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That last line...
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-...ern-contendersBut the most surprising part of this little thought exercise?
It's easy to figure out who the Spurs, who won the le in 2007 and constantly flummoxed the rise of those other Western powerhouses (despite a 2006 loss to the Mavericks in a legendary series) are in this analogy.
It's the Spurs.
After the 2008 Western Conference Finals run, the Spurs switched to an offensive-centric approach. Coach Gregg Popovich has talked about how the team had to adapt to the personnel. The result has been an offense that has set the standard for execution over the past five seasons, but has slippped a little bit on the defensive end. They were bad in 20011, flawed in 2012, and very good last season.
So far this season, they're elite. The Spurs enter Friday's action with the second best defense in points allowed per possession and 10th in offensive efficiency. They are destroying everything in their path, basically. The result is a team that while it has looked shaky in some early meetings, has turned it on in the past week and is obliterating its compe ion. They're basically the death star at this point and Tim Duncan still has more shots than points. So it's not fully operational.
That last line...
If this team stays healthy it'll be a of a sight to see how they're running the offense and defense by All Star Break
Anything less than a championship is a failure this year.
what do you mean this year?
It's been ugly and honestly I don't get all ed up like y'all watching the second line-up play donkey ball against some of the WORST teams in the NBA
We haven't faced any real contenders yet(Golden Sate,no Curry and neither team should take any positives from that on court tragedy)
But a W is a W and they all count but once that 2nd line-up actually runs into a team that knows how to play the passing lanes and actual man defense it's gonna be interesting I think.
You're really overrating the rest of the league, especially their 2nd units, tbh
season/yearwhat do you mean this year?
Good old farts always smell, must be San Antonio tacos&burritos that keep Spurs alive
I think he meant that EVERY year, anything short of a championship is considered a failure.
Championship or bust, pretty much
If the Spurs stay healthy they will win the West and go back to the Finals. The rest of the West is weak and flawed to the point where they can be exposed in the playoffs.
And
Have to give the guy credit for the prison rec league uniform comment, I don't agree but funny.
Overrating the Clips and the Timberwolves tbh.
I agree they are contenders (obviously) but even though most teams are flawed & even though the Spurs may be favorites their margin for error is nil. The West IMO is full of a several teams capable of beating each other and it not bring an upset. Spurs have more age/health concerns than the other teams too. But if healthy, they will be right there.
Also, I know ST loves lol'ng every team but the Clips & Hou are still both developing. We don't know their real ceiling quite yet.
yeah I know... I was kidding. It seems like it's championship or bust every year, that's all.
In the last couple of years alone, the Spurs have survived a wave of new, young teams that were supposed to overtake them as lead dog in the West (
Though it's pretty early, they're still one of 3 teams (probably 2 tbh) that has a realistic chance of winning the 'ship this year along with the Heat and the Pacers. The Thunder and Dubs can challenge out West but both those teams would lose to a healthy Spurs team in the playoffs.
As always, health will be a huge factor. But the Spurs are back where they always are, at the top of the conference, and have yet to even play great tbh.
There is such a huge dichotomy in the league now, and it's not symmetrical. Good teams look great because bad teams are atrocious. Spurs are playing like a good team, not a great one, despite their record. Just watch a game or two and see the bad decisions, turnovers and lack of production from the starting 5 most of the time and you'll likely agree. That's not a concern so much for the Spurs organization as it should be for the league. The league needs compe ion every night, not just once a week where a good team meets another good team. When you can play at a D-league level for 3 quarters and still be in striking range in the 4th, your opponent isn't much of a threat.
Then again, the Spurs have, for several years now, been fast out of the gate whereas other teams are taking a month or two to get acclimated to their rotations and roles. Around the break we'll see some teams go on a tear. So it's not how fast you can get up to speed, but how fast you can go when you get there. Spurs rely on getting there quickly, and they have, yet they don't have the most powerful engines in the league, at least on paper. Teams that find their rhythm late in the season can often present a problem for a team that has been moving along at the same pace for a few months.
The only team in the West that matches up well enough with the Spurs to scare me is the Warriors, tbh..I don't think they'll ever win a le with their style of play, but in a 1 series scenario, they could give the Spurs trouble, particularly since Duncan can't stay on the floor against Curry's high pick&roll..
Every other contending team in the West is pretty weak in matchups against the Spurs IMO, especially the Clippers..
Yeah, like what?
Ditto. Warriors strike me as the team that can get hot for a given series and ruin the season for any team.
I also think OKC could be tough, due to the league constant promotion of KD and associated whistles, tbh
RefKC and the fact that they still get treated like the 2000-2002 Lakers when it comes to whistles can still be a tough out in the playoffs tbh.
The difference being that the 2000-2002 Lakers had a legit dominant big man... who happened to suck at freethrows, so it was a good strategy to foul him.
What the league is doing with pizzaface is egregious, tbh...
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