Still sticking to my original prediction

[mabber]

Yep, he's been saying that for a while now

I wonder if he truely believes that?

[stretch]

I wonder if he truely believes that?

Probably. He is stupid enough to believe it.

[EVAY]

here's the difference with the mavs and spurs

I'm a spurs fan who agrees with you 100%. The Mavs are the best this year, and I believe they are going to take it because they are so much hungrier. The spurs, with the exception of Manu, have no more fire in their belly for the compe ion, and that includes Pop.

it's crunch time, it's a tied game with 4 minutes to go



THE MAVS:

The team plays tighter defense

If outside shots aren't falling, they take it to the hoop for the foul


oh, and they got this guy named Nowitzki, who despite some naysayers, actually does his clutch shots automatically down the stretch.


And they actually have a coach who knows how to make use of his personnel


The Mavs come away with the win



THE SPURS:

They play lockdown D but that isn't the problem

It's the offense


We'll either have a point guard who tries to do too much in crunch time and resorts to an outside shot that hasn't shown up in weeks

or we'll have our perimeter defender being the primary ball handler in crunch time while our big man never touches the ball.

Or manu will have 35 points, yet Pop will sit him for 8 out of th 12 minutes in the fourth.

The Spurs failure to execute down the stretch to the lesser teams is the problem. If we can't even execute our plays against the Celtics, how are we supposed to do so against the Mavs?


Spurs fans will argue with me on this but the Mavs have an extra gear.

The Spurs can play much better when they turn it on, but every 3 steps forward they take in a game, they take 9 steps backward in the final minute due to inexcusable costly mistakes.

Factor in that our coach has deteriorated to the point where I honestly feel like he's a liability when he's in charge and forces small ball on a team that isn't equipped for it and you have just found yourself a 6 game series and an entire off season that will most likely result in nothing to show for it.


I just hope to god I am proven wrong

[LEONARD]

I wonder if he truely believes that?

He does...he's delusional...

[SRJ]

OK - we've had recent additions of Jay Mariotti and Woody Paige??

Ha ha, we get it, very funny, and since we do, there's no need for any of the following new user names:

JA Adande
Jim Armstrong
Tim Cowlishaw
Michael Holley
Jackie MacMullan
Bill Plaschke
Bob Ryan
Michael Smith
Max Kellerman
Tony Reali
Disembodied Voice

thanks.

[mardigan]

I think there might already be a Jackie McMullen

[SpursDynasty]

Jay, you've got to be kidding me. This Spurs team is old and not athletic enough to hang with the Suns, Mavericks, or Nuggets. They'd better hope they can get something out of Elson and Oberto in the playoffs, or they will be one and done!

The team is built around a young Ginobili, Duncan, and Parker. No older than 30 in SA's Big Three. Conveniently, the "Spurs are old and unathletic" bandwagon members choose to mention the ages of SA's bench.

If I remember correctly, SA's bench in 2003 consisted of Steve Kerr, Kevin Willis, Steve Smith, and Danny Ferry, and others who made up a higher average age than this year's bench.

The Spurs' championships in 2003 and 2005 were won by defense, not athletic offense which you're looking for. Go watch the Suns for that.

***THE SPURS ARE #1 IN LOWEST OPPONENT'S POINTS PER GAME THIS YEAR AFTER 66 GAMES, JUST LIKE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP YEARS. WHAT MORE DO YOU ALL WANT?***

Most people don't notice because the streak is over now, but the Spurs played awesome old-school Spurs defense during the first 12 games of that 13 game streak. Oh, and in the closing minutes of that Celtics game, too. Bowen's turnover threw the game away.

[lebomb]

I still dont think the Spurs can be the Mavericks or Suns in 7 games........

[Jimcs50]

Spurs will NOT win the ship this year.

I still dont see it.......13 game win streak or not. I just dont think they can win 4 of 7 from Dallas or Phoenix.

me if you must......Im calling it as I see it.


I love my Spurs still.....and I PRAY Im wrong.

I agree, we have no shot at all.

Time for Pop to retire and for SA to spend some money to get a supporting cast for TD before he retires, otherwise the championship days are over and done with.

[mabber]

The team is built around a young Ginobili, Duncan, and Parker. No older than 30 in SA's Big Three. Conveniently, the "Spurs are old and unathletic" bandwagon members choose to mention the ages of SA's bench.

If I remember correctly, SA's bench in 2003 consisted of Steve Kerr, Kevin Willis, Steve Smith, and Danny Ferry, and others who made up a higher average age than this year's bench.

The Spurs' championships in 2003 and 2005 were won by defense, not athletic offense which you're looking for. Go watch the Suns for that.

***THE SPURS ARE #1 IN LOWEST OPPONENT'S POINTS PER GAME THIS YEAR AFTER 66 GAMES, JUST LIKE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP YEARS. WHAT MORE DO YOU ALL WANT?***

Most people don't notice because the streak is over now, but the Spurs played awesome old-school Spurs defense during the first 12 games of that 13 game streak. Oh, and in the closing minutes of that Celtics game, too. Bowen's turnover threw the game away.

I don't think the Spur's defense is that good. I just think that all the teams that they hold to low point totals have bad shooting nights against them.

Isn't that similar to your reason for the Mavs winning games?

[LEONARD]

Yep, it's clear that teams just don't show up to play the Spurs...

[SpursDynasty]

I don't think the Spur's defense is that good. I just think that all the teams that they hold to low point totals have bad shooting nights against them.

Isn't that similar to your reason for the Mavs winning games?

Well, the point of having defense at all is to keep the opponent to the lowest number of points and field goal percentage as possible. SA is #1 in one of those, and #4 in the other.

SA's offense sucks at times, and they turn the ball over too much, which masks how good their defense still is.

It doesn't make them any less good defensively, they just need to put the ball in the hoop and stop having butter fingers.

Oh, and Utah and GS have shown up to play when they play Dallas, Dallas is 1-3 vs those teams so far this season. Those are likely Dallas' first and second round opponents. The easy days will be over once the playoffs start. No Grizzlies or Amare-less Suns this year for Dallas.

[DarrinS]

Jay, you've got to be kidding me. This Spurs team is old and not athletic enough to hang with the Suns, Mavericks, or Nuggets. They'd better hope they can get something out of Elson and Oberto in the playoffs, or they will be one and done!

You had a good point up until you dropped the Nuggets into the mix.