Can we really compete with the Mavericks, Spurs, Suns, Clippers etc..

So, survey says...................

 

At this point we can compete with the Spurs and Clippers. The mavs and Suns are a little out of our range. The spurs are getting weaker every year while Yao is getting stronger and better and Tmac can only get better this year.

 

Yeah, I don't see how the Spurs could stop Yao, but they can sometimes stop T-Mac with a tenacious Bruce Bowen. Well, you never know what a healthier year could do to Ginobili and Tim Duncan. The Spurs also don't have much depth outside of their big three and Michael Finley, they're really old, too.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">they're really old, too.</div>

Not their new centers.

I don't think you guys can compete with the Spurs yet. The Suns are easy money imo for you guys. The Mavs would be a problem, and I think you guys would grind with the Clippers.

 

The Suns aren't easy money, no way, we got killed blowout sale style everytime we faced them I think, and we just cannot survive their run and gun style of play. Plus, they're getting Kurt Thomas and Amare Stoudemire back, they're certainly to defeat us pretty easily.

Plus, since Jackie Butler is so young, and Francisco Elson is a junk piece that scores on wide open dunks and layups, Yao should be able to put 30+ points on them a night.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting houston_owns_u:</div><div class="quote_post">
Plus, since Jackie Butler is so young, and Francisco Elson is a junk piece that scores on wide open dunks and layups, Yao should be able to put 30+ points on them a night.</div>

Considering that Duncan is one of the best defenders in the league, and that Juwan Howard isnt old school Juwan, I'd say Duncan would be guarding Yao often.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Suns aren't easy money, no way, we got killed blowout sale style everytime we faced them I think, and we just cannot survive their run and gun style of play.</div>
Was this before or after the big two went down?(Yao and T-Mac), because with Yao and T-Mac you can slow the game down. The thing about the Suns is, gameplan. If you play their style you will get murdered, as shown with the Lakers when they fell into the Suns game. When you slow it down and make it a half court game they start to crumble especially if Yao is beating them up in the post with T-Mac to dunk on Nash

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Plus, they're getting Kurt Thomas and Amare Stoudemire back, they're certainly to defeat us pretty easily.</div>
Then this would help you if anything. You think Amare and Kurt are going to be able to run n' gun coming back from injuries? Especially when they are big men in the first place.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">At this point we can compete with the Spurs and Clippers. The mavs and Suns are a little out of our range. The spurs are getting weaker every year while Yao is getting stronger and better and Tmac can only get better this year.</div>

If the ball bounces slightly differently in the Mavs series, I think the Spurs could very easily have repeated as champions. They're not going anywhere.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Was this before or after the big two went down?(Yao and T-Mac), because with Yao and T-Mac you can slow the game down. The thing about the Suns is, gameplan. If you play their style you will get murdered, as shown with the Lakers when they fell into the Suns game. When you slow it down and make it a half court game they start to crumble especially if Yao is beating them up in the post with T-Mac to dunk on Nash </div>
Agreed, as seen from the Clippers and Suns series, if you slow down the game and dictate the speed, you have a pretty good chance with the Suns. The Clippers were doing pretty good up until the point Dunleavy decided to loosen the reins a bit. That, and a bunch of other coaching mistakes. But the point is, against the Suns, you can't settle for jumpers, or else it leads to long rebounds and easy buckets on the other end for the Suns. Good thing, since we have Yao to bang it in downlow and his shots are all high percentages.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">But the point is, against the Suns, you can't settle for jumpers, or else it leads to long rebounds and easy buckets on the other end for the Suns. Good thing, since we have Yao to bang it in downlow and his shots are all high percentages.</div>

Exactly. The reason the Suns got as far as they did IMO is because everyone kept falling into their kind of play style and lost control of the speed. Control the speed and the "Hot" Suns are ice cold.

 

I think they can, if they`re healthy.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">If the ball bounces slightly differently in the Mavs series, I think the Spurs could very easily have repeated as champions. They're not going anywhere.</div>

They are losing their stride and just lost both of their center rotation.
Nazr Mohammed and Rasho

They added Jackie Butler but how much of a replacement is he.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">They are losing their stride and just lost both of their center rotation.
Nazr Mohammed and Rasho

They added Jackie Butler but how much of a replacement is he.</div>

Butler is comparable to Mohammed. Both had similar PER. And Butler is younger.

I also think the Duncan, Parker, Ginobili core will be stronger next season.

 

Duncan had a bad season last year. Parker is expected to rise even more with that speed and Ginobili can't do any worse, but Duncan is the leader. Without him the others are rendered useless.

 

I'd rather face the Mavs, Suns, or Clippers than the Spurs....when the Rockets were healthy a couple of seasons ago they split the season series with the Suns and took the Mavs to 7 games....I know both of those teams rosters have had some changes, but the core players are still there.....with a healthy J. Howard I think the Rockets would've beat the Mavs in that 7 game series.....the mavs, suns, and clippers are all jump shooting teams for the most part, if you can slow down the game in get into a half court offense, all 3 teams suffer.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE DREAM:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd rather face the Mavs, Suns, or Clippers than the Spurs....when the Rockets were healthy a couple of seasons ago they split the season series with the Suns and took the Mavs to 7 games....I know both of those teams rosters have had some changes, but the core players are still there.....with a healthy J. Howard I think the Rockets would've beat the Mavs in that 7 game series.....the mavs, suns, and clippers are all jump shooting teams for the most part, if you can slow down the game in get into a half court offense, all 3 teams suffer.</div>
But all those teams have something we don't have, and that's firepower. We still don't have a reliable 3rd option that's gonna create and give a 13-15pts a night. Defensively, we've gotten better. But teams like Dallas, San Antonio, and Phoenix are simply more diverse than we are. But we might be able to atleast beat one of those teams.

 

I think we're better a defensive team than all 3 of those teams though....I mean Miami didn't really have a lot of fire power either, they just slowed the tempo of the game down and played balls out defense (particulary on Dirk)

 

I also don't think loss of Mohammed and Nestorovic will be that huge a factor for the Spurs. At the end of the playoffs, there was talk that they were contemplating playing Duncan at the 5 spot more often to perhaps create a faster lineup that could switch it up a bit.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE DREAM:</div><div class="quote_post">I think we're better a defensive team than all 3 of those teams though....I mean Miami didn't really have a lot of fire power either, they just slowed the tempo of the game down and played balls out defense (particulary on Dirk)</div>
San Antonio? I don't know if we're a better defensive team than the Spurs. I thought about Miami too, and how we might be able to pull off that style of play. But they have the versatility to run the fast break and also slow the game down. However the Rockets can only slow the game down. Miami also can change up their look at PF and go with Antione Walker. All we got is Chuck Hayes.

 

^^^^I was reffering to the suns, mavs, and clippers...not the spurs