we needn't 70. we need champion
Personally, I want both a 70-win season and a Spurs' Championship. But not the first at the expense of the latter. Pop knows what's ultimately more important and so do the players. Futhermore, Pop hates distractions... and as the season wears on, this topic will naggingly fall in that category.
Who knows how he'll manage it without disrupting the chemistry and rhythm this team has built.
It's absolutely not going to happen.
But I will say that the schedule itself isn't necessarily a big impediment to getting there, if only because the Spurs' schedule -- at least in terms of who they're playing, without regard to where or when they play them -- is taking a turn for the better. The Spurs' strength of schedule (measured by the total winning percentages of their opponents) was .517 in the first half (9th most difficult in the league). Looking at who they have left, based on current winning percentages, the strength of schedule for the 2nd half is only .490. Only 2 teams in the West -- Dallas and Oklahoma City -- have "easier" schedules the rest of the way.
wow. that's crazy. and that's saying that i don't think the Spurs are "trying" really hard right now.
Great article, thanks 228. Nice to see you around here again!
Yup, I'd call this chemistry ball - these guys just click perfectly together.
This team has shown at least two higher gears of intensity that they've only brought out under pressure so far, and as we enter SPAM and then the playoffs we'll see more of those gears. They're not stetching themsleves much yet, and that's a great sign.
As long as the team's health holds up, I see us going all the way to the Finals this year. I've rarely seen a Spurs team gel as early and as solidly as this group has. In fact, don't think I've ever seen a Spurs team this deep and cohesive (2005 was as cohesive but not nearly so deep, and 2007 they only found the cohesion late in the season).
Just want a championship
The best thing is all this is happening and Pop hasn't had to alter the master plan of minutes distribution, with the exception of Manu playing a couple MPG more than he would have probably liked. And Manu should be able to rest up for the playoffs with Anderson coming back.
I'm hopin by game #70 which would be around March 19, we'd have HCA locked up.
guys would get a month res!!!!
Not going to happen unless the bench become monsters, because after HCA is established, Pop sits his starters most of the time.
Priority will be health over 70 wins. If we continue to have good health to our main players, we will be able to have a great chance of bringing home the 5th ring.
35-6 is great in this manner - we do not have to get desperate and chase wins like last seasons. Once we get an significant lead over the rest of the Western conference, i figure that the big 3 minutes will start to drop significantly and our role players will get more minutes to gain more experience and chemistry. The rest of the West will jostle for seeding like last reason and we will be well rested when playoffs come around. Health is the key. I am sure Pop understands that and will do his best to conserve the big 3 instead of going for some record.
I'm glad Pop doesn't give a about winning 70 wins.....
62-65 wins. (If healthy)
anybody expecting more is delusional
To be fair, tieing/breaking the Bulls record IS pretty much the Regular Season Championship. Every great team in the future would be compared with the 11' Spurs.
Just past halfway and +7 in the loss column over the entire conference.
In fact, the Spurs are +7 in the loss column over every one else in the league other than the Celtics.
so if the Spurs maintain a 7 game lead with 5 or 6 games to go, at what point do Tim, Manu etc all sit down?
Do they not play at all and let guys like Quinn get 35+ minutes? Do they just play the 1st half only?
I'll be extremely curious to see how that plays out if that happens.
not if they fail to win the championship.
throughout history they will be remembered as "the spurs team that won 72 but failed miserably in the playoffs"
yeah, that might be worse than the team that won 67 but failed miserably in the first round against the warriors.
It's a shame everybody drinks the same kool-aid.
That's what's wrong with the league nowadays, there isn't anyone like Jordan and the Bulls that wanted to not just be good, not to just be great, but be Historic.
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