Here is a very good reason to be more optimistic this year going into the playoffs than last year. I compared the roster and added up the number of playoff games played leading up to each year. The # in ( ) is playoff games, followed by Finals Appearances and Titles won. Last Years This Year James Harden (49, Finals) James Harden (55, 1 Finals) Patrick Beverly (6) Jason Terry (93, 2 Finals, 1 Title) Chandler Parsons (6) Trevor Ariza (52, 2 Finals, 1 Title) Terrance Jones (2) Terrance Jones (8) Dwight Howard (61, Finals) Dwight Howard (67, 1 Finals) Jeremy Lin (4) Pablo Prigioni (11) Francisco Garcia (12) /Troy Daniels (0) Corey Brewer (19, 1 Finals, 1 Title) Omer Asik (27) Donatas Motiejunas (1) Omri Casspi (0) Josh Smith (52) Last years group total This Years group total Playoff Games 167 Playoff Games 358 Final Series Appearances 2 Final Series Appearances 7 Titles 0 Titles 3 There is almost double the amount of playoff game experience on this squad. Triple the amount of Finals Series appearances and 3 titles won vs 0 from last years team.
(Sorry, I meant for there to be spaces in my post when comparing the numbers) Here is a very good reason to be more optimistic this year going into the playoffs than last year. I compared the roster and added up the number of playoff games played leading up to each year. The # in ( ) is playoff games, followed by Finals Appearances and Titles won. Last Years............................................This Year James Harden (49, Finals)..... ................James Harden (55, 1 Finals) Patrick Beverly (6)................................Jason Terry (93, 2 Finals, 1 Title) Chandler Parsons (6)............. ...............Trevor Ariza (52, 2 Finals, 1 Title) Terrance Jones (2)................. ..............Terrance Jones (8) Dwight Howard (61, Finals)................... Dwight Howard (67, 1 Finals) Jeremy Lin (4).................................... Pablo Prigioni (11) Francisco Garcia (12) /Troy Daniels (0) ...Corey Brewer (19, 1 Finals, 1 Title) Omer Asik (27).................................... Donatas Motiejunas (1) Omri Casspi (0) ....................................Josh Smith (52) Last years group total This Years group total Playoff Games 167 Playoff Games 358 Final Series Appearances 2 Final Series Appearances 7 Titles 0 Titles 3 There is almost double the amount of playoff game experience on this squad. Triple the amount of Finals Series appearances and 3 titles won vs 0 from last years team.
good post. thanks for the information. took some time to 'read' and see what were in the parenthesis.
thanks for adding that up. i thought it was pretty obvious over the summer that we wanted playoff experience when i saw the pattern of player acquisitions. ariza, terry, then brewer... josh has won some playoff series, even prigioni has a lot of experience outside of the nba. experience won't be our downfall this year. right now i'm more worried about getting healthy in the next week or so! even without beverley i think if our frontcourt is healthy we have enough to mace the WCF. next year we need a second perimeter scorer, preferably at PG since ariza/brewer are great at the 2/3 spots. we get that, and stay healthy most of the year, we will be the favorites for the championship.
We all know of course that playoff & championship experience is so vital to success & poise in the postseason, but you did an excellent job of quantifying our experience and how much we have gained from last year. Thank you. This is a very valid, interesting stat.
Good thread! Another positive fact is that we have perspectives/experience from many different Finals teams that have been in a variety of situations: 2006 Mavs - Disappointing loss after hard-fought 2nd (Spurs)/3rd rds (Suns). Terry was insanely important and poured in 27pts to help the Mavs win game 7 in San Antonio and avoid the upset after being up 3-1. 2008 Lakers - Ariza was a nonfactor 2009 Lakers - Ariza came up huge throughout the playoffs and helped the Lakers overcome Dwight and his 3pt shooters 2009 Magic - Fell short, but Dwight had to overcome a 3-2 deficit vs the defending champs, a hostile game 7 on the road (BOS), and the MVP (LeBron) in 6 games. 2011 Mavs - Terry averaged 32mpg and was only behind Dirk in terms of scoring (17.5ppg) in the playoffs. Brewer played a minimal role. Nevertheless this was an amazing squad that really came together to execute a master gameplan against the Miami big three. 2012 Thunder - Most will remember Harden struggling vs Lebron, but you cannot ignore that OKC only overcame the Spurs in the WCF because of him. Another note regarding the Spurs series is that OKC came back from an 0-2 deficit and won the next 4. Of course, you cannot ignore that so many of our guys also have great playoff experience without making the finals
If you think about it, last year's squad essentially had 2 players with the majority of playoff experience in dwight and James. You could maybe count Omer but he was a back up. That was it. The rest of those guys had little no playoff experience at all. When the stakes are higher, I think this makes a big difference. Guys with out the experience don't know how to handle adversity as well during the playoffs as opposed to those who have been there and done that.
- two championship vets -no more Lin - brewer and ariza got that D - no asik - smith can play D and assist - harden is MVP - jones became a man - DMo has that footwork - our big man rotation is the **** - our bench is solid **** what you heard, it's about what you know, and I know we running **** this year
