Anyone here think we're not better than our team last year?

[mute]

Does anyone here think that we are not better than our team last year? Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili are all one year older, but Green, Leonard, and Splitter have another year of experience under their belt and have gotten significantly better and are blossoming before our eyes. That, being said, I still don't see the zip and offensive flow we had last year post Diaw and Jackson. Where's the dismantling of the Lakers back to back, Game 3 LAC, or Game 2 OKC we saw last year?

By the way, where has Boris Diaw been? It's funny how he jumped teams mid-season and fit right in flawlessly. You would think he'd have a bigger role this season with training camp. It's been a disappointment that most people have seem to overlook this season.

We have so many guys banged up this year. Last year, we were all relatively healthy. That's why losing last year to OKC hurt so much. Our best shot simply wasn't enough. It wasn't because of an injury, fluke shot, or some blown call. OKC came out and did whatever they wanted to us. I don't get too caught up in the 0-2 series comeback talk. It could have easily been 1-1 or 0-2 going the other way to be honest.

A part of me thinks last year was our best shot at winning. Now, this isn't to say we can't make it back to the finals this year. It's not that we have gotten significantly better. It's just that OKC lost a great playmaker and scorer in James Harden.

[apalisoc_9]

Does anyone here think that we are not better than our team last year? Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili are all one year older, but Green, Leonard, and Splitter have another year of experience under their belt and have gotten significantly better and are blossoming before our eyes. That, being said, I still don't see the zip and offensive flow we had last year post Diaw and Jackson. Where's the dismantling of the Lakers back to back, Game 3 LAC, or Game 2 OKC we saw last year?

By the way, where has Boris Diaw been? It's funny how he jumped teams mid-season and fit right in flawlessly. You would think he'd have a bigger role this season with training camp. It's been a disappointment that most people have seem to overlook this season.

We have so many guys banged up this year. Last year, we were all relatively healthy. That's why losing last year to OKC hurt so much. Our best shot simply wasn't enough. It wasn't because of an injury, fluke shot, or some blown call. OKC came out and did whatever they wanted to us. I don't get too caught up in the 0-2 series comeback talk. It could have easily been 1-1 or 0-2 going the other way to be honest.

A part of me thinks last year was our best shot at winning. Now, this isn't to say we can't make it back to the finals this year. It's not that we have gotten significantly better. It's just that OKC lost a great playmaker and scorer in James Harden.

We're So much better this year, tbh.

[HarlemHeat37]

Last year's team was a better regular season team, this year's team should be better in the playoffs IMO..

Last year's Spurs could have easily won the WCFs, they were a very good team, but they had a first round bye vs. Utah and an easy matchup vs. a hobbled Chris Paul..

[freetiago]

Balance was better last year and guys were all hot post trade
defense was solid post trade and the bench wasnt a liability last year
they actually brought and kept us in games last year while this year is losing games
Diaws best ball was as a starter and he was effective defensively while the Spur scouting report wasnt out on him yet i guess
Tiago gives more versatility to the bench

[TampaDude]

Our defense is much better this year.

[timtonymanu]

Spurs were an average defensive team last year ... They are one of the elite defensive teams this year.

So yeah this year they are better.

[ElNono]

I think this team is better. Especially defensively. It's going to be tough when you're missing your top dogs, so those games need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Overall and health-permitting, this team won't have to trot out Bonner, Blair, etc. when the big dance comes around, so I think that's an improvement right there. Also, while getting older, we also have young guys like Leonard and Tiago who have progressed nicely. Like I said, in good health, I think this team can compete with anybody in the West.

[spurraider21]

Far and away. Parker playing even better than last year. Duncan's defense has been great. Tiago has flourished in an expanded role. Kawhi is starting to really live up to everything.

[DesignatedT]

This team is better. Just haven't been as lucky regarding health and the shortened season actually helped with that last year. If this team can get and stay healthy it has much higher upside.

[ElNono]

This team is better. Just haven't been as lucky regarding health and the shortened season actually helped with that last year. If this team can get and stay healthy it has much higher upside.

Forgot to add that, thanks for bringing it up. Arguably the shorter season worked better for the aging players. Less wear and tear. That was another concern going into this season. Overall though, if Tony comes back in time and there are no further injuries, I think we'll be in good shape.

[freetiago]

People keep underrating the defense last year
pre trade it was around 10-15
post trade it was top 5 i believe
the Jazz and Clippers were two of the highest scoring teams in the nba and the spurs didnt let them score over 100 once
the only team in the playoffs at that point who didnt allow that
even the supposed defensive powerhouses in boston and philly allowed over 100 to bad teams

spurs were ok vs OKC but eventually got Thunderrefd
nothing you can do about that
still will get thunderrefd this year if last game is any indication

[ElNono]

People keep underrating the defense last year
pre trade it was around 10-15
post trade it was top 5 i believe

Spurs finished 11th in defensive efficiency last season... while being the #1 offense.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/tea...alse/year/2012

This season they're ranked #3 on both. Any way you look at it, this season's defense is substantially better.

[SpurPadre]

Spurs were an average defensive team last year ... They are one of the elite defensive teams this year.

So yeah this year they are better.

I think it remains to be seen if we are better and we won't know until the last team is standing in the playoffs this year. I will say this, last year's team never came close to giving up 136 points in regulation in the middle of March to a scrub team.

[KL2]

This year's team is much better defensively, last year it felt like we were the Suns, the defense was pathetic compared to what it is now. Everybody just has to get healthy now and the Spurs will start raping teams.

[KaiRMD1]

This year's team is far better than last year. Last year's team was hot, Green at one point was automatic from three BUT the defense was average to whack. This year, defense has come through ten fold.

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

This year features a far better team defense. I think the young guys struggled last year with Pop's defensive system but this year they have seem to gotten it. It does seem the offense isn't quite as good, but I think some of the older guys (Manu and Captain Jack) are saving it for the playoffs. If Kawhi can stay healthy and bring a legitimate offensive threat, if Ginobili does what Ginobili does, and if Parker stays healthy and remembers his role (unlike last year in the WCF) then I think this team will make the Finals. I am curious as to who gets the backup PG minutes when Parker returns. We'd be better off defensively with Joseph, but better off on offense with Mills. I wonder if it will depend on the matchup and what the opponent presents at the PG position.

[freetiago]

As i said post trade
2/3 of the season with Blair starting and bonner getting significant minutes can do a lot to the defensive efficiency numbers
post trade with Diaw starting when the team won something like 20 out of 21 games and were unbeatable on the road was still a better team
youll also notice the top defensive teams were all in the east
padding your numbers with 2/3 of your games vs the bottom feeders will do that to your numbers
spurs defensive rating to start this season was around 98.5 with Diaw starting
currently its at 98.3

the team is the same as it was last season defensively minus the change in 3 point defending philosophy

[TheGoldStandard]

Last year our core guys were more consistent, this year Parker was on fire and the tier 2 guys have stepped up and played better. We're overall better defensively and we're not relying on having to score over 100 points to win games.

[mute]

That's a good point about our bench that someone brought up. Obviously, Tiago is playing better and his confidence is through the roof and is now starting. But last year, Blair was giving you 4-5 buckets a game on 60-70%+ percent shooting. You could count on Neal every other night to shoot lights out. Mills gave you a consistent lift. Our bench is depleted this year.

Our defense is indeed better than last year, but it's not like we were historically bad or anything. And definitely, enough to win and go deep in the playoffs the way we were scoring. It's not a knock on the Spurs; OKC was just that good last year... 3 franchise players who could get any shot they wanted. No chance really... law of averages. Games 3, 4, 5, and 6 were just regressions to the mean.

People were talking about the Spurs being of the one greatest teams of ALL TIME for a reason. Have you ever been in tears at the sight of beautiful basketball? All of our shooters were getting wide open shots. The mid-season additions of Mills, Jackson, and Diaw sort of jump started us and we were on a tear. 60+ games in, and I still don't see the offensive firepower we had last year.

[ElNono]

For reference, last season's Spurs gave up an average of 101ppg since the Jackson trade.
They gave up an average of 103ppg through 13 playoff games.

This season they're averaging 96.1 ppg...

No Spur player had an defensive efficiency ranking under 100 in the playoffs last season.

This season there's 4 players under 100...

[ElNono]

That's a good point about our bench that someone brought up. Obviously, Tiago is playing better and his confidence is through the roof and is now starting. But last year, Blair was giving you 4-5 buckets a game on 60-70%+ percent shooting. You could count on Neal every other night to shoot lights out. Mills gave you a consistent lift. Our bench is depleted this year.

Our defense is indeed better than last year, but it's not like we were historically bad or anything. And definitely, enough to win and go deep in the playoffs the way we were scoring. It's not a knock on the Spurs; OKC was just that good last year... 3 franchise players who could get any shot they wanted. No chance really... law of averages. Games 3, 4, 5, and 6 were just regressions to the mean.

People were talking about the Spurs being of the one greatest teams of ALL TIME for a reason. Have you ever been in tears at the sight of beautiful basketball? All of our shooters were getting wide open shots. The mid-season additions of Mills, Jackson, and Diaw sort of jump started us and we were on a tear. 60+ games in, and I still don't see the offensive firepower we had last year.

The offense was better last season, no doubt about it. But as Harlem said, that's conductive to more regular season wins. Eventually your offense will be planned for in the playoffs, and what you're going to have to fall back to is your defense.

I'm not saying this team is a sure lock for anything, but they're better prepared to make that fall back or get the stop when you need it.

[Hoops Czar]

Spurs were an average defensive team last year ... They are one of the elite defensive teams this year.

So yeah this year they are better.

Elite defensive teams don't get slammed by an injury plagued Timberwolves team or give up 136 points at home to the trailblazers. This defense revolves around three players and when they aren't playing, the Spurs are in for a long night.

I wold have taken last year's offense over this year's defense 10 times out of 10 times. At least last year, when the defense struggled, the offense would pick up the slack. This year's version just gets blown out. And last years defense was still above average and on the few nights the offense struggled, the defense was good enough to keep them in games. The Spurs offense is still pretty much live by the jumpshot, die by the jumshot and it's probably going to burn them in the playoffs..... that ad second chance points.

The depth was also much better last year. You could pretty much count on 12 guys a night contributing. This year, it's like pulling teeth to get 6 or 7 to show up on the same night.

[TheGoldStandard]

I'd rather the spurs get hot when parker returns then to carry a streak into the playoffs and wear out.. That is at least what I'm hoping will happen this year. Everyone has proven that they can hit shots and score its just a matter of putting it all together.

[spurraider21]

Last year we had very good offense and average defense. This year we have very good offense and very good defense. we have the best record in the west despite being bruised up pretty much all season. our losses have come in games where we just fell asleep, like Detroit, Phoenix, Portland, and Minnesota.... which are 4 of our last 5 losses, the 5th being in golden state on a back to back. We also had a loss to New Orleans. There is zero chance we drop those games in a playoff environment... except maybe Portland just has our number, as they've beaten us twice this year. We will be fine, assuming our core players are healthy by playoff (big 3 and medium 3)

[Aztecfan03]

In the playoffs, when depth isn't as important, thus year's team is better if healthy. I'll take this year's tiago over last year's Diaw any day. We just need to keep one of tiago or tim on the floor at all times.