Oh, my bad. Those are quotes from last season. I meant to find the ones that sound like that from this season.
I think this year is different, they are starting to show their mileage...and Parker being out is REALLY hurting them. DD
Parker's injury is far more severe than last year, and Bowen looks a step slow. Even Duncan has declined.... They just look way less athletic than in the past...and that is going to hurt them in the loaded Western Conference. They had a good 9 years...4 championships....but this year, they are last year's news. DD
I'm ready to say that Dallas is slipping out of the elite, but I'm going to need to see the Spurs get drummed out early in the postseason before I would consider their run finished. Shaq on the Suns is not good for SA (great for us), if we get hot we're a bad matchup for them as well, and the Lakers may be able to give them more than they can handle if they continue to gel and add Bynum into the mix. Missing Parker is MASSIVE for them, as no one as can create on that team. But I wouldn't agree that this is as severe an injury as you're saying. Parker was forced by Popovich to sit, at least in part to help persuade Damon Stoudamire to sign with them instead of Boston. According to this report, there is no structural concern revealed by MRI and that the big hang up is inflammation. Parker sitting out through the All-Star Break will help that in the biggest way. Evan
Everyone knows they win titles in odd numbered years, and this is 08. They are Done for this year, but watch out for next year.
I think picking up cheap players over the years and not getting more impact guys is hurting the team now that the current guys are getting older and has logged a mountain of minutes on those legs from those deep playoff runs each year.
I'm not quite convinced the Spurs are done for just yet. I think they still have the tools to go deep into the playoffs. However, last year's Suns would've raped them in the playoffs this year.. too bad they hired Kerr.
In those other even years, the Spurs entered the playoffs with the #1 seed and home court advantage. Spurs are playing it like the odd years this time.
The West has never had so many good teams, this year I don't think there is one single favorite. And out of all the teams the roster I like the best is the Lakers.....then the Suns....then the Mavs....The Spurs and the Rockets.... But any of them could come out of the West. DD
When Parker comes back, I think they'll be fine. I'm not saying they are going to win the championship or anything, but they'll be more than formidable. They still have Duncan.
Rigging? No Amare and Diaw broke the rules. Spurs will win the west this year...them or us...real talk.
Congratulations to Greg Willard, Tim Donaghy and Eddie F. Rush for giving us the most atrociously officiated game of the playoffs so far: Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs series. Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington and Violet Palmer must have been outraged that they weren't involved in this mess. Good golly. Most of the calls favored the Spurs, but I don't even think the refs were biased -- they were so incompetent that there was no rhyme or reason to anything that was happening. Other than the latest call in NBA history (a shooting foul for Ginobili whistled three seconds after the play, when everyone was already running in the other direction), my favorite moment happened near the end, when the game was already over and they called a cheap bump on Bruce Bowen against Nash, so the cameras caught Mike D'Antoni (the most entertaining coach in the league if he's not getting calls) screaming sarcastically, "Why start now? Why bother?" What a travesty. Not since the cocaine era from 1978-1986 has the league faced a bigger ongoing issue than crappy officiating. ESPN - Page 2 : Bill Simmons Blog http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons&entryDate=20070514
Evidence for this? The playoffs (and thus Duncan) haven't started yet. Timmy's regular season numbers are better than last year.
Evidence? We are talking about opinion here. And the games I have watched Duncan he is much easier to guard this year, and basically doesn't require a double team as much. Yao has surpassed him on the low block.... Ok for giggles I will put some evidence out there for you. PPG Yao is at 22.1 Duncan is at 19.8.....Yao is better In Rebounds Duncan has the edge at 11.4 Rpg to Yao's 10.7 rpg In blocks per game it is back to Yao who leads 2.1 to Duncan's 1.78 It is fairly even, but I think Yao demands a double team more often these days. DD
