With the Mavs and Suns clearly ahead of the Spurs in the NBA's Western Conference, most people are forgetting about the Spurs. Now, can you say that they are no longer of championship caliber?
I don't think so... They are currently on a 9 game winning streak and have held I think 7 of the last 9 opponents under 83 points. The defense is there and the bench is contributing.
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker are quite healthy and I think they will reach the Western Conference Finals this year (at the very least).
What do you think?
2007-03-05 17:09:50 · 12 answers · asked by Dodgeviper_gambit 2 in Sports ➔ Basketball
Uhh...when playoff time comes around...The Spurs will be better than the Suns. The Suns win in regular season because teams don't try as hard on defense. They're mass scoring method will not be as effective during their playoff run. Thats why Don Nelson will never win a championship. That is why the Mavericks turned from a weak playoff team to a great playoff team. They added defense to their game. Don Nelson coached the Mavericks before Avery Johnson took over these past two years. The Spurs are a contender, probably rank two when playoffs roll around. You try playing an 82game scheduale you will be tired for games and it just seems like an appointment to you, instead of a passionate games, thats why players that play with passion are praised so much. The Suns play against weak defense in regular season and they win, they play against great defense in playoffs and struggle and they will loose. I assure you they will not make the finals, and the Spurs or Mavericks will win it. In order for great offense to beat a great defense, you need a superstar scorer, like Kobe Bryant or Lebron James. The Suns do not have that, they only have stars that can not dominate any type of defense. Dirk can do this against the Spurs but Duncan can do it against the Mavericks. I am with you, I also believe the Spurs will reach the Western Conference Finals against the Mavericks.
2007-03-05 18:03:25 · answer #1 · answered by gogo2disco 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Whoever thought the Spurs are over-the-hill must be a crazy man. Their team is still intact and has been the most consistent team on the planet the last decade. They have made the playoffs every year, they always have a winning record, and they play smartly, too. How can you say that San Antonio is slipping when they have been winning 9 games in a row.
San Antonio is thought to be slipping because they are not as talked about as the other teams this season. I mean Dallas, Houston, Utah, Phoenix, and LA are more talked about than the Spurs. The Spurs are the third seed in the talent-filled Western Conference. There's no way you can say that they are no longer contenders, especially if they won the title just less than two years ago.
2007-03-05 20:12:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Mavs and Suns aren't getting ahead of ANYONE as long as they have not won an NBA Championship. The Spurs are still the team to beat in the West and come playoff time they will not be beaten!
2007-03-05 17:42:02 · answer #3 · answered by Ruby 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think the Spurs are a championship caliber team as long as they stay mentally focused, they're a great team with superb coaching and a superstar who is humble and unselfish.
That being said, about the above comments re: Suns, and them not being a good playoff team, your seriously mental. You don't go to back to back Western Finals being a weak playoff team. Those comments make me laugh, the team has had so many changes year over year and even without Stoudemire went to the finals last year. The only weakness in keeping Nash healthy.
And for those Lakers fans, game 7 says it all. They mailed it in.
2007-03-05 19:12:36 · answer #4 · answered by Scott M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the spurs are always championship caliber as long as tim duncan is on the team. there is no better post up player in the game. when the playoffs come around,execution in the halfcourt is key and that's where the spurs excel. spurs over mavs in the conference finals.
2007-03-05 18:56:02 · answer #5 · answered by thesavageworm 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Who thinks the mavs and suns are clearly ahead of anyone?
this is the regular season in the playoffs the WEST is wide open. The suns have shown they struggle against top teams in the west just picking on the weak teams to stack their record and they always falter in the playoffs when the game changes and defense counts for more
We all saw the mavs choke last year and that carried over to this season they aren't mentally tough and have no veteran leadership on that team or anybody who's been there before.
The west is as wide open as it's ever been and anyone's ballgame
wouldn't shock me if the 7 seed beat the 2nd this year or any other combination. No dominant teams out there
2007-03-05 17:16:52 · answer #6 · answered by truthistold2u 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
id have to agree with u....a lot is said of how the Spurs are struggling and how they're an old team ect ect....
in saying so, u also have to remember that many of these Spurs players were with this team when they won their last championship. they are a darkhorse type team, but you definitely cant dismiss the experience and skills that these players and coaches have in the post season.
in regards to them being an old team, sure some of their key players are old, but in the playoffs, teams tend to get a few days in between games. surely this benifits such a team like the Spurs who would have time to rest their old bones before their next game.
the Spurs are on paper too good....they are definitely a team that is capable of challenging for the trophy
2007-03-05 17:21:37 · answer #7 · answered by C Dizzle 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
that's as a results of fact many human beings do no longer in simple terms like the Spurs as a results of fact the Spurs have been dominant for a complete decade and have ended many, many communities playoff objectives. Any dominant team, Spurs or Lakers or Celtics or whoever, attracts a lot of followers and a lot of haters. The haters say undesirable issues related to the communities they do in contrast to, yet in assessment to assert, the Lakers, that's puzzling to discover something to dislike related to the Spurs. provided that Duncan isn't properly prevalent and controversial like Kobe, haters fall back to "uninteresting".
2016-10-02 11:18:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Laker fan, I fear the Spurs more than the Mavs or the Suns. Mainly because neither the Mavs or the Suns have a perimeter defender as good as Bruce Bowen who can give Kobe fits.
2007-03-05 17:53:14 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They've been outclassed by the Mavs and Suns and they will have absolutely no chance of winning it all this year. The team is too slow, old and methodical and eventually they'll run out of steam. Tony is going to get complacent about the wedding plans in France this Summer and Ginobili is either an injury waiting to happen or making some other opponent extermely angry with his clumsy play and his flopping. Timmy's already slowing down significantly on the defensive side of the ball and he won't be able to keep up with the likes of Nowitzki, Marion, Stoudamire, or even Yao. If they don't win it this year, it's definitely safe to say that there window will be closed for the foreseeable future.
2007-03-05 17:23:22 · answer #10 · answered by Josha S 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋