refs are not Aside, but Inside the court.
Actually, they run the show.
Plus Lakers without Kobe almost resemble to an actual basketball team.
The interesting stat in this series is between Duncan & Howard, both very good on defense but while Duncan's FT % has improved to 82% this season(his highest so far), Howard is still at 49.2%
I don't know if we Pop will use his hack a >> in this series, but knowing him who knows ?
Pringles is still their coach.
Spurs in 5.
Spurs need a kick in the pants. If Playing the Lakers, with all the hype they're gonna get and predictions of upsetting the 2 seed doesn't whip the spurs into shape, nothing will. I'm glad we drew this match up.
Lakers elbowed the out of Asik today. Time to unleash the Baynes and throw some hard fouls on D12.
as much as i like to troll lakerfan about kobe, he is still their best player and i disagree that they are better without him.
wouldn't it be nice if this was the one ing year of his life that Matt Bonner stepped up in the playoffs...
I take it you were kidding a couple days ago when you said Spurs would take a first round exit then?
The worst basketball analyst, charley Rosen, just picked the spurs to beat the heat in 7. Lets hope he's right for the first time
Spurs have no business losing to the Lakers...none. If they do, its on Pop, plain and simple.
Blake is their key (OMG, I cant believes im saying this!).
He looks mentally tough, always with game face on.
Green will get open looks, he needs to score.
Neal has to attack the basket and shoot FT and get fouls. He can make his own shot, we need him to score.
I posted a thread on this, but check this video out. From their previous match up, most of the Spurs issues came off mental mistakes and effort, aside from missing a ton of open shots. Parker was the biggest culprit. I have little doubt that those areas won't get fixed an sharpened come Sunday. Doubling Dwight was very effective cause he's not a great passer out of the double team.
D'Antoni (no Phil Jackson) vs. Pop - Adavantage Spurs
No Kobe Bryant - TBD (Advantage Spurs IMO)
No Derek Fisher - Adavantage Spurs
Hack-a-Howard - Adavantage Spurs
Plantar Gasolitis - Advantage Spurs
Less than 100% TP - Advantage Lakers
ummm... Spurs got this in 5...
I don't like the Hack-a-Dwight strategy either. It's the one noticeable tactic that Pop inherited from his wacky mentor, Don Nelson. I understand it, but for basketball purists, I think it's a cowardice way to play basketball. If your team isn't good enough or talented enough defensively to neutralize the other team, without having to resort to such junky tactics, you deserve to lose.
One annoying aspect of this series, and we got a preview last night during the Rockets/Fakers game, will be Kobe incessantly tweeting from his couch, while the networks deem it necessary to post every single comment he will have to say. If he wants to use his batphone to contact his team before games and at halftime, that's his business. Other than that, no one gives a about what he has to say publically. Freaking drama queen!
TP will be licking his chopsMarc J. Spears @SpearsNBAYahoo34s
Lakers guard Steve Nash and GM Mitch Kupchak express optimism about Nash's return from injury in Game 1 versus Spurs. http://yhoo.it/14y59EF
Pop did hack-a-dwight as entertainment because he was bored, maybe frustrated, with Spurs' yet-again ty "basketball".
The undeniable truths of your post, hope I eat a big ol helping of crow..
Nash without KobeBall will be more effective in controlling the offense, if he's in any kind of shape.
lakers in 4
I have a feeling that Parker is fine. He has played at half speed not because he's injured, but because he knows his ankle is susceptible to reinjury -- if that happens he's done for the season.
So expect Parker to take to the air again in wild charges to the hoop. But not until it can be justified if he gets hurt again -- in other words, Sunday.
That said, I think Pop may have overreacted to the perils of last year's season-ending win streak by concocting a series of lineups in the name of rest. In an effort to avoid the "problems" of '12 he may recreate those of '11 -- a controlled retreat into the playoffs. Controlled retreats often devolve into disorganized panics -- just ask the South Vietnamese army.
Personally, I'll take last year over '11 any day.
One good thing, it looks like the Spurs are very healthy (although I know the media and others disagree). Other than Diaw, it looks like all the guys are just about 100%. So no excuses.
Beat the Lakers!
Last edited by Russ; 04-18-2013 at 09:01 AM.
I am glad the first round worked out this way. Although the Spurs would have loved to have the Houston travel time, it is much nicer to knock the Lakers out of the first round with Bean watching on the bench. If the Spurs can't beat the Lakers and the predicted Ref bias, then they have no shot of advancing and eventually beating OKC. On the other hand, winning against the Lakers & Stern would be great preparation for the future rounds. The scheduling for the first round includes lots of days off and I would think that Pop can really destroy any scenarios that D'Antoni can come up with.
The side bonus is that the Thunder have to deal with Harden's many phantom calls to offset theirs. That should be a great grudge match game. BTW, anyone think it is funny how the Thunder/Houston game starts late on Sunday?
Golden State vs. Denver will also be a good round.
Should be fun.
This is the first-round match up that I've always wanted for us these past few weeks, tbh. If we're going to go down (not that I'm proclaiming we will)... then I want it to be against an arch-nemesis like the Fakers. Simple as that.I want all-out WAR. No stats, no special analyzations, recaps, magical, thought-up scenarios right now, etc; ... I just want to see some destruction (coming from our end, of course
). Prayerfully, The Spurs will want it just as bad, too. We'll just have to wait and see. Again, I'm just enjoying the ride right now and seeing where it takes us. *shrug*
Parker got whatever he wanted. Those missed shots weren't even the result of Dwight altering/affecting his shot. He just flat out muffed them.
It's encouraging to see how Parker can get into the lane at will, even slightly hobbled and with Howard roaming around the interior. Spurs will be fine if he doesn't pull a classic chokejob. He doesn't even need to be "all-star" Tony Parker. 40% shooting should be adequate enough.
I agree. Completely. Baynes can bang with Howard. Of course he will foul out, but who cares?
The Spurs have been so horrible for so long, and there ain't no switch, I have serious doubts that they can beat the improved-by-Kobe-less-ness Lakers, even if Nash is worthless on returning.
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