Spurs: The Spurs are for REAL

[DMC]

5 game series max.

At the end of the day, the scrub players always show their true colors--and the spurs rely on too many of them. Danny Green is still Danny Green.

Absolutely true.

There's a reason stars are stars, it's because they come through under pressure. Role players do not perform consistently under any kind of pressure and they are notorious for being motivated more by home crowds, doing well at home but not on the road. There are points where role guys, scrubs, become stars but it takes a breakout over a long period of time unless they come into the league with a pedigree already.

Role players, for the most part, feel it's ok to lose as long as they gave their best. Stars go beyond that "earn my money" blue collar . Kevin Durant, Kobe, James, Duncan... those guys have long histories of performing under pressure. Most role players get a few minutes to rest the starters and are right back on the bench, and in that few minutes they have the opportunity to prove something. Some people like Battier excel at their roles and some like Blair just exist because of some quirky misplaced sense of hope that they will be able to do something one day. We are so surprised when most role players make a great play or lead the team in points, even if they get the most minutes. We're never surprised when stars lead the team in all facets of the game.

The Spurs are very role player heavy and their role players play together as good as any squad I've seen, but it's not enough when you don't have the size, strength or tenacity (nasty) to compete at the higher levels against teams that do have that.

[FkLA]

The big difference defensively between the Spurs now and their championship teams is rebounding. This year they're slightly above average at defensive rebounding when in their championship years they were among the best in that category.

Would be foolish to compare them to championship year defenses. I dont think theyre as good, but at the same time they dont have to be. The 2011 Mavericks are pretty comparable in that area...they werent elite but good enough. Their role players caught lightning in a bottle during the playoffs though and the Spurs will have to hope for the same.

[thunderfan]

Miami is the favorite, but I just don't think their advantage is as great as some people seem to think. I'd put SA's odds next in line, barely ahead of both OKC and Memphis. I'm still unconvinced by LAC and all other Eastern conf teams. OKC is really showing some things in terms if floor spacing and ball movement that we've really been dying to see and it's really a huge plus over some of the stagnancy they tended to get in in the past but we shall see if it continues and progresses. Their stagnant half court offense was a big road block last year at times