Official "Do you think we can win it all" Thread

[DesignatedT]

Miami and Chicago are in a class of their own right now. If someone other than one of them win it all it would be shocking.

Can the Spurs somehow come out of the West? Definitely, yes. If they stay healthy, get a little help on the front line and if most of the contenders in the West also stay as constructed (Dallas and LA don't make a major move) Then there is no one team in the West that is a for sure thing. The Thunder would be the closest to it but they are by no means a lock to beat us or anyone in a 7 game series.

[spurspokesman]

90% of Spurs fans on this forum think the Spurs are not contenders. Personally, I believe the Spurs are right there with the Clippers/Grizzlies/Thunder as West favorites, and I absolutely believe we can win a le. I just want to use this thread as a reference for when the playoffs start and we start making a run, we can see who the true fans really were. Discuss.

A part of me says yes and the other part wants to look at the grim reality of no. But we are the only western conf team with long formed cohesion and if pop commits to tiago and the new boyz leaving tim fresh down the stretch and manu we have more than a chance to come out the west. And one injury or bad stretch of play from the eastern conf finalist ala miami last season and boom we are knocking on the door of 5. With all the bad breaks we have gotten lately my gut tells me we have more of a chance this season than last mainly because of the lakers decline, dallas mishaps and having to regain chemistry ditto for clips and thunder prone to giving it up late id say DONT COUNT OUT THE SPURS.

[HarlemHeat37]

They are definitely contenders to win the weak West, if Duncan and Manu stay healthy, and Splitter/Leonard/Anderson can provide production on th defensive end..

Miami is a level ahead of the rest of the league though, so I wouldn't expect a le..

[FuzzyLumpkins]

To me, it's all dependent on luck in match-ups. Spurs are weak in paint defense and would be fodder for teams like LA and MEM with offensive, scoring bigs. Not so against DAL, MIA, CHI. Remember it was just '10 that they beat DAL because (even though Dirk is a PF he doesn't really score in the post), SA's backcourt (TP, Manu, Hill) was better than theirs + Dice did a fantastic job on Dirk. And we can always hope for a choke from young teams like OKC, CHI or even Lebron.

It would take a lot of luck and injuries to opposing key players for Spurs to win it all. They don't have enough reliable veterans and Leonard and JA cannot be depended on in crunch time. We already know what's going to happen with Bonner and RJ then.

Yesterday was a fluke - MEM is not going to commit 24 (?) turnovers in a game & those 3pters are going to be taken away in the playoffs rendering RJ and Bonner useless.

I watched Blair and Splitter keep Randolph in check all game long. Splitter in particular was contesting shots from everyone and on one possession absolutely owned Randolph on a baseline move defensively. Smothered the move and took the ball away.

If Splitter can continue to develop then we have two legit 7 footers that can defend and rebound.

Blair's problem is he is slow to recognize what his teammates are doing and is a day late most times. He will get guys shooting over the top of him but his post defense from the standpoint of holding the point is pretty good. Bonner is in much the same boat when hes not sleepwalking hes just better and consistent on his rotations.

Its also not to be understated how a 3 that can defend and rebound helps clean up a lot of what the bigs are doing.

Since when is pessimism a virtue?

[CosmicCowboy]

Officially giving $1000 to $1 odds.

I'll take that for $20.

[BackHome]

We don't have depth at the 4 and 5 spot so my answer would be NOPE>

[Obstructed_View]

Miami and Chicago are in a class of their own right now. If someone other than one of them win it all it would be shocking.

Can the Spurs somehow come out of the West? Definitely, yes. If they stay healthy, get a little help on the front line and if most of the contenders in the West also stay as constructed (Dallas and LA don't make a major move) Then there is no one team in the West that is a for sure thing. The Thunder would be the closest to it but they are by no means a lock to beat us or anyone in a 7 game series.

As ty as Dallas has looked, it's kind of hard to tell how good Miami might or might not be. Chicago hasn't exactly looked great in barely beating a Bynumless Lakers team and then getting crushed by Golden State.

[Dex]

I'll take that for $20.

If someone gives you 10,000 to 1 on anything, you take it. If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I am going to be a very rich dude.

[callo1]

The offense is just too PG/SG/SF oriented

That could be said for 95% of the league. The way the game has changed with the rules, and bigs not playing like bigs anymore, that is expected.

I don't think its probable. I have the impression the Spurs need an all-star bigman to have more success in the playoffs.

I think it is possible, but there certainly needs to be more depth at the 4/5...a true big. Blair starting at the 5 is a joke. Splitter did show some very good promise in the first game. I was impressed by his weak side help and his post defense...it isn't perfect, but certainly improved.

Too bad the Spurs don't have a Chuck Hayes style defender. Last night Hayes one again made Gasoft look bad.

One big, and good fortune (no injuries) away from a better chance.

[dunkman]

Tim Duncan says o ...

Duncan was all-star the previous season, but he is more a defensive player at this point. He would need to put 18-20 ppg during the playoffs and do that in efficient way to force double teams.

[mingus]

i don't see how any team as currently contructed is going to beat Miami. they have the best defense and a new and improved up tempo offense, which by the end of the year if not before that will probably be the best offense in the league.

right now i don't think we're coming out of the West. not w/o more size in the frontcourt.

[chazley]

i don't see how any team as currently contructed is going to beat Miami. they have the best defense and a new and improved up tempo offense, which by the end of the year if not before that will probably be the best offense in the league.

right now i don't think we're coming out of the West. not w/o more size in the frontcourt.

That's ironic, because you just said Miami is unbeatable, yet they have one of the worst frontcourt (4/5) situations in the league. The fact is, perimeter oriented teams actually are better against Miami because if you're a team that depends on low-post scoring, Miami can easily take that advantage away by getting your bigs in foul trouble. That's why Dallas was so effective against them.

[therealtruth]

i don't see how any team as currently contructed is going to beat Miami. they have the best defense and a new and improved up tempo offense, which by the end of the year if not before that will probably be the best offense in the league.

right now i don't think we're coming out of the West. not w/o more size in the frontcourt.

You're not going to beat the Heat allowing them to play their game. People forget what happened in the first two games of the Finals before the Mavs started playing smarter. First of all you can't turn the ball over against them. You have to be patient on offense and move the ball. You have to force them into a half court game. You need bigs that can challenge Wade and Lebron.

[tlongII]

Clippers and Grizzlies? WTF?

[timtonymanu]

Sixers and Kings? LOL.

[chazley]

Stay off the bandwagon haters/idiots.

[Capt Bringdown]

No rings with RJ, Bonner & Blair in the lineup. Book it!

[++SaiNt TiAg0++]

i have a strange feeling we have a damn good chance!! like i said last year we would have probably won if tiago played from the beginning of last year it wold have saved duncans legs and relieved pressure on blair and dice..provided the right amount of youth big we needed. this year i actually believe pop will either take bonner out of the rotation as a big role to a smaller role. or let him go...


i mean last year i think was bonners last year to prove his ass to the FANS and pop and now we have no confidence in the pansy and i think he even lost confidence in himself. one thing you can say he was doing last year was creating his fools gold fake defense game but he was making buckets and shooting with borrowed confidence.

i mean its the second game guys and he's avoiding the ball and shot and horrid defense as well as being called for all sorts of dumb and having leonard Already clean up the bag of s mess. i think his time is done folks

[++SaiNt TiAg0++]

i still didnt manage to put why b/c im a dumbass sorry but for these last 2 hrs im watching nbatv and im watching durant just kill memphis oh and memphis just lost their pg to a very bad ankle sprain l.a is f@$*#D and so is dallas they screwed up and bad as they ever could of letting tyson chandler walk the soul of that team! so then im thinking well oklahoma is going to probably beat us but not so fast leonard does have a wingspan bigger than shaq's and hands larger than shaq so i look more to the thunder game to see whether or not leonard can step up to the plate and be a defensive rookie star! if so we have a of a chance

[mystargtr34]

It may be too early to say this.. but the team already feels different to last season.

Hindsight is 20-20 but I never felt like the Spurs were truly a contender last season. It was too hard to imagine a team with DeJuan Blair and Matt Bonner as the second and third bigs and a 37 year old Dice winning a championship at NBA level. Too many handicaps. Not to mention the lack of perimeter defense and y J effect. The season was fun as winning all those games but alot of it felt like fools gold.. and it turned out to be true.

This year.. Splitter, JA, and Leonard go a long way to alleviating alot of those above issues. Problem is the Big 3 are a year older. But we will see.

[therealtruth]

I would have felt much better last year if Splitter had played more. JA was injured and came back out of shape so it's harder to make a case for him. The lack of defense and inability to get stops on demand last year made me very uneasy. I like what I am seeing from the defense. Blair seems to be playing smarter. Kawhi and Tiago make up for Bonner's lack of defense and rebounding.

[Landon Donofag]

[Sean Cagney]

Spurs fan here, but NO! Playoff team yes.

I agree but with your team not winning yet you should be worried about that as well . Neither Spurs or Mavs have a shot at winning it all.

[all_heart]

Way too much basketball to be played to say one way or another.. BUT I do think the Spurs need to beef up at the 4/5 spot to be in the picture. I do think Splitter and KL will be the bright points this season.

[chazley]

Spurs are fine. People are freaking out over a in 5th big man... Come on. Kawhi can play the 4 in a pinch, he basically does anyway when Bonner is on the floor.