The Spurs are Back (hoopshabit)

[apalisoc_9]

Patty and consistency are the only things keeping us from really being back. But even with the maddening inconsistency, we have been the 2nd best team in the conference (idk about statistically, but from the eye test) since the RRT. I genuinely believe we will play the warriors in the ECF (i don't think we are moving above 6, the clippers keep winning and portland is guaranteed the 4th spot), which means we'll have to play some combo of Houston/Memphis/Dallas in the first 2 rounds. That really doesn't sound bad to me.

What I've noticed the past 2 seasons is that the West is always deemed as a blood bath, but as the playoffs draw nearer, injuries and the law of averages really weed out who the real contenders are. I remember at the beginning of the season they were saying there were like 7-8 teams in the conference that could legitimately contend, and now its really just looking like GSW, SAS, maybe Memphis, and maybe LAC. Portland has fallen apart, Houston is a definite dark horse but I can't see them doing much, and Dallas hasn't been the same since the rondo deal.

Good take.

[313]

The West is overrated every year, as I say every year, tbh..

The East is atrocious, but like the West, there is usually 1-2 real contenders per year..I don't know why pretenders like Portland and Memphis get "contender" hype every year, people never seem to learn..

Realistically, though, the Warriors are the only real contenders in the West, at the moment..the Spurs are a wildcard contender, but they need a lot to break their way(standings, road consistency, stay healthy, etc)..

I think it's more about every series will be compe ive in the West, and an upset could happen at any time. In the East it was the Pacers, and Heat these last couple years AnAnd they were the only threats to each other.

[Sean Cagney]

Too inconsistent for me to say they're back. No doubt they're the team to beat when playing at their best but the seeding might be their downfall this season.

TBH... On point

[SpursFan86]

Our largest leads in the past 16 games

[TampaDude]

Back???

We never left.

GO SPURS GO!!!!!

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The West is overrated every year, as I say every year, tbh..

The East is atrocious, but like the West, there is usually 1-2 real contenders per year..I don't know why pretenders like Portland and Memphis get "contender" hype every year, people never seem to learn..

Realistically, though, the Warriors are the only real contenders in the West, at the moment..the Spurs are a wildcard contender, but they need a lot to break their way(standings, road consistency, stay healthy, etc)..

Every team has to have things break their way. That is kind of the point. Your post wanders around in drivel and goes nowhere. A 'real' contender is anyone who has a shot to make and win the finals.

The field is incredibly wide open.

The only teams with playoff credentials are San Antonio and Dallas and they look mortal. Memphis made a WCF a couple years ago but mostly it's been the champs and their es, OKC and IND. Outside of that you have a bunch of second round fodder or worse over the course of the past 5 years. A lot of teams are unknowns. Who knows what the Hawks or Cavs can do? We've never seen the Warriors out front. They could all easily implode and we have someone like Houston, Chicago or Toronto end up in the finals.

[Malik Hairston]

^^ what a vanilla post, tbh..

This is the NBA, it's mostly a predictable league every year..there's virtually no chance that a team like Toronto gets to the Finals, and elite teams during the regular season generally translate well to the playoffs..

The Warriors are having a historic regular season, they are far ahead of the compe ion..based on their team metrics + their projected record, teams with their regular season credentials have gone to the Finals virtually every time..

Only corny, vanilla fans believe the field is wide open and that teams like Portland, Memphis, Dallas, etc have a chance to go deep in the playoffs..silly as ..

[FuzzyLumpkins]

^^ what a vanilla post, tbh..

This is the NBA, it's mostly a predictable league every year..there's virtually no chance that a team like Toronto gets to the Finals, and elite teams during the regular season generally translate well to the playoffs..

The Warriors are having a historic regular season, they are far ahead of the compe ion..based on their team metrics + their projected record, teams with their regular season credentials have gone to the Finals virtually every time..

Only corny, vanilla fans believe the field is wide open and that teams like Portland, Memphis, Dallas, etc have a chance to go deep in the playoffs..silly as ..

Long on assertion and lacking any real insight.

You haven't discerned how the NBA works from your narratives that read like bad romance. It's fluff and bull . My point that we have not seen what any of these teams can do deep in the playoffs still stands. We haven't.

Now go yourself, pumpkin.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

But please handwave some more at an aggregate stat that you have found to correlate over a sample size of 50. Even for amateur statistical analysis, yours is ty.

[Malik Hairston]

Ugh, typical Fuzzy posts..

A lot of content, a lot of words, a lot of criticism, but literally nothing of substance, tbh..such a smug, pompous man, yet has never provided a single piece of decent analysis in his entire posting history on SpursTalk..

Arguing that "we haven't seen what these teams will do" and that the field is wide open is extremely corny, it's the type of analysis you would hear on NBA TV in a segment appealing to casual fans..This is using logic that essentially argues that teams like the Bucks and Nets are contenders, because the teams at the top of their conference(Hawks and Cavs) haven't shown anything in the playoffs yet..

It's such amateur and corny analysis..Ugh, disgusts me..

And I'm not sure what stat you're referring to..if you're questioning the Warriors metrics that I referred to, then you're ignoring a season-long team sample size that has accurately gauged championship success for past teams over a range of 30+years..smh..

I guess it's not as good as "it's wide open" and the ing Toronto Raptors are contenders(who I no Raptors fan in the world believes).."teams might implode" such riveting analysis, tbh..

[SpursFan86]

I'd be willing to bet good money that one of GS/SA/Cleveland will win the le. Don't think anyone else has much of a shot unless some injuries go down or something.

[Cry Havoc]

^^ what a vanilla post, tbh..

This is the NBA, it's mostly a predictable league every year..there's virtually no chance that a team like Toronto gets to the Finals, and elite teams during the regular season generally translate well to the playoffs..

The Warriors are having a historic regular season, they are far ahead of the compe ion..based on their team metrics + their projected record, teams with their regular season credentials have gone to the Finals virtually every time..

Only corny, vanilla fans believe the field is wide open and that teams like Portland, Memphis, Dallas, etc have a chance to go deep in the playoffs..silly as ..

It sort of undermines your point that the West is overrated when you say there are only 2 contenders out West.

The Warriors are historically good this year. And the Spurs are historically good as a franchise. They would be le contenders every single year in NBA history, if not outright favorites, which maybe a few years as exceptions. That doesn't mean the West is weak, the West is quite strong, they just happen to have two dominant teams playing at the same time.

Put this West up against the East Jordan played in, or the West from the 90s and they would destroy. W-L isn't the best metric, but it still speaks to the quality of this conference that there were 8 teams with legitimate shots to be 50 win clubs before Durant went down.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Article should read: Spurs, injury free and playing like it.

[TampaDude]

I'd be willing to bet good money that one of GS/SA/Cleveland will win the le. Don't think anyone else has much of a shot unless some injuries go down or something.

^ this

Barring LeBron or Kyrie going down, the Cavs are coming out of the East. Anyone who can't see that is ignoring reality.

[SpursFan86]

I think Malik just meant that the whole "the West is wide-open, so many great teams could come out of it and make the Finals" idea isn't true.

The West is absolutely strong. It makes the East look like a joke, and if you compare it to previous conferences, they look favorable as well. But the idea that there are 6-7 Western teams that could make the Finals (something that has been said all year) is sort of dumb. You have the Warriors who are clear favorites, and then us. I'd be extremely surprised if any other team managed to make it out of the West. The Clippers might have an outside shot as well (2nd best point differential in the league), but I've learned to stop trusting them when it comes to the playoffs

Like Cry Havoc said though, this doesn't mean the West isn't an extremely deep conference. It's just that GS and SA are on a different level. Put any of the top 8 or 9 teams in the East, and assuming they're healthy, they'd get HCA.

[Phenomanul]

Would be a silly joke from fate if the Mavs dropped to the eighth seed, and exacted revenge on GS for their 2007 debaucle -- again clearing the field for the Spurs to push through and face the Cavs in the Finals again. This year however Kyrie >>>>>>> Gibson so the result wouldn't be a sweep.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Ugh, typical Fuzzy posts..

A lot of content, a lot of words, a lot of criticism, but literally nothing of substance, tbh..such a smug, pompous man, yet has never provided a single piece of decent analysis in his entire posting history on SpursTalk..

Arguing that "we haven't seen what these teams will do" and that the field is wide open is extremely corny, it's the type of analysis you would hear on NBA TV in a segment appealing to casual fans..This is using logic that essentially argues that teams like the Bucks and Nets are contenders, because the teams at the top of their conference(Hawks and Cavs) haven't shown anything in the playoffs yet..

It's such amateur and corny analysis..Ugh, disgusts me..

And I'm not sure what stat you're referring to..if you're questioning the Warriors metrics that I referred to, then you're ignoring a season-long team sample size that has accurately gauged championship success for past teams over a range of 30+years..smh..

I guess it's not as good as "it's wide open" and the ing Toronto Raptors are contenders(who I no Raptors fan in the world believes).."teams might implode" such riveting analysis, tbh..

Me saying there is no empirical data to go by is amateur? You are going to try the "I know you are but what am I" and hope people buy your horse . There is still no data empirical data on how the top teams will perform deep in the playoffs. You ignore that point like the plague, coward.

You are regurgitating an sbnation article, face. There are less than 10 teams that meet your biasing and they all didn't win the championship. 4 of the teams are the same squads like Michael's Bulls. You haven't even made the argument. Plus GS' differential has been declining since your puff piece. You've asserted it and then basically whacked off about how wonderful advanced stats are. It's easy to sort spreadsheet columns!

Your stat models nothing. It is an aggregate and you have no concept of statistical analysis. Correlation does not imply causation.

[MateoNeygro]

Plus we've had a tough, tough schedule. Proud of our boys. Just need to keep getting better.

[MateoNeygro]

I want a Spurs vs. Cleveland finals soooo bad. That OT game was incredible. If I can't get that I'd take GS vs. Cleveland. Either would be a ton of fun to watch. PRAYING to the Basketball Gods that it's our Spurs though. GO SPURS GO. GET SIX.

[Brazil]

GSW is absolute favorite to win the west, there is nothing flukish about their run but we will see how they handle the POs even though they seem to be a team to go well in POs: strong defense, outside shooting, ball movement etc

After them it's for me Spurs and Houston imho... I think we are all sleeping a bit on Houston, if Harden somehow reached another level and deliver in POs what he is producing in RS, they are as good as anybody outside GSW.

Dark Horse would be Dallas, since rondo they are pedestrian but they showed last year what a team with good vets can do when properly coached.

Then the rest, I don't buy a lot on the Clippers tbh... not sure why but I don't see anything different from previous seasons. Memphis has the same short comings than before. Portland

[Brazil]

The East is a joke outside Cavs and Hawks... but I believe Chicago will be a pain in the ass to handle for anybody in the east, dat MVPau tbh

[Brazil]

GSW is absolute favorite to win the west, there is nothing flukish about their run but we will see how they handle the POs even though they seem to be a team to go well in POs: strong defense, outside shooting, ball movement etc

After them it's for me Spurs and Houston imho... I think we are all sleeping a bit on Houston, if Harden somehow reached another level and deliver in POs what he is producing in RS, they are as good as anybody outside GSW.

Dark Horse would be Dallas, since rondo they are pedestrian but they showed last year what a team with good vets can do when properly coached.

Then the rest, I don't buy a lot on the Clippers tbh... not sure why but I don't see anything different from previous seasons. Memphis has the same short comings than before. Portland

^ Beverley being out not sure about my take anymore thats a lot of minutes for Jet

[TD 21]

At Harlem laying the smack down on FuzzyLumpkins.

The only contenders the past three seasons have been the Heat, Spurs and Thunder. The only contenders this season are the Warriors, Spurs and Cavaliers. Obviously, injuries derailed the Thunder, otherwise it would have been four straight seasons of James' team, the Spurs and Thunder.

Harlem is right when he says the vast majority of on air national analysts pretend differently to drum up as much interest as possible and to keep the casual fan interested. But, the part he left out is, a lot of these people possess outdated mindsets and don't know what they're talking about.

They're all about who's supposedly "tough" and plays traditional. This is precisely why the Grizzlies and to a lesser extent, Bulls, suck these fools in every year. The same Grizzlies who, if not for Ginobili's injury in '11 and Westbrook's in '13, would more than likely have a grand total of one playoff series win during this era.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

At Harlem laying the smack down on FuzzyLumpkins.

The only contenders the past three seasons have been the Heat, Spurs and Thunder. The only contenders this season are the Warriors, Spurs and Cavaliers. Obviously, injuries derailed the Thunder, otherwise it would have been four straight seasons of James' team, the Spurs and Thunder.

Harlem is right when he says the vast majority of on air national analysts pretend differently to drum up as much interest as possible and to keep the casual fan interested. But, the part he left out is, a lot of these people possess outdated mindsets and don't know what they're talking about.

They're all about who's supposedly "tough" and plays traditional. This is precisely why the Grizzlies and to a lesser extent, Bulls, suck these fools in every year. The same Grizzlies who, if not for Ginobili's injury in '11 and Westbrook's in '13, would more than likely have a grand total of one playoff series win during this era.

Oh another pumpkin!

My first argument was that he was long on assertions and very short on basis. So what do you do?

The only contenders the past three seasons have been the Heat, Spurs and Thunder. The only contenders this season are the Warriors, Spurs and Cavaliers.

At least he gave the aggregate point differential. We know you guys want to talk about aggregate or efficiency stats or the actual outcomes along the range. You guys don't want to talk about predictive models. No instead you write more ty romance:

Harlem is right when he says the vast majority of on air national analysts pretend differently to drum up as much interest as possible and to keep the casual fan interested. But, the part he left out is, a lot of these people possess outdated mindsets and don't know what they're talking about.

They're all about who's supposedly "tough" and plays traditional. This is precisely why the Grizzlies and to a lesser extent, Bulls, suck these fools in every year

So now you are telling us stories about the national media that thinks with one brain as well as personifying sports teams and making up stories about that too.

It's meaningless drivel. I mean I am not adverse to romance but I prefer stories of honor as opposed to self affirming bull . Unfortunately with your stories its always about how you were right and others were fooled. It's tantamount to masturbation.

None of it has to do with anything on the court either. No team that has HCA has made it to the Conference Finals. It is what it is and you cannot even address it.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

GS are not the favorites. They haven't even made a WCF in 10+ years. Spurs are the favorites then GS. Regular season ball is much more different than playoff ball. Just ask the Mavs and Spurs that when they were knocked out of the playoffs being the #1 seeds and the best record in the NBA.