NBA 2009: Oddly Enough, San Antonio Spurs Are The Best Bet For The Title

[duncan228]

NBA 2009: Oddly enough, San Antonio Spurs are the best bet for the title (http://www.sportingo.com/basketball/a10859_nba-oddly-enough-san-antonio-spurs-best-bet-title)
LA Lakers and Boston Celtics are among the favourites, but check out the year and check out Spurs' record.
by Douglas Strother

With the season a little over a month old I find it interesting that many fans and experts are already crowning the Los Angeles Lakers NBA champions for 2009.

Why not? They’ve got out to a quick start, they have the best scorer (not player) in their team, the most successful coach since Red Auerbach, and are the defending Western Conference champions.

But what those same fans and experts seem to be forgetting is that the Lakers were spanked in the Finals by the Celtics last season, showing they can be rattled easily. They haven’t won a championship since Shaq O'Neal donned the purple and gold, and the most obvious reason of all, they would have to stop a succession of championships won by the San Antonio Spurs every odd year since 2003.

In a sporting society where the ‘what have you done for me lately?’ mentality runs rampant, a team like the San Antonio Spurs might fall off the radar after their slow 2-5 start to the season.

The ankle injuries suffered by Manu Ginobili over the summer and then Tony Parker a week into the season, wouldn’t have helped their cause either. But after quick recoveries, both are back, and the best trio in the West are reunited. With a 9-8 record they find themselves only a tiebreaker outside the play-off picture and just two games outside of first place in the Southwest division.

Over the years what has made the Spurs successful is obvious - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Gregg Popovich. But less credit has gone to the role players, some of whom have come up huge in the play-offs.

Who can forget Robert Horry’s 21-point performance in Game Five of the 2005 NBA Finals against Detroit, or Steve Kerr’s four three-pointers against the Mavericks in Game Six of the 2003 Western Conference Finals, or Malik Rose’s memorable dunk over Dikembe Mutombo to spark a run by the Spurs against the Nets in Game Five of the NBA Finals in 2003.

The Spurs have these role players in the form of Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto. They won’t exactly set the world on fire, but hey, they are role players. Also, in Ginobili and Parker’s absence, Roger Mason and George Hill became part of the rotation and that experience will have proved invaluable, and Popovich knows he can call on them any time throughout the season. Now put that all together and you have the makings of another championship team.

Admittedly this team isn’t getting any younger. Duncan has been in the league for more than a decade. He’s no spring chicken, but the Celtics taught us a few things about a championship team. One is that three All-Stars isn’t a case of too many cooks in the kitchen; and two, defensive role players are key; and three, age is just a number.

So that just leaves the most obvious question: Just how do they get past the Lakers and the Boston Celtics to achieve championship glory? In the case of the Lakers, last year the Spurs sorely missed a healthy and subsequently quick Ginobili, which usually gives the opposition defense nightmares. That way Parker can play his own game and he doesn’t have to force the issue offensively.

Then, to overcome the addition of Andrew Bynum (who missed the play-offs last season), the Spurs can count on Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to defend him and leave Duncan to worry about scoring and staying out of foul trouble.

For the Celtics, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will cancel each other out, and the same goes for Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker. Paul Pierce’s scoring will suffer while he uses his energy defending Ginobili, Ray Allen will find it difficult to score against his arch nemesis Bruce Bowen. Those two have a colourful history, one which Bowen almost always wins.

And besides, all reasons aside, who can forget, it's 2009, an odd year; the year of the Spurs.

[xtremesteven33]

NBA Finals 2009:

Boston Celtics vs San Antonio Spurs


Epic.

[Anti.Hero]

but the Celtics taught us a few things about a championship team. One is that three All-Stars isn’t a case of too many cooks in the kitchen; and two, defensive role players are key; and three, age is just a number.

uh wtf.

The Spurs have taught people this for the past decade.

[spursfan09]

uh wtf.

The Spurs have taught people this for the past decade.

:lol I thought that was ironic to.

And Do Rondo and Parker really cancel eachother out? :wtf

[benefactor]

uh wtf.

The Spurs have taught people this for the past decade.
Indeed...but it was said about the Celtics so it matters more. Here's an example:

zNCrMEOqHpc

[tomtom]

how is rondo equal to parker??

[DROB4EVER]

What kinda nut is this saying Tony and Rondo cancel each other out. Rondo cant carry TPs jock! The guy is a good defender and plays well of the other star but lets face it his is barely better than Hill!

[Lakers_55]

Then, to overcome the addition of Andrew Bynum (who missed the play-offs last season), the Spurs can count on Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to defend him and leave Duncan to worry about scoring and staying out of foul trouble.


Can you really count on this to keep him from scoring about 15, grabbing 10 boards and blocking a few shots? Also, doesn't TD usually stay out of foul trouble? What's the Spurs answer for Ariza? Hey, we can debate it all we want, the players will settle it in the spring.

[SpursFanFirst]

Nonsense. ESPN has already decided the outcome of the season, and the Spurs aren't in it.
So...on to next year.
Should we: A) Fire Pop, B) Trade Manu and Tony, C) Trade Bonner, D) All of the above...after all, we'll never win with these guys.
:stirpot:

[BlackBellamy]

Nonsense. ESPN has already decided the outcome of the season, and the Spurs aren't in it.
So...on to next year.
Should we: A) Fire Pop, B) Trade Manu and Tony, C) Trade Bonner, D) All of the above...after all, we'll never win with these guys.
:stirpot:

No No No! We need to just give the whole franchise to Seattle. Also, has anyone else noticed that the sky is falling!

[mrspurs]

If Shaq and Gasol hadnt gone to different teams last season. And had Boston not decided to purchase a championship team and set it around one of the best developing point guards in the league many seem to forget in Rondo. The league may just stand a chance. Theres always that Cinderella out there.

[timtonymanu]

Rondo is so overrated. One breakout season and he's equal to Tony Parker. This guy still cant make his layups when he does a fake behind the back pass.

[Manufan909]

I predict Hill cancels out Rondo, and leaves no one to equal TPs production on the Celtics.

[mystargtr34]

Then, to overcome the addition of Andrew Bynum (who missed the play-offs last season), the Spurs can count on Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to defend him and leave Duncan to worry about scoring and staying out of foul trouble.

:lmao


For the Celtics, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will cancel each other out, and the same goes for Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker.

:lmao:lmao:lmao

[daslicer]

Rondo is so overrated. One breakout season and he's equal to Tony Parker. This guy still cant make his layups when he does a fake behind the back pass.

I don't think he's great but neither is he scrub. To me Rondo is a poor man's version of Jason Kidd. He's a great rebounder for PG and is above average assist guy. The celtics don't need him to be scorer and this exactly why he fits in real well with them. In any scenario against the Lakers or Celtics for the spurs to prevail they will have to get huge production from big 3 on top of that they will all have to be healthy. When the spurs big 3 is at the top of their game I don't think anybody in the league can overcome their production. The other factor that comes into play is that the role players will have to step up and come up big which didn't happen last year against the Lakers.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Can you really count on this to keep him from scoring about 15, grabbing 10 boards and blocking a few shots? Also, doesn't TD usually stay out of foul trouble? What's the Spurs answer for Ariza? Hey, we can debate it all we want, the players will settle it in the spring.

Lakers >>>>> Spurs

The Spurs really need to shore up their front line if they wanna hang with the Lakers.

[DPG21920]

Spurs have a huge backcourt advantage over the Lakers. It will be who's strength (Lakers-frontcourt, Spurs-backcourt) dominates more.

[m33p0]

let's not forget that Boston taught the league Defense Wins Championships. :rolleyes

[pawe]

TD and KG will cancel each other out? Players cant cancel each other out. they may score the same points, grab the same amount of rebounds but there is still the intimidation factor, anchoring team defense, shoring up the teams morale and probably just being a good leader. When TD gets the ball, he commands so much attention that the other team's defense breaks down. KG is just a black Dirk Nowitzki, one man coverage is usually enough.

[Anti.Hero]

Spurs have a huge backcourt advantage over the Lakers. It will be who's strength (Lakers-frontcourt, Spurs-backcourt) dominates more.

I'd rather rely on post up than jump shots. :depressed

[pawe]

Spurs have a huge backcourt advantage over the Lakers. It will be who's strength (Lakers-frontcourt, Spurs-backcourt) dominates more.

We all know that height is might. But TD, TP and Manu's heart is bigger than anyone on the league right now..except that freak of a player named Kobe

[peskypesky]

That article is pretty sketchy. A lot of questionable statements and irrelevant "points".

When discussing the Spurs/Lakers matchup, he implies that Oberto & Thomas will be able to handle Bynum, leaving Duncan free from foul trouble. Oh really, then who's going to guard Gasol and Odom? Guess Tim won't pick up any fouls guarding two offensive threats.

And who says Oberto/Thomas can handle Bynum? They're old and slow...Bynum is young and fast. Advantage Bynum. Sure, they will have 12 fouls to give between the two of them, but that gets the Spurs into the penalty quickly and Bynum is a good FT shooter.

As for the Celtics, as others have pointed out, to say Rondo cancels out Parker is moronic. To say KG cancels out Duncan is not quite as stupid on the surface, but I think it's a stretch.

Also, the writer argues that guarding Ginobili will sap Pierce's scoring ability. Hmmm, well he seemed to score pretty well in the Finals against the Lakers when he was guarding a guy named Kobe Bryant.

As confident as I am that the Spurs are contenders, I don't think anyone can look at this team and not see a glaring weakness in the post. Besides Tim Duncan, the Spurs big men are truly second-rate. Slow, unathletic, and aside from Bonner, not scoring threats. Also, none of them are shot-blockers.

The truth is the Spurs are contenders and they are much better than their record. But getting by the Lakers, the Celtics and maybe even the Suns will not be easy. Not at all.

[m33p0]

truth be told, Spurs are only one big man rebounder away from being taken seriously as a title contender...
























... and he might already be in the line up.

bonner anyone?

[peskypesky]

I'd rather rely on post up than jump shots. :depressed

:toast

Big men win championships. It's always been that way and always will be. Only one guy was ever able to win a championship without top-rate big men, and that was Michael Jordan.

Go back and look at all the championship teams, and you'll see that almost every single one was anchored by a Duncan, a Shaq, an Olajuwon, a Garnett, a Moses Malone, an Abdul-Jabbar, a Chamberlain, a Russell, a Cowens, a McHale, a Willis Reed, a Wes Unseld, a Bill Walton, or a George Mikan.

http://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html

Championships are won in the paint.

[Obstructed_View]

Funny how that was true and then there was a really long drought. Jabbar wasn't really dominant his final championship, and following him were the likes of James Edwards, John Salley, Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Bill Wennington, and Luc Longley. If it weren't for Jordan's suspension ;), there might not have been any decent bigs winning titles in the decade until Duncan and Robinson did it in '99.

[m33p0]

I'd rather rely on post up than jump shots. :depressed
isn't that why the Spurs have all those jumpshooters so that Mr. Duncan would have a little bit more room to operate at the post?

[peskypesky]

Funny how that was true and then there was a really long drought. Jabbar wasn't really dominant his final championship, and following him were the likes of James Edwards, John Salley, Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Bill Wennington, and Luc Longley. If it weren't for Jordan's suspension ;), there might not have been any decent bigs winning titles in the decade until Duncan and Robinson did it in '99.

Umm, I already made that point in my original post when I said that only Michael Jordan was able to win a championship without top-rate big-men. He is the exception that proves the rule.

[phyzik]

can we please get stats with Duncan Vs Garnett after his trade????

Cancel each other out my mother fucking ass!!! Duncan owns his shit!

Put Duncan on the T-wolves and they would have a 'ship years ago.

[wisnub]

Now I remember odd years....this year should be Spurs year then :lobt2:

Everybody's invited to the party :danceclub

[Brazil]

truth be told, Spurs are only one big man rebounder away from being taken seriously as a title contender...

... and he might already be in the line up.

bonner anyone?

+1 with the hope that Ian can be this big man

[mrspurs]

I'd rather rely on post up than jump shots. :depressed

Yep and I thought the same last season. With Fisher at the point I figured we had already killed the toughest teams in the Suns and NO last season. I was dead wrong. You can only put 5 guys on the court at the same time. As long as Kobe is in your frontcourt, your better then any frontcourt period.

[Ghazi]

TD and KG will cancel each other out? Players cant cancel each other out. they may score the same points, grab the same amount of rebounds but there is still the intimidation factor, anchoring team defense, shoring up the teams morale and probably just being a good leader. When TD gets the ball, he commands so much attention that the other team's defense breaks down. KG is just a black Dirk Nowitzki, one man coverage is usually enough.



KG <<< Dirk offensively

[JWest596]

Ask me when we get there. It's a long season. Lots of intangibles. Any prominent injury on any team throws predictions/fortune telling out the window, after all the season is barely a month old.

The Spurs faced and admirably overcame a very tough start, that plays well. Nothing matters until after the rodeo trip.

[manufor3]

NBA 2009: Oddly enough, San Antonio Spurs are the best bet for the title (http://www.sportingo.com/basketball/a10859_nba-oddly-enough-san-antonio-spurs-best-bet-title)
LA Lakers and Boston Celtics are among the favourites, but check out the year and check out Spurs' record.
by Douglas Strother

With the season a little over a month old I find it interesting that many fans and experts are already crowning the Los Angeles Lakers NBA champions for 2009.

Why not? They’ve got out to a quick start, they have the best scorer (not player) in their team, the most successful coach since Red Auerbach, and are the defending Western Conference champions.

But what those same fans and experts seem to be forgetting is that the Lakers were spanked in the Finals by the Celtics last season, showing they can be rattled easily. They haven’t won a championship since Shaq O'Neal donned the purple and gold, and the most obvious reason of all, they would have to stop a succession of championships won by the San Antonio Spurs every odd year since 2003.

In a sporting society where the ‘what have you done for me lately?’ mentality runs rampant, a team like the San Antonio Spurs might fall off the radar after their slow 2-5 start to the season.

The ankle injuries suffered by Manu Ginobili over the summer and then Tony Parker a week into the season, wouldn’t have helped their cause either. But after quick recoveries, both are back, and the best trio in the West are reunited. With a 9-8 record they find themselves only a tiebreaker outside the play-off picture and just two games outside of first place in the Southwest division.

Over the years what has made the Spurs successful is obvious - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Gregg Popovich. But less credit has gone to the role players, some of whom have come up huge in the play-offs.

Who can forget Robert Horry’s 21-point performance in Game Five of the 2005 NBA Finals against Detroit, or Steve Kerr’s four three-pointers against the Mavericks in Game Six of the 2003 Western Conference Finals, or Malik Rose’s memorable dunk over Dikembe Mutombo to spark a run by the Spurs against the Nets in Game Five of the NBA Finals in 2003.

The Spurs have these role players in the form of Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto. They won’t exactly set the world on fire, but hey, they are role players. Also, in Ginobili and Parker’s absence, Roger Mason and George Hill became part of the rotation and that experience will have proved invaluable, and Popovich knows he can call on them any time throughout the season. Now put that all together and you have the makings of another championship team.

Admittedly this team isn’t getting any younger. Duncan has been in the league for more than a decade. He’s no spring chicken, but the Celtics taught us a few things about a championship team. One is that three All-Stars isn’t a case of too many cooks in the kitchen; and two, defensive role players are key; and three, age is just a number.

So that just leaves the most obvious question: Just how do they get past the Lakers and the Boston Celtics to achieve championship glory? In the case of the Lakers, last year the Spurs sorely missed a healthy and subsequently quick Ginobili, which usually gives the opposition defense nightmares. That way Parker can play his own game and he doesn’t have to force the issue offensively.

Then, to overcome the addition of Andrew Bynum (who missed the play-offs last season), the Spurs can count on Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to defend him and leave Duncan to worry about scoring and staying out of foul trouble.

For the Celtics, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will cancel each other out, and the same goes for Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker. Paul Pierce’s scoring will suffer while he uses his energy defending Ginobili, Ray Allen will find it difficult to score against his arch nemesis Bruce Bowen. Those two have a colourful history, one which Bowen almost always wins.

And besides, all reasons aside, who can forget, it's 2009, an odd year; the year of the Spurs.

rajon cancels out PARKER?

[byrdman31]

From.. lets tank the season... easy championship... gotta love ST:lol


ps.. i been saying championship since the beginning :lobt2:

[m33p0]

Yep and I thought the same last season. With Fisher at the point I figured we had already killed the toughest teams in the Suns and NO last season. I was dead wrong. You can only put 5 guys on the court at the same time. As long as Kobe is in your frontcourt, your better then any frontcourt period.
luckily he's a guard then, huh.

[Tbiggums47]

Lakers >>>>> Spurs

The Spurs really need to shore up their front line if they wanna hang with the Lakers.

I agree. The Spurs are one frontline player from being a "dominant" team. I hope that Ian Mahimi is the player we need! Or should I say "shot blocker" away. The last couple years teams have been able to get to the bucket on the Spurs and finish. During the D-Rob and TD Era there was no such thing as finishing around the Spurs basket. I hope Ian can fill the void because the Spurs are set everywhere else on the Court. They don't have to be spring chickens on the frontline as long as they have young legs on the perimeter!:lobt2: