Jomal: Lakers @ Kings. GState at Blazers.

[Lurker]

Point being, i think an older team like the Spurs does need its rest.  Creating their own rest by winning is vastly choice #1.  However if Golden State and Houston can tire out Dallas for the WCFs vs a couple of 0-4 or 1-4 laydowns, great. 

Deleted all your meaningless drivel....
Studies have shown that sometimes the rest helps, sometimes it breaks a team's momemtum, and basically it has little bearing on the outcome of a series. 

Care to show those studies?
Haha.  Exit stage left.

So if YOU don't make it up it must be false?  Show me something that proves your point of view...since that seems to be your perferred form of debate.

Go back and study second and third round playoff outcomes based on who had the most rest.  Then publish a paper on your findings.  At that point in time I will admit that you have support for your position.

[JoMal]

Thank God for my freshly made, Melita Capo to get me through this.

Studies have shown that the more you say it is true, the more likely you will vote for he who mindblows you the best - i.e. George Dubya "vote for me or a terrorist will, like, make you die, and stuff...."

Prediction - IF the Warriors win tonight and end up facing the Mavs, that series will only go five games at the most and blow-outs at home will launch Dallas towards the finals.

Prediction - IF the Spurs face the Lakers, that series will go six games and later S.A. will whomp on the Suns in seven as Houston/Utah folds against the Mavs in five in the second round .

Prediction - IF the Spurs and Mavs predictably meet in the Western Conference finals, Sternly will reinstate Crawford just for this series, scare Duncan back to Virginity, and the Mavs will hawk playoff final t-shirts over the Internet, where Spurs fans will take a page out of the Kings/Laker rivalry of the early 00's and purchase the shirts to burn along the Riverwalk.   

[WayOutWest]

IF...no make that ...IF the Spurs...or their true fans...really cared about who Dallas faced in the first round then maybe this game matters.  But the great majority of fans that I talk to in San Antonio are more concerned about the Spurs and how they are playing than who matches up with Dallas or Phoenix.  There is an old saying about counting your chickens...

Oh it matters.  How much it mattes, yes in mathematical terms real Spurs should be thinking 99 to 1 about taking care of the Spurs own games vs who Dallas plays.
That having been said, it does somewhat matter.  Last year Memphis cowered to Dallas 0-4 and thus Dallas began resting on May 1.
Spurs were duking with Kings and finished on April 5th at 10:30 Pm Sacramento time.  Sat April 6th San Antone time and certainly the plane did not arrive until Sat morning in San Antone.
LordSternfish had Dallas @ San Antone Gm start on Sunday Ap 7th with Gm 2 being Tuesday.  Completely bogile.
Granted the Spurs won Gm 1 so you might say its irrevelant.  I say Spurs were still fatigued come Gm 2 which Dallas romped.   Now to be sure I mainly prop Dallas along with the beggining of Pops silly smallballs losing strategy as main reasons for Gm 2 loss.

Point being, i think an older team like the Spurs does need its rest.  Creating their own rest by winning is vastly choice #1.  However if Golden State and Houston can tire out Dallas for the WCFs vs a couple of 0-4 or 1-4 laydowns, great. 

So I guess you're saying you're a bigger Laker hater than Spurs fan, I use the term Spurs fan very losely here.

[westkoast]

Point being, i think an older team like the Spurs does need its rest.  Creating their own rest by winning is vastly choice #1.  However if Golden State and Houston can tire out Dallas for the WCFs vs a couple of 0-4 or 1-4 laydowns, great. 

Deleted all your meaningless drivel....
Studies have shown that sometimes the rest helps, sometimes it breaks a team's momemtum, and basically it has little bearing on the outcome of a series. 

Care to show those studies?
Haha.  Exit stage left.

I can name a few times when rest has hurt a team....

Lakers almost perfect playoff run where they lost to the 76ers comes to mind.  The Lakers had plenty of time off and they looked almost rusty when they were running through other top teams with little problem.

Why the heck should the Spurs care who plays who other then themselves?  The Spurs need to take care of their own business and should be confident enough that they can beat ANYONE in that next round.  If you have a winner/championship mentality you don't care who the other team is because you are going to win.  While I think SA will get past Denver in the first round they are not a team you can just overlook.  I think SA learned their lesson in the Sac-Town series last year.

[rickortreat]

"I can name a few times when rest has hurt a team....

Lakers almost perfect playoff run where they lost to the 76ers comes to mind.  The Lakers had plenty of time off and they looked almost rusty when they were running through other top teams with little problem.

Why the heck should the Spurs care who plays who other then themselves?  The Spurs need to take care of their own business and should be confident enough that they can beat ANYONE in that next round.  If you have a winner/championship mentality you don't care who the other team is because you are going to win.  While I think SA will get past Denver in the first round they are not a team you can just overlook.  I think SA learned their lesson in the Sac-Town series last year."


I agree completely.  The Spurs are seasoned veterans who have done it all before.  They know who they're going to play in the first round, and know that their whole season depends on what they do in this series.  They know there will be plenty of time to figure out who their next opponent is.

Out of the top three teams, the Spurs have the toughest first round opponent,  Dallas and Phoenix face off against the Lakers or GS or the Clippers.  Comparing the three struggling to make the playoffs with Denver is silly. The Nuggets have proven themselves to be a better team by their play.  How much better is the question that no-one knows the answer to, and won't until they see the first playoff game.

Then we'll find out quickly if Denver is a challenge for the Spurs or not.  IF they are, then the Spurs will be pushed throughout the series, which will soften them up IF they get through to the next round.  Then there's the issue of rest- which depends on what the other teams are doing.

Ideally, the Spurs would like to be one up in their series compared with their next round opponent.  They would like rest, but not rust.

In either case, the Spurs won't waste any time throwing away playoff games.  They will try to take out the Nuggets in four straight, just as Dallas and Phoenix will try to do.

[westkoast]

"I can name a few times when rest has hurt a team....

Lakers almost perfect playoff run where they lost to the 76ers comes to mind.  The Lakers had plenty of time off and they looked almost rusty when they were running through other top teams with little problem.

Why the heck should the Spurs care who plays who other then themselves?  The Spurs need to take care of their own business and should be confident enough that they can beat ANYONE in that next round.  If you have a winner/championship mentality you don't care who the other team is because you are going to win.  While I think SA will get past Denver in the first round they are not a team you can just overlook.  I think SA learned their lesson in the Sac-Town series last year."


I agree completely.  The Spurs are seasoned veterans who have done it all before.  They know who they're going to play in the first round, and know that their whole season depends on what they do in this series.  They know there will be plenty of time to figure out who their next opponent is.

Out of the top three teams, the Spurs have the toughest first round opponent,  Dallas and Phoenix face off against the Lakers or GS or the Clippers.  Comparing the three struggling to make the playoffs with Denver is silly. The Nuggets have proven themselves to be a better team by their play.  How much better is the question that no-one knows the answer to, and won't until they see the first playoff game.

Then we'll find out quickly if Denver is a challenge for the Spurs or not.  IF they are, then the Spurs will be pushed throughout the series, which will soften them up IF they get through to the next round.  Then there's the issue of rest- which depends on what the other teams are doing.

Ideally, the Spurs would like to be one up in their series compared with their next round opponent.  They would like rest, but not rust.

In either case, the Spurs won't waste any time throwing away playoff games.  They will try to take out the Nuggets in four straight, just as Dallas and Phoenix will try to do.

None of those top teams should overlook their first round opponent.  While I agree that Denver could cause more problems then the other two that still does not mean that both the Suns and Mavs need not to worry about who they play in the first round instead of who the Spurs are going to play.

Dallas is not 100% and they've lost to the Golden State Warriors all three times this season.  With Don Nelson as the coach he is going to already know what those players tendencies are and AJ's coaching style.  He worked closely with all of them and that should be factored in.

PHX sort of overlooked the Lakers last year and it really hurt them.  The Lakers have proven they can win against PHX in playoff games and PHX has yet to really run away from a game with LA this year.

Denver/SA IMO will be a very fun series.  Perfect test of defense vs offense.  The Nuggets have premier offensive players on their squad and the Spurs play the best defense in the league.  Can't wait personally.

[Reality]

...since that seems to be your perferred form of debate. 

The debate coordinator just had you escorted from the building.

lurker  Studies have shown that sometimes the rest helps, sometimes it breaks a team's momemtum, and basically it has little bearing on the outcome of a series.

Reality   Care to show those studies?

lurker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

[Reality]

"I can name a few times when rest has hurt a team....

Lakers almost perfect playoff run where they lost to the 76ers comes to mind.  The Lakers had plenty of time off and they looked almost rusty when they were running through other top teams with little problem.

Why the heck should the Spurs care who plays who other then themselves?  The Spurs need to take care of their own business and should be confident enough that they can beat ANYONE in that next round.  If you have a winner/championship mentality you don't care who the other team is because you are going to win.  While I think SA will get past Denver in the first round they are not a team you can just overlook.  I think SA learned their lesson in the Sac-Town series last year."


I agree completely.  The Spurs are seasoned veterans who have done it all before.  They know who they're going to play in the first round, and know that their whole season depends on what they do in this series.  They know there will be plenty of time to figure out who their next opponent is.

The Spurs didn't even come close to overlooking the Kings.  They knew with the addition of 'Testy at midseason this was hardly a soft #8.  Ditto the year before with Denver at.

So since it's the last day of the season you agree with koast its wrong for the Spurs to even take notice of the standings and see who ends up at #8?  Please.
Its not an all or nothing proposition.

[westkoast]

"I can name a few times when rest has hurt a team....

Lakers almost perfect playoff run where they lost to the 76ers comes to mind.  The Lakers had plenty of time off and they looked almost rusty when they were running through other top teams with little problem.

Why the heck should the Spurs care who plays who other then themselves?  The Spurs need to take care of their own business and should be confident enough that they can beat ANYONE in that next round.  If you have a winner/championship mentality you don't care who the other team is because you are going to win.  While I think SA will get past Denver in the first round they are not a team you can just overlook.  I think SA learned their lesson in the Sac-Town series last year."


I agree completely.  The Spurs are seasoned veterans who have done it all before.  They know who they're going to play in the first round, and know that their whole season depends on what they do in this series.  They know there will be plenty of time to figure out who their next opponent is.

The Spurs didn't even come close to overlooking the Kings.  They knew with the addition of 'Testy at midseason this was hardly a soft #8.  Ditto the year before with Denver at.

So since it's the last day of the season you agree with koast its wrong for the Spurs to even take notice of the standings and see who ends up at #8?  Please.
Its not an all or nothing proposition.

There is no reason to do so.  I understand if they finished up their series and there were still games being played between the 1 and 8... but exactly why would they care at this point?  You do realize that while the chances are slim to none for Denver, the Spurs could be stopped from going to the second round if they do not focus on what is right in front of them?  As for wearing a team down, I don't think the Warriors/Clippers/Lakers are going to cause major problems for the 2 best teams in the league.  Like Denver, their chances are slim to none to beating those teams to a pulp.

To me you shoot yourself in the foot when you start saying "I rather see x instead of y".  That right there shows weakness.   If you are a champion you show up and win.  You don't wish for an easier road to the title, you just follow what is front of you.  Once you pass the first speed bump you move on to the next, so on and so forth, until you hit the finish line.  You don't look past the first speed bump onto the second off the bat because you may miss something that could give you a flat tire.

[Reality]

Who will end up #8 and playing Dallas?
Will the Kings subdue the Lakers as they did the Clippers* a few days ago?
*Technically the Clipps could also be #8.

While reg season must be put into perspective vs playoffs, Golden State is now something like 7-1 vs Mavs last 8 games.  Lasts nights Dallas starters were all out so big whooptie.  Still, 7-1 is 7-1.

To pull this off we Spurs need you Kings to knock off the Kobes Wed night. 
Can they do this?  Will they do this?  Do you still drink capos at work?

Jomal........

Kings & Lakers game, #82 on the hit parade = the last meaningful game that JoMal can comment on regarding his Kings for the 2006-07 season, a "reality" that is apparent to only one person on this board.

And to answer the question, would the Kings show up for this game or not? Hmmm!! It would be in their best interest to "not". The Kings are currently in a "battle" for lottery seeding - a most noxious activity for non-playoff teams this time of year.

The kids will show up and put up a good fight, but a lost here and a few wins elsewhere could result in the Kings picking as high as seventh, with a few more lottery balls to maybe move up.

Now THAT could be very tempting.

The Kings finished the season 20-21 at Arco Arena, the first time they had a losing record at home since 1993-94. -espn

[Lurker]

Here is a scenario for you Reality....

Spurs sweep Nuggets while Lakers push Suns to 7 games.  Your beloved Spursies rest between round 1 & 2.  In the other side of the bracket Mavs play GS to 6/7 games.  Then Mavs sweep Jazz/Rocket winners earning a little R&R.  Meanwhile the Spurs & Suns play an epic 7 game series with a couple overtime games.  Now who is more rested: Mavs or Spurs? 

And in this scenario it wouldn't matter who the first round matchups are...THAT is the point everyone but you can see.

[westkoast]

Here is a scenario for you Reality....

Spurs sweep Nuggets while Lakers push Suns to 7 games.  Your beloved Spursies rest between round 1 & 2.  In the other side of the bracket Mavs play GS to 6/7 games.  Then Mavs sweep Jazz/Rocket winners earning a little R&R.  Meanwhile the Spurs & Suns play an epic 7 game series with a couple overtime games.  Now who is more rested: Mavs or Spurs? 

And in this scenario it wouldn't matter who the first round matchups are...THAT is the point everyone but you can see.

According to the stats Manu goes to the rack 37% more then normal when he recieves 74% more rest then normal between series in the playoffs.  This makes the Spurs 8% more likely to score over 100 points while getting to the line 17% more then usual.

I have to agree with Reality, it makes a huge difference.

[Lurker]

Here is a scenario for you Reality....

Spurs sweep Nuggets while Lakers push Suns to 7 games.  Your beloved Spursies rest between round 1 & 2.  In the other side of the bracket Mavs play GS to 6/7 games.  Then Mavs sweep Jazz/Rocket winners earning a little R&R.  Meanwhile the Spurs & Suns play an epic 7 game series with a couple overtime games.  Now who is more rested: Mavs or Spurs? 

And in this scenario it wouldn't matter who the first round matchups are...THAT is the point everyone but you can see.

According to the stats Manu goes to the rack 37% more then normal when he recieves 74% more rest then normal between series in the playoffs.  This makes the Spurs 8% more likely to score over 100 points while getting to the line 17% more then usual.

I have to agree with Reality, it makes a huge difference.

.

But did you take into account the 62.8% of the time that Pop is outcoached when given more than 2 days to prepare for an opponent by using small ball and forcing Finley to play center?

[westkoast]

Here is a scenario for you Reality....

Spurs sweep Nuggets while Lakers push Suns to 7 games.  Your beloved Spursies rest between round 1 & 2.  In the other side of the bracket Mavs play GS to 6/7 games.  Then Mavs sweep Jazz/Rocket winners earning a little R&R.  Meanwhile the Spurs & Suns play an epic 7 game series with a couple overtime games.  Now who is more rested: Mavs or Spurs? 

And in this scenario it wouldn't matter who the first round matchups are...THAT is the point everyone but you can see.

According to the stats Manu goes to the rack 37% more then normal when he recieves 74% more rest then normal between series in the playoffs.  This makes the Spurs 8% more likely to score over 100 points while getting to the line 17% more then usual.

I have to agree with Reality, it makes a huge difference.

.

But did you take into account the 62.8% of the time that Pop is outcoached when given more than 2 days to prepare for an opponent by using small ball and forcing Finley to play center?

Can you produce links, references, and a notary to sign these "stats" Lurker?

Westkoast: can you show those studies

Lurker: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[Lurker]

Lurker: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

I don't care if you are from California...you can keep your man-hugs to yourself.  In south Texas we give out our hugs to senoritas.