Spurs.. not scary anymore? - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Simon2 · 11-21-2003, 08:54 AM

Is it just me or do the Spurs not look intimidating anymore? For years, everytime the Mavs would play against the Spurs, I would feel that the Mavs always had a disadvantage in the inside game. It almost felt like the Mavs was the little brother. I was trying to think about why the Spurs seem weaker:

1. For years, the Mavs had no answer to the Duncan-Robinson combo. Thank God Robinson has retired. He always kills the Mavs. Even though Rasho had 18 pts, 7 rbs and 2 blocks, he just didn't look like he was a factor in the inside. Most of his shots came from jumpshots, I think its to the Mavs advantage when he does that. Rasho's defense isn't as intimidating as Robinson. Robinson vs. Bradley is a big mistmatch for Spurs. Rasho vs. Bradley seems like a toss up to me.

2. Dirk is getting help on Duncan. Without any legitimate shooters, the Mavs can double team Duncan all night long. I think the Mavs are happy to let the Spurs shoot from the outside.

3. No one on the Spurs can guard Walker. Duncan and Rose are too slow. Maybe Bowen and Ginobili might give him probelms but I think he is still a handful for them. He's taller than both.

4. I think Nellie has found the answer to Rose. For years, the Mavs have tried Najera on Rose and for years Rose has gotten the best of Najera. I don't know why but Rose seems to outmuscle Najera most of the time. So what did Nellie do? He got bigger muscle in the form of Danny Fortson. I think Rose's game is based on rebounds. If he can't get rebounds, he's out of rhythm. Fortson keeps him off the glass.

5. No good backup pg. I think the loss of Speedy Claxton is huge as well. Nash and Parker is a good matchup. Being a homer, I think Nash is still the better player but I'm sure Spurs fans can argue your head off that Parker is better. Anyway, after Parker its Anthony Carter and Jason Hart. I don't think Carter can backup Parker adequately in the playoffs and Hart is just a rookie. Let's just say the Mavs have the advantage with Best and Delk.

6. What happened to these people?
Turkoglu: Has the size to give the Mavs fits but its looks like he likes to play outside and take the jumpshot more than he should. It fine if they go in but he usually misses his three pointers. I thought with his athletic skills, he would be a force by now. Seems like make to many dumb plays and isn't a good defensive player. Maybe he needs more time to play? or maybe he missed his good friends Peja and Divac?

Mercer: Isn't this guy a good shooting guard? What happened to him?

Horry: Maybe Pop is saving him for the playoffs? Horry can still defend Dirk but for some reason wasn't in the game last night. His magical threes aren't falling anymore as well. Could he be out of gas?

Willis: Frankly, I would use Willis more than Rasho. I guess all that money they paid to Rasho is forcing Pop to use him more. Willis gives the Mavs fits in the inside though.

Based on the personnel, I think the Mavs are now better than the Spurs. One on one, the Mavs still don't have someone that can stop Duncan. The beauty is they don't have to play him one on one. They can double him everytime.

Bookit · 11-21-2003, 09:03 AM

I believe Mercer is injured. But you are right about the Spurs. Losing Robinson takes the dominance away from their team. Also, Stephen Jackson killed us on threes last year. Remember, in game 6, it was Jackson(not Kerr) who hit 2 threes to get the Spurs rolling in the 4th quarter paving the way for Kerr to get hot. Of course this is just one game, early in the season. Also, the Spurs came back again late in the game. At least Rose didn't have a monster game. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

Shaq Attack2 · 11-21-2003, 09:07 AM

Were the Spurs ever really scary? I mean really now, the Mavs didn't have Dirk for half the 2003 WCF, the Lakers had an injured Kobe and a fat Shaq, and the Kings probably should have been in the WCF (and surely would have beaten the Spurs) had Webber not injured his knee.

Maybe it's just me, but the only Spur that was ever "scary" was Tim Duncan. Maybe Manu and Parker will be scary in two years, but not this year, especially if most or every Western playoff powerhouse is healthy.

Therefore, the losses of Jackson, Kerr and Drob make them all the less scary, as those were huge role players for the Spurs at the right times last year. Horry is the Spurs only hope for coming through in the clutch besides Duncan.

Murphy3 · 11-21-2003, 09:18 AM

The Spurs have to decide 'Who are we going to put our best defender on?..Dirk or Walker?'

Their choice was usually dirk.

Advantage Mavs

Why? Dirk will get his open looks regardless. But now, you have no one that can guard Walker. Walker drove to the bucket with ease last night.

Remember this, Walker, Dirk, Fin and Nash all shot the ball poorly last night. How often will that happen?

With Rasho now in a Spurs uniform and with no Robinson, the Mavs can also now attack the rim with only one legitimate shot blocking threat in the game for the Spurs. When that one shot blocking threat is also your lone big time scoring option, it makes it more and more likely that Duncan will get into some type of foul trouble if you aggressively attack the rim. If Duncan feels that he can't afford to go for a block, then you've got a really good shot of racking up some points in the paint.

bogey · 11-21-2003, 09:19 AM

I think you make a mistake by not including David Robinson in there. He was in decline but he still could change game flows. The Spurs* will miss him. (nice edit above to make this look silly)

That said....the Spurs* are not scary anymore.

Simon2 · 11-21-2003, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Shaq Attack2
Were the Spurs ever really scary? I mean really now, the Mavs didn't have Dirk for half the 2003 WCF, the Lakers had an injured Kobe and a fat Shaq, and the Kings probably should have been in the WCF (and surely would have beaten the Spurs) had Webber not injured his knee.

Maybe it's just me, but the only Spur that was ever "scary" was Tim Duncan. Maybe Manu and Parker will be scary in two years, but not this year, especially if most or every Western playoff powerhouse is healthy.

Therefore, the losses of Jackson, Kerr and Drob make them all the less scary, as those were huge role players for the Spurs at the right times last year. Horry is the Spurs only hope for coming through in the clutch besides Duncan.

Yes. The Spurs were scary. They had 2 7-footers that always gave the Mavs headaches. I don't know about you but I always felt that it would be only if the Mavs were hot would they beat the Spurs. Clearly, last night proved that even with a bad game, the Mavs can beat the Spurs now.

Murphy3 · 11-21-2003, 09:27 AM

The Mavs didn't play a bad game last night in my opinion. They played pretty good defensively AND won the rebounding battle. Yes, they shot poorly from the field but they attacked the offensive glass, got to the free throw line, and made their free throws.

They didn't play a bad game. It's just that one aspect of their game was not on. The Mavs won a game without excelling in the one area that they are known for excelling in. But they did not play a 'bad game'.

Spurs Fan · 11-21-2003, 09:39 AM

First off, congratulations to your Mavs. They played a much better inside game than I thought they would. As usual, the Stork-man completely altered the flow of the game. His telephone-pole length arms and legs were a huge factor in tonights win, IMHO. To be honest, I haven't looked at any stats for the game, and while watching it, I wasn't paying detailed attention to the match-ups. I was mostly yelling at, and drinking beer with, my brother-in-law, who's a big Mavs fan. I will say this, though. I believe that Nash got the best of Parker last night, and I felt that was the key to the game.

Additionally, it looked like my Spurs where still out of sync. Ginobilli played with more reckless abandon than normal, and it cost him. This was, I'm sure, mostly due the the Mavs defensive schemes. The Spurs are still struggling when an opponents zone collapses on Duncan. Our outside shooting just plain sucks at this point in the year.

Once again, congratulations on a well-deserved win. I do think it's a little premature to write the Spurs off, though. I fully expect to see a different Spurs team come April, and I'm sure that the Mavs will continue to improve their cohesiveness, as well.

Just FYI concerning Mercer....Rumor is that he was playing for a roster spot last night. Although still injured, Pop doesn't appear to be too happy with his performance, particularly his J. My prediction is that as soon as Garcia is healthy (broken foot), Mercer goes on the IR and Garcia is the backup at the 1 spot.

All in all, it was one hell of a game...Always is....

MavsFanatik33 · 11-21-2003, 09:43 AM

Way to be a good sport about it Spurs Fan, that's classy of you.
As for the question of whether or not the Spurs are not scary anymore... I think they're less scary than last year. The Mavs are capable of beating every team in the NBA in a 7 game playoff series except for maybe LA.

Murphy3 · 11-21-2003, 09:47 AM

As long as they have Duncan, they are scary. However, until they start hitting their outside shot, they won't look sharp on the offensive end.

Simon2 · 11-21-2003, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: MavsFanatik33
Way to be a good sport about it Spurs Fan, that's classy of you.
As for the question of whether or not the Spurs are not scary anymore... I think they're less scary than last year. The Mavs are capable of beating every team in the NBA in a 7 game playoff series except for maybe LA.

I would still like to hold my opinion on that one regarding the Kings. They still look scary to me. Divac and Webber are still problems for the Mavs. Miller will also create his own space in the inside. Kings might be a handful this year. They didn't lose any of their significant talent.

Max Power · 11-21-2003, 09:53 AM

The little bit of the game that I saw (my little girl had a basketball game last night) showed me that the Spurs will have a lot of trouble stopping the Mavs. They don't have enough offense to outscore us and they don't have enough defense to stop us.

razap · 11-21-2003, 09:54 AM

i will give the mavericks credit as well. i think they played good defense last night. now you are able to see the value good defense everynight. as poorly as they shot they still were able to win. now conversley i think they always have a tough time shooting against the spurs and last night not one spur was to shoot well. I think both teams will improve but with the spurt this is excatly what happened last year. the first 1/4 of the season we looked like crap but were able to finally play as a team and finished 41-9. the mavs need to build on this and try and play like this everynight becuase we can all probably all agree the mavs were up for this game, as with the spurs, more than other reg season. the key will be to try and be consistent. now i am surprised at seeing people write off the spurs after 13 games. that seems to be a little ignorant or wishful thinking. today at the mavs practice they should be talking how they are going to play defense the next game as they did last night. that is why you will never see the spurs panic because they play great defense most nights and are getting better at finishing close games. i think this is what will decided who wins the championship. the team that plays the best defense in the 4th qtr as well the one who can maintain their poise in the last few minutes.. should be good for everyone. now i will bask in the glory of my alma mater's (University of Southern Mississippi) victory last night and then watch the spurs play the hawks tonight. good game mavs.

Spurs Fan · 11-21-2003, 09:55 AM

Yeah, Duncan can make any team look good. But to be completely honest, during the last minute or so last night, when the Spurs inbounded the ball, and we needed a three, who was at the top of the key? Duncan, for THREE [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] Dang, son, get the ball to someone that can MAKE it...Oh yeah, we don't have anybody that can, so go ahead and shoot....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

Murphy3 · 11-21-2003, 10:21 AM

I consider the Spurs an elite team. That has not changed. However, I do think that they will have to add an outside shooter or two at some point in the season.

I also believe that they could end up with the 4 seed this season instead of the 1 seed like last year. I know it's too early to talk about seeding, but I do believe that it'll take them longer to turn it around. I also don't believe they'll have another run like they did last year in the second half of the season. The 4th seed is not a good place to be in the West.

Chicago JK · 11-21-2003, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Spurs Fan
Yeah, Duncan can make any team look good. But to be completely honest, during the last minute or so last night, when the Spurs inbounded the ball, and we needed a three, who was at the top of the key? Duncan, for THREE [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] Dang, son, get the ball to someone that can MAKE it...Oh yeah, we don't have anybody that can, so go ahead and shoot....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

If the Spurs weren't a division rival I would love to root for the Spurs. Duncan is one of the biggest class acts in the league. The Spurs will be fine this year. They will be battling for a championship with 4-5 other teams. Duncan is too good not to make the Spurs in the running. Manu and Parker will peak at the right time this year. Pop has the proven track record in doing this. The Spurs have to get better production from Rasho and the three spot though. Rasho had a very solid line last night but still was no where near the factor his line showed. He needs to play bigger especially against the bigs in the west. The Spurs also need more production from the three spot. Horry? Hedo? I suspect Horry will play a lot bigger role come playoff time, but Hedo has really regressed from two years ago. I have been a big Hedo fan, but he looks like a different player now. If they can get quality minutes from the three than I like their chances.

it is a a long season....I have a feeling we will be seeing you somewhere along the way come playoff time.

Spurs Fan · 11-21-2003, 10:29 AM

Agree about the outside shooter, Murph. What do you think the chances would be of the Spurs being able to trade Ron Mercer for that guy on your team...What's his name? You know, that 7-foot German kid? Dirk, is it? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Seriously, Dirk has the sweetest stroke I've ever seen. You just know that every time he puts it up, the scoreboard changes.

On another note, I can not for the life of me figure out why Nellie doesn't start Bradley nearly every game. I know that he's coming off surgery, injuries, etc., but he seems to be consistently in Nellie's dog house. Wonder if it's a personal thing, or, as many of the posters here have speculated, is it that Nellie just loves small-ball? I noticed a quote for Nellie that made me laugh, though. He said that "he doesn't like to change things that are working", or something to that effect. On the contrary, I think he likes to changes things to see if he can make them work BETTER, his way....

dirno2000 · 11-21-2003, 10:36 AM

As long as Parker goes 3 for 13, they don't scare me at all. What scares me is that I know he can explode. I was reading somewhere that when he scored 20+ last year, the Spurs were something like 21-2. We've seen 1st hand the effect he can have on a game. I liked the defense we played on him, but he also missed some shots that you expect him to make.

Spurs Fan · 11-21-2003, 10:41 AM

You're right, Dirno. Last year, Tony's play was the key to winning. Duncan is always, well, just Duncan. He's an automatic double-double. Tony, however, tends to be streaky.

FYI, last night Ginobilli and Parker combined for a stellar 7 of 25 shooting. Nash stepped up big-time.

Chicago JK · 11-21-2003, 10:51 AM

[quote]
Originally posted by: dirno2000
As long as Parker goes 3 for 13, they don't scare me at all. What scares me is that I know he can explode. I was reading somewhere that when he scored 20+ last year, the Spurs were something like 21-2. We've seen 1st hand the effect he can have on a game. I liked the defense we played on him, but he also missed some shots that you expect him to make.[/

I thought Finley and on occasion Nash did a good job from keeping him from getting to the hole. He got to the hole once but Bradley erased the shot. Parker is a very good player and will play much better in bigger games in the future. Although if you let him get to the hole at his will, like we did consistently last year, then their whole offense opens up. If he makes his jumper fine, but it is imerative we limit his layups.

Intruder · 11-21-2003, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Spurs Fan

Just FYI concerning Mercer....Rumor is that he was playing for a roster spot last night. Although still injured, Pop doesn't appear to be too happy with his performance, particularly his J. My prediction is that as soon as Garcia is healthy (broken foot), Mercer goes on the IR and Garcia is the backup at the 1 spot.

I believe you are talking about Carter, not Mercer. Anyway, good win last night Mav fans. See'ya next time.

Intruder

Simon2 · 11-21-2003, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Chicago JK

Quote:

Originally posted by: Spurs Fan
Yeah, Duncan can make any team look good. But to be completely honest, during the last minute or so last night, when the Spurs inbounded the ball, and we needed a three, who was at the top of the key? Duncan, for THREE [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] Dang, son, get the ball to someone that can MAKE it...Oh yeah, we don't have anybody that can, so go ahead and shoot....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

If the Spurs weren't a division rival I would love to root for the Spurs. Duncan is one of the biggest class acts in the league. The Spurs will be fine this year. They will be battling for a championship with 4-5 other teams. Duncan is too good not to make the Spurs in the running. Manu and Parker will peak at the right time this year. Pop has the proven track record in doing this. The Spurs have to get better production from Rasho and the three spot though. Rasho had a very solid line last night but still was no where near the factor his line showed. He needs to play bigger especially against the bigs in the west. The Spurs also need more production from the three spot. Horry? Hedo? I suspect Horry will play a lot bigger role come playoff time, but Hedo has really regressed from two years ago. I have been a big Hedo fan, but he looks like a different player now. If they can get quality minutes from the three than I like their chances.

it is a a long season....I have a feeling we will be seeing you somewhere along the way come playoff time.

Duncan is a class act. Did you see him check on Nash if he was ok. The only thing I hate about Duncan is the way he gets so many calls. Take for example last night, the foul was on Duncan but they called it on Malik who was no where near the play. Duncan should have been playing with 5 fouls.

superheadcat · 11-21-2003, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Simon2

I would still like to hold my opinion on that one regarding the Kings. They still look scary to me. Divac and Webber are still problems for the Mavs. Miller will also create his own space in the inside. Kings might be a handful this year. They didn't lose any of their significant talent.

nah...
my impression is that they were marginally better than mavs last year, and during the off season, they regressed slightly while mavs improve significantly. kings definitely don't look scary now (actually i don't believe they ever did).

with a schedule softer than that of last year's mavs, and definitly softer than that of this year's mavs, kings still managed 1/2 game behind mavs in the standing.

FilthyFinMavs · 11-21-2003, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Spurs Fan
You're right, Dirno. Last year, Tony's play was the key to winning. Duncan is always, well, just Duncan. He's an automatic double-double. Tony, however, tends to be streaky.

FYI, last night Ginobilli and Parker combined for a stellar 7 of 25 shooting. Nash stepped up big-time.

You're crediting the wrong one for stopping Parker and Gino.

grndmstr_c · 11-21-2003, 06:39 PM

Quote:

You're crediting the wrong one for stopping Parker and Gino.

Both Nash and Fin deserve credit for their defensive work last night.

dude1394 · 11-22-2003, 12:42 AM

With duncan they are still WAY scary. He's just tremendous. Robinson did seem to give us fits however so that one-two tandem doesn't seem to be there anymore. So in that respect they seem a little softer. But I think also the mavs are just plain ole tougher.

I mean at the end of games we'll have dirk, walker, aj, finley, nash instead of raef, dirk, finley, stevie, nve... The team is a LOT tougher.

TVI · 11-22-2003, 01:30 AM

The Mavs are more consistent so far this year. I'm still not sold on Walker. I didn't like him in Boston, and I hate him in Dallas. He scores a lot, but takes a billion shots to get there. I fell that he will hurt more than he will help. He is not the answer.

The Spurs are bringing in a lot of new faces, but right now, they're a roller coaster team. As evidenced by the pounding they gave Sucklanta tonight, The shooting is streaky. The consistency is not there yet, but when Parker and Manu are rolling, they are arguably the best team in the league. However, these young players are still learning how to play together. Last night, they sucked. Tonight, they were great.

It will take the Spurs a while this year to put it all together. Too many new roles are still being defined. But if they peak during the playoffs, they're as good as anyone. I think they love flying under the radar.

Simon2 · 11-22-2003, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: TVI
The Mavs are more consistent so far this year. I'm still not sold on Walker. I didn't like him in Boston, and I hate him in Dallas. He scores a lot, but takes a billion shots to get there. I fell that he will hurt more than he will help. He is not the answer.

The Spurs are bringing in a lot of new faces, but right now, they're a roller coaster team. As evidenced by the pounding they gave Sucklanta tonight, The shooting is streaky. The consistency is not there yet, but when Parker and Manu are rolling, they are arguably the best team in the league. However, these young players are still learning how to play together. Last night, they sucked. Tonight, they were great.

It will take the Spurs a while this year to put it all together. Too many new roles are still being defined. But if they peak during the playoffs, they're as good as anyone. I think they love flying under the radar.

The one thing I really like about Walker right now is his ability to dribble the ball. He is probably the Mavs #1 slasher. Well, Nash really is but I mean in terms of size. I think eventually Walker will develop a drive and dish attitude similar to Nash. Teams will try to stop him from going to the basket and he'll find the open people in Nash, Fin or Dirk or even Jamison.

MavKikiNYC · 11-22-2003, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Simon2

Quote:

Originally posted by: TVI
The Mavs are more consistent so far this year. I'm still not sold on Walker. I didn't like him in Boston, and I hate him in Dallas. He scores a lot, but takes a billion shots to get there. I fell that he will hurt more than he will help. He is not the answer.

The Spurs are bringing in a lot of new faces, but right now, they're a roller coaster team. As evidenced by the pounding they gave Sucklanta tonight, The shooting is streaky. The consistency is not there yet, but when Parker and Manu are rolling, they are arguably the best team in the league. However, these young players are still learning how to play together. Last night, they sucked. Tonight, they were great.

It will take the Spurs a while this year to put it all together. Too many new roles are still being defined. But if they peak during the playoffs, they're as good as anyone. I think they love flying under the radar.

The one thing I really like about Walker right now is his ability to dribble the ball. He is probably the Mavs #1 slasher. Well, Nash really is but I mean in terms of size. I think eventually Walker will develop a drive and dish attitude similar to Nash. Teams will try to stop him from going to the basket and he'll find the open people in Nash, Fin or Dirk or even Jamison.

The one thing I like about Walker so far is his hands--his ability to hold on to the ball once he gets his hands on a rebound. This is the thing that stands out most to me so far, and that seems to be making the biggest difference for the Mavs. I think that LaF's rebounds would've easily doubled if he could've held onto the ones he got his mitts on instead of reverting back to elementary school PE matches of tetherball. In this regard, so far Walker is clearly providing more, without depriving others of productivity.

mavsfanforever · 11-22-2003, 12:30 PM

I think Spurs are really missing Stephen Jackson and Steve Kerr.

Steve Kerr is a very high percentage shooter and stephen Jackson was clutch for the most part. Now they do not have a Zone Breaker and mavs use a lot of zone and so does the Twolves.

But, I would still not conclude that spurs will not be a threat. Last Year, they pretty much looked similar before the 9 game road trip started and historically Spurs have always played very good in March and April.

2-0 lead in the season series against Spurs definitely is a morale booster for the mavs and probably will help the mavs get over the hump against the spurs.

sike · 11-22-2003, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: mavsfanforever
I think Spurs are really missing Stephen Jackson and Steve Kerr.

ya think???

you don't lose two guys who were integral parts of what made you successful and just not miss them...

I thought it was so funny how the TNT guys thought this was some sort of great insight.....you lose the greatest three point shooter(%wise) the game has ever had and a clutch young athelete who came up big game after game and just move on...you miss those guys....and you lose a few games because of their absense!
So heres to the Spurs not having as good a "team" as last year![img]i/expressions/wine.gif[/img]

mavsfanforever · 11-22-2003, 06:08 PM

Quote:

So heres to the Spurs not having as good a "team" as last year![img]i/expressions/wine.gif[/img]

Spurs will find their rhythm soon. They will be as good as they were last year. Trust me. Popovich is one of the most underrated coaches in the league but I think he is the best.

Do not underestimate them. They go thru this kind of stretch each and every year but somehow find their niche in march/april. Its too early to say or predict what will happen in future.

dude1394 · 11-22-2003, 06:27 PM

Quote:

The one thing I like about Walker so far is his hands--his ability to hold on to the ball once he gets his hands on a rebound. This is the thing that stands out most to me so far, and that seems to be making the biggest difference for the Mavs. I think that LaF's rebounds would've easily doubled if he could've held onto the ones he got his mitts on instead of reverting back to elementary school PE matches of tetherball. In this regard, so far Walker is clearly providing more, without depriving others of productivity.

You're making a great point about raef. Many times during last years season I thought if he ONLY had the ability to use both hands he would have been so much better. He was so left-hand dominant that I think he missed a ton of rebounds as well. Just a pretty one-dimensional player.

kg_veteran · 11-22-2003, 06:30 PM

Excellent post, Simon.

When I look at the Spurs, I see a team that made these changes:

David Robinson out, Rasho Nesterovic in.
Stephen Jackson out, Ron Mercer in.
Speedy Claxton out, Anthony Carter in.
Steve Kerr out, Hedo Turkoglu in.
Danny Ferry out, Robert Horry in.

The first three are clearly negative changes to the roster. The last two aren't in terms of talent, but bring in two guys who are really inconsistent.

The Spurs are built around Tim Duncan. They need guys who function well in combination with him. And that primarily means shooters and/or guys that can help carry the load defensively. The only one of the additions that is a pretty good defender is Horry, and he's old. Really old. And it's showing. The bigger problem, though, is that none of these guys are shooters. Horry doesn't have the gas left in the tank, Turkoglu has no confidence left, Carter never could shoot, Mercer doesn't have the range, and Nesterovic is a soft center who was lucky the Spurs were desperate in the offseason to get a "starting center".

The Spurs may have bombed Hotlanta last night, but Stephen Jackson's getting the last laugh, because the Spurs could really use him.

Pop is a great coach. He'll have the team playing as well as it can come February or so. That said, I question how well it can play. If Parker becomes a more consistent guy and Manu Ginobili threatens 42-44% FG shooting, then maybe they'll have something. Until then, they're going to be dangerous, but not likely to get past the second round.

Murphy3 · 11-22-2003, 06:37 PM

Yes, San Antonio will pull it together at some point in the season. However, the longer they struggle the more difficult it'll be come playoff time. Can anyone honestly tell me that they'd like to finish 4th or 5th in the Western Conference?

thewillis12 · 11-22-2003, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: Simon2

Quote:

Originally posted by: TVI
The Mavs are more consistent so far this year. I'm still not sold on Walker. I didn't like him in Boston, and I hate him in Dallas. He scores a lot, but takes a billion shots to get there. I fell that he will hurt more than he will help. He is not the answer.

The Spurs are bringing in a lot of new faces, but right now, they're a roller coaster team. As evidenced by the pounding they gave Sucklanta tonight, The shooting is streaky. The consistency is not there yet, but when Parker and Manu are rolling, they are arguably the best team in the league. However, these young players are still learning how to play together. Last night, they sucked. Tonight, they were great.

It will take the Spurs a while this year to put it all together. Too many new roles are still being defined. But if they peak during the playoffs, they're as good as anyone. I think they love flying under the radar.

The one thing I really like about Walker right now is his ability to dribble the ball. He is probably the Mavs #1 slasher. Well, Nash really is but I mean in terms of size. I think eventually Walker will develop a drive and dish attitude similar to Nash. Teams will try to stop him from going to the basket and he'll find the open people in Nash, Fin or Dirk or even Jamison.

#1 slasher???? walker???? cmon now..... if jamison was given the chance than he would be there #1 post up player and slasher is GIVEN THE CHANCE. when walker goes cold than the mavs need to TAKE HIM OUT. anyone that watches basketball knows that jamison can score. why nellie dosnt give him a chance to is something i realy dont understand. i hope that jamison gets more min. in the future so that he wont get traded or anything. out of all the guys that came in through trades, jamison has the most potential to be good for this team.