NBA: Clippers-Suns on TNT..

[timvp]

Can someone explain to me who watches the Spurs more why they can't beat the Thunder??..

I don't think it's "can't" but the Spurs should be strong underdogs in that matchup. I'd say the Thunder would have about an 80% chance of beating the Spurs as things stand.

1. Durant is by far the best player on either team. In the NBA, that matters a ton.

2. Their stars can play huge minutes. , Durant can (and did) play the whole game, same with Westbrook. Compare that to the Spurs, whose stars need their minutes limited. Even in the playoffs, TD goes about 35, TP about 38 and Ginobili about 30. That hurts when Durant goes 48 and Westbrook goes 45.

3. The Spurs rely on passing. The Thunder are loooooooooooooong and make passing much more difficult than it is against any other team.

4. Trapping Parker with Sefolosha and another long player with Ibaka waiting to block the shot under the rim is the most difficult minefield TP has to deal with in the league.

5. The Spurs by design allow opposing bigs to shoot ~18 footers at will. It's the one area they basically forfeit in their defensive scheme. Unfortunately, Ibaka and Collison (and even freakin' Perkins last playoffs) can hit that shot all day now.

6. When it comes down to it, the Spurs really don't have an ace perimeter defender to throw at Durant. Parker does great on Westbrook but the Spurs don't have a SG/SF who is even routinely above average.

7. A lot of San Antonio's defensive philosophy revolves around the Spurs not fouling in order to keep the opponent off the line. For whatever reasons, that strategy doesn't work against OKC. No matter what the Spurs do, the Thunder will get to the like 25-35 times per game.

Oh, and the chances of the Spurs even making it to the Thunder 100% healthy are pretty long. The Thunder literally never suffer an injury while the Spurs deal with a new injury every couple days.







The Thunder are just a bad matchup for the Spurs. What sucks is that the Spurs actually matchup pretty damn well against the Heat. San Antonio is great at neutralizing drivers (like LeBron and Wade) plus the Heat aren't nearly as athletic as the Thunder (the Spurs might actually be more athletic due to the number of washed up scrubs on Miami's roster).

I wouldn't be surprised if all things equal:

Spurs > Heat

Thunder > Spurs

Heat > Thunder

... which of course would lead to the Heat winning the championship again.

[thunderup]

To Dex and TrainOfThought5That's assuming you all get there to the WCF. You guys might just be the number one seed again, which means you'll leave us to likely face the Clips in the semi's. Reason why I say you all might be #1 seed is because you all will have a favorable schedule down the road leading into the month of April. If Pop can manage to rest yalls main guys like last year, you guys should be in good shape. If Memphis consistently remains at the 4-5 spot, you'll have them as your opponent in all likelihood. Earlier in the season I, like almost everyone, bought into the Clipper hype. Silly of me to do that, for reasons already mentioned by Clipper Nation of all people. If we are the 2nd seed, we'll likely get last the first two rounds again and face you all or Memphis.If you guys can beat Memphis, and I'll be rooting for you all in that scenario, we'll get an epic rematch of epic proportions. This time around, some of our main pieces have matured and gotten better but the Harden factor will come back to bite us in the ass some. He was our x-factor in last years series. Ill be holding out my confidence for K-Mart until he produces in the postseason.

[TrainOfThought5]

I don't think it's "can't" but the Spurs should be strong underdogs in that matchup. I'd say the Thunder would have about an 80% chance of beating the Spurs as things stand.

1. Durant is by far the best player on either team. In the NBA, that matters a ton.

2. Their stars can play huge minutes. , Durant can (and did) play the whole game, same with Westbrook. Compare that to the Spurs, whose stars need their minutes limited. Even in the playoffs, TD goes about 35, TP about 38 and Ginobili about 30. That hurts when Durant goes 48 and Westbrook goes 45.

3. The Spurs rely on passing. The Thunder are loooooooooooooong and make passing much more difficult than it is against any other team.

4. Trapping Parker with Sefolosha and another long player with Ibaka waiting to block the shot under the rim is the most difficult minefield TP has to deal with in the league.

5. The Spurs by design allow opposing bigs to shoot ~18 footers at will. It's the one area they basically forfeit in their defensive scheme. Unfortunately, Ibaka and Collison (and even freakin' Perkins last playoffs) can hit that shot all day now.

6. When it comes down to it, the Spurs really don't have an ace perimeter defender to throw at Durant. Parker does great on Westbrook but the Spurs don't have a SG/SF who is even routinely above average.

7. A lot of San Antonio's defensive philosophy revolves around the Spurs not fouling in order to keep the opponent off the line. For whatever reasons, that strategy doesn't work against OKC. No matter what the Spurs do, the Thunder will get to the like 25-35 times per game.

Oh, and the chances of the Spurs even making it to the Thunder 100% healthy are pretty long. The Thunder literally never suffer an injury while the Spurs deal with a new injury every couple days.







The Thunder are just a bad matchup for the Spurs. What sucks is that the Spurs actually matchup pretty damn well against the Heat. San Antonio is great at neutralizing drivers (like LeBron and Wade) plus the Heat aren't nearly as athletic as the Thunder (the Spurs might actually be more athletic due to the number of washed up scrubs on Miami's roster).

I wouldn't be surprised if all things equal:

Spurs > Heat

Thunder > Spurs

Heat > Thunder

... which of course would lead to the Heat winning the championship again.

thats what i was trying not to post, tbh. its funny OKC is damn near unbeatable on a ing VIDEO GAME when u play with the spurs. is just tragic. the REAL hope is that the Clipshow can somehow beat em, and we beat them fake contending clippers. the jury is still out on the impact of losing Harden. but i can see now that Westbrooks questionable decision making has been magnified, and will be even moreso in the playoffs.

[TrainOfThought5]

To Dex and TrainOfThought5That's assuming you all get there to the WCF. You guys might just be the number one seed again, which means you'll leave us to likely face the Clips in the semi's. Reason why I say you all might be #1 seed is because you all will have a favorable schedule down the road leading into the month of April. If Pop can manage to rest yalls main guys like last year, you guys should be in good shape. If Memphis consistently remains at the 4-5 spot, you'll have them as your opponent in all likelihood. Earlier in the season I, like almost everyone, bought into the Clipper hype. Silly of me to do that, for reasons already mentioned by Clipper Nation of all people. If we are the 2nd seed, we'll likely get last the first two rounds again and face you all or Memphis.If you guys can beat Memphis, and I'll be rooting for you all in that scenario, we'll get an epic rematch of epic proportions. This time around, some of our main pieces have matured and gotten better but the Harden factor will come back to bite us in the ass some. He was our x-factor in last years series. Ill be holding out my confidence for K-Mart until he produces in the postseason.

Tl;dr Thundere gotfan



















































see u in WCF

[Ashy Larry]

Inside the NBA was classic though ....

[FlAVaK]

Inside the NBA was classic though ....

[ploto]

"I'm not no birdologist." -- Shaq

[NRHector]

that was funny