Eerily reminiscent of 2006?

[Louae]

This is what has me wondering whether this is the beginning of the end for the Spurs. Before last year, I'd have confidence that this team would be fine with 1-1 start to a series against a powerhouse team. But this is so deja vu it's not even funny.

Spurs squeak out a win in Game 1 that could have gone either way. Last year, if Stackhouse hits that three, the Mavs could have won it. This year if Nash doesn't get hurt, the Suns could have won it.

After the game, there was talk of a lineup change. In both years Spurs fans celebrated and laughed at the other team saying that it was a desperation move and how it'd never work.

Then in Game 2, the Spurs got their azz blown away with the lineup change paying immediate dividends.

Last year, Pop probably overreacted to the Game 2 loss and the Spurs never recovered. Could that happen this year?

I'm not sure but it seems like I've seen this movie before.

Last year, I always felt like we were always facing an uphill battle with the Mavericks from playoff scheduling and getting horrible breaks with the calls.

For example, we had a 36-hour turnaround from Game 6 in the SAC Series to Game 1 of the Mavs series, essentially making it the 2nd game of a back-to-back. Then Game 2 was pretty much a 3rd game in 4 nights type of scenario, so it didn't surprise me that we layed an egg in that game. The killer was losing to the Mavs when Duncan fouled out in Game 3 and Manu fouled out in Game 4. That put us down 3-1 and dug us into a horrible hole.

But I couldn't have been more proud of the players in Games 3 and 4. Despite struggling to get calls and scoring consistently down the stretch as Dirk & company was going to the FT line on almost every possession, the spurs kept their composure and continued fighting. And they never quit. I find it hard to believe that many other teams could've kept their composure in those instances. After that, I'm pretty confident about the Spurs in almost any instances.

[MavericksDynasty]

U scared?

[NoMoneyDown]

Spurs will win G3 and, possibly, G4. They were in the mix in the 4Q of G2, but Phoenix pulled away, this DESPITE many of the Spurs' players having a lackluster performance. etc. The Silver&Black will win G3 by 8+ points and put an exclamation point on the series in G4.

[baseline bum]

im surprised you spelled reminiscent correctly. nice

timvp obviously uses Firefox 2.0 with its integrated spell-check. I'm surprised you spelled I'm incorrectly

[MadDog73]

U scared?

Of the Mavs?

[SRJ]

There are always going to be some parellels. In a seven game series, there are always going to be coincidental patterns.

Maybe 2007 looks a lot like 2005:

San Antonio finished three games back of Phoenix, five games ahead of Detroit. 2007, or 2005?

San Antonio defeated Denver 4-1 in the first round, winning the last four after dropping the first game at home. 2007, or 2005?

Houston lost its first round series in seven games. 2007, or 2005?


Maybe it's 1994 all over again.

Utah advanced to play the eighth seeded team in the second round. 2007, or 1994?

Miami lost in the first round. 2007, or 1994?

Chicago swept in round one, Orlando got swept. 2007, or 1994?

Shaq got swept. 2007, or 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, or 1994?

Anyway, there are always coincidental details between any given playoff years. In 2005, Seattle tied the series 2-2 after being down 0-2 - just like the '04 Lakers did. I'm not worried that this is a repeat of 2006. Could the Spurs lose? Sure. Phoenix is a of a team - but the Spurs won't lose as a matter of historical pattern. If that were the case, the AT&T would have three fewer trophies in it.

[td4mvp3]

i had an uneasy feeling when they went against the mavs last year, like i just couldn't see how they could overcome that team. the feelings not as great this year, though the 20-point loss was a stunner. at the same time, though, it really seems to stick out like a sore thumb aberattion considering neither team had beaten the other by more than 10 in their last several games, if i remember right. i'm curious, timvp, do you feel the same way this go around against the suns as you did against the mavs last year?

[FromWayDowntown]

So much for the immediate similarity . . . .