There are many fans & haters, new, old, & in-between who say the Spurs are done.
Why the negativity? Is it because of their record? Let's see, a myriad of injuries to members of the REAL BIG 3. New players. Youthful exuberance coupled with bone-headed mistakes that cost the Spurs some close games. Despite that, people look at that Conference record standing and see 7th or 8 place. What you should really be looking at is how many losses each team has. That's it.
So if you look at it like this:
Lakers 19 Losses
Denver & Dallas 25 Losses
Utah & Phoenix 26 Losses
OK City 27 Losses
San Antonio 28 Losses
Portland 29 Losses
The Lakers, had a 7 game winning streak of which the only win that was newsworthy, was the one against the tired Spurs. Truthfully, they have been going through a malaise for the last month or so. Having said that, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook proving once again that Derek Fisher and his backups still have issues with SPEED and AGGRESSIVENESS which resulted in a 91-75 win. A game that was literally decided by halftime.
Should TP be healthy, then the Spurs have that type of weapon again. Let's hope he is healthy and that George can keep up his intensity in the playoffs.
Denver had just lost to the Bucks, Knicks and Celts and just squeaked by Toronto. There are other prevalent issues, like Coach Karl's availability due to his courageous battle with Cancer and Kenyon Martin's knee issues look like they will be an issue for the rest of the season.
Dallas is Dallas, after the long winning streak, they've played some inconsistent ball losing 4 out of their last 6 including a blowout loss to the Knicks, the Hornets, and a double-digit loss to the Blazers. They remain an enigma.
Utah isn't quite the dominant team that swept the Spurs 4-0 this season. They are 6-4 in the last 10 and got blown out this evening by the Pacers. They're the team that has potential to be upper echelon but they haven't done it for a long enough period of any time to qualify.
Phoenix is playing solid ball. They've strung together some scores reminiscent of a time when The Iceman, George Gervin ruled the scoring les. Having said that, they will have to be able to play defense and garner rebounds when the slower, more physical playoffs starts. Can they just outscore everyone to a le? Remains to be seen, but in today's NBA, that hasn't been done. Even the Showtime Lakers played D when it counted. Phoenix doesn't have that much quality size after Stoudamire, even though they have 2 7-footers in Robin Lopez & long-range shooting big, Channing Frye. I will say Louis Amundson is a gamer in the mold of Eddie Najera but again, for him to be on the court means that PHX has to slow down their game.
Oklahoma City is showing the NBA that Clay Bennett was smart to pry Sam Presti away from the Spurs. He's put together a team with a strong mix of speed & youth who are growing right before our eyes. Whoever has to play them in the 1st round will find the road to the semi's difficult. They have a scorer who can score in a variety of ways, whose gangly long arms remind some peeps of the aformentioned Iceman, and has a solid young PG in Westbrook, a good perimeter defender in Sefalosha, and some solid role players in Collison, Green, & Kristic. They ain't deep, but it's amazing what young legs can do.
Portland is a team in transition...Screw you TLong, your team has some serious issues and looks to be in a transitory state with all of their front office firings. They will only go as far as Brandon Roy can take them and with their lack of familiarity due to all the trades from all the injuries, just how fast can Nate McMillan integrate these guys into the cohesive unit that the Lakers fear? It's going to be a tough road and has been since Oden & Pryziballa went down. They do have a lot of heart and they're winning the games against the lower tiered teams they've faced, but against the top 8? Since the beginning of February, the Blazers are 2-6 against current Western Conference Playoff team.
So again, why all the hate and disgust? The main differences here is that the Spurs aren't looked upon as as upper-tiered because of their EARLY inconsistencies. Big ing Deal, they weren't looked upon as upper-tiered in 2003 either. That doesn't mean I think that they should be looked at as favorites to win one for the thumb, but at the same time...WHY NOT THE SPURS?
They are playing a better brand of basketball and looking at how hard they played against both the East & West's current best teams to a hotly contested 1-1, they are capable of playing upper-echelon teams when rested and focused.
Positivity, it's a good thing. Come to the Nexus!
Last edited by Man In Black; 03-27-2010 at 12:29 PM.
How about this theory.
The 2d year after an exodus of "clutch" veteran contributors, the Spurs tend to surge.
It takes a down year after the loss of those type players to rebuild and integrate younger players into big game situations.
It happened in '03 after an '01 exodus of the old '99 champ Spurs (Sean, AJ) and Derek Anderson.
It happened in '05 after an '03 exodus of DRob, Jack, etc.
In '08, late game artists Horry and Barry left (and Bowen's role was severely diminished), so . . .
the duncan "slightly limping" out the locker room news has destroyed my night.
Mine too.the duncan "slightly limping" out the locker room news has destroyed my night.
It's time for RICE and Tim will be fine.
great read.
Spurs are done. Frickin Tim Duncan can barely walk.
Look it's the Negativity Jester.
If barely walk means 35 minutes of double-double play come playoff time, then I agree with you. He ain't TD Version 2003, he's more like DRob Version 2003 and with the right mix of players and determination, that was good enough for San Antonio to win me 15-1 in Vegas. I got 12-1 this year...you never know.
You could continue to wallow in your negativity sequspore, me, however? I'm content in taking a look at growth and brand of basketball, and what they've given us the last week has been eerily reminiscent of Silver & Black winning teams. Teams where the WHOLE is greater than the INDIVIDUAL parts. True there are still some hiccups, but despite that, even without an All-NBA point guard playing, this team is getting better and the kicker is TP will be back before the end of the season and the silver lining to him having a hand injury that is almost healed is that it allowed him the time for his legs to get rest. If I'm right, that guy will be Blackbird fast come playoff time.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/loc...-blackbird.htm
Stand up on a tall ladder and view a different perspective.
I could be wrong...BUT WHAT IF I'M RIGHT?
Positivity, it's a good thing. Come to the Nexus!
According to most, the Spurs have been "done" since around 2004. I'll take my chances, thanks.
Positives:
- ball movement
- Hill
- Manu
- team spirit
- getting better and better
Negatives :
- rebounding
- 4th quaters
- roles players not helping in scoring
- Jefferson , Mason
- short bench
Damn, this team need healthy Parker. And Suns in 1 round
Good luck with that...
Okay, so let's say it's Denver in Round 1, no George Karl, no Kenyon Martin...then are you negative-nags still saying that a Spurs team with TP back...cannot win?
If it's Phoenix, I tend to think that Gregg Popovich is their Texas version of Kryptonite.
If it's Utah, I really wonder if they can beat a healthy Spurs team. Due to scheduling, the Spurs faced them early and often during a time when all of the Big 3 was afflicted with knick-knack injuries.
So what say you NN'ers? (Negative Naggers)
Last edited by Man In Black; 03-27-2010 at 10:07 PM.
Dude...Spurs are gonna get the 7th or 8th seed.... They don't have a in chance in in gettin past the first round...
You should know that Cleveland doesn't match up well with the Spurs... But the Nuggets, the Jazz, the Lakers and the Mavericks own them right now... It's not even close...
You know, I am not surprised that you came all over your keyboard with last night's win...Yes, it was a good win, but the first man off the bench is Matt Bonner....
Not a ing chance....
Until they have the size and talent on the frontline where they can beat the lakers 4 out of 7 forget about it.
I simply don't see this team winning 4 7-game series. The shutdown D that we could turn on at will during the championship era is simply not there any more, and the O is too inconsistent.
That being said, I will really enjoy watching us give fits to a team or two in the playoffs before we bow out, and this season has added valuable experience to our youngsters. The season hasn't been a failure even though expectations were sky high, it's been more of a learning experience and a portent for the next few years.
We'll see small fry. The world is full of surprises. I'm sure people look at you and think, no chance in he'd be able to find a wife that understands him...but Lo & Behold, you got one. See, the world is full of surprises.
The Banzai Pipeline is one of the world's most dangerous waves. 3rd Reef waves come winter can go up to 20 feet and be blazingly fast with coral reefs just a few feet underwater. You never know how long the ride is going to be, so what do you do? Your charge it like and ride as long as you can and hope to get barreled. That is what I expect the Spurs to do, charge like , ride for as long as they can, and then go get barreled. I can't understand why you guys come to root at all? The games have to be played do they not? Ask Kentucky about how they were supposed to win it all, especially after Kansas went down to Northern Iowa.
The Spurs will paddle out into the lineup, they will see a large, powerful wave rise off the reef, they will charge it, stand up...and then ride for as long as they can!
If this is indeed the end like you NN peeps say, I can say that the Spurs have given their fans a ride that no other team in Texas has ever given.
Figures, a dip like you would compare college basketball to the NBA. Most of these teams in college have never played each other. They get one chance. In the NBA, teams play teams in their own conference 4 times. So try a different analogy Karate Kid.
Dude, I am glad you have faith, that's good. I am a Spurs fan also, but I am not blind to the fact that they suck balls against the top 5-6 teams in the West. I know you have a problem seeing out of those eyes but how the do you see them taking out any of them?
The only chance they have is to maybe play Ian and give the rest of the league a different look and hopefully Ian can be a little better than the Super RashoMan....
I just picked up some Sweet and Sour Chicken and a Egg Roll... Maybe that will help.
FO.
Past tense littlefoot. All that regular season crap doesn't mean anything. At the end of the year, the Spurs will be who they are inchworm. ThatYou say you're a Spurs fan but all one really has to do is read your posts and then they'll know that what you are is a Spurs zealot. It's like you want us to overthrow our own fan values. Don't be a and dictate to me what a Spurs fan should feel.Dude, I am glad you have faith, that's good. I am a Spurs fan also, but I am not blind to the fact that they suck balls against the top 5-6 teams in the West.
Some of us "other" kind of Spurs fans are going surfing. The sets are rolling in, the water is warm, the girls in teeny bikinis are watching...it's time to ride!
What did Jamal Mashburn say at halftime NN'ers to the question, "If Manu keeps like playing like this and Tony Parker comes back healthy...Can the Spurs contend out West?
That's not a fan opinion, that's an opinion of a former NBA All-Star who is now a broadcaster on a major network who is not named Sean Elliott.Yeah, they definitely have a shot, talking about guys with playoff expereince, won championships together. Tony Parker can definitely get into the lane and cause a defense a lot of havoc and that's one of the weaknesses for the Los Angeles Lakers is at the Point Guard position. So if, the San Antonio Spurs fall to the 8th spot, they can give a challenge to the Lakers
Tough Week but ended winning 2 tough games at the end.
They went 3-2 but we all know, they should have went 4-1.
This team can be a threat.
my only issue with this year's team is the fact that they lack the clutch factor when trying to close out games. if you look at all 28 losses, at least 15-20 of them could have been victories if they were more clutch. if they could have played Spurs defense, made free throws, made open shots, and have better ball security. in most of these games, they are close with 2-4 minutes left in the game.....then they fall apart. They miss open shots, even in the paint. They miss free throw after free throw. They get careless with the ball and have loads of turnovers. They play Suns style defense. They don't box out, which allows so many offensive rebounds and second chance points for their opponents. It is so frustrating to watch them this year.
It is one thing to get your ass whooped night in and night out. It is another to have such a veteran team, a championship caliber team and have them just fall apart in the closing moments of games, especially games they should win......games vs crappy teams, home games, games where the opponent is missing key players.
So my only beef with this year's team is that they can't close out games like they did from 2003-2008. Cause if we could, we would easily be the top seed in the West, if not the entire NBA.
Disregard the record. Just based on the way the Spurs are playing right now, are you saying they still do all that you listed above? If you talk about the way they've played for this past week, I'm encouraged that the Spurs are doing what they're doing despite the loss of an All-NBA Point Guard.
@RealSkipBayless Man, just as everyone keeps telling me, Spurs look old, tired, lost -- especially Manu. Saw it Fri. nite vs. "King" James, tonight at Celts. about 4 hours ago
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