Game Thread (81/82): Spurs @ Blazers (9:00 PM CT/5:00 AM Riga)

[SAGirl]

You can do that for any champion. Is GS just seen as a cute regular season team that can't get over the hump instead of a historic team if they don't get CLE without Love & Kyrie in '15? It's pointless to play the what if game to discredit champions, and comes off as miserable when it's your own team.

He's knows his basketball but you hit the nail on the head. Miserable is how I would describe him.

[sasaint]

I don't think anyone would fault them for losing to a historically stacked squad like Golden State-- a disgustingly unfair roster that will overmatch everyone, not just the Spurs.

However, if they get beat by a flawed Houston team—though one that represents the total anti-thesis of what they are trying to do from a basketball philosophy standpoint—that should call for an immediate detour. I just do not see how losing in the second round again with a 60-win team doesn’t spur a complete reassessment of where they stand with their current roster/basketball foundations.

In a way, even with that last magical le still lurking in memory, the perception of the team has already changed. It is now being articulated by pundits in polite terms as in “I’m not sure the Spurs have another gear in the playoffs”. They are right: the last two postseason exits have put the team on a treadmill of pretention.

So the crucial choice has to be made this summer: Are they happy with a “second-fiddle” ceiling--they haven't even hit yet it in two consecutive postseasons-- as Golden State left to clean up for next the few years? Or take a step back (in regular season wins/seeding) in order to prepare a legit le contender for, say, 2020 or 2021 while Leonard still in his prime..If the latter is the case, then I don’t see anyone outside Kawhi/Murray/Bertans with a chance to be a starter on that team. You simply go from there.

They may have lost leverage in a potential Aldridge trade (decline/health concerns) and consider Green as part of the core, but these two are essentially their only assets along with a late pick (though I think they can find takers for Pau to clear space).

The fact remains no franchise has kick-started a new winning cycle without making a bold move of sort with the long-term view in mind. The Spurs did it in their own way by trading Hill for a middling lottery pick.

Just gotta stop spinning the wheels..The current Spurs are a souped-up version of those late 2000s one-superstar Heat/Mavericks teams; we are putting nothing to hazard by trying to shake things up.

* Bill Simmons just asked in one of his recent podcast: who on this Spurs team outside Leonard could be said to be better or just as good as he was 3 years ago? Depressing truth..

I would agree with you 100% except for the fact that the Dubs face a difficult off-season, themselves. Curry has been playing on the cheap, and re-signing him to the max contract he will undoubtedly command may wreak as much havoc on them as signing Durant. Heck, it is not inconceivable that Curry (or Klay or even Draymond) plays elsewhere next season. The implications of such a move for his new team, as well as the Dubs, are immense. Next season competing with Golden State may not depend so much on catching up with them but their falling back to the pack.

The most recent example of your "bold moves" theory is probably the "anti-Spurs," Houston. They have made bold moves such as hiring D'Antoni, dumping Dwight, and completely changing their style of play. I am not necessarily a believer in D'Antoni or his style of play, however it is undeniable that the Rockettes represent exactly the kind of radical transformation and improvement you are talking about.

[TD 21]

You can do that for any champion. Is GS just seen as a cute regular season team that can't get over the hump instead of a historic team if they don't get CLE without Love & Kyrie in '15? It's pointless to play the what if game to discredit champions, and comes off as miserable when it's your own team.

I know and I repeatedly did that when the Warriors won in '15, saying they faced no fellow top 5 team considering the state of the Cavaliers at the time and unprecedented injury luck throughout their run, but this discussion was about the Spurs.

I didn't discredit them or insinuate that they definitely would have lost, but let's not pretend that things couldn't have been different, if not for the 2nd and 3rd best players, on the team that's given them the most difficulty for years, being injured. They don't get those breaks and this could very well have been the winningest regular season team of the decade, without so much as a Finals appearance to show for it.

He's knows his basketball but you hit the nail on the head. Miserable is how I would describe him.

[apalisoc_9]

I know and I repeatedly did that when the Warriors won in '15, saying they faced no fellow top 5 team considering the state of the Cavaliers at the time and unprecedented injury luck throughout their run, but this discussion was about the Spurs.

I didn't discredit them or insinuate that they definitely would have lost, but let's not pretend that things couldn't have been different, if not for the 2nd and 3rd best players, on the team that's given them the most difficulty for years, being injured. They don't get those breaks and this could very well have been the winningest regular season team of the decade, without so much as a Finals appearance to show for it.

You say anything bad about Kyle

[SAGirl]

You say anything bad about Kyle

Nah he's just pretty negative all the fricking time.