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yes indeed it has
The minutes is over-rated. All starters will play more minutes for both teams - if they are healthy at that point and that is always a big if in sports. That being said there will be key stages, where bench play can play a spark or at least stabalize if Duncan needs an extended rest or gets in foul trouble. The only thing predicable as far as all 10 starters is at one spot = is that Horry will play more for Rasho, unless Rasho really gets it going. Duncan is still the key, if he can play big minutes and have another MVP series (3-3 in the finals so you have to have some confidence in that) - Spurs chances up big time. Every minute he is on the floor our rebounding woes decrease somewhat by his size and ability in the paint alone. He, when healthy and on is game, is the single greatest force on the floor with no disrepect to fellow greats Rasheed, Ben (who to me is near superstar status with 3 DVPs), Manu, Tony, or Chauncey (who may well be the MVP going in) - if Duncan is on and can play big minutes Spurs chances go up big time. He will open up outside shots etc.
Another key is what team gets the bigger lift from the rest of the bench and honestly at this point, I cannot predict with any great confidence the Spurs until Finley comes up big the rest of the season and other playoff series and we get something out of Nazr we are not getting now.
If Duncan is slowed more by injury, probably forget this matchup even happening by the way. Suns (with at least an 80% Amare) or Mavs would be very stout test for a Spurs team with a Duncan slowed even more than last year.
Last edited by Rummpd; 01-18-2006 at 12:18 PM.
yes indeed it has
Your arguments are weak. They played D before LB and are playing D after LB...
Aren't you the one saying Pop is setting up Flip?
Yes that's me; I've been consistent from the before the season began predicting Detroit would set as a goal having the best record, since Flip sees that as meaningful. I also predicted the Spurs would win between 58 and 62 games, 1 more than the 2nd place WC team - but not worry about HCA over the East. I am not making excuses as to why the Spurs lose, I predicted this before the season, the fact that it plays out that way just makes me more confident in my team, because I also predicted they would roll through the playoffs to a repeat championship.Your arguments are weak. They played D before LB and are playing D after LB...
Aren't you the one saying Pop is setting up Flip?
Not setting him up. But he is outcoaching him in the finals Right Now, (if Flip can manage to win more playoff series than he has the rest of his career combined). Right now.
What is more probable to the Spurs success/failure to repeat?
Pistons exhausted?
Tim's PF?
I bet Vegas money would go with PF. I certainly am.
Huh? This makes even less sense...
Or home court advantage. Tims health is obviously paramount. And yet some would have Pop playing him 40 mpg at full speed to win games in January.
It'll make sense in July.
"Or home court advantage"
_AND_ HCA, of course.
Tim-injured Spurs have 44 games to make 5 Ls on the Pistons, for the Spurs to win HCA outright with best record, since Pistons will win the first tiebreaker, having swept the Spurs in regular season.
ie, Spurs making up the current 4Ls on the Pistons to tie Pistons
's season record isn't good enough for HCA.
How many people think the Spurs can repeat after dropping Finals Game1,2 @DET?
Loaded question. They won't lose the 1st two. That would make 4 straight. Ain't gonna happen. Flip has never been able to take care of HCA in the playoffs.
Why July? Pop is outcoaching him in the Finals right now. Right now.
OK mensa...it's like this.
The finals are not an en y in and of themselves. They are simply a culmination of everything that has happened to that point. Pop figured this out after he got swept in '01 by the Lakers AFTER the Spurs had HCA AND had won the season series.
Pop is building the season, planning on a peak, with as healthy and refreshed team as possible, right as the playoffs begin. Flip looks like he sees each game as a goal in and of itself, and he has instilled that in his team. They remind me much more of Phoenix, Dallas, or Sacramento, not the dominant Laker's teams of a few year's ago. There even leading offensive catagories like those squads. Last year's Detroit team was savvy, tough, grizzled and loaded for the playoffs. Mentally, I'm not sure this one is going to be. They are going to think they've accomplished something important with HCA. I've never seen a team with a recent championship so focused on that. The team with the best record in the L wins the le less than half the time.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever read. If you don't think Pop tries to win every game he coaches in, you don't understand professional sports or professional coaches...
Mentally, the Spurs are the ones right now who are lacking(not by much), not the Pistons. Losing to bottom feeders is a lack of focus and that falls squarely on Pop's shoulders. It's his job to find a way to motivate his team when they don't have "it" or when playing inferior opponents. It's almost like you're knocking Flip for having the Pistons playing as the best team in the NBA right now which makes about as much sense as the "being outcoached in the Finals right now" statement...
And I have two words for you in thinking Pop is going to automatically outcoach Flip: Scott Skiles.
Mensa requires you to actually use your brain and think, something I see you rarely do when posting...
Pop has said he doesn't necessarily try to win every game, especially early in the season. He is more concerned about matchups, combinations & rotations, and especially about staying healthy.
I am knocking Flip for having the Pistons play so hard right now.
All this work to secure an advantage which can be taken away in 48 minutes.
What are the Pistons like mentally if they drop game 1 to the Spurs? Game 2 coming up is now an absolute MUST WIN - otherwise you go to SA needing 2 of 3.
What film do the Pistons have to prepare them for that all important game 1. Christmas Day? Last Week? Those teams the Spurs rolled out didn't even have the proper starting lineups set! Starters played far fewer minutes than they will in the playoffs - Spurs didn't make many adjustments, or play inspired; nothing.
What do the Spurs have? Two games that Detroit saw, for all intent and purpose, as must wins. How flip attacked the D, how they played Tim, Tony; everything. There's a reason it's hard to beat the same team over and over again.
That's OK, Flip has shown a great ability to make adjustments in the playoffs when he gets beat.
"Loaded question"
no, a hypothetical question.
But how hypothetical is it, based upon the Spurs results @DET?
The Pistons have swept the last four Spurs games @DET, except for Robert's 3G.
The Pistons have are 2-1 in their last 3 games @Spurs.
So, the Tim-injured Spurs losing Finals Game1,2 @DET is not a wild flight of fantasy.
I figure the best the Spurs can do @DET is get a split of Game1,2, stealing back Pistons Finals HCA.
Do you read what you post? You are finding fault with a coach whose team is winning and playing hard. Would you fault Pop if the records were reversed? I highly doubt it...
And I think you should look at the box score from the Christmas game again...
If a team needs confidence in itself, is immature and needs to build a winning tradition, especially if they don't have any real chance of making noise in the playoffs, play your guts out in the regular season.
I thought the Pistons were beyond that.
If Pop played an 8 man rotation in an effort to win a relatively meaningless regular season game against a non-conference opponent in January, I would find fault.
No team/coach is beyond trying to win every game. Don't coaches and fans alike lament the teams/players who fail to come to play each night? Stop trying to make a point that isn't there...
Did you find fault when Pop played a 9 man rotation in a 15 point loss in December? Or having BB play 41 minutes and TD(with a bad wheel)/TP 39 in a December game? Why didn't he start Oberto and see what he has? I mean, the game is meaningless right? He is, after all, setting Flip up...
The quote is "He is Working Flip", not, "setting him up".No team/coach is beyond trying to win every game. Don't coaches and fans alike lament the teams/players who fail to come to play each night? Stop trying to make a point that isn't there...
Did you find fault when Pop played a 9 man rotation in a 15 point loss in December? Or having BB play 41 minutes and TD(with a bad wheel)/TP 39 in a December game? Why didn't he start Oberto and see what he has? I mean, the game is meaningless right? He is, after all, setting Flip up...
Look, until the Spurs beat Detroit handily in the finals I can continue to make points you see as baseless.
AND
Until Flip can demonstrate that he can coach a team to playoff success I will never believe that Detroit is a juggernaut.
I predicted Detroit would have HCA. They Will.
I predicted that since both games happened prior to the ASB Detroit would sweep the Spurs. They Did.
I predicted the Spurs would have HCA in the West, but barely. They will.
I predicted the Spurs would win the LOB trophy this year and lose no more than 5 games in the playoffs in doing so. We'll see.
that's all well and good but you are losing the battle to lionsfan here...
What's the difference with working him or setting him up/sandbagging him? Essentially, as you've proven above, they mean the same thing...
True, you can say anything you want. That doesn't mean it makes any sense...
The arguments don't have winners on losers. One of us is right, the other is wrong...only time will tell which is which.
But, you're right, I've missed on a couple of facts (big one being minutes played in the December game, and he has been sure to drive that home).
But that doesn't change my point that the Spurs are right where most on this board thought they would be right now, probably picking up steam toward the playoffs; is it any wonder that the team playing the best ball in the league, motivated to beat the Spurs, wouldn't do so? It would be surprising if it had turned out any different.
Detroit made the finals last year, and damn near won them, having started the year much worse than how the Spurs started this year.
Had they started AND finished hot last year and secured home court against SA, would they have won it all? Or would they have stumbled against Miami and not even made the finals? Don't know - but LB's approach got them a championship one year, and damn close the next. Pretty succesfull. Flip's approach is different - and it's not like we haven't seen some of his teams in the playoffs.
Granted, Detroits defense against the Spurs has been stout, but over-all their statistics are down. That is historically not the mark of a team advancing their championship aspirations. It could mean a lack of focus on the teams part, but more than likely history suggests its not as big a deal for Flip as it was for Larry. Fine, but I think that lends itself specifically to regular season, but not necessarily playoff, success.
My point is simply this: Pop is putting a higher priority on being healthy and as fresh as possible entering the playoffs than in having the best record in the league. Flip, obviously, is intent on winning every game, running for 70, or whatever - maybe that's natural; the Spurs are acting like the champs, and Detroit's acting like the challenger - but I believe it works, ultimately, to the Spurs favor.
The Spurs best regular season ever ended in the playoffs to a team they had beaten FIVE times in the regular season. Bob Hill was criticized for burning his team out, if I remember correctly.
people fail to understand that the spurs are worse off than last year and so far with no signs of life while detroit is at least three times the team they were last year. and we barely beat detroit last year. so you're tryin to tell me if we got worse this year and they got better AND they have homecourt that we'll win?? even if we miracuously get a split in detroit i have a hard time believing we'd win all 3 at home especially considering how many times we've blown playoff leads in the past of 2-0 and stuff. also factor that in that detroit just wants it, and you can never put a measuring meter on desire. the spurs lack the killer instinct so come playoff time i wouldnt be surprised to see us get mauled by detroit in 5 or less. now yes, a lot can happen between now and june, but there is no guarantee SA will improve. detroit is rejuvenated while SA is just lethargic. and had it been the mavs or suns at 30-5 then yes, this argument woulda been different, cuz those 2 teams are "pretenders" where they have good seasons and crappy playoff showings. but this is DETROIT people. unfortunately for us, its a harsh reality
WHAT?!?!?!?!?
They are most certainly NOT "worse off than last year", IMO. Where do you get that? If anything, they are in almost exactly the same shape now (record/stat-wise) as they were last year...but this year they have Finley and Van Exel. How in the does that translate to "worse off"?
I don't think Flip is the one pushing Chauncey and Co. for HCA. They've all said it repeatedly that THEY believe they would have won last year if they had HC. What's the coach supposed to do, tell his team not to play hard(?
Pop is playing his best players as many minutes as the soon-to-be worn out Pistons yet you applaud him for keeping the Spurs healthy/fresh while knocking Flip for getting his players to play too hard and winning too much...
If Pop only cared about health, why did he replace Finley with Manu in the starting lineup? Shouldn't TD be resting/playing less minutes so he can see what Oberto can do? He can't be worried about his rotation in January, can he?
It's funny you say their D stats have slipped...you exert more energy playing D...
You also forgot to mention that LB was the biggest distraction last year and some view his antics as one of the main reasons they didn't repeat...
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