Reply With Quote
ASCENDING: Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs Are Back
The San Antonio Spurs are officially back. Not that they were ever gone in the first place, but you don’t usually consider teams hanging around the bottom of a conference playoff race to be a serious championship contender.
On Wednesday night, the Spurs obliterated the Oklahoma City Thunder by the score of 130-91–the same Thunder team that had won four in a row and 15 of its last 20. The 39-point winning margin was San Antonio’s largest of the season, and the fourth-highest in the tenure of head coach Gregg Popovich.
The Spurs scored 71 points in the first half, which actually wasn’t even their season high (they put up 72 against the Los Angeles Clippers on December 22).
http://hoopshabit.com/2015/03/26/san...io-spurs-back/
Encouraging signs. We're now 12-3 over the last 15 games. Pretty solid.
It'd be nice if they can play better on the road though. They're .500 on the road this year, which isn't a good sign considering there's a good chance we won't have HCA for a single series in the playoffs. Then again, we were one of the best road teams last year, and we have the exact same group. Feel like if there's any team that won't get rattled as much on the road come playoff time, it's us.
Too inconsistent for me to say they're back. No doubt they're the team to beat when playing at their best but the seeding might be their downfall this season.
True & that's 12-3 including the OT losses to Nueva York and Cleveland.
that Ascending arrow has taken on a life it's own.
It's the closest I'll ever be to making an internet meme.
Yup...could very well be 14-1. Then again, "what ifs" seem to be the mantra for this season. So many blown games we should've won.
Anyways, if the Spurs are playing at or near their best, GS is the only team that can give us trouble. I don't think people realize how good they are, tbh.
The best thing about Golden State is that they rely on Steph and Klay to get their points, and we have Wingstop which is perfectly suited to dealing with them.
That's a big if. The Spurs have looked unbeatable when at their best but they don't seem to be able to play their best game to game or even qtr to qtr. They have no chance to get past the dubs if they don't get that fixed.
i've heard this before, but niiiice. where is the wingstop pic with danny and kawhi?
I coined it in the nickname thread for Kawhi and Danny. For future reference. Sean Elliott has also started using it.
Point diff relies too much on coach's style of overplaying his guys with a big lead.
The 4 teams in highest pont diff are the only ones I thought as contenders all along.
It's still a much better gauge of performance than W/L.
Yes it feels like we are due to perform much better on the road just in time for the playoffs with little choice otherwise.
Need to pass two of HOU/MEM/POR/LAC to gain home court advantage in round 1.
Three back in loss column to HOU and MEM. Sweeping Houston would give Spurs tiebreaker. Cannot get tiebreaker over Memphis as best Spurs can do is tie them in division loss column and would have worse conference record. Though Memphis' schedule isn't easy, they only have to go 6-3 to guarantee a finish about Spurs (if Spurs ran the table).
Portland and Clippers are only one up in loss column. Portland will have tiebreaker and Clippers are five up in conference wins so almost certainly will as well. Would need to pass both to gain HCA. Portland plays the most games of anyone remaining and has been struggling as of late. They also have a cross-country trip to make to Brooklyn for one game and @ Golden State on 2NBTB that same week. Wouldn't shock me to see Spurs pass them.
Clippers, as has been discussed at great length, play less games and have a relatively easy schedule. Only very tough game is @ POR on a BTB, with a home game against GS. They play at Memphis but with three days rest vs. Memphis on a BTB. It would take the Spurs losing 1-2 times the rest of the way and a mediocre stretch from Clippers to pass them.
Dallas is two back in the loss column and has 8 division losses, so hard for them to pass Spurs. OKC could conceivably pass them being only three back, but needs to win the head-to-head to split season series. Looking below the playoff line, PHX needs to win the OKC head-to-head and more or less run the table to stand a chance. NO has tiebreaker on OKC but also has three games to make up.
MEM HOU POR LAC SA DAL OKC @ SA 1 day @ WAS 1 day DEN BTB @ BOS 1 day MEM 1 day @ IND 1 day @ UTA 2 days SAC BTB @ TOR BTB PHX 1 day GS 1 day @ MIA 1 day @ OKC 2 days @ PHX BTB OKC 3 days SAC 1 day LAC 1 day @ POR BTB @ ORL BTB HOU BTB DAL 2 days WAS BTB @ DAL BTB @ LAL 1 day @ DEN 2 days DEN 1 day GS 1 day @ MEM 1 day NO 2 days @ OKC 2 days NO BTB @ LAL BTB GS 1 day PHX 2 days HOU 1 day @ UTA 1 day @ SA 2 days @ BRK 1 day LAL 1 day @ OKC 1 day @ DEN 1 day SA 1 day @ LAC BTB SA 1 day MIN 1 day @ MEM 3 days HOU BTB @ LAL 1 day SAC 2 days @ GS 1 day NO 1 day @ GS BTB DEN 1 day @ HOU 1 day @ UTA BTB @ IND 1 day IND 1 day @ CHA BTB UTA 1 day @ PHX BTB PHX 1 day POR 1 day POR BTB UTA 1 day @ OKC 1 day @ NO 2 days @ MIN 1 day @ DAL 1 day
Ummm, they advertise at AT&T
Patty and consistency are the only things keeping us from really being back. But even with the maddening inconsistency, we have been the 2nd best team in the conference (idk about statistically, but from the eye test) since the RRT. I genuinely believe we will play the warriors in the ECF (i don't think we are moving above 6, the clippers keep winning and portland is guaranteed the 4th spot), which means we'll have to play some combo of Houston/Memphis/Dallas in the first 2 rounds. That really doesn't sound bad to me.
What I've noticed the past 2 seasons is that the West is always deemed as a blood bath, but as the playoffs draw nearer, injuries and the law of averages really weed out who the real contenders are. I remember at the beginning of the season they were saying there were like 7-8 teams in the conference that could legitimately contend, and now its really just looking like GSW, SAS, maybe Memphis, and maybe LAC. Portland has fallen apart, Houston is a definite dark horse but I can't see them doing much, and Dallas hasn't been the same since the rondo deal.
^found the pic i was looking for, btw
The West is overrated every year, as I say every year, tbh
The East is atrocious, but like the West, there is usually 1-2 real contenders per year..I don't know why pretenders like Portland and Memphis get "contender" hype every year, people never seem to learn..
Realistically, though, the Warriors are the only real contenders in the West, at the moment..the Spurs are a wildcard contender, but they need a lot to break their way(standings, road consistency, stay healthy, etc)..
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
