They barely beat the Lakers (yes, I know the final margin, but there were quite a few tense moments for SA) w/o Gashole, and w/o Kome for (essentially) three quarters. We have already beaten them twice, including once on the road w/o BRoy. Nothing to worry about.
The Spurs are not a contender. They can't beat good teams and they will suffer injuries before the regular season is done.
Perhaps. Following the loss to the Blazers, though, they've won 8 of 10...including tonight's 20-point win over the Lakers.
Barring in major injuries, the Spurs, IMO, will finish with the second seed in the West and put up a dogfight against the LAL in the WCF. They're probably just behind Phoenix and Denver for most efficient/explosive offenses; and, other than the Lakers, are the second toughest defending team in the West. They're consistently better than every other team other than the Lakers.
No they're not. Look at their record against good teams, it's atrocious. They will be lucky to get the 4 seed.
Check out the PERs of their regulars: Duncan:28 / Parker:17 / Jefferson:14 / Hill:14 / Ginoboli:21 / Mason:13 / Bogans:11 / McDyess:12 Drtg% for Duncan is 100 / Ginoboli 103 / McDyess 103 / Bogans 104 / Hill 105 Very nice balance for an eight-man rotation. They're for real folks.
I've looked at their record. Given their strength of schedule and point differential (win-loss isn't as effective for predicting which teams are actually strongest), they're second best in the west in my book. I suppose we'll see.
The Spurs are not a contender. I don't care what their rotations PER is. They hadn't beat a team above .500 in a while before tonight. LA looked terrible tonight.
They started slow. Big deal. Championships aren't won in November and December. It's January and they just beat the Lakers by 20. Looks like they're rounding into form.
That's when they turn their season around. They go on that long rodeo road trip, beat everyone, and then go on to a championship run. The Spurs are a top 3 seed. I wouldn't even be surprised if they wound up with the #1 seed.
The Lakers were horrible tonight. The flippin Nets could have beaten them. One thing you don't know is that Parker has plantar fasciitis. Their injuries will begin to mount as we get on in the season.
...or if Manu is able to rev it back up to where he was 2 years ago now at the ripe old age of 32 (KB is 31). That guy was a major player... arguably their best. His minutes and production have been below career production but he's been ramping up lately and looked pretty spry tonight. STOMP
I'm not sold on the Spurs. Their trademark (in the Championship Years) was defense. They didn''t have to play well offensively to win - grinding out a lot of 83-79 wins. They also had big bodies in the front court (Nesterovic, Mohammed, Rose, Elson, Oberto) that when paired with a younger/more athletic Timmy made it extremely difficult to get baskets in the paint. Timmy is still good, but not the defensive stalwart he used to be. And Matt Bonner is . . . not good defensively. They have plenty of guys who can do some things offensively, but the underbelly of that defense is much softer. Not to mention they need to have TD, TP, Ginobli, and probably RJ all healthy, and that is pretty iffy. At 100%, they are a 50-55 win team, who could get to the 2nd round/outside chance of the WCF. With their current roster, they will not compete for a championship.
Appears they're gonna lose their second in a row..........tonight, against the Grizzlies. Check that. Memphis just blew a 15-point lead with 4 minutes to go. Now, it's a nail-biter. UPDATE: Z-Bo with an offensive rebound, gets fouled, then nails both free throws. 87-84 Memphis with 51 seconds to play. Spurs ball. Roger Mason hits a 20-footer. 87-86 Grizzlies with 41 seconds to go. Timeout Memphis. Z-Bo gets ANOTHER offensive rebound, gets fouled, then hits both free throws. 89-86 Memphis with 21 seconds to go. Timeout Spurs. Mason misses a 3-pointer. Mayo with the rebound, gets fouled, then hits both free throws. 91-86 Grizzlies with 12 seconds to play. This one's over.
