Reply With Quote
IIRC, Spurs are 7-2 against them in the last 9 outings....
BUT, I think they're the toughest team in the west, thus I wouldn't want anything to do with them until the WCF if either team gets that far...
I understand the Spurs recent ownage of the Thunder which brought the series to 1-1, that was an impressive win and it really brought the Thunder down to earth, but I need to see more proof.
I'm watching this decent Chicago team and how OKC are just pummeling them with no regards. Sure, Rose is absent but the Bulls have been pretty good without him.
OKC has beat all the contenders with ease. Miami, Lakers, Chicago, Dallas and Miami.
They are seriosuly so good, they almost have no weakness. Durant, Westbrook and Harden can torch any perimeter defense. Ibaka, Collison are such great hustle defensive players. Perkins is playing better recently too. Scott Brooks has the teams respect and I like the discipline he instills in these guys. And just in case they need another big time clutch shooter, Fisher is an option, though he's really not needed since Durant and Westbrook are lethal in late game situations.
And, oh, they look like they will have HCA throughout the playoffs and they get tons of calls at home.
People say the West are wide open, but I don;t know if thats true. It looks like the Thunder and then the rest of the compe ion. Can San Anotnio really beat the Thunder which is a deadlier version of Memphis Grizzlies?
IIRC, Spurs are 7-2 against them in the last 9 outings....
BUT, I think they're the toughest team in the west, thus I wouldn't want anything to do with them until the WCF if either team gets that far...
Every team has fluke wins and loses. Really won't know till the 7 game series.
OKC is a very good team but I'll still take the Spurs to win it all. Spurs and OKC in west, and Spurs Miami in finals.
Let me add that some Spurfan think we have a favorable matchup, more favorable than against the Lakeshow, and I disagree...
Thunder doesn't have offensive bigs to attack our bigs.
Also I like the match-up for Duncan. Perkins is too slow for him and doesn't have the length of Bynum or M.Gasol. Duncan has a size advantage against Ibaka and Collison.
OKC is a jump shooting team, like the Spurs..they have no interior scoring to expose the Spurs' primary weakness, which is their interior defense..I'll take the Spurs chances against any jump shooting team, tbh..
My only concern with OKC is officiating..they are the most ref-reliant team in NBA history IMO..we'll see what type of whistle they receive in the post-season..
Thunder only weakness is post scoring. So if you can frustrate them inside.....but SA doesn't have the bodies to do that
we would need HCA and Westbrook to go full Kobe mode to have a legit chance, imo.
So true. This should be a legitimate concern for every team out there. Durant is a foul magnet. Matter of fact, if you wear a Thunder uniform you're automatically en led to visit the free throw line with minimal contact. Its absurd!
I like how Duncan toyed with Ibaka last time, but can he really do this in a 7 game series? I don't know if Duncan still has "it". Collison and Ibaka, heck the whole team have been pretty brutal inside, defensively.
I don't even want Miami to face them. OKC>Miami in terms of depth. It would take a huge series from lebron and wade to overcome OKC's tremendous depth.
I take sa over okc in the playoffs, lol using a bulls team without rose as a barometer. Thunder's jumpshooting tendencies will not be as effective in the playoffs, see spurs last year, much good it did them. Also, thunder relative inexperience and westbrook's dumbassery will be exposed in the pressure packed playoffs. Add to all this, the fact that spurs have had good success against them in recent years, gives spurs sufficient advantage, imo, tbh.
The season series is at 2-1, not 1-1.
Yes, the Spurs can beat them. I'd take the Spurs to beat all but 2 teams in the West.
tbh even though Dallas lost the season series against OKC, it could easily be 3-1 Dallas. I'm definitely not a big believer in us making a serious run but I actually think we could beat OKC because of matchups.
The Grizz and Lakers are the two teams that I would favor over the Spurs. A healthy Rudy Gay would really help the Spurs. And this version of Kobe would also be a huge weapon for the Spurs to shut down Bynum/Gasol. If Kobe gets injured or goes down, then the Spurs have no shot against LA.
CR I have been saying the same thing ...
Obviously Westbrook is key of course, because we know KD will score.
But as you point out they get so many calls especially at home. The foul call on Pau was typical (and Im not even mad because at least teh refs are consistent) of the calls they get AGAINST everyone.
Perkins gives them a thug. Collison takes the charges and Ibaka blocks everything within reach. Perk Westbrook and Ibaka have improved their mid-range. Like I said in the game thread people on here have been dismissing OKC even more than the Spurs as le contenders.
I dont see anyone in the West beating them we had to play well just to hang with them for 2.5 quarters. Also dont forget that Dfish is a noted spur killer and I agree Magic and Wilbon having Fisher and Perk as leaders is great.
I thought they were the best in the West but lacked experience, but now i think they are legit le contenders.
Meh, I think we can beat them. I am not very convinced of the Zombie Sonics at all.
If Kobe doesn't take 50 shots a game and they actually pound the ball inside the Lakers are still a more dangerous team.
If Kobe got injured Spurs would win the series. If Kobe started passing we would probably lose.
The Bulls was not the barometer. I was actually impressed when they beat Miami and then beating the Lakers for the second time in Staples. The Lakers were really prepared for that game and they wanted to win that game (ask Giuseppe) but OKC came there and just embarassed them.
Because the average Spur fan (Laker fan too) are dumb ...
If Kobe plays that way, it will be close. I'd still pick OKC over the Lakers in 6 or perhaps 7 games. They too good at home and like Harlem said, this team gets tons of calls.
Griz and Lakers have something the Mavs, Thunder, Clippers, etc don't have, skilled size on both ends of the floor. The Spurs genuinely have that with Duncan/Splitter playing together, but they aren't at the level of Randolph/Gasol or Gasol/Bynum. And Tiago and Duncan probably won't see floor time together so it doesn't really matter. If the Spurs sent out Tiago-Tim-Kawhi/Jackson-Manu-Tony then I'd at least feel like they have a shot. But sadly we'd probably see Blair and Bonner playing important minutes and that's just not going to compete with the opposing lineups of Memphis and LA.
Well OKC's speed gives the Lakers some problems. But the Mavs seem to be able to live with that. The games OKC has won over us this year, one was on a bs Durant 3pointer at the buzzer, and the other with same shady calls in the last minutes.
Just saying, we play them very tough.
My dream Mavs playoff route right now would be: a 4th seed playing against the clippers, then okc in the 2nd, and then the survivor of the LA-SA-Grizz part of the bracket. I think that part is much tougher and I want the Mavs to skip those teams for as long as possible.
Correct. And their "fans" are as bad, too. I recall the last Mavs game vs. OKC. The Thunder went to the line 33 times and the Mavs just 10, but some OKC fans were still complaining after the game the refs didn't call every "foul" the Mavs "committed". Pure crap. Based on the opinion of OKC fans it seems that every game in which the Thunder don't get +30 FTA and the other team gets much less is rigged...
Honestly, if the Spurs face OKC in the playoffs, I'll keep my fingers crossed for the Spurs. I don't like them, but I hate OKC even more. There is no other team protected by the refs as much as OKC (not even Miami).
Free Throw Attempts
1. Dwight Howard-ORL 551
2. Kevin Love-MIN 421
3. Kobe Bryant-LAL 416
4. LeBron James-MIA 387
5. Blake Griffin-LAC 384
6. Kevin Durant-OKC 374
7. John Wall-WAS 318
8. Russell Westbrook-OKC 310
9. James Harden-OKC 305
10. DeMarcus Cousins-SAC 292
Can't recall the last time 3 players from the same team being in the Top 10 of FTA.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
