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I wouldn't say Memphis is better or worse. They definitely have the stronger frontcourt. That much is obvious. That, with Parker's poor play, Ginobili not at 100%, and Popovich's man love for Bonner is spelling an epic choke job from the Spurs.
All 3 games have been at a Memphis pace/style. The Spurs can't take away the Grizz's front court advantage, but Memphis has done a great job of taking away San Antonio's 3-point shooting. Memphis didn't even shoot well, and the Spurs got to the line more, yet it was still a loss.
Can these problems be rectified with the current personnel? Is it simply a matter of knocking down shots?
Discuss.
I wouldn't say Memphis is better or worse. They definitely have the stronger frontcourt. That much is obvious. That, with Parker's poor play, Ginobili not at 100%, and Popovich's man love for Bonner is spelling an epic choke job from the Spurs.
Our advantage is our back court, coaching, experience. Well, that's not amounting to in this series.
Having a better backcourt doesn't necessarily translate to success in the NBA Playoffs though. If this was March Madness I'd agree.
So far the Spurs aren't playing anywhere near well enough to win. They should be up 3-0 even with the big man issues. They're just not bringing it.
So you think it's a matter of effort, rather than personnel?
When Parker plays like playoff Beno Udrih... the Grizzlies are clearly the better team.
execution more than anything else. For example, If Parker was playing like we all know he's capable, Memphis is one game away from being swept. His jumper is nonexistent, he's not converting the and 1's and he's committing stupid turnovers.
The point being we are matching them ALMOST with their strengths. All we need is ours to show up and the Spurs roll.
Spurs lost two games by a total of 6 points. The Spurs are playing like crap & I really dont see them playin this way for long!!
Better team... NO
Bigger team, yeah!
He's been uncharacteristically awful, I'll give you that. Is it anything the Grizz are doing, or is it just a funk?
SA's strengths don't equate to post-season success.
If you can't dominate the paint and defend, then you're in trouble. SA is in trouble.
I don't know about you, but in my business size matters.
I don't think they are a better team. The issue really is that Memphis is strongest where you are weakest. You guys got just about the worst first round match up that you could get. And the issue that is making this a series is that you either lack the personnel to adjust and cover those weaknesses or your coach is reluctant to do so by putting that much faith in a rookie. I haven't seen Tiago enough to comment on which of those is the case.
Basically. All it takes is for a team to shut down the 3p line and LA did this to us before, we never adjusted.
I think it's just a funk. Over the years Parker has made mincemeat of opponents interior D on several occasions. Granted, Duncan being past his prime doesn't help but Parker is just making un-parker mistakes at an alarming rate. Could Duncan's age and Ginobili's bad arm be exposing Parker as not as great a guard as we thought? Maybe. But I just think he's ting up the court at the absolute wrong time.
Too bad your team cant match up!
This series could have very easily been 3-0 for the Spurs if Manu din't miss game one and was 100 % for game 3.
That being said there is no other way at looking at it , but Marc and Randolph have been simply outplaying Tim and Dice (although both are playing courageous and still affecitve they are far from their old self) . The Spurs are not doing themselves any favors either by playing bonner and Blair. Call it what it is , Pop's failure to integrate Splitter into the rotation for whatever reason has proven to be the most telling reason for our inability to compete. Sucees in the Playoffs have always been decided in the trenches in the Paint and we simply failed to make use of our resources.
The other story has to be Parker. No way should he be outplayed by Conley. This is the one postion where we were supposed to have a distinct advantage.
On those 3 counts , there goes our season. yeah we still might make it to the second round but unless these 3 points are addressed were not going anywhere
1. Manu being manu
2. Protecting the paint ( Can't teach size , hint : Tiago)
3. Tony has to play like the allstar he is supposed to be
Everyone plays better when Matt Bonner is guarding them.
Here's the thing that's disconcerting though...Parker and Ginobili (awful and injured, respectively) are still getting effective penetration into the lane. Even if Parker makes some of those shots, it's not curing the 3-point woes that ail the entire team. Tim not commanding a double-team anymore also hurts that.
The problem runs deeper than Parker's offensive struggles, imo.
As of now, Memphis is the better team...obviously. Their players are playing harder, smarter, and faster than ours. Tim has been worthless offensively in the fourth quarter of games, Tony's been worthless throughout, Manu's hurt, George Hill left his balls in San Antonio, and the rest of our role players have been bad/awful.
It's obvious that the Spurs expected this series to be easier, and now that they've been punched in the mouth they're starting to get nervous. Game 4 will be a dogfight, but I expect the Spurs to win. If not, this series is over in 6 games, and the Spurs will go down Mav-style.
Maybe the OP is a got...
The Grizzlies are better because Popovich handicapped his team by getting Manu injured in Phoenix...then refusing to play Splitter ahead of Blair/Bonner...he has no one to blame but himself for this embarresment...
You've had a rough day scrah, and I will accept your verbal/typed abuse if it means your anger is redirected from your wife and kids to me. Don't beat them tonight like every other Spurs fan. Don't be a statistic.
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