[Western Conference Playoffs - 1st round] (3)LA Clippers vs. (6)San Antonio

You kidding me, Rox won't even make it past the next round to play GSW.

 

5 rings. I don't care how many you say he could have had if not for his dumb decisions. 5 rings. More than most coaches have. 5.

 

Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine? Bless your heart.

 

You mean because we were lucky Jordan retired and Kobe was hurt.

 

seriously why are you even here? go join a damn spurs or GSW forum chump

 

the game 7 is gonna be epic, these two teams are so tough i don't think we are the favorite to win against any one of them now, they are more experience, more level headed and plays hard all the time, whoever goes on, it will be a test for us

 

With Davis possibly out, may want to reconsider my choice which was the Spurs. My reservation is that when Crawford sees a Rocket's uniform, he goes MJ.

 

Here's an old Grantland article on the subject called "Ending the Argument: Rust vs. Rest" which ironically can neither prove nor disprove rust, thus allowing the argument to continue: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/ending-the-argument-rust-vs-rest/. While he does a little dabbling in the numbers there isn't any real statistical testing of the significance of what small variances he does show (no r-squares or anything like that), which would have made the article much more insightful.

Anyway, I still believe in rust, but not for any of the reasons mentioned in the article I linked. I don't think it's physical, like losing your stroke for not using it, because the players are going to be going to the gym and taking thousands of shots a day. But, I think players will lose a little mental acuity from after coming down from a very high level of alertness. In a 7-game series, your mind must be really locked in and completely focused on succeeding, and tracking every detail because there is so much desire and adrenaline and struggle involved. I've been that way in my work getting very important projects done. But, after my important project is done and I ramp down, it's harder to ramp back up and make myself perform in overdrive again. That's how I imagine it is for a playoff team after a layoff -- not quite as focused, just a split second slower to the ball, and a hair less desperate than they would have been otherwise. Apparently, proving that out statistically isn't easy given all the variables.

 

If Pop plays manu and Parker more than Mills and Ginobili Pop will have a hard time winning this game.

Hopefully if they win, Pop keeps playing Parker and Ginobili, Rockets win in 6 tbh

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matt Barnes with a reasoned, thoughtful response to Casey Jacobsen's thoughts on the Clippers <a href="http://t.co/zTy4k7Qslh">pic.twitter.com/zTy4k7Qslh</a></p>&mdash; Chris Ballard (@SI_ChrisBallard) <a href="https://twitter.com/SI_ChrisBallard/status/594165917795258369">May 1, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Matt Barnes is a certified punk.

 

I can bet my life that he won't play Manu more than Ginobili.

 

Lmao!!!

 

I'd be willing to bet they play exactly the same amount of minutes.

 

That's all fine an dandy. But he's not some bball god that you make him out to be. Going ahead and keep propping on a pedestal like you do, and call him flawless, and how everything he does his some secret, ingenious plan and how he invented modern basketball and yet loves analytics, presumably because he's worried other coaches will become better than him with stats.

 

Any word on the severity of Davis' injury?? I've gotta say, if that ends up being as bad as it looked, I think I'm leaning towards wanting to play the Clippers. Their already weak bench took a massive hit if Davis' injury is anything worse than a mild sprain.

 

All I would say is I would be careful about painting a broad brush across the Spurs or Clippers because of a single round.

Last year the Spurs didn't look anything like world beaters in the Dallas series. They then proceeded to mop the floor with every team afterwards.

As for the Clippers, they pretty much are who they are. Paul, Jordan, Reddick and Griffin with a bench that's inconsistent as heck. And given that they've never been past the 2nd round, there's still lots of doubt whether they have the focus and mental toughness to sustain a high level of play for 3 series and the Finals.

Both of these teams are very good, and while they may be tired after this series both of them should not be taken lightly. Clippers present a lot of match up problems and the Spurs still have a killer bench and tons of Championship experience and pedigree.

 

If Davis is out, Doc will be force to play Spencer Hawes. That may actually work in favor of Clippers. Hawes shot 41% 3PT last year. Not sure why he couldn't get any playing time in LAC.

 

Lol tell me more about how I think, mr. Mind reader.

 

Ok. That was frickin funny

I am wondering myself

Rocket River