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Woah. I was looking at NBA.com. The Pistons are the only team with a winning record when opponents score 100+(12-8). The Spurs are (2-9). Don't think the Spurs want opponents to score 100 in the playoffs.
One thirty-point blowout of a dispirited, AK47-less Jazz team does not a champion make ... sorry, Doc.
Woah. I was looking at NBA.com. The Pistons are the only team with a winning record when opponents score 100+(12-8). The Spurs are (2-9). Don't think the Spurs want opponents to score 100 in the playoffs.
Not nearly enough credit given to the Pistons and forgot completely about HOME COURT ADVANTAGE!!!!
Also why ride the Heat's jock??? the nets have a better chance and Detroit will have EASIER road than Spurs. Damn so many crazy statements in that article.
where is the link to the article dismissing next years playoffs and announcing the 07 champs? shouldn't that be out already?
I hate to be offensive, but I must say that for someone who purports to be a basketball columnist, this is among the most poorly-reasoned opinion pieces I've ever read.
Several glaring issues from my standpoint:
Parker's improvement on the offensive end has been the story of the season, but it leads to unanswered questions, both of which are significant to the Spurs chances in the playoffs. First is the obvious: whether Parker can sustain his offensive improvement into the second season, where teams are going to focus on taking away what he does best. A couple of times this year -- the games that the Mavericks and Lakers won in San Antonio immediately come to mind -- teams have taken away the lane and denied Tony's penetration. Can he still be effective in a playoff atmosphere without that weapon being readily available to him? More important, though, is whether Tony's offensive outbursts detract from his defensive effort. Parker will have an immediate test in Round 1 against Bibby. Bibby has absolutely torched Parker all season long. There are reasons for that -- reasons that can be explained better elsewhere -- but I have come to the conclusion that Parker's defensive deficiencies this season have routinely stressed the Spurs' defensive schemes and made other mistakes in areas like weak-side rotations and doubles far more glaring than they were in past seasons.
I agree with the sentiment about Bowen. I don't think, however, that the Spurs can expect to play Parker and put Bowen on Bibby in a series against Sacramento and expect to last very long in that scheme. Parker certainly cannot be called upon to defend Bonzi Wells or Ron Artest for very long; but the Spurs would have to do that to play Bowen on Bibby. Bonzi would have a field day on the block against a guy like Parker and Artest would eat Tony alive (perhaps literally).
More than any of that, the Spurs have been relatively porous on defense of late -- they have conceded an alarming number of layups and dunks on penetration that has not been seriously contested either on the bounce or at the rim. The mistakes in rotation compound the problem, because teams have used ball movement to move the defense and create mismatches and openings. I'd be unconcerned if it had been an isolated occurrence, but Sacramento, Dallas, Orlando, and even Utah have all had some success moving the ball and breaking down the defense. Bowen can be the best perimeter defender of all time, but if his teammates aren't where they're supposed to be, the Spurs are going to really struggle to limit teams' offensive production, particularly as a series goes along.
Detroit cannot possibly face both Miami and New Jersey in the coming playoffs. If the Pistons play the Heat, they won't play New Jersey -- in fact, because Miami and NJ are the #2 and #3 seeds, Detroit couldn't face either until the ECF, and then, obviously, it could only face one of those teams.
The notion that Detroit faces a rigorous road to the Finals is a fairly questionable assumption. Chicago is a fiesty bunch, but they lack the players to truly compete with Detroit in a playoff series. If Indy falls to 8 somehow, they bring a rival's at ude to Detroit, but lack the personnel to do much about it. In Round 2, Detroit gets Cleveland or some other around .500 team that will have no chance to do any harm. After two warm-ups, the Pistons get either Miami or New Jersey. I can see that there might be a chance that one of those teams could stress the Pistons a bit, but either is likely to be down 0-2 in short order in the ECF and playing out of the hole from that point forward.
I'm not sure that you've been watching Nazr's game very closely of late. Nazr has been nothing other than a defensive liability who appears unconcerned with playing his role and doing the little things that matter. I'm hard pressed to believe that Nazr will help "control the defensive boards" when the numbers show that in April, 2006, Nazr has as many personal fouls as he does defensive rebounds (22/22). He's gathered a grand total of 40 rebounds in April (4.44/gm) and 18 of those are offensive. Meanwhile he's shot a blistering .395 from the floor (15-38) in April and has 12 turnovers to go along with his 15 field goals. Unless you're convinced that Nazr has some playoff switch to flip, I don't see how anyone can think he's going to be the sort of difference maker he's alleged to be here.
If no one else has a chance, then why are the Mavs listed behind the Heat and Pistons? More to the point, do you really think that Detroit has no chance to beat the Spurs? That would be a pretty remarkable assertion. I suppose there may be a finesse available here, since Detroit would not be upsetting the Spurs if they beat them. I'm discerning from the column, however, that the Spurs should be the favorites, so I'm skeptical about the idea that the Mavericks would somehow be the only team in the association with a chance to beat San Antonio.
Congrats to the 05-06 spurs. I knew they would win it.
I think we got your sarcasm the first time. I know I did.
Thanks for this bit of humor, it was hard to take this guy legitimately when he can't even spell the word "legitimately." It's great to see how over confident people have become considering that there was so much moaning and groaning not less than two weeks ago. This is a huge advantage for other teams, hopefully the Spurs will be as confident as that Lakers team that went up against the Pistons and lost in the Finals.
I have noticed a division between the Spurs fans on this board, those who don't see reality and are overly confident and those who see the Spurs with a good chance of winning but with a hard road ahead filled with no guarantees. However lately, I've seen much more of the former than the latter because of the Spurs' decent play since the Mavs beat them on the 7th. These fans don't even take into account that guys like Kirilenko and KG didn't even play in those games and many times the best players weren't even putting up a fight against the Spurs because they had little to play for this late in the season. As for the good wishes, I don't recall having given them so your sarcasm doesn't really work, especially if you have to point it out.
EDIT: Way to delete your post.
I didn't realize being a fan required someone to be completely serious, realistic and have no bloated enthusiasm about their team's chances.
That being the case, I have no explaination for the existance of Knicks fans, given their current situation of being mired in futility.
Sorry, I deleted it because I thought it made me sound like a jerk and I didn't mean to come off that way. I was rethinking and was about to repost. Never mind.
You missed my point about the good wishes...That sounds to me like you are hoping the Spurs will fail (duh), thus the sarcasm about "good wishes".
Last edited by pache100; 04-18-2006 at 03:24 PM.
Seriously...poor Malik...
I wish that were the case. There are some fellas in D-Town who would have something to say about that. While I agree that the win was big last night, (big because that is exactly what you are supposed to do to a team like Utah and the Spurs haven't always done that this season) the playoffs are going to be tough. I still think the Spurs will win the le but to say its a foregone conclusion, IMO, is incorrect and flat out ludicrous.
The train will stop at the end of the track
When the journey's over, there's no turning back
The rear view mirror reflecting the past
Of memories precious that hopefully last
Perhaps we'll be wiser, when we've reached this location
When our ride's nearly over, when we're in our last station
The train will stop at the end of the track
When the journey's over, there's no turning back
The End of the Track by Stanley Cooper.
Um...ok.
Translation: There's a long way to go (and try to ignore the poem is about death).
There will always be a division of opinions between any fan base of any team. For the most part, I find the large majority of Spur fans do have a firm grip on reality when it comes to their expectations for their team.
That's one of the reasons why I hang out here. Compared to other team forums that I've been on, the Spur fans have a much better appreciation for the journey. They tend to have a better sense of respect for their opponents.
You will always have the extreme people on both sides of the fence. That's the way life is.
As you can see by the responses to the OP's article, most people are chiding him for be too much of a Homer, and too y in his opinion. He does not represent the majority.
I think it's very easy to misinterpret a fans level of "confidence", and translate it into iness. Most Spur fans (except for recent additions to the bandwagon) understand how long and streneous the road to the Finals is, as they've been down that road time and time again. They know there are no guarantees.
And as for recent excitement and confidence, I think it has alot more to do seeing "how" they are playing as opposed to "who" they are playing. I see Spur fans getting more encouraged and confident due to the play of Duncan as opposed to the margain of victory vs mediocre compe ion. Duncan is coming alive. He is peaking right when they need him to, and it is a huge sign of encouragement to the fans.
People here (Spur fans) should be confident. They are going to be the favorite out of the West. There is a reason for that. They have the players. They have the experience. They have the HCA.
You'll always have a few who react to the extreme. but that doesn't represent the majority.
There's a long way to go...
I've said that about 10 times today.
Thank you! That's so refreshing. The feeling is mutual, BTW.
Can you feel the synergy?
Don't worry. With that defense, they won't.
NB: Shawn Marion, LeBron James
That was as people have said extremely homeristic, but the spelling mistakes are, well unforgivable. James and Marion are both top 10 players this season you can't go misspelling their names.
^Marion is a top 10 player?
Hey guys, listen up: there's a long way to go.
You ing homer.
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