the lakers have just pooped their big-boy pants: 2012-2013 NBA regular season thread (part 2)

grant hill just took a pretty standard fall while driving but if I hit the floor like that when I hit 40 somebody is calling an ambulance. hill just dusts himself off and gets back in transition.

as of right now, spurs are no. 1, thus starting my annual "can they do it again" hope-getting-up delusion

A pitcher can throw a baseball into a space the size of a shoebox at 90mph with spin; being able to wrap your hand around the ball is a positive.

idk man you ever try shooting a tennis ball? it's haaaaard

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7175601/barealol.0_standard_730.0.gif

not really a flop, just hilar

as of right now, spurs are no. 1, thus starting my annual "can they do it again" hope-getting-up delusion

― pull up to the shrink with my feelings missing (m bison), Sunday, January 27, 2013 11:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, think this was answered pretty resoundingly last year. Still, if they ease off the throttle right before the playoffs and make sure the olds are as fresh as possible, lord knows they can beat any team in the league. Can't remember how much they rested everyone before last year's playoffs, although the whole season was so weird prep-wise that it's probably not the most accurate predictor.

still think the conventional wisdom that the spurs' age caught up to them in the playoffs is BS. they won 20 games in a row before that, they were due for a cold stretch. and look at the way they're playing this year. just bad luck imo

i think it's less their age and less a "cold stretch" and more that the thunder just had the three best players on the floor including the undisputed second best player in the world

i think the series was mostly about speed/athleticism which you codes as "age"

you

and yet the spurs won the first two games

and then they lost the next four

to me that series was the thunder feeling the spurs out, getting adjusted to playing a team like that and then just turning on the jets and blowing them out of the water

spurs were a fast team last year, had the same pace rating as the thunder. they just played badly and people on espn needed narratives as to why. :shrugs:

xp like that

aka despite what the spurs did in the regular season and their win streak, i don't think they were better than OKC (and i don't think they are now)

i don't see how yours is any less a narrative than mine

at this point the spurs have 3 of the 5 best players between the teams

yes but OKC still has the best 2

who's that?

durant >> timmy > parker > russ = ginobili >>> the rest

also what's the evidence that the spurs hit a "cold stretch" in that series? they didn't play well in game 3 when they got blown out, but the next 3 games were close and the spurs played fine they just... lost (because the other team had kevin durant)

well that's kind of the point, the games were close. i never really got the feeling that the spurs were being outclassed and had no chance

game 3 iirc was a blowout but the rest were close

well that's kind of the point, the games were close. i never really got the feeling that the spurs were being outclassed and had no chance

― manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Monday, January 28, 2013 12:53 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

looking back on those box scores -- with the exception of the one game where ibaka went 11-11 -- the takeaway i get is "the spurs played well but the thunder had kevin durant (and at times russell westbrook)"... there's nothing there that says "well the spurs just played poorly but were the better team"

i should try and dig up the hollinger columns from around that time

All I remember is that the Spurs went on that crazy tear right before the playoffs, but can't remember if they were resting peeps for those last few games. The sad reality is probably that they could rest up as much as they'd like before the playoffs, but once things get started and players have to start grinding out playoff games, I'd guess that all the pre-playoff rest in the world wouldn't matter much after the 1st round.

Plus, seems like the last few playoffs have edified the Best Player on the Court stuff a little. Dudes like Bron/Wade/Rose/Durant, all of whom can dependably get their shots off in the last few minutes, give you those close-game wins. Not really sure if things would play out much differently if Spurs/Thunder met again. That said, I would not be completely shocked if the Spurs found a way to muck up the game enough to pull out a series. They're still an amazing team!

Also really loving pg Kobels / Kobels probably leading a mutiny against the D'Antoni system.

smh muck up the game. they have the most well-oiled system in the league!

Haha totally true; "muck up" = "find ways to make it a half-court game and make sure OKC can't get in rhythm." Could be wrong, but I think that OKC allows a ton of points off turnovers; think the more half-court the game is, the better the Spurs can force the Thunder into bad decisions.

Eh not sure they could take the Thunder, all their core players are even better this year.

well they don't have harden. they're still rolling but that's a big deal imo.

Yeah thats the only drop off but Martin seems to be filling (part of) that role pretty closely.

yeah. i mean i would be stunned if we didn't have an OKC-heatles rematch, but we'll see

Andrew Bogut is likely to return from his left ankle injury on Monday against the Toronto Raptors.

<3

Eh not sure they could take the Thunder, all their core players are even better this year.

Westbrook is shooting 41%

Will he sustain that? I dunno.

his WS/48 is slightly up so there's that

your point stands anyway, cuz Durant has gone supernova

he's also shooting higher from 3, still getting to the line a ton, has upped his rebound and assist numbers and is one of the league leaders in steals

kinda hard to argue that it's a better season than 10-11 though

but yes he's got his 3p% back up to his career high of 33, keep chunking Russ

well as you say his WS/48 is at a career high & his PER is right in the same range so i don't think it's an appreciable difference esp if you factor in improvements from durant & ibaka

also his shooting % for january is up at 43% now which is still a tick down from the past two years but not something that's going to kill them and it wouldn't be a shock if he just played better in the second half either

also in a head-to-head match up w/ parker, i'll still take russ

i'd rate that group durant >>> russ > duncan > parker > manu

well as you say his WS/48 is at a career high & his PER is right in the same range so i don't think it's an appreciable difference esp if you factor in improvements from durant & ibaka

― d'eejban (J0rdan S.), Monday, January 28, 2013 11:21 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't think he's worse, just not any better.

oh yeah i'd agree with that

russ over duncan, really

kind of feel like m bise and i are the only ones who watch spurs games

i mean it's likely that each will have regressed toward his respective mean come playoff time, but duncan is a legit MVP candidate and russ is having an average russ season