Zach Lowe's 30 crazy predictions for the 2016-17 NBA Season

[spursistan]

Typical. Always trying to be different or first with everything; hence his growing aversion to the Spurs and his blind legion of followers joining in.

He constantly rails about them being big, slow and lacking explosiveness on the perimeter, yet loves the Jazz and has always loved the Grizzlies. Figure that one out.

I don't have a problem with the Clippers ahead of the Spurs, if for no other reason than I agree that they're better positioned to give the Warriors a series. But with the Spurs being more accomplished, annually better in the regular season and a 50/50 bet to beat them in a series, not having them in the same tier is inexplicable and disrespectful.

Yep..by the time the potential series roll around, the Spurs could be having HC and the best player in the series assuming Leonard takes another leap..

[spursistan]

Typical. Always trying to be different or first with everything; hence his growing aversion to the Spurs and his blind legion of followers joining in.

He constantly rails about them being big, slow and lacking explosiveness on the perimeter, yet loves the Jazz and has always loved the Grizzlies. Figure that one out.

I don't have a problem with the Clippers ahead of the Spurs, if for no other reason than I agree that they're better positioned to give the Warriors a series. But with the Spurs being more accomplished, annually better in the regular season and a 50/50 bet to beat them in a series, not having them in the same tier is inexplicable and disrespectful.

Yep..by the time the potential series rolls around, the Spurs could be having HC and the obvious best player in the series assuming Leonard takes another leap..

[Kawhitstorm]

Saying Taj is their best big is a bit of a stretch and can easily be debated. They brought in Lopez to play center and they'll likely move forward with Mirotic, not Gibson after this year. Also, they have Portis at PF to compete with Mirotic/Gibson for minutes at the 4 and they're really high on Portis. Trading Taj made sense this past summer and still does, especially if they intend to move forward with a younger and more talented player like Mirotic and Portis at the PF position.

The Bulls are notorious for making ridiculous demands during trade talks & are a team that rather be an 8th seed at all costs instead of rebuilding. There is a reason they didn't trade Noah or Pau when it was clear to anyone on the outside they two weren't going to re-sign.

I believe Taj has been on the trading blocks since he signed what was once considered a "bad" contract but the guy is most likely going to play out his contract unless they get an offer they can't refuse.

BTW, Portis has been playing backup center during pre-season w/ Mirotic playing the 4 so they don't necessarily have a log jam.

[HarlemHeat37]

Ya, I'm not high on the Spurs right now, but putting them on the same tier as the Raptors is pretty ridiculous

[spursistan]

2. The SpursFor once, the crankiest San Antonio fans are right: We aren't talking about the Spurs enough. This was the year San Antonio finally felt a little rickety. Tim Duncan, rim protector for their historically great defense, walked away. The Spurs replaced with him Pau Gasol, slow and ground-bound, lacking Duncan's pinpoint ferocity.
Tony Parker is getting older; could the Spurs maintain their stinginess with Parker and Gasol bookending the defense? They couldn't even count on their vaunted Spursy continuity anymore. San Antonio turned over half its roster after last season. Surely it would take time to find their pass-and-cut harmony!
Nope. Nope, nope, and nope. The Spurs are 33-9, third in points allowed per possession and fourth in offensive efficiency. The bench whips the ball around as if Boris Diaw were still there. Patty Mills and Manu Ginobili have a special mind-meld, and when your two lead ball-handlers dish and move like they do, the vibe is infectious. Nobody stands still. Jonathon Simmons has seen it up close for two years now, and both David Lee and Dewayne Dedmon have fit right in on the bench mob -- one expert passer, one above-the-rim finisher type the Spurs haven't had in a while. (Lee may have to start for a bit with Gasol nursing a broken finger.)
The starting five has always been able to slow things down and pound the ball to Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. But now that they're more comfortable with Gasol, they can pivot into a slower, calmer version of that whirring Spursy hyperactivity. Gasol and Aldridge are on fire from midrange, Danny Green has rediscovered his stroke, and Kawhi Leonard ... my god, Kawhi Leonard.
There are better scorers, and more explosive players. But I'm not sure anyone singlehandedly turns as many games with 45-second spasms of defense and shooting. He'll pickpocket someone, nail a pull-up 3, create a turnover with a deflection, and then drill a jump hook -- and bam, the Spurs have blown open another game. LeBron has that two-way ability, but he reserves his best stuff for June.
What a team.

Zach Lowe mea culpa?

They may not have enough to take down Golden State or they may even get upset by LAC/Rockets, but the idea that this team was in the same tier with the likes Toronto/Boston was simply laughable from the beginning..

When you have a bonafide Top 5 player in the league who just entered his prime, it is insulting to entertain such a thought anyway.... not to mention other factors in which the Spurs pulverize both the Raptors/Celtics..

[Chinook]

RealGM people buying this hook, line and sinker.

[Joseph Kony]

RealGM people buying this hook, line and sinker.

RealGM is a pile of imo. I still browse and post in other forums besides the general board but those people bill themselves as hardcore bball fans but i remember that thread in player comparisons looking at the spurs offseasn moves where you were making some good points and they dismissed all of them realgm is full of nothing but self-inflated chodes tbh

[Chinook]

RealGM is a pile of imo. I still browse and post in other forums besides the general board but those people bill themselves as hardcore bball fans but i remember that thread in player comparisons looking at the spurs offseasn moves where you were making some good points and they dismissed all of them realgm is full of nothing but self-inflated chodes tbh

I remember Chuck got really offended when I questioned his ability to talk about Spurs players. He tried to claim he knew them from being a Dallas fan. But then he also said the Spurs were just a "solid" defensive team last year.

I like it there well enough and browse it frequently for news about other teams, but it feels like 90 percent of the fans love assets more than players. They overrate young teams and underrate vets consistently. It's crazy how much the T&T board is dominated by Philly and Jazz fans and the GB by Raptors and Knicks fans.

[SAGirl]

Zach Lowe mea culpa?

They may not have enough to take down Golden State or they may even get upset by LAC/Rockets, but the idea that this team was in the same tier with the likes Toronto/Boston was simply laughable from the beginning..

When you have a bonafide Top 5 player in the league who just entered his prime, it is insulting to entertain such a thought anyway.... not to mention other factors in which the Spurs pulverize both the Raptors/Celtics..

Kawhi wasn't getting enough respect, nor the rest of the team.... and obviously some others were overrated too.

[Dre_7]

Real GM does suck. But it is no worse or no better than Spurs Talk tbh.

[Solid D]

I read this article earlier and, quite frankly, this Spurs segment deserves its own thread.