Reply With Quote
means nothing until playoffs start
http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2010...est/#more-3181Early rest gives Spurs advantage in West
Zach Lowe
The Point Forward
SI.com
A pretty remarkable thing happened on Sunday: Tim Duncan played in the fourth quarter. That’s right. Duncan logged all of 2:18 in the final quarter of San Antonio’s easy win over Portland, ending his streak of three straight games in which he did not see the floor at all in the fourth.
There is room for healthy debate about the significance of the NBA’s regular season, but you cannot debate that it is long, and that it’s a very good thing when one of your most important (and oldest) guys can relax on the bench almost as much as he plays.
Duncan is logging just 28.8 minutes per game this season, easily the lowest mark of his career. Over the Spurs’ past five games, he has played a total of 9:45 in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Pau Gasol is having the opposite experience in Los Angeles. He has logged at least 38 minutes in nine of the Lakers’ last 10 games, and he has eclipsed the 41-minute mark in seven of those games. The 30-year-old is playing more minutes than he has at any point in his career, and he’s doing it despite a sore hamstring.
It may be only December, roughly a quarter of the way through the season, but early-season minutes affect the latter months of the season. The Lakers’ core isn’t young anymore, and they’re coming off three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals. And they are killing themselves — or killing Gasol, at least — to squeak out Sunday-afternoon wins in New Jersey before Christmas.
The Spurs, meanwhile, are cruising at 20-3, and they’re about to overtake the Lakers in the league’s offensive efficiency rankings. Even worse news for the league: Their defense is playing quite well, despite the inevitable hand-wringing from coach Gregg Popovich. (Duncan had the quote of the day when someone asked him whether Popovich would be satisfied that San Antonio’s defense held Portland to 78 points: “Absolutely not. What did they score? Like 70-something points. That’s 70-something reasons for him to complain.” Classic.)
The Spurs are allowing just 102.4 points per 100 possessions. That’s the eighth-best mark in the league, but it would have led the NBA last season. If the Spurs can continue playing defense up to Popovich’s standards, they should shoot up the defensive ranks as the league’s scoring average (down a point so far this season) begins to increase, as usual.
The early-season rest has clearly helped San Antonio, and it begs the question: Is it time to declare the Spurs at least the co-favorite in the Western Conference? Or even to declare the Spurs-Mavs-Lakers tri-favorites? The Spurs are four games up on the Lakers in the loss column, and before you point out San Antonio’s weak schedule, take a look at which team has played the weakest schedule in the league, according to John Hollinger’s power rankings: the Lakers. Hollinger’s strength-of-schedule rankings aren’t the end-all, but they are a solid measure of a team’s quality of opponents.
Duncan won’t be able to take fourth-quarter vacations against the best teams, but after years of bad injury luck, everything is going as well as could possibly be expected in San Antonio. And if that keeps up, I see no reason not to declare the Spurs at least co-favorites in the West.
means nothing until playoffs start
“Absolutely not. What did they score? Like 70-something points. That’s 70-something reasons for him to complain.”
Duncan would be hilarious alongside Sean once he retires.
Agreed!
Duncan would be hilarious alongside Sean once he retires.
Thanks for posting d228. Very good points made in this article. The lakers are still one of the favorites, but I think some people forget how old the Lakers roster is overall.
Great article. Some props to us. Come on Dec. 28th!
Well, it's nice to be front runners again, but the Spurs haven't done anything to crow about. It's been a good run but you know the Spurs will lose a few here and there just to be declared old and tired again. It won't mean much, but as long as they are playing the right way they are giving themselves a really good shot at the elusive thumb ring.
i dont give a
a win is a win
first to 60 wins, secure playoff spot
could care less what happens after securing spot and get ready for playoffs...
Very good point, but the Spurs are doing the only thing possible right now to answer their critics, which is winning.
we've had tough games as well, i don't buy the weak schedule thing
wins are wins in the NBA.
We all know the Mavs/Lakers/Spurs will be 3 of the final 4 teams. Just get those wins to get home court and good 1st round draws.
The more rest the better for our big three.
The Spurs are never going to be the favorites or co-favorites, it will belong to LA until they are beaten..they have the most talented team in the NBA, and they're the defending champions(they also pose matchup advantages over the Spurs)..
However, all the Spurs can do is give themselves a chance, and while getting rest and conserving minutes doesn't guarantee long-term healthy, it will certainly help a lot..hopefully the rest continues, since it will help bring a healthy Spurs team, and a healthy Spurs team will at least have some kind of a chance to make it a series vs. anybody in the NBA..
It will belong to the Lakers after they're beaten, unless it's the Heat that beat them. If the Spurs beat the Lakers, it won't be nationally recognized as the Spurs beating the Lakers. It'll be the Lakers losing or beating themselves.
They have the advantage inside, but I no longer look at their roster and go "they have too much individual talent for the Spurs". This isn't '08 or '09. They're not beating the Spurs because they have too much individual talent or athleticism for them.
Some kind of chance? The Spurs will be by far the best team in the West the Lakers will face since they "traded" for Gasol. People need to give the Spurs some damn respect and start viewing this as a more even match-up than they are. Slight edge to the Lakers and all due respect to them, but when the Lakers acquired Gasol, did anyone go "well the Spurs are the defending champs, so the Lakers have very little chance of beating them"? No, in fact, many instantly anointed them the favorites in the West. I'm not saying the Spurs should be the favorites, but why should we continue to pretend they're some massive underdog?
I realize it's the regular season, but I'm fairly sure the Spurs have the best regular season record and point differential in the calendar year. I'm not going to get into all the reasons why this team should be more respected and taken more seriously than if, say, the Jazz or Bulls, etc., had done that. But the point is, it's time to stop pretending this is some run of the mill upstart.
For the conspiracy types, did the NBA intentionally give the Lakers a weak early schedule because they knew that Bynum would be out for a bit, and they didn't want them to fall too far behind?
The spurs should be the favorites to win it all! They are playing better and far earlier than they ever have! They are scoring a lot more than ever and their defense is improving every single game! I dont see anybody beating them in a 7 game series. They ae the most balanced team in the whole league!
hmm....No
Dream on es!
Keep telling that to yourself numbnuts
Weak ass schedule! 'nough said!
well Lakers did not take advantage of that weak schedule
Things will even out by the all-star break and your dreams will be shattered once again....
Posers!
Pop knows what he is doing and will rest as much as possible. The man will get it done.
Maybe not, but the NBA wouldn't have known that would happen when they were making the schedule.
Right now I don't think its a stretch to say the Spurs are the co-favorites however with the stellar play by the Mavs its more like tri-favorites out West.
This is not much of a surprise either when you consider the incredible amount of basketball that the Lakers core have played in the past few years: 3 consecutive Finals appearances including a 7-game series against the Celtics plus winning Gold medals in FIBA and the Olympics. Then there's the health factor and the Lakers have had Kobe Bryant and Bynum undergo knee surgeries this past summer. It took KG a year or so to really get back in his groove after his surgery FWIW.
If the Lakers don't have HCA over the Spurs/Mavs I don't think they are as favored as they were in the preseason especially if their mileage and health don't improve and it seems likely that they won't in this marathon of a sport. Having the defending-champ le as targets on their backs each game certainly doesn't help either. The Lakers are really biting themselves in the ass by not creating separation in the standings now since they have the easiest schedule in the NBA...playing catch-up in the NBA sucks for a veteran team as well as seen with the Spurs last season.
Spurs fans know all too well what can happen to a championship core after they log a ton of miles and if they play bball year-round without much rest and/or surgery. The biggest reason why the Spurs never repeated and are sitting at 4 trophies instead of more is due to the big 3 playing way too much basketball especially since Parker and Ginobili have to play at a MVP-level for their international teams. The rest that Parker and Ginobili decided to take and the more time Ginobili has had to recover/train from his past surgery seems to have paid dividends not to mention the better supporting cast and RJ 2.0
Simply amazing start for the Spurs even if its not a difficult schedule. 20-3 with Duncan averaging less than 29 mins per game? Nice.
Last edited by Cane; 12-15-2010 at 01:52 PM.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
