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I don't think they'll win it this year but I will say getting to the wcf wouldn't be lucky. Love your optimism though!
The Spurs were playing there best basketball, and were healthy for most of the season at about this time last season and had only 14 losses and ended the season with 24 losses. Spurs have only 16 losses this year, have been playing better lately but yet haven't hit their peak, and have been injured for majority of the year and I only see possibly 6-7 losses the rest of the way. The Spurs were also struggling quite a bit at the end of march, and early april last year. I believe Parker will return next Tuesday against the Cavs,and will look better and fresher and Duncan will turn it up a notch soon. The only thing that concerns me is turnovers. Spurs will pick up the defense also by the time playoffs come around. If we can avoid the Rockets or Thunder until the WCF I think we will be fine. I think everyone else we can beat them in no more than six games.
I don't think they'll win it this year but I will say getting to the wcf wouldn't be lucky. Love your optimism though!
Less confident mainly because Parker has been terrible this season. Even worse is that I don't think Duncan has enough gas in the tank to carry Frenchie when he decides to start choking like in the Finals last year.
Spurs had a lot of luck last year. Every success has luck. Is Miami bad ass? Yes. Did they need luck? ing yes. Can you rely on luck? No, but you hope for it.
Big plus over last year is emergence of Mills and addition of Belinelli. We need aggressive big man play from Tiago and Boris' all around game to shine. Tim needs to pace the rest of the season. Biggest concern is Tony. Even though he has rested two and a half weeks, I am concerned that is still not enough. He MUST be 90-100% for us to have a chance otherwise he is much easier to shut down and his D suffers miserably. We also have to have Leonard playing at a high level. And the 3s need to fall from him, Green, and Beli and Manu. Manu has to play controlled, and he looked out of control at times during Pistons game. No question he is the scapegoat of 2013 and rightly so.
It's absolutely wrong to write this team off. They have ridden the ups and downs really well this season and better than I thought possible with the litany of injuries and the sad sacks at the end of the bench and the loss of key assistant coaches. Pop is going to keep playing Ayres. Even though he gets alot of hate, as long as Pop keeps his mpg low and timely, it shouldn't hurt Spurs too bad.
All in all, as long as health returns, I like Spurs chances to make noise. Beating OKC is a pipe dream though. Houston will be a huge challenge if we face them too. I want to stay away from those two squads.
I don't know that I'd say pipe dream against okc. We still have yet to face them in playoffs without harden. I truly believe Westbrook is the one thing that will do in the thunder. I'll take Spurs over thunder come playoff time any day of the week. Yes I know Durant is pretty unstoppable but I'm telling you Westbrook will screw them up with his timely shot selection.
Jeff Ayers makes everything 10000 times worse.
Our only hope is that he receives less than 5 mpg in the playoffs. Our big man rotation is going to have to be Duncan/Splitter/Diaw with Kawhi occasionally playing the small-ball 4 and Bonner occasionally getting a few minutes here and there as well depending on the matchup.
I hope Kawhi is well-rested...because I have a feeling we're going to need him to play 38-40 mpg this postseason.
The obsession with Ayres is really bizarre. He has taken Blair's role in the regular season and will have the same impact as Blair in the playoffs.
If we're as healthy as last yr then yes.
The problem is were not as healthy. One decent backup SF is what they still need.
He is still the weak link on the second unit. Come the playoffs Diaw, Splitter, and Duncan can eat up the 96 minutes between the 4 and 5 but even 12 minutes left over is a quarter of the game. The defense during that time is invariably awful because Pop pairs him with Diaw. We need Splitter to start playing more minutes desperately.
Better. Green and Leonard have improved, and Ginobili has looked good all season. Add in Diaw 2.0 and Beli, and the 2K ratings should be better at least. If Duncan maintains and Parker comes back strong, I think the team is going to be a handful.
The biggest X-factor is Splitter. It's not his fault that his pairing with Duncan, but he needs to be tougher offensively for the Spurs to be able to dictate matchups. He's been better at rebounding, especially on the offensive glass. If he can take advantage of smaller players more consistently, I think the Spurs can really take it to these small-ball teams.
You guys are worse then last year. Duncan has regressed, Parker is broken, Splitter is weaker, Green's confidence is gone. Factor those 4 things in and you guys are ed big time.
Heading into the playoffs last year the Spurs looked really bad, so confidence-wise I probably have more confidence in the team now than I did going into the playoffs last year. I don't think the Spurs will be as successful as they were last year though.
Keep those blinders on.
Just be careful you don't awaken the sleeping giant at the wrong time.
lol wutGreen's confidence is gone.
If Parker is healthy and/or Leonard's role expands down the stretch, I'll be just as confident as last year..
Parker cannot continue to be a top-tier usage player with declining production, tbh..he needs to play at a top-tier level, or the Spurs need to lower his usage a little..also, statistically, he has been one of the worst defensive players in the league this season..it's probably mostly a matter of effort, but he needs to increase defensive intensity and effort if the Spurs have a shot..
It's also tough to ask this question on ST, since 80% of the posters here thought the Spurs had no chance to make the Finals last year, tbh..
This is true, truer words were never spoken.It's also tough to ask this question on ST, since 80% of the posters here thought the Spurs had no chance to make the Finals last year, tbh
+1It's also tough to ask this question on ST, since 80% of the posters here thought the Spurs had no chance to make the Finals last year, tbh
People tend to forget we were going through a horrendous losing streak at the end of last year. Analysts even thought we were going to lose to the Lakers
Even the waived NBA players can sense the Spurs' impending second round exit.
LOL ^
Be interesting to see how Spurs handle the pressure of closing out games in the playoffs. Certain situations (rebounds/FTs) similar to Miami series will come up. Will Pop have any alternative strategies/change in philosophy in these situations? We will see.
He makes Blair look like a ing ALL STAR.
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