San Antonio Spurs.

[panahs9]

In san antonio gregg poppovic is coach of the team and also one of the best coaches. In san antonio players can still play good despite age problems (Tim Duncan's growing up and his ppg low every season.but is good as hell,and ginobili grow up.)San Antonio is one of the Smartest or maybe the SMARTER team in the nba.How do you thing about the team of SA?.Have a chance fro another ring?.Also they can run the transition well with Parker and wings,and can grab rebounds as well with Timmy and blair near the basket.

[Andrew]

I suppose they can't be ruled out completely. I'd place them outside the shortlist of frontrunners for the championship, I think they'll make the Playoffs with a decent record but they're a longshot to win it all to say the least. The shorter season with all its back-to-back-to-backs opens up the possibility of good runs and bad runs having a bigger impact on playoff seeding since there's less games to make up ground on other teams and the compacted schedule means injuries could cost players a lot of games. With that in mind, there's definitely a possibility for some unexpected results this season but all the same, I have my doubts about the Spurs.

[Dc311]

I would agree with pretty much everything that panas9 said if it were last season.But as hard it is for me to say,i do not see them going past the second round.

Blair needs to act like a damn player who is committed.
Splitter needs to really step up to the plate and play the way the Spurs think he might become.
Bonner needs to quit being such a softy.
I hope Caron Butler does end up here.
I hope the Spurs end up trading Jefferson along with some other people/draft picks and the other team picks up a good amount of Jeffersons remaining contract so the Spurs will not have to amnesty him.

Besides all of that,the Spurs have so long been told the are "too old".But yet they still play as a team that is great.

Ugh....second round.

[Andrew]

It's possible that they simply ran into a bad matchup in the Grizzlies and that with some re-tooling - perhaps facilitated by the expected release of Richard Jefferson via amnesty - they could be more competitive this year. As it stands I think they'll be a playoff team, possibly getting through to the second round.

[panahs9]

Do you think Caron Butler will go to SA?.He has many offers from many teams as i read.

[Dc311]

I hope so.According to Butlers agent,the meeting that Caron Butler had with Coach Pop went "flawlessly".I guess we will find out tomorrow.

[panahs9]

Ok thanks for the info .

[benji]

Nope:

Caron Butler agrees to terms with Clippers. Three years, 24M.

[panahs9]

Anyways that could be good too.He will have Griffin and eric gordon.its a good move i think.But i wanted him to go to spurs.. GL to butler then

[Andrew]

Spurs and Bulls both missed out there. Still some other swingman available though.

[NovU]

Butler will stink a lot as a Clipper if I am right. No real loss here for the Spurs or Bulls.

[Dc311]

Well that sucks.I do not want Josh Howard here.

[Andrew]

Butler will stink a lot as a Clipper if I am right. No real loss here for the Spurs or Bulls.

Depends what shape his knee is in after surgery and rehabilitation. Both teams could have used his skillset.

[Nick]

I think this will be the Spurs first year in the decline. With so many teams stepping up, Spurs are just getting old. Duncan is done.

[Andrew]

Winning 61 games to secure the top seed in the West last year aside, I'd say they've been in decline for a couple of years now. They've been bounced in the first round two out of the past three years and swept out of the second round in 2010. The regular season success is there as they've still been good for at least 50 wins for 12 years and counting (and won the equivalent of 60 games in the 98/99 season with 56 wins the season before) but they haven't been able to re-tool quite as well as they did earlier in Duncan's career and they've run out of steam in the postseason as a result.

I'd disagree that Duncan is done though. It seems more a case of him stepping aside; he's still capable of having big games and per 36, last season was his first dramatic drop in scoring having taken a backseat to Parker and Ginobili in the pecking order on offense. I'd say he has some productive years still ahead of him doing whatever the team needs him to do, not quite on par with his prime outside a few games here and there of course but still an important player...kind of like David Robinson was in 2003.

[Dc311]

kind of like David Robinson was in 2003.

Yes sir.

[panahs9]

I dont agree taht timmy done.i think he has to give many things for 2-3 years more.He just need a Small forward there to help the spurs out and run tranistion like the old days of SA basketball. and ofc a player who has a good outside scoring abillity(helping manu)I think that year after year timmy will not play as he was but if he gets some help (except Manu,TP) he will be too good and ofc the spurs can go up.

[Dc311]

Richard Jefferson and a 1round draft pick to Golden State for the return of Stephen Jackson.I like it alot.

[shadowgrin]

Tim Duncan sat out against the Sixers because of...



It has been corrected now in nba.com's page since the story broke out.


Same thing happened to Robert Horry years ago.



Gregg Popovich is now suspected to be the culprit on both cases. He may be serious but he's known to bust it out on some occasions, even during a playoff game...

During the Spurs' playoff-opening series against the Dallas Mavericks, he called a timeout.

"First guy to miss a free throw is buying me a car," Popovich said in the huddle.

"What color do you want?" forward Tim Duncan deadpanned.

...and even against opposing players...

phpBB [video]

Can't find the one where Pop zinged Manu about his constant injuries.

[benji]

Known to be serious? Have people seen any of his sideline interviews? Dude is hilarious.

My favorite part of that video is how Shaq is all "really? [looks over at Pop] it's gonna be like that?" before Pop gives the thumbs up.

[shadowgrin]

Have people seen any of his sideline interviews?

People don't really watch them boring Spurs.

[benji]

More for the rest of us.

[Dc311]

Finally,people who admit they are Spurs supporters.I think i am going to cry now.

[shadowgrin]

Real men don't cry. It only rains on their face.

[Dc311]

"For your information there's an inflammation in my tear gland"

Yup,that is what happened.