no its not a choke. enough talent? yeah enough talent to overcome 4 all stars and 2 of them being our most recent mvps. GS isn't houston. quit kidding yourself
Yes, because I don't consider guys like Aldridge, Gasol or Manu to be washed up. The latter two may not be what they once were, but I'd still take em over most on our team anyday. Simmons is giving them 9 points and very good defense, on 48% and 37% shooting. And the Rockets that gave us that type of playoff shooting with good defense would be?
Aldridge is obviously not washed up. He's the only reliable scorer they have not named Leonard. Gasol averaged 16-11, 12-8 in his past two seasons. Ginobili averaged 10 pt, 7 pt in his past two seasons. Lee averaged 9 pt, 7 pt in his past two seasons. Murray is a rookie picked at the end of first round, averaging 8.5 minutes 3.4 pt per game. Simmons didn't get in the league until he was 26 last year. He averaged 6 pt per game in his two seasons with the Spurs. Anderson average 4.5 pt, 3.4 pt. in his past two seasons. So you want those guys over... Capela Nene Ryan Anderson Gordon Lou Dekker Harrell
I never heard the names of two Spurs players who played in the end of the game when the game was on the line. Spurs just got a bad lucky to lose that game, they lost their star player at a critical time.
Seemed to work for the Spurs last series. You can try to discount their talent all you want but come this series their guys outplayed ours. Simmons gave good shooting and good defense, and what player on our team can make that claim?
Pop's somewhat of a hypocrite: Pop in 2006 after the NBA warned Bruce Bowen about stepping under jump shooters: Popovich said Bowen is being singled out, citing incidents where New Jersey's Richard Jefferson and Dallas' Josh Howard sprained ankles after landing on Miami's Shaquille O'Neal and Golden State's Mickael Pietrus. "Did (the league) call them?" Popovich said. "Did they call all those guys (Dirk) Nowitzki landed on when he sprained his ankles the past three, four years? The answer is no. "So why did they call Bruce? Because it's happened to him twice? Bruce guards an All-Star every night. If he was doing what they're accusing him of doing, wouldn't it have happened a higher percentage of times? "The people who cry about it are just frustrated about having to go against Bruce." Popovich is concerned Jackson's warning has taken away some of Bowen's aggressiveness. Houston's Tracy McGrady scored 21 first-half points most of which came against Bowen on Tuesday. "The league is just trying to cover its ass," Popovich said. "I told Bruce, 'You be Bruce Bowen. You're the best (expletive) defender in this league. You will NOT change the way you play defense.' "Stu Jackson is not going to change my team just because he thinks he's doing the right thing." https://web.archive.org/web/2008061...MYSA111806.05C.BKNspurs.notebook.38e2352.html
Zaza play dirty? Yes, maybe. But I try to make a point for the Kawhi jump, who could be only player to take a jump without trying to get a open. The players are normally running to get a open, then take a jump, and Kawhi takes a jump with a player on his face, which is the way to land someone foot easily.
I think you are confusing talent with stepping up. Simmons played far better than Harden in Game 6. But nobody would mistake that he was more talented than Harden. And nobody would take him over Harden. No doubt the Spurs role players stepped up against us. But are they more talented than our role players? Do you really want to exchange those guys for our guys? Gasol = Nene Ginobiili < = Ryno Lee < Capela Simmons < Gordon Murray < Lou Kyle Anderson < Dekker
Like I said yesterday, there is an element of karma to this. The Spurs had Bowen on their team for those 3 titles in 5 seasons and he routinely did this crap to other players. Not to mention the 2007 championship was due in large part to Horry hipchecking Nash into the scorers table. So I honestly am not losing any sleep over San Antonio getting f'ed over like this. That being said, the Warriors are still a dirty team and this was beyond the pale. If they win the title fair in square, so be it. You tip your hat to em and give them respect. Even in 2015 when every opponent they faced in the postseason was either banged up or missing key players, they had nothing to do with those injuries. Hell, Dwight was taken out by his own teammate in Game 1 of the WCF. But this was dirty. The Warriors are getting spanked at home in the 2nd half and Zaza intentionally targets the injured ankle of the Spurs' best player. It's Cobra Kai BS and it damages the league's credibility that this stuff is allowed.
I think you are overrating our supporting cast. Production trumps all. I don't think anyone was shocked that Aldridge, Gasol, Green, Mills and Manu could outproduce every Rocket not named Harden. The only surprise would be Simmons, but he seems pretty talented to me as well. And yes, I would happily swap our team minus Harden for theirs minus Leonard.
