I'm going to find a Vagas bookie and bet on the Spurs. It's ridiculous how solid their team is: Nesterovic (maybe Willis) Duncan/Rose Turkoglu/Horry Bowen/Ginobli/Mercer Parker Low post scoring threat: Duncan is the best in the league. nesto can hit mid range hoops. Rose is tough off the bench. Rebounding: Duncan, Rose, Horry, Nesto. Perimeter shooting: Horry, Turk, Gino, Bowen and Parker. All are competent. Defense: Damn, Duncan, Rose, Horry, Bowen, Ginobli, Mercer. All quality defensive players. This will continue to be their signature strength. The greatest area of concern has to be PG. Gary Payton may totally intimidate the sometimes fragile Parker. The Spurs need a veteran back up PG that can perform in the playoffs. Otherwise, they're set.
Riley, are you on crack? Spurs are going to give them a run for their money, but it's going to be the Lakers....which BITES!
The Spurs have added quality players that know how to play roles. The Lakers have added guys that have always been the stars of their team and never had to 'fit in'. It should be interesting. And I still want to know who's going to hit outside shots for LA.
There are still some cracks. Nesterovich is a highly skilled, but powerless bigman. Get too physical with him and he disappears. They'll miss David Robinson. Rasho can't put a body on Shaq. He'll share minutes fairly equally with Rose. There's always Tim Duncan backing him up, but with teams like Sacramento, LA, and Minnesotta that have quality center, power forward tandems, Rasho's weaknesses may be difficult to hide. Tony Parker is a situational scorer, not really a go-to guy. His defense is suspect. But outside of Allen Iverson there's no one faster. And he lit up the Glove two years ago. Bowen's big enough and fast enough to guard the Kobes and McGradys, and he lives to play defense. But he can't dribble and one shouldn't be fooled by his high 3P% - he's a mediocre shooter at best. The Spurs are hoping Gino has a breakout season, but I think he'll still be mistake prone. Willis has short arms, bad hands, and is 41 years old. End of story. And Kevin's career. Turkoglu's a solid role player, a good pickup for the Spurs. Not the best decision maker. Horry won't wake up until the playoffs - maybe not even until the finals. Mercer's an underrated defender, but with the defense of Gino and Bowen, he doesn't fit in. The Spurs will be one of the best defensive team (with JVG we may be better) and a competant offensive team, but I expect their problems with the Lakers to resurface.
I think they made some great moves in the offseason, but is Rasho able to fill David Robinson's shoes? Nah....I don't see it. Even in his declining years, Robinson was a better shotblocker and rebounder than Rasho has ever been. I don't see them being as strong defensively because of that. I think this latest trade gives them salary cap flexibility when Hedo and Ron Mercer's deals expire after this season so the Spurs can resign Manu. Overall, I think they did the best they could under the circumstances, but in the end, I don't see them repeating.
The Lakers don't have a bench, they don't have outside shooting, and their roleplayers are suspect, so they're not a lock to win anything. Neither are the Spurs though. I think the West is wide open this year.
The spurs still have some holes to fill. They need to find a backup center and a backup point guard. They still have only nine guys on their roster as it stands now.
My money is on the T-Wolves. Now that they have every position filled with quality players, it should be a sinch to make it out of the first round. Cassel / Hudson Spree / Hudson / Wally Wally / Trent / Spree Garnet / Ebi Olawakandi / johnson Their only problem is that they don't have a true SF. Wally is a SG in a SF body and Spree is a SF in a SG body. Anyway, Garnet will do wonders with this team, I expect them to be a top 4 maybe top 3 team this year.
Are you kidding? The Rockets have sealed up their title bid by landing Piatkowski. It's over. Stern should just mail the trophy and rings to Houston.
Plus, no one can predict how the Kobe affair will affect that team. It'll be like a season long cloud that will be hanging over LA. It looks like the trial won't take place until next spring which will definitely has to have an effect on them (I hope!).
Rose will be the primary backup bigman as usual. Willis will be brought back. In limited minutes he's been effective. A nice upgrade on the bench was having Horry replace Ferry. The thinking is that if Horry's minutes are limited he'll be able to save his legs and will get back to his normal clutch playoff self. If not then the Spurs decline his option next summer. But I think he'll be fine. Horry gives them a little better post defense and athleticism than Ferry. As for Turkoglu, I must admit that was a pretty sweet deal. I would not be surprised to see him replace Bowen in the starting lineup soon. Mercer was a throw-in and maybe the Spurs find a taker before the 48 hrs are up. He may end up spending the year in SA because his deal comes off the cap next summer. If he does I can't really see him playing more than 15 minutes a night in SA. Maybe the Spurs can turn him into an effective role player. Maybe. I don't anticipate him being a part of the rotation. Jackson is one of the main questions now for the Spurs. How much are they willing to shell out for him? They have his Early Bird Rights, but they are concerned about having enough cap room next summer to re-sign Manu Ginobili. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Backup point is another major question. Supposedly the Spurs will use Ginobili, Kerr, and/or whoever can handle the rock. I'm not exactly sold on that idea. By the end of the summer I'm sure they will be able to find a veteran backup and perhaps by then they will want to too. As for Nesterovic he does fit the Spurs' system. He doesn't have the defense of Robinson nor his experience and presence but he does have the complete skill set offensively and I think within the Spurs' defensive sets he will be ok. If they can keep Jack and find a quality point for the bench then I will feel really good about this team going into next season. This already is the deepest and most versatile Spurs team I've seen.
Nesterovic has a complete offensive skill set? When did this happen exactly? I like Turkoglu and that was a steal but Rasho is pretty much a stiff and is a huge downgrade defensively at the C position for SA. A bloated contract to boot. That was a bad move. Horry's pretty much done IMO. His defense used to be excellent but he's slipped big time in that area and if he's not nailing 3's in the clutch, he's pretty useless as well. He will be the Spurs best post entry passer though. I don't see how Mercer fits in SA at all. I agree that he won't be in the rotation.
Mr Spur, you must be going bugfu__ about how good this offseason has gone. I'd be ranting and raving if this were happening to the Rox. The spurs have a smart organization. Plus, it helps to have the best (or 2nd best) player in the league. Good luck next year, except when you meet the Rox. Glad to see Robinson ride off into the sunset. I always thought he was a wuss, but a high class, gentlemanly one. Fine human being.
I agree. Lakers have more star power but damn these Spurs team have re-loaded with players who will complement Duncan! Hedo is a really good pick-up who given minutes will surpise.
I think with the addition of Pike, and IF we can trade for 'Sheed' Wallace the rockets may become a serious contender, NOW !
Their frontcourt depth is atrocious though...it's something I think they have to address. Ervin Johnson and a high schooler as their main two big guys off the bench...in the WEST? That's not a good sign. Nonetheless, their starting five is just about as good as it gets on paper. But they're screwed if Garnett or Kandi get in foul trouble guarding the likes of Duncan, Shaq, Malone, Webber, Wallace, Nowitzki, Yao, etc. in the West.
no bench player? how about Fox, Geroge, Fisher? that is one hell of the bench. those were the starters for the 3 championship team, and now they are the bench, they probaly would be the most experienced bench and knows their role better than any team!
So who are you saying is the starting small forward for the Lakers if George and Fox come off the bench? Fox is out until December due to injury...so George will most likely be starting at small forward. So their bench consists of what, Derek Fisher?
At most that is a 7 man rotation for LA. I think Payton was a great acquisition for them. Glen Rice was the closest thing they had to a third scorer during their recent title runs but he was pretty much a spot up shooter. Payton can do much more than that. Malone's nice but it will be interesting to see how he fits in. I think it's good for LA in that they will have another low post scorer to go to, though Malone's moves are pretty much the fadeaway jumper or the drive and flop. But who are the Laker big backups? They've even lost Horry now. Maybe they will be able to make some shrewd vet minimum free agent acquisitions to fill out their bench. Maybe.
