Official General NBA Discussion Thread V2.0

[Homer Jay]

Spurs are just built for the playoffs/big game, they are less setup for the daily grind of the regular season. They probably will make the playoffs ranked 5 - 8 and could still likely win it all.

Should OKC throw it in this year? Will the hole be too big for them to get out of by the time KD comes back? Can you afford in the WEST to be throwing away too many games? End up with a good draft pick to help with their salary costs going forward? Plus not put pressure on KD to come back early and re injuring himself. Think the Spurs circa '97.

[Anatomize]

Popovic subbed in Ginobli and Parker with 3 minutes left against the Clippers, they were down 5 when they checked in and immediately took control of the game against the Clippers.

Tonight they forced Curry to shoot 0-7 from beyond the arc...

You really can't go wrong with putting all your money on the Spurs this year...

I think you can go wrong betting all of your money on them. The West is far better this year. I would be scared to face the Mavs if I was the Spurs, they've given them trouble in the past and I think they're an anti-Spurs built squad, and very well coached on top of it.

Spurs battled very hard in the playoffs last year (even prior to that Miami game). While it's been said many times, of course the Spurs will be right there in the picture at the end, but this could be the year age and mileage finally catches up with them. Parker is still the overall engine of the team and what makes them run so smoothly, but Duncan is at 38 and Gino is 37. They're receiving far more DNP-CDs this early in the year than they did at the same point last year. Pop is clearly aware of their age and trying to keep them fresh for the playoffs. Even so, I question Duncan's ability to grind out as many games this year. His knees look bad - reports around the Spurs training camp prior to the season is that he walks with a visible limp. When the pace slows down in the playoffs, will they be able to regularly depend on him in the post? The Grizzlies half court grind-it out defense with several big bodied bruisers might have something to say about that.

Kawhi is really what has made the Spurs have a resurgence. They looked bad for a few games before he came on and produced the past two games. There was a downturn period for a couple of years similar to the Celtics post championship run, prior to SA pulling off the massive little-talked about heist by trading G. Hill for Leonard. Pop's coaching along with Leonard's skill became a perfect storm for what we saw last year.

Can Leonard be the difference maker again as far as going that far in the playoffs? Who knows. I just think the West is scarier than ever and far younger/more mobile than the Spurs are.

I'll take my chances with a deep WCF run with either the Grizz, the Mavs, or the Rockets - culminating in a Finals appearance.

Aside from the Mavs and Grizzlies, the Warriors have a lot of different weapons and they've been playing really well without one of their leading scorers in Lee (Draymond Green as a two way weapon is far more suitable for the lineup anyhow). Their perimeter defense scares the hell out of me. I would hate to be a wing player or a point guard going up against Iguodala, Green, Klay.

You still have the Clippers who haven't really come on yet the way they usually do. I find their team has a lot more holes though. Their wing players can't play a lick of defense (Barnes doesn't look very good either), and other than shooting none of them is an all-around player who can create for others. The SG and SF spots have been major holes for them since CP3 came over and they've done nothing to address it, they should have made it a priority to get a talented wing/sg.

The Blazers are always dangerous, Kaman/Blake were good additions, but they still lack overall depth, most importantly, they need a 6th man scorer badly. They didn't look good without Batum yesterday, down 23 points at one point to Charlotte. What would they do if one of their key guys goes down? It's pretty easy with them, shut down one of Aldridge or Lillard and you're likely going to win the game.

The Rockets in terms of upside have to be the scariest of the bunch. If everything clicks, they have more talent than any team in the West minus OKC. Terrence Jones is busting out, he's looked great as a two-way player, as has Ariza, fitting in perfectly into their system playing off the always dangerous Harden. Harden looks like he actually gives a damn on defense, and Dwight is finally healthy and back to dominating. They have the scariest defensive PG in the entire league. Just check the stats of opposing PGs when Beverley is in the lineup, it's pretty unreal. Papanikolaou is a really good all-around player who's very poised for a rookie and clearly has a wealth of experience from playing overseas. He's crafty, a good defender, takes charges, racks up steals, can shoot the 3 ball, post up, and is a good passer. I really like their team composition overall, their depth, and I hear a lot of talk about McHale being a bad coach, but I've always felt like he gets a lot of offensive production out of all of his players, and now he has them playing on the other end, too.

I don't think the Spurs can take the Rockets in a 7 gamer unless Harden pulls off his usual playoff choke job, and I think they'll have a hard time dealing with all of the Rockets weapons if the Rockets are healthy. The Rockets possess more athleticism, can run the floor, can play half court, can break you down off the dribble at several positions, can shoot lights out, get to the line at a high rate (Howard/Harden/Jones), and play shut down defense (this year). Terrence Jones becomes a massive x-factor in that series as the Spurs have to put Duncan on Howard and don't have a very mobile PF to defend him (he's far better at running the floor and creating for himself against Diaw - although Diaw did prove he's very capable against LeBron). I also like the Beverley matchup against Parker.

So all in all, I'd take any of those three teams (Mavs, Rockets, Grizz) to surpass the Spurs this year and go to the Finals.

[sweetcity]

has anyone taken a look at rookie stats this season, they are terrible!

[Slim_Charles]

Popovic subbed in Ginobli and Parker with 3 minutes left against the Clippers, they were down 5 when they checked in and immediately took control of the game against the Clippers.

Tonight they forced Curry to shoot 0-7 from beyond the arc...

You really can't go wrong with putting all your money on the Spurs this year...

Never underestimate the Spurs... they'll beat you with smarts

[Slim_Charles]

Am I crazy to think that the Warriors will not make it past the 2nd round? I mean they're a good team and all but I don't think they'll beat a Grizzlies, Trail Blazers or a Spurs team in the playoffs.

[Scarface844]

No one is beating the Spurs in a 7 game series. The only 2 teams that have a shot at beating the Spurs are OKC and Dallas. The Spurs are just a tier above everyone else. They'll repeat.

[youngtea]

It's too early to say anything about any team. You need atleast 30-40 games to correctly analyze who the teams to beat are.

[LLJ]

No one is beating the Spurs in a 7 game series. The only 2 teams that have a shot at beating the Spurs are OKC and Dallas. The Spurs are just a tier above everyone else. They'll repeat.

They've never repeated before. And this will be their third straight Finals, should they even get there. Getting to the Finals 3 straight times is very difficult on one's body, especially an older team's.

The Spurs, when on, are pretty unbeatable, but on any given year they are perfectly capable of coughing up a series they seemingly have in hand. I don't know any team in the past 10-15 years who have been backdoor swept in a 7 game series more often than them.

[Hero]

No one is beating the Spurs in a 7 game series. The only 2 teams that have a shot at beating the Spurs are OKC and Dallas. The Spurs are just a tier above everyone else. They'll repeat.

Ok. Cancel the season and hand the spurs the trophy.

Spurs have already won.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/532686528930004992[/tweet]

[And1+2]

I still believe Kyle Lowry has a better BBIQ than all of the Piston's combined.

[Kabookalu]

Spurs' biggest weakness is athleticism and athletic shotblockers. They got swept by OKC and Houston for this reason. Nothing will take away their great passing from them, but having a great shotblocker that can defend the rim while being athletic enough to recover to his own man can really inhibit their passing. The Spurs are so great at exploiting rotating defenses when they can get the help to commit, mostly from players drawing defenses in on the penetration. When you have Ibaka and Howard the other defenders feel safe about staying home with their man, and the Spurs then have to rely on some starpower to get them out of a tight pickle.

[VinBaker6]

Spurs' biggest weakness is athleticism and athletic shotblockers. They got swept by OKC and Houston for this reason. Nothing will take away their great passing from them, but having a great shotblocker that can defend the rim while being athletic enough to recover to his own man can really inhibit their passing. The Spurs are so great at exploiting rotating defenses when they can get the help to commit, mostly from players drawing defenses in on the penetration. When you have Ibaka and Howard the other defenders feel safe about staying home with their man, and the Spurs then have to rely on some starpower to get them out of a tight pickle.

If Timmy is healthy he can expose a guy like Ibaka on the block. He put on an absolute clinic in Game 6 last year in OT. Was beautiful to watch. The Spurs just stopped the ball movement offense and just put TD on the block like it was 98-08.

I still thought their offense was fine, just took time to adjust to Ibaka. They blew the Thunder out in Game 5 and played amazing in Game 6 without Parker. Regardless have OKC missing the playoffs anyway.

Houston is iffy though. Haven't seen the Spurs take them seriously yet.

[aselvana]

watching andre drummond, he looks pathetic. disinterested. wtf is going on??

[Rapsfan151]

watching andre drummond, he looks pathetic. disinterested. wtf is going on??

He plays for a terrible team.

[Rapsfan151]

Damn Boston up 18-3 vs OKC. Thunder might dig too big of a hole to climb out of. Jeremy Lamb is 0-5 from the field lol.

[Kabookalu]

watching andre drummond, he looks pathetic. disinterested. wtf is going on??

Black Bargnani.

[UnderdogRaptors]

OK Masai is the goat drafter, Fournier is a pretty good player..

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[aselvana]

watching andre drummond, he looks pathetic. disinterested. wtf is going on??

He plays for a terrible team.

pistons beating wiz...
seriously thou, AD usage rate is up, but his TS% is down significantly. hes ruining my fantasy team

[Lateral Quicks]

watching andre drummond, he looks pathetic. disinterested. wtf is going on??

He's highly overrated. He rebounds, and that's about it. He's a big liability on offense and hasn't shown much defensively aside from some decent block numbers.