Remember at the end of the Spurs-Hornets game when a frustrated Pop tried to steal the ball from the ref ???
I think Pop is fed up with the losses, and that home loss vs a West contender was the icing on the cake. By now, he should be motived to destroy the rest of the league and send a strong message.
Of course, it's hypothetical, we'lll see what happens tonight vs Utah.
1. When he is mathematically eliminated from ASG consideration.
2. When many have written the Spurs off (teams will ALL stop bringing their A+ game EVERY night). There's also a corresponding reaction at work here; by blowing the Spurs out in SA, New Orlean's compe ion probably gets a little tougher.
FWIW, just theories.
This is all part of Pop's das ly plan.
The man has 4 rings, I think he knows what he's doing.
-Mars
Huh ? I don't agree. I think he understands that every night his team has battled against opponents that want to beat the defending champs.
We always get everyone's A game because they want to feel good about beating the Champs. The regualr season is a grind as it is. But throw in the facts that we have to compete against an improving conference and that we are the oldest team in the league and you have a really tough battle.
These teams that have beaten us are out to prove something. They want to show the rest of the league that they are to be contended with. They want to send messages.
The Spurs aren't interested in sending messages. They are interested in winning Championships. Period, end of story. Getting up for a regular season game, BEFORE the all star break, while dealing with injuries and you are bound to losea few. The compe ion is too tough to just mark a check in the 'W' column.
That being said, every team we face in the playoffs will see the best we have to offer.
If you want to beat us, lets see if you can do it 4 out of 7 and bring your A game every night. That's our advantage. Chances are, we may have a bad game here and there in the playoffs, but we are more likely to play consistently good enough to beat everyone in a series.
As for the lineups, Pop will see what he has and base his playoff rotations on who performs the best. The Rodeo trip is a good time to do that.
Pop has been messing with line-ups for a couple of years: Rasho/Nazr/Horry; Oberto/Elson/Horry; Oberto/Bonner/Elson/Horry. Nothing really new. The only constants have been Duncan, Parker, and Bowen- with Manu going back and forth at times. He even switches out during the play-offs the last couple of years.
Pop waits until late in the year to shorten his rotations. There's a reason why this team tends to peak after March.
Pop was smiling and laughing when he was trying to take the ball away from the ref....
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