Does Anyone Get The Sense This Is A Championship Caliber Team?

[ohmwrecker]

Even Jon ing Barry is giving the Spurs props. I think they have a good shot to come out of the west, but it will take a miracle to beat Miami.

[Juggity]

Why? I thought regular season games didn't mean anything.Do you read this forum?

I've never alleged that regular season games don't mean anything. Fact is, they do mean something, even if they aren't as consequential as playoff games. Spurstalk is reactionary, and this thread is a good example of it.

The Heat will probably still be on their win streak when they roll into San Antonio in a few days. Make no mistake, if they are, they will get up for that game, and so will the spurs. They may act like the game doesn't matter to the media, but on some level they want that streak to continue.

[maverick1948]

Not really.

I give Spurs a 20% chance to win the west and a 5% chance to win the le.

Sounds like you dont have any belief in the Spurs. They win 50+ every season and yet only have 5% chance at winning a le. They beat the OKC Thunder. Bench play games without the big 3 and they win them or play top teams to a standstill. They do lose games but that doesnt mean they arent championship caliber. As for the offense and defense, the O is a little higher scoring while D is almost the same. We are 15-12 when we give up 100 or more points. Only 8 times have we given up 108 or more. Again we are 5-3 in those games.

IIRC when we were winning 16-1 LAST MONTH, we were all saying the Spurs were no worst than 50-50 chance of winning it all. An injury to TP and 6-2 record later we are suddenly only a 5% chance of winning it all. What changed? Did Timmy and Manu go down with an injury? Did SJax sudden get a mister nice guy streak? Did Boris completely quit on the team. Did Tiago or Kawhi or Green get injured? How about the bench. Did they just up and leave the team with only 5 players.

I dont think our chances of winning it all is any different than it was before the 16 of 17 run. Timmy has missed 11 games, TP 12 and Manu 13 games. And we still have a 53-17 record. Kawhi and SJax have missed 21 games each. Yet we are 53-17. Only Tiago, Boris and Danny have played in at least 68 or more games. And for a bigger surprise, Nando De Colo is the only other Spurs player to see the court in 61 or more games.

If some of you were to read posts like these on the Thunder board you would swear that they were afraid of the Spurs. i dont think there is a top 5 team in either conference who is afraid of another team. The top 5 in the west have all won 68 % or more of their games. I find it hard to believe any of them with the whole team healthy would be afraid of any team. I think we are the only team that in a 7 game series will have a chance against the Heat because we are built so much a like and we are deeper.

GO SPURS GO

[Chris16]

Maybe the Spurs should stop winning 50+ games every year if they aren't considered a championship calibre team. I will say this though, if they don't get to the Finals this year it's time for some changes.

[romsho]

Not really.

I give Spurs a 20% chance to win the west and a 5% chance to win the le.

Have you thought that all season or just more recently?

[RD2191]

all ive seen is spurs fans making excuses all year. they keep saying the reg season doesn't matter while the spurs keep on showing no sign of improvement. 2nd round exit coming up.

[TampaDude]

Love my Spurs but Miami is repeating this year. Simple as that.

^ this

A fully healthy Spurs team with HCA has a shot at beating Miami, but it's most likely that the HEAT will REPEAT.

[ElNono]

The odds were always long since Lebron started to dominate a season or two ago. And let's face it, a lot of things have to go your way to win it all.

[mercos]

The Spurs are easily a championship caliber team. If I am not mistaken, they are top 5 in both offense and defense, depending on what statistics you use. They have one of the best front courts in the game. Tony Parker is the best point guard in the league. Kawhi Leonard is quickly developing into one of the top 10 small forwards in the league. The Spurs are also deep. All of the ingredients are there, it is simply a matter of whether or not they show up in the playoffs.

Of course, all of those points only exist on paper. In today's NBA, you only have a realistic shot to contend if you have a bankable superstar on your roster. All the big analysts say you need stars in the playoffs, which is just another way of saying they are going to get all the calls in crunch time. The Spurs are likely to face this problem in round one, whether it is against Houston or LA. Harden shot 16 free throws in the loss Sunday night, something I took as a preview of what would be coming if San Antonio gets Houston in round one. I don't even want to picture the waning seconds of a tight game with the Lakers.

Then of course there is the elephant in the room, Miami. While their winning streak is impressive, this is a beatable team come playoff time. They have no low post presence to speak of. There are a handful of teams that present match up nightmares for the Heat in a 7 game series. All things being equal, the Heat would be favorites, but not overwhelmingly so as they are now. In a superstar driven league like the NBA, they are basically a lock at this point. In fact, you might as well assume at least a three peat.

[Richie]

I think we're 50/50 to make it out of the West and probably have a 25% shot of beating Miami in the Finals.

After Miami, I think we should be the 2nd favourites for the le. I think us and Memphis are the only teams with a realistic shot at beating Miami in the Finals

[Cane]

If healthy, yes. But imo the Spurs should have made a trade for a backup PG and/or more legit help in the frontcourt. Relying on the Bad B's probably won't help if more than 1 is on the court at the same time, which will happen: Bonner/Blair/Boris/Baynes. But easier said than done

/armchair GM

[ElNono]

Believe

[spurtech09]

well spurs haven't been playing like it the last couple of games but the refs have something to do with it.....

[cd98]

Kind of depends. They have talent and experience. They have shooters. They have stars. But they are inconsistent at times. The next couple of games will tell us where the Spurs are at. But the west is so deep that I could believe the Spurs win the western conference finals or lose in the first round. Either is entirely possible depending on the match ups.

One thing for sure, for having the best record in the West, we are not the most dominate team in the west.

[Arcadian]

It's all about peaking at the right time. They peaked too early the last 2 years. You don't want to peak in March or April. You want to peak in May and June. Maybe they'll time it right this year.

[itzsoweezee]

Spurs offense is really not what it was last year or even earlier this year. The three point shooting is especially worrisome. The Spurs are not making it out of the west without ELITE shooting from long distance.

[SA210]

I'll never count my Spurs out, but it's obvious my fave player Ginobili isn't all there right now. I think a lot of it has to do with him playing through the summer, and it's very mental right now as well, imo. Shoulda rested him for a month early on. There is no doubt Manu needs to be Manu for us to have a chance. I have faith he can, I hope that he does. Tony may be the MVP of the team right now, but if Manu can find himself again, we all know reality is he is the real MVP when he's got it going. Just haven't seen it this year.

We are gonna need that. And I agree, our defense is not as good as some think. Hopefully they have an awakening very soon. I still believe, but they need to get their act together.

[Bruno]

Have you thought that all season or just more recently?

It pretty much the same since the Harden trade. I don't really think there is a WCF team that is significantly better than Spurs so they have a good shot at winning it. In the east, and even before their big winning streak, Miami seems to be way better.

[hater]

although this year the defense is much improved. looking at the way Manu has regressed, you can't seriously call this year's team better.

Now if by a miracle Manu + Jax start performing in the playoffs, which is possible since they are bonafide playoff performers, then you have a pretty good chance of making the Finals. But that's it, which is pretty good IMO. Reaching the finals and losing to the Heat would be a successful season

[spurraider21]

Here's a counter-question. Is there any team in the west outside of OKC that would be favored in a 7 game series vs the Spurs. Do you think the Spurs could handle the Grizz, Clippers, or Nuggets in a 7 game series? Do you think the Spurs have a good shot out ousting OKC in the conference finals provided we have home court?

If we can get to the finals, all bets are off. Miami is easily the best team, but ish happens

[Pop]

Here's a counter-question. Is there any team in the west outside of OKC that would be favored in a 7 game series vs the Spurs. Do you think the Spurs could handle the Grizz, Clippers, or Nuggets in a 7 game series? Do you think the Spurs have a good shot out ousting OKC in the conference finals provided we have home court?

If we can get to the finals, all bets are off. Miami is easily the best team, but ish happens

The current ball stopping Spurs yes, they could lose to Memphis absolutely if Tim gets shut down. It'd take some horrendous coaching but Pop is not exactly on top of his game these days.

[RD2191]

Here's a counter-question. Is there any team in the west outside of OKC that would be favored in a 7 game series vs the Spurs. Do you think the Spurs could handle the Grizz, Clippers, or Nuggets in a 7 game series? Do you think the Spurs have a good shot out ousting OKC in the conference finals provided we have home court?

If we can get to the finals, all bets are off. Miami is easily the best team, but ish happens

our offense is and it stalls way too much. the ball movement is gone and if we aint hitting the 3 then we have no chance

[bklynspursfan]

Not that it's any indication of anything, but lets see how they perform this week.

[romsho]

It pretty much the same since the Harden trade. I don't really think there is a WCF team that is significantly better than Spurs so they have a good shot at winning it. In the east, and even before their big winning streak, Miami seems to be way better.

You and I have similar views. For Miami, not just the talent, but the weakness of the East is a real help to them. Whoever comes out of the West will have had a much tougher road, not to mention Miami's homecourt advantage. Barring injury, it lays out very well for them.

[ElNono]

although this year the defense is much improved. looking at the way Manu has regressed, you can't seriously call this year's team better.

I think you can. Manu wasn't really a factor during last season's playoffs until the actual WCFs. The Spurs were extremely lucky last season in a number of areas (only 66 games regular season, weak Utah team, CP3 hobbled). The point though is that opponents matter a lot to actually make comparisons. Losing to Memphis in the 2nd round wouldn't necessarily mean this team is worse than last season's team. It's a worst overall result, but unless you can replicate the same conditions, it's difficult to compare teams.

I thought that last season was definitely a great opportunity, in that a bunch of stuff lined up perfectly. You don't get that every season, even if you play great.