Celtics FINALLY beat SA in Tim Duncan era...

[SPURSX3]

And won in SA for the first time in 17 years.   You would think they would be making a fuss about this.  They DID win on St. PAtricks day after all...Man I hope this gets the Spurs to turn it around, this is REALLY the low point of the year as far as I am concerned.

[westkoast]

I think this would be a bigger deal if it wasn't a fluke    Obviously this team got lucky and found SA on an off night.

Props to the uhh, Celtics fans here, or something? haha

[Reality]

I'm just waiting for the playoffs.  Trying to assign any logic to Pop is useless.
Bowens back is obviously still out of whack, and if they think they can milk him strictly for defense 35 minutes a game it won't work anymore, other teams have adjusted.  They are now playing D to let Bowen get the clank shot on O.

Finleys having tape of Spurs ownership in compromising positions continues to pay off for him.
Altho he does have lurker ecstatic with his rocket to 40%.  He has done better with the leather ball but still takes the 4th most shots on the team and does nothing else D wise, reboundwise, assistwise and the next time he takes the ball to the rack will be his 1st time as a Spur.  All common complaints while he was still in Dallas!  Yet he continues to get minutes.  Dallas pays him 17 mil a year to go away.  1-0 Dallas so far and 2-0 has got to looking good with their .800 win %. 

Spurs are 22-0 when TallBall Frankie Elson gets 22+ minutes yet Poop keeps going small with Fabbs and Fins at the Center or Power Forward position.  Oh the fear created in the opposition.

Still, playoffs are another world, lets see what happens.
Duncan put on an MVP performance in last years playoffs and i think he is conserving for the same thing this year.
If Parker is not wrecked due to injury he will also have a career playoffs.
If Spurs can get hot it will be the hardest earned bracket trip of all 3 previous West Champs. 

[WayOutWest]

If Spurs can get hot it will be the hardest earned bracket trip of all 3 previous West Champs. 

That would be incorrect.  I think it was 2001, not sure, when the 8th seed in the WC had a 50 win season.  That was the toughest bracket in NBA history.

[Reality]

All 3 previous Spurs Championships, not flukey Lakers and the Portland farce.
99 03 05.

One and done Spurs in 07?

[Lurker]

Spurs are 22-0 when TallBall Frankie Elson gets 22+ minutes yet Poop keeps going small with Fabbs and Fins at the Center or Power Forward position.  Oh the fear created in the opposition.

5 fouls in 12 minutes tends to limit one's playing time.  Try reading this local article then puff up Elson all you want...

Of late, however, Elson has had trouble staying on the court. Less than two minutes into the second half of Thursday's loss in Milwaukee, he picked up his third foul and was replaced by Robert Horry. A week earlier in Sacramento, he collected five fouls in 12 minutes.

Depending on how Elson and the Spurs' other big men are performing, coach Gregg Popovich — as he did in the fourth quarter Saturday against Boston — will sometimes elect to play small.

"The jury's still out," Popovich said. "We're hoping (Elson) can make me keep him out there with good play. It's really up to those guys to help me make a decision based on their play.

"I don't want to make a decision on paper. I want to do it based on what I see on the court."

or from the same article...

But after missing nearly a month because of a right shoulder injury, Elson also still sometimes looks like he's thinking rather than reacting. The Spurs' defense requires quick decisions, and if Elson is late getting across the lane to help, his mistake can yield a layup, as well as expose him to an unnecessary foul.

"Every once in a while, a play will confound him or a defensive rotation," Popovich said. "It's pretty natural for somebody who's new to the program; it takes a while to figure it out. Usually, people's second years are better than their first."

The Spurs would benefit if Elson can speed up his learning curve. After playing in Denver the first three seasons of his career, he said he's learning to adjust to his new team's expectations.

"They've won three (championships)," Elson said. "Me? I'm coming from a team that won a division. I have to prepare better and be focused at all times.

"That," Elson said, smiling and pointing to his head, "requires more working of the brain."

Also in place of Finley you would play Barry??  Talk about lack of defense & rebounding not to mention continuously being taken off the dribble.  But that's OK because Elson is back there to collect another foul.


Once you actually watch a few games instead of boxscore reading then maybe we can discuss the Spurs as adults.

[Reality]

5 fouls in 12 minutes tends to limit one's playing time.  Try reading this local article then puff up Elson all you want...

Read it.  So Elson has had a clunker game in one out of 10.  Who hasn't?
Are you going to westkoast/Randy me on the 22-0 record when he gets minutes?  13 game streak also started and maintained when Elson started and played and Fabs was benched and reduced.  Beyond that yes he is still blowing to many assignments, specifically late on rotations.  How harmful?  All of Nazr Mohammeds blown assignments in the 2005 Championship run.  Really hurt the Spurs.  Along with Barry 25 min per game that entire Champ run.

"The jury's still out," Popovich said. "We're hoping (Elson) can make me keep him out there with good play. It's really up to those guys to help me make a decision based on their play.

"I don't want to make a decision on paper. I want to do it based on what I see on the court."

Ahaha   So how did Finley earn minutes "based on play" the 1st half of the season?

Also in place of Finley you would play Barry??  Talk about lack of defense & rebounding not to mention continuously being taken off the dribble.  But that's OK because Elson is back there to collect another foul.

They both suck equally on D and rebounding.  Barry shoots near league leading 68% fga to Fins 45.
68% is much better then 45% when all else is relatively equal.
I guess Fabs is back there to not foul after Finley gets taken off the dribble?

On a commonality, they both fail to take the ball to the rack.  Something they both could do very well at as they knock down FTs excellently.

[Lurker]

Barry shoots near league leading 68% fga to Fins 45.
68% is much better then 45% when all else is relatively equal.

                        g   min   fg    fga   %  3pt   3pta     %
barry,brent        64 21.7  174  354 .492 106   237    .447   
finley,michael     66 21.2  202  513 .394  70   216     .324

Not sure where you get your stats but they definately don't match the official ones.  And BTW after Barry's hot opening 2 months he has steadily declined while Finley has improved.  IMO the player improving down the stretch is the one I would play.  November/December heroics don't count in March/April.

[Reality]

Not sure where you get your stats but they definately don't match the official ones. 

espn.  Three point shot worth more then a two.  Thus adjuted fga.  I was off by 2 percentage points, sorry.
64% Barry
46% Findawg
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/stats?team=sas

And BTW after Barry's hot opening 2 months he has steadily declined while Finley has improved.

Steadily declined?  True the 1st two months he was in a coma at 75% fga, but "declining" to 64% is bad?

Barry
Jan .427 fgs .403 treys
Feb .493 fgs .415 treys
Mar .490 fgs .394 treys

[westkoast]

Reality....do you have NBA league pass?  Because I honestly don't see how you would be able to follow the Spurs closely otherwise.  We rarely get to watch Spurs games in Southern California unless the games fall on TNT or local tv.

[Reality]

November/December heroics don't count in March/April.

Concur.  Barry has one ring in 2005, love him or hate him you can't diss he was on the floor consistently for 25 min a game including most of the 4th qtr of Game 7 vs Pistons.

Findawg had two or three good games vs Dallas last year, including a clutch three late vs Dallas in the clincher Gm 7.
Otherwise he has yet to sniff the finals.  Only sniffed the West Conf finals once-twice.  At 17-19 million per year i expect more.  So did Dallas.

If only he and Barry could be hot at the same time.

[westkoast]

Reality....do you have NBA league pass?  Because I honestly don't see how you would be able to follow the Spurs closely otherwise.  We rarely get to watch Spurs games in Southern California unless the games fall on TNT or local tv.

I'll take that as a no

[Reality]

I have league pass but i have also drastically cut down on my alloted NBA viewage.
I watch 1 out of 3 Spurs game or just catch the last 4 minutes if close.

In short they are much better at TallBall then smallball.
They also woefully lack an athletic F who can score alongside Duncan.
Duncan-Elson-Athletic F would be an excellent frontline.