Ya'll do know that the Spurs are the defending champions, right. Won a couple of those things if I recall correctly.
I agree that the 2-2 season series is not a big deal but the fact that they have no one that can stop Mc Grady from having a normal game is and he was the reason that we won both games. Yao was efficient but not dominant. TD may not be cluch in general but he has been against Houston and so has Ginooobli, but our additions should slow them down.
another point that nobody has brought up is the coaching.. which coach makes the right adjustments at the right time, etc. i know this could be important in a close playoff series. i believe jvg has what it takes to hang with popovich, even though pop has accomplished more.
The Spurs have a great home record and if I recall correctly, we haven't beat them at home in over 5 years?? if we play them in a 7 game series with them having home court, it would be a good matchup, but at the same time we have to win all 3 home games and steal one on their own home court.
who knows? we have to see. there might be injuries. all sorts of things can happen. and upsets happen all the time. how many "sure things" pan out in sports?
I think we would all like to see the Rocket's new lineup play together for a while, then we will know. My take is that if Ming stays interested, has more stamina, plays aggressively, the Rockets are likely unbeatable. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet. Remember the Suns game last year when Ming decided to blow them out? He has about three to five of those games a year. If he has thirty to forty such games, the Rockets will likely win 60+ games. I clearly believe they have the potential to win it all IF that happens. All other things being equal, of course. However, thus far, Ming has shown nowhere near that kind of consistency.
Until the Rox prove otherwise, SA takes this series in Six games. After the nubies have a season under their belts, it could be a different story. I just don't see us walking over the existing champions. YM just hasn't shown the fire to make Duncan work on both ends of the court. Parker has and will kill us one on one until we get a legit defending point (i don't think danderson can quite cut it). If T-Mac drops 50 a night, there is hope of the rockets taking the series. otherwise, there will be some close games that SA will pull out in the end. I hope I'm wrong, but until someone on the rockets can step up and play better than they have in the past, it just ain't gonna happen. out
I agree with that. However, that still doesn't mean it's likely. They can just do everything... they shoot, pass, penetrate, rebound, and play defense well. They don't beat you by dominating you. They beat you by having zero weaknesses. Simply put, Yao and McGrady would have to be truly dominant, because... well... their overall roster makes us look silly (along with the rest of the league). Our role players will NOT save us against the Spurs. Don't even talk to me about Swift. It's all on Yao and McGrady. Only superstars or injuries can dethrone the Spurs at this point.
I think we match up perfectly with the Spurs in an even game. The problem is the game isn't even. The Spurs get the white hat and we get the black hat. The refs call the game where they can club Yao and sick Bowen on Tmac (thank God he's quick enough to avoid injury.) What can we do? Any contact is a foul. The Spurs get more calls than any other team. Our main weapon with the refs is Tmac. He's not really adept at drawing fouls, being a superstar scorer under pressure. But he does get the benefit of the doubt, over most other players, except maybe Saint Timmy, and a few other ref pets. Problem - I don't see Tmac drawing fouls on Ginobili or Parker. Maybe he can bait Bowen, but that guy seems to have a special hall pass to play dirty. Our guys don't. So... we have to play a game where we don't foul out. We're not going to win a war with the refs... so we have to win with jumpers. If we go inside they can cheat and we can't. We must outshoot them. We need some cheap, hard fouls to give, knowing we're getting that whistle anyway. So, hurt them. We must be deep and we must be tough. If San Antonio didn't have the refs...respect....in their mouths.... then I can't see how they would beat superior atheletes. It's not so much that they are smart. It's that they get to cheat. That's why I hate them. They are the new Utah. Die Die Die.
Worse possible matchup for the Rockets IMO. Spurs have a defensive stopper for your primary offensive weapon and they can shift Duncan to Yao in the 4th. They have 3 players to throw at Yao (Oberto, Nazr, Rasho) before even going to Duncan. Also the Spurs have too many offensive weapons on the perimeter (Parker, Manu, Barry, Finley, NVE, Horry, Beno) and Swift gets absolutely owned by Duncan.
yeah right. duncan is not fast enough to guard swift. and blowen is ineffective on mac. the inside game of the rockets will give them fits. they will have to pick their poison. inside or outside.
Bowen is a good player, but one on one, he cant stop mcgrady. he can irritate the hell out of him, but he cant stop mcgrady. nobody in the league can stop mcgrady one on one. if his shot is falling, he is impossible to stop. have you ever seen oberto play? what makes you think yao wouldnt own him? oberto will probably have minimal impact this year. gonorrhea>rasho. that leaves 3 legit players to stick on yao, swift, howard, and deke. horry, duncan and nazr. imo we have the better frontcourt, they have the backcourt. when we play this year in the playoffs, it will definitly be a fun series.
