Don't think the team will make any noise this year, making the playoffs would be great. I think expectations will be higher next season. They have a good foundation of young players set with Murray, Forbes, White, Bertans, Poeltl, Walker, and Metu surrounded by all star caliber players and veterans they can learn from. Hopefully those players continue to improve. Plus they have 3 draft picks this year and maybe at least one of those players is special and can make the rotation.
Aldridge s the bed against Houston for some reason and good luck guarding Chris Paul with Bryn Forbes. Plus Derrick White is going to get the rookie treatment against Harden so there goes our best defender. We play a zone and all Houston does is jack 3s all day long. Sorry but I don't think much of Forbes or Patty or Belli closing out on 3 point shooters. It's basically like not having a defender at all on them.
Wouldn't it be sweet....
That is actually the proper defense against Houston. Let them shoot 3s except corners, and grab every rebound. You lose once or twice by 50, ans win the other games.
This is where I’m at. Watching the internal improvement from White, Forbes, and Bretans has been a joy. Portle has been intriguing at moments too. My hope is Lonnie gets a chance with the big club.
I saw them as a 8-6 seed team at the start of the season. An 8 seed to not making the playoffs when Murray, Walker, White went out for injuries.
Told myself like I do every year to see how this team looks like in the end of December in comparison to the rest of the league out in the west.
I still see them as 6-8 seed due to there up an down performance, notably when Gay is out.
But the rest of the west conference that is currently seeded has looked equally good an bad throughout the season with the exception of Denver.
I think this year's playoffs have the big potential for anyone from 8 to 4 in the brackets to create upsets into the Western Conference Finals.
Warriors the team to beat but they haven't looked like the team that was running an onslaught of the previous couple seasons.
OKC is the only matchup I really don't like for the Spurs. OKC just plays crazier against the spurs.
Houston, Denver, Clips, Lakers, Trailblazers all seem like matchups that can go either way for the Spurs but are series they can win.
Playoffs into a 2nd round exit I consider a success. They have an opportunity to go further though.
They are good enough offensively to make it to the WCF and bad enough on defense to not make the playoffs or get ousted in the first round.
5th or 6th seed and depending on the match up, probably at least a trip to the semi's.
Not awful all things considered; Spurs pick would probably fall in the 22-23 range, the Raps pick conveys (granted probably only being the 30th or 29th pick), White has looked like a good NBA player, as has Forbes and Bertans as well as Poeltl.
Add a healthy Murray, and a full MLE this team could be really good next season
They are 6th in offense and 18th in defense. That is elite on one end and below average -but not terrible, on the other. I think the West Semi's is probably a realistic ceiling for this team.
If the team can get to the playoffs, I just want them to get to the 2nd round and not get swept.
It is the proper defense but my point is that when Patty, Bryn, and Belli are ur close out defenders then that is actually like a wide open 3. And that's not the way to beat Houston, by essentially giving them free looks.
If the Rockets are going to keep playing the awful brand of basketball they have been playing since last season's series vs the Warriors, then there's no need to play defense vs them. You just let them shoot all the step back threes they want and hope that they don't fluke into 4 wins in a series, tbh.
Like you
This Spurs team is not a contender by any mean. Could it be in the future? That is the long term goal.
For the current season to be considered successful the team should play the playoffs and the roster be evaluated for its performance in those games. The more games the team competes and the more minutes our players are on the court, the more information PATFO will have in order to make decisions in summer. This team has new leaders to be appraised, young and role players to be tested and all of them have lessons to be learned during those games.
I honestly don't think there is potential for more than playing the second round in the best case scenario. Seeding will depend on other teams record as first-round matchups will do. To me is irrelevant if the team makes the second round or not. The evolution and performance of some key players is the criteria I'll use to rate the season.
What exactly am I talking about?
- DeRozan. Can he lead this team during the RS? Yes at the moment but in playoffs? (key areas of his game: points in the paint and defense)
- Aldridge. Can he transfer to playoffs his good play?
- Gay. Will he score in 1on1 and be effective as a starter as he's been doing this season? (key areas of his game: defense, rebounding and shooting%)
- Bertans, Marco, Forbes. Can they score and contribute offensively without being a defensive liability in playoffs?
- Mills, Gasol. Is still positive the balance between their salaries and their on & off court contribution?
- White. In his first real playoff experience, we will discover how can he really contribute to a contender.
- Poetl. Has he toughened up enough to play minutes as a big in playoffs? Next to Aldridge?
This is a transition season for these players to earn a spot and a role in the project.
Leave your father out of this.
If they are seeded 5-8 I don't see them beating a healthy top 4 seed without home court.
Just making the playoffs will be a success. Fans have been spoiled with past championship seasons and have risen the bar for what would be considered a successful season for this team.
The only teams the Spurs should lose to are the Dubs and Rockets, losing to anyone else would be an embarrassment. Say what you want about the defense but the Spurs have 2 all star veteran players and a mix of young talent around them. They shouldn't be losing to no name teams tbh.
I don't see any top seed that the Spurs should be afraid of facing besides the GSW (presuming that it's them, OKC, Denver and Portland/ Houston). None of them are exactly juggernauts.
Beating the Lakers is all I care about.
I agree with this, Spurs can compete against all the teams in the West (except GSW).
The luckiest scenario is that some other team knocks out GSW from contention and Spurs go on a hot streak at the right time.
The cutoff for failure is not making the playoffs. But a quick first round exit would feel like a more painful failure.
We have two all stars... There are teams with none who are better
If we trade LMA by next season, that's a success and a step in the right direction... Mark my words...
GSW
Denver
OKC
Portland
Houston
San Antonio
Utah
Lakers
I think a near perfect bracket is similar to the current one (assuming that doesn't change too much.
Warriors would have to face a decent team in the first round for a change, and probably Houston in the second round.
The Spurs would face OKC which is a decent matchup and if they were to advance then they'd play the winner of the Utah Denver series. Wouldn't be inconceivable for the Spurs to go to the WCF in that scenario plus still have a decent pick (probably 21 and 29-30 from Toronto)
how can we trade your ass to the Raptors board though? That would be the ultimate move
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