They played 1/2 a Wizards team, the Nets, and a Detroit team that didn't really look like it wanted to be there.
Yeah...we should just bend over right now and get on with our summer plans.
i haven't read all tthe way through, so this may be pointed out already, but the reg season as indication of playoff performance goes only so far. i think it's important, but you also have to consider the the pistons beat the bulls, who had beaten them 3-1 in the rs, and the cavs beat the pistons, who had beaten the cavs 3-1. the cavs' victory just helped undercut some of that reg. season indication.
no, not an anti-jinx, just doing what everyone else will do in coming days, predicting who wins. i gave my reasons in a later post.
I think last night's game gave the SPURS a much better insight of what could happen and what they need to be prepared for ..
The Spurs were also down by 20 points...the Mavs choked before the Spurs choked.
And this is the worst Spurs Team to make the finals.
Go ahead stone the messenger. That'll fix it.
IMHO, the SUNS are the 2nd best team in the NBA .. Honestly, when we won the series I felt it was over ..
I am looking forward to a change in the NBA Finals with the CAVS representing the East. Last year, I never felt that the HEAT was the best team in the country. I think this year proved it.
how is this the worst spurs team? the defense holds folks to maybe 2 points more than 05 and score more.
Go CAVS!!!
Any guarantees for a 4 or 5 game series?
Yes, it's the Eeastern Conference- but when you're from Cleveland and have our sports history-- we'll take it.
GO CAVS!!! Good luck Spurs......
Yeah, but not in place of Manu and Horry.
Everyone knows this is a fluke team with a fluke player named Michael Finley. All they have done is win games they are supposed to win. The only time Michael Finley does anything is when he is bailed out by the refs.
I can't wait for this fluke team to get exposed by a real team like Cleveland. Everybody says I don't know anything about basketball, but my takes keep coming true.
The only chance the Spurs have is to stop giving Finley major minutes, and play Brent Barry, the best shooting guard in Spurs history.
Because it's old, has lost games it shouldn't, and relies on Jacque Vaughn and Michael Finley instead of Brent Barry and Robert Horry(and I know they are older than Vaughn and Finley but still)...
It definitely had the worst regular season record of any Spurs Team to make the finals - fact
it looked the weakest getting there - opinion
and IMO, it had the easiest path to the finals - based on W-L and caliber of compe ion, this is also fact.
I think it's also going to face it's toughest matchup in the finals. I don't believe the Spurs have ever had a losing record against the team they met in the finals before.
Go ahead...beat up on the messenger some more...that'll fix it.
You MUST be trippin'! This is by no means, "the worst Spurs Team to make the finals."
This is one of the best dude....I will attribute your obviously uneducated assumption to: 1) Not following SPURS basketball, or 2) Trying to stir an argument ...
Um...why is it the best Spurs team to make the finals?
Where do you get that from?
It has the worst regular season record of any Spurs finals team.
It is the lowest seed.
It's beaten the least impressive playoff opponents, IMO, in the least impressive fashion.
it's hardly beating you up when i'm asking for some insight into your opinion. don't be so sensitive. and i'd counter with the ease of the compe ion to the finals wasn't really up to the spurs, that should hardly count against them. they did their job, beating the teams they were supposed to (utah and denver) and one favored to beat them (phoenix). will they face their steepest test in the finals? probably, just defensive-wise, but that's hardly a reason to label this team as the worst spurs team to reach the finals. and your logic skews abit to say age is one reason they are so bad but then insist that the players who should play more are even older. granted, you point that out, but it doesn't change the fault in the thinking. what's more, let's look at it from another perspective: as fast as the nba has gotten, as quick and athletic as everyone seems to be and is glorified as ... the old spurs are still the ones closer to the finish line than all but one team. and cleveland won't be looking to win by running up the score, they aren't built for that, so that athleticism and quickness are self-negated. plus the spurs had the highest point diffferential this year of any of the years it won the le, a little more than 8 points.
Good take...except the part about Brent Barry...
I rate Manu, Ice and Alvin Robertson ahead of him.
And I don't want to be right...
I am quite depressed because, I don't think this team is winning, and I have yet to see a convincing argument why I am wrong. And while I have been wrong about Pop before...I've haven't been wrong about a Spurs Teams championship worthiness since 2001.
I didn't enjoy being right about the 03-04 team.
hmmmm...bitter are you ..FLUKE or NO FLUKE...Michel Finley has given them what they needed from him......
Boy, you've gone all TPark on us ... why don't you round it off with a promise to stop posting for a year if the Spurs win it all?Good take
I rate Manu, Ice and Alvin Robertson ahead of him.
And I don't want to be right...
I am quite depressed because, I don't think this team is winning, and I have yet to see a convincing argument why I am wrong. And while I have been wrong about Pop before...I've haven't been wrong about a Spurs Teams championship worthiness since 2001.
I didn't enjoy being right about the 03-04 team.
Sure...but it was hardly impressive...they hardly looked dominant or like a sure thing against anyone other than Utah...who was not very good.
No...Jacque and Finley are old too...there is no flaw in logic.will they face their steepest test in the finals? probably, just defensive-wise, but that's hardly a reason to label this team as the worst spurs team to reach the finals. and your logic skews abit to say age is one reason they are so bad but then insist that the players who should play more are even older. granted, you point that out, but it doesn't change the fault in the thinking.
At last, some zanax...plus the spurs had the highest point diffferential this year of any of the years it won the le, a little more than 8 points.
That is a very good point, I am not 100% sold on point differential though, because the Spurs always lead in that category, including two of their worst playoff losses of the Duncan era...2001 and, last season.
Ok...if the Spurs don't win it all...TPark will stop posting for a year.
Keep in mind before ya'll paint me as a nego..
I picked the Spurs to beat the Jazz in 5...I never had a doubt they would win that series.
Since when do we rely on Vaughn? He gets spot minutes for Parker and only shoots when wide open. And we've already gone over this, Finley's numbers are higher and better than Brent's were in the '05 playoffs (with the exception of FG%. More points, better three point %, and better impact. Nice way to put your opinion in there without too many people knowing it. Also, I'd say we are relying on Oberto/Horry this year too, who have both been awesome.
Yes, they did have the worse regular season record.
IMO, they looked pretty strong getting there. They did a lot of things past teams wouldn't have done. For instance, the Jazz game 4. What Spurs team of past would have kept attacking and attacking even if the refs weren't calling anything? Definitely not the '05 team, that team would have went into jumpshooting mode.
Easiest path? I don't think so. (I'm not going to do '99, I don't remember the numbers)
'03:
Phoenix (44-38)
Lakers (50-32)
Dallas (60-22)
'05:
Denver (49-33)
Seattle (52-30)
Phoenix (62-20)
'07:
Denver (45-37, however much better than the '05 team)
Phoenix (61-21, a strong 60 win team that showed they can play some defense)
Utah (51-31, weaker than Phoenix '07, but perhaps stronger than Phoenix '05?)
All I know is that the Phoenix we played this year is the strongest out of all the ones I mentioned, except for maybe the '03 Lakers. The Denver team we faced in the first round is better than the Phoenix of '03, BUT the Phoenix '03 team gave us much more trouble and thefore seemed to be better. Utah is about the same as Seattle, the difference is the Spurs played up to their capability and didn't play ty. I think the compe ion's been there, our play has just been excellent.
I agree. This is the toughest matchup because of their defensive capabilities and invidual matchups (Lebron/Bowen, Z/Oberto). The Spurs are going to have to play their best like they have been all playoffs to win. It's a dangerous matchup but that will make it all the better if we win. Cleveland has the potential to beat us, I acknowledge that and understand where you're coming from. But you have to have faith in the Spurs that they will take care of business. This "doom and gloom" outlook is pretty unwarranted given how they have performed this year in the playoffs.
but cleveland never looked dominant either. i mean, maybe last night toward the end, but that owed more to detroit laying down and sheed being sheed. 76-79 is hardly dominating. what's more, i don't remember the cavs being dominant against any of their opponents.
age should actually be something of a nonfactor. there are no back-to-back games and our core is pretty young. besides, eric snow, z and donyell marshall aren't spring chickens. and in regards to how this is the worst spurs team, surely the geezers on the 99 team were old as well.
i'm not bringing up the point as a way to show they'll win the le, simply to refute the claim that this is the worst finals spurs team.
Are there any patterns that govern who wins the le? For the most part, no. Except for one thing: the champion team almost always has veterans who have played at the NBA Finals level. Also the coaches who won the trophy are grizzled vets.
Over the last 13 years: the 2004 Pistons are the only team who didn't have the kind of veteran presence it takes to usually win, but they had Larry Brown. Otherwise, Kerr was part of 5 le teams, Horry was in 6, Elie was in 3 teams, Rodman, Fox and Fisher have 3 rings, 2006 Heat had Shaq and Payton.
Coaching: Jackson, Pop, Brown, Riley, Rudy T ... that accounts for the last 16 les
2007 Cavs have Eric Snow for a vet and Mike Brown as coach. Doesn't look promising.
That's a really good idea Tpark, something I mentioned in the game 5 blog. Someone countered with "pop is reluctant to go zone in the playoffs for stretches" but I really see us packing it in and turning LeBron into a jump shooter as our only chance of "slowing" him down.
Phil Jackson doubled Tony Parker...that's what the Cavs want you to do to LeBron...just like the Spurs want you to do it to Duncan.
There are currently 4 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 4 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote