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Thanks.
I did think of that pairing too, but guessed Pop won't want to change his starting lineup. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Personally, I'd rather see DeJuan get minutes with the first unit and use Diaw when Splitter's in. And yeah, I'm sure we'll see Jack/Leonard at the 4 some as well.
Thanks.
I did think of that pairing too, but guessed Pop won't want to change his starting lineup. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Series tied 2/2
Game 5 is the Big One
Winner tonight will win the series.
Spurs favored by 5 points.
Shoot 40% from 3 pt land tonight and the Spurs will win.
The one thing that stood out for me in game 4--aside from the unbelievable shooting by their non-shooting bigs-- was OKC's hustle and desire.
They got every long offensive rebound. Perkins was beating out bigs down the court. One on play Westbrook, missed a shot, missed a steal, and still ran down the ball on our endline to deflect it out of bounds.
They pressured and trapped our ball handlers all over the court and disrupted our offensive sets with steals and deflections or by causing turnovers.
If they want it more than we do tonight, we will be going fishing soon.
Goddamn! Seems like most everyone thinks OKC is unbeatable and unstoppable. They played fantastic the last two games. Their role players played out of this world and they were all more aggressive and had the desire to kick our ass. They look dangerous.
Similarly, just a couple of games ago, everyone was kissing the Spurs'ass. They are unbeatable, wow- they are surgical, Tim Duncan has found the fountain of youth, Parker is the team's MVP --slicing and dicing everywhere, the Spurs are magical to watch, etc...
Which one of these teams will live up to the hype? I predict the Spurs will step it up.
Manu will have a HUGE game. Green finally hits his 3's and looks alive on D. Bonner will play limited minutes and Pop plays Blair for at least 10 minutes tonight. Parker lights it up on the court getting motivation from the MVP chants he hears. Leonard and SJAX play unbelievable D.
Spurs will win tonight. They haven't been this successful all year to give up now. OKC played so damn good the last game, I really doubt they can duplicate the effort. Durant is phenomenal, but I don't believe all of a sudden they are a passing team and have become this share the ball bb team in 2 games. Old habits die hard and they come back quickly especially when you are under pressure. OKC's demise begins tonight.
B-E-L-I-E-V-E!!
+1. Of course the Thunder were going to play well on their home court. And as in every Playoff series, the role players for the Thunder stepped up at home. Just like our role players should feel more comfortable tonight and step it up. I also agree with you about the passing by the Thunder in the past 2 games. We all know they are more of an ISO team and don't share the ball as much as they did in Games 3 and 4. I don't think they will be sharing the ball in San Antonio as well as they did back in OKC.....
BELIEVE.
The Spurs looked vulnerable in the first two games. I don't think OKC has looked as vulnerable.
3 Hours!!!! GO SPURS GO!!!!
Spursmaina, not that the Spurs can't win, but what you said is the scary part to me, not the motivating part. Spurs come off of their best game of the season and OKC puts a quick stop to a historic run with a 2 game viscious beat down. That makes me worried that they stopped an unbelievable streak by making adjustments and have figured it out.
I love all the over the top, dramatic, circle-of-life analysis of this game . . . unfortunately, it's all nonsense.
The Spurs can absolutely beat the Thunder, even if they've magically transformed overnight and "figured it out" and here's why: Because all they need to do is beat them two out of three and they have two of the games at home.
In other words, Duncan, for example, can't come close to matching Durant over the long haul at this point in their careers, but he absolutely can for a few games. How do I know? Because if you payed attention to the advanced stats from the first two rounds, he was right there with him in a lot of categories and better in some. Ginobili doesn't have the legs (supposedly) to play roughly 35 high level minutes consistently, but he doesn't have to do it consistently at this point, he just has to do it for a few games. He's still the wildcard in this series, just from a minutes standpoint alone. If he can play at the level he did during the regular season, only for 10-12 more mpg, then that's basically like adding a star player mid-series. Only one who has impeccable chemistry with the team already.
Amazing analysis. I never thought about the fact the could win because they need to win.
Oh yeah...
How was game 4 a beatdown? Spurs were within 2 i believe in the 4th and 4 a few times. A call here or there a play here or there. We also had a few defensive breakdowns. Tony and Manu could not have played any worse.. Game 3 was a beating, game 4 was winnable..
I'm not sure if you're referring to me, but you appear to be and if you are, then you failed to comprehend my point. My point wasn't that "they could win because they need to win", my point was that short term, the Spurs can still match the Thunder's high end talent. People have this idea that if the Thunder's mental matches their physical, then the Spurs stand no chance. But I don't buy it. Next season, probably. Right now, no.
for the over the top sarcasm though.
Thanks for rundown timvp.
Sadly, I've been thinking the same thing about the Thunder - they were good enough to win game 1, stayed in game 2 after going down by 22 in the 3rd, and have been transcendent at home... as you say, "growing before our eyes".
That being said, I don't think OKC's bigs will shoot 22/25 again, and if they do then I guess they deserve to win.
Time for the Spurs not to panic and to get them back to what got them here in the first place: controlling the tempo (ie. run at all times); metronomic motion sets in the half court, most importantly including tough screens (to my eyes our screens in OKC l;acked the bite they had in games 1 and 2); getting back in transition, and relentless effort in the half-court D.
I think the key players in the game will be TP (really needs to find a way to score again), and our 5-headed forward rotation of Diaw, Leonard, Jax, Splitter, and Grizz - they need to get nasty and outplay Perkins/Ibaka/Collison. I have a feeling a couple of those guys are going to have big games. Oh, and we really need Super-Manu, not Turnobili, to appear.
So far this series reminds me a bit of the 2005 Finals - two big wins to each team at home, going into the key game of the series. That game turned out to be one of the great contests in Finals history, and we needed 21pts in the last 17mins of the game from a (to that point) dormant Big Shot Rob to steal it in OT. I feel like something similar will happen today.
Spurs by 2. *gulp*
OKC pretty much beat the Spurs down. Even though in game 4 Spurs made some runs, OKC just quickly quited most runs. That's not the point. To suddenly stop a team dead in their tracks when you get home is one thing, to stop a team dead in their tracks coming of some of the best ball they have every played in their franchise history is another.
Once again, shades of the 2005 Finals - we smacked the crap out of them in games 1 and 2, they did the same to us in games 3 and 4. Let's hope game 5 goes the same way it did then, although maybe not so heart-stopping!
The history of the playoffs is filled with series like this. Crazy shifts of momentum and what not.. Sometimes the team up 2-0 finds itself in a war through 4 sometimes it goes 1-1 all the way to game 7.. I didn't see anything in game 4 that tells me the Spurs can't beat this team at home. If Tony, Manu and Tim play well and the bench is more comfortable no reason they can't win. OKC had some players do things they have never done in their whole careers in game 4, Ibaka turned into Reggie Miller...
One would think OKC is due for a letdown and a reversion to their ways. But that won't happen unless the Spurs force the issue and put them in a tailspin and create some chaos for them, so to speak. For that to happen we need several bench members to get out of their funk/get a clean bill of health from their gynecologist.
To me, it's 50/50. It's only guesswork. We'll see who shows up.
TD 21 with the scoff timvp yet come to the same conclusion goods.
Sure, but Kawhi turned in to Pippen. I never said Spurs cannot win; i am simply saying that unlike other series, teams didnt destroy teams and stop them dead in their tracks when they were in the midst of one of the most unreal grooves in the history of the game.
Um, again, 2005 Finals.
But this year we don't have Big Shot Rob. Going on what happened in that series, the guy who has been quietest will explode, so I guess we can look forward to a huge game from Green, Splitter or Blair! One can only hope...
Leonard is the only player on the Spurs that I think can somewhat stay in front of Durant. Jackson has done a great job of being physical but if Durant gets the ball he blows by him every time.
I think it is absolutely key to have Leonard on Durant in the 4th.
Oh, you mean like you did with the whole gutless worms discussion? Only this time, we didn't come to the same conclusion . . .
"If the Thunder keep improving and reach the absolute apex of their potential, this Spurs team simply can't beat them." - timvp
My conclusion is that even if they "reach the absolute apex of their potential", that the Spurs can still beat them . . . this season. Don't misconstrue that to mean it wouldn't be extremely difficult though.
Hey Mugen, shut your pie hole!Pretty much timvp's most optimistic way of saying "Spurs are ed."
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