I completely and massively agree with you.
I think the key is for us to have multiple points of attack. If they want to put Chalmers on Kawhi then we can punish them for doing that.
I completely and massively agree with you.
The Thunder and Rockets are likely to be media favorites headed into next season. Expect to hear all season how the Spurs only made it to the Finals because of Russell Westbrook's injury.
OKC and GSW will be the biggest threat to the Spurs IMO. Spurs have historically struggled against athletic teams in the post-championship Duncan era. I mean the Spurs were only 28 seconds away from changing all that but Pop and Manu had to fuc* it all up.
We'll see how the Rockets end up... Spurs should be favorites. Not that it means anything.
Of course.
But this Spurs team is light-years ahead of a Westbrook-less Thunder team. I'm not sure that having Westbrook back vaults them back over the Spurs.
National media will disregard Spurs as usual, but basketball experts know the Spurs will be the team to beat, particularly if the Spurs make Kawhi a more focal part of the offense, instead of just corner 3s and rebounding.
And with Harden the Heat made them look like chumps the Finals before. The Spurs would've dispatched the Thunder too.
The only "basketball experts" who will pick the Spurs are the ones who call themselves experts on Spurstalk. Kawhi hasn't faced double teams yet. That's going to be a whole new experience for him.
Every one of those game sans game 5 went down to the wire. What the series were you watching.
IMO..OKC, Clips, and Rockets are the top 3 in the West right now( in no particular order). We really had everything go our way this year with Kobe getting hurt, Westbrook getting hurt, Memphis trading Rudy Gay, ect... I dont think we get that fortunate again. With Memphis losing Hollins I think that takes them out of the top part of the West standings. Denver is the real wildcard. Are they gonna miss Karl or get over the hump with Shaw? To many changes happening.
if Hoops Czar doesn't think the Spurs are favorites, they probably are, tbh..he may have the worst track record on SpursTalk, tbh..
And why does everybody always overrate the Clippers?..they added some nice role players, but they still have the same failures at the top, and still don't have a reliable #3 guy..
Houston and OKC will be the talk of the West..
After all Howard is a great player because the media says so...
Doc Rivers alone. He has me put them into the top 3. He is a of an improvement over Vinny Del Negro and will make the Clippers tougher especially defensively. Doc knows what he is doing....you give him the kind of talent on the Clippers and look out.
Doc Rivers is the ultimate rah rah coach, IMO
Since Thibs stopped being his assistant coach, he's been treading water...
I dont know about that. Boston should have sucked badly went Rondo went down and Doc held that team together and had them fight in the playoffs with to over the hill players like Pierce and Garnett. Wait til he gets young guys like Paul and Griffin.
Spurs will get the obligatory "been counted out for the last half-dozen years and are still around" followed shortly by several reasons why they should be counted out...most of them invalid.
Truthfully though, the Spurs shouldn't be the favorites in the west. They didn't have the best record last year and teams have made gains (on paper) this offseason, where they've mostly stood pat.
Nothing like a welcher coming back for another whippin TBH. Duncan and Ginobili another year older, another year of Tony Parker shouldering the load. You must have missed the last two postseasons, still a terrible rebounding team, and a small big man playing next to Duncan. Yeah, you certainly proved your point... Spurs are the favorites.![]()
I don't see how OKC retains that top 3 status, for now at least. They haven't done anything that improves their roster. They lost KMart 2.0 and drafted Adams who at best imo would be a Perkins/Collison type of player. Sure, maybe Lamb shows breaks out but that's not a given. I will say this though, they look like a 4 or 5 seed team on paper. Top 3 teams would probably be LAC, HOU and SA.
Spurs didn't do anything that'd make the "experts" think will put them over the top. But they did add some pieces that subtly improve the team. Remember, this was a team that were a couple of plays away from winning a le. Plus, we still have the internal improvement going for us. Tiago, Danny and Kawhi all showed improvements from the '12 season. I don't see any reason why they won't this year. Count on CJ and Nando to improve as well.
Same every offseason with you pessimists. Spurs are never the favorites. Get over it. That's why they play the game, and don't give rings out for off season signings.
Tell that to Miami fans.
Couldn't care less about Heat fans.
Barring health, I think spurs will take the wc.
Gsw loses their bench scoring in Jack
Okc the same in kmart
I don't see hou as a favourite because of dh, he'll have 20/10 games just like in la but that takes the ball away from harden.
Don't know how to rate the clips just yet.
we can stay healthy across 82 games is the real question.
We should be. Gotta stay healthy as usual. Leonard's role will be greater and so will his impact. The Heat aren't going to 3-peat.
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