I don't care if Duncan and Parker weren't playing, that is absolutely TERRIBLE.

They were down to Blair and some 10-day guy in the post. Jefferson was covering Aldridge a lot. That in turn meant lots of zone and sagging defense, which left their shooters open. Also, Cory Joseph kept forgetting to play defense.

They hit all their open shots, especially early... started 7-9 from 3. Ended up at 54% from 3 and 59% from the field. It was a game that the Spurs might have lost at full strength just because everyone was on fire for the Blazers, but the poor defense obviously contributed to that.

They are without 4 of their 5 best players.

No Duncan, no Parker, no Manu, no Splitter, no TJ......damn near half the team didn't play lol.

Rookies and second year players all over the place--Spurs will be fine. It was a throwaway game and everyone in the building knew it.

Still... There are teams that don't even try to play defense that put up better efforts than that. That's like an allstar game score.

Oh, then you're right, the Spurs totally suck and should probably be spun down to the D-League.

No, this is just pretty good evidence that the Spurs complementary players don't have nearly the defensive chops of their predecessors from the championship era. There's no way a team of professionals should give up 137 points in regulation if they are TRYING to play defense.

Yes the defense was bad.

But did you watch the game?

I'm really a fair weather basketball fan and have enjoyed watching the Spurs since my college years (which was when they started winning championships... like I said, fair weather fan).

As a guy that doesn't keep up with basketball as much as I do football, my impression is that the media still treats the Spurs as some boring small market team that they just want to go away. If I didn't actually check on scores I would have had very little knowledge of the Spurs dominating this recent long road trip. Really impressive winning streak. But as soon as they get blown out it's like headlines.

Is that an accurate take on it or was it just my perspective as a casual fan???

Not sure what you are trying to get at here.... That the Spurs defense isn't as good as it used to be? Well no ****.

Not just that the Spurs complementary aren't as good at defense as before. That the Spurs aren't good at defense period.

People don't take the Spurs as seriously anymore not because they're small market, but because they're aging and they've had some recent playoffs flameouts. Last year they were the #1 seed and lost in the first round.

Sure, they're not as good as they were during their titles. But they have their moments.

I really don't think this game can determine the judgement of their team defense though.

I honestly take nothing from this loss. The second half was basically garbage time. A 10-day contract player had 31 minutes for crying out loud.

If people are not taking them seriously then I believe they are mistaken.

If (and I realize it's a big if) they are healthy I believe they can contend.

Clearly they don't have the defense they used too. But team defense is a thing that only gets stronger as the season progresses. I don't think they will get to level they were at a few years ago. However with Pop still on the sidelines they will be coached at a very high level. Especially defensively.

I think the Thunder are the best in the west. But after that? Spurs, Mavs, Lakers, Clippers, etc can all beat each other in a 7 game series.

If the Spurs make it to the WCF against OKC it'll be very tough to win. But I think it's possible.

But back to this thread, that game last night won't have any effect on how the Spurs play defense. Yes they need to improve. But, come on, no Duncan, Parker, Manu, Tiago, Ford...

Earlier in the year, I expected games like these to be more common than they actually have been (or at least that I've noticed).

With the compressed schedule, I've expected more teams to surreneder earlier than normal in games, leading to more blowouts. Again, I'm surprised it hasn't happened more often.

I'm not sure how good the defense on those first two title teams would have been with Duncan and Robinson out. Obviously 2012 Duncan and Splitter are no 2003 Duncan and Robinson, but any team's defense is going to fall apart when they have to put Richard Jefferson on Lamarcus Aldridge.

The Spurs' defensive ceiling is not as high as it once was, but it's still a lot higher than their ceiling is without the starting C, PF, PG, SG, and backup PG.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 2/22/2012 11:58a).]

I love the no excuses crowd. Being down 5 players means nothing.

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It was a throwaway game and everyone in the building knew it.

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Bet everyone wished they didn't buy tickets to the game. Getting beat is okay, but not respecting fans is not. That's a crappy thing to do.

Pop's job is winning rings, not pleasing Portland's fans... although he did a pretty good job of it last night.

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quote:

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It was a throwaway game and everyone in the building knew it.

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Bet everyone wished they didn't buy tickets to the game. Getting beat is okay, but not respecting fans is not. That's a crappy thing to do.

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Disrespecting fans? Are you serious with this argument? Pop rested his best 2 players because they have been through a brutal road trip. End of story.

Has nothing to do the fans. The guy is trying to win a Championship. Not make Portland fans happy. Get real.

[This message has been edited by TheDino (edited 2/22/2012 4:15p).]