how worried?
How worried should Spurs fans be after the ridiculous dismantling handed out by the Pistons tonight?
How cool is it that our goals are so lofty that being the overwhelming favorite to win the conference still leaves room for concern?
I would not have been shocked had the Spurs lost tonight. But to get completely dominated on the glass - again - by the Pistons was embarrassing. I think we finished with 47 fewer rebounds than Detroit in two games. That is appalling.
Nick Van Exel is a horrid player. He hurts the team so badly, taking ridiculous shots, over-dribbling, taking horrible shots, failing to rotate on defense, taking horrible shots, turning the ball over, ..... Oh, and did I mention his horrible shot selection?
Egads.
I wonder how much Duncan's foot is slowing him down. I wonder if two weeks on the pines would help him. And if so, why the heck isn't he there? Granted, the Spurs are no lock for their division - Dallas is playing very well. And not winning your division means you can finish no higher than the four seed. But does any team in the West frighten me in a seven game series? Nope. Not even close. It would suck to play Dallas with them having home court advantage - wrapping up the series in five games would mean winning it on their floor rather than having the party in San Antonio, but we could meet the team at the airport if we really needed to party. (And besides, I am mean enough that I prefer it when the Spurs clinch the series in the other team's building. Especially when we took out the Lakers in 2003. Watching Kobe and Dyan Cannon cry was way better than watching the Silver Dancers jumping up and down.)
I am still not sold on the Pistons being the clear cut favorite, which is something after watching them kick our butts twice in three weeks. At some point, don't we have to abandon the Van Exel experiment and run the offense with Brent Barry and Manu Ginobili in the game whenever Parker sits? We have got to have Manu on the floor for more minutes than he gets coming off the bench. 24 or 28 just doesn't cut it. We need 34 from him. Duncan is the engine of this team, but Manu puts them over the top.
So I have some doubts, but not as many as I would have expected fresh off of this dismantling. I still think the Spurs are the team to beat. Spurs fans out there reading this (ok, Pat and Bonnie), what do you think?
posted by Curtis Ruder @ 12:22 AM
1 Comments:
Curtis,
We will likely disagree here. At this point, the Pistons are clearly the team to beat. I know you think homecourt advantage means little in the playoffs, but I think having to win a few times in Detroit could be a problem.
Right now, the Pistons are the team to beat because they have as good a defense as anyone, and because they have the MVP on their team: Chauncey Billups. Seriously, I watch a ton of Pistons games and he is playing at a great level, every night. He is the brain and heart of that team.
As for the Spurs, there is no doubt in my mind that Manu gets close to 40 minutes when it matters. Finley is still a big question mark. Van Exel is, ummmm, lacking. Someone needs to tell Rasho that the game doesn't end after the first 12 minutes. Nazr needs to wake up and play. And sadly, it all might not matter. Duncan's foot problem won't go away in two weeks. To properly heal, he'll need 6-8 weeks and he won't get that until summertime. If he is at 85% in the playoffs, the Spurs can't win the title.
And I still don't think the Spurs are a lock for the Western Conference. Dallas could give them fits, and even more worrisome to me is Phoenix. With the return of a healthy Amare (who the Spurs have never been able to stop) they pose a threat. Granted, the Spurs are clearly the best team at getting back in transition and taking away all fast break points (a must in the playoffs against a team like Phoenix) but it is still a bit early to give the Conference title to the Spurs.
What I expect is that over the coming road trip, and in March and April, we will see the Spurs turn the corner, much like every other Spurs team that has contended for the title.
Now a quick story that B probably doesn't want me to tell, but I will because it is pretty darn funny.
All of her students know that Bonnie is a big Spurs fan... she will talk with some of the students all the time about the NBA. Most of them are Mavs fans, for obvious reasons. Last semester, one of her students was Nick Van Exel. He is on the basketball team and shares the name of a NBA player. He is also one of the guys that talks NBA with her before/after each class.
So one day she asks him: "So, are you related to Nick Van Exel that plays with the Spurs?"
"Nah. I get asked that alot, but no, I'm not. Just have the same name."
"Good. He sucks. I didn't like him when he was a Mav and now he is killing my Spurs. I can't stand him."
Fast forward a few weeks, and Bonnie is working the clock at the JV basketball game, and her student's mother comes up to introduce herself. They talk for a while, Bonnie notes how Nick is a pretty good player and having a very good game that night. His mother notes that his father plays in the NBA for the Spurs.
"Ohh, so he is related to the NBA player. Interesting."
"Yeah, Nick is his father. He doesn't like to tell people because he wants to make sure that people like him for him."
Imagine her surprise.
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