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Tough to say but I definitely don't want to play the Mavs in the first round . . .
While I agree that the loss of Harris/Diop hurts them in a matchup with us, I still think they are a crappier matchup for us more so than the Lakers, or any other western team.
It feels like some Spurs fans are thinking that just because of this trade, the Spurs are gonna easily beat the Mavs in 5 or something ridiculous.
I'm just curious.
Tough to say but I definitely don't want to play the Mavs in the first round . . .
Good point, still a tough match-up but not a thorn on our side as much as before. Harris always plays Tony well and Diop bothers Duncan, but I still see the Lakers being the toughest team to beat this year not the Suns or Mavs.
It feels like some Spurs fans are thinking that just because of this trade, the Spurs are gonna easily beat the Mavs in 5 or something ridiculous.
I don't think anyone thinks that.
But they do matchup a whole of alot better with them than they did before.
I don't think the Mavs are a pushover, but I don't think they can beat the Spurs in a series either. It took them overtime in the seventh game last time, so they were not that much better than us before.
I'm not concerned about the Lakers that much. We all know Kobe is "the assassin", as his pals at ESPN call him, but we also know that Gasol is a soft and Bynum will break at some point against Duncan in a playoff series. And we have good defenders like Ginobili, Udoka and Bowen to put on the Laker scrubs Farmar and Vujacic.
Mavs seem to play us like they're the 1996 Bulls every time we match up. Any Spurs fan that wants the Spurs to run into the Mavs is disrespecting the Mavs or just plain delusional. We can beat the Mavs, but it won't be easy, and it will wear out our team. The only round I'd want to see them in is the conference finals since there's more rest after that if we do beat them.
I don't think the Mavs are a pushover, but I don't think they can beat the Spurs in a series either. It took them overtime in the seventh game last time, so they were not that much better than us before.
I'm not concerned about the Lakers that much. We all know Kobe is "the assassin", as his pals at ESPN call him, but we also know that Gasol is a soft and Bynum will break at some point against Duncan in a playoff series. And we have good defenders like Ginobili, Udoka and Bowen to put on the Laker scrubs Farmar and Vujacic.
Mavs seem to play us like they're the 1996 Bulls every time we match up. Any Spurs fan that wants the Spurs to run into the Mavs is disrespecting the Mavs or just plain delusional. We can beat the Mavs, but it won't be easy, and it will wear out our team. The only round I'd want to see them in is the conference finals since there's more rest after that if we do beat them.
DAMN! haha i agree with all of that! Well said!
Had terry not been suspended, we woulda lost that series in 6. I think the Spurs were always playing catchup to the Mavs int hat series, and had to play extremely well to win games. I will go as far as to say that the Mavs may have been a little better than the Spurs more than the OT 7 game series would suggest.
Ok dude! We get the point! In your opinion the Spurs can't beat the Mavs in a 7 game series! Did you really have to start a thread about this ?
hahaha
I never said the Spurs can't beat the Mavs in a 7 game series, I was seeing with all the talk about the Lakers, if people are overlooking the Mavs like we may have back in 06
In the 2006 series they matched up so well with us, the wins were determined by the fewest or no mistakes.
This year, I don't think we'd have to grind out games against the Mavs to win. But I still would be a little nervous to play them in a series. (But only about as nervous as you would be against any really good team.)
Jason Kidd for all his greatness in skill, doesn't make them all that scary.
Dirk still poses as a threat though, but Mavs should fear us more than we do them.
Yeah, the matchups are definitely easier this year. I definitely have more faith against them this year than last.
It depends on how well the Mavs do from here on out with Kidd. I must say though they showed more fight in them against us and the Lakers then I expected since they haven't look strong all season and b/c of the trade.
I'd rather not face them in the first round, would rather face Hornets, Suns, Jazz. However I think the Lakers are a stronger team. Again, its too early to tell b/c as of now it looks like the Suns are done but who knows.
That may be true, but you may forget that Tony Parker may as well have not even rode the plane to Dallas because he sucked at an epic level in that game. Not to mention he was playing with bruises on both thighs that he suffered in the Kings series (and in all likelihood further agitated as the Mavs series went on). Manu was playing with bruises too, and of course Duncan had the plantar fasciitis. Although Duncan turned in one of the most impressive performances while injured in NBA history during that series, you could clearly tell that Parker's injuries were a hindrance. I have no doubt a healthy Spurs team would have won that series. It very well may have still taken seven games, but they would have won.
I don't think anyone realizes how many things had to fall the mavs way for them to get past the spurs. Whether it was the scheduling, the seeding, the rule changes, or the injuries to the big three. There's a reason the spurs didn't completely overhaul the team the following year.
I respect the mavs talent, but I don't fear them. They've always played us tough. People seem to think that we used to just destroy them everytime we played. While the spurs came out on top more times than not, the games usually came down to the wire. That's where we'd see the difference between the teams. It's a trait that seperates a very good team from a championship team. A trait I have still yet to see displayed by the mavs.
They've had their chances. Take a look at their run to the finals. They beat the grizzlies, whose next playoff win will be their first. They get the spurs ripe for the picking, and end up escaping after blowing a 3-1 lead. They beat an Amare-less suns squad, and then fall to an inferior heat squad after going up 2-0. The mavs were every bit as fortunate as the cavs were in 07.
Last years playoff against the warriors was a bad matchup, but if they were the real-deal they would have found a way to win. I seem to remember the suns and Marbury owning the spurs during the regular season in 03. I also remember the sonics in 05 doing the same. But the spurs did what the mavs could not. They found a way to win.
So to answer your question(sorry, apparently I had to get some off my chest) I'm not concerned with the mavs more or less than any other elite team. Would I like to avoid them in the first round? Absolutely. But if spurs vs. mavs is destined for the first round, the spurs will find a way to win. That's what champions do.
^
Yeah, I remember the '03 Suns and '05 Sonics giving us some trouble in the season. Same with the Cavs last year, they swept us in the regular season, so we returned the favor in the Finals.
I have to say, those were some good posts
Nope, I'm more worried about LA, personally.......
our biggest worry this year in facing the Mavs in the playoffs is complacency. though the 2 biggest thorns on the Spurs' side are gone, they are still quite a capable team with Nowitzki, Terry, Howard and now Kidd. i'd only relax if the Spurs beat them convincingly.
i don't know about you, guys, but i'd like for our team to meet dallas in the playoffs, preferably in the conference finals. i'd like to be able to say that the spurs are a notch or 2 above the mavs.
The big difference btwn Mavs 06 and Mavs 08 is that while Tim gets 30/15 now and then, Diop could bother him enought to match one on one, and they could play the shooters straight up. Not the case now. They had to double Tim in the second half of the last matchup because he was ing destroying them.
No, I'm definitely more concerned with the Lakers.
The Mavs no longer worry me.
I'm not saying sweep! or 5 games, easy. Not at all. The Mavs impressed me. I think the Kidd trade actually helps their team a lot in general. I think they do get the benefits of stronger floor leadership and floor spacing and good ball movement. Rock on, them. The problem is that they lost the pieces that could get them around the Spurs.
If they don't have to meet the Spurs, I think they could go quite far. But if they do, I think the Spurs can beat them in a series, much easier than they could before.
Basically whottt made some good arguments about this on Thursday - the stinger is drawn, and the Spurs no longer have to be perfect to edge it out. So they don't worry me.
I think we have larger matchup issues with LA.
No team could defeat us in a 7 game series
LA may be more of a threat than the Mavs, but they're still beatable.
Very well said and totally agree.
Mavs still play the Spurs better or as well as any team in the West. I guess it's true that "familarity breeds contempt."
The only thing that worries me is Dirk getting 30 free throws a game.
LA is a major threat to us. I'd say that in the West, you have the following threats, arranged by severity...
1. Lakers
2. Suns
3. Mavericks
4. Jazz
5. Hornets
6. Warriors
7. Nuggets
8. Rockets
I don't see the Rockets making it out of the first round; they don't have the defense or offensive firepower. The Nuggets and Warriors have offense, but I still see them exiting in the first round. The Hornets and Jazz are my sleeper picks to win it all. The top 4 teams are a crap shoot to come out of the west, as I see it (with this ranking, the Spurs would be #2 in between the Lakers and Suns). I'm pretty worried about the Lakers right now, considering the quality of their victories without Bynum and Ariza.
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