is anyone NOT picking the spurs to win it all this year?

[jzek]

I mean holy fukk almighty:

Tim Duncan
Lamarcus Aldridge
Kawhi Leonard
Danny Green
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
David West
Boris Diaw
Patty Mills
Kyle Anderson
Ray McCallum
Boban Marjanovic (7'4")
Jonathan Simmons

...plus arguably the best coach in the world and the fact that they win titles every other year or so.

[UK2K]

I'm not even entirely convinced they win their division.

So me.

[GOBB]

Injuries is my biggest concern with the Old 3. Duncan, Manu, Parker.


I'm not even entirely convinced they win their division.

So me.

:biggums:

[T_L_P]

If Parker doesn't start playing the facilitator role, we will have a tough time winning it all.

He could easily bury us if he continues with his over-dribbling, as Pop has shown he won't bench him when he's sucking wind.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Injuries is my biggest concern with the Old 3. Duncan, Manu, Parker.



:biggums:

Yep. Injuries and relating to that: depth may be their downfall. Duncan is the only center on the roster. He will only play about 25-30 minutes. And no back to backs.

Parker and Manu... who knows on their health. Both have been horrid the last little bit.

[DMAVS41]

I still think the Cavs are better if healthy....

[Marchesk]

Thunder: Durant, Westbrook >> anyone on the Spurs at this point.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

New account awaiting activation.

[Beastmode88]

Manu has to played like he did in 2014 if they want the ring. He didnt look motivated last year.

[UK2K]

Injuries is my biggest concern with the Old 3. Duncan, Manu, Parker.



:biggums:
Manu and TP weren't exactly reliable. In fact TP had a long stretch where he was absolute dog shit.

Manu is old. Duncan will probably only play 26mpg once a week. Who's the back up C? Diaw? Or some guy I've never heard of?

The Green, Leonard, and Aldridge are great no doubt, but theyve got weaknesses.

Houston won the division last year, and they got better at every position (bottom quarter of the league in average age, 4 of their top 6 missed 20+ games).

[fiddy]

Too old, backcourt is garbage

[T_L_P]

Manu and TP weren't exactly reliable. In fact TP had a long stretch where he was absolute dog shit.

Manu is old. Duncan will probably only play 26mpg once a week. Who's the back up C? Diaw? Or some guy I've never heard of?

The Green, Leonard, and Aldridge are great no doubt, but theyve got weaknesses.

He just played 77 games and lead the Spurs in Playoff minutes.

This isn't 03 Robinson who couldn't play. If the Spurs need Duncan to play every game, he will. :facepalm

[UK2K]

He just played 77 games and lead the Spurs in Playoff minutes.

This isn't 03 Robinson who couldn't play. If the Spurs need Duncan to play every game, he will. :facepalm

He's also now 39 now.

$100 says he doesn't play 70 games.

[T_L_P]

He's also now 39 now.

$100 says he doesn't play 70 games.

Because he won't need to. :facepalm

But in the Playoffs, which is the only thing that matters, I guarantee he'll be getting big minutes.

Shit, you're the one up here saying he's about to miss two of every three games. :oldlol:

[MellowYellow]

:biggums: They couldn't even beat the clippers last year, and they landed lma and west but lost key players in splitter, marco, baynes and joseph. They will have issues now with duncan playing starting center at age 39.

[MellowYellow]

Because he won't need to. :facepalm

But in the Playoffs, which is the only thing that matters, I guarantee he'll be getting big minutes.

Shit, you're the one up here saying he's about to miss two of every three games. :oldlol:

Yes he does need to, they have no depth at center. LMA will not play center and West is too little to play center.

[pastis]

lets see how West and LMA will get integrated in pops-system.

Warriors, Cavs and Spurs have right now the best shot, but lets not forget OKC...but their bench isnt that strong unfortunatelly

[UK2K]

I think the West looks like:

GS
(In no order)
HOU
OKC
SAS
LAC

MEM



Everyone else.

[christian1923]

I think it's OKC's year to beat Lebron in the finals

[Kawhi]

All depends wether or not Enrique Porker can play like a normal PG. If not, I hope Pop won't be a hard head and starts Mills over him, tbh.

[Nastradamus]

Spurs,GS,LAC and OKC are all about dead even in the West. Cleveland has the best overall roster probably though, plus you know, Lebron.

[Prime_Shaq]

My pick to win if they are all healthy are OKC but if they aren't then its the Spurs for me, and I was rooting for the Warriors this season

[Dro]

I agree with others, they have no front court depth. LMA or West will NOT want to play center. I think they need a high seed, they can't afford to coast through the season resting those dudes, get a 7 seed and win the championship. So what, they're going to get a top 4 seed resting Duncan on back to backs and riding Leonard and Green on defense? They need defense, they have very little outside of Leonard, Duncan is not the rim protector at this point and he can't afford foul trouble.

They need another big. Right now, I see them as a 5, 6 seed to be honest. All the west did was get better like it does every year. OKC will be back. Houston is back and better. GS is GS, they'll be back. Clippers will still win a lot of games in the regular season. Dallas and Memphis.

[Akrazotile]

Injuries is my biggest concern with the Old 3. Duncan, Manu, Parker.



:biggums:


Tbh it doesnt really matter if Tony or Manu get hurt. Duncan's the only one of them they cant afford to lose.

[Akrazotile]

I agree with others, they have no front court depth. LMA or West will NOT want to play center. I think they need a high seed, they can't afford to coast through the season resting those dudes, get a 7 seed and win the championship. So what, they're going to get a top 4 seed resting Duncan on back to backs and riding Leonard and Green on defense? They need defense, they have very little outside of Leonard, Duncan is not the rim protector at this point and he can't afford foul trouble.

They need another big. Right now, I see them as a 5, 6 seed to be honest. All the west did was get better like it does every year. OKC will be back. Houston is back and better. GS is GS, they'll be back. Clippers will still win a lot of games in the regular season. Dallas and Memphis.


Ummm....?


:confusedshrug:

[Dro]

Ummm....?


:confusedshrug:
They don't. They have a bunch of PF's. Diaw, West, LMA, and actually Duncan, all PF's who will be playing out of position. Duncan's used to it, Diaw a bit. LMA and West want no parts of that. I can tell you now, it will affect there moral a bit if they have to get bullied at center. I guarantee West didn't sign up for that, he didn't want to do it when he was here and he didn't.

I'd pick them to lose to Memphis in the playoffs honestly, they'd get bullied. Are Manu and Parker going to have throwback seasons? What have they shown for anyone to just assume that?

Free agency is fun, it doesn't mean teams are automatically going to win just because they added a couple big names.

[r0drig0lac]

Thunder: Durant, Westbrook >> anyone on the Spurs at this point.
OKC without Harden has no chance

[imdaman99]

OKC gonna stick it to them

[fiddy]

OKC without Harden has no chance
Haren is wack

[Pointguard]

The only thing I wonder about is that age could hit the old three at the same time and it could be a year in transition to the younger guys without them being prepared for it. Parker and Gin were having age moments last year. So its kind of a transition already. But Pop is great at preparing/resting and adapting.

The only guys I see playing 30 minutes a game are Kawhil and Aldridge, so flow can get out of whack here and there. Pop is usually on top of this and has that great passing flow game. Cleveland was able to rob GS of their flow for three games there... Would be interesting to see if they could do that to a SA team. Also a problem with so many short minute players is that a very attacking team like GS can throw off their defensive rhythm.

I don't think they are the most talented team.

[poido123]

Only doubt is Manu and TP.

If those guys are healthy, spurs should win title

[lilteapot]

Actually, I'm not picking them to win, because I understand the concept of depth. And they lost depth while getting Aldridge.

[SpecialQue]

Looks like Lebron stans are starting that "let's face it, the Cavs are HUGE underdogs" narrative early this year.

[Akrazotile]

They don't. They have a bunch of PF's. Diaw, West, LMA, and actually Duncan, all PF's who will be playing out of position. Duncan's used to it, Diaw a bit. LMA and West want no parts of that. I can tell you now, it will affect there moral a bit if they have to get bullied at center. I guarantee West didn't sign up for that, he didn't want to do it when he was here and he didn't.

I'd pick them to lose to Memphis in the playoffs honestly, they'd get bullied. Are Manu and Parker going to have throwback seasons? What have they shown for anyone to just assume that?

Free agency is fun, it doesn't mean teams are automatically going to win just because they added a couple big names.


Duncan and Diaw will have no problem playing center. Theyre total team dudes. How did you think they plan to get Aldridge into the starting lineup?? And theyve got a tall foreign guy that can hold down some backup minutes at center.

David West left 10 million bucks on the table to go to the Spurs AFTER theyd already gotten Aldridge. Clearly hes prepared to make some sacrifices. Its not like he didnt know what he was getting into.

Spurs have plenty of depth up front.

[HylianNightmare]

Me

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Me.

Spurs winning 65 games won't surprise me, though.

[Heavincent]

I'm concerned about Parker and Ginobli. Their backcourt in general isn't that great.

That front court though...holy ****. Leonard, LMA, Duncan, and Diaw. God damn.

[WorldWarriors]

I'm not.:oldlol:

[T_L_P]

I agree with others, they have no front court depth. LMA or West will NOT want to play center. I think they need a high seed, they can't afford to coast through the season resting those dudes, get a 7 seed and win the championship. So what, they're going to get a top 4 seed resting Duncan on back to backs and riding Leonard and Green on defense? They need defense, they have very little outside of Leonard, Duncan is not the rim protector at this point and he can't afford foul trouble.

They need another big. Right now, I see them as a 5, 6 seed to be honest. All the west did was get better like it does every year. OKC will be back. Houston is back and better. GS is GS, they'll be back. Clippers will still win a lot of games in the regular season. Dallas and Memphis.

Duncan's one of the best rim protectors in the league. He's the centrepiece of a defense that is almost always among the best in the league.

What exactly do you mean with 'is not the rim protector at this point'?

[dreamwarrior]

I like the New Heat myself.

Wade
Bosh
Whiteside
Dragic
Deng

Bench:
Green
Napier
Anderson
Winslow
Stoudamire
Haslem
McRoberts

[outbreak]

:biggums: They couldn't even beat the clippers last year, and they landed lma and west but lost key players in splitter, marco, baynes and joseph. They will have issues now with duncan playing starting center at age 39.
Parker and manu were injured in those play offs. It'll all come down to if they are healthy

[outbreak]

:biggums:
Actually, I'm not picking them to win, because I understand the concept of depth. And they lost depth while getting Aldridge.
Only thing you understand is the crackpipe

[Proctor]

I have the Spurs winning it, but not because I think they blow everyone else out of the water. I just don't see many other teams as championship level.

Anyone know Matt Bonner's status with the team?

Also think the Spurs should have tried to get Cole Aldrich.

[GreggPopazit]

No roster guarantees wins. We have tried making such predictions in the past. But given their talent and the Spurs knack for having great plays and chemistry, they have to be the favorites.

[GreggPopazit]

I like the New Heat myself.

Wade
Bosh
Whiteside
Dragic
Deng

Bench:
Green
Napier
Anderson
Winslow
Stoudamire
Haslem
McRoberts

They only stand a chance if Wade bounces back health wise.

[rmt]

Their backcourt depth is suspect with the losses of Belli and Joseph. Manu can't play heavy minutes and Parker seem injured/out of shape a lot. Green will have to play a lot of minutes and hopefully Patty plays more. Don't know these new guys that they got so we'll see how they go.

Their front court is fine, but Leonard will have to play a lot of minutes (and he should - he just turned 24) - there's no real SF backup.

I don't have them as favorites to win - the Cavs are deeper, more talented and have Lebron.

[poeticism707]

Yes he does need to, they have no depth at center. LMA will not play center and West is too little to play center.

To you and everyone saying the Spurs have no Center, the Spurs just signed the best big man in in Europe, Boban Marjonvic, a 26 year old, 7-4, 295 lbs, with a standing reach of close to ten feet. Just won Center of the year last year in his league. The strides this guy made the last few years are nuts. Google his highlights, especially his 2015 highlights.

Do you all even keep up with free agency?

This was a week ago.

[Euroleague]

I mean holy fukk almighty:

Tim Duncan
Lamarcus Aldridge
Kawhi Leonard
Danny Green
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
David West
Boris Diaw
Patty Mills
Kyle Anderson
Ray McCallum
Boban Marjanovic (7'4")
Jonathan Simmons

...plus arguably the best coach in the world and the fact that they win titles every other year or so.

Marjanovic is actually 7'5" in shoes (how the NBA counts height). But who knows what his height listing will be, since he might not actually get measured. I guess they could list him between 7'3" to 7'5", since they just copy the height listing from Europe for a lot of European players without actually measuring them. But most players in Europe are listed by height without shoes.

He's actually 7'5" in shoes.

[Lebron23]

I still think the Cavs are better if healthy....


Me too.

[Euroleague]

:biggums: They couldn't even beat the clippers last year, and they landed lma and west but lost key players in splitter, marco, baynes and joseph. They will have issues now with duncan playing starting center at age 39.

Splitter is an outright scrub.

Baynes is just a physical brute and nothing more than that.

Bellineli is a good shooter, but that's about it.

Joseph is a solid backup point guard, but that's about it.

You make it sound like they lost a shit load of good players, when in reality they mostly unloaded a bunch of useless crap. Especially Splitter, who is awful.

[Euroleague]

Their backcourt depth is suspect with the losses of Belli and Joseph. Manu can't play heavy minutes and Parker seem injured/out of shape a lot. Green will have to play a lot of minutes and hopefully Patty plays more. Don't know these new guys that they got so we'll see how they go.

Their front court is fine, but Leonard will have to play a lot of minutes (and he should - he just turned 24) - there's no real SF backup.

I don't have them as favorites to win - the Cavs are deeper, more talented and have Lebron.

Manu should have retired before last season even began. But evidently he was told he could not play for Argentina's national team at the 2016 Olympics if he was retired (why the hell he wants to still play at the Olympics, or why the hell he thinks Argentina can even qualify is another story). They won't allow retired players to play at the Olympics anymore.

Either that or he would have to play in Argentina's league for a year, and he would not do that. So, that's why he is still playing with the Spurs.

Whatever. He should still be able to produce something if they cut his minutes down to no more than 15-20 a game.

[PickernRoller]

Me. **** the Spurs, specially Pop.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

We have tried making such predictions in the past.

Tried and succeeded.

:no:

[comerb]

Their backcourt is pretty suspect and it's only getting worse by the year. It's a big weakness in the West where you have elite guards (Westbrook, Paul, Curry, Harden) on most of the top teams.

[Paul George 24]

Their backcourt depth is suspect with the losses of Belli and Joseph. Manu can't play heavy minutes and Parker seem injured/out of shape a lot. Green will have to play a lot of minutes and hopefully Patty plays more. Don't know these new guys that they got so we'll see how they go.

Their front court is fine, but Leonard will have to play a lot of minutes (and he should - he just turned 24) - there's no real SF backup.

I don't have them as favorites to win - the Cavs are deeper, more talented and have Lebron.
LOL,CAVS :roll:

[Paul George 24]

Me too.
LEBRON WILL BE 2-5 NEXT SEASON...........:lol

[Paul George 24]

Me. **** the Spurs, specially Pop.
LAKERS STAN IS JEALOUS :lol

[Joyner82reload]

lets see how West and LMA will get integrated in pops-system.

Warriors, Cavs and Spurs have right now the best shot, but lets not forget OKC...but their bench isnt that strong unfortunatelly

Augustin
Morrow
Singler/PJ III
McGary/Collison
Adams

That isn't a strong bench? :wtf:

[Derka]

They're still going to have to fight off the Rockets to win the division.

If Cleveland stays healthy, they have to be in the title conversation.

I like the Spurs to win it all, but its not a shoo-in.

[ninephive]

If Parker doesn't start playing the facilitator role, we will have a tough time winning it all.

He could easily bury us if he continues with his over-dribbling, as Pop has shown he won't bench him when he's sucking wind.
In the last 3 years, the Spurs have won 7 playoff series. Tony Parker led them in scoring in 6 of them. In that same span of time, they have not lost a playoff series where Parker led them in scoring.

Seems like we actually need the opposite of what you said.

[TheGreatDeraj]

3 things need to happen

1) Get Tony Parker back on track OR restructure offense around Kawhi

Spurs do a lot of pick and roll/dribble hand offs to get Tony Parker headed to the basket to initiate their offense. With injuries and age i'm not sure if Tony is able to lead them to the promised land again being the main guy on offense. Plus with Chris Paul, Westbrook, Curry etc, their are a lot of PGs that are going to give Tony Parker fits. Patty Mills is going to have to step up and play big minutes. They also should look to add some offense initiation by Kawhi to keep their offense going strong with Manu and Parker slowing down.

2) figure out Center rotation

I would assume they start TD/Aldridge with West/Aldridge as second frontcourt and West/Diaw as the third. Can Tim Duncan and Aldridge contain the big frontcourts of the West contenders, Dwight Howard, Gasol/Randolph, DJ/Griffin, Bogut/Green?

It's a little much to put 39(40 by the playoffs)Duncan through physical test the center position all year long, so I think the Spurs will either have a lower seed entering the playoffs or Aldridge will need to take another step up on defense and really anchor them.

3) Get Kawhi and Lamarcus involved on both ends

Kind of a combination of 1 and 2. They Khawi to be a FMVP type player. He needs to study more Pippen film and become more disruptive on help defense on every play. He was much less effective in the Clippers series than he was in the 2014 playoffs. He also needs to get more involved in isolation and post up opportunities where he is very effective. I would love to see Popovich implement lots of two man game action between Aldridge and Khawi. Kawhi and Aldridge are the future and they are going to have to take the reigns from tp/man/Duncan if the Spurs are going to be champions.

Having said that, the Cavaliers are the clear favorites imo.

Cavs

Spurs
Warriors
Clippers
Thunder
Rockets

Bulls
Memphis
Hawks
Wizards
Pelicans

[PP34Deuce]

OKC is so forgotten it's not funny. That team is a terror at full strength.

Todays NBA game is tailored to them. Durant can be your 2-3 or stretch 4.
Westbrook can be your 1-2.
They have shooters
length and athletes
2 25-26 year old players that can dominate alla Wade and Lebron.

Health is a big thing but if everyones healthy I have

OKC
Cleveland or GS
Spurs.

Aldridge is a very good player but the main issue is an aging Tony Parker.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

OKC is so forgotten it's not funny. That team is a terror at full strength.


That is because they haven't been healthy since 2012. And they will probably never be healthy.

[West-Side]

I just know that Pop will make LMA seem like prime Garnett and West like prime Barkley.

Watch; Pop turns shit into gold.
You honestly think it's a coincidence that every journeyman that comes to SA becomes an important role player? And every late round pick (Manu, Parker, Leonard) becomes either a HOFer or wins some sort of award in this league. :oldlol:

They have as much talent as anyone; but Pop is that deal breaker.
They are my pick to win it all.