Spurs ain't gonna do shyt in the playoffs - bookmark this shyt :nailcoffinyadeadmowmylawns:

[DuncanWebayama]

Spurs are just the goat team. Kyle Anderson is looking like a young boric diaw. Corey Joseph is looking like a young Derek fisher. We squad ed up right now.

 

[UserNameless]

It's just different when it comes to the Spurs breh the laws of mere mortals do not apply

Spurs repeat be mad

Shyts creepy, man.

 

[Greenstrings]

Yes I think we all know that.

The innate nature of doing something like that against the backdrop of the Western conference - with these young nikkas looking to push them right out the door and the inevitable hit of father time - doesn't bode well for them. We don't have to romanticize, and stick to a pattern because we're waiting to see it disproved. That crystal ball on deck, and I can see that their time is up.

As long as we agree that the point you're making essentially boils down to this. There's no romanticism at work here oddsmakers in Vegas don't play that shyt. Looking at the available facts, the Spurs are the clear favourites and the only way to trend against that grain is by relying on conjecture and instinct which doesn't tell anybody shyt about anything.

Yes it is. Teams can always be worked out, Spurs are not an exception. There we go, there's that impervious depiction we desperately paint reigning champs as I was talking about.

Meaningless rhetoric, unless you're prepared to point out some fatal flaw they might have or a combination of em that can be pieced together but no team has as yet cracked the code for. They can be outplayed but on their most average games they don't get worked out. and you only have to look back a year to find a point where a reigning champ didn't look impervious at all.

It's not the fact of being reliant on one star, it's about having one in order to defend. How many times have we seen teams fail to defend because they don't have one player in order for them to get over that hump? As a matter-of-fact how many teams do get over that first-title hump without a star player in their prime? Very few. Albeit yes, Spurs did it last season.... a LE occurrence, something that isn't likely to happen until all the stars are aligned for a team to do so (don't even ask me how). A superstar-less team has won an NBA title only TWICE in the modern era..... a superstar-less team has NEVER won back-to-back titles in the modern era.

This is waay too easily dismantled. Look at the Celtics from 08-10. If KG (Don't even try and tell me duke was a superstar, he was a few years past his prime) doesn't go down they're favourites to repeat as evidenced by the fact that they made the finals the year after when he was healthy.

Over the years a handful of transcendent players in their primes monopolised championships while repeating but right now neither of the two we have are in a position to do that. As such that consideration becomes meaningless and the floor is open to other contenders for as long as Cleveland remains an unknown quantity and OKC don't add another piece.

And that last bit is just pure logical fallacy, the fact that something doesn't happen often doesn't automatically mean it can never be the case that that thing is ever the most likely occurrence.

It doesn't matter what I say, you like everyone else has already made their minds up. I tried telling dudes last season, Miami's time was up, and they spouted a similar story to what you're given me now.

Nobodies mind is made up about anything. The Spurs remain favourites until we're given reason to think otherwise and I ain't seen shyt thus far to cast doubt on that. The possibility of a Miami threepeat hinged almost entirely on the healthiness of Wade (which had been in question for some time) and the continued effectiveness of their ageing roleplayers. The Beasley/Oden experiment always felt like a hail mary and you wonder if they could have done more to avoid waiving Miller. Considering all that and the insanely small margins by which the chip was won there was plenty of room for doubt. All that being said, nobody including you foresaw the effect their attempts to manage Wades knees would have on Lebron or the regression of Cole and Chalmers in the post-season.

It didn't occur to me, that all those teams have to go through each other as well? You really wanna run with that? After I SPECIFICALLY said "a combination of the Thunder, Clippers, Rockets, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, Warriors over three rounds".



I believe the Thunder should be favorites. I don't know if they'll come out of the West, but I believe they have the best chance. I just know that the Spurs will come unstuck in their quest to defend their title.

I wasn't contradicting your point I was eliding it. The West is difficult for any team to get out of but it follows that the best of those teams stands the best chance. OKC are not better than the Spurs regardless of what you "just know" (i.e. what my nephew says when his lil sis asks why he's so sure their dad is coming back ). I won't even mention but you asserted this after KD went down with what has in the past been a tricky injury for other players. There's no way that could have been with a straight face.

Not enough has changed? So what? Same shyt could be applied to last season with the Heat. In fact everybody thought the Spurs were done after the 2013 playoffs and look what happened. Father time's right around the corner, there's a high probability that one of Ginobili/Parker/Duncan will be out their paper cups at the Larry Holmes estate.

See above R.E the heat. There was more in the balance for the Heat at this point last year. The Spurs were an unknown quantity as we couldn't be sure how'd they'd respond to such a crushing defeat. Their strategy worked out and now they're essentially in a holding pattern. Productive players don't fall off a cliff without first showing signs. We may have thought Ginobili was filing papers but he came out last season, proved us wrong and just flat-out played better. Because of the rested schedule he showed no signs of slowing towards the end of last season and upped his game for the playoffs. Same with Duncan who requires such a low base threshold of athletic ability to be effective its insane. I don't even know why you bothered to mention Parker. So unless there's anything you can point to to back those assertions up this is all just empty rhetoric.

Those role players played at their peaks, saying any different is parochialism. It's not about numbers, there's not enough usage to go around for role players to put up standout numbers. They all stood up above and beyond during last season's run, and only a minute number of games did they not come to the party. While it's all good in theory, giving them more of a role throughout the season to prep for the playoffs, it's certainly not a clear cut vehicle to drop them off at B again. Re: Superstar. Kawhi will need to step into that role this season, I don't think Parker will manage to carry them through an entire postseason again. We certainly can't say with a measure of confidence if he'll be better this year, certainly not when teams will be ready to gameplan for him now. His playoffs/finals performance was that of a thief in the night..... we'll see what his game is really like this season.

No thats simply false, the role players did not play any better than they did they year they lost to Miami and barely exceeded their regular season per 36 numbers which by the way also look strikingly similar the past 2 seasons. The extent of the spanking that they gave Miami had a lot more to do with their regression than Spurs roleplayer ascendancy. That being said, they're undeniably good shooters and passers. But then what makes you think there's more a chance of them bottoming out that with any other contending teams roleplayers?

Parker's production in the playoffs has been virtually the same the past 3 years what reason do you have to doubt his consistency? I like the thief in the night analogy but you ever hear the one about the team that tried to gameplan for a super athletic wingplayer on a team that excels at ball movement? A lot easier said than done. Kawhi doesn't have to make a huge jump for the Spurs to remain favourites. If he does? This conversation just becomes even more moot.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

@Greenstrings

 

[Malta]

Right, and what exactly does that have to do with today?

Everything

 

[Kaypain]

I don't know brehs. Players dropping like flies. These injuries

The worst The Spurs gonna have is that eye infection

 

[Osmar]

If the Spurs win this year

... Tim Duncan will have 6

 

[malbaker86]

If the Spurs win this year

... Tim Duncan will have 6

This his last year too imo. Don't see him playing past this year

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

As long as we agree that the point you're making essentially boils down to this. There's no romanticism at work here oddsmakers in Vegas don't play that shyt. Looking at the available facts, the Spurs are the clear favourites and the only way to trend against that grain is by relying on conjecture and instinct which doesn't tell anybody shyt about anything.

Crystal ball = looking at the threat each team brings out West to an aging bucket list-done team. Bookmakers are near irrelevant, because they hardly ever lay lines against a team whose reign is yet to be disproved.

Meaningless rhetoric, unless you're prepared to point out some fatal flaw they might have or a combination of em that can be pieced together but no team has as yet cracked the code for. They can be outplayed but on their most average games they don't get worked out. and you only have to look back a year to find a point where a reigning champ didn't look impervious at all.

In that belief, we get caught up in a deluded state, that we don't recognize when the rest of the pack closes the gap on a leader, to the point where they're snapping at their heels.

Mavericks: a team that took the Spurs to seven games, added one of the best defensive anchors in the league + one of the best up-and-coming wing players in the league + leveled out the loss of Carter and Calderon with equal value in guard depth + will have another season building under a top 3 coach. Not to dissimilar makeup to the Spurs.

Warriors: a team that has arguably not only the best starting 5, but also the greatest depth in the league. A player that is on the verge of being a superstar, one of the best two-way guards in the league, multiple players that can create their own shot, one of the best defensive units - basically a near complete team that have added a coach that has the ability to maximize their potential. They're basically a younger, better version of the Spurs

Thunder: This will be the season where they take over as leaders.

This is waay too easily dismantled. Look at the Celtics from 08-10. If KG (Don't even try and tell me duke was a superstar, he was a few years past his prime) doesn't go down they're favourites to repeat as evidenced by the fact that they made the finals the year after when he was healthy.

KG and Pierce were both in their primes during that 08-10 period, near the back-end but nevertheless still in their primes - Pierce was around 32-33 and Garnett around 33-34, are you really comparing them to a now 38-year-old Duncan and 37-year-old Ginobili as evidence to the notion that the Spurs can repeat?

Over the years a handful of transcendent players in their primes monopolised championships while repeating but right now neither of the two we have are in a position to do that. As such that consideration becomes meaningless and the floor is open to other contenders for as long as Cleveland remains an unknown quantity and OKC don't add another piece.

The only threats Cleveland have in front of them in the East are Chicago, and OKC are in a position to win a title.

And that last bit is just pure logical fallacy, the fact that something doesn't happen often doesn't automatically mean it can never be the case that that thing is ever the most likely occurrence.

You missed the point, it's not about counting out the teams that don't have a star (because through all the random power shifts during postseason - those teams will always remain a threat), it's just the teams that don't have one, never go into the following season and repeat. Reaching that apogee again is reliant upon far too many particulars for the same team to have the same numbers in the breaks-lottery for the second time in a row.

Nobodies mind is made up about anything. The Spurs remain favourites until we're given reason to think otherwise and I ain't seen shyt thus far to cast doubt on that.

Yes it is, regardless of what moves any team made in the offseason (within reason), the majority were always going to side with the Spurs. It happens every single season. You ain't seen shyt, because it's a simple case of the 'seeing is believing' dilemma, and the inattention towards the indicators in basketball.

Nobodies mind is made up about anything. The Spurs remain favourites until we're given reason to think otherwise and I ain't seen shyt thus far to cast doubt on that. The possibility of a Miami threepeat hinged almost entirely on the healthiness of Wade (which had been in question for some time) and the continued effectiveness of their ageing roleplayers. The Beasley/Oden experiment always felt like a hail mary and you wonder if they could have done more to avoid waiving Miller. Considering all that and the insanely small margins by which the chip was won there was plenty of room for doubt.

Yet, Miami were still favorites and everyone said that the Spurs were done.

All that being said, nobody including you foresaw the effect their attempts to manage Wades knees would have on Lebron or the regression of Cole and Chalmers in the post-season.

That's where you're wrong. Similar signs were not only there during the season they won, but also all throughout last season as well.

I wasn't contradicting your point I was eliding it. The West is difficult for any team to get out of but it follows that the best of those teams stands the best chance. OKC are not better than the Spurs regardless of what you "just know" (i.e. what my nephew says when his lil sis asks why he's so sure their dad is coming back ut you.

OKC are better than the Spurs, this is the first season in the last three years (yes even the season they beat SA), where they're better.

God bless that lil man.

I won't even mention but you asserted this after KD went down with what has in the past been a tricky injury for other players. There's no way that could have been with a straight face.

KD's injury isn't season-ending, so there's reason for me to throw my initial projections into the bushes, else I'd be like ESPN and rate the Thunder's chances to the team-equivalent of Durant being the ninth best player in the league. Not only would it be impractical, but it would lack foresight.

See above R.E the heat. There was more in the balance for the Heat at this point last year. The Spurs were an unknown quantity as we couldn't be sure how'd they'd respond to such a crushing defeat. Their strategy worked out and now they're essentially in a holding pattern.

Actually there wasn't, despite Wade's health, they still had the best player and one of the best 4s in the league (in their primes), and with Rose's health still up in the air + Indiana still in the prep stage - a storm which was easier to weather than having to deal with three or more teams that are potentially better - a hurdle that the Spurs will now have to overcome.

Productive players don't fall off a cliff without first showing signs. We may have thought Ginobili was filing papers but he came out last season, proved us wrong and just flat-out played better.

The was his last hurrah, by the time the Finals come back around again, he'll nearly be 38.

Because of the rested schedule he showed no signs of slowing towards the end of last season and upped his game for the playoffs. Same with Duncan who requires such a low base threshold of athletic ability to be effective its insane. I don't even know why you bothered to mention Parker. So unless there's anything you can point to to back those assertions up this is all just empty rhetoric.

All you have to do is read between the lines, and not just go on a cursory first take. That rested schedule won't be successful again, as the innate nature of a band-aid approach is temporary; most of the teams in the Western conf playoff picture are stronger this year (while the Spurs are weaker), ready and waiting to reopen those wounds.

No thats simply false, the role players did not play any better than they did they year they lost to Miami and barely exceeded their regular season per 36 numbers which by the way also look strikingly similar the past 2 seasons. The extent of the spanking that they gave Miami had a lot more to do with their regression than Spurs roleplayer ascendancy. That being said, they're undeniably good shooters and passers.

You'll actually find that all the role players played more minutes, and played more of a part last season than they did in the 12/13 postseason, especially on defense. To add on to that, they faced far better opposition in 13/14 than they did the season before.

But then what makes you think there's more a chance of them bottoming out that with any other contending teams roleplayers?

It's not necessarily they can't go toe-to-toe with other teams' role players again, it's the fact they'll all have to take on more responsibility to bridge the gap that Ginobili/Duncan/Parker as a unit will concede to other teams' stars. Because that's what this 'repeat' feat will be based on, roleplayers having to step up to pick up the slack, which I simply can't see them doing. Not for an entire postseason run. IMO, it's not plausible.

Parker's production in the playoffs has been virtually the same the past 3 years what reason do you have to doubt his consistency?

I don't doubt his consistency, I just doubt him being able to go up another notch, which he'll need to do.

I like the thief in the night analogy but you ever hear the one about the team that tried to gameplan for a super athletic wingplayer on a team that excels at ball movement? A lot easier said than done. Kawhi doesn't have to make a huge jump for the Spurs to remain favourites. If he does? This conversation just becomes even more moot.

That's nothing compared to what the Spurs will have to gameplan for this season. If by 'huge jump', you mean not taking the reins/#1 offensive load for SA, then I disagree - because that's their greatest hope, not being dependent on role players - but the Finals MVP.

 

[Da King]

Are you really going to bump this dumb thread all season after every Spurs loss?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Are you really going to bump this dumb thread all season after every Spurs loss?

I never bumped it.

 

[Da King]

I never bumped it.

just look at the time of posts

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

just look at the time of posts

Surely you aren't this slow - @Greenstrings actually bumped this thread when he replied to one of my posts from a week ago and I responded within a day. Our conversation had NOTHING to do with the Spurs' loss.

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

Dap and fukking rep, idk if the Spurs will win another ring, but its almost unfair how balanced they are as a team. They took Boris Diaw, an NBA bust and made in him into a very solid contributor. Duncan is going down as maybe a top 5 of all time player, Parker is a top 5 PG right noe, Ginobilli is a sharpshooter, and Kawhi Leonard is looking like a young Scottie Pippen at worst. No real Superstars but a well oiled unit.

The Suns beat them to that.


He balled out for the Suns in '06 and was a key contributor.That was the year Amare was injured and Boris won the Most Improved Player award.It was basically him and Nash leading the way.Boris had a good playoff run and the Suns almost made it to the Finals.I believe they lost to the Mavs(in the WCF's) who went on to get raped(by the refs) in the Finals.

 

[VBM]

Spurs just being classy and taking a charitable L so the Thunder don't feel so bad about losing