If the Spurs should get the top seed, isn't the only way the Rockets could face them in the WCF to be the 6th or 7th seed (since 1-3 are the division winners)?
Tmac and Yao just need to dominate. We saw flashes last year. Now with Swift/DA we have enough help for them to do their own thing. If Yao develops a power game then its over. THROW IT DOWN BIG CHINESE MAN!
In the Detroit series their perimeter guys didn't get a lot of open looks. The one's they did get, they knocked them down well. I don't see Finley and NVE being that important against and excellent defensive team. The way you will beat them is to: 1) mix up defenses and not have to do a lot of early doubles on Duncan. Thus Swift/JH and maybe Deke or Yao versus TD defensively will be critical. I am not as worried about Manu and Parker. Tmac and James are fine guys to throw at them, and assume Finley is in there, it means Manu has to work even harder on Tmac than visa versa. 2) find ways to score in the low post and open up their defense inside out. Amare, Shaquile, even to some degree Sheed and McDyess last year, these guys have done some damage over the last 2 years. The truth is Detroit would have beaten the Spurs if they could have generated just a little more consistent offense. And Det didn't have a Tmac, Yao, Shaq or Wade. It won't be easy--play equal defense as the Spurs and find some low post match-ups to milk--but it can be done. This Spurs team is not as tough as the 99 team (particularly in terms of interior defense), and that 99 team did not come close to repeating in 00. Last year's Spurs team had a load of trouble from Detroit (maybe lose that series if Sheed stays on Horry in game 5) and quite a lot of trouble from Seattle. It wasn't like they were not vulnearable, or that much ahead of the comp (Det/Miami). I really believe if the Spurs stay healthy the Rockets are the only team in the WC with a chance. Of course Yao would need to dominate and all the pieces (Swift, DA) need to fit like a glove.
Great signing for the Spurs...I won't deny that, but I think we are a very formidable opponent. We've yet to see the new dimension that Derek Anderson gives this team. Someone that can get to the basket and pass besides T-Mac will completely change this team. And then, of course, Swift is the x-factor. We could be unreal defensively if he plays to his potential.
My first thought was...Nucking Futs! But then I realized that the Spurs have a special chemistry and Finley may be the cog that breaks the machine. Then again...nucking futs.
$5-million in annual increments (until the whole $51-million due to him is completed), excluding the $2.6-million from San Antonio.
Man I just have to dissagree. Finely does have some left but he is in no way the MF of a couple of years ago. He is always injured and IMO did not have much of an impact in the play-off series against us when Dirk was locked down. I thought Jason Terry was clearly the MVP for Dallas in that series and Jerry Stackhouse was much better than MF. I also think the way Josh Howard played in Dallas provided a much bigger difference than MF did during the series. There was a damn good chance that MF would not have even been in the starting lineup for Dallas this year. Jason Terry and Josh Howard were for sure starters this year and Dallas is looking at Devon Harris to possibly start at point guard or Marquis Daniels at the 2. Jerry Stackhouse has also made some offseason noise about wanting to start again. So if even one of those players crack the starting rotation then Finley would have hit the bench.
As many people have mentioned, Finley doesn't fill any hole for the Spurs. (He may not even be a starter.) He just adds depth to the team. So in a sense, he doesn't make the Spurs better. He makes them a lot less vulnerable to injuries now. They can now afford to have injuries to up to two key players (other than TD) and still be a championship favorite. That doesn't make them harder to beat. It just makes them less likely to slip. I actually prefer him going to the Spurs over Miami or Pheonix, because he would be filling holes in those places.
Agreed with one minor difference. I still think they need TD AND Manu to be the favorites. Finley makes a guy like Barry or Bowen expendable (they could probably survive losing Parker too), but Manu still does too many things for them to replace with a more 1 dimensional player in Finley.
To those bad mouthing Finley, if he was so useless why was every top NBA team chasing his a**. The guy didn't even have to get on a plane to visit anyone, they all came to him like he was the Michael Milkin of basketball. For those of you that don't know who Milkin was, he was a rainmaker in the 80s that specialized in junk bonds and buyouts of corporations, guy was courted by everyone because he could get financing for a 50 billion $ deal in about 10 minutes. He never left Beverly Hills, CEOs went to him. Finley has still got game and will get minutes playing SF/SG and I think he has a chance to replace Bowen who is older than Finley.
He's not useless, this coming from the biggest anti-Finley of them all. He can help teams that lack perimeter scoring (albeit inconsistently) or just scoring in general; that's why teams like Denver, Miami, Detroit and San Antonio are after him -- they need improvement (or more punch) in these areas. The only thing that bothers me are these claims that seem to suggest he's still a very good player... which is often accompanied by how he's a big loss to the Mavs. This isn't 2001 anymore and even back then he was overrated. Eitherway, I wish Fin all the luck in the world. If we (Mavs) don't win the title, I hope he (or Nash, or Houston) does.
