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http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2010...e-contenders/#
5. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
The obvious question: Can the old guys still carry the load for a championship team?
There’s not much original to say here. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are into their mid-30s, and both of them — along with Tony Parker – battled various injuries last season. Again, we can only wait and watch.
The meatier question: Do the Spurs need to overhaul their formula?
The Spurs have won the same way for a decade: with low-risk basketball. On offense, they want one good shot. That means no turnovers and (mostly) no crashing the offensive glass for fear of giving up a transition bucket on the other end. On defense, they want to force you into taking one bad shot. They don’t gamble for steals, and they don’t give you second chances.
The Spurs stretched that model to its breaking point two years ago, when they ranked last in offensive rebounding, drawing fouls on offense and forcing turnovers on defense. They topped the league in the opposite categories — defensive rebounding, protecting the ball and avoiding fouls. It was low-risk hoops, as if implemented by a computer system.
The team made small movements away from those extremes last season, and they may have to continue on that path if they want to challenge the Lakers and the East’s elite. Their personnel demands it. DeJuan Blair pushed the Spurs above the league average in offensive rebounding last season for the first time since 2004-05, when they were right at the league average mark. Blair and George Hill can both swipe the ball on defense, and Hill is a demon of a finisher on the break. Richard Jefferson, once a slasher (I swear!), attempted a career-low 4.1 free throws per 36 minutes last season; the Spurs need that number to jump back up, or their four-year, $38.9 million commitment to Jefferson will be a sunk cost. Parker and Ginobili, if healthy, should get to the line more.
Nice article and right on the money that you cannot discount the Spur's as true le contenders!
2008-09 preview thread
2009-10 preview thread
::cough:: . . . Ahem!
They could be argued at #5, on the same level as a bunch of teams..currently, I wouldn't put them on the same level as Orlando and Boston, but they could definitely reach that level if everything goes to plan(which obviously isn't a given)..I don't think they can reach the Miami/LA level without a legit SF/perimeter defender though..
Isn't Splitter more than just a center? Doesn't he defend the perimeter sometimes too?
Orlando is not a legitimate le contender. They never were. People overrate them way too much. Dwight + 4 jump shooters will once again fail in the playoffs, especially considering Dwight still has no post game. Lewis, Cater, and Nelson = garbage last season.
yeah but they are miles behind the top 4
the only team I think the Spurs could compete with is Miami. IF Tiago + Dice fullfill expectations. Duncan, Blair, Tiago, Dice would kill any Miami frontline
teams that would rape us are Boston, Lakers, Magic
after LA/MIA it's a toss up
West is wide open. Lakers are going to take a big step back this year IMO and all the rest of the teams are pretty even. We could finish 1 or we could finish 7 again but IMO closer to the top. Having Boston,Orlando and Miami in the east is very nice since I view those 3 teams as the best in the NBA next season.
Correction after LAL it is a toss up - the Heat look pathetic without either James or Wade on the floor despite one good stretch last night. That team has no shown no depth as of yet.
Last edited by Rummpd; 10-14-2010 at 02:41 PM.
r u serious?
any team looks pathetic without their top 2 players, plus, it's preseason
I highly doubt you will see both Wade and James off the floor at the same time, during the regular season.
Granted but you would think the others on the team would be trying to establish themselves and so far they have not shown much. Not discounting the Heat but they need to prove they are a full team, not just two superstars + Bosh however you rate him.
Below is part of a great articelhttp://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20054/the-heats-old-slow-bench on this issue:
Pat Riley and his staff get an A+ for how they handled the offseason. They got the big things so right that it almost didn't matter how they handled the little things.
However ... Let's be clear. Not all those little things went perfectly. If they gave separate grades for signing role players, the Heat staff would get a D for that.
If for some reason this team does not work out, if there are not rings for everybody in the years to come, it's worth noting that Riley and company had countless options in filling out this roster. They could have scoured Europe and the D-League. They could have coaxed all kinds of players to play alongside these stars. They could have used their vast scouting apparatus to uncover some gem.
The opportunity was huge. Instead, they are left almost entirely without young, developing players, and with a major shortage of bench athleticism and speed. With hardworking veteran leadership they have a great environment to get the best out of impressionable young athletes -- yet there are hardly any of those guys in Heat camp. With unbelievable quickness and size from the perimeter stars, the Heat has the chance be the the fastest team in NBA history -- but not with brittle aging athletes like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Juwan Howard or James Jones on the floor.
Imagine if an executive with less juice -- say Billy King in New Jersey -- had filled the bench with the crusty half-dozen of Jamaal Magloire, Carlos Arroyo, Ilgauskas, Howard, Jones, and Eddie House (while drafting Dexter Pittman, Jarvis Varnado and Da'Sean Butler).
If someone besides Riley-on-a-hot streak had done that, they would have said indecent things about him on talk radio for three weeks, and he's have been left fighting to keep his job to the end of preseason.
When is the last time any one of those players had a great game, or even a decent season?
I don't consider them to be a legitimate threat right now either, but they're still currently a tier above the Spurs..
The Heat have only played 2 serious games so far(games where Lebron played 15 minutes or more, pretty much), and they dominated Detroit, and beat a very hyped OKC team, despite their 2nd best player not even playing(a top 3 player in the NBA, too)..
If you're basing it on preseason games, then you would have to take points off the Lakers, since they look terrible so far..basing anything on preseason games is stupid..
I agree with the Spurs being a Top 5 team (health permitting), but they aren't true contenders just yet...
1. Lakers
2. Celtics
3. Heat
4. Magic
5. Spurs
Putting the Celtics above the Heat is just silly..they only have 1 serious advantage over Miami(defense in the paint), and that advantage completely depends on Perkins' health, which is far from a given at this point..
Boston is probably the most overrated team in the NBA right now..if they make the Finals, I'll never post here again..
I came up with the same exact list a couple of months ago and got miles of for it . . . I look like a goddamn clairvoyant right about now.
Ridiculous. Why? Because they have a one-dimensional (although admittedly dominant) center, old, choking VC, Lewis, Nelson and an unimpressive bench? The Magic are good, but they aren't THAT much better than the Spurs. One could argue that the Spurs' championship pedigree puts them slightly above the Magic.
Silly? Aside from the fact that the Cs are the defending EC champs and the Heat haven't done yet?
Go Celtics!
The list is subject to change throughout the year (no ), but to put Miami ahead of Boston right now is pure ignorance. Miami hasn't proven a damn thing yet, and as Ohm said they are the defending EC champs. Besides having a MASSIVE ADVANTAGE in the paint (where I'm pretty sure it matters in the playoffs last I checked), the celtics bench is better and Rondo>>>>>>>whatever POS the Heat play at PG
Too many unknowns for too many teams. Putting LA at a (mostly) undisputed #1 is all I can do.
Incorrect.
Correct.
Orlando is TERRIBLE compared to what they've been hyped to be the past year. They are a good team but they won't ever win a championship, they're missing a lot. They just ran through 2 overrated teams in the playoffs, stumbled to the floor when they hit a decent playoff opponent.
I think the Spurs can definitely beat the Magic, and definitely compete with Boston. I honestly think the Lakers were the only other team other than the one that ended our run last season that could beat the Spurs. Of course, this is a new year, you have older Spurs and Celts but a meatier Boston team, and at least Rondo is a young star they have that's improving. And now the Miami show as well, so it's a different story.
But back to the Magic.... I completely disagree, of all the teams that are regularly considered contenders by media and popular opinion, I think they are the ones on a completely different (lower) level in playoff scenario. Any of the others would stomp them.
Jesus Christ people do you guys watch and understand basketball?
LOL Orlando is NOT a good team!!!! OK fine they're a great team during the regular season in their weaker conference overall, at least definitely last year, and when the games don't matter. They cannot beat the Celts, Lakers, Spurs, or Heat in the playoffs. Not even close.
Carter missing those free throws cemented his status as career underachieving loser.
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