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I will be satisfied when Duncan is holding up another O'Brien trophy....until then nothing else matters.
I think the Spurs have re-established themselves to the position they were in before January 1 when they were 23-8: Top team and contender for the NBA championship.
From January 1-February 11, they had a 10-10 stretch, now they are starting off a 5-0 stretch. I personally never lost confidence in the Spurs, and right now, they are just beating teams they are supposed to beat, no huge accomplishment. I know I'm just stating a bunch of numbers, and the Spurs 5 straight victories featured 3 really easy teams, but it was the Spurs' careless losses to really easy teams that had people talking about the Spurs being on the decline and on the verge of a first-round elimination in the playoffs. They are now 3-0 after the All-Star break this year, and will continue their run as the best NBA winning percentage after the All-Star break in the Duncan era.
The team you saw tonight is very capable of beating Dallas. Dallas should hope that the current team in the past 5 games, doesn't show up in the playoffs.
So, who now here is satisfied with the Spurs for now at least? Five straight is a lot for the Spurs if they were as bad as some people were saying...
I will be satisfied when Duncan is holding up another O'Brien trophy....until then nothing else matters.
We are very much on the way to that. The Spurs made a big statement opening night in Dallas, regardless what has happened since then.
Play someone that will make the playoffs. Then you will see what they can do. Props for beating the teams you should beat. It is hard to judge progress if you play someone bad. That goes for any team.
so the Mavericks two victories against "us" do not matter?We are very much on the way to that. The Spurs made a big statement opening night in Dallas, regardless what has happened since then.
Very good teams look excellent against crappy teams. Suddenly they don't look so excellent against truly excellent teams.
Dallas = excellent. San Antonio = very good.
I think we should wait til the Houston game to affirm San Antonio gaining some steam.
If the Spurs can get from here through the Rockets game unscathed....I would be a lot closer to being convinced.
i think its too early. a lot of ty teams go on nice winning streaks from time to time, like the nets the past 2 years. not saying that San Antonio is ty, but its too early to suddenly say that they are the top team. while i think they are still the second best team in the league, they dont appear to have enough firepower, rebounding, or defense to beat Dallas. i see the two teams meeting in the WCF, with Dallas winning in 5 (not dominating, but winning in 5 VERY hard-fought, physical games, 3 of which come down to the final 30 seconds or so). i think Dallas just has too many weapons for the Spurs to handle. Dirk and Duncan always get their points, although lately Dirk has definitely been the better player when the teams meet. Harris and Parker pretty much cancel each other out, as do Ginobili and Howard. then that leaves Terry and Stackhouse, whom no one else is capable of guarding, because if you put Bowen on one of them, then its going to take a lot of heat off of either Dirk or Howard (although they both seem to be able to get the best of him nowadays).
i honestly cant see San Antonio beating Dallas. Dallas has clearly gotten better last year in just about every phase of basketball, while San Antonio has not gotten any better, but has actually declined considerably. also, San Antonio doesnt have the mental edge that they used to have on Dallas, which makes a huge difference. and there can be no excuses this year, saying that Duncan or Ginobili got hurt, because both have been healthy this year, and the team hasnt improved at all. of course, we will see when the playoffs come, but i dont expect the Spurs to win more than 1 game against Dallas in a playoff series.
well, i'll give the spurs some credit, they are definitely playing better ball, i don't care who their opponents are, they look like they have a bit more energy and fire in their game...this has no bearing on the mavericks, so i don't see why the mavs should *hope* they don't meet these spurs in the playoffs...so, celebrate your success and we'll continue to celebrate ours, we don't fear teams anymore, it's more about just staying focused and staying healthy as we continue to rack up wins
I still think the mavs biggest threat are the suns. The mavs match up well with the spurs along with the spurs getting older definitely helps the mavs. The spurs match up well to the suns though so anything can happen.
They matter, but for the SPURS (not "us" if you want to be politically correct) to go to Dallas opening night and win on their floor, makes a big statement.
When two excellent teams meet in the playoffs, you get a 7 game series (with 2 overtimes in the series too), obviously one of them will be the winner.
Dallas is just playing with something to prove (hence the 45-9 record) after a Finals whooping at the hands of Miami, while the Spurs are still capable of beating anybody, but haven't really came out with the same hunger. Now they are doing what they did before: beat the teams they are supposed to beat. No suprises.
meh, it would've made a bigger statement had we not dropped our first four games, like you guys would've been the only team to have beaten us in those first two weeks...but the mavs weren't ready for the opening week, they should've been but they weren't, they didn't play the pre-season that the spurs had...anyway, if the spurs had a made a big statement in the first game then they wouldn't have gone on to lose the next two in a row, they would've really impressed upon the mavs that they were better with that *big* statement...but that wasn't the case.
i wonder if spurs fans are embarrassed by your blind homerism...oh wait...
I'm tired of all this "Spurs are getting older" talk. If you look at key players:
Erick Dampier is 31. Jerry Stackhouse is 32. Jason Terry is 29, Dirk is 28. Josh Howard and Devin Harris are young, but we've already seen what Howard's youth does last year, which is not much. He can start by calling a timeout when he's supposed to.
Tim Duncan is 30. Elson is 30. Ginobili is 29. Tony Parker is 24. Bonner I figure will play a key role somehow in the Spurs' success in the playoffs, he's only 26. Now if you look at the Spurs bench, they're old, but the bench doesn't equal the championship.
Other than the bench of Horry (won't log very many minutes in the playoffs), Barry, and Finley - What else makes the Spurs old and unathletic?
Last edited by jeffdrums22; 02-25-2007 at 01:28 AM.
dallas may be peaking way too early, but that remains to be seen. i would rather my team build momentum as the playoffs approach as opposed to trying to maintain it. i do like to see mav fan casually dismissing the spurs though, should be an interesting postseason to say the least.
I'll be satisfied when the spurs are beating everybody by at least 20 maybe 25 untill then they haven't showed me
We hid Elson in the first Dallas game in SA and had Manu injured halfway through and didn't have him available for the second. I'm excited about the Elson-Dirk matchup.
What do you count "We'll beat the Spurs in no more than 5 games" as? Cautiously optimistic?
i was very glad 2 get home tonight and see the highlights and the stat line. I hope we keep getting better.
This is very much akin to regarding Dwight Howard as a "fluke player." Josh Howard is legitimately an all-star player. The guy dropped 16 ppg and, probably more importantly, 7 rpg in the Spurs/Mavs 2006 series. It's not as if he's a poor player or he's some unheard of guy who has just suddenly appeared. Josh Howard's youth was a vital factor in the Mavericks reaching the 2006 Finals.
I don't disagree with the point that the Spurs are playing better -- albeit against very much weaker compe ion -- but it's asinine to me to suggest that Josh Howard is a liability for the Mavericks.
enjoy the run, regular season doesnt mean if its not carried into the playoffs, well 2nd round exit to the hands of the suns or showponies
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