decided edge in playoff experience. In that group, only Nash and Finley have played more postseason games, and neither has a ring.

Toss in the likes of standout playoff performers Robert Horry and Bruce Bowen, in-season acquisitions Glenn Robinson and Nazr Mohammed adding quality depth, and the inclusion of Devin Brown on the playoff roster -- he should be back at 100 percent (limited leg strength) deeper into the postseason -- and you've got an incredible collection of wily know-how at Popovich's disposal.

Ah, yes, Popovich. Unless Phil Jackson is whisked from whatever personal retreat he's currently on, is there a coach outside of Larry Brown left in these playoffs who can touch his pedigree? Anyone? Didn't think so.

He has won more than 60 percent of his playoff games, the best percentage of anyone still coaching, and even trumps Brown in the championship ring department, two to one. No, we will not count Brown's ring at Kansas or Mike D'Antoni's success in Italy. In both instances, that's basketball played at different speeds, under different rules, in different languages.

These playoffs, despite the absence of major markets New York and Los Angeles, should be among the most compe ive and riveting as any since Michael Jordan and the Bulls parted company. At the end of the day, the biggest crop of winners will be left standing. The Suns can cling to their regular season success, Detroit to last year's breakthrough and Miami to an O'Neal-led revolution. All should be fine consolation prizes as the Spurs dance away with their third le in seven seasons.

Hoping for the best
As noted, San Antonio's Brown was included on the team's playoff roster despite being out nearly a month with a herniated disc in his lower back that has affected the strength in his right leg.

Although he won't be ready when the playoffs begin, Brown is expected to be sufficiently recovered in time to be of assistance perhaps as early as late in the Denver series. His defense and slashing ability are assets Popovich didn't want to leave out. Once a team's playoff roster is set, it can't be altered unless a team suffers four injuries.

With that same rationale, Indiana included Jamaal Tinsley on its postseason roster despite the fact the talented point guard told CBS SportsLine.com earlier this week that there's no timetable for his return from a foot injury and that he has no way of knowing if he'll be back.

To make room for Tinsley, the team left off 7-footer John Edwards, a move that could hurt the Pacers in potential series against Detroit and Miami down the road.

A number of coaches have expressed displeasure with the NBA's rule that playoff rosters can't be altered from series to series, allowing them to make personnel decision based on matchups.

Lenard left out

Despite losing nearly 30 pounds in two months and making it back for the season's final two games, Denver sniper Voshon Lenard was not included on the team's playoff roster. He tore his left Achilles' tendon in the season's opening game and was out of action until the final week of the season, unless you count a cameo in the 3-point compe ion at the All-Star Game.

Karl feels he has enough depth on the wing with Johnson and veterans Wesley Person and Bryon Russell.

Eduardo Najera, despite breaking a hand earlier this month, was included and will be a part of Karl's plans against San Antonio. His cast will be removed before the start of the series, but it's expected he'll miss at least a game or two before returning to the mix.


A different type of focus

How serious is Detroit about repeating?

Newcomer Antonio McDyess told the Detroit Free Press he felt a heightened sense of responsibility as soon as he walked into the team's practice facility in preparation for the weekend's showdown with Philadelphia.

"Just looking at how serious everybody was gave me butterflies," McDyess said. "I'm very, very excited about this opportunity."

McDyess has played in only one playoff series, winning a single game with the 1997-98 Suns