2012 NBA Playoffs - (1) Spurs vs (8) Jazz

co_laper · Post #1 » by **co_laper** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:53 pm

Denver is playing Houston tonight. It looks like they're gonna be the 7 and 8th seed while we and OKC are gonna be the 1st and 2nd.

I'd like to get the 1st seed, but with Pop being cautious and likely to sit out some players 2 more times, i think it's likely that we end up with the 2nd seed. With that said, do you prefer houston or denver?

I personally like to see Houston more. They're closer to SA so i hope that have some positive effect for the older guys. And then I think Houston is a smaller team now with Dragic and Lowry playing together a lot. They won't have nearly enough length to bother our offense. And Denver is a more athletic team and they can get hot in a hurry so they might steal some games. Houston just looks like an easier matchup.

Post #2 » by **Nolan** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:42 pm

I'd rather face Houston too. We've played great against them this year and like you said Co the lack of travel required for the series could be an advantage for in the later rounds.

franktony · Post #3 » by **franktony** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:25 pm

I'd rather face Denver tbh.

Camby and Dally will give TD much more trouble than McGee or Koufous. No matter who Denver plays, their front-court is weak defensively and that will kill them in the playoffs.
I'd rather face an athletic front-court like Faried/McGee instead of Scola/Camby easily.

Against Denver, iIexpect TD to get 20+ ppg and Parker/Manu will have much more freedom attacking the rim against Denver than against HOU. To me they seem like a better match-up.

youngthegiant · Post #4 » by **youngthegiant** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:08 am

nugs looking for revenge after all those 1st rd exits in the melo era. Hope we do end up playing each other, should be a good physical series.

Frankie23 · Post #5 » by **Frankie23** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:53 pm

Spurs have only 2 hard games: Lakers x2. So we can expect to end the year 5-2 (worst case scenario).
Thunders have only 1 hard game: Lakers. If they finish 4-1, we get the n°1 seed.

So Spurs could face the Suns in the first round. We beat them twice in the regular season. Should be an easy match up. Later, we will have the winner between Clippers and Grizz, that should take 6 or 7 games.. Also, we swept the Grizz in RS and we are 2vs1 against the Clipps.
Only 2 playoff teams (in the west) beat us twice: Houston and Dallas.

Donald Kaufman · Post #6 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:14 pm

I want Phoenix. I like crushing them on the way to a title.

aal04 · Post #7 » by **aal04** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:22 am

Not expecting much of a fight in first round. I think seeding is more important for second round.

If we can not figure out a way to shut down Bynum i think we will have to go all in vs Sacr and try and get first seed, then hope that either Memphis or Okla take the Lakers out before the WCF. Tonights very important to see if it was bad luck or Lakers are the SAS achiles heel.

co_laper · Post #8 » by **co_laper** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 4:01 pm

It's looking like we'll meet Utah.

Post #9 » by **Nolan** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:07 am

co_laper wrote:It's looking like we'll meet Utah.

Yer sir and I have no problem with that. We should be able to handle them quite easily.

Donald Kaufman · Post #10 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:43 pm

Would prefer phx but think we'd handle either pretty swiftly and easily.

co_laper · Post #11 » by **co_laper** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:45 pm

Honestly, I prefer Phoenix too. Utah and Phoenix should be an easy series, but I'd like to see Nash atleast makes it to the playoff. Over the years, he's really become someone that I just respect more and more. A lot like how Dirk and Kidd are. Hated Dallas and Terry, but Dirk and Kidd are great players that I'll surely miss watching. I already miss Jason Kidd because what I'm seeing on the floor right now isn't what Kidd used to be. There's a level of appreciation for those guys. So I want Nash to atleast sniff the playoffs, and then perhaps Blair can pull an "Horry" on Nash..

russnumber3 · Post #12 » by **russnumber3** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:08 pm

Donald Kaufman wrote:Would prefer phx but think we'd handle either pretty swiftly and easily.

Probably said the same thing about Memphis last year, eh? :lol:

Donald Kaufman · Post #13 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:56 pm

Not really. We were hurt going into it last year plus Memphis' bigs were always going to cause us problems.

russnumber3 · Post #14 » by **russnumber3** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:01 pm

I think you will be surprised at our front court - they definitely didn't show what they're capable of in our last two matchups. Anyway, I don't think the Jazz will win the series, but think we can win two games. Good luck!

co_laper · Post #15 » by **co_laper** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:27 am

Brian Windhorst of ESPN is reporting that the 2nd round will be compressed with back to backs. If this is true, that sucks.

Black_Jack21 · Post #16 » by **Black_Jack21** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:07 am

Seems odd they'd compress the post season.
That's going to be brutal for playoff basketball.
To use some motor racing terms, I hope we have conserved enough during our fuel saving laps for the fight to the finish.

Donald Kaufman · Post #17 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:49 am

Really? Never heard of b2b's in the playoffs, even in the 99 lockout. Don't want to have to face the Grizz on b2b's.

russnumber3 · Post #18 » by **russnumber3** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:17 pm

The talk on the Jazz board is that Pop might counter a Millsap-Favors-Jefferson lineup with a Diaw-Duncan-Splitter lineup. Do you guys like that idea? Personally I was thinking you would rather stick with a faster 3 point shooter at the 3 spot, and try to exploit us that way.

co_laper · Post #19 » by **co_laper** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:38 pm

I've said this before, but when the time comes that we're the one who adjust our team to match up with our opponent, you can basically kiss the series goodbye. The better team always plays the lineup that works best for their team over the course of the regular season.

Look at it this way, we've only played Splitter-Duncan together in 2 games and only in the first quarter for a grand total of about 10 minutes. If there were also some instances during the season that they played, I can bet that the total amount of minutes they played with each other is not even 50 minutes. So if there comes a time when we're forced to use Splitter-Duncan together for a lot of minutes, then that means our backs is certainly againts the wall and those are desperate measures.

IF we see a Splitter-Duncan-DIAW lineup, then I'm just gonna wait for the brooms to come out.

No, I truly doubt Spurs counter that with a Big lineup. I get that Millsap would have a matchup advantage at SF offensively, but I really don't understand where you'd put Jefferson and Favors on the floor offensively with that. If Utah put Millsap at the lowpost, then why should we worry about Favors or Jefferson all the way out on the perimeter?

And while we have problems with big teams, you're misunderstanding what kind of teams to be exact. We have problems with C-PF combo who got size and are strong post up players. Which is why we have problem with a Gasol-Bynum or a Gasol-Randolph lineup. Why the hell would we have trouble againts a 6'10 Al Jefferson and a 6'8 Paul Millsap? Even if you put Favors at PF, he's not a good enough post up scorer to hurt us. Is a 7' Tim Duncan and 6'9 Diaw a smaller team than that? And please, againts Millsap, I hardly consider Dejuan Blair as too short. They're both undersized bigs and the difference in height between the two is not big enough to make Blair a midget.

Right now, I'm seeing the Spurs pack the paint because we know where the Jazz strength are. Low post. We should make Utah beat us from the outside. First game of the series is always the feel-out game. If history is any indication, then I think it's likely to be single coverage to start the game atleast for the first half to see who's hurting us real bad and whether we need to make defensive adjustments. I'm not worried about Big Al, Duncan can handle him and even if Al kept on scoring, I doubt we'll ever get to the point that Pop tells the team "Duncan need help, we need to double Al Jefferson cause Duncan can't contain him". Millsap might go off, and if that happens, look for a double team to take the ball of his hands.

One more thing, what makes us so good is not our defense. We're average/above average in that area as I'm sure everyone knows. If Utah wants to beat us, it has to figure out how to stop the one thing that makes us elite. Our offense.

So even if the Spurs somehow can't deal with Utah's bigman, you're not gonna win if you can't stop our offense. Not to be an ass, but judging from how we've played againts Utah this season, this is gonna be an asskicking. I am not the slightest bit worried about Utah. I think a sweep, 5 games at worst. No way in hell Utah can make this a series.

franktony · Post #20 » by **franktony** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:51 pm

We're the best pick&roll team in the NBA and the Jazz is among the worst defending it. We're top 5 in off-screen plays and they're among the worst defending it.

I really expect a lot of pick&rolls and off screen plays from us. They will try to score in the low post mostly, but i don't think we're gonna have a big problem there. Duncan can hold his own against Jefferson defensively and Millsap is just as undersized as Blair.