Just like they did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. The Spurs haven't been to the finals since 2007, including two first round exits on their resume and a SWEEP by the Suns... They haven't lost, they have been rape pounded... Blair is such a load that he would still be battling 50 year old Antonio McDyess for a spot If the guy didn't retire. Not scary in the slightest, and Tiago Splitter's bouts of softness are also very appealing to the Rockets. Hit him in the mouth and he folds like a wet blanket. Boris Diaw? :grin: Yes please...
You have to be able to look at a team present tense and see what they are currently. You guys that keep looking at the past should realize the fluid dynamics of basketball. What is different about them this year and last year? Just watch them play. It's not the same team. They've made adjustments. They are better than the last couple years. And then you have to consider what has happened to the rest of the teams in the league. Have they gotten better or worse than last year? Memphis played very, very well in beating them a year ago. And SA played very poorly. Totally out of character for them. It was an exception and Memphis needed every shot, needed every break to knock them out. And Memphis went to the WC Finals as a result. So, they were only one step short of the WC Finals a year ago. And if you watched enough games, you would be able to tell they are better this year than last year. And it will show big time during this year's playoffs.....barring a major injury to Parker/Manu/Duncan. NOW....Zach is coming back off major injury. He was the horse they rode last year. They've got back Rudy and they are a different team. They are not riding the Zach horse. If Zach doesn't get back to what he was last year and they don't go to him like they went to him last year, they have NO CHANCE to beat the Spurs and Lakers of the West....NO CHANCE. Anybody can look at the past and see results. But you gotta look at the present and be able to evaluate teams and what they are doing RIGHT NOW! That's the difference. By the way......I've watched the Spurs play 44 times this season and I've watch Memphis play 41 times. I think I've got a pretty good knowledge base on them. In fact, I've probably got somewhere around 40 games of both teams combined recorded, games against other playoff contenders, that I've rewound and dissected. Go do all that and then come back and tell me Memphis is better than SA. Hogwash!
There is no such thing as a coincidence in this world, there is only the inevitable. Father time is undefeated, and to win in the playoffs you need an elite presence in the paint. Tim Duncan has not been that for 3 years. He has been dominated handily by Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudamire and Zach Randolph. I think Luis Scola could easily dominate the paint on one end, he has always been a Spur killer. I think Marcus Camby and Samuel Dalembert are the PERFECT tools to annihilate any chance the Spurs have with Duncan. If they don't establish Duncan as a dominant force, they can't win, as evidenced by their lack of playoff winning the last 4 years. Billup's Pistons aside, elite talent wins championships. Top 3 sort of players win championships. HOFers in their 30's that have considered retiring, do not scare me. Tony Parker does not scare me. The Spurs don't have Michael or Magic lacing up. Hell, they don't even have a top 25 player depending on how you rate Tony Parker. Tiago Splitter, Gary Neal and the Red Rocket? Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw? Danny Green? Dejuan Blair? Color me unimpressed. Chemistry and smarts doesn't win in the playoffs, elite talent does. Call me crazy for taking the Spurs over the Thunder 100/100 times If I had a choice. I want no part of James Harden and playoff mode Kendrick Perkins. None of it...
Look, I enjoy your posts, and we often agree. Had you left out the crack about Scola, I would have read it, and then moved on, or responded with comments about the rest of it, but no, you had to slam Scola right after this game. You say I took it out of context. That might be your opinion, but read this again and tell me how it isn't an insult directed at Luis when he had frustrated the hell out of a multiple All Star, one still playing at a very high level, just coming off a championship, and continued to do that well into the game, while also playing a good all round game against the Mavs until, with me scratching my head, McHale put him at the 5. Sometimes, that move pays off, but a blind man could have seen that it was bad coaching to do it last night late in the game. That's when Scola had the bulk of his turnovers and became ineffective. At the end of the game. You just didn't need to hit the guy right after he busted his arse, helping keep the Rockets in it. It didn't make sense to me, I strongly disagreed, and you got the response. Actually, I had a much stronger post that hit you much harder about it, and accidentally erased it with this damn borrowed netbook I'm using on a trip out of town. So if it's any consulation, you dodged a bullet. "And your right, he was great on Dirk one on one, but Im talking about overall team defense deficiencies, not effort. We all know the effort, offensive skill, and class is there. Its the speed, size, and length that makes him one dimensional." You say I took your post out of context, but here you are saying the same thing again. "Its the speed, size, and length that makes him one dimensional." Luis Scola IS NOT one dimensional. Speed, size, and length merely affects how he matches up with certain players, certain teams. Would you describe Nitwitski as "fast, big, and long?" My goodness, then how was Scola so effective against the guy? Sheer luck? Considering how much the refs love that chump, it's a miracle that Luis didn't foul out. Scola, since the break, has been playing at the level we've come to expect, with numbers more like the last couple of seasons, then what we saw earlier this year. Last night was an example of that. Last night was not a good time to make your comment about him, regardless of what you saw as the "context" of your post. In my opinion. Instead of blaming Scola for the deficencies we have had in the post scoring this season, perhaps you should look more at the other players involved, and not just Dalembert and Camby, who just joined the team. You might look at Patterson. How was his game last night? You might look at the coach. What the hell is he doing putting Scola at the 5 late against the Mavs? Better yet, if you want to call out Scola for being "one dimensional," you just might consider doing it after he's had a bad game. You want to call him slow and 6'9" then do so. Luis wouldn't argue with you and neither would I, but we would both srongly disagree that he is "one dimensional." He is not.
It's Dalembert. 2 blocks a game does not make up for his stupidity on PnR defense. He's terrible at it. Gets beat to the rim all the time by smalls. All you guys that think we are better in the paint with Dally over Chuck, you just don't understand that game. Chuck knocked twice as many balls loose before the shooter could even turn and face than Dally blocks. Not to mention his quick feet for PnR defense. We are worse defending in the paint than last year and that's the biggest reason why.
No argument about that comment from me. The guy just isn't terribly bright. Dalembert is an excellent backup center with no business starting for this team, except that we didn't have anyone better to put there with Chuck gone... except 50 year old Camby, who would be better as an option starting at the 5, at least compared to Dalembert.
It won't advance anything. I've already pointed out that making the playoffs in the West hasn't been as easy as making it in the East, yet you still trot out the same tired line "more teams make the playoffs than don't". If you're not concerned with style points, why would you say that in every post? It doesn't really have substance, so what does that leave you with? I see you've incorporated "mediocrity treadmill" into your posts as well. Yet you were vehemently against the Gasol trade, which would have put this team above mediocre. That just doesn't make sense. I guess those are the parts of the message I disagree with. I know it seems like I'm attacking you personally, but that's not the case. I wouldn't continually respond if I didn't value your opinion.
They got to the semis, not the WC finals. Spurs were ousted in the first round so they were actually two steps short of the WC Finals.
Why does that matter? 8 teams make the playoffs in the West. We're not in the Eastern Conference...8 teams make the playoffs. Right now, if you're playing a shade over .500, you're in. There's nothing magical about making the playoffs in the NBA. And by the way.... .529 winning percentage gets you in the playoffs in the West as of right now... .510 gets you in the East playoffs. Not exactly light years difference....but I don't see what it matters either way. The Houston Rockets have been in the Western Conference for a very long time now. What do you mean it doesn't have substance? It's an absolute truth and it absolutely communicates my point. Would you like me to come up with new ways to say it? Is that important to you? What if I say it like this....less teams miss the playoffs than make the playoffs. If I say it that way, i invert it a bit. But it still makes the point...and it's true of NBA teams generally...and Western Conference teams specifically. It's true regardless of HOW I say it. My opinion stems from that truth...and the opinion is arguable. Again, I don't think making the playoffs is a grand accomplishment in the NBA...I'm disappointed this franchise is at the point where a mere playoff apperance seems to satisfy a lot of folks...and I think the cost of making the playoffs is greater than the benefit of making it. But then again, I'm not the one who gets to cash the checks for selling more seats for a playoff game. I don't see the Gasol trade as a good trade...I don't think Pau Gasol is the kind of player you build around as the alpha dog of a team. In my opinion, it only more solidly locks us into a situation where we're avoiding the inevitable if we ever hope to be a championship contender again. I'm hoping that's the goal. You can disagree entirely with my take on that....but it doesn't mean we're not stuck on a "mediocrity treadmill" right now regardless...because, just like we're not in the Eastern Conference...we also are not a franchise that has Pau Gasol on the roster to prove me wrong in my opinion about him anyway.
Westbrook definitely explodes under pressure he explodes for 36 points against the Lakers. it's achilles "heel"
