For the Spurs to win the 16-17 Championship...

[Kidd K]

Duncan gone and Durant to GSW = no.

We won't be some team but I would not be surprised if disappointment hits this year either.

[kaji157]

If you want Parker to turn back the clock, just call his number more. He still shoots 50% from the field and 40%+ from 3. We just tried this "Parker needs to shoot less and play less minutes" experiment the last 2 years. Not sure why we changed anything from him being the main guy in 2014.

I do agree that we need to get back to him starting the offence, either with a penetration or a pick n roll. Not necessarily for him to finish the play but to start the the sequence.
The question is, can he get advantage against defenders consistently at this age?
We just have to try.
Another good option would be, as we did with him, to start Manu and DeJounte, and let Tony and Danny come of the bench with Pau.
That would make very balanced units in DeJounte-Manu-Leonard-Aldridge-Denmon and Tony-Danny-Kyle-Pau-Livio.
I do expect for us to package two of either Mills and Anderson or Mills and Simmons for another big or at least reliable SF-PF guy. I think it will be mills as we´ll ave 4 PG as of now and he doesn´t seem to fit anymore with Manu unable to create open shots for him and Diaw gone.
I would love for the Spurs to sign Patricio Garino, not gonna happen, but he is a viable SG-SF player to fill holes.

[TD 21]

If you want Parker to turn back the clock, just call his number more. He still shoots 50% from the field and 40%+ from 3. We just tried this "Parker needs to shoot less and play less minutes" experiment the last 2 years. Not sure why we changed anything from him being the main guy in 2014.

I'll ask the following question rhetorically: You can't be serious? Parker has been past his prime for 3 seasons. He'll be coming off of playing in an Olympic qualifying tournament and the Olympics themselves and will be another season older next year. Let's just hope he can reprise the season he just had.

The same goes for Gasol, Ginobili and to a lesser extent, Aldridge.

[look_at_g_shred]

This team feels closer to 2014 than the past two seasons. I have a feeling the 2nd unit is going to move the ball beautifully and be an offensive machine!

[SpursforSix]

I agree. The Bogut loss is bigger than people think. Also everything stems from Draymonds pnr. He's gonna be the odd man out, and you know he'll let it be know as the season goes on.

The bigs are old....er. They lost Bogut, Speights, Ezeli, Barnes, Barbosa. That's a lot of quality minutes gone. If the 'big 4' play a lot of minutes this year, they will be worn down by the end of the season because they'll be coming off of a finals run two years ago, an all out blitz from start to finish for 73 wins, another's finals run, then playing in the olympics. Can Durant's foot hold up?

Don't think it's gonna be smooth sailing.

I think ZaZa is going to fit in better than people think.

[Sean Cagney]

I'm trying to feel optimistic today:

Love it.....

[Spurs9]

Maybe Green will kick KD in the nads during practice.

[tonight...you]

I'm trying to feel optimistic today:

My goodness, do I miss Splitter...

[Spurtacular]

My goodness, do I miss Splitter...

Possibly the most under-rated Spur of all-time.

[tonight...you]

Possibly the most under-rated Spur of all-time.

Agreed. True glue guy. Would have him back on the team in an instant. Pussy warts and all.

[tholdren]

There isn't really much that needs to happen that can't.

Spurs get decent perimeter play throughout the year.
KL and LMA learn to get to the line
Danny shoots at a high clip
Someone on the perimeter drives
Kyle and Manu are able to sustain the bench playmaking
Newbie steps up

- already got rid of West - Thats a plus
- got rid of Diaw - thats a plus

* biggest part will be who holds the team together without tim.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Spurs will win if two of the GSW four stars are injured and the Spurs are fully healthy. Still a possibility.

People are underestimating the loss of Bogut to the Warriors. I know they are hailing Pachulia and West as the solution, but that is a huge downgrade. West is a steal for the vet minimum no doubt, but his interior defense sucked last year. The Warriors are going to get pounded inside this year.

[spurs10]

Let's be realistic.. Nobody gonna win the next championship except Warriors.

Spurs might as well develop their young players and be ready 3 years down the road.

That was pretty much the mantra last year and poetic justice came and bit them on the ass. Let's hope it's a repeat for them. Having four of the top players on the same team is a made move. I would love to see Kevring "If Ya Can't Beat'em Join'em" Durbeta lose.

[spurs10]

Spurs will win if they come out with the focus and intensity of the 2014 team. That was the best team in NBA history. Nobody was stopping us that year.

It was something to behold. I do think that the team will react to Tim's exit in a positive way, by trying hard to live up to his legacy. Pau and LMA with Kawhi just might be the best front court playing. If we can get the perimeter D&O going we might look pretty good.

[ceperez]

It was something to behold. I do think that the team will react to Tim's exit in a positive way, by trying hard to live up to his legacy. Pau and LMA with Kawhi just might be the best front court playing. If we can get the perimeter D&O going we might look pretty good.

Pau, LMA and Kawhi are likely the best front court in the league. If they can learn to playoff one another, then it'll be devastating for a midget team like GSW.

Spurs don't have any real challengers except for GSW. Can they win? Well, Cavs got lucky and won. Spurs can get lucky and win.

[NameLess Scrub]

No superteam has ever won the le in their first season and it's not happening this year either. That leaves the door open for us.

Celtics, and they weren't even in their primes anymore.

Still, Warriors are a super team like never before. If they don't have "bad luck" I don't think anybody has a chance.

[NameLess Scrub]

Oh I forgot about them. My bad. I still think there will be chemistry issues with the Dubs though.

Paul Pierce kind of resembles a black Adam Sandler there.

[spurs10]

Pau, LMA and Kawhi are likely the best front court in the league. If they can learn to playoff one another, then it'll be devastating for a midget team like GSW.

Spurs don't have any real challengers except for GSW. Can they win? Well, Cavs got lucky and won. Spurs can get lucky and win.

[Ditty]

Pau, LMA and Kawhi are likely the best front court in the league. If they can learn to playoff one another, then it'll be devastating for a midget team like GSW.

Spurs don't have any real challengers except for GSW. Can they win? Well, Cavs got lucky and won. Spurs can get lucky and win.

Tremendous take ceperez!

Great to read some good stuff from you

[SAGirl]

Good Article on GSW and their potential diminishing returns and how they will probably underperfom in comparison to their projections.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...-be-different/

Among the top 10 percent of teams in our sample according to projected talent, a few trends emerged that had some small predictive power over a roster’s ability to meet its expectations. Unsurprisingly, even after controlling for their overall projected talent levels, teams that collected more high-usage players⁴ tended to underperform, which speaks to the dangers of assembling a lineup of scorers and having them fight over one ball. Also, teams stocked with rebounders tended to fall short of expectations more often than the average squad.

At the other end of the spectrum, teams rife with shooters, passers and defenders tended to resist the pull of diminishing returns more effectively than their peers. This makes perfect basketball sense: Unlike on offense, adding defensive talent seems to only make a team stronger, all else being equal, and ball movement and floor-spacing have long been known to help an offense become more than the sum of its parts.

[ceperez]

Good Article on GSW and their potential diminishing returns and how they will probably underperfom in comparison to their projections.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...-be-different/
[/FONT]

This makes absolute sense. There's only one ball in offense. However, it takes an understanding of how to play efficiently. I watched Durant this post-season and you can see that he was learning to take efficient shots. He used to take more difficult shots. But now he's got this move that he just rises up from a set position without needing to dribble.

GSW definitely got weaker on defense though with Bogut and Ezeli shipping out. That's their weak point. Verajao and that Georgian (what's his name?) are falling apart and it could be that they won't have a center come playoff time! West can't defend the paint by his lonesome!

Still too early to tell if Spurs offense and defense improved. We can at least say that the team is more athletic and quicker now compared to last year. It definitely isn't smarter after losing Duncan, Bobo and West. So I expect a lot of stupid play in the regular season.

[SASdynasty!]

I'll ask the following question rhetorically: You can't be serious? Parker has been past his prime for 3 seasons. He'll be coming off of playing in an Olympic qualifying tournament and the Olympics themselves and will be another season older next year. Let's just hope he can reprise the season he just had.

The same goes for Gasol, Ginobili and to a lesser extent, Aldridge.

Of course I'm serious. We won a le 3 years ago with Parker as our best player throughout the regular season and playoffs. Since 2013, we're 6-0 in playoff series where Parker is our leading scorer. We're 2-3 when he's not. Not sure why we went away from that, but it's time to get back to it. Maybe we can get past the second round of the playoffs. He's only 34. Just stop with the "experiment" already...go with what works until it doesn't.

[ElNono]

I'll ask the following question rhetorically: You can't be serious? Parker has been past his prime for 3 seasons. He'll be coming off of playing in an Olympic qualifying tournament and the Olympics themselves and will be another season older next year. Let's just hope he can reprise the season he just had.

The same goes for Gasol, Ginobili and to a lesser extent, Aldridge.

he probably is serious, tbh... after all this is the guy that thinks PPG is the sole measure of player production, regardless of anything else. He probably thinks Kobe had a great season last season too, tbh...

[cutewizard]

I'm trying to feel optimistic today:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

magnifico!

[cutewizard]

This makes absolute sense. There's only one ball in offense. However, it takes an understanding of how to play efficiently. I watched Durant this post-season and you can see that he was learning to take efficient shots. He used to take more difficult shots. But now he's got this move that he just rises up from a set position without needing to dribble.

GSW definitely got weaker on defense though with Bogut and Ezeli shipping out. That's their weak point. Verajao and that Georgian (what's his name?) are falling apart and it could be that they won't have a center come playoff time! West can't defend the paint by his lonesome!

Still too early to tell if Spurs offense and defense improved. We can at least say that the team is more athletic and quicker now compared to last year. It definitely isn't smarter after losing Duncan, Bobo and West. So I expect a lot of stupid play in the regular season.

--------------------------------------------------

Gasol, and Manu are still there to provide high BB IQ

Kawhi and Lamarcus will be in their second season together too!