GT: Spurs vs. Nuggets

Post #1 » by **Nolan** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:08 pm

When: 9:00 PM ET, February 23, 2012
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

VS

Starting Lineups:

Spurs:
PG - Tony Parker
SG - Daniel Green
SF - Richard Jefferson
PF - Tim Duncan
C - DeJuan Blair

Nuggets:
PG - Andre Miller
SG - Arron Afflalo
SF - Corey Brewer
PF - Kenneth Faried
C - Timofey Mozgov

Its finally the last game of the rodeo road trip and our last game before the All-Star break.

The Nuggets are a bit banged up right now and if we jump on them early we could end this game quickly.

Go Spurs!!

franktony · Post #2 » by **franktony** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:07 pm

TD and Parker playing ?

SinJackal · Post #3 » by **SinJackal** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:07 am

Barring some kind of epic meltdown, a Spurs win today will tie the NBA record for best 9 game road trip record with 8-1.

And of course, that 1 loss was one we intentionally gave up to rest starters so the Jail Blazers didn't injure our players again for the 3rd year in a row. So let's be honest here. . .the Spurs are legit this year. Nobody can deny it anymore.

And we're adding Manu Ginobili and TJ Ford back after the all star break. So we're going to get even better. I think we can beat the Thunder in a series easily tbh. The only team in the west I think that can beat a healthy SA is the Mavs. Lakers and Thunder can win too, but I think the Spurs would (realistically) be favored against either team unless you're blinded by hype.

SinJackal · Post #4 » by **SinJackal** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:39 am

Well, we stopped playing defense in the 3rd. . .Nuggets score 29 in 8 1/2 minutes. -_-

Time to put your purses down Spurs, play some D'. Gonna give up a 40 point quarter at this rate and the Nuggets are going to be in the game. Our offense has been worst this quarter too. . .just lost 10 points off our lead too.

co_laper · Post #5 » by **co_laper** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:48 am

Kawhi Leonard might be injured or something. He played in the first quarter and never got back into the game. In a blowout game like this, there's no reason Kawhi gets 2 minutes only. From the looks of the rotations right now, it's not likely he's coming back into the game either. James Anderson has taken his minutes.

co_laper · Post #6 » by **co_laper** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:54 am

SinJackal wrote:Barring some kind of epic meltdown, a Spurs win today will tie the NBA record for best 9 game road trip record with 8-1.

And of course, that 1 loss was one we intentionally gave up to rest starters so the Jail Blazers didn't injure our players again for the 3rd year in a row. So let's be honest here. . .the Spurs are legit this year. Nobody can deny it anymore.

And we're adding Manu Ginobili and TJ Ford back after the all star break. So we're going to get even better. I think we can beat the Thunder in a series easily tbh. The only team in the west I think that can beat a healthy SA is the Mavs. Lakers and Thunder can win too, but I think the Spurs would (realistically) be favored against either team unless you're blinded by hype.

I personally don't think we would win the Portland game had we played Duncan and Parker. Had they played, they probably won't be this fresh againts Denver.

LamarMatic7 · Post #7 » by **LamarMatic7** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:46 pm

Props for finishing the Rodeo Trip with an incredible record of 8-1.

Do you believe you can make that one last championship run with the Duncan/Parker/Manu team?

Oh and are there any news about Duncan's future? Could this be his last NBA season?

Post #8 » by **Nolan** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 4:31 pm

LamarMatic7 wrote:Props for finishing the Rodeo Trip with an incredible record of 8-1.

Do you believe you can make that one last championship run with the Duncan/Parker/Manu team?

Oh and are there any news about Duncan's future? Could this be his last NBA season?

I think we have a shot at winning another championship but its hard to say how much longer Duncan's going to play.

Great win last night, its nice being on the other side of a blowout.

co_laper · Post #9 » by **co_laper** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:33 pm

No news yet about Duncan's future, but it seems certain that this isn't his last. Perhaps next year could be his last or whatever. Obviously he doesn't have many years left, but this isn't his last season.

As far as championship, yes we do have a chance, but I personally can't bank on it. There's just a whole lot of things that I think a championship team needs and we don't have it.

For instance, experience. Yes ofcourse the big 3 has gone through a lot, but there's no denying that the rest of the rotation are way too young and hasn't proven to be big game performers. I believe that we can't just rely on the big 3 to win us everything. The role players have to step up and their youth/inexperience worries me.

Also a lack of post up game. Let's face it, everything with us starts on the perimeter. It's predicated on Tony Parker's penetration. We're basically a jump shooting team and we live and die by it. This current offensive formula hasn't won us titles so I'm not all that sure about it. I know the system fits our current group of players, but that wasn't how we or any past championship teams win their titles.

Not to mention our defense isn't really shutting teams down. We're a solid defensive group with a very discipline offense. We don't turn the ball over and we never put the other team on the FT line. IMO it just screams an above average NBA team but not one that sounds like a championship team. I like our chances of coming out of the West. I personally feel OKC is a stronger team but not to a point where we're so easy for them to beat. I honestly can't see us winning over Chicago or Miami in a 7 game series. They have the star power and the hunger of tasting that first championship.

SinJackal · Post #10 » by **SinJackal** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:44 pm

I don't think OKC is better at all. They're more exciting to watch and more athletic, but they're way too sloppy. They throw the ball all over the gym and news flash, they also live and die by the jumper. Westbrook, Durant, Harden. . .their best three scorers take a lot of jumpers.

Westbrook also cannot get past Tony Parker. Shoots 36% against Parker lifetime. This means he has to shoot jumpers, which is the worst part of his offensive game. With the fact that we don't turn the ball over much, and don't put teams on the line much, we're the best in the NBA at diminishing OKC's two greatest strengths.

The only thing that kills the Spurs is teams with multiple elite post scorers. And whoops, OKC doesn't even have one.

When I compare and contrast the teams, this is what I look at when I compare the two:

OKC:
------------------------
Pros:

Very fast and athletic team. More athletic than the Spurs easily.

Bigger stars who will play more minutes than our top guys

Decent defense, but statistically no better than us (if you exclude the Blazers' stat pad fest anyway)

Spurs have no legit answer for Durant long-term, so he will have a good series against us

They're a league-preferred team, and hence, will get the benefit of the whistle against the Spurs who obviously aren't a team the NBA wants to see winning again

Might finish with a higher seed and get HCA, though it's only a 3 game lead halfway into the season and they have a much tougher schedule coming up than we do since our schedule thus far as been much tougher than theirs.

Cons:

Westbrook sucks against the Spurs. Shoots 36% from the field in 12 games against us. This includes games with Ginobili and Duncan not playing.

Their two greatest team strengths are the Spurs greatest defensive strengths (lead the NBA in fewest free throws against, and 2nd in turnovers)

Turn the ball over too much.

Perkins and Ibaka can't defend Duncan straight up. Probably not Splitter either.

They are 1-8 against the Spurs over their last 9 against them, with their only win coming right after Ginobili got injured. . .and it was @OKC when they were hot and SA was struggling. In other words, meh.

Not a lot of playoff experience. Westbrook is not mentally strong. Meanwhile we obviously have plenty of playoff experience

Poor shot selection for their best 3 scorers. Keep them out of the paint, and they will shoot jumpers all day.

Worse coach than the Spurs easily.

The only thing I fear about OKC is the whistle. I worry that the NBA will have the refs give them an assload of calls to carry them past the Spurs in a series. If the game's called fairly, and the Spurs are healthy, I have practically no worries that we can beat them. I've watched a lot of their games both this year and last year, and they don't scare me at all.

As for us winning a championship this year, well maybe not. But OKC ain't beating us unless they get at least 66-75% of the whistles in a fixed series. I worry the Heat or Bulls can beat us. OKC though? Lol. . .no. Maybe in another year or two once Manu and Duncan are too old. Not now.

Ballings7 · Post #11 » by **Ballings7** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:55 pm

OKC are so overrated when it comes to being this "elite" and "west favorite" that I see everywhere.... they have just about ZERO credibility at PF/C offensively. Not even a guy like Ryan Anderson or Gortat or Frye or Brandon Bass, and even then, it still wouldn't be enough. Well excluding Gortat (still would have plenty of shots set up for him and can score on his own).

Are they talented, athletic, and have a group of solid role-players? Yes. But outside of Durant/Westbrook/Harden, they have nobody else to draw decent offensive attention, and especially not at PF/C. They're all perimeter.

They have a similar chance as any of the other top teams to come out of the west.