Spurs: Are the Spurs peaking too early?

[ElNono]

Solid back-to-back 30pts trouncing of Rockets-Bobcats, the latter delivered on the road, and this is while missing a starter (Leonard) and a rotation guy (Jack). Duncan playing out of his mind too. Is this sustainable, or the Spurs are just peaking too early?

Wanted to know what non-Spursfan thought, tbh, but comments from anyone welcome.

[midnightpulp]

Nah. Spurs are a very, very good team and a legitimate contender (inB4 smartass comments about regular season championships), but the conference is OKC's to lose. No matter how efficient and well-oiled the Spurs' offense is (their defense isn't looking too bad, either), a playoff series between two relatively even matched teams often comes down to who has the better superstar. Spurs don't have a guy who can average 25-28 points over a series and deliver a 40 point game when his teammates are looking for a way to choke, whereas the Thunder have the best player in the Western Conference.

I also hate the way the Spurs match-up with this year's Clippers. Don't really want to see them in the playoffs.

Any other team out West the Spurs can handle.

[Chris]

Pretty much what Mid said, though I'm not scared of the Thunder w/o Spurs killer James Harden. I see the Spurs easily getting to the Finals with a healthy big 3.

[rayjayjohnson]

No.

Spurs are making the rest of the NBA, aside from a couple of teams, look like the D league.

[rayjayjohnson]

Nah. Spurs are a very, very good team and a legitimate contender (inB4 smartass comments about regular season championships), but the conference is OKC's to lose. No matter how efficient and well-oiled the Spurs' offense is (their defense isn't looking too bad, either), a playoff series between two relatively even matched teams often comes down to who has the better superstar. Spurs don't have a guy who can average 25-28 points over a series and deliver a 40 point game when his teammates are looking for a way to choke, whereas the Thunder have the best player in the Western Conference.

I also hate the way the Spurs match-up with this year's Clippers. Don't really want to see them in the playoffs.

Any other team out West the Spurs can handle.

not sure i agree, as much as i hate the slimy little frenchman, TP has the skills and the resume to be that guy

[midnightpulp]

Pretty much what Mid said, though I'm not scared of the Thunder w/o Spurs killer James Harden. I see the Spurs easily getting to the Finals with a healthy big 3.

Harden's departure is definitely a cause for hope. If he stayed, the Spurs would have about a 5% chance of beating the Thunder in the playoffs. Now, they have about a 25% chance. But even with Harden gone, the Thunder have plenty of Spur killers in Thabo (him on Parker is what changed the series), Ibaka, and the ultimate Spurs' serial killer Kevin Durant, who averaged 29.5ppg, 7.5rpg, 5.3apg, 1.7spg, 1.5bpg on 53% shooting. And this was against Leonard and Jackson, two very capable perimeter defenders.

Probably the best singular playoff series performance against the Spurs since Hakeem (although Dirk's '06 series is right there, as well).

[midnightpulp]

not sure i agree, as much as i hate the slimy little frenchman, TP has the skills and the resume to be that guy

Problem is Thunder have this guy:

[D12]

Nah, they haven't peaked. Which makes them all the more scarier.

The Spurs are a notch above the Thunder. No matter what other people say about KD and his supers om. Getting rid of James Harden will be OKC's kryptonite when it's all said and done.

[UZER]

Harden covered westbrooks bonehead mistakes and ran the point when he started acting a fool. There is no where to hide him now.

[HI-FI]

ElNono, it's a good question and I've thought about it too. One reason I don't think we're peaking early is that it's not like we are riding a few guys for this one. That's usually what happens with teams that peak early, they let a few guys carry the team until they are worn down and tired. Spurs are getting lots of rest while letting the bench really become it's own monster, plus things will get even more complex once Jack and Kawhi are back. We need the rest of the regular season to really get all parts and combinations working together perfectly, so we have a lot of work. but like midnightpulp said, we don't have that superstar and Stern loves him some superstars, so its an uphill battle.

Nah, they haven't peaked. Which makes them all the more scarier.

The Spurs are a notch above the Thunder. No matter what other people say about KD and his supers om. Getting rid of James Harden will be OKC's kryptonite when it's all said and done.

I hope you're right.

[rayjayjohnson]

pop needs to take them to the finals, get up 3-0 and sit his starters.

shame LBJ ain't letting that happen, but I'd almost want to see that.

[racm]

Problem is Thunder have this guy:

The reason OKC won was because Manu and Tim were playing mediocre, tbh. Now Tim is playing his best season in years and Manu hasn't been needed as much, tbh. Tony was doing fine but the Thunder role players hit shots and the Spurs role players didn't.

[TimDunkem]

How can they be peaking without two of their best players?

[midnightpulp]

The reason OKC won was because Manu and Tim were playing mediocre, tbh. Now Tim is playing his best season in years and Manu hasn't been needed as much, tbh. Tony was doing fine but the Thunder role players hit shots and the Spurs role players didn't.

It was more about Thabo disrupting the pick-n-roll than locking down Parker. Beforehand, Parker was killing teams with his playmaking, which forced the opposing big to step out and help, usually resulting in a Parker floater or a dump off to Duncan for an easy basket. This is why there was so much talk about the WCF "not being the series for Kendrick Perkins." He was too slow to defend the pick-n-roll and couldn't handle the Spurs' overall speed. Then Brooks put Thabo on Parker. His length proved to be effective in shutting down the passing lanes. The move turned Parker from playmaker to scorer and put Duncan back into the low post, where he would have to battle with Kendrick Perkins (one of the league's best low post defenders) and Serge Ibaka (remember how awful the Spurs' offense looked when they countered with force-feeding Duncan?). Sure, if Duncan was 25, Brooks would've been ed and the Spurs win the series. But asking a 35 year old with bad knees to fight those two down on the block for the rest of the series was too much to ask, especially when you no longer have the suffocating defense to grind out games in that manner.

The Spurs didn't have a counter for that switch. And they still don't. Theoretically, it would be Duncan in the post, which Pop tried. But again, Duncan is long past the days where the Spurs can ride him through block, not to mention the offense is built very differently from those past teams. The next move would be exploit the Manu/Westbrook matchup, but Manu hasn't had a consistent playoff series in years. He'll score 25 and then in the very next game score 9. OKC has a variety of ways to slow down the Spurs' core, whereas the Spurs have no answer for Durant. He's going to routinely score 28-30 points a game while the Spurs are never sure who is going to step up, if anyone decides to step up at all. And I don't mean just for a game. I mean the whole series.

The only hope is to beat them with a total team effort, which I actually thought was going to happen last year, but Danny Green and Gary Neal had other ideas.

[LkrFan]

Regular Season Warrirs

[DMC]

Not peaking too early. Other teams are lower geared so they take longer to get going, but once they do the Spurs will have reached their highest gear and they won't be able to really hang with the elites. Their system will destroy unprepared teams and monkeyballers (Lincoln), but when the Thunder and Heat get rolling, good ball movement and spot up 3pt shooting isn't going to be as easy, and it's not going to overcome all those turnovers that become dunks at the other end. When good teams clamp down on defense, the Spurs are going to regress to the mean and that might not happen before the post season. You will see teams begin to surge after the break.

[DMC]

Regular Season Warrirs

Firing Mike Brwn for losing regular season games.
Hiring Mike D'Antni to win regular season games.

[ElNono]

Not peaking too early. Other teams are lower geared so they take longer to get going, but once they do the Spurs will have reached their highest gear and they won't be able to really hang with the elites. Their system will destroy unprepared teams and monkeyballers (Lincoln), but when the Thunder and Heat get rolling, good ball movement and spot up 3pt shooting isn't going to be as easy, and it's not going to overcome all those turnovers that become dunks at the other end. When good teams clamp down on defense, the Spurs are going to regress to the mean and that might not happen before the post season. You will see teams begin to surge after the break.

I'll buy this. Spurs kept pretty much the same players after all.

[Manufan909]

I sincerely hope not, but we'll see. Like someone said, I don't know if you can consider a team to be peaking if 2 of their top 6 players have missed a combined 23 games, and there have been only 21 games so far.

The injuries are probably a blessing in disguise though, as Nando has been thrown in the deep end much earlier than expected, and he's been picking up everything blindingly fast.

[Manufan909]

not sure i agree, as much as i hate the slimy little frenchman, TP has the skills and the resume to be that guy

This. Before I read this thread I was going over a possible OKC-SA rematch in the playoffs, and how Tony would need to figure out Thabo for the Spurs to win the series. Harden being gone is a fantastic help, and if Duncan can play at his current level in the POs I think that will be enough to overtake the Thunder.

And I didn't even remember about the possibility that Leonard might continue to improve once he comes back and be a legitimate 4th scorer, or 3rd scorer if Manu doesn't shape up. He just needs to get rid of those damn Statue of Liberty shot attempts that always end up as offensive fouls. Maybe he can incorporate the Euro-step into his game by seasons end?

[Jodelo]

They over the whole league right now. But they also "need" some close games to see where they go then.

[Trainwreck2100]

The reason OKC won was because Manu and Tim were playing mediocre, tbh. Now Tim is playing his best season in years and Manu hasn't been needed as much, tbh. Tony was doing fine but the Thunder role players hit shots and the Spurs role players didn't.

Manu and Tim weren't playing mediocre, they lost that series because every non-big 3 player, except maybe jackson, decided to play like . Danny Green especially

[Spurs9]

Regular Season Warrirs

stugling to crack 50

[Brunodf]

They over the whole league right now. But they also "need" some close games to see where they go then.

Spurs won all theclose games they had, except for one(Miami)

[Brunodf]

they haven't peaked yet. Kawhi and Jack are out. Splitter and Manu are not playing their full potential