Who would the Spurs rather play?

[Randy]

Or should I say, rather not play?  I think that the Spurs would like to stay away from the Suns and Jazz.  I think that the Suns play TD straight up and the tandem of Shaq and Amare in the post exposes the inability of one of the Spurs big to play a quick biggie.  And in the last game, they should that doubling one of the big men down in the post just gives the Suns a lot of open jump shots -- something that thrills the Suns shooters.  It's a dose of their own medicine for the Spurs.

The Jazz use a different tactic but it's still very effective against the Spurs.  Okur makes the Spurs big men play him at the three point line which effectively negates the Twin Tower defense that Pop has been playing for years.  Neither Thomas or Fabs want to guard Okur at the 3 point line so that leaves Pop thinking of playing Okur small with Horry, etc.  The problem is that Okur can take them down to the post.  It's a match-up problem for the Spurs.  The Jazz have the ability to play TD one-on-one pretty tough which leaves the other Jazz players to play tough D on their shooters.

Would you rest starters, at least for significant minutes, just to try to avoid those two teams?

Personally, I don't like the choice to tell your players that "we don't want to play this team" -- I think it's a bad mindset to put in your players heads.

[Reality]

Randolph,
Since your cousin Lurker has not already reminded you about this, 4-2 Spurs last season vs Utah with virtually the same personell on both teams.
Not that your post is without merit.  Many of us RealSpurs do not want the Jazz to get homecourt advantage.  And that is what Wed nights reg season finale is all about.  Bob Horry can guard Okur but Horry is still out so...all the more reason for the Spurs to win tommorow night at home.

I'd rather play the Rockets then the Suns, but either is okay.  The Spurs were handling the Suns until Cement-o-vich went into a small balls lineup to *counter* Shaq and Amare going to the bench with foul problems.
But Poppycock has not pulled that crap vs Phx in the playoffs so lets see what happens.
Too many variables at this point.

[Reality]

Excuse me, 4-1 vs Utah last playoffs.

[Lurker]

I don't Randy...why don't you tell us.

And why you are at it why not put the same BS up for every western team.   Wait, I forgot you are the Laker fan who is obsessed with the Spurs.  Why don't you and Reality swap seats on the bandwagons?

The Spurs would rather play the Wolves, Sonics and Grizzlies in the west and then the Heat in the Finals.   

[Randy]

I don't Randy...why don't you tell us.

And why you are at it why not put the same BS up for every western team.   Wait, I forgot you are the Laker fan who is obsessed with the Spurs.  Why don't you and Reality swap seats on the bandwagons?

The Spurs would rather play the Wolves, Sonics and Grizzlies in the west and then the Heat in the Finals.   

I really thought the answer was pretty obvious -- it wouldn't yank your chain if I posted about the road for the Suns or Rockets or anyone else. 

[westkoast]

Personally I think the Spurs and fans shouldn't care.  They are still the champs until knocked out.

If I could request a series it would be a Suns/Spurs rematch in the first round.  That would just show how tough this WC really has been this entire season and staying strong until the playoffs.

[WayOutWest]

I don't Randy...why don't you tell us.

And why you are at it why not put the same BS up for every western team.   Wait, I forgot you are the Laker fan who is obsessed with the Spurs.  Why don't you and Reality swap seats on the bandwagons?

The Spurs would rather play the Wolves, Sonics and Grizzlies in the west and then the Heat in the Finals.   

LOL!  What a little beyatch!

I think the Spurs will have trouble with the Suns as well.  The only way the Jazz beat the Spurs is if the Spurs get old really fast or if Deron just destroys the Spurs defense.  IMO Parker, Manu and TD can offset anything the Jazz can do on both ends of the court, while IMO the Jazz have more talent are more positions it is not enough to offset the big 3 in SA.  The only other team that could be a problem for the Spurs would be the Mavs but they are in such turmoil that they be a moot point.

For the Lakers, I think the problem matchups are the Suns, Nuggets and Spurs.  It's hard to discount what a motivated Shaq can do in the playoffs and the Suns have just as much talent from 1 to 12.  IMO this would be a very tough series for the Lakers now that the Suns are clicking.  The Nuggets could be a problem for the Lakers since the Lakers, unlike the Spurs, are not deciplined enough to not play the Nuggets tempo and style of game.  I could very easily envision the Lakers getting into a shooting contest with the Nuggets and comming out with the short end of the stick.  Obviously the Spurs defense and playoff experience is enough in of itself to beat the Lakers.

[westkoast]

The Spurs will handle the Suns.  There is little doubt in my mind about this.  The reason being is they had one guy who could at least guard Manu or Parker if they were giving the Suns major problems.  Now they have 0 guys.  Not to mention a slow post defender who is going to get to the bench really fast because of Parker's penetration.  I don't care how 'motivated' he is right now you can't do anything from the bench when you are in foul trouble.

The one thing that could have really put the Spurs in a tough spot is if their running game was as quick as it was last year.  The Spurs look a bit old right now and having to play a team that runs that hard would have been a major advantage for the Suns.  However they have slowed down quite a bit.

Btw...why is Shaq the only player in the league who gets props when he decides to work?  It sounds so lame to give him props for being motivated.  When do you hear someone say 'Man that KG guy is motivated, he's really special when he tries'

[Randy]

WOW, I don't know why you think the Lakers will have problems with the Nuggets -- they have owned them all year long.  In three games, three wins and only one of those were close.  Denver is lucky to win one game in that series.  The Mavs would be a tougher match-up than the Nuggets would be -- same result but a tougher match-up.

I think the Spurs and the Suns are the really tough series for the Lakers.  I don't think they will get to face both of those teams -- just the winner of that match-up.  If the Spurs-Suns series is a first-rounder, it's going to be some of the best first round playoff basketball we will ever see.  The standings are so tight right now, it's tough to really determine who will play who at this point.

There's going to be some great basketball this postseason. 

I will say, WOW, that it looks like you were right -- Bynum won't see any action in the playoffs this year.  It still looks like the Lakers have a shot at winning the whole thing but it's going to be a much tougher battle.

[SPURSX3]

How can you pick any team to want to play or not want to play this year?  All of the playoff bound teams seem to be really close as far as strength goes.  I don'tm care who we play because no matter what round it is it is going to be tough.  The Jazz are tough at home, so but I think we can scrape a win over there atleast once in a series to help get rid of that advantage, as for phoenix, well, they have looked good against us in the last two games, but I still expect Shaq to be more of a burden than a help in such a long series.  not only that But I have faith in our coaching staff to help figure out what needs to be done to overcome either obstacle.  so to answer your question about who would I like the team to play and not play?

Play against:  any team other then the playoff bound teams in this years playoffs...maybe a high school team for each round so I would not be so stressed over the playoffs...

Not play against:  You name the playoff bound team and there is good enough reason to be worried about the outcome.  For any team. 

[Lurker]

If I had my preferences the Spurs would play the Rockets in the first round.  But it looks like we will end up with the Suns.  I would prefer for the Spurs to stay in the 2-3-6-7 bracket which would mean win tonight (#3 seed) or lose and hope Suns & Rockets win (drop to 6th seed).  If Suns or Rockets lose than SA can be no worse than 5 with a loss.

Lakers & Jazz are the teams that scare me the most.  Nuggets could be a first round nightmare for any team.  Mavs seem too out of sorts to win 4 games against anyone.  Hornets are a wildcard IMO.

[Lurker]

Here is a good summary of the playoff positioning in the west going into tonight.  It is from the Jazz point of view..

Here are the Jazz's possible playoff scenarios, with the respective records each team would be left with and the explanation of tiebreakers.
    IF JAZZ WIN WEDNESDAY AND ...
    Houston wins, Phoenix wins
    Records: Jazz 55-27, Phoenix 55-27, Houston 55-27, San Antonio 55-27.
    Tiebreakers: This is the much-discussed four-team tie. According to the NBA office, the tie is broken first by removing the Jazz, who are guaranteed a top four seed as the Northwest Division champions. Then you do a three-way head-to-head tiebreaker with the games the Rockets, Suns and Spurs have played against each other. Phoenix is 5-3, Houston is 4-4 and San Antonio is 3-5. The Suns and Jazz then are part of a tiebreaker to determine the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds. The Jazz own the season series with Phoenix so they are third, the Suns fourth, the Rockets fifth and the Spurs sixth. NBA spokesman Tim Frank confirmed this Monday.
    Jazz would play: San Antonio with home-court advantage
   
    Houston loses, Phoenix wins
    Records: Jazz 55-27, Phoenix 55-27, San Antonio 55-27, Houston 54-28
    Tiebreakers: Phoenix won the season series against San Antonio so they would be the
top four seed. The Jazz own the tiebreaker against the Suns, so they are third again, the Suns fourth, the Spurs fifth and the Rockets sixth.
    Jazz would play: Houston with home-court advantage
   
    Houston wins, Phoenix loses
    Records: Jazz 55-27, San Antonio 55-27, Houston 55-27, Phoenix 54-28
    Tiebreakers: San Antonio has a better division record than Houston, which would give them the tiebreaker for the top four seed. The Jazz would hold the season series tiebreaker against San Antonio, leaving the Jazz third, Spurs fourth, Rockets fifth and Suns sixth.
    Jazz would play: Phoenix with home-court advantage.
   
    Houston loses, Phoenix loses
    Records: Jazz 55-27, San Antonio 55-27, Houston 54-28, Phoenix 54-28
    Tiebreakers: The Jazz would own the season series against the Spurs while Houston would have a better conference record than Phoenix. That would leave the Jazz third, Spurs fourth, Rockets fifth and Suns sixth.
    Jazz would play: Phoenix with home-court advantage
   
    IF JAZZ LOSE WEDNESDAY AND ...
    (Keep in mind the Jazz are guaranteed no worse than a No. 4 seed as the Northwest Division champion)
   
    Houston wins, Phoenix wins
    Records: San Antonio 56-26, Jazz 54-28, Houston 55-27, Phoenix 55-27
    Tiebreakers: The Spurs are the third seed, the Jazz are fourth and the Rockets fifth thanks to their conference record over the Suns.
    Jazz would play: Houston without home-court advantage
   
    Houston loses, Phoenix wins
    Records: San Antonio 56-26, Jazz 54-28, Phoenix 55-27, Houston 54-28
    Tiebreakers: None needed.
    Jazz would play: Phoenix without home-court advantage
   
    Houston wins, Phoenix loses
    Records: San Antonio 56-26, Jazz 54-28, Houston 55-27, Phoenix 54-28
    Tiebreakers: None needed.
    Jazz would play: Houston without home-court advantage
   
    Houston loses, Phoenix loses
    Records: San Antonio 56-26, Jazz 54-28, Houston 54-28, Phoenix 54-28
    Tiebreakers: The Rockets would be the fifth seed again thanks to their conference record over the Suns. The Jazz would have home-court advantage against the Rockets after winning the season series
    Jazz would play: Houston with home-court advantage

[Randy]

Has there ever been a year that has been as complicated?  2 1/2 games separating 1-6 in the Western Conference.  That's just crazy.

[Laker Fan]

That made my head hurt Lurker!

Essentially Utah HAS to win tonight to lock up first round homecourt. But it is really more than that, They must win simply to get that Spurs monkey off their backs, they haven't won in SA in something 100 years. The only advantage they have in losing is they wouldn't face the Spurs in the first round in any scenario, but they would still be looking at them in a later round, WITHOUT homecourt, and no one has a bigger edge there than Utah.

IMO the Spurs shouldn't try to engineer whom they face, they'd better be ready to play anyone because everyone is gunning for the champs. Their record against playoff bound teams since 3/1 should be cause enough though that if I were the Spurs, I would want Houston or Denver, Houston has no front court answer and Parker will eat them alive, and Denver, despite their last few games, is still not on a level to play with the Spurs, again, it simply baffles me their average defense given Camby and Martin clogging the post.

If Utah beats SA tonight, the Spurs better pray Houston or Phoenix lose or both because otherwise Utah I believe can and will take the champs down first round, you want to talk about a team with something to prove, that team is Utah against SA, and methinks this year the Jazz have the tools to get it done.