How do we feel about this year's Spurs chance to beat the Dubs?

[Chinook]

They have no chance. They had no chance last year either.

The Warriors have gotten better and the Spurs have gotten slightly worse than last season.

The Spurs are much better than last year. People forget that the Spurs were still reeling from Tim being done last playoffs. I think the Western bracket looks different had they had this front court instead of the one last season.

How are they much better?

They don't have no-knee Tim as their center and West and Diaw as their backup front court. I don't think people really understand how much the team upgraded its front court. Add in LMA becoming a real defensive presence, and it's just a different story. Then of course, Kawhi is better. Green is better than he was last regular season. Mills is in a contract year. Parker is doing better in a lesser role. Manu is having good games now that his minutes are down. Simmons is more consistent.

They're better than they were this time 10 months ago. And they're still trying to develop chemistry. If they are still the Spurs, their best RS month will be March. We'll have to see how they do then.

[Vee-Rex]

Who does Tony Parker guard?

They said the same about Kyrie Irving for 2 years straight.

When have Kyrie and Steph been healthy in the same series?

Steph was healthy enough to torch Lillard and Westbrook in the West semis and WCF respectively. If Kyrie was as bad of a defender as people like to holler about then Steph would've also torched Kyrie.

Steph was diagnosed with the mildest MCL sprain (April 25th 2016), and was out for two weeks. He returned on May 9th, 2016, and lit up Portland for 40 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists while exclaiming and yelling out "I'm back!". Then he put up 29 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds to knock off the Blazers in game 5.

He averaged 28/6/6 on 44% in the WCF.

Then he underperformed big time in the finals, having more turnovers (4.3pg) than assists (3.7pg) and only averaging 22 points on 40% shooting.

Don't sit there and act like Steph was so hampered that it allowed Kyrie to defend him well, when that same Steph was able to torch Portland and OKC.

Kyrie guarded Steph one-on-one virtually every time when he brought the ball up the court. The Cavs never outright doubled him UNTIL Steph called for the PnR, at which point the Cavs would trap and hedge hard to force turnovers. Also, the Cavs shifted/trapped on the off-ball screens.

The narrative that Steph was too hurt to perform well is just outrageous at this point. Maybe he wasn't 1000000000% but he was absolutely healthy enough to perform much better than he did.

[Vee-Rex]

For two straight years the Warriors haven't quite met the playoff expectations following their incredible regular seasons.

In 2014-15 they were down 2-1 to both the Grizzlies and a severely injured Cavs team.

In 2015-16 it took a miraculous Klay Thompson 3rd quarter to beat the Thunder and their 73-win season ended in a finals defeat in which they were the favorites.

So how is it that people have the same old expectations? People think they're gonna sweep their way to a trophy or only lose a couple games? Yet every other thread you have the same people screaming about how tough the Western conference is and how it's sooooo much better than the trash East?

Come on, guys. The West IS a tough conference and talented, well-coached teams like the Spurs DO have a chance. Is it a good chance? Most likely not, but it's there.

The Warriors are THAT good and extremely scary, and looks to be the best team. I'd bet on them 24/7 and twice on Sundays to win the championship. That doesn't mean the Spurs are washed and stand no chance.

You can praise how good the Dubs are without tearing down another team, folks.

[TheGOATRises007]

The Spurs are much better than last year. People forget that the Spurs were still reeling from Tim being done last playoffs. I think the Western bracket looks different had they had this front court instead of the one last season.

How are they much better?

They don't have no-knee Tim as their center and West and Diaw as their backup front court. I don't think people really understand how much the team upgraded its front court. Add in LMA becoming a real defensive presence, and it's just a different story. Then of course, Kawhi is better. Green is better than he was last regular season. Mills is in a contract year. Parker is doing better in a lesser role. Manu is having good games now that his minutes are down. Simmons is more consistent.

They're better than they were this time 10 months ago. And they're still trying to develop chemistry. If they are still the Spurs, their best RS month will be March. We'll have to see how they do then.

There were advanced last stats posted that show LMA has declined a good amount this season.

And you're saying he's become a real defensive presence

LMA a defensive presence. Come on now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs got bounced in the 2nd round again. I don't see them being better than last season at all. They're at a similar level. Their front-court isn't really better, because LMA has declined. And Gasol will be exposed in the playoffs.

[TheGOATRises007]

For two straight years the Warriors haven't quite met the playoff expectations following their incredible regular seasons.

In 2014-15 they were down 2-1 to both the Grizzlies and a severely injured Cavs team.

In 2015-16 it took a miraculous Klay Thompson 3rd quarter to beat the Thunder and their 73-win season ended in a finals defeat in which they were the favorites.

So how is it that people have the same old expectations? People think they're gonna sweep their way to a trophy or only lose a couple games? Yet every other thread you have the same people screaming about how tough the Western conference is and how it's sooooo much better than the trash East?

Come on, guys. The West IS a tough conference and talented, well-coached teams like the Spurs DO have a chance. Is it a good chance? Most likely not, but it's there.

The Warriors are THAT good and extremely scary, and looks to be the best team. I'd bet on them 24/7 and twice on Sundays to win the championship. That doesn't mean the Spurs are washed and stand no chance.

You can praise how good the Dubs are without tearing down another team, folks.

And conversely you can say it took a miracle performance from Lebron and Kyrie to win game 5 at Oracle to extend the series. It goes both ways.

Of course the expectations are different, when they're a better team this season and their RS efforts so far haven't been as focused as last season. It's possible they have a higher gear, when they've exhibited it throughout the season at various points so far.

[Vee-Rex]

For two straight years the Warriors haven't quite met the playoff expectations following their incredible regular seasons.

In 2014-15 they were down 2-1 to both the Grizzlies and a severely injured Cavs team.

In 2015-16 it took a miraculous Klay Thompson 3rd quarter to beat the Thunder and their 73-win season ended in a finals defeat in which they were the favorites.

So how is it that people have the same old expectations? People think they're gonna sweep their way to a trophy or only lose a couple games? Yet every other thread you have the same people screaming about how tough the Western conference is and how it's sooooo much better than the trash East?

Come on, guys. The West IS a tough conference and talented, well-coached teams like the Spurs DO have a chance. Is it a good chance? Most likely not, but it's there.

The Warriors are THAT good and extremely scary, and looks to be the best team. I'd bet on them 24/7 and twice on Sundays to win the championship. That doesn't mean the Spurs are washed and stand no chance.

You can praise how good the Dubs are without tearing down another team, folks.

And conversely you can say it took a miracle performance from Lebron and Kyrie to win game 5 at Oracle to extend the series. It goes both ways.

No, there's no 'conversely' to the point I'm making (which you seem to misunderstand).

The point is that they won the WCF in a nail-biter, and LOST in the finals. Those two scenarios should not happen at all to a team that was as exalted and worshiped and revered and elevated and idiolized as the 73-win Warriors were.

The addition of Durant makes them truly a historically talented team, but nothing is guaranteed here and you'd think people would learn their lesson before crowning them champions already and claiming a team like the Spurs have a zero chance.

[NapoleonII]

Spurs in 7.

We'll see more hero-ball from KD and more blame to go around.

[TheGOATRises007]

For two straight years the Warriors haven't quite met the playoff expectations following their incredible regular seasons.

In 2014-15 they were down 2-1 to both the Grizzlies and a severely injured Cavs team.

In 2015-16 it took a miraculous Klay Thompson 3rd quarter to beat the Thunder and their 73-win season ended in a finals defeat in which they were the favorites.

So how is it that people have the same old expectations? People think they're gonna sweep their way to a trophy or only lose a couple games? Yet every other thread you have the same people screaming about how tough the Western conference is and how it's sooooo much better than the trash East?

Come on, guys. The West IS a tough conference and talented, well-coached teams like the Spurs DO have a chance. Is it a good chance? Most likely not, but it's there.

The Warriors are THAT good and extremely scary, and looks to be the best team. I'd bet on them 24/7 and twice on Sundays to win the championship. That doesn't mean the Spurs are washed and stand no chance.

You can praise how good the Dubs are without tearing down another team, folks.

And conversely you can say it took a miracle performance from Lebron and Kyrie to win game 5 at Oracle to extend the series. It goes both ways.

No, there's no 'conversely' to the point I'm making (which you seem to misunderstand).

The point is that they won the WCF in a nail-biter, and LOST in the finals. Those two scenarios should not happen at all to a team that was as exalted and worshiped and revered and elevated and idiolized as the 73-win Warriors were.

The addition of Durant makes them truly a historically talented team, but nothing is guaranteed here and you'd think people would learn their lesson before crowning them champions already and claiming a team like the Spurs have a zero chance.

Oh you're saying since they were the prohibitive favorites, they should have steamrolled everyone in the playoffs last year. Gotcha.

Well tbf, Curry was injured imo.

And their play post AS break already signaled a slight decline.

And the Spurs have no chance. It's pretty obvious. The only team with a chance against the Warriors is the team with Lebron. And the Spurs don't have Lebron. They matched up badly vs the Warriors last season(the Spurs) and it's even worse now.

They'll be the champs barring injury imo. They're too talented and the addition of Durant is too much. You can disagree with it(understandably so since you're a Cavs' fan) though.

[DROB27]

How are they much better?

They don't have no-knee Tim as their center and West and Diaw as their backup front court. I don't think people really understand how much the team upgraded its front court. Add in LMA becoming a real defensive presence, and it's just a different story. Then of course, Kawhi is better. Green is better than he was last regular season. Mills is in a contract year. Parker is doing better in a lesser role. Manu is having good games now that his minutes are down. Simmons is more consistent.

They're better than they were this time 10 months ago. And they're still trying to develop chemistry. If they are still the Spurs, their best RS month will be March. We'll have to see how they do then.

There were advanced last stats posted that show LMA has declined a good amount this season.

And you're saying he's become a real defensive presence

LMA a defensive presence. Come on now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs got bounced in the 2nd round again. I don't see them being better than last season at all. They're at a similar level. Their front-court isn't really better, because LMA has declined. And Gasol will be exposed in the playoffs.

The spurs front court this year is way better

[Tinseltown]

The Spurs wont make it far enough in the playoffs to worry about this.

[inDe_eD]

There were advanced last stats posted that show LMA has declined a good amount this season.

And you're saying he's become a real defensive presence

LMA a defensive presence. Come on now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs got bounced in the 2nd round again. I don't see them being better than last season at all. They're at a similar level. Their front-court isn't really better, because LMA has declined. And Gasol will be exposed in the playoffs.

The spurs front court this year is way better

The bench bigs are definitely better, but Aldridge has declined a lot on defense. David Lee and Pau Gasol are both ahead of him in DRPM, which is pretty damning imo.

[Quiet-Dude]

Spurs have to avoid tne Clippers to even think about the Warriors.

And if the Spurs get to meet GS I don't see them beating the Warriors. They start Mcgee now, they clog the paint better, reb better, so now Gasol/Aldridge will have a more diff time scoring inside as well, add the 3 power house off in Curry-klay-kd is just to hard to stay w that team.

Spurs will have any chance if 2 of the 3 warriors main guys struggle and their bench flat out disappear

[Chinook]

How are they much better?

They don't have no-knee Tim as their center and West and Diaw as their backup front court. I don't think people really understand how much the team upgraded its front court. Add in LMA becoming a real defensive presence, and it's just a different story. Then of course, Kawhi is better. Green is better than he was last regular season. Mills is in a contract year. Parker is doing better in a lesser role. Manu is having good games now that his minutes are down. Simmons is more consistent.

They're better than they were this time 10 months ago. And they're still trying to develop chemistry. If they are still the Spurs, their best RS month will be March. We'll have to see how they do then.

There were advanced last stats posted that show LMA has declined a good amount this season.

And you're saying he's become a real defensive presence

LMA a defensive presence. Come on now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs got bounced in the 2nd round again. I don't see them being better than last season at all. They're at a similar level. Their front-court isn't really better, because LMA has declined. And Gasol will be exposed in the playoffs.

You've apparently been ignoring LMA's advanced stats if you don't know how much better he's been defensively. Really even going back to the end of last season. But he's been the best defensive big the Spurs have had in the last 14 years other than Tim.

Listen, if you want me to actually debate this, don't just assume you know what you're talking about more than people who follow the team. There are times non-Spurs fans could definitely add a better perspective, but that's not what you're bringing here. You simply haven't paid attention to the Spurs this year and want to retroactively justify that.

Even if LMA has declined (he hasn't; he's a better overall player who's finally learned how to handle double-teams), that doesn't mean that Pau>wheels-fallen-off Tim (who was "exposed" long before the playoffs began), Lee >> Diaw and Dedmon >>>>>> West. And of course, Kawhi is actually playing like a superstar offensively this year. The take that the Spurs' front court is weaker than last year is just baseless.

[Chinook]

There were advanced last stats posted that show LMA has declined a good amount this season.

And you're saying he's become a real defensive presence

LMA a defensive presence. Come on now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs got bounced in the 2nd round again. I don't see them being better than last season at all. They're at a similar level. Their front-court isn't really better, because LMA has declined. And Gasol will be exposed in the playoffs.

The spurs front court this year is way better

The bench bigs are definitely better, but Aldridge has declined a lot on defense. David Lee and Pau Gasol are both ahead of him in DRPM, which is pretty damning imo.

Yeah, and Kawhi is the 120th-best defensively player in the league, according to that stat. I don't exactly know what the did to the formula this year, but it's gotten all types of wonky in how it relates to Spurs. That would but Kawhi at sixth-best on the team, I believe.

[Blame Rasho]

The Spurs at their apex can beat any team. The issue is can they do that over a 7 game series. I don't think so.

[JazzUte88]

We'll see. Golden State in 6, but Golden State has looked shaky the past two seasons where they were the dominate team in the regular season by far & getting rid of Diaw was an addition by subtraction, Duncan fell off quite a bit last year so I think they're a little bit better.

[inDe_eD]

The spurs front court this year is way better

The bench bigs are definitely better, but Aldridge has declined a lot on defense. David Lee and Pau Gasol are both ahead of him in DRPM, which is pretty damning imo.

Yeah, and Kawhi is the 120th-best defensively player in the league, according to that stat. I don't exactly know what the did to the formula this year, but it's gotten all types of wonky in how it relates to Spurs. That would but Kawhi at sixth-best on the team, I believe.

That's not how rpm works. Wing defense and big defense aren't weighted equally. No one knows the exact formula, but DRPM favors big men. To be so low on it is very damning for the big who gets the most minutes on the best defense in the league. There are no advanced stats that favor Aldridge's defense this year, he's just been bad. He's bad in PT-PM, he's bad in Drtg, he's bad in DBPM, he's bad in dwinshares, he has a decent rim protection percentage, but on far too few attempts a game, which is not good.

Kawhi on the other hand is like 11th in Drtg, one of the best in PT-PM, good Iso-defense stats, etc. The problem is the lineups he gets the most burn with have Aldridge and Gasol in them, which leads to poor +/- relative to our bench units with Dedmon

[og15]

Spurs have to avoid tne Clippers to even think about the Warriors.

And if the Spurs get to meet GS I don't see them beating the Warriors. They start Mcgee now, they clog the paint better, reb better, so now Gasol/Aldridge will have a more diff time scoring inside as well, add the 3 power house off in Curry-klay-kd is just to hard to stay w that team.

Spurs will have any chance if 2 of the 3 warriors main guys struggle and their bench flat out disappear

Current seeding won't allow the Spurs to face the Clippers. Clippers would have to pass Houston and get to 3rd or drop to 6th, and neither seems that likely.

[michaelm]

They said the same about Kyrie Irving for 2 years straight.

When have Kyrie and Steph been healthy in the same series?

Steph was healthy enough to torch Lillard and Westbrook in the West semis and WCF respectively. If Kyrie was as bad of a defender as people like to holler about then Steph would've also torched Kyrie.

Steph was diagnosed with the mildest MCL sprain (April 25th 2016), and was out for two weeks. He returned on May 9th, 2016, and lit up Portland for 40 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists while exclaiming and yelling out "I'm back!". Then he put up 29 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds to knock off the Blazers in game 5.

He averaged 28/6/6 on 44% in the WCF.

Then he underperformed big time in the finals, having more turnovers (4.3pg) than assists (3.7pg) and only averaging 22 points on 40% shooting.

Don't sit there and act like Steph was so hampered that it allowed Kyrie to defend him well, when that same Steph was able to torch Portland and OKC.

Kyrie guarded Steph one-on-one virtually every time when he brought the ball up the court. The Cavs never outright doubled him UNTIL Steph called for the PnR, at which point the Cavs would trap and hedge hard to force turnovers. Also, the Cavs shifted/trapped on the off-ball screens.

The narrative that Steph was too hurt to perform well is just outrageous at this point. Maybe he wasn't 1000000000% but he was absolutely healthy enough to perform much better than he did.

You are the guy who reported his MRI I take it?

Kyrie and LeBron lifted their play, and the Cavs came up with a better strategy, which proved sufficient to defeat everyone who was on the court for the last 2.5 games of the finals last season and the Cavs hence deservedly won the title.

Unanimous MVP Curry last year was an absolute phenomenon however, something not previously seen in the NBA, and the main reason GSW were a 73 win team. 80% of that is still something quite good, but the possibility exists that injury contributed to him being unable to lift in the finals himself. I am very happy to concede that he played less well/the Cavs managed to limit him in comparison with his play when GSW were winning earlier in the series, but I don't think he was unable to take Kevin Love off the dribble because he "choked".

He did have to do rehab the whole off-season and missed the Olympics, and most on the GSW board in discussions quite independent of the title loss last season were afraid he had permanently lost his ability to blow by players/break the ankles of the likes of Chris Paul as he did in the 2016 regular season. When he has a niggle it also takes the edge off his shooting, although shooting the absolutely implausible threes he shot regularly last season was I guess not likely to be sustainable anyway.

[Steelo Green]

I'm curious to see what the offense looks like in the PO. The Warriors should win pretty easily one would think, but their biggest threat to going back would be themselves getting in their own way.

I won't take it away from SA though if they pull it off, making a team implode internally obviously has to do with your planning as he opposing team.