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[coordinator0]

Skiles wanted a new vet PG and Hennigan wanted Elfrid Payton to be the PG.

In addition to some other stuff, apparently. That's good news for Orlando though. Skiles isn't a good head coach and they might have a legitimate chance at Vogel now. Also a good thing Van Gundy pounced on the Harris deal when he did because I doubt a different coach (he's never meshed well with Skiles) would have been willing to let him go for nothing.

[bballnmike]

I think Jennings deleted the tweets, but he said something earlier like, "Yo why Coach Skiles leave?" And then 5 minutes later he tweeted, "Oh nvm I know why"

[tmorgan]

Skiles should seriously consider a high-paying assistant job somewhere. He can run his hard-nosed defense, not deal as much with player egos, and not deal with the media. Sure, he won't make as much, but I bet he's happier.

[Pharaoh]

Skiles might have stepped down but I believe he was forced out.

He's not a coach players wanna play play for - he's a hard ass!

With bundles of cap space the Magic would want a coach that can attract quality players - Vogel is that guy!

Vucevic, AG, Dipo & Payton is a nice start. Throw in the Euro they drafted last year (whatshisname?) & it's possible they surprise people next year.

[Cowology]

Spurs down 24 at the half and on the verge of being eliminated by the Thunder in 6. I did NOT see this coming. Had them pegged as a lock for the WCF and the team most likely to upset the W's. Thunder are looking surprisingly dangerous despite their lack of depth thanks to a healthy Durant and Westbrook playing at the top of their games.

[Blkbrd671]

Spurs down 24 at the half and on the verge of being eliminated by the Thunder in 6. I did NOT see this coming. Had them pegged as a lock for the WCF and the team most likely to upset the W's. Thunder are looking surprisingly dangerous despite their lack of depth thanks to a healthy Durant and Westbrook playing at the top of their games.

its unfortunate as i don't think OKC can beat GS , then again i didn't give them much chance against spurs

[Cowology]

Hate to say it, but could simply depend on Curry's health. If he's not at 100% anything could happen. OKC should be a much tougher matchup than Portland who is giving them some real problems right now.

[kurtis48239]

I think okc takes one game,I think eventually the lack of depth will catch up to them,warriors are a different breed than an old,tired spurs.

Love me some spurs,but father time and hunger reared its ugly little head.they do have a solid future,hopefully Duncan/parker retire of take a lot less to come off the bench (which I doubt is how they want to end their careers).

[Eoghan]

Skiles might have stepped down but I believe he was forced out.

He's not a coach players wanna play play for - he's a hard ass!

With bundles of cap space the Magic would want a coach that can attract quality players - Vogel is that guy!

Vucevic, AG, Dipo & Payton is a nice start. Throw in the Euro they drafted last year (whatshisname?) & it's possible they surprise people next year.

They're not a bad team at all. Hennigan spent a little too long to acquire guys that can shoot but their young core is really promising. I think Skiles is a decent coach but he's too inflexible to take on a rebuilding team. He reminded me of when Larry Brown coached the Bobcats, huge emphasis on defense and "playing the right way" but insufferably played old vets over the young guys (Charlotte sucks at drafting so it wasn't that much of a sin but still).

If Payton, Oladipo and Gordon find jump shots and Hezonja improves his handles and defense they will be an extremely competitive team. A rim protector beside Vuc (or trading Vuc for a center that can protect the rim) would go a long way too.

[tmorgan]

If Payton, Oladipo and Gordon find jump shots and Hezonja improves his handles and defense they will be an extremely competitive team. A rim protector beside Vuc (or trading Vuc for a center that can protect the rim) would go a long way too.

This is probably the root of the problem -- too many players that can't shoot. I believe Oladipo improved in this area this year (not bothering to check, but it seemed that way), but you need some legit perimeter threats. Hezonja is/should become one, but he has other weaknesses. Fournier is much the same. That's about it.

[In SVG We Trust]

If Payton, Oladipo and Gordon find jump shots and Hezonja improves his handles and defense they will be an extremely competitive team. A rim protector beside Vuc (or trading Vuc for a center that can protect the rim) would go a long way too.

If Drummond improves his FT and his defense, KCP and SJ improves their 3pt shots, and Harris improves their handles we'll be automatically contenders. But, you can see there are too many things to improve. That's how your post sounds.

[In SVG We Trust]

Hate to say it, but could simply depend on Curry's health. If he's not at 100% anything could happen. OKC should be a much tougher matchup than Portland who is giving them some real problems right now.

Of course not. The couple Kanter-Adams is not going to success against the Warriors, and they could kill Kanter in the pick n roll.

They got a lot of more versatile defenders to switch and the Warriors doesn't have a bad match-up with the Thunder.

Barnes/Iggy for Durant and Klay/Livingston for RW. And still got two players who can protect the paint in Green and Bogut.

They can rest Curry pairing him with Roberson, and Klay is an elite defender who can handle very well Russ (well, nobody can do that, but comparing with other players).

And one more thing, the Thunder got serious problems with the off ball defense, so is going to be shaqtin a foul moments for sure, since is nearly impossible to stop all the off the ball screens the Warriors does in a game.

They can't play run and gun against the Warriors, because they're the better team ever doing that s**t, and they can't slow down the game and play defensive, because the Warriors are a lot of better defensive team.

[In SVG We Trust]

And Klay Thompson is the best SG in the league, don't sleep on him.

[El Chivo]

LMA killed Spurs basketball

[In SVG We Trust]

LMA killed Spurs basketball

Post moves and iso plays are not winning basketball anymore.

[DBC10]

I think OKC going with a twin towers lineup killed the Spurs. They simply don't have the depth there as well as being so old. They got out hustled and out rebounded. You saw how tired the Spurs looked during crunch time.

It really was a case of them being out youth'd. Things may have worked with LMA in the first 2 games, but his relatively inefficient game caught up to him. Regressed to the mean at the worst possible time.

Also major props to Donovan for basically out coaching Pop. Not bad for a first year coach. Helps to have 2 superstars of course, but still the point remains.

[Cowology]

I think OKC going with a twin towers lineup killed the Spurs. They simply don't have the depth there as well as being so old. They got out hustled and out rebounded. You saw how tired the Spurs looked during crunch time.

It really was a case of them being out youth'd. Things may have worked with LMA in the first 2 games, but his relatively inefficient game caught up to him. Regressed to the mean at the worst possible time.

Also major props to Donovan for basically out coaching Pop. Not bad for a first year coach. Helps to have 2 superstars of course, but still the point remains.

One of the articles I read pointed out the difference in play when the Spurs had 1 day rest vs. 2+. Age was indeed their major downfall.

Still, if you have LMA and Leonard that is not a bad place to be. We know the Spurs don't really rebuild, they just re-tool. Will be interesting to see what moves they make this off-season in order to get younger and really commit to building around their 2 new All-Stars. Do they go for a big 3 and try and land another big catch, or do they make their more traditional under-the-radar moves and re-stock their entire roster?

Either way I have to tip my hat to Mr. Tim Duncan. He was my favorite player in the league for well over a decade due to both his play and how he conducted himself. 5 time champion and arguably the greatest PF of all time. Congrats on an amazing career.

[In SVG We Trust]

Either way I have to tip my hat to Mr. Tim Duncan. He was my favorite player in the league for well over a decade due to both his play and how he conducted himself. 5 time champion and arguably the greatest PF of all time. Congrats on an amazing career.

I got him like one of the five best players ever.

[Eoghan]

If Payton, Oladipo and Gordon find jump shots and Hezonja improves his handles and defense they will be an extremely competitive team. A rim protector beside Vuc (or trading Vuc for a center that can protect the rim) would go a long way too.

If Drummond improves his FT and his defense, KCP and SJ improves their 3pt shots, and Harris improves their handles we'll be automatically contenders. But, you can see there are too many things to improve. That's how your post sounds.

I said competitive, not contenders. It's not a lot to ask really young players to have respectable shooting and for a rookie to make token developmental leaps.

[Pharaoh]

I think OKC going with a twin towers lineup killed the Spurs. They simply don't have the depth there as well as being so old. They got out hustled and out rebounded. You saw how tired the Spurs looked during crunch time.

It really was a case of them being out youth'd. Things may have worked with LMA in the first 2 games, but his relatively inefficient game caught up to him. Regressed to the mean at the worst possible time.

Also major props to Donovan for basically out coaching Pop. Not bad for a first year coach. Helps to have 2 superstars of course, but still the point remains.

One of the articles I read pointed out the difference in play when the Spurs had 1 day rest vs. 2+. Age was indeed their major downfall.

Still, if you have LMA and Leonard that is not a bad place to be. We know the Spurs don't really rebuild, they just re-tool. Will be interesting to see what moves they make this off-season in order to get younger and really commit to building around their 2 new All-Stars. Do they go for a big 3 and try and land another big catch, or do they make their more traditional under-the-radar moves and re-stock their entire roster?

Either way I have to tip my hat to Mr. Tim Duncan. He was my favorite player in the league for well over a decade due to both his play and how he conducted himself. 5 time champion and arguably the greatest PF of all time. Congrats on an amazing career.

Ain't no argument from where I sit Cow - Timmy the best PF ever.

I'd like to see SAS get Conley.

LMA
West
Leonard
Green
Conley

They do need some bench upgrades too - TD, Manu & Parker all coming off the bench would be hilarious though