...and Pop knows that. He's not like us fans. He's smarter than us, so he threw in the towel early, whereas we would've played Tim and Manu the whole game trying desperately to get the win.
Believe me, in a playoff game, Duncan's playing more than 27 minutes, Manu's playing more than 25 and Udoka will be glued to the pine.
That being said, we aren't LA's equal at this time. And we probably won't be in the playoffs. To beat this stacked LA team in the playoffs, we're going to have to play better than we are. We're going to have to hit the 3's we missed today.
LA is still the cream of the crop...but we're right behind them.
I agree.
Except for the last part. I still think we need more pieces in the puzzle.
Unfortunately, I really doubt the FO is going to be able to pull off any kind of beneficial trade, so these are the pieces. If the Spurs are going to beat the Lakers, they're going to need good games from Mason and Bonner. And they will not beat the Lakers if Manu, Mason and Bonner go 2-15 from the 3pt line.
We'll be the underdogs...but sometimes the underdogs win. So I'm not giving up hope.
Pretty sure Pop could see with the Lakers back healthy and basically 100%, they were just tuning up there game. While we were desperately trying to stay with them. Never once did the Lakers have to turn on Kobe. While we were launching 3s, the Lakers were tuning themselves up for HCA. We were still in the game imo, till Pop or Timmy said I aint playing in the 4th. Imo they quit way to early. Oh well......
Spurs need to play defense, simple as that. A good defensive game can make up for a couple of missed sots. Then again, we a missed a lot of wide open shots. Either way, LA was great today, I can't deny them.
It may have been just a regular season game, but it served notice that, even one year later, the Spurs still HAVE NOT closed the gap on their West Coast rivals. Last year was last year. Both Spurs are Fakers are different teams than last year.
The Spurs have the ability to keep these games close if they defend and play flawlessly. On the other hand, they simply do not have the length, athleticism and depth needed to attack this team in the manner in which the Celtics have demonstrated. At this point, the Spurs certainly don't defend well enough to keep this team in the 80's either. That, I believe, will be the ultimate key for this team as the year goes on. Can they improve themselves into a top 5 defensive team?
In case it wasn't readily apparent before this game, the Spurs are badly in need of some additional frontline help. As Texas 2 Step mentioned earlier, it would be nice if they had a slasher on this roster - especially now since Ginobili has evolved into a 3-pt chucker. However, that player isn't coming this year. I'd simply settle for another big that could defend the paint, rebound and give some occasional offense. If Pop and crew had any doubts about that frontline deficiency before this game, I'm sure they don't now.
You are delusional if you think Ian would make a difference.
I hope he will play this year, but a rookie (almost) center will not make a difference against the Lakers. Guarding Bynum or Gasol he would probably foul out in less than 10 minutes.
Pathetic excuses from pathetic fans....
"Just a regular season game"
WTF?
How about a-weak-ass-loser-strategy-by-a-loser-no-heart-coach?
Bunch of losers with a coach that throws the towel before the 4th quarter even started?
And let me remind you Mr. pesky pesky or whatever that Pop-a-zit has done the same during the playoffs as well.
yep, large distance now between WC first and second place is confirmed.
Anymay....... Ian won't play this year.......
Such a large distance that we beat them a couple of weeks ago?
And the spurs lost.
and the Lakers lost 12 days ago.And the spurs lost.
Not an excuse-a fact.
yeah, this weak ass loser of a coach.....4 championships rings will do that to ya!
Wanting to play defense and having the ability to play defense is the issue with the Spurs. I'm sure they all want to, but I honestly think age is an issue now (except with Mason). Fin, Oberto, Thomas; these guys can't move fast enough to cover ground. Bonner never was fast enough.
Mason just played horrible defense yesterday and there was no excuse for his lack of effort.
I think this sums up the problem with the Spurs. If the shots are falling, the Spurs can hang with anybody. But if the outside shots go south, there is no inside game outside of Duncan.
The foul shot disparity is also another indication, the Spurs are jump-shooters, you aren't going to get many fouls on jumpshots. And the fact that the Spurs had to foul the Lakers that many times indicates their lack of interior size. Pau/Bynum shot 17 free throws...more than the entire Spurs team. Some might call this biased refing but if you watched the game, they pretty much all were fouls (even that Pau And 1 from Duncan, he slapped his elbow. Besides, Duncan also got an And1 next trip down).
In addition, I don't know how much of a problem this is or if it is a fluke but Roger Mason had to both defend Kobe and get up his own shots, this also took him out of his game.
Manu and Tony also seem to have forgotten that they can beat anyone off the dribble. I'd look for that trend to change quite a bit come playoff time. The shots will be there once those two start up.
Tony I think has a hard time getting to the rim when KT/OBerto are on the court or Bonner's not knocking down his shots. A 6' guy going in against two 7 footers takes balls of steel.
Manu can get to the rim because of his size and herky-jerky quickness but for whatever reason, he's shooting alot of jumpshots from the games I've seen. I agree, Manu has to be that slasher.
Good analysis.
In the playoffs, I really expect that Manu will put his body on the line more and drive to the basket. And i think Bowen will play more minutes. The fact is, they are old, so Pop has to limit their minutes in the regular season. Playoffs will be a different story. Not saying the Spurs will beat the Lakers in a series, but I think people make too much of regular season games.
that chick in you signature is ridonculous!
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