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He was also the little bas that said our window for being NBA Champions was closed...
This is just all "talk".
The also lost Calderon in the Chandler trade. M Ellis is NOT a PG.
He was also the little bas that said our window for being NBA Champions was closed...
This is just all "talk".
It'd be nice to see a bounce back year for Tony but he's not getting any younger so we'll just have to wait and see. He has a ton of miles on his legs already too.
Diaw played but that's actually good for him...
I want to see what a healthy a Spurs team looks like, with Leonard as the 1st or 2nd option. Manu had a fractured leg, TP a sprained ankle, Mills a torn rotator cuff. I think we've yet to see the Spurs' best. This may be their best year ever if they manage to stay healthy.
Yeah, to a point. In the past 12 months, he's played 103 games, not including preseason. He's "only" 32, but has quite a bit of mileage when you consider that he plays for France virtually every summer.
At some point, you run out of gas. It predictably happened to Parker last season, it caught up to P. Gasol a few seasons ago; it's just inevitable. Hopefully, he can squeeze out one more season before that sets in, but it seems unlikely.
They should take it easy on him in training camp/preseason and strongly consider shutting him down for a while at some point in season. Not three weeks, like Parker, but maybe during a light stretch, where he can sit 2-3 games but get 7-10 days off.
Diaw plays much better and more aggressively when he's involved and in rhythm, so I don't agree about shutting him down... he was quite overweight at points in his career, but although that's usually bad for players, I think it was actually good for us/Diaw at this point, tbh, since he was always more of a passer and playmaker than a scorer.. likewise, paradoxically I'm not worried about him this season because he just got paid.. he will produce this year and be a big part of the repeat effort.
We also need him to play big minutes in the post to conserve the last bit of Tim Duncan the Spurs have left...
I'm not suggesting doing it at the end of the regular season; some time around mid season would be ideal. They'll be plenty of time for him to regain rhythm and game shape. My concern is, from the 2nd round on, if they have to go through the Clippers, Thunder and Cavs, does he have the legs to play the minutes they're going to need him to play in those match-ups? Particularly the latter two, I could easily see him having to play the most minutes on the team.
We will see... none of it matters if Tim Duncan gets injured or finally falls off a cliff from having to play too many minutes in the post during the regular season campaign.. I'd rather go for broke at this point, not think about any future seasons, none of that.. run Diaw and Splitter into the ground if necessary, as long as we get that repeat, the future doesn't matter at this point in my eyes, only repeating..
That identifies the dilemna. We were better of last year TP wasn't having a MVP type season because it forced him to trust his teammates more. Conversely his teammates were more confident because he trusted them. That made the Spurs a much more dangerous team. As Lebron said, everybody could hurt you. There was no simple head of the snake.
In the playoffs, yeah. But in order to repeat, they're going to have to have a somewhat fresh Diaw for the playoffs.
Splitter, I'm not concerned with, even though he has shockingly little stamina for his build. It would probably be best if they could get away with swapping his and Diaw's minutes, but even if Duncan's mid ranger returns to the level of two to three seasons ago, they probably can't, because of the lack of mobility in defense of stretch fours.
Unfortunately, the only way to get away with playing Diaw less, is playing Bonner and/or Daye more.
I mean, yeah I agree it would be best if everyones fresh heading into the playoffs, but Im not sure thats realistic.. considering the difference in Boris' play when he is involved compared to when he doesnt get many minutes or touches, Id say it is actually ok if he is a little beat up and tired, well not really ok but the best alternative at this point..
true dat about Splitter's stamina, he's miles better than his rookie season but still gets winded fast, doubt it will ever get better at this point. Pop will have his hands full as usual but I have faith in his abilities.. the big question on my mind right now actually is What About Baynes? If he could produce consistently during the regular season alone it would vastly improve the front line situation.
GOAT
Repeating is the one major item missing from Tim's resume, which may hurt his job search prospects.
I think they all would love to repeat, for themselves, but above all for Tim and Pop.
Why stop at a repeat! Let's just jump to the threepeat!
Seriously, it's amazing what the Spurs have accomplished in Kawhi's first three seasons - West finals, WC Champs, NBA Champs...amaziing!
The biggest concerns are Manu and Mills to a certain extent. Hopefully Cory will step up as it is his contract year
When Tim calls his shot, then I'll get excited about a Spurs player prediction.
Pop's getting a head start on resting Diaw:
Most probably Diaw's resting time will be the preseason.. he doesn't really need to play in preseason since he played the whole summer.
Training camp next week?
YEs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spurs 5 biggest obstacles to pull off a repeat.
1. Health -- the team has to stay healthy, Duncan, Ginobili are all veteran players, they need to be fresh when the playoffs start. Parker needs to stay healthy all season.
2. OKC Thunder -- Will be out to destroy the Spurs in the playoffs.
3. Motivation - After such a great NBA championship in which the Spurs destroyed the Miami Heat 4-1, will motivation play a huge role? are they now satisfied? they recently made back 2 back Finals and could have repeated if not for the game 6 travesty. The team has to keep it's focus and play well and Leonard has to keep blooming for a legit shot at repeating.
4. 2 East teams to worry about now, the Cavs and Bulls. Odds are one of them will be in the Finals in June. The Heat will probably not make it to 5 straight NBA finals. Indiana is banged up. Wizards have growing pains.
5. West rivals - Clips, Rockets, Mavs, Warriors, Grizz will all want to take their best shot at beating the defending NBA champs in the playoffs.
So they are the defending NBA champions headed into this season, it's theirs to lose. I see health, motivation and the OKC Thunder possibly playing the role of spoilers. If they can make the 2015 NBA finals, they have a great shot at beating the Cavs or Bulls or another East team. So a repeat is very possible for the Spurs, it's all about motivation and health now with this team.
Last edited by Chillen; 09-25-2014 at 07:52 AM.
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