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This isn't THE Finals.
How many finals had the Spurs been in when they won their 1st le?
This isn't THE Finals.
A pretty shallow analysis tbh.
When did the Spurs ever matchup one on one like this was some kind of video game? It's been a team effort thus far and there's no denying the Spurs have better chemistry than anyone else in the league.
Lulz. Or better yet, this.
I'm still hopeful and relatively confident that SA can and will beat OKC, but I'm also fairly certain I'll be emotionally ing drained by the end of the series, for better or worse.
Spurs in 7 is what I'm going with.
I keep hearing this line of thinking and I'm not buying it. Sure in the playoffs OKC has repeatedly had to come from behind to win against teams with glaring weaknesses, but is that really a sign of strength?
Spurs just keep taking care of business for 48 minutes and somehow that becomes a negative..."They haven't been tested" I keep hearing the talking heads say.
I give just as much credit to the Lakers blowing it as I do the Thunder winning it. Ive never seen a team so playoff ready just give away games like that as the Lakers.
As for the big men match up, the Thunder are ONLY good on D while the Spurs are good offensively and defensively, passing too. Add to that Duncans outside shooting and the need for their bigmen to cover him I think Spurs big men have advantage, or at least enough, combined with their overall depth, to win.
Parker outplayed Westbrook in the regular season head 2 head, Kawhi played excellent D on Durant. Add to that players like Green and Neal and I like the Spurs.
It's not about matchups, the force of this Spurs team is their TEAM play.
The Thunder are the best ISO team in the NBA.
The Spurs are simply the best team in the NBA.
A lot of experts are saying the Spurs have not been tested yet...
Maybe they have, but they're just that good.
(And the Mavs and the Lakers were awful !)
Nonetheless, the Thunder are really scary on the paper.
Let's just hope the Spurs will be even scarier on the court !
It was a reply in reference to experience having no bearing on this series.
This Spurs team, it's core is vastly more experience than the Thunder.
That experience will play a factor.
From international play, to winning NBA championships, to having lived more, being on this planet more, winning and defeat, overcoming struggles... Last years humbling loss the the Grizzlies....
the journey the Spurs role players have gone just to make it here... Danny Green, Neal.. Splitter..
there is no actual way to say how many 'years' this Spurs team has on the Thunder.
Okay so the thunder have cut their teeth.
Are they ready to beat the Spurs.
Not this year.
This is one reason I'm not sold on how difficult the bigs matchups are going to be. OKC bigs have faced a team with no inside game and Bynum/Gasol who played they were wearing schticky's for shoes. The Spurs will keep their bigs moving and then we'll get to see how good their team D is.
I just watched the Thunder go 8-1 in the playoffs against two teams with way more playoff experience who also happen to own the last 3 championships. The Thunder are experienced enough.
I don't think they're going to beat the Spurs this year either, but it won't be because of experience.
as awful as the Lakers/Mavs were, you seriously going to claim the Jazz/Injured Clips are better than them???
Homecourt and a deeper bench no longer matter? How dumb is that.Calculations are in. Unfortunately the Spurs are not the favorites. According to the simulations, OKC is favorite to win in 6.
Some notes:
- OKC big 3 are much better than Spurs big 3. TP-Brick cancel each other out. Durant is better than TD. Harden is way, way better than Manu at this point.
- OKC frontline is as good as Spurs frontline. Ibaka/Perk/Nazi will handle TD/Splitter/Diaw pretty well.
- Spurs being deeper won't make a difference at this point. Spurs HCA won't make a diff either.
- OKC swept the mavs and toyed with the lakers. That is stronger than sweeping both lowly Jazz/injured Clips.
- OKC got the hunger and clutch to match the Spurs.
- our "rookies" kawhi/green need to improve or at least maintain their level and Spurs got a chance, either of them drops performance and this could get ugly.
now for the good news, the salvation to the series:
IF Jax gets his together and becomes the Spurs 3rd/4th best player, it's ova
that's a huge IF
The biggest problem okc had with la was ball movement and we're lightyears ahead of la in ball movement.
1) What simulations are you using? Accuscore/Hollinger gives the Spurs 58% to advance against the Thunder.
2) Why would SJAX be more important than MANU playing at the level he was at during the regular season? He is playing at half the PER he was during the regular season. IF he goes back to 25 PER, we are fine matching him against Harden.
The Thunder struggled with a Lakers team that the Spurs destroyed in the regular season.
I've seen some great defense from OKC, also individuality and athleticism, 4th quarter clutchness, home cooking... There's no point making a guess, I'll just hope and wish for the Spurs to win the series in 6.
Something that is being overlooked is that OKC doesn't have any post offense. Perkins, Ibaka, Nazr and Collison are good defenders but they can't generate their own shot inside the paint. Spurs are very effective at defending that paint or drawing charges. If OKC goes through stretches where they can't generate offense from their perimeter game, it could spell trouble for them. By the mere fact that the spurs run a smooth offense and get back on D effectively, OKC won't have as many transition/easy buckets as they did against the lakers.
No, but...
Thunder win by
1, 3, 16 & 6 points against the Mavs
29, 2, 3 & 16 points against the Lakers + 1 loss
Spurs win by
15, 31, 12 & 6 points against the Jazz.
16, 17, 10 & 3 points against the Clippers.
6 blowouts games for the Spurs and no losses.
5 games with 1, 2, 3, 3 & 6 points margin for the Thunder + 1 loss.
The Thunder should have won those games more easily than they did.
Especially those against the Mavs !
On the other hand, the Spurs did their job with their series.
You are a ing reCalculations are in. Unfortunately the Spurs are not the favorites. According to the simulations, OKC is favorite to win in 6.
Some notes:
- OKC big 3 are much better than Spurs big 3. TP-Brick cancel each other out. Durant is better than TD. Harden is way, way better than Manu at this point.
- OKC frontline is as good as Spurs frontline. Ibaka/Perk/Nazi will handle TD/Splitter/Diaw pretty well.
- Spurs being deeper won't make a difference at this point. Spurs HCA won't make a diff either.
- OKC swept the mavs and toyed with the lakers. That is stronger than sweeping both lowly Jazz/injured Clips.
- OKC got the hunger and clutch to match the Spurs.
- our "rookies" kawhi/green need to improve or at least maintain their level and Spurs got a chance, either of them drops performance and this could get ugly.
now for the good news, the salvation to the series:
IF Jax gets his together and becomes the Spurs 3rd/4th best player, it's ova
that's a huge IF
the matchups of green and kawhi v durant and harden ,make me nervous
manu is gonna have to average a bit more than 10-12 ppg to get the spurs outta this wcf
None of that matters OP. The only reason the Thunder might beat the Spurs is officiating. The Spurs are better than OKC right now. So unless someone important gets hurt, OKC isn't winning unless the series is called at least 60/40 in their favor to fix them into the Finals.
In terms of matchups, the only one OKC really has in their favor is Durant vs Leonard/Jackson. That favors them. But imo Parker is just as good if not better than Westbrook. Harden isn't any better than Manu if he can get healthy, Duncan destroys Perkins or Ibaka, and neither one of those guys can guard Bonner.
Then our bench is better. So really, our team matches up well besides against Durant who will probably kill us unless Leonard unlocks his inner Bowen. I don't see anyone else killing us though.
too many threads to weave together
to convey what I'm trying to say accurately.
But Spurs experience over the Thunder will not be hampered or fractured as was the case of the experience that Lakers and Mavericks possessed.
Those teams lost key players in the offseason/trade deadline, had coaching changes, etc...
So you could say, this years Thunder team actually has more experience playing as unit in the playoffs then both those Maverick and Lakers teams
I mean the Laker got a new starting PG halfway through the season right and new coach at the beginning of the year and lost Odom.
The Mavs tried to bring in Vince Carter and lost Chandler and Barrea..
When it comes to continuity the Spurs team and Thunder team have the most time together as a team deep in the playoffs.
but with that said...
The Spurs have a deeper well to draw from that the Thunder simply lack which will be a difference maker, when the game hangs in the balance.
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