This is not a championship caliber team

[jjktkk]

What about good teams find a way to win?

[SpursDynasty]

]From 2007-2010, the Spurs were too old, not athletic enough, and didn't have enough scoring, and winning 50-52 games the past couple of seasons was not enough.

Now, the Spurs are younger, more athletic, score more, are off to a 23-3 record, and that's not good enough?

[jestersmash]

I don't think the Spurs are a legit contender yet, but that's due to my lack of confidence in the frontcourt, outside of Duncan, and perimeter defenders..hopefully Anderson helps, he was already showing flashes..

This, I agree with this.

I simply wasn't persuaded by the reasons the OP gave for arguing why the Spurs aren't championship-caliber right now. You're highlighting the wrong things. There are far more fundamental, pressing issues with the Spurs than missing an easy alley-oop or turning the ball over in crunch time.

If you had to make a thread discussing why the Spurs aren't championship-caliber yet, it probably should've focused on the fact that we haven't developed Tiago to the level he needs to be at if we want to satisfactorily match up against a healthy L.A.'s front court, to give one example.

Harping on basic, mental errors is overrated. Those are errors that are easily rectified for future games, and if anything you should be glad that the Spurs are learning those lessons early on...in the regular season..while winning.

[GSH]

3 games in 4 nights. We made some very poor errors, admittedly, but it's the middle of December and this team has every chance to grow into a killer by April.

Ahh... the voice of reason. Couldn't agree more. I even think they will.

And if they have grown into a killer by April, they won't be doing some of the stupid they have done the last 3 games. You can throw away 45 minutes of great play with 3 minutes of carelessness.

I didn't think even the hardened homers would disagree with that.

Harping on basic, mental errors is overrated. Those are errors that are easily rectified for future games, and if anything you should be glad that the Spurs are learning those lessons early on...in the regular season..while winning.

Heh... mental errors overrated? I wonder what Pop would say about that?

[Capt Bringdown]

I don't think the Spurs are a legit contender yet, but that's due to my lack of confidence in the frontcourt, outside of Duncan, and perimeter defenders..hopefully Anderson helps, he was already showing flashes..

Agreed. Blair as a starter is a cute enough gimmick for regular season, but not good enough for the rigors/demands of a championship drive. I have been pleasantly surprised with Bonner's play the last couple of games, but consistency is a problem with him.

[jestersmash]

Heh... mental errors overrated? I wonder what Pop would say about that?

Man, I've actually had nightmares where I was a player for the Spurs getting chewed the out by Pop

He's about as intimidating as they come, but at the same time I appreciate the fact that he knows when to pull back in order to extract the best out of a player. I love the fact that he almost never will get mad at you for missing a shot. Instead, he'll get mad at you for not shooting a wide open shot, even if you're not one of the top 3 star players on this team.

It's precisely that kind of coaching that allows players like Matt Bonner to go 5-7, 6-8, 7-7 from 3 point land periodically when we really need it.

[Cry Havoc]

The (arguably) greatest team in NBA history lost 10 games in the regular season.

They lost to bad teams.

They lost in overtime.

They lost some close games.

They got blown out by 30.

And that's the greatest team in history. What team doesn't make stupid gaffes throughout the season? What team doesn't lose winnable games, what team doesn't win loseable games?

How many bad games did our le teams have?

This is a fear-mongering thread.

WE ARE 23-3.

We are WINNING GAMES.

THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

[DeadlyDynasty]

One thing I can say about the Spurs that I've never been able to say before this year: they are fun to watch. They are a WCF contender for sure.

[jestersmash]

One thing I can say about the Spurs that I've never been able to say before this year: they are fun to watch. They are a WCF contender for sure.

Not only that, but Spurs-Lakers is an actual rivalry that I think we can all look forward to watching in the playoffs.

It's laughable how the media is trying to fabricate new rivalries out of thin air. Knicks-Boston? Seriously? I loved Paul Pierce's response to this issue, by the way. Guy was just taken aback that people actually think there is some sort of rivalry between 2010 Celtics and 2010 Knicks. What a joke.

Now they're trying to re-kindle the Knicks-Heat rivalry? What a god damned joke.

To be an actual rivalry, I'd say one of the most fundamental pre-requisites is that both teams have to be of comparable skill.

Spurs/Lakers
Lakers/Celtics

These are matchups worthy of being called "rivalries."

[gospursgojas]

ESPN cant hide its Lebron 11 games in a row or whatever and Knicks winning boner right now.

[MaNu4Tres]

TD 21 Agreed with everything

HH Agreed on front-court take (Only thing worrying me about this team; other than health of big 3 and how Anderson comes back from the injury.)

[GSH]

The (arguably) greatest team in NBA history lost 10 games in the regular season.

They lost to bad teams.

You're kidding, right? You're seriously ing kidding?

That team only lost 6 games in two seasons to non-playoff teams. And several of those were teams that were .500 or better, but still didn't make the playoffs. It doesn't have anything to do with the Spurs this season, but damn.

[Cessation]

they are just playing down to these bottom feeders

[rmt]

Spurs arent true championship contenders IMO either (despite what the record might suggest) but that realisation had nothing to do with this game.

I cant see any scenario where a team can win a championship with DeJuan Blair and Matt Bonner as its 2nd and 3rd best bigs... especially when you look at what the contenders have up front. If anything... the Spurs W-L record is giving people a false sense of hope. Something doesnt feel right about the team.. like its lacking real championship pedigree outside of the Big 3.. but it could be just me.

I agree. Bonner and Blair will not work against the big front lines of LAL and BOS. Spurs made their big run with Splitter on the floor, but he ended up with only 8 mins.

BOS is so deep in the front court I think they could even survive an injury to KG. Bynum/Gasol/Odom have too much length for TD and whoever Pop puts out there because it won't be Splitter. Against 2 post players like Randolph and Gasol, Pop still plays Blair/Bonner/Dice and watches as Randolph continually rebounds the ball for easy put backs.

[DeadlyDynasty]

I agree. Bonner and Blair will not work against the big front lines of LAL and BOS. Spurs made their big run with Splitter on the floor, but he ended up with only 8 mins.

BOS is so deep I think they could even survive an injury to one of their big 3. Bynum/Gasol/Odom have too much length for TD and whoever Pop puts out there because it won't be Splitter. Against 2 post players like Randolph and Gasol, Pop still plays Blair/Bonner/Dice and watches as Randolph continually rebounds the ball for easy put backs.

The goods

[polandprzem]

I agree. Bonner and Blair will not work against the big front lines of LAL and BOS. Spurs made their big run with Splitter on the floor, but he ended up with only 8 mins.

BOS is so deep in the front court I think they could even survive an injury to KG. Bynum/Gasol/Odom have too much length for TD and whoever Pop puts out there because it won't be Splitter. Against 2 post players like Randolph and Gasol, Pop still plays Blair/Bonner/Dice and watches as Randolph continually rebounds the ball for easy put backs.

And credits Randolph for doing it

[BUMP]

ESPN cant hide its Lebron 11 games in a row or whatever and Knicks winning boner right now.

lol ugly
lol ugly sister

[GSH]

You know what's ironic is that, unlike a lot of people here, I'm not worried about their frontcourt. I'm not worried about Splitter's minutes, or Blair's height. I'm not worried that they are shooting too many 3-pointers, or even that their defense isn't the same as it used to be. I wouldn't have been worried if they had lost any of the last 3 games.

Piss poor clock management, and utter carelessness in crunch time - those are the things that runner-up teams do. That 8 second violation... IN OVERTIME still has me pulling my hair out. That wasn't Beno out there, it was one of the best PG's in the league.

I think this team, with the way Pop is letting them run, has what it takes to grind down any other team in the league in 7 games. I've said so from the start. But the kind of stuff they've done recently won't get them there. And those things are sort of like missed free throws - they can be contagious. If you lose three in a row (instead of winning 3 coin-tosses), a lot of players start pressing. Especially younger players, of which we have several.

The Nuggets believe that they beat the Spurs, and got screwed. If the Spurs hadn't done some VERY stupid things, the Nuggets would be thinking "We gave it our best shot, and we still can't beat them." That's what will make this a championship caliber team.

[HankChinaski]

TD & HH made some points with their reasoning. Me honestly, I can't go and judge this team not being championship contenders till we have at least seen what we can do against teams like Boston, LA, Dallas a bit more extensively.

All i know is that in previous years when one of the big three had a bad night it practically guaranteed a loss.

That hasn't been the case this year. In slumps in game where Manu/Parker/Duncan have come out not firing well on the offensive end we have had a bench come out on the floor and play well with the minutes given.

And when are you guys going to stop living in the past and realize this team isn't going to be the defensive half court operated monsters it used to live by?

It's a team adjusting to variation of play while still finding a medium with providing great team defense when they are focused.

Now games like tonight and the last two before where they just make errors of judgement in game makes them look bad in a certain light....it doesn't determine for me that they are not a champ caliber team.

[cutewizard]

This is not a championship caliber team. Not now, anyway. They could develop into one. But with the stunts they have pulled the last several nights - the unforced errors in crunch time? Not a chance. And the most disturbing part is that a lot of the worst mental errors are being committed by their best players.

Tonight they had a 5 point lead, and possession of the ball, with about 1:10 left. Instead of running off some time and looking for a high percentage shot late in the clock, they tried to force an alley-oop on a damned fast break, and used up what? Four seconds? Stupid.

And can they really be so casual in overtime that they fail to bring the ball across mid-court within 8 seconds? Seriously? In overtime, with the game on the line? I know Parker is talented, and he was a beast - in the fourth quarter especially. But every team has talented players, who can dominate quarters. Championship teams have a sense of urgency. Runner-up teams look back on all the opportunities they missed throughout the season.

You could argue that the Spurs keep finding some way to come out on top. You could - but it would be a ridiculous argument. Only the fact that Memphis is a young, sub-.500 team allowed the Spurs to even get to overtime. The Spurs did everything they could to give the game away, and any better team would have said "Thank you" and gone home with a W. The previous two games required miracle plays by Manu. But when you look at how close Manu's last shot in Denver came to rolling out, or how close his last shot against Milwaukee came to being a travel, you have to recognize that the Spurs could just as easily be sitting on a 3 game losing streak. As good as Manu and Tony played at the end of those games, the W's are still a matter of luck.

Championships aren't won on luck. The Spurs have quite literally thrown away three games in a row with stupid, lackadaisical play down the stretch. The fact that the basketball gods chose to go dumpster diving and give the games back doesn't mean a thing. The basketball gods take the months of May and June off.

The Spurs have the talent, now, to win another championship. They have a better bench than they have had in years. And any of their Big 3 can rise to the level of hero on any given night. But even that won't be enough to overcome the kind of stupid unforced errors they have committed in the last few games. They began the season believing that they needed to get off to a fast start. Lately they seem to have gone back to the at ude that a loss or two, here and there, is no big deal. Losing a few games won't kill them - but the at ude will. There are no gimmes in the NBA, and every game along the way is important. Championship teams live and breath that.

Still a long way.

Well see in June.

In the end, the strongest team wins.

[HankChinaski]

Whoever was mentioning I can't see a team win with having Blair/Bonner in your starting lineup...shut up.

Just because Blair walks out with the starting line up every game this season doesn't mean he is going to be closing every game with them. This rotation of the front court is just me thinking Pop is trying to manage the minutes of Duncan and Dice.

If you have been watching every game so far this season like I have you can see how Pop has been utilizing Bonner and Blair in some extend periods in the first half to manage Duncan and Dice more efficiently into the second half to close out the games. And depending how either Bonner and Blair look he'll play one over the other for majority playing time to rest out Duncan/Dice.

Splitter just isn't ready to be getting a large chunk of the playing time off the bench just yet. My thoughts on him as of right now. Terrific footwork on defense, manageable position and boxing out man in the paint on the glass (yet despite that isn't generating rebounds per game like he could be able to.), shows ability to pass in and out of the post, ability to play and create in the post. He just doesn't seem to know what set role he should be providing every game. I mentioned this before earlier in an older thread but I truly believe Pop hasn't really given any real role for Splitter this year yet. He just throws him out as an energy guy much like Blair last year. If we were playing more back into a half court set offense every single position that always feed it into their big in the post ala the Duncan years then I could see him flourishing better. That isn't this team setup right now. It's faster and driven by it's back court slashing into the paint to create for the shooters outside and around the bucket. Overall he needs more polish with the system and that's going to be an off-season into training camp type of situation with Splitter. For now, i'm content with where he is right now.

We have a terrific back-court, above average to pretty good front-court. If we could play duncan and dice 35 minutes a game all season and into the playoffs without seeing a drop-off in performance or wear and tear the coaching staff would do so. But that isn't the case and more importantly they have to evaluate during the regular season what this current squad from last year can do against the elites now that they are playing better.

[temujin]

I agree.
But not because of the error with the 8'' clock.

Because Bonner most likely will play in the 4th in PO games as well, and Spurs have ZERO chance to make it to the Final without Splitter playing big time.

As easy as that.

[TDMVPDPOY]

23-3 u mad?

[mingus]

the team has frontcourt deficiencies, but the heart on that this team is demonstrating early on is great. it's a team on the decline, but figthing its hardest to keep the window open and defy critics, and you gotta love that. that's all you can ask for.

[mystargtr34]

One thing I can say about the Spurs that I've never been able to say before this year: they are fun to watch. They are a WCF contender for sure.

Only if Dallas can knock off the Lakers for them... tbh.