How do you guys feel about your chances next year to beat LA

[JordansBulls]

How do you guys feel about your chances next year to beat LA in a series?
Do you think you need the HCA or can you beat them without HCA?



LA Lakers
PG Fisher/S. Brown/Farmar
SG Kobe/Sasha
SF Artest/Walton/Morrison
PF Gasol/Odom/Powell
C Bynum/DJ Mbenga



San Antonio
PG Parker/George Hill
SG Finley/Manu/Roger Mason
SF Jefferson/DeJuan Blair/Ime Udoka
PF Duncan/Ratliff
C Mcdyess/Bonner

[Donald Kaufman]

I feel pretty good about it. They're a good team but not the unstoppable force that some are making them out to be. They're beatable. And if we don't do it, I'm sure the Celtics will.

[Donald Kaufman]

BTW, I believe that Udoka won't be on the team this season. And Blair is a PF.

[Alymero]

In my opinion, Spurs need to focus on first things first... and that's just being the best team in Texas before they can go for being the best team in the NBA. I mean, right now the Mavs have had as good if not better off-season than the Spurs and have proven in the past that they're more than capable of getting past the Spurs than anyone else.

A quick breakdown:

Dirk is more versatile than Duncan and can manuver around the floor much better than Timmy creating extra problems for the Big Fundamental who mainmy camps out around the basket.


Josh Howard is longer, taller and quicker than RJ on both ends of the floor

Marion is a Jack of all trades... and when he's on, there's none better putting Ginobili or whoever on the Spurs tries to stop him from going off at tremendous disadvantage

Gooden and Thomas who easily have a bigger upside at this point than a 36 year old Dice and Ratliff pushing 40.

[DBMethos]

I love our chances against LA...but only if we're healthy.

[SApuro_]

Spurs are going to be really fun to watch this upcoming season. Pop will have everyone focused on one thing. Being the absolute best team the Spurs can be. Forget all that other non-sense and let the ball fall where it will.

I think this squad can surpass 63 wins. Manu contract year. Mason and Hill 2nd year in the system. Stable of bigs to rotate keeping Duncan fresh for the playoffs.

Like TK said LA is beatable. They are extremely weak at point and dont have a very deep bench. Bynum has been injury prone and will they be hungry having been to back to back final apprearances. Plus everyone has a nice fat contract so no one is really playing for a big paycheck.

[co_laper]

Honestly, I think it's already hard enough to beat LA with homecourt. Don't think we're better than the Lakers right now.

Plus, I don't think we utilize Duncan's offense enough last year especially in the playoffs. I mean, we kept running plays for Parker, but hardly for Duncan. It's almost as if we forgot about Duncan. Not sure who's problem that is. Parker being a ball hog, or duncan not asking for the ball, or Pop not running the plays for Duncan. Duncan was mostly a face up player last year offensively. Thank god he's almighty on defense.

[Alymero]

Asking Duncan to contend with Odom, Gasol, Bynum, and even Artest is too much for any man. Really, I can't see how RJ, Dice and Ratliff take the pressure off Timmy.

[TonyMontana]

Like TK said LA is beatable. They are extremely weak at point and dont have a very deep bench. Bynum has been injury prone and will they be hungry having been to back to back final apprearances. Plus everyone has a nice fat contract so no one is really playing for a big paycheck.

Ha we need some help at the point, but you make it seem like we have a Smush Parker as a starter but not a vet like Fish with lots of playoff and finals experience, not to mention Shanon Brown which was our X factor last year, or how Farmar stepped up his game towards the end of the season as well as the playoffs and the finals, but ya your right we need help at the P.G position.

Also FYI Bynum unfortuante injuries isnt really considered being injury prone, if you count people falling on your knees twice INJURY PRONE.....
These players are considered injury prone. Jermaine O`Neal Manu Ginobili Amare Stoudemire Yao Ming Greg Oden Tracy Mcgrady. Bynum case is considerd accident prone, since people did fall on his knees, its not like he was running down court and he hurt his knee.

Also I think your very wrong about the whole hungry for a tilte remark since we all know every team that P.J has coached has had three peats three different times, so your defianatly wrong in that department.

Plus fat paychecks..........
So just because they are getting paid, that means they dont want to win championships. Last time I recall, people got paid for their performance and you can honestly think that this Laker team isnt out for a repeat???

But anyhow, good luck to you guys and your team. I cant wait till we meet you guys, seriously I cant wait. Hopefully we can see whos the King of the West. As of now we are the CHAMPS and like I said before the road to the Championship goes through LA and it will be a tough road for everyteam out there to go through.

[SApuro_]

Pretty good post TonyMontana...for a change haha.
Yes fish is a seasoned vet, sure farmer and brown had some nice flashes but they don't hold a candle to what tony will do to them. Or heck nelson or rondo for that matter.

Shawn livingston had a freak knee injury I would consider him injury prone too. An injury is an injury doesn't matter how you get it. Byrum is young and already has had 2 knee injuries...thats a problem.

History proves that players who are in their contract year play a hell of alot better than ones that just signed a fat extension. Does that mean they won't show up no...just means they have a greater chance of sitting back on their lulls. When you are fighting for a contract you cant take any nights off.

Dice, Blair, Ratliff, Bonner, Haislip, and Mahimni will prove exactly what duncan needs for assistance. Heck we won titles with Oberto, Trasho, Elson, and Nazi I can't dunk Mohamid at the 5. The bigs we have now will prove just fine.

Spurs bench is mighty deep...LA's bench not so much.

Gonna be a hell of a NBA season. I hope there are no injuries on any major contender and the best team wins. GO SPUR GO!

[Donald Kaufman]

In my opinion, Spurs need to focus on first things first... and that's just being the best team in Texas before they can go for being the best team in the NBA. I mean, right now the Mavs have had as good if not better off-season than the Spurs and have proven in the past that they're more than capable of getting past the Spurs than anyone else.

A quick breakdown:

Dirk is more versatile than Duncan and can manuver around the floor much better than Timmy creating extra problems for the Big Fundamental who mainmy camps out around the basket.


Josh Howard is longer, taller and quicker than RJ on both ends of the floor

Marion is a Jack of all trades... and when he's on, there's none better putting Ginobili or whoever on the Spurs tries to stop him from going off at tremendous disadvantage

Gooden and Thomas who easily have a bigger upside at this point than a 36 year old Dice and Ratliff pushing 40.

The Mavericks are not even a blip on the Spurs radar.

[SApuro_]

Mavs improved but Marion has lost a step. Gooden could be dangerous if he gets things together. Tim Thomas won't be nearly effective as Bass. Kidd got a year old. They do have that fat Dampier contract that could turn into something really nice at the trade deadline. Bottomline mavs are going to have a tough time just getting homecourt in the first round more less contending with the spurs.

I wish them the best of luck....ok no I don't. I hope Cuban runs out of money and has a fire sale but seriously Portland and Denver have better teams.

[DEEP3CL]

I think this squad can surpass 63 wins.

Awfully tall task, but you're right they'll probably have to win tha many to keep pace with the Lakers. And when was the last time the Spurs won 60 ?

Stable of bigs to rotate keeping Duncan fresh for the playoffs.

What ? Stable set of bigs........where, who ? Matt Bonner at 6'10" and doesn't bang inside and only wants to shoot 3's. Wait ok Marcus Haislip a 6'10" 28 year old rookie with no experience, Oh yeah...Ian Mahinmi a 6'11" former D-League dude ? Seriously you really think this dude is going to have an impact ? It was a reason he was in the D-League. Theo Ratliff (6'10") Man can we get the key to wind this relic up ! oh yeah don't forget the Ben Gay ! Basically your back up are one dimensional or inexperienced, you have a problem.

Like TK said LA is beatable. They are extremely weak at point and dont have a very deep bench. Bynum has been injury prone and will they be hungry having been to back to back final apprearances. Plus everyone has a nice fat contract so no one is really playing for a big paycheck.

Oh man you are so way off base.......Bynum isn't injury prone, you do understand what that means right ? That's for guys like T-Mac, Yao, Grant Hill.......guys who have repeatedly been hurt during their careers.

Bynum NEVER hurt himself, he was injured by teammates go look at the footage again. Oh and our bench is weak ? How please elaborate ? It's not like all 5 bench guys are going to get run at the same time. The only way that will happen is if the Lakers are killing somebody and it's garbage time.

Are they hungry again ? Hell yeah their still hungry, that was the reason for getting Ron because he hasn't won. And Kobe won't settle for them just being content on winning one and neither is Phil, that's not how we do it in LA. And the fact that it's no contract issues with our key players makes for nobody worrying about "getting paid". Your last two lines prove my point here.

Look I get that you guys are truculent about the prospects of your team, but until they prove they can beat the Lakers on a more regular basis in the playoffs it's moot for now. Because being 8-18 against the Lakers in the last 26 playoff games is a huge hole to rise from.

[co_laper]

Well... I actually agree with this guy.

I see no reason why the Lakers won't be hungry. Guys don't taste championship and then get bored. You can taste the playoffs and then get bored and want more. but the Ring is the ultimate prize. You don't ever get bored winning it all. I really doubt anyone does.

Bynum isn't injury proned. Don't even have proof to suggest he is.

The Lakers bench really aren't worse than ours. It's not like if we put 5 guys from out bench againts 5 guys from their bench for 48 minutes and we'll win. In fact, I think Lamar Odom single handedly kill us in a game of backups.

And like i've said all this time. We have a lot of bigs on our team, but they don't make a strong group of bigs.

Come on.. Is Duncan-McDyess right now better than when we had Duncan-Horry? I don't know.. but come playoff time, Horry always have effort. Perhaps not during the season, but who cares about that? I care about when it matters most.

After that, we used to have guys like Rasho with Nazr.. or Oberto with Elson.. Now I can't really say that it's better than Bonner and Ratliff. Atleast with Rasho and Nazr, they had size and Duncan was a lot quicker then.

I have no expectation for Mahinmi or Haislip.

[Master Shake]

Asking Duncan to contend with Odom, Gasol, Bynum, and even Artest is too much for any man. Really, I can't see how RJ, Dice and Ratliff take the pressure off Timmy.

Don't underestimate just how good both Dice and RJ are... RJ will be a heckuva fit in with SA. And McDyess was a double double MACHINE the 2nd half of last season. The guy missed a lot of games, needed to round back in shape, and Feb-April, McDyess was the Pistons best player.

Be prepared for at least 3 or 4 20 rebound games in the regular season, and in the post-season, every game he'll give you a double double. McDyess is G, GREAT pickup for the Spurs, he's perfect to battle the Lakers with.

[the southern dandy]

I feel the Spurs definitely have a shot to take out the Lakers if everything works out for us. I believe that the development of Mahinmi is a real x-factor in the matchup. He possesses the size and raw athleticism to pose some problems for the Lakers frontcourt. He also has a reasonably polished offensive game.
Despite all my optimism however, I still wouldnt place any substantial bets on the Spurs beating the Lakers.

Also I don't fully understand all the hype about the Mavs offseason.

Sean Marion is a nice fullcourt player who can really pile on stats in a scrappy game. Against a controlled team like the Spurs he seems almost doomed to failure due to his complete inability to score in the half court setting.

I also don't see how Josh Howard is bigger, stronger and quicker the RJ. Jefferson has 15 pounds on Howard and both are the same height. Jefferson has been quick enough to be a proficient slasher for most of his career. I don't foresee a situation where Josh Howard physcially destroys Jefferson. Both appear to be reasonably similar players outside of Howard's double digit IQ.

If Gooden really was better than McDyess than the Spurs would have signed the former. It's that simple. Gooden has no idea how to pass or defend, which will ultimately unravel his contributions for a team looking to get things done in the playoffs.

[wizardg]

It's way to early to tell what will happen next playoffs.
But since Timmy has won 4 titles and parker manu and bowen three (i hope he can return) We Spurs fans are not awed by the LAkers.

Our team has several crucial issues for next season Some of which are:

1. The health of Manu. We've won 3 titles with 3 or less live bodies on the court and role players like Bowen, Oberto, and Rasho playing significat minutes.

So I am enthused by the prosepect of have 5 legitimate scores on the court to relieve the pressure from Manu Tim, and Tony. That is how the LAkers beat us. If we would have had RJ and Dice in 08 they would not have been able to double as much on Tim and Parker and Manu with Obom playing rover.

So Manu health means a full functioning offense for the first time.

2. Haislip. His upside is high because he is one of the most athletic 6 10 guys in the league. He was I believe the 12 pick in a strong 2002 draft.
He appears athletic enough to play 3 or 4. and appears to be a cross between Josh Smith and Rashard Lewis. If he is 2/3 as good as I think he is he will be a great compliment to Tim and Tony becuase instead of being his team's leading scorer he will be the complimentary player who has be left open in the past.

3. Chemistry.


Bynum is injury prone at least by my definition. He's missed significant playing time the last two seasons. Sometimes injury prone is just buzzard's luck or being in the wrong place at the wrong time for whatever reason whether its laking a feel for the game or whatever. Now he has 2 dinged knees.

Lakers Byunum situation is crucial to their success.

[DEEP3CL]

It's way to early to tell what will happen next playoffs.
But since Timmy has won 4 titles and parker manu and bowen three (i hope he can return) We Spurs fans are not awed by the LAkers.

The feeling is mutual, we're not awed by the Spurs either. But we do respect them, something I think Spur fans don't reciprocate to Laker fans.

That is how the LAkers beat us. If we would have had RJ and Dice in 08 they would not have been able to double as much on Tim and Parker and Manu with Obom playing rover.

Not sure what games you're recalling, the Lakers DON'T EVER use a double for Tim. And they've never doubled on Tony or Manu, now they've trapped them in certain situations. If you knew Phil's coaching style he never likes to use a double team deliberately.

2. Haislip. His upside is high because he is one of the most athletic 6 10 guys in the league. He was I believe the 12 pick in a strong 2002 draft.

Nope he wasn't....Melvin Ely was 12th to the Clippers. Haislip was 13th to the Bucks.

Bynum is injury prone at least by my definition. He's missed significant playing time the last two seasons. Sometimes injury prone is just buzzard's luck or being in the wrong place at the wrong time for whatever reason whether its laking a feel for the game or whatever. Now he has 2 dinged knees.

For the 1000th time I have to correct someone about Bynum, he's not injury prone. I don't know why guys keep insisting on saying this. Injury prone is better suited for guys like Jermaine O'Neal, T-Mac, Yao, Grant Hill......guys that have a long history of injuries. Bynum had two injuries inflicted by his own teammates, one tripping him up and the other having a 200 pound man crash into his knee. Tell me how is that injury prone ? He simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all there is to it.

Like my boy Tony said........

Bynum case is considered accident prone, its not like he was running down court and he hurt his knee.

Bynum has yet to injure himself on his own.

Lakers Bynum situation is crucial to their success.

No it's not, that's an outsiders view. All the Lakers need from Bynum at this point is rebounding and adequate defense. Like I tell guys on my board, he's not the focal point of our offense yet. He'd be crucial to us if we didn't have another big like Pau to slide to his spot in case of injury.

[zygis17]

you guys need linas kleiza, the laker killer.. just send over bonner and/or finley to the nuggets and you're set..

good luck spurs.

[Blame Rasho]

Well I would like to see us play a few games but I feel we would have a significantly better chance in 2010 compared to 2008.

We aren't old as dirt and we can score with a bit more regularity. It is clear that Pop just said.. F it.. We aren't going to stop you every trip down, but we will do our best to make you work on the defensive end.