anyone else want to wager against me that the spurs won't break 70 wins? name your price

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Back to backs have killed them, just like they do any other team.

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leave your spurs rhetoric and over-generalizations out of this. the Lakers are 8-1 on the 2nd night of a back to back. and are considered an "older team" now.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 1/18/2011 4:51p).]

My bad shark- you are correct.
I still doubt they can keep up their current pace though, and they are going to see more of the "elite" teams from here on out. Not to mention multiple games against solid teams like the Jazz, OKC, Mavs, Knicks, Hornets, Grizz, etc.

Very difficult schedule from here on out.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 1/18/2011 3:42p).]

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anyone else want to wager against me that the spurs won't break 70 wins? name your price

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My, what giant cajones you have. [/rolls eyes]

I would be willing to wager against your rodeo road trip claim. Name your price and conditions.

I don't think anyone here seriously thinks the Spurs will chase 70 wins, when even Pop himself has said that is out of the question (and it wasn't coachspeak). Now if you said 65 wins, you might have some takers.

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't bet on them to make 70, but if they get to around 50 wins and still have a 2 or 3 game cushion then I think it would be neat to have them attempt to do something only 1 other team has done in history. The question is, is that bigger than a championship if you had to choose between the 2?

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The question is, is that bigger than a championship if you had to choose between the 2?

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I really don't think that's a question.

I agree. Not a question at all.

You're probably right, but one of 2 teams to win 70 would be remembered just as much as a title would.

Yeah but if they failed to win a title they'd be remembered for the failure moreso than the 70 wins.

Everybody remembers Dirk's MVP award because it happened in the midst of the Mav's complete playoff failure. Everybody remembers the Patriot's "perfect season" because it ended in defeat in the Superbowl.

70 wins is a worthless milestone if you don't cap it with a title. On the other hand, if you win the title after you win 70 regular season games, it increases the "mystique" years later.

likewise, so would a 40 win team winning the championship.

all that matters is winning it all

No question that a championship would trump any number of wins in a season. If the Spurs can stay healthy......

Now is probably a good time to start expecting the Spurs to win 65.

They only need to go 26-10 the rest of the way to get there.

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Now is probably a good time to start expecting the Spurs to win 65.

They only need to go 26-10 the rest of the way to get there.

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That's harder than you might think. They have a really tough schedule over the last 36 games.

I realize they have some tough games ahead. They still have lots of gimme games as well.

Sportscenter says they're the 5th team to start 39-7 the past 25 years. I would guess that all other 4 won at least 65 games. It's safe to expect them to win 65+. Maybe they shut down the veterans for the last ~10 days of the season, but that's only 3-5 games.

They have a different mindset this season - no more coasting through back to backs, and no waiting until the rodeo trip to turn it on. But of the big 3 only Ginobili is playing more minutes than he used to in prior years. That's a testament to depth and health.

Someone find me a comparable team with 40 wins and a >7.00 SRS at the end of January that didn't continue the run through April. And barring injury I don't see how they won't be the clear favorites for the title. This isn't like the 07 Mavs who dominated the W-L but had weak stats and a history of playoff losing. It isn't the 09 and 10 Cavs who had the stats and Ws but were overly one dimensional and in a cursed city. Only the Celtics could challenge them for the regular season mark, but they are older and just last year were able to successfully flip the switch in the playoffs. Obviously the Lakers will try to flip the switch late in the season and see if it works, but it's very rare to win a conference 4 straight years.

It would be great if we could get a nice Spurs-Celtics rivalry going where both teams are gunning for home court in the Finals. But the Celtics are too distracted by the Heat and the Spurs are too smart to get caught up in that.

[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 1/26/2011 11:58p).]

At this point I'll be shocked if they don't make it to 65. Even then, they won't be the favorites. This is really a nice situation to be in.

I'm not too sure that they'll make it to 65 wins.

I'm betting that if they've got a comfortable lead over the #2 seed, Pop will start pulling the starters very early in the games. The Spurs only got 63 wins in '05-'06 because the Mavs were right behind them.

Three of the teams that started 39-7 or better were Bulls teams in 92, 96, and 97. The worst of those three teams won 67 games and the championship.

What were the other two?

[This message has been edited by Tennerman (edited 1/27/2011 10:22a).]

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And barring injury I don't see how they won't be the clear favorites for the title.

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as long as there is a team in LA called the Lakers, the spurs will not be considered the favorite. The Spurs could win out and people would still say the Lakers are the favorite.

...as they probably should.

I don't think 65 wins matters at all but I think the Spurs will get it without that being a goal. They are just playing too well and have too much depth not to.

I also don't think the Spurs are the clear favorites for the title but I do think they have as good a shot as anyone. I think they will have a difficult series with LA in which they have the HC advantage to decide the West and I don't think either the Spurs or Lakers are very affected by HCA as they are both loaded with playoff vets and that series would probably have as many combined rings playing in it as exist in the rest of the league combined. If they get through LA you still have Boston and possibly Miami. Though I think Boston is the clear favorite Miami still has ridiculous talent with their Big 3 and it's foolish to count them out.

I'm mainly just enjoying the ride right now. The Spurs are a beautiful team to watch, they execute as well as any team I have ever seen play. You could take a tape of almost any of their games and use it for coaching kids how to play basketball at a high level to perfection. They rarely have a defensive breakdown. They rarely take a bad shot. They are always aware of the situation. They play great defense without fouling and manage to always be in position. They set picks like crazy and pass the ball to the open man virtually every time. Then they mix in a few great feats of athleticism or incredible basketball awareness just for fun (last night it was Manu's steal on a Jazz fast break just as they were making a late run). They never get rattled and play clearly with a purpose and confidence. It's just a joy to watch.

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Your last paragraph sums me up as well. The Spurs are playing at an extremely high level right now. I'm going to enjoy it as long as it lasts, and I'll buy the locker-room cap if they luck out and win it all.

i'm jealous you guys get to watch all these games

This team is fun to watch, but if they can't figure out how to to buckle down and play grind out defense come playoff time, this will all be for nothing.

And League Pass is the best $160 one can ever spend.

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This team is fun to watch, but if they can't figure out how to to buckle down and play grind out defense come playoff time, this will all be for nothing.

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While I agree, give them a little more credit. They've lost 7 games. The defense needs improvement, but it hasn't been too bad.

Rotations have been crap. This defense is just ok in the regular season, in the playoffs it will be shredded. They need to step it up a couple notches if they want to win more than one series.

Gary Neal is turning into a real pest on defense while simultaneously turning into a well-rounded scoring machine. Hill is solid on defense. Jefferson is at least physically capable of guarding slow players; hopefully he will learn to stop drifting off every freaking time down the court. Manu wreaks havoc, and DeJuan is sneaky-good. Overall though, post defense is weak and rotations are late or nonexistent. That has to change.

On the plus side, the offense is amazing when they play with focus. Really a great team game, the way they manipulate defenses is art. It helps when you have two #1 scorers, a plethora of guys who can go for 20 any night, and none of them are selfish.

Let's take a look at the remaining schedule

Jan 29 Hou 8:30 PM
Feb 1 @Port 10:00 PM
Feb 3 @LAL 10:30 PM
Feb 4 @Sac 10:00 PM
Feb 8 @Det 7:30 PM
Feb 9 @Tor 7:00 PM
Feb 11 @Phi 7:00 PM
Feb 12 @Wash 8:00 PM
Feb 14 @NJ 7:00 PM
Feb 17 @Chi 8:00 PM
Feb 23 OKC 8:00 PM
Feb 25 NJ 8:30 PM
Feb 27 Mem 7:00 PM
Mar 1 @Mem 8:00 PM
Mar 2 @Cle 7:00 PM
Mar 4 Mia 9:30 PM
Mar 6 LAL 3:30 PM
Mar 9 Det 8:30 PM
Mar 11 Sac 8:30 PM
Mar 12 @Hou 8:30 PM
Mar 14 @Mia 8:00 PM
Mar 18 @Dal 8:30 PM
Mar 19 Char 8:30 PM
Mar 21 GS 8:30 PM
Mar 23 @Den 10:30 PM
Mar 25 @Port 10:00 PM
Mar 27 @Mem 6:00 PM
Mar 28 Port 8:30 PM
Mar 31 Bos 8:00 PM
Apr 1 @Hou 8:30 PM
Apr 3 Pho 1:00 PM
Apr 5 @Atl 7:00 PM
Apr 6 Sac 8:30 PM
Apr 9 Utah 8:30 PM
Apr 12 @LAL 10:30 PM
Apr 13 @Pho 10:30 PM

I bolded the games I think are the most likely to be losses. The italics are possible losses if the Spurs have the 1 seed locked up and play the bench.

I wouldn't call it a worst-case scenario, but barring any injuries, it's pretty close. That would make it 61-21 with that final stretch of 22-14. Will they win 65? Hard to say, especially if they lock up that top spot early. But it's highly possible.

[This message has been edited by sharkenleo (edited 1/27/2011 10:59p).]

40-7 now.

Only need to go 25-10.

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blazers, lakers, bulls, sixers

those are the losses I think the spurs take. luckily, the spurs' back-to-back games are very weak teams

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spurs lose to the blazers tonight. lets see how the other 3 pan out. the spurs are locks for losses against the bulls and lakers.

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the spurs are locks for losses against the bulls and lakers.

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Not saying they won't lose, but haven't the Spurs already beaten both of those teams soundly?

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anyone else want to wager against me that the spurs won't break 70 wins? name your price

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SOMEONE BET A POOP SLAP ON 70 WINS PLEASE

[This message has been edited by Juicy J (edited 2/3/2011 12:47p).]

Gonna be a good tonight. Spurs will try to bounce back and this is a must-win for the Lakers if they want to make a run at the top seed.

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the spurs are locks for losses against the bulls and lakers.

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Oh SNAP!