The Magic are built for the regular season and that's pretty much it. When the playoffs come around they get owned because only one player on their team can play defense.
Said player also struggles on the offensive end and he is their marquee player. Until Howard can develop a consistent low post game and the team as a whole learns the concept of team defense, this team will not advance to the finals.
They already have, but your point stands. I realize it wasn't the same team, but a strong improvement to Howard and less jumpshooting from carter and Nelson could make this team a bonafide contender.
Lots of questions, few answers for this season thus far.
Oh I forgot...they got served too.
And said player also ends up in foul trouble every other game...can't control his flying elbows and his as whining.
What's certain is they won't be reaching the finals again. I guarantee it.
Not within the next 3 years anyway.
All this talk about the East is irrelevant anyways..there's one team that stands in front of the Spurs, and while they're on the decline, the Spurs still don't match up too well against them..
It is all that matters, and both teams are on the decline, however one team is declining from a much higher point.
This. The dogfight has now switched over to the East with Boston, Miami, and Orlando as 3 of the top 5 teams in the league. In the West, after the Lakers, its WIDE open:
1. The Spurs, even though they are aging- you know are going to be there when it is all said and done with the core of Tim, Tony, and Manu.
2. The Mavs, always good in the regular season will be there as well but no one knows how they will end up doing in the post-season like always.
3. No one has a clue what the Suns are going to look like with no Amare and Warrick taking his place. Also with the additions of Hedo and Childress, that team is looking at getting dominated in the paint.
4. The Nuggets are also there, but lets face it they are going to be dealing with Carmelo drama the entire season until they trade him, and then once they do, who knows what they'll look like?
5. The trendy up and coming team in the West is the OKC Thunder, but other than adding Daequan Cook and Morris Peterson, they really didnt change their team. I still think the weak link to their team is Jeff Green- who is an on again, off again type of player. Last year's post-season debut may help them in the long run, but I still believe they are a piece or two from truly contending. Another thing to look out for is that now teams will be gunning for them after the year they had last season.
6. The Rockets are team with a big question mark as well. How long will Yao last? They are always in the thick of things as well, but not enough for me to consider them a " le contender."
7. The Blazers were the OKC Thunder of a year or 2 ago, expected to take that step to the next level- and then Oden got hurt, and hurt, and hurt some more. Oden wasnt the only one hit by injuries, as Roy, Pryzbilla, and Batum also went down last year. They are a good team when healthy, but being healthy is the true problem for them.
8. The Jazz are always going to be a pretty good team under Jerry Sloan. They have a top 5 PG in the game in Deron Williams and have added Al Jefferson after losing out on Boozer. Question is, can Jefferson provide what Boozer brought to the pick n' roll game with Williams?
What is the logic behind saying the Lakers will take a step back?
No one is saying your list was wrong (although many teams could be argued for the 5th spot).
What everyone was arguing was your interpretation of the list. Just because a team is arguably the 5th best in the league does not make them a legit contender.
Are the Spurs contenders? Yes, but they are fringe at best. Are the Spurs arguably the 5th best team in the league? Yes, but at this point, logic and recent history tells us that they are pretty damn far behind those in front of them for the most part. So being the 5th best team (arguably) means nothing in and of itself.
Lets put it this way: The gap between the Spurs and teams above them (excluding Orlando imo who is better, but not miles better) is much, much larger than the gap between the Spurs and the teams arguably below them.
Pop use his players strengths? Nah, man. The system is infallible. There's a genius to using Rodger Mason as a PG, RJ as a power forward, and Anderson, former scoring champion, a defensive specialist and the next Bruce Bowen.
A simple apology would suffice. Many teams? Like who? Dallas? OKC? Denver? Putting any of those teams in the 5 spot is more of a stretch than the Spurs, in my opinion.
I don't think you are interpreting "the list" correctly. I'm not saying it's an automatic lock or that the Spurs will have the fifth best record or that they won't have to have a little good fortune. I'm saying that of all the teams in the league that are built to win a championship. That have the potential, tools, experience and intangibles to win a championship, the Spurs are right in the top 5. Easy. I don't see how this is even an argument.
I think most of us can agree that we saw two different Spurs teams in the playoffs last season. The Spurs that we saw in the Mavericks series was an energized, hungry squad that looked pretty damn dangerous. The Suns series showed us a polar opposite. A banged up, old, slow and defeated team. The round 1 Spurs are definitely a contender. The round 2 Spurs, obviously, are not.
The big question is will the Spurs be the team that beat the Mavs or the team that got "skunked" by the Suns. Will they be better or worse? There are a lot of factors that will contribute to that answer and we all know what those questions are, but all teams have questions and doubts to overcome even the Lakers, definitely the Heat, absolutely the Celtics and Magic. The Spurs are not the only team reliant on chemistry, health, luck and being hot at the right time. Everybody has to play that game.
He's just hoping they take a step back. lol
An apology for what?
Kobe's old and injured. unconscious relaxation after going back to back.
Remember how excited we were at this point of the season last year? Why aren't we at least equally excited right now? We have a better team than last season.
With everyone healthy:
1. Celtics 35% 2010-2011 championship probability
2. Lakers 30%
3. Heat 20%
4. Spurs 15%
5. Magic 0%
Because the Lakers are still the dominant force in the West that the Spurs have to take out if they want to even reach the finals, and if the Heat end up molding well and playing well together, they're gonna be a force. It's not just the big 3 (lol, a big 3 with arguably 2 of the top 4 players in the league, plus a really good big), but they have a pretty nice set of pieces around them. It's not the best bench and role players, but in my opinion better than average, and when you have better than average combined with Lebron, Wade, and Bosh...I just think they'll be too good to stop if they develop decently. And they have all 82 regular season games to do that, and of course their first round of playoff action is guaranteed to be a breeze as they'll likely be a 1 or 2 seed.
But having said that, I'm still exciting for this season, I always look forward to being able to watch the Spurs again, and I just want them to prove people wrong. If they stay healthy I hope they can go far into the playoffs and it's no stretch to say they will. But, as always, way too many factors now to really predict what will happen.
HH is right...unless the Spurs find a legit perimeter defender or one of the pool of prospects miraculously turns into one, they are not contenders.
I have no idea what my percentages are but I'd rank Celtics at 3, behind the Lakers and Heat. Definitely behind the Lakers, since 3 of their 4 most important players are very old now. And like I've said, I think the Heat are gonna be motivated and hungry to get what they all want. I can't imagine a motivated Wade, Lebron, and Bosh failing...but of course the popular projection is not always what happens.
1. Lakers-Heat (I simply can't decide who I think has better chances, I'd consider the difference marginal, and not sure which way at this point)
3. Celtics
4. Spurs
And the list ends there for me because the Magic along with every other team in the league certainly don't stand a chance.
The Suns may not have been all that great, but they were playing perilously close to that level at the time. If not for the Lakers getting lucky at the end of game 5, the Suns may have ended up in the Finals (personally, I still think the Lakers would have won the series though).
But as you surely know, basketball, more than any other sport, is a game of match-ups. If you paid close attention to the season series between the Spurs-Lakers and Spurs-Suns last season, you'll know that it was evident that the Spurs matched up better and played better against the Lakers than the Suns. I'm not saying they'd have beaten the Lakers in a series, but I think they could have fared better against them than they did the Suns.
Even if they wouldn't have, it's mostly irrelevant. How the Spurs finished last season has little bearing on this season. The '09 Suns missed the playoffs. The '10 Suns, with Frye being their only notable addition, made it to game six of the Conference Finals. The '09 Nuggets were swept in the 1st round by the Lakers. The '10 Nuggets made it to game six of the Conference Finals against the Lakers. Granted, they added Billups and subtracted Iverson, but still. I have a hard time believing Billups alone elevated them to that extent.
I get that the Spurs have to prove it, but they shouldn't be easily dismissed because of how they ended last season or because the consensus in the media is they're not contenders.
Other than mobility, the main thing Howard has over Duncan is durability, which makes him more valuable over a long season. In a short series, so long as the Spurs haven't worn him to a nub by then, Duncan is still good enough to at least play Howard to a virtual draw. Even if you don't believe that, the Spurs would still have three of the four best players in the series and Howard isn't James, so it's not like they'd have the best player by a wide margin. Speaking of James, look how that worked out for the Cavs when they ran into the Celtics last season.
The Magic are favored by the media and people who go along with the consensus. If the two teams were to met in the Finals and were both healthy, I wouldn't even consider it an upset if the Spurs won.
Setting themselves up for disappointment? They have one glaring hole and it's not like it's unattainable. For sure, it won't be easy to acquire (without giving him a key piece, at least), but we're not talking about trying to acquire a top fifteen player, either.
Orlando is being overrated. Just like in 2009 it will take something special like an injury to a key player for them to go past Boston or Miami witch are the real contenders in the east.
I do believe the West is much more open than the East and I don't even thing the Lakers will clinch the number one seed as easily as they did the past seasons but if healthy they will turn it on in the play-offs and are the favourites.
So yeah there are 3 real contenders (Miami, Boston, LA), everyone else is far behind at this point even the Spurs.
LOL at even considering Dwight Howard's some sort of "star power" for these playoff scenarios... he's a star in the NBA but he's not the type of dominant force any legitimate contender should worry extensively about. He's just a very athletic big. That's it. He gets great numbers, all due to his athleticism and really doesn't affect a game or series in the way that a true star does.
So, to elaborate, he's just a very athletic big, with no offensive game, terrible FT shooter, and constantly in foul trouble. The Spurs never have problems scoring on the Magic, no one on that team can guard Manu. With a guy like Tim Duncan, you don't have to worry about Howard really, since Duncan, the big fundamental, understands defense in and out. So he knows how to position on players, and that's all Dwight has to establish himself on offense...getting in position, spinning off a noob big man defender and catching alley-oop passes for dunks. That may happen once or thrice a game, who cares.
You may have to prepare to face Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, etc. But LOL Dwight Howard should be the least of anyone's concerns when speaking about the "stars" in the NBA.
I don't think the Spurs should be ranked that high. I mean I need to see how Jefferson and Splitter will pan out before I can be convinced. Right now, the Spurs are a very good team, but definitely not yet in the league of the Heat and Lakers.
I just want the Spurs to go for the kill as early as possible because it has become very difficult to win on the road in the playoffs.
At the end of day, I want the BIG THREE to be healthy and ready when playoff time comes.And oh, if Blair becomes a double-double threat every game, that would be ing amazing
No love for OKC?
I think their athleticism could give us trouble, and we have nothing to throw at Durant. Thoughts?
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