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Better D. They have no one to guard the refs though.
Better D. They have no one to guard the refs though.
I am not to worried about Stern refs. Spurs just need to play one game at a time.
Good points by all 3 of these clowns. Funny how smart ESPN analysts seem when it's not the same teams and arguments forced down your throat.
-Great point about OKC playing near perfect basketball to take homecourt advantage. Like they said, not sure lightning can strike twice with Martin instead of Harden, nor can I see it with similar teams like Houston or GSW.
-Green is better than last year. Kawhi is much better than last year. Tiago is much better than last year. Not to mention Tim and Tony being better too. They touched on Manu's decline balancing that out, but the development of those three guys is pretty much the reason there's so much hope even from the worst cliffjumpers.
-It comes down to the two BIGGEST reasons we lost other than lucky long twos- Who's gonna stop Durant, and who's gonna step up when Sefolosha inevitably smothers TP for a long stretch. I think we're equipped, but IMO it's a toss up right now.
earvin says the cliche ... its not just TP, Manu and Duncan... we need everyone to play well
Worth noting that the Spurs are 1-1 against OKC so far this season, and the loss came when Kawhi was out and the game was at OKC.
I remember KL coming up with a clutch steal late in the win against these guys.
I'm worried about KD and a similar reffing display last year in game 6 but certainly not concerned about froggy, someone should just get under his skin and he'll crack and throw a tantrum again
If Pop hadn't screwed up the rotation in Game 5 and just stuck with what worked, we'd be looking at a 6-game series in our favor. Bill Simmons seems to believe (as many Spurs fans do) that this series was one the Spurs had lost, not one the Thunder won. In fact, I'm almost certain that in the parallel universes that also featured an SA - OKC WCF, the Spurs came out on top more often than the Thunder.
Consequently, it follows that people who are declaring the OKC superior to the Spurs are blowing things out of proportion, and overanalyzing what essentially amounts to what Bill Simmons himself termed a "fluke."
Also Westbrook is gonna be downfall of the Thunder. Guy is not a leader or a true point guard/Brooks is not a good coach.
The one guy I'm worried about the most is Ibaka, the guy does not miss and we've got nobody to stop him.
But Ibaka is he worthy enough to carry a big load for the Thunder in the playoffs? Guy is good no doubt but Thunder lacks command of a point guard to distrbute the ball for a effiecent offense. I think S.A. has more bang for the buck.
I`m so worried about refs. They are excellent in screwing team they want. They did it perfectly in sunday`s game LAL @ DAL.
OKC is perfect team to playin 8-5 ball. Young, aggresive, overhyped, good FT shooting. Plus they play tough defense inside, great weak side help blocker in Ibaka. And they are good enough to win games without help. I`ve watched to many of this kind of , to not see what is going.
Spurs are good. Leonard, Splitter developed a lot, Duncan is fresh, Parker is in god mode. Jax and Manu are vets, who can jump on higher level of efficency in April, May.
I am not worried about any team in West, except maybe Memphis and Thunderefs. Memphis wont get help from refs. Clippers, Nuggets wont win 4 out of 7 vs Spurs with game 7 in SA.
Can we use the trick billups used against danny. Baynes can certainly do better than chauncey.
Splitter could play him well. I think he's our best guy to defend the quicker bigs in the league.
But Pop doesn't think a midrange pick and pop is worth contesting anyway since it's not a 3 or a shot at the rim.
I said it before, that would be my plan. Just talk him out of the game, psych-out!
Two keys to victory...
1) Better defense. Chase guys off the 3pt line or of their spots (Ibaka FT line jumper) and make them uncomfortable. Spurs didn't do enough of that last year and they hit all their set shots.
2) Parker beating his man off the dribble or screens, whether it's Thabo or Westbrick. If he can't do that consistently, then the Spurs are screwed.
Spurs need to play a Bowenesque defense to throw Westbrook's game off. SJ also needs to shove KD around. Thunders are athletic. we have to slow it down, make it a grind game instead of a running one, I think we have a better chance.
Im going to say this once and for all. " Harden is gone". So yes the spurs will beat okc if it comes down to it.
They are so much fun to watch I seem to find myself just enjoying the teamwork.
Tiago has taken a huge step forward on both ends. Leonard is now asserting himself... We are a better team, especially defensively.
I am interested to see how the team responds in the playoffs when teams put full attention on Parker and start beating him up throughout a series.
The win was also without Manu.
The were able to cover Tony with Thabo because they had Harden to cover Manu. One other big difference between Harden and Martin is that Martin is basically a passive, disinterested defender. They'll have to put Thabo on Manu when both he and Tony are in the game, meaning crunch time.
I'll have to look into this a little more, but the "improved defense" schtick might not actually be true.
Last year, the Thunder were 11th in defensive efficiency, while he Spurs were 10th. It was basically a tie.
This year, the Thunder are 8th and the Spurs are 3rd. Yay! .....maybe
Remember that last season was basically two mini-seasons for the Spurs: before and after the acquisitions of Jax and Diaw. Last year's Spurs were 10th in defense over the whole year, but given the absolute tear they went on after the trade deadline, I'd have to think they were better than 10th on defense after that. I'd be really grateful if someone could either look up those numbers or tell me how to do it. My hypothesis is that the Spurs' defense this year is about the same as it was post-deadline last year, meaning that this year's team is not appreciably better than the one that finished last season.
That said, the Spurs were really, really good at the end of last season and there's no shame in not improving from that. Also, the Thunder will be easier to beat in the playoffs because Harden to Kevin Martin is a significant downgrade no matter how you slice it.
I have said many times that I believe last year's WCF result was an upset, and I still believe that. If the Spurs can get back to the WCF against OC, especially with home court, I really like the Spurs' chances.
I'm a little more concerned about the state of the Eastern conference. While the Spurs will be trudging through the Western conference playoffs, I don't see anyone being able to extent the Heat to a seven game series. I'm afraid they will be waiting with a weeks rest for whichever team comes out of the West. If it's the Spurs, Stern will be more than happy to make it as short of a turn around as possible.
The biggest test will be when the system breaks down...got to have that guy that can make it happen.
Manu was out both games, actually.
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