It's time to face reality: the Warriors are simply the better team.

[Uriel]

Buck Harvey's column today for the Express-News:

It’s the year 2001, and Kobe Bryant is about 2,001 memorable moments away from retirement. He has an in-his-prime Shaquille O’Neal next to him. And after they alternate taking apart the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, one Spurs official shrugs and smiles weakly.“There’s not much we can do against THAT,” he says.

Gregg Popovich fears his players feel as helpless. “You know it’s not the character,” he says after the Lakers crush the Spurs by 39 points in one game, “so you have to wonder if it’s their belief.”

The current Spurs aren’t there yet, but they are on their way. The franchise hasn’t seen a conference opponent as superior as the Warriors since the Lakers after the turn of the century.

http://www.expressnews.com/sports/co...witter-premium

[99 Problems]

Pops playing tricks. It might go 7 but we got their measure if we healthy.

[SAGirl]

Frankly not worried. We got this!

As ElNono said we got to worry about the Cavs and what they have been up to lately.

[Proxy]

the reality is that they were at a disadvantage when SA beat them, and SA was at a disadvantage when they beat us. Exluding G1 I guess

having Bobo out there could've changed the outcome tonight. Maybe SA wins, maybe they don't lose by much, or maybe the same happens. I significant variable was missing tonight though. A starter wasn't dressed out.

[SAGirl]

You cannot say their record is better than their play. It doesn't make sense. They aren't competing against past Spurs teams. They are competing against whomever is on their schedule. They have a larger margin of victory on average than ever in the history of the franchise. However GS is just that good. They are head and shoulders better than SA on offense, and almost as good, if not as good, on defense.

Aldridge, a guy ST called a soft pussy for years, is our best player on offense and one of the top defenders on the team. Then you have KL who didn't have a 3pt shot when he came into the league as our 2nd best on offense, competing for best on both offense and defense, then you have a very steep dropoff to role guys and washed up "big 3" guys. Manu still plays with intensity and is still a threat, but as a whole, the Spurs are now a new guy and KL, with the rest of the role players popping in and out of relevance like whack-a-mole. We have 65 ing wins with that and people are slitting their throats over a regular season loss and calling the entire season over.

Very eloquent description. Specially bc as much criticized as LMA was he's stepped up big time once Timmy knees started failing. Also how Kawhi made a giant leap to an all-star and our best player.

Now, I was pessimistic just a day ago about our team but I have turned around and changed my mind. But those hoping for Timmy and Manu another season will be disappointed. POP is putting young guys in uncomfortable situations, sitting Kawhi on purpose so he can develop Kyle Anderson in games, it's obvious, playing Boban and Simmons end of the bench guys to close out games at times. Having Mils making PG plays to close out games.

The reason should be clear. It's Timmy and Manu's last season. The record does not matter so much as getting these new guys experience. The last GSW game Kawhi got free reign to do whatever he wanted in offense. It's part of his development too. It didn't necessarily result in good shots for him or others. He still has a lot to learn at the star franchise cornerstone level player. Ppl forget he's still 24 and just now bearing this burden. Next season some Tim or Manu not being here, thins like this are part of his development.

It helps us this season still bc whatever improved production and lessons learned you can get from the young/new players will translate fir the postseason, but even this late guys, especially younger guys are still trying to get better. So Kyle struggled in his Denver game, Kawhi here, so what? That is nit how we are going to play in the playoffs bc there our veterans will be around and its not then development time. That is when we will see Pop's real hand. Bc it isn't even about hiding it this late. He's still developing young guys. I think the team is so old and hasn't found itself before in this marked hybrid status that some fans just don't recognize it.

Prior changes in roles and offense were more subtle. This one is the most drastic we have faces so far ans it will become even more drastic next season so Pop is doing whatever he can to get guys ready and speed developments I'd he can.

It will help him in th off-season too to assess what the team needs to strengthen.

You guys just don't recognize what you are watching.

[Chillen]

They will more than likely finish at 73-9 unless Memphis can pull off a huge upset, so yes they are the better team right now the defending NBA champs. If the Spurs can make it to the WCF, it's up to them to control their own destiny if the Warriors make it that far (which looks likely) by dethroning them. All the pressure is now on this Warriors basketball team to ring, the Spurs just have to show up and try and dethrone them.

[james evans]

For that last time ffs, we lost by 6 without TD and Diaw, miss Leonard missing everything, parker and Green playing like ass, Curry going off in the third, Refs not calling some big plays like Curry 3rd foul in the 2nd, and Pop refusing but hiding to play the high and low, horns, the loop, the baseline hammer, and Leonard and LMA pick n roll.

add in that popovich basicially let curry have his way with parker and mills guarding him. If I'm a coach, Barnes is gonna have to score 40 to beat me.

[kobyz]

They are so compe ive on every aspect of the game, very underrated about them is how they even with their small ball lineups they still give great fight and not let other team punish them with bigger lineups on the boards...

[kobyz]

First helf should have been like 10 points lead for the Spurs but ended with tie score, that where you can saw Warriors mental toughness adventge over the Spurs, Spurs as a team lacking thoughness...

[emanueldavidginobili]

Steph Curry is the truth I can't remember a player where you just can't shut him down, the kid is something else

[DeRozan m8]

For that last time ffs, we lost by 6 without TD and Diaw, miss Leonard missing everything, parker and Green playing like ass, Curry going off in the third, Refs not calling some big plays like Curry 3rd foul in the 2nd, and Pop refusing but hiding to play the high and low, horns, the loop, the baseline hammer, and Leonard and LMA pick n roll.

I enjoyed this tbh

[lebomb]

The Warriors are better. Its pretty clear.

[Chinook]

I guess Uriel has found some random advanced stat that puts the Warriors up.

[DJR210]

Spurs are going to have to play mistake free and shoot 85% to have a chance. We may even need a Warriors injury or 3.

[LkrFan]

This is just not true at all. At all. You don't get this many wins by being "lacklustre". You don't have one of the best point differentials of all time by being lackluster. Everyone played the same teams as SA did, but SA won more and by a bigger margin.

Everything we've seen says SA is right there. Right there. There is plenty of room for SA to improve vs GS and I think they are doing things that are repeatable which is the key.

No. You won all those games because the league sucks as a whole right now. There are like a handful of good teams out there. The Spurs feasted off of mediocrity.

But when facing a juggernaut, it took an uncharacteristically off night by the FMVP (14 points scored) for you guys to eek out an 8-pt win at home. Otherwise, them Dubs breaking out the brooms on a 65-win team. Let det sink in.

[LkrFan]

Spurs DICTATED the pace but lost b/c they couldn't hit the broadside of the barn.

Dubs D had something to do with that.

[Uriel]

I guess Uriel has found some random advanced stat that puts the Warriors up.

FiveThirtyEight's CARMELO projections rank the Warriors above the Spurs.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-nba-picks/

[MVPCues]

i'm gonna go get drunk... i'm over 21 so it's not illegal mods

You act like you're 13, and that is giving you the benefit of the doubt.

[Uriel]

From the Express-News. David West, on the Warriors:

“They’re the best,” West said, “and we’re chasing them.”

http://www.expressnews.com/sports/sp...witter-premium

[NameLess Scrub]

They're gimmicky, but their gimmick is good enough.

At this point I'd be surprised if the Spurs come up with anything that gives them more than 2 wins in a series that's not a really bad shooting night from Curry/Klay.

I also expect whatever bad officiating allows those guys to slide their butts into defenders or engage and shove them to continue.

Spurs are in the hands of luck from now on as far as I'm concerned. I'll still watch of course.

[dbreiden83080]

We will see if putting their foot on the gas all year long will come back and hurt the Warriors. The last few weeks in particular they have really grinded this out, to get that record. Curry logging 70 minutes in back to back nights. I am curious to see if the gas tank gets a little empty deep in the playoffs..

[hater]

Glad most fans are waking up to reality

[NameLess Scrub]

We will see if putting their foot on the gas all year long will come back and hurt the Warriors. The last few weeks in particular they have really grinded this out, to get that record. Curry logging 70 minutes in back to back nights. I am curious to see if the gas tank gets a little empty deep in the playoffs..

One of the last hopes. Sadly, they're young.

[Proxy]

It'll be an upset for SA to get to the finals, but knowing Boris was out and that Kawhi was off offensively leaves me a bit more optimistic than the wrist-slicing levels so many seem to have settled at. Momentum and the psyche of individual players can change a lot after two rounds of playoff games.

Pop played Martin and Boban last night... that's him still feeling it out, and filling the rotation holes that Bobo and TD's absence left.

[Kawhitstorm]

Pretty solid statement. The question is, why is the Spurs offense so putrid against the Warriors? The Spurs can't seem to score against them at all. I think one reason is because Kawhi settles for jumpshots. If he could get to the rack and finish or draw fouls, I think it would make it a lot easier for everyone on the team.

I feel like the Spurs/Duds series is going to end up like the 2000s Lakers/Celtics Finals except it would be the '08 Celtics (Duds) vs. '10 Lakers (Spurs) & obviously it would be the Duds w/ the HCA. It's going to be an ISO heavy halfcourt slugfest with ugly results.

Allen+Pierce/Curry+Klay
Rondo/Iggy
KG+Perk/Draymond+Bogut
Tony Allen+Cassell/Livingston+Rush
House/Barbosa
Posey/Barnes
PJ/Ezeli
Powe/Speight
Fat Baby/Sideshow Bob

Kawhi+LMA & Manu+West/MVPau+Kirby(35% usuage rate)
Danny+Porker/Metta+Fisher
Tim/Bynum
Boris/Odumb
Patty/Farmar
Kyle/Walton
K-Mart/Vujacic
Simmons/Shannon Brown
Boban/Mbenga

In 2010, the Lakers w/ HCA barely beat the Celtics who lost Perk during the series & were playing w/ a post-injury KG & Ray Allen w/ shattered ankles. Let's just hope the Clips w/ cripple a couple of the Duds rotation players & I'm hopefully that D-West will take out Curry if things start getting out of hand.