the thing about durant, he was exposed as being one of the worst defenders in the league. After Spoelstra exposed him in the 2012 finals by attacking him when Brooks tried to hide him on defense(imagine that), that helped up greatly in 2014 as Leonard looked to score more and made him work on defense instead of saving his energy for the 4th. If you let durant not play any defense for the whole game, when the 4th quarter comes and he has fresh legs, he will kill you(same for Curry). This is how Jordan was able to feast during the finals during 93. Shooting 50% averaging 41 a game because he was guarding Dan Majlre, who wasn't a bad player, but not someone that' gonna go out and just dominate you in the finals when he was a 3rd option.
as long as the thunder have westbrooke, I'm not concerned. They destroyed any chance of getting to the finals when they traded Harden. That was similar to the Cavs trading Harper for Ferry. Brad Daughtery even said Jordan thanked him for the cavs doing that bull .
I'd have to say OKC ( new coach, surrounded with good assistants with a decent low post scorer, with even a mediocre off. system they could be the biggest threat )
Their downsides are the defense with Kanter on the floor + the regular Westbrook soloisms.
The biggest question mark is how well will Donovan handle the job and will he be able to maximize their bench production.
The Rockets just added Lawson who will relieve Harden from his ball handling duties.
Give him some rest. But in a nuts it was a Smith - Lawson trade, which is pretty meh.
It's going to be decided on the bench. Which ever team can pile up a lead when the bench comes in and can keep their starting five fresh for the final quarter.
Which team can matchup against the Spurs bench:
West
Diaw
Anderson
Ginobili
Mills
?
Clips have scoring and defense to beat the Spurs. The Thunder match up well with our starting unit, but their cheapness has cost them a bench. Rockets have Hardin, but I just don't like the rest of the team. Even getting a PG upgrade doesn't make me think they can win a le. I guess I just think Howard will choke and I think losing J Smith will hurt as well. I think we can handle GS best, in fact, I think we kill them in the match ups.
I'd say OKC for the reasons others have mentioned on this thread. Second would be the Clippers, as they've added considerable depth, which was their main weakness. Without Splitter, Memphis will actually be tougher, but I still say we beat them. We match up well against the Warriors, but they are still good and are a threat. Cavs could make us sweat a little, but we'd beat them. I'd heavily favor us against Houston, Atlanta and anyone else in the league.
It is really hard to tell until we see LA and Tim playing together. I think the combo might be even more lethal than the individual parts. With West, Diaw, and Anderson added to the bench, we are pretty long and efficient anywhere near the mid-range. If LA and Tim play like we all can imagine, this whole year may be a blur of destruction in the Western conference.
I probably worry more about the Clippers than any other team at the moment. Simply because they beat the Spurs last year. Kind of like the Memphis when they beat the Spurs in the playoffs with Ginobli playing with a broken arm. Still had to beat them to get over the hump from the previous year.
Surprised no one is calling out the Clips as the toughest matchup. I know it went 7 and took a miracle shot to beat the Spurs this past year, but the Clippers have only gotten better. The still have an elite defensive anchor to give the Spurs fits in the paint, the best pure PG in the game, a matchup nightmare in Griffin, a deeper bench, and a great clutch shot maker with veteran savvy in Pierce.
I think there is general agreement that the Clippers are going to be a tough match up.
I expected them to fold their tent against the Spurs last year, but they had enough fight in them to win. My concern really isn't the first five, but the second five with Crawford and Stephenson. I'm not sure we have enough wing players to slow these two down.
It's hard to tell how good OKC will be, Westrbook is a much better player, however Durant is questionable.
Yes, the Spurs are stacked, but that was just a level of the playing field. People thinking Spurs will cake walk IMO are going to be disappointed. The West is the best it has ever been and there are legit teams. Even the average teams like UTA are very solid.
Clippers -- They just got better, potentially a lot better. Pierce, Stevenson, Josh Smith, each have big question marks (age, for Pierce), but they just fixed the biggest problem they had last year at wing. They could go for a top 2 seed.
OKC/Houston -- Each presents huge problems. For the Thunder, I'm not sure how they're going to shake out, but could be extremely tough. For Rockets, they have a ton of talent and the Spurs haven't shown they can play Harden well (unlike GSW).
Memphis -- I kinda think we'll be okay with this matchup, but any added outside firepower will ratchet up their strengths.
Golden State -- Extremely good team, but still feel we match-up well with them. Leonard/Green, as always, are the key.
The team that can give the Spurs the greatest problems are the Spurs, and it starts with Tony Parker learning to pass more, and forcing less.
Clippers will be contenders, but if you're assessing the Clippers that played the Spurs in the first round last year, I have a hard time believing they can be even more efficient (better) than they were that series -- even with the additions they made.
Clippers went 7 deep in most games and played as efficient as they can possibly play in that 7 game sample w/ Chris Paul and Blake Griffin maximizing their touches for 40 + minutes a night. Guarding those two stars every time down the floor, while Barnes and Re came up with big three after big three is what gave the Spurs headaches.
Those headaches can be relieved to a degree having Stephenson and Smith cut into the usage rate of Paul and Griffin -- which is inevitable when you look at the minutes Paul and Griffin played vs. the Spurs.
Also, while Pierce is nice pick up for them. He's still a massive defensive downgrade from the Matt Barnes the Spurs saw that series.
Clippers no longer have anyone that can guard Leonard.
Last edited by MaNu4Tres; 07-20-2015 at 12:33 PM.
Probably Pop and TP like in the Clippers series. Otherwise, it should be cake tbh.
I don't really see why everyone is so scared of OKC, it's basically the same team we destroyed 2 years ago, but KD coming off an injury.. Clippers and Rockets are my biggest worry, Containing Dwight will be super scary, and their bench is no joke. Clippers got wayy better this offseason too, and are now deeper.
Warriors don't really scare me, we matched up so well with them last regular season, and this spurs roster is way better, plus they have no way of containing LMA+Kawhi+Duncan if they go small, someone will have a mismatch and they can just post up nonstop
They could lose for either team but i think the toughest is still the Clippers as Doc has Pop's number...
Clips hurt the Spurs because they had an overwhelming advantage in their frontcourt. That is not the case anymore. Deandre is going to be forced to guard Aldridge away from the paint.
true
Parker also wasn't healthy, Spurs had less offense and less defense (with Splitter injured). Clippers still had to go to a game 7 to eliminate a injury plagued Spurs team.
Clippers. Cp3 will perpetrate all day as Leonard and green will cover jj and X shooter. Chubs won't stop him. However, if we put Leonard on him, we win easily. All comes down to chubs getting on the treadmill with some elevation.
In an ideal world (were everyone is healthy), the Thunder are probably better on paper than the Spurs. They should be much deeper and more versatile than they were two seasons ago. They just need one more competent wing.
Yeah, with a healthy Tiago the Spurs would have gotten past the Clippers. The Spurs' front court was limited that series, even moreso when Baynes laid an egg defensively.
/thread
Stop with the Spurs were injured nonsense, stop making excuses, you played it means you were healthy enough...
You realize that we "destroyed" OKC because Ibaka (a match up nightmare) didn't play the first 2 games and came back from a serious injury to hobble through the remainder of the series?
It's not like OKC had to improve - they have been incredibly stacked for years now and if not for KD's injury would be a major force last year too. They are damn good assuming KD is anything like his former self.
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