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None of that speculation matters tbqh. We won't know until we are well into the playoffs. As ty as the compe ion is, it's really hard to say.
This is a better overall team, imo, than in the last few years. How that translates into playoff success I don't know.
I agree with the observations that Parker and Duncan are not at the same level they were last year. However, we don't need those two to be dominant in the way they were last year. The fact that our whole team is better because of the upgrades attributable to improvements from Manu, Mills, Diaw and Bellinell are huge, and Splitter is better this year than last.
What I can't figure out is how much the decline from the two most important starters can be off set by the improved play from the others.
The extent to which Parker remains susceptible to the taller and longer defenders he faces in OKC and Miami is not gonna get fixed between now and June, imo.
Duncan is not going to become more mobile between now and then.
But Duncan is still going to be important, and Parker is still going to have to attack the lane in order for offense to get set. If Pop et.al. cannot come up with a way to protect Parker in the paint more than has happened so far, I see problems ahead on a big scale. If we can get a second ball handler in the playoffs when teams force the ball out of Parker's hands, we have a big upside. But I don't know who that is going to be. But it just might be Diaw…as a starter…in place of Green.
None of that speculation matters tbqh. We won't know until we are well into the playoffs. As ty as the compe ion is, it's really hard to say.
I agree with this, but also it matters whether or not our stars can step up in the post season to match or beat theirs. It seems obvious that we cannot beat Wade/Bosh/James with our big 3. We have to rely on bench performance. If that falters in the playoffs, it could be an early exit for us. I'd say our big 3 can match other playoff teams, maybe not the Rockets or the Thunder. I've never seen our bench be that effective against the Thunder, not recently anyhow.
One of the things that is a truism in the NBA is that the good teams get other teams staffing and designing plays specifically to beat them. That has been true of the Spurs for a long time, particularly in the Western Conference, and OKC has done it better than any of the others, undoubtedly due to Presti's knowledge of our team. The tendency to staff and design plays to be used in the playoffs was how the Spurs learned to beat Utah in the Malone/Nash years.
Everybody on the planet knows what we do and how we do it. The Spurs' ability to execute their offense in the face of others' knowing what they are going to do is a testament to their talent. The talent level of our opponents in the playoffs is why it gets so much harder for us to do what we do…they not only know what it is going to be…they have the talent to prevent us from executing as well as normal.
That's why none of us really knows how this is going to go.
we are better than last year, the only 2 things better last year were parker and duncan- but i think they are both just saving it for the playoffs and not really lifting a finger this reg season. but last year reg season they both looked much crisper. duncan isn't hitting that key area jumper he was nailing in '13, and parker has only shown flashes of '13 level. but after the euro classic i know parker is gonna bring that fire to the nba playoffs.
- mills is better than neal
- bonner isn't getting real mins
- blair isn't on the roster
- diaw is 2.0'd
- marco instead of tmac/ '13 version sjax
- green, splitter, leonard 1 year deeper in the system/ seasoned by a deep playoff run
- manu playing complete ball
This is what it'll come down to. Especially in the playoffs where rotations get shortened and performance from the main guys becomes more important. As much as I like the new Diaw, Belinelli, Mills, etc...we're going to need Duncan/Parker/Manu to play at a high level if we want a shot at 5.
I'll wait till June to answer this question.
With Ginobli playing better than 2012 or 2013, with Duncan playing at the same level last year, with both Green, Splitter and Kwahi all more season and playing better, and you subs ute Marco for Neal, yes, this team is the best team the Spurs have had since 2007.
I predicted that the Spurs would have the best record out West if not the NBA, due to their deep bench, and I also believe they can and more than likely will win the le this year. Spurs are a resolute bunch, unlike posters here who just seem to have fallen apart after last year's defeat.
Tim seems to miss a lot of 15 foot jump shots, it feels like his shot is broken but he can start knocking down those shots at any time.
I think he'll fine in next games.
Health will be the key, more important than seedings or matchups. I think the top seed is going to be very valuable in the playoffs, but you might not see Pop play any starter over 20 minutes those last few games of the year. The top seed won't matter if we're missing a key piece, and this year we really have 8 or 9 key pieces, in my opinion. Our rotations are our biggest advantage over other teams. Bringing in Patty for Parker, utilizing both Green and Leonard as perimeter defenders. Beli's playmaking ability and shooting. Splitter's emergence as one of the better bigs in the league. The spark that Diaw provides. The leadership and grit of the Big 3. Even guys like Joseph and Baynes play important roles in spelling the other players and letting those guys stay fresh. The Spurs truly epitomize "team" and losing anyone would hurt us.
But, yes, the Spurs look great. This team is a great mix of veterans and youth. The Spurs can go big and small. They can defend; they have size in the paint; they can fill the passing lanes and get steals, rebounds, blocked shots. Every player on the squad can shoot the ball. The Spurs offensive sets and passing skills during games look like something out of an instructional video. The bench is the strongest in the NBA, and gives us a decided advantage when the 2nd units come on.
Nice post, but I don't know if Kawhi has necessarily improved as much as regained his form post injury. His shooting stroke looks much better since he has comeback.
And while our improved bench has offset the starters, all of the bench players minutes will decrease come playoff time putting more pressure on TD/TP to match last year's playoff performances.
I still think the Spurs have a great chance to make the Finals, no doubt, but last year's team was awfully good and will be hard to top.
This is why, as much as they're probably the best team since '07, in the literal sense, they're not as equipped to win a championship as last season. You don't necessarily need the very best talent, but you need true elite talent to win it all and based on what we've seen to this point, they don't have it.
Duncan't mid range shot still looks broken and Parker, though he's still likely holding back some, can't sustain. He's become like Duncan of the past handful of years, where for stretches he can look unstoppable offensively, but rarely can he keep it up for a full game, let alone a stretch of games.
This.
It will be the happiest day in my sports life if Duncan can win a fifth, but as good as Pop's system is, in a seven game series against the best talents, when they have all the time in the world to prepare and custom tailor against our role players, it will come down to the stars and my gut feeling is our 1-2 punch is weaker than any other elite team's equivalent.
LeBron or Sefolosha on Parker all game is enough to break down our system and force us to run more 1v1 plays, and late in the series that is what other teams will do.
I would love to be wrong but historically we have never been able to overcome this since Duncan stopped being #1 power forward in the game. I hope Parker will finally break that very thin sheet of paper that separates him from a true tier-1 star and get his big brother a proper send off, we will see.
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