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I believe that when Manu and Parker get back, the Spurs will be good enough to beat any other team.
So this may be too close to the romp of the Jazz, with two exceptional performances by George Hill and Roger Mason, but just how good is this team? Albeit this is purely a matter of speculation, but maybe we should start thinking about this given the pending arrival of Manu (within 1 week) and Tony shortly thereafter.
Manu and Tony will obviously eat a lot of Hill's and Mason's minutes, but I don't think that it's a stretch to believe that these two will continue to give us some output. And, given one of our biggest problems last year was the 3-5 minute scoring drought/lack of a dependable scorer -- I think Hill and Mason go a long way to curing that problem.
But do we have enough to beat the Lakers? Will we have enough scoring to do the trick? And what do we need from our bigs in order to match up with Bynum and Gasol? Does anyone here really think that Mahimi will tilt the scales in our favor over the Lakers?
I think this team is pretty ing good -- I just don't know if its good enough to beat the Lakers. Thoughts?
I believe that when Manu and Parker get back, the Spurs will be good enough to beat any other team.
Not very.
We may not be the best, but we're not any worse than any of the rest of the Western Conference. Most of the top teams have faced injuries, so the Lakers have been handed some games. The Lakers are still average, and are probably the worst NBA Finals contestant this decade.
We still need some bigs or have the ones we have (not counting TD of course) step up to the plate (KT, Ian, Tolliver). Wish we would have traded for Biedrins.
Looking good but long way to go. Staying healthy will be the number one concern, moreso than the Lakers or Celtics. If Hill and Mason (and Finley, for that matter) can keep playing well when their roles are reduced and Mahinmi can provide athleticism up front, this will be a very quality team.
The Lakers and Celtics will have to remain the favorites but at their best, this Spurs team is going to be difficult to eliminate in the playoffs.
That said, the Spurs aren't exactly the deepest team so an untimely injury or slump would likely lead to their demise ... much like last season.
I think the Cavs and the Nets were....didn't they both get swept in the finals ?
Roger Mason should definately start at SG when Tony and Ginobili come back, and Hill will be our backup PG. The thing is, if this is how scary our team looks like just imagine our bench when TP and Manu come back to 100%. We will school the lakers solely on basis that roger mason is like the lakers vujacic with the exception that roger mason can create his own shot. On top of that, we have a bonafide defensive PG in George Hill who kind of reminds of rajon rondo except with more points and ft's.
Fisher/Farmar Parker/Hill
Bryant/Vujacic Ginobili/Mason
Radmonovic/Odom Bowen/Finley
Gasol/Odom Duncan/Oberto
Bynum/Gasol Mahinmi/Thomas
its a wash
good enough to beat down another injured team while being white hot from 3. nice perfomances by mason and hill though.
If the Lakers and Spurs meet in the playoffs that would be an encounter of epic proportions.
if it were possible it would go to 9 games...haha
I think for this early in the season and considering we are missing manu, tony, and ian.....we are doing nicely. we have only been blown out in a couple of games. in those games, we died by the 3 pt shot.....
we had an impressive come from behind win against the rockets....down 14 in the 4th and still won.....this coming just one game after we blew a double digit lead against the bucks.
we lost to portland by 1 pt....but we had a great look on the final shot that just didnt fall. we were close against PHX, but poor shot selection in the final minute killed us.
NEW ADDITION has been playing very well........Mason, Hill, and Tolliver. Acorn has a sweet shot, and seems to be a nice project for the end of the bench. These guys are getting tons of minutes and they are growing with each game. It will definitely pay big dividends once Manu, TP, and Ian get in there.
Finley has found the fountain of youth and is playing lights out. Bonner is actually playing rather well, in fact, I must give him mad props for how he has played in the last several games. I have definitely been anti-Bonner since near the end of last season, but he is earning my fanship back slowly. Duncan is playing at an MVP level. Bowen is playing some very good D. Vaughn would be better if he didnt shoot it so much. Thomas blows this year. Oberto is doing ok, nothing to write home about. Udoka gets on my nerves. His shot is so inconsistent, he needs more Chip in his life. He can't make a layup to save his life.
The fact that this team is hanging in there with all the adversity it has faced so far, does not bode well for the rest of the West. I am sure the Lakers will run away with the top seed. However, do not count out the Spurs when it comes to the 2-4 seeds. I feel they have as good a shot as any to get any of the 3 remaining top seeds.
not good enough to beat the Lakers, but extremely fun to watch I must say.
Okay, I'll take the somewhat pessimistic view. I agree that adding Mahinmi, Manu and Parker make them really good, but I still think the Spurs are a decent player away. I hope the front office stays aggressive. Bonner has never played so well...it might be a sell high situation. With a true wing that can score on more than jumpers, I think the Spurs could beat the Lakers. Otherwise, it will be tough.
Oberto,Thomas and Udoka are just getting me so fustrated.
Oberto not as much cause he makes plays at times that have me jumping out my seat but Thomas and Udoka make some bonehead plays and TO's that really get me worried about thier role in the team.
Udoka the most. Hes become the new bonner it seems like haha
Probably accurate. But I'm not sure about the fun to watch part
I agree with you on everything except one thing. I think we're fine at the wing now with the addition of Mason. I think we are SORELY in need of another big besides Duncan who can rebound and block shots. We don't need another post scorer, but we do need someone to help Tim defend and rebound.
this team is good enough to sweep the lakers 4-0
Hey....we aren't boring anymore!!
Besides Cleveland.
this team is damn good. im hoping that kurt thomas' poor performance thus far is due to being out of shape or still injured. if he can get back to the old kurt, were going to be extremely hard to beat.
Spurs need one of the other bigs aside from TD to perform consistently if they want to go deep into the playoffs...
Coming off the injury bug, I assume (probably wrongfully) that we'll be healthy going forward. Obviously, we need our guys 100% if we're going to do anything. From a glass-half-full perspective, a 70 game season will be good for Manu (especially if his minutes are limited early on). As a side note, given that he had surgery, I remember some posts from the summer stating that his ankle might be stronger than before--but I don't know how true that is. Regardless, it can't hurt. My concern is Tony's ankle. That, and the 37 MPG Tim has been averaging.
But I can't help but get excited about this squad--especially the ability for us to remedy those long scoring droughts that plagued us last season. When they would happen, we'd dig ourselves in a hole that was damned tough to get out of. Hopefully going forward Mason and Hill will take care of that.
The more and more I think about it, I just don't know if there is a mobile big man that can be had who can help us with the inside-out game that Gasol-Bynum will confront us with. When Chicago played L.A. a week or two ago, Drew Gooden seemed to do a good job -- but his contract makes him cost-prohibitive. I wonder if Channing Frye might be of some use in this regard.
Another thing to think about is Tolliver--he's shown me flashes of Malik Rose -- a tenacity/hustling ethic that might, at the very least, pester some of these opposing big men. But, this all seems like a pipe-dream.
At least your pipe dream is about a player we already have, as opposed to a player we have to trade Bonner+Vaughn for.
The team desperately needs frontcourt help. I'm ecstatic to see Bowen playing much better than he did in the first 5 games or so. I'm not so excited with what I'm seeing out of Kurt. He looks like he's aged 5 years in the offseason, and he looks incredibly slow and unathletic, even relative to last season. I can always hope Oberto plays over his head like the 2007 postseason, but that's a of a thing to depend on. Unless Mahinmi can come in and play well enough to be our consistent #2 big, I'd put the probability of getting through LA (not to mention Boston) low. TD, Manu, and TP could all have great series and beat LA with some aid from the bench, but without upgrading our bigs I wouldn't call it very probable. The team's starting to show some potential, but it's deeply flawed when Tim is the only bigman on the team that can be counted on.
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