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2013 Leonard > 2012 Leonard tbh
Lacks P/O exp. tbh
2013 Leonard > 2012 Leonard tbh
True Dat...he'll be a big factor, hopefully.
Y'all forget Durant and Brick are honorary members of the referee union. that might be the trump card over all arguments.
plus, does it really matter?
Lebron - finest specimen with Magic like skills
Wade - clutch factor and top 10 player when it matters
Bosh - a luxury of a bigman to have as a 3rd string
Battier - top 5 defender and dead eye 3pt shooter, clutch too
Allen - HOF playoff shooter and top 5 most clutch veterans in the game
GAME OVER.
Harden is/was a terrible defensive player, I don't know where anybody got the idea that he's even decent in that regard, tbh..
The Thunder will be worse without him in the playoffs, Kevin Martin is one of the softest players in the NBA, and his style of play may not translate to the playoffs..they will still have the advantage on paper, due to having the best player on the floor(by far), but it's essentially a toss-up IMO..
The Spurs have more variables than the Thunder, which could be either good or bad, there's no middle ground IMO..the Spurs need Duncan to play at a star level, they need high production from Ginobili, and they need 2 of the Leonard/Splitter/Green/Diaw group to elevate their games to negate Parker's possible struggles against Sefolosha..
Westbrook is probably the X-factor for both teams, tbh..
While he isn't an elite defender, Harden isn't that bad. He played some good defence on Manu last year at times, he's quick, strong and very long. The important part is that compared to Kevin Martin, Harden might as well be Bruce Bowen.
Manu needs to go at Martin every single possession and really punish OKC. That is where the Spurs have a big edge and where we can win the series.
James Harden : Kevin Martin :: Manu Ginobili : Steve Smith
Damn that dude Kevin Martin sure knows how to flop. I'm sure you've watched him play, but especially this year. Almost every time. Can't stand that stupid .!!That is where they will have the upper hand.
Kevin Martin reminds me of Rip Hamilton with 3pt range.
So basically they traded a young version of Manu for the Spurs current version of Danny Green? Not super afraid of that change.
He's been in the playoffs before, even hitting a GW layup over TD years ago when he was with the Kings.
We've had vast internal improvement from Timmy (throwback season), TP (taking elite to super-elite), Splitter and Leonard, and I like the way De Colo is coming along. What's more, Pop is finally playing a Twin Towers lineup that works very well. That's quite a bit of internal improvement.
OKC hasn't lost much from last season, but they did lose Harden who killed us at crucial times in the WCFs last season. He repeatedly got to the line and hit a couple of big shots when it mattered.
I think it's very much a 50-50 proposition right now, and whoever gets a few breaks will win it. But I could see KD, and his "protected superstar" status, going to the line 20 times a night, and if that happens no-one can beat OKC.
One thing I know is that Kevin Martin doesn't scare me (our D has blanked him many times), but Harden scared the crap out of me.
When it comes to OKC/Heat I think the Spurs still need more talent. Outside of the Big 3, the roleplayers are either too old, too limited, too small, not athletic enough, and/or inconsistent. With the Spurs reliance on Parker's penetration...I think teams like Heat/OKC will be able to pack the paint and make life for all the Spurs ball handlers on the perimeter too, its going to be cringeworthy to watch Gary Neal or De Colo bring up the ball
While Duncan has had a resurgent season, I don't think he's improved in the post enough to really pound those teams in the paint (which is a weakness for OKC/Heat, almost like Team Spain vs Team USA) and we'll be lucky if Manu is both healthy and in shape when the playoffs roll around.
Spurs wanted a Big 4 with RJ, and now they're a Big 4 by committee which can work.... but playoffs are all about talent too in addition to system teamwork
IMO, OKC and LAC are better (LAC - significantly) because of the improvement of Ibaka, Jordan and Blake and LAC's bench. Won't it be Ibaka on TD with OKC daring Splitter to post up KD? OKC and LAC have young superstars/players who can only get better and can play almost the whole game. SAS is depending on old stars who can't play long minutes. I'm hoping that Lebron's recent hot streak continues in the regular season and he hits a dry spell in the playoffs. Kinda like how Pop hated going into the playoffs on a long winning streak - they were bound to lose at an inappropriate time.
We had enough to beat them last year. Just because we didnt beat them doesn't mean we weren't CAPABLE of beating them. If green was hitting shots he could normally make with his eyes closed we win that series last year. It's not as if they thoroughly dominated us. Add Tiago into the mix, an improved Kawhi, replace harden with Martin and we have an even better shot than we did last season
Spurs also need to keep being 'nasty', RIP awesome Spurs win streak last season, here's what the Spurs looked like before we got thunderstruck :
For being a "small market" the NBA sure goes out of its way to market the Thunder brand... something they never were willing to do for the Spurs... all they ever did was complain that Finals ratings were low, blah, blah, blah... well duh! the media spends the majority of the season ignoring the Spurs only to later complain about them being the "last man standing". As several articles have suggested, this strategy was one of the media's and the NBA's (Stern's in particular) biggest mistakes - not knowing how to, and not willing to market the Spurs' global brand.
Now it seems as if they push the Thunder brand on folks... I mean think about it... what's up with having Westbrook and Harden coach the Celebrity Game during All-Star weekend..?? yeah, yeah... it's a rather meaningless game, but why create a platform that further promotes them. Westbrook also "coached" the Skills Challenge... more of the same, preferential treatment...
meh...
I'm more confident this season.
OKC has the better point differential but that's more because of how ridiculously efficient their offense is (due to being good at making shots and getting to the line). If they have a weakness on offense it's holding on to the ball, and the Spurs are forcing turnovers at a pace only surpassed by the 2003, 2005, and 2007 championship teams (and they were slower teams, so the Spurs actually force more raw turnovers).
OTOH the Spurs defense has been elite at guarding the rim and the 3 point line, so while OKC's still a good team at making midrange jumpers they need to move the ball more to get their shooters open. If the Spurs D can force the Thunder to spam iso plays like what Miami is doing, they're set.
Yea...maybe the NBA is finally learning from its mistakes by promoting OKC but then again they almost had to with the negative PR from the Seattle move.
Listen to Simmons interview Stern after the 07 champ and its like he's taunting Stern about the low ratings....then a few months later and the Celtics/Lakers superteam rivalry got conveniently reignited in a controversial trade or two, and the rest of the league couldn't do jack to compete and counter those moves/tinfoil hat made out of money
They still go out of ther way to cater to big markets. Look at brookyln for example. As for OKC, they try to market stars. Durant can definitely be sold, much in the same way they pumped up Lebron when he was in freakin Cleveland.
What bothers me is emotionless Duncan = boring while emotionless Durant = "silent assassin"
OKC gets the promotion because Durant was hyped as coming out of college and he has a lucrative deal with Nike, tbh. In other words, if you want to ring you better sign with Nike.
That said, the Spurs' top 7 players in terms of minutes and Wins Produced should give them a fighting chance. OKC has the best player in the bunch in Durant but Westbrook actually rates as "not a star" because of his inefficiency.
Fwiw, the Spurs have 5 players with WP48 >.200 in TP, TD, Manu, KL, and Splitter. Green's borderline at around ~.190 WP48.
Dallas didn't have a Durant but their 4-7 players were better than OKC's.
It's nice to see people using WP48 on this forum. That didn't used to happen.
Here's a good question. If/when the Clips meet the Thunder in the semis, who are you cheering for?
Nobody ... I just want them to beat the living crap out of each other in a 7 game series with DOTs in every game ...
Yes.
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