All it takes is for one injury on the "big 4" and they are no longer frontrunners. So while yes, they are scarey good (or looked that way against LA last night), you can't pencil them in as champs.
Well, talking about your problems on Spurstalk is certainly cheaper than seeking professional help through a counselor, psychologist, or hypnotherapist.
I am sure that reading about how it's Manu's fault, Tony is fat, Kyle is who you should be dreaming about, and arguing incessantly about why you shouldn't be having dreams will help you sort through your issues just fine.
Last edited by Solid D; 10-05-2016 at 01:59 PM.
wow..when the Clippers has become a good team?
I am quite ready for it to go either way and the odds say it's the GSW way. One has to enjoy the season anyway.
It's not going to be on Gasol if they lose, technically the team would have been in a similar or worse position had Tim not retired considering the state of his knees and that he had become a nonfactor offensively.
GSW got stacked and it would have been an uphill climb for last season's team as well, so it's not a bigger deal than it was last season.
Killing yourself will help tbh
What's sad is the casual NBA fan will be on GSW bandwagon. I don't think Durant will get Villain treatment anywhere but OKC.
Dubs ain't . Spurs in 5 tbh fwiw imo
I am literally shaking right now. Just the thought of the Dubs beating up the Clips like that. Especially in a game that means so much. Everyone knows that the first preseason game determines how far you will go during the regular season. If history has shown us anything, it's that the team that has anything over a 50 point lead in preseason game opener has gone on to win 15 straight championships.
Go j/o to the Golden Shower Guys somewhere else.
Neither path was going to get them past the Warriors anytime soon.
With your way, sure they'd match-up better, but they'd have less talent and they already don't have enough. There's also no guarantee the Trail Blazers would have let Harkless walk.
At least this way, they should maintain being a 55+ win team, with something like a 49.5% chance (49.5% for the Clippers and 1% for other) to reach the WCF, which is good for business and should keep the core players content.
That's what I am thinking as well. It's possible no move that was feasible would have put them past this warriors team if the guys they already have in the roster are not the ones carrying the heavy burden however unlikely anyways. Gasol makes them a better team right now period.
Just hope for injuries, tbh..rather than following the scoreboard, follow ankles and knees instead..
They'd have less talent? Maybe only offensively at center, but did the Spurs really need an offensive oriented center who's value is tied to usage? No they did not. Plus, the position is getting more and more useless -- especially if the center is an immobile one that can't defend the PnR, which Gasol is. Smart teams like the Blazers are noticing this and stockpiling two way wings of quality that can still do some dirty work on the boards. That's what Harkless is, except Harkless can play the PF and guard 1-4 positions like Draymond ( no he's not on Draymonds level). Leonard and Green have needed and still need help on the perimeter, no one else on the entire roster is good enough on the perimeter to compete and defend against the best teams.
You're right, there was no answer for Golden State short term that the Spurs could have done in one off-season besides signing Durant. Once they lost out on him, the best they could have done ( imo) , long term, is start building a team that CAN beat them during Leonards prime. Instead they just prolonged that whole process by 2 years with the Gasol signing, and their inability to trade Parker. Now we may not see THE START of any progress towards a championship til 2018.
It is what it is. At the end of the day, I'll hope for the best, but I just think the team should have went a different route this past summer. No real progress will be made til 2 more years.
Last edited by MaNu4Tres; 10-05-2016 at 06:14 PM.
Did you miss Golden State losing to Toronto in their first game?
Preseason is meaningless.
I get the whole fit argument, but the number one ingredient to winning a championship was, is and always will be high end talent. Gasol is closer to that than Harkless and the Spurs clearly needed another top three option, even if it coming in the form of a guard was preferable.
I'm not trying to minimize the importance of mobile bigs, but the last three champions had Love (before the Warriors went small, him and Thompson swapped assignments so that Thompson could defend the Curry/Green pick-and-roll), Bogut and Duncan, at center, so people can stop pretending it's the be all, end all.
Matching up better with the Warriors is irrelevant if by doing so you're not talented enough. You need a combination of the two, which is what the Cavaliers had and have and they still needed a million things to break right to pull it off.
There's different forms of talent. I think your only valuing talent from an offensive perspective with the ball. Its all variable dependent on what a team needs. Gasol is more talented in vacuum, but he's talented in areas the Spurs didn't really need (they have their two heavy usage guys already). Harkless' talent would be more beneficial because its in the areas that they did need. IMO Harkless is the more talented defensive player for todays' NBA. And he's a guy who has value on offense that isn't tied to usage, unlike Gasol.
Also, every year since 2008 it seems teams retool and the bar gets set higher and higher. The past champions are irrelevant to a degree because all the variables were different in the different matchups. Spurs were able to get away with not having the most mobile big like Duncan, because the Warriors were babies and the Heat and THunder were easier to defend than the Warriors.
As of now, 2016-2017, you must have a mobile big for him to stay on the floor against the Warriors or to have a shot at beating them. Tristan played a magnificent role for Cavs last year, as he switched and defended Curry better than any big I've seen in the past few years. He had a key possession where he stayed with Curry and Curry forced a tough shot and missed.
TD with the goods.
If GS reaches anywhere near 70 wins again, they will run out of gas in the playoffs again.
I hate Golden State. It took a collection of bags to make me dislike something more than Lebron James. That sauntering, mouthpiece chewing jack-ass Curry, that mouth breather Raymond and now that twitchy-shoulder beta Durant. all of em.
I'm not only valuing that form, what I'm saying is, you can't win if you're not good enough in that form, but you can win with an immobile center.
Harkless has no offensive value unless/until he proves himself a solid or better three-point shooter. Until then, he's an offensive liability. What's worse, he lacks confidence.
Easier to defend or not, the Heat were a small ball team and the Thunder essentially become one in their most desperate of moments against the Spurs.
Replace Gasol with Harkless and the Spurs would lose their only potential advantages over the Warriors (posting up/rebounding) and what they'd be left with, is even less offensive talent and a lack of rim protection.
Everyone is so damn worried about defending them, but it's damn near impossible. First and foremost, you've got to have elite talent to go back at them.
OP is a re like usual but anyways I got no nightmares of the Warriors. The '01 sweep by the Lakers was the worst demolishing of the spurs I have ever witnessed. It was also very demoralizing for a few reasons. The first reason was because the spurs had the best record and were the favorites to win it all heading into the playoffs. The second reason the Lakers had talked a lot of about the '99 championship being an asterisk and now had justification for saying it. Thirdly it was a wasted year for Duncan who I felt back then was a once in generation player which meant every year the spurs didn't win a championship was a wasted year.
Warriors vs Spurs can never get to the '01 level of demoralization for me since they won't have any of the reasons I have listed above to feel demoralized. Don't get me wrong the Warriors are a bunch of bags and would be great to see the Spurs end their season but it's not the end of the world if the spurs can't do it. I feel since Duncan has retired the spurs winning or losing is now house money for me. I will just enjoy this season being more relaxed than I have been in over 20 years knowing there is no pressure to win a championship.
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