Reply With Quote
we won't. We'll finish #2. and we ain't afraid of nobody
The Spurs might be better off finishing 3rd in the West. While I know this would setup two straight series where we'd be giving up homecourt advantage, I think the motivation factor of being the underdogs would more than offset lost homecourt advantage.
During the Spurs '05 run they had to beat Phoenix without homecourt, and I actually think it geared the Spurs up during those first two contests in Phoenix.
There's something demoralizing about getting beat on your own court in one or both of those first two home games against a team that, at least according to the seeding, you're supposed to beat. On the flip side, there's extra motivation to steal homecourt advantage if you're playing from a lower spot.
San Antonio is better as the underdog. Last year against Dallas the Spurs sputtered their way to a 3-1 deficit as the "favorite", played hard to bring the series back to 3-3, and then listened to everyone say they'd win game 7 at home and didn't turn on the jets until they'd spotted the Mavs a big lead...and still lost.
This year's Spurs are almost better as a road team. They seem more focused and more consistent. Homecourt advantage could actually hurt them.
So, I'm ok with the 3rd playoff spot. It might just work to our advantage. I, for one, am not really rooting for a Suns meltdown...until round 2 of the playoffs!
we won't. We'll finish #2. and we ain't afraid of nobody
I'm more concerned about complacency than fear when it comes to my Spurs.
yeah I agree. but it is inevitable that Suns will lose more games than Spurs the rest of the season, the way the last few weeks have been going.
I also beleive that beating both Mavs + Suns on the road is a pretty tough task.
Which will make it that much more sweet!!
I just realized we are only 2 games back from Phoenix .Im ok with #3, but #2 would be seweet
I would rather pop rest the starters and finish 3 then play the starters to much and finish 2
Thanks to Milwaukee and Boston.
Either way - whether we wind up #2 or #3, our destiny is pretty much the same -
we face either Denver or L.A. in the 1st round, Phoenix in the 2nd, and Dallas in the WCF.
Then, I predict, Detroit in the Finals. Should be a good series.
Why be comfortable with the #3 when Phoenix is doing their best to serve up the #2?
I thought if we were the 2 seed that Dallas would play the Suns in the second round?
Nah, Dallas would play the winner of the 4-5 matchup.
So then it doesnt matter, f-it then. Rest em
It's not worth overextending for. If the op presents itself, then good.
I did a thread on which seed the eventual NBA Champ came from.
It's not at all crucial to be #1 or #2. It helps, but there are plenty of #1 and #2s eliminated along the way.
With the top 3 teams, you have three teams that are probably evenly matched and all play very well and focused on the road. Asking the home team to win the first two to start the series is a lot. And probably a lot of pressure.
The first game is always sloppy. There is an adjustment period when they are evenly matched and the road team is a "good road team". So, it's easier to steal that win early. By games 3 and 4, both teams know exactly what they want to do and it's a matter of execution, etc.
They are healthy and do not need any extra rest at this point. If anyone gets injured, God forbid, then rest them. They are fine right now.
i agree with that except for the fact that they "spotted the Mavs a lead" and just simply turned on the jets. Dallas let up a little bit
playoffs havent started yet nothing is guaranteed
No spur player goes over 35 minutes. It's not like they're the Suns or anything. If we win tonight and Thursday against the Suns, I don't see anything stopping the hop to #2, certainly not the gasping Suns.
Touching on reg.season vs playoff minutes this is an espn article/observation/theory about the league's reg. season horses and postseasonal warriors, maybe to be taken with a "grain of salt?"
Who is Playing Harder in the Playoffs?
http://myespn.go.com/profile/truehoo...ntonio%20spurs
March 13, 2007 5:29 PM
Yesterday I put out a call for some way to measure players who are
coasting for at least some of the regular season:
Here's one I've never seen but would love to see: who are the
all-time regular season coasters? The guys who just don't play hard for much
of the season, saving their knees, and their effort, for the late
season and playoffs?
TrueHoop reader and veteran stat junkie Michael Goodman responded with
a spreadsheet of stuff that looks really cool, but is hard for my
Bachelor of the Arts mind. So I'll let him explain:
PO/RS is Playoff/Regular Season productivity ratio. Both are
adjusted for team/opponent pace, year by year. A year with 400 playoff
minutes counts 4x as much as a year with 100.
'Net' is calculated by player's
(productivity*1.05)*(min/36)*(po/rs) The average po/rs is about .945, so the 1.05 cancels that: Anyone
over .945 has a positive net. You may see the player's stats go down --
along with most others' -- but relative to the opponent, his team gains.
Here are the top twenty from his list:
0.945 Net PO/RS POMin Min/36
Robert Horry 555 1.07 6740 187
Tim Duncan 489 1.02 4910 136
Baron Davis 283 1.15 1502 42
Dwyane Wade 240 1.05 2133 59
Manu Ginobili 232 1.05 2253 63
Caron Butler 205 1.24 957 27
Tim Thomas 199 1.12 1705 47
Tayshaun Prince 196 1.03 3165 88
Derek Fisher 182 1.04 3136 87
Paul Pierce 158 1.04 1615 45
Ray Allen 132 1.04 1563 43
Antonio Daniels 126 1.07 1567 44
Richard Hamilton 118 .99 3268 91
Allen Iverson 118 .98 2779 77
Vince Carter 101 1.02 1308 36
James Posey 93 1.10 920 26
Antonio McDyess 91 1.04 1055 29
Kirk Hinrich 90 1.16 520 14
Eric Snow 83 1.00 2212 61
Kenyon Martin 82 .99 2112 59
No one can argue with Robert Horry topping this list. His teammate
publicly accused him of as much a couple of years ago. (The only irony
there is that the teammate making the accusation is second on this list.)
Shaquille O'Neal, whom I trotted out as the poster boy of taking some
time off during the season, comes in 38th. I imagine that's because much
of the time when he has been apparently coasting was time when he was
on the injured list, and those games, I assume, did not count towards
his productivity tally.
In fact, it occurs to me that playing through injuries in the regular
season is a great way to get yourself on this list. A lot of the guys
here have played at half-speed for stretches of their career. If they had
been real coasters, they would have worn street clothes.
I wonder if anyone has a way to further refine this list to get to who
it is that is really taking the most time off. (Even Mike himself
admits that is not this list: "No," he writes, "I can't call out the
'coasters'. But Tim Thomas is a good start.") There is a difference that I'd
like to get at, between Tim Duncan hobbling through almost all of last
season on one leg, and whatever it is that Tim Thomas has been doing all
these years.
Wow. I just checked out the bottom of the list. These would be people
who have been frighteningly productive in the regular season compared to
the playoffs. Some of the NBA's bigger playoff disappointments are
here, as are several MVP candidates, and some championship winners. The
last twenty are:
Jason Kidd, Predrag Stojakovic, Lindsey Hunter, Darrell Armstrong,
Radoslav Nesterovic, Brad Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Webber, Sam
Cassell, Brent Barry, Bruce Bowen, Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Kobe Bryant,
Tony Parker, Shawn Marion, Dale Davis, Jermaine O'Neal, Clifford
Robinson, and (bringing up the rear) Gary Payton.
Notice how San Antonio Spurs are all over the top and the bottom of
this list? (Theory: these are the guys who pick up the slack when Tim
Duncan and Manu Ginobili aren't 100%.)
(ps. not my personal theory!)
I think home court is way more important against Phx than Dallas. We need to control the pace against the Suns to have a chance and the best way to do that is to have home court. I really want them to get the 2 seed.
I don't think they will be gaining ground tonight on PHX. That Denver bench is thin and they're running out of gas.
Yeah that helped in 05.think home court is way more important against Phx than Dallas. We need to control the pace against the Suns to have a chance and the best way to do that is to have home court. I really want them to get the 2 seed.
oops.....
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
