Spurs coasting.....not going 100% till playoffs

[mexicanjunior]

You better gottdayummit!!!!

Likewise, I would expect you to do the same if I am correct...

[remingtonbo2001]

I hope I am wrong but I don't buy the I-do-not-care-about-seeds CIA Pop idea. Indeed, you want to build up confidence before playoffs start. Being beaten up repeatedly does not do that. It gives you a bad habit and you cannot just "turn the switch on".
I just hope that Manu, Tim and Co get back into shape and that the Spurs manage to win the first PO round. Then maybe things will look different.

Read what I posted above.

They weren't beaten during the 1st half of those games.

However, when the 2nd half ensued, the game plan changed.

Why? If you're doing something which is successful for the most part, why change things up?

Why go to one-on-one? If Timmy is having an off night, why not run the motion offense?

I seriously believe this has something to do with Pop wanting to go in completely healthy and rested. It is under this assumption, that the opposition will burn out during the playoffs after exhausting so much energy during the last portion of the regular season.

If it were neccessary for the Spurs to win, Manu would be playing.
I think we would also see a different Tim.

You don't see the Spurs playing at playoff level intensity. Yet, every other team in the west is.

What you do see the Spurs doing is playing 24 minutes of good basketball. And they've been doing this consistantly for the past couple of weeks.
After it was clear their ticket to playoff was stamped.

Would you take your bet on a team that is healthy and rested? Or on a team which has drawn itself thin by positioning for the playoffs?

Every opponent in the West will be a tough matchup. There are no obvious sweeps, with or without HCA. So why struggle now with positioning, when the real battle begins after the regular season has ended.

[Obstructed_View]

Why? If you're doing something which is successful for the most part, why change things up?

That's Pop. If you want evidence, see the 2006 postseason. The Spurs won more games with Rasho and Nazr as starting centers than they ever did with David Robinson, yet Pop phased them out of the rotation in the playoffs and amassed a 7-6 record and second round exit due to a complete inability to defend the paint.

[DazedAndConfused]

Are the Spurs playing as hard as they can......probably not. Will they be able to turn it up enough to get through the WC........probably not.

[ThomasGranger]

Will Kobe be man enough not to cry again when the Lakers get knocked out of the playoffs . . . probably not.

[td4mvp21]

Are the Spurs playing as hard as they can......probably not. Will they be able to turn it up enough to get through the WC........probably not.

Agreed, unfortunately. I'm guessing we'll get out in the second round

[lebomb]

Agreed, unfortunately. I'm guessing we'll get out in the second round

WTF???? Im pullin your Spurs card

[FromWayDowntown]

That's Pop. If you want evidence, see the 2006 postseason. The Spurs won more games with Rasho and Nazr as starting centers than they ever did with David Robinson, yet Pop phased them out of the rotation in the playoffs and amassed a 7-6 record and second round exit due to a complete inability to defend the paint.

That was true, largely, because the Sacramento Kings had very little difficulty in Games 3 and 4 of the first round series that year exploiting the athletic weaknesses of the Spurs' centers (including the paucity of rebounds those players provided against strong rebounding wings) and the Mavericks pounded that truth home quite resoundingly in Game 2 of the WCSF and the first half of Game 3 of that series.

I still can't blame Pop for realizing that the things that had worked to win 63 games probably weren't going to work against teams that were specifically choosing to attack that specific weakness. Not doing that would have been the far more ridiculous move, IMO.

[td4mvp21]

WTF???? Im pullin your Spurs card

Why? I ing love the Spurs as much as any hardcore fan. I don't want them to get out in any round, I want them to win every ing year. But this year, I don't think they have it. I couldn't be happier if I turn out to be dead wrong.

[O-Factor]

Are the Spurs playing as hard as they can......probably not. Will they be able to turn it up enough to get through the WC........probably not.

Thats for us to debate, not some Laker fan

[O-Factor]

I still believe in this team, but we'll find out what kind of state our team is in come the first playoff game.

[itzsoweezee]

all available evidence says otherwise. when was the last time the spurs beat a high quality team? i can't even remember.

[Obstructed_View]

That was true, largely, because the Sacramento Kings had very little difficulty in Games 3 and 4 of the first round series that year exploiting the athletic weaknesses of the Spurs' centers (including the paucity of rebounds those players provided against strong rebounding wings)

The centers aren't the ones Bonzi Wells and Ron Artest were abusing. Since the Kings won two games in that series, one of them on a stupid turnover and last second miracle layup, I'm not sure why Pop felt the need for his panic to overflow to the next series. Contract year Bonzi and Ron didn't play for the Mavericks.

and the Mavericks pounded that truth home quite resoundingly in Game 2 of the WCSF and the first half of Game 3 of that series.

The only Spur that showed up for game 2 was Tim Duncan, and the only thing the Mavericks pounded in that series was dunk after dunk because there was no shot blocking in the paint aside from when Duncan was on the floor.

I still can't blame Pop for realizing that the things that had worked to win 63 games probably weren't going to work against teams that were specifically choosing to attack that specific weakness. Not doing that would have been the far more ridiculous move, IMO.

The question was asked how Pop could change something that was working for something that doesn't. The fact is the Spurs lost to a team they shouldn't have because Pop felt the need to make adjustments to lesser teams in the playoffs. There's no "would have been" that's much worse than what they actually did, which is to be upset on their home floor in the second round.

Interior defense wasn't a weakness for the Spurs until Pop put Finley in there to be a shot blocker with Duncan or Horry. Putting Oberto ahead of Rasho and Nazr in the rotation even when Horry and Duncan were in foul trouble absolutely can't be justified under any cir stances.

[carib]

I don't believe it, they are old