This could end up working in LA's favor again. If Denver knocks out Dallas in four games, they're going to be waiting a long time for LA and Houston to wrap up. There's nothing worse for a team that's playing in a groove than a long layoff.
I think if Lakers do pull past the Rockets, the Nuggets will beat them.
This could end up working in LA's favor again. If Denver knocks out Dallas in four games, they're going to be waiting a long time for LA and Houston to wrap up. There's nothing worse for a team that's playing in a groove than a long layoff.
maybe cause they have superior talent in their benches? seriously now, they might not be the most consistent guys but a bunch of them can light up any given night while the spurs role players are simply spot up jump shooters
And to be honest, I don't think we can just get by with the Big 3 anymore either. If you think about it, we always had a great contributor along the ride. A guy like Horry in '05 and even '07 was very important. In '03 we had Manu, SJax and TP playing the third wheel behind TD and DRob.
We really need to make some moves over the summer if we want to have a realistic chance of contending next season.
Luis Scola with 14 rebounds but Spurs would rather sign Bonner.
Rockets bench have pitbulls the Spurs bench, with the exception of a few, had chihuahuas
See this is the annoying argument. This has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with effort.
The Spurs as a team (meaning some guys showed heart, but most did not) did not play with pride. They did not play playoff basketball.
Fully healthy Lakers vs depleted Rockets is a bigger talent disparity than a Manu-less Spurs vs Mavs. It was clear when you watched the games the Spurs played at no where near the level of the playoff teams remaining. They did not even show up when it mattered.
It was disappointing but with old age comes performances like that. Spurs can get better and they have to if they want to compete while Duncan is a Spur.
Hopefully that changes real soon!!!
Would that be real Chihuahuas or were they actually just stuffed Chihuahuas!I'm ready to get some Pitbulls back on our team.
Pretty simple really. The Rockets have a better team than us and play harder than we do.
Next year is a new year and hopefully we can bring in some guys who have as strong a desire to compete.
they had better coaching
Spurs overachieved this year by winning the Division. But the play for the last third of the season was the most painful Spurs basketball to watch and to attend.
I hate the rockets, but it's great to see them beat the Lakers. I'm convinced now that LA has no chance for a le, or even making it to the finals.Bynum, who was the "missing link", has been non-existent. I don't even think Barkley will find him under the TNT studio desk. Kobe will never win a le w/o a legit big-man like Shaq, which means he's won all the les he's going to already. Lakes still win series, but doomed against Birdman & Co.
As for the Spurs, their failures down the stretch had everything to do with shoddy team defense, and not defending the perimeter. Pop has got to get them back to being a defense/rebounding first type of team. When you have that, it's easy for role players to step in and have an impact because they know the D will keep them in the game, instead of role players coming in the game and thinking, "I need to score".
THE SPURS WILL BE BACK - COUNT ON IT
As for the Spurs
boston and houston's refusal to give up leads me to question the spurs' mentality. i have to admit i am pretty impressed with these two teams playing so well without key players. boston not only lost garnett but also powe. the rockets lost tmac, mutombo, and yao and still manages to push the lakers to the brink. watching these two teams causes me to believe a major purging of the roster is needed. sometimes having a lot of young players means they don't know they're supposed to lose. the spurs, full of veterans, knew they had no chance without ginobili so they accepted their fate.
Agreed, and I think a page has to turned on the Spurs style of play. Basketball needn't be so dispassionate and frankly boring.
Win or lose against LA, the Rockets have more heart than any team in the NBA. The fans should be proud of them. How many teams could get this far losing their two best players?
Rockets have a solid frontline, Scola is an all-round and tough player , Hayes is tough(better than Kurt Thomas), Landry is explosive, Battier and Ron are solid defenders.This make them solid in D, allowing opponents scoring under 90 pts.
While Lakers' frontline Gasol&Odom are soft. IF Kobe scores 15 pts,they all sucks.
In term of Guard position, Rockets' Brooks is fast and Lawry is strong, while Lakers are weak coz Fisher is old and Farmar is lack of experience.
And I think without Yao Ming, Rockets Played harder,while Lakers underestimated them.
Would any Spur outside the Big 3 be in Houston's rotation?
Roger Mason might get Von Wafer's minutes. That's it.
^^ I'm sure w/o Yao rockets could use KT or Gooden![]()
I think it boils down to three things we don't have the talent, we don't have the heart and we got out coached.
Talent:
We have players who are talented but are strictly one dimensional Mason and Bonner they both can only do one thing spot up shooting. It is easy for players to take them out of the game ie...they should not be starters.
Heart:
Manu is the heart of this team and besides Duncan no one comes close to being as competative as him. Tony is competative but to me the differnce is with Tony it's "I have to score more then the other teams star" VS Manu "I just want to win"
Coaching:
I don't care how good our defense is our offense was just plain terrible. I am so tired of seeing players just stand their waiting for the ball that never comes. Also young players play scarred they know if the mess up they will be yanked.....That has to change......
How Kurt Thomas got a free pass from criticism this year is way beyond me. He was a bigger disappointment than Bonner. I never expected much from Bonner to begin with so you can actually say that his 3 pt shooting during the regular season was a nice surprise.
KT, on the other hand. I really expected him to have a good year with us but he just never contributed as much. He was just OK and we needed more from him.
What a sorry year for the team. You can count the good games we played on 1 hand.
Beating Lakers
Beating the Hornets at Home (both games)
Beating Boston on the road
Beating Atlanta on the road (when Atlanta had been playing really well)
Am I missing one ? I didn't count any of the Suns games because the Suns suck and I didn't count the Houston games we won either. I felt we should have won those games and anything less would have been a let down.
The Spurs' style wasn't considered "boring" because the team didn't play with passion, it was considered "boring" because the scores were in the 70s and 80s. There's not a championship run this team made that was done dispassionately. There are a number of playoff failures that were, though.
Agreed for the simple fact he got paid 4.2 mil and did not deliver to that sum. That is why I'm not so hard on Udoka who got just 1.08 mil.
I'm not sure how much had to do with lack of spirit and how much had to do with lack of talent. The Rockets still had two great defenders and the supporting cast is certainly superior in talent
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