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No they are not...not enough offense.
It's always cute how corny NBA fans and media hype pretenders every year, tbh..the Pacers, Bulls, Warriors, Clippers, Grizzlies, etc..there's always so much blind hope that the "same old" teams will fall off..
, I remember a bunch of people actually believing the Grizzlies would beat the Spurs in 2013, including that sensitive,it hurts
No they are not...not enough offense.
this is true. you need to put points up in order to advance in the playoffs. NBA needs its ratings. Spurs learned the hard way
Frizz are for real, not saying that the Spurs can't wipe them off the court but the Grizz are for real.
Golden State, Dallas, Houston, and Memphis are not contenders. It's SA and and OKC (if healthy).
If Splitter isn't healthy they can most def beat the Spurs.
Memphis has the 8th best offense in the league at this point. Obviously it's early and that can change, but as of now they certainly seem to have an improved offense compared to previous years.
If splitter is not healthy, the Blazers, Warriors and Rockets could all beat the spurs.
We already beat the out of the warriors in their house when we were slumping (on a back2back no less) and demolished them by 20.
And Portland is trash per par. Maybe they could push us to 6 without Splitter. I think you are forgetting how lopsided that series was.
keyword is "could"
I think you're greatly underestimating Splitters defense on big men. Dude did work on Dirk, Aldridge, and constantly owns Xbox on the defensive end.
And Portland is trash per par. Maybe they could push us to 6 without Splitter. I think you are forgetting how lopsided that series was.
Any top team in the West can beat the Spurs without Splitter, tbh..the only matchup that Splitter doesn't affect is OKC, since he doesn't match up well with them, but he's useful against every other team..
Duncan was a huge liability against the Warriors in 2013, it probably wouldn't be any different this time around, Splitter is essential for that potential series..
yup
I don't understand why it's so farfetched to say a handful of the top teams could beat us without our starting Center
OKC whooped our ass 4 times last year in the regular season and look what happened in the playoffs. What's your point? One regular season game doesn't mean anything.
I don't get why people laugh at the idea of Golden State being a contender. I'd certainly pick us to beat them, but they're a great team. I think people are underestimating how big of an upgrade Kerr is over Mark Jackson. Jackson was a god awful coach whose only good attribute was motivating players. Kerr actually seems to know what he's doing and he's implemented a system over there. I'm not saying we should be "scared"...as I mentioned earlier, we match up well with them. Just saying that the Warriors this year are noticeably better than they've been the past couple of years.
Bogut is arguably the best Duncan-defender in the NBA, and defensively, Duncan was getting embarrassed by Curry all series..he just doesn't fit in that series, at all, tbh..
That's going to require a lot of Splitter-Diaw and Splitter-Leonard frontcourts for large stretches IMO..
Reasons for pessimism:
- Rookie coach + NBA teams rarely make the jump from 1st round/2nd round to Finals without a Lebron/Shaq-like off-season addition
- Best player is a PG(usually a death sentence in the playoffs when they are matched up with long defenders, as we have seen time and time again with Parker)
- Thompson has been absolutely useless in the playoffs in both his playoff appearances, his game has gotten exposed both years(obviously he's much improved, though)
- Bogut is virtually guaranteed to suffer a major injury at some point
- Everybody else on the roster is questionable in the playoffs IMO
I just wonder how we'd do against their best lineup of Curry/Thompson/Iguodala/Green/Bogut. Diaw and Splitter would be fine against Green and Bogut. Danny matches up well with Curry and Kawhi could check Klay, but what would we do with Iguodala? Parker would get abused in that matchup, and Iguodala is a good enough passer to exploit any double teams we'd likely be forced to throw at him.
playoff Igoudala has been the opponent most valuable sixth man.
unless Kerr can change that, as a spurs fan I love to see Igoudala in the court
Same thing they did against Harrison Barnes, let him score all game and take all the shots he wants
Iguodala is one of the most passive players in NBA history, it frustrates every fanbase that has ever followed him..he'll expose a matchup a few times, but like Diaw for the Spurs, he won't do it consistently over large stretches, it just isn't in his DNA to shoot more than X amount of times in a game..he also can't shoot, so I'm sure the Spurs would give him the Prince/Allen vs. Memphis treatment from 2013
Yeah while Kerr has looked great so far, playoff basketball is a different animal. Kerr just seems to have his together. He played for both Phil Jackson and Popovich. He was always a smart player, and now it looks like it's translating into coaching as well. Even when he was commentating, he always seemed to be one of the smarter ones. While you have guys like Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley making asses of themselves, Kerr actually knew what he was talking about most of the time.
I think they have a pretty solid supporting cast outside of Curry/Thompson tbh. Bogut is a perfect big for them when healthy. Draymond Green has become one of the better role players in the league. He's elite defensively, has developed a reliable outside shot, and a surprisingly good passer. Iguodala is another great role player who is fantastic defensively. Livingston has looked bad this year, but I actually really liked him on the Nets last year. He's a solid backup PG IMO. David Lee is garbage if you're asking him to be a 2nd or 3rd option, but he has the potential to be a solid bench player if that's the route they choose to go. Barnes looked like a complete bust last year, but this year he's actually been good now that he's inserted back into the starting lineup. We'll have to see whether that continues or if he's just off to a fluke-ish start.
I completely agree that Bogut is a huge question mark. I would never bet on him staying healthy all year + playoffs. But if he is healthy, GS could be dangerous (again, we match up well with them, but against every other team GS has a decent shot IMO). It'd be great if they could knock out OKC for us.
Last edited by SpursFan86; 12-02-2014 at 05:54 PM.
This. Splitter was huge against them in our 2013 sweep.
...who is xbox lol
Agreed about Draymond, I forgot about him, he's definitely one of the 5 best role players in the NBA..
I don't know about the rest of their team, though, including Iguodala..they all have high ceilings as role players(Iggy, Speights, Barnes), but also could be useless in the playoffs, as well..we'll see..I'll be interested to see what happens with David Lee, big question mark..
If they managed to avoid the Spurs, they'll win it all imho.
An inferior Spurs team swept almost the same line-up though they have a better Marc today. Spurs in 5 tbh.
Grizzlies and Dubs in the WCF would be must-see TV
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