I figure this would be of interest, large grain of salt of course.
12. San Antonio Spurs
The more things change: Tiago Splitter, the 25-year-old Brazilian center San Antonio drafted in 2007, is finally a Spur. If the 6-foot-11 Splitter, a Spanish League MVP and all-Euroleague player, is as good as advertised, he'll give Tim Duncan some much-needed help up front and slow the aging process of this proud, once-great team. The Spurs have a great draft history, and they appear to have snagged another player to watch in shooting guard James Anderson, who was a straight-up scoring machine at Oklahoma State. There's been noise about Tony Parker going elsewhere, particularly New York, but the three-time champion remains in San Antonio for now.
The more they stay the same: The Spurs' time has passed, simple as that. They'll win 50ish games and be regarded as dangerous come playoff time, but they're just too old and banged up to go all the way anymore. Only a young stud or two could stave off Father Time, and while good, Anderson and newly minted starter (it seems) George Hill aren't of that caliber.
9. Dallas Mavericks
The more things change: Change has become the norm in Dallas, as owner Mark Cuban keeps searching for that perfect mix to put around superstar Dirk Nowitzki. In that vein, the Mavericks replaced Erick Dampier with Tyson Chandler, a younger, more athletic, albeit injury-prone center. Dazzling second-year guard Roddy Beaubois, a Frenchman who conjures visions of Parker, could signify a changing of the guard, but first he'll have to get healthy: He's expected to miss training camp with a broken left foot.
The more they stay the same: Let's just cut to the chase: As has been the case since 2006, when the Mavericks blew their greatest opportunity ever to win a championship, they have a very good team that's still a notch below the true le contenders. Rebounding was a problem last season, and will be again if Chandler can't stay healthy.
What is with the Mavericks obsession? This team is annually overrated.
The gap between the second tier teams in the West is such that it isn't out of the realm of possibilities that the Mavs could be better than the Spurs, but at the same time, I see no logical reason to predict that they will be.
Do you have the link? Id like to read the rest of the article
Source?
Sounds about right to me.
From this
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insid...ory?id=5499529
On Insider, they're ranking all the teams. 7-12 were done today. Maybe when its done on Friday I'll post it all.
The Spurs were #11 in the NBA in the standings at the end of last season... I'd say they have improved more than at least a few of the 10 teams that finished in front of them, so should probably be ranked a bit higher.
Dallas was #4... business as usual.
dallas?
dallas is just a regular season team who chokes in the playoffs...
is this rankns base on regular season performance only?
A pre-season ranking is such an important factor in order to win a championship.
Spurs are so doomed.
Seems fair, if not pessimistic.
Fact of the matter is, this Spurs season, and the team's future, is really on the bubble, of sorts. Instead of relying on a tried-and-true system of veterans in which the Spurs generally knew what they are getting, this season's success will hang on number of question marks. Will Tim and Manu stay healthy? Will Tony come back to form? Will Jefferson fit in? Will the young guys (Hill and Blair) develop, and will the new guys (Splitter, Anderson and Neal) make an impact? Will Bonner manage to not get constantly pwned while he's on the court?
If even half of these factors turn up on the Spurs favor, then the Spurs could very well be one of the top 5-6 teams in the league. If they go the other direction, then I could easily see the Spurs once again scrapping for another fifty win season and to just make the playoffs.
Now that was just re ed!
The eventual decline of the "quiet" dynasty was bound to occur at some point. It wasn't going to last forever. They couldn't just keep trotting out older, end-of-career, veterans. That strategy simply was no longer working.
Even though there are question marks with this roster and for all intents and purposes this era is likely over, there is also a lot of hope, That hopes comes by way of 4 young, developing players (Splitter, Hill, Blair and Anderson). If Parker decides he really wants to split, and I hope he doesn't, his compensation could net the Spurs even greater returns.
If all goes as planned, that young core should keep the rebuild stage to a minimum and keep the Spurs out of annual trips to the NBA Lottery.
Personally, I'm happy with the manner in which the FO has tried to mitigate the decline. It had to happen sometime.
Oh, I agree. I'm just stating facts as I see them; I'm not arguing against the current situation. This transition was bound to happen eventually, and hopefully the development of some of these young, talented players will make stepping back onto a Duncan-less court a little less painful.
I'm still perplexed at the notion that our "Big three" don't have enough in the tank to get to the Conference Finals or past the Lakers, when an older big-three core in Boston still made it to the NBA Finals just last year...
Doesn't anyone else see that disconnect in perspective...
The odd part is that the cast around our big-three should be way better than last year's...
Boston has a much better supporting cast, that helps makes up for any decline in the older stars(especially on defense).
I don't know about that...
In terms of impact on the game:
Timmy >> KG
Manu >= Jesus Shuttlesworth
Parker = Pierce
Hill << Rondo
Blair > Davis
Bonner << Perkins
Dice = 40yo Shaq
RJ >> Marquis Daniels
Tiago = washed up Jermaine O'Neal
Anderson << Nate Robinson
And personally, the Spurs' big three are better...
Who knows what sort of impact Neal, Temple and Gee will have...
But anyway, I was pointing out the huge discrepancy in the lens BSPN wears when talking about the Celtics and not holding their age against them... versus the lens they use to view the Spurs' 'aging core'...
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