Reply With Quote
No, David Stern has. Pop's just "making lemonade".
Strange turn this year:
Spurs are allowing more points per game than they themselves had scored per game every season in the TD era. Is this a temporary anomally or are we now a Phoenix Suns lookalike?
Nobody can call Spurs boring any longer, as they are now second leading scoring team in NBA.
The 2005 Finals is rolling over in it's grave.
No, David Stern has. Pop's just "making lemonade".
13-1
TD just said that's the way the players found to keep Pop with something to talk about. if they allow that many points in April I'll be concerned. Till then, enjoy the ride.
Scoring is up league-wide.Strange turn this year:
Spurs are allowing more points per game than they themselves had scored per game every season in the TD era. Is this a temporary anomally or are we now a Phoenix Suns lookalike?
Nobody can call Spurs boring any longer, as they are now second leading scoring team in NBA.
The 2005 Finals is rolling over in it's grave.
Just a few numbers:
In 2002-03, the total points scored in an average NBA game was 190. This year it's 200.
In 2002-03, four teams averaged 100 ppg or better. This year there are 14 teams averaging in triple digits, with another three at 99.5 or better.
The Spurs are playing at a much faster pace than at anytime in the Pop era. They are playing at the 7th fastest pace in the league. They were never ranked higher than 19th in any Pop-coached year.
Defensive rating estimates points per 100 possessions and thus accounts for pace. By that metric the Spurs currently have the 7th best defense in the NBA.
Well, maybe now the league won't cringe if Spurs are in Finals now.
It is easier to "demphasize" defense when the tools are not there. Duncan is not close to the same defender. Ginobii is definitely slower. And there is no Bowen. Parker has never been a great defender. Blair is way short. Jefferson does not study film like Bowen and even if he did the quick feet and hands are not there... (Splitter please come through for us is the mantra)Strange turn this year:
Spurs are allowing more points per game than they themselves had scored per game every season in the TD era. Is this a temporary anomally or are we now a Phoenix Suns lookalike?
Nobody can call Spurs boring any longer, as they are now second leading scoring team in NBA.
The 2005 Finals is rolling over in it's grave.
We have a team that can drain 3's and possibly the best, fast-finishing PG in the league with huge lanes opening up for him. We have a bald guy from Argentina that is incredibly creative offensively. Seems like this is what we do well. And Duncan is still respected down low. He still gets doubled. When Anderson returns it gets even better if his shot is on. Our talent seems to lie in other areas.
I personally shiver at the thought of our D in the playoffs, but the game is being called much tighter. We look at how Boston and LA played really good D last year but they were way better offensively as well.
Nice spin.
Are you in politics?
No Bowen
Not spin. Simple facts.Nice spin.
Are you in politics?
Comparing ppg allowed over a period of years without accounting for changes in average ppg league-wide leaves you comparing apples and oranges.
Even if the Spurs had 2003 Duncan and 2005 Bowen, they'd still be giving up more points now than they have in the past just because of the league-wide changes in pace.
That said, they clearly aren't the defensive juggernaut of years past, especially on the perimeter. McDyess has improved the interior defense somewhat, but they are no longer an elite defensive team. I think their only chance at eventually becoming one is if Duncan and Splitter develop into a Twin Towers Lite, but I'm beginning to have some doubts about that happening.
We need to pick up our defense big time, for 48 minutes, if we want to make it to the Finals.
It's the Spurs, the League will cringe no matter what.Well, maybe now the league won't cringe if Spurs are in Finals now.
They're still boring; just boring more times per game.
If you ask the Spurs to a man what they need to improve on, they all say "defense". Somebody is emphasizing it.
I think he is looking ahead t the Lakers in the playoffs.Strange turn this year:
Spurs are allowing more points per game than they themselves had scored per game every season in the TD era. Is this a temporary anomally or are we now a Phoenix Suns lookalike?
Nobody can call Spurs boring any longer, as they are now second leading scoring team in NBA.
The 2005 Finals is rolling over in it's grave.
No team can match the Lakers in size and you aren't going to be able to beat them with just defense.
With the emphasis on fast breaks and a subtle shift on defense toward steals from just a position based defense, I think Pop is adapting to the new rules and looking for ways to beat the Lakers.
Doc
It's how the Spurs would win this year. They don't exactly have lock-down defenders
The Celtics were near of beating them the last season.
Points per game is a worthless stat. At least back up your argument with relevant statistics.
Finding ways to win regardless of how it comes about builds a lot of character and confidence. So in that regard I am very happy about the way we are playing. It is still frustrating not seeing the Spurs hunker down and get stops when it is needed. The jury is still out on weather that's gonna bite us in the ass later or we improve on it later. But maybe we should be more focused on how we match up with the Lakers this year rather then anything else. We probably still don't match up too well, but it should be better then last year. With the help of Tiago Splitter and the return of the old Tony Parker(mr Laker killer), I think we have much better chances this year.
Jim,Strange turn this year:
Spurs are allowing more points per game than they themselves had scored per game every season in the TD era. Is this a temporary anomally or are we now a Phoenix Suns lookalike?
Nobody can call Spurs boring any longer, as they are now second leading scoring team in NBA.
The 2005 Finals is rolling over in it's grave.
Nice for you to drop by the forum. People were wondering if your wife finally caught you :-)
Regarding the topic, we are not that bad defensively as most people in this board may think. The problem is that you are looking at total points scored/allowed per game, but you are failing to see that the Spurs are playing at a much faster pace.
Currently the Spurs are 7th in the league in pace with 97.8 possessions per game. Just to give a reference of how significant this change has been, the Suns are playing at a slightly lower pace, with 97.3 possessions per game. The fast paced Suns! The Spurs of past were a much lowered pace team, ranked 24th in 05 and 06, 27th in 07, 28th in 08, 27th in 09, and 20th last season. This is by design, since Pop realized that the Spurs were working too much in half court sets over the entire game and he wanted the team to get easier points in transition to be more efficient overall. As a result, a larger number of possessions per game means that opponents will also have a larger number of chances to score, thus the total number of points scored/allowed per game will tend to naturally increase per game.
However, in terms of defensive efficiency, i.e. total number of points per 100 possessions, the Spurs currently ranked 6th in the league, only behind Milwaukee, Orlando, NO, Boston and Miami. To put things in perspective, after the 07 championship when defense started to slip, the Spurs were ranked 4th in 08, 6th in 09, and 9th last year. So if anything, the Spurs are trying to go back to the right path and they are putting some effort to break a historical decline. While there is still work to be done on the defensive end and this assignment is still work in progress, the Spurs are not nearly as bad as most people may believe they are.
The other side of the coin is that the Spurs are scorching hot on the offensive end, scoring at an offensive efficiency of 108.9 points per 100 possessions, trailing only to the Lakers in the entire league.
It is still early in the season, there is still plenty of work to be done, but so far, so good.
Happy Thanksgiving!
The most telling stat as to who the best team in the league is has always been margin of victory. Right now the Spurs are #2 in the league in differential at 9.1 per game. Lakers are #1 at 11.0
That right there should tell you more about where the Spurs are at this moment than any other statistic.
Let's see. I say no. I say Pop is playing it as best as he can with the soldiers he has. We all know that there isn't a Bruce Bowen type player on this team. The team has some good defenders in Manu and Hill and RJ, at least they have some defensive capability but none of those guys are true lockdown defenders. But Pop, still puts them in positions to make plays, to challenge, and to give the Spurs a chance at victory.
With regard to the media. 4-LETTER. They suck balls. They have a show called the Highlight Express. I taped all the 30 minutes and this is how it broke out NBA wise. The first 4 minutes was dedicated to what's wrong with the Heat. I thought well, since the Spurs won a dozen games in a row, then they'll profile that in the next few minutes. Plus it will take time since the game went into OT to get a good highlight. So, I watched the rest, and I saw Phoenix-Chicago, a game that went into Double-OT highlight package ready. Then I saw lot's and lots of college, than hockey and around minute 28, they showed Cleveland-Milwaukee and Mo William's winning shot, which they then followed with a graphic of 4 games, which included the Spurs victory. They host said, "What's up with the Spurs, they can't be beat as they win tonight."
So for a 30 minute HIGHLIGHT show, for a team that's won 12 straight...we get this from ing 4-letter. They suck! I saw more coverage for the NYK 5 game streak than a SAS 12 game one. If the ratings tumble because of their piss-poor coverage of teams like San Antonio, well...it's their own damn fault. That is self-inflicted. David Stern...you're helping them. So screw you too!
The Spurs are playing to their strengths. Another detail is that the team has to adjust for different rivals in the playoffs.
So far the Spurs play better defense at the end of 3-rd or in 4-th quarter than every other team, hence they are the top team in the standings. Against slower or faster paced teams. Even against the Hornets, the Spurs rallied and one missed 3 in the last seconds could have sent the game to OT.
The Spurs didn't have such winning streaks since the championship seasons, Duncan is tanking the regular season and Splitter has yet to make impact.
Defense doesn't win championships, balance wins..you don't have to be an elite defensive team to win a le, if you're an elite offensive team..as long as one of the 2 is there..the Spurs are currently an elite offensive team, which is why it's a good balance..hopefully the balance continues..
Vito Corleone's post about margin of victory is a great point as well, it's usually a good indicator..the other indicator that has been true for the majority of teams in the past is their record vs. teams over .500..
Spurs: #6 def, #2 off
2010 Lakers: #6 def, #11 off
2009 Lakers: #5 def, #3 off
2008 Celtics: #1 def, #10 off
2007 Spurs: #2 def, #3 off
You just have to find a way to have a good balance..the Spurs don't have the defenders to be an elite defensive team, but they're still certainly very good..they do have the weapons to be an elite offensive team though, so they've changed the mentality of the team, which I applaud Pop for..
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
