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Agreed. But we always do good in the regular season. We need to be clutch in the finals. It may be Duncan and Ginobili's last run. We need them both to play well to win the le this year.
Wow. This team is on a mission. Two big things that are standing out to me thus far:
1) Not just our 10-1 record, but how we got there. I feel like this team has played their guts out every single game this season. Even in the loss to Portland, the Spurs shot 52% and kept coming at them despite Portland shooting a sizzling 57% and playing with a ton of energy in their home opener. The Spurs tried VERY hard to win that game, and almost did, despite everything. I don't think this team ever wants to lose again. I think the Spurs have it in their minds that every loss will be just as painful as game 6 and 7 of the Finals were, which is why they're so determined to not lose this season. I feel like that Portland loss ripped their hearts out. Which is why the Spurs are on a 8 game winning streak right now. This team has become absolutely terrified of losing. Which is a good thing, and fulfilling their desire not to lose probably has a lot to do with my second observation...
2) Pop has already shrunk the rotation. Banes, Ayers, De Colo, Joseph, and Bonner are hardly playing at ALL. I've never seen a team set their playoff rotation so fast...but the Spurs have already done so. The Spurs second unit of Ginobili, Diaw, Mills, and Belli is all but locked in. As well as those guys play together, I can't see any changes being made to the second unit. To the point, the Spurs aren't messing around with playing players that won't be part of the rotation in the playoffs like they've done in previous years. They're all business. Even when the Spurs are up 20 points like they were in the 4th quarter against the Celtics tonight, the bench wasn't emptied until the very last minute of the game. In previous seasons, it would have been emptied at the start of the 4th quarter against such a hapless team. Not anymore. The guys at the end of the bench are never going to even sniff valuable playing time this season. The days of the Spurs gong 14-15 players deep are OVER. This team's only goals appear to be to A) Not lose (ever) And B) Not mess around.
With this mentality and focus, this can be a 70 win team. I think this is shaping up to be the Spurs best year ever. I've never seen this team look more business like, and for the Spurs that's saying something. In a season where half the teams in the NBA will be tanking, and where the Spurs are on a full-out crusade for vengeance with a loaded team full of veterans, this is going to be a fun and wild ride. The only way I can see it ending is with the Championship.
Agreed. But we always do good in the regular season. We need to be clutch in the finals. It may be Duncan and Ginobili's last run. We need them both to play well to win the le this year.
Exactly... Losing a heartbreaking Finals can be good for a team (if they remain intact).
Are there any statistics on this? How often does a team lose Game 7 of the Finals and win the le the next year?
Son it's still November.
The Dallas Mavericks started their 2006-07 reg season 0-4 and had a 17, 13, 12, 9, 8 win streak along the way.
Pop is keeping everyone's minutes down, but I was surprised to see Tim,Tony,
Splitter in at the end of the game with a lead that big........He does seem to play
the 2nd team more minutes than I have ever seen. Pop usually tinkers
with the rotations till the rodeo road trip. Our bench is about as good as
I have ever seen it. All the Bonner haters, Pop dressed him down on the bench
after he pulled him out of the game tonight. I would say in was a grade 7 out of
10 pissed off
Seriously? They seem to me to be just coasting and trying out new things.
And our lead wasnt really safe today, thats why the starters were in. they were leading by 20 for like a min, then it became 11 the next min.
Duncan did play out of his mind last year and did very good in the finals last year, so we need Ginobili to step up this time honestly. I hate to say that to you but he was the one absent last year not Tim in the finals but I agree. We need both to PLAY WELL, you are right.
I agree, they flamed out in round one too, lets not GO THAT ROUTE... Lets just hope for health later and a higher seed, period.They have not turned it up yet, nor nearly had to. I agree period.
It's hard to believe we are 10-1. The team seems bored and discombobulated at times, like they want to fast forward to the playoffs, or maybe that's my own mindset. It's like they are doing rope a dope with teams, and then just turning it on towards the end and knocking them out. Strange and interesting season so far.
Spurs are winning even though it seems like they're just trolling teams for two to three quarters.
Pop is just trying out rotations like he does every season, except he started tinkering early this season as opposed to previous seasons where he tinkered towards the middle of the season.
One instance that specifically comes to mind is the Bad Boys Pistons. They lost in 7 games to the Showtime Lakers in '88, and then the following year they swept the Lakers.
Although that was a bit different. The Pistons were pretty young, while the Lakers were wearing down after their run of dominance in the '80s. Also, Magic Johnson got injured in Game 2 and ended up missing the rest of the series.
Maybe LeBron will get injured and we'll sweep the Heat in the Finals this year
Yea, that exactly how it feels like. not "playing their guts out" every game
If I were to be as optimistic as possible, I'd say the team is successfully pacing themselves by design (hopefully).A lot of these games have felt like the team plays down to their compe ion for three quarters. I wouldn't call that "playing their guts out." Strength of schedule is in the lower half thus far. How much can anyone take from the first 11 games of the regular season though.
10-1 is a great start for the top seed, so that's nice.
We played several tanking teams, Philly, Utah, Boston,... Let's not get too excited just yet especially with the Duncan situation being what it is...
Spurs aren't playing their best ball but they can go into playoff gear for one quarter to win.
tbh I want this team to look more like the 2001 Lakers than the 2007 Mavs.
The Spurs will win anotherthis season. Book it.
The season is still young and the Spurs have not played any of the top teams other than Portland and Golden State(without Curry). There's still a lot of work to be done but I guess that goes for every team. We will see where they stand once they've played OKC, Clips, Pacers, Rockets, and Heat.
IMHO, with home court advantage, LOB trophy was ours last year, and the team know it ....
You booked a le last year so stop it.The Spurs will win another
I think they want to just skip to the finals, and I don't blame them. Nobody in the West is ing with us, so where's the motivation? Barring any major injuries :knocks on wood: we will be back in the finals.
Two little words -- Home Court Advantage (okay three).
They had it in '05 and won for that reason. They did not have it last year and lost. Simple as that.
This team needs it to go all the way and that's the way they're playing.
Duncan needs to go to the foul line, allot. That's the best way to get your touch/ rhythm back. Also, please bring back that beautiful, unstoppable, bank shot at the elbow (1997-2004). That's your shot, man!!!!!!! Has any other player ever just completely abandoned their " signature" shot this way???? Frustrating. Go Spurs
Bingo!
If we had game 7 on our home court last year against the Heat, we win. Plain and simple. Two evenly matched teams decided by homecourt. We need that home court and spurs players know it. Manu knew it going into the Finals last year saying he really wished they had homecourt.
We need every win we can get, no matter how ugly. This team can win it all this year, they just need to be healthy.
Just beating up on all the teams they should, weak sisters of the league. People still get excited about the regular season?
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