The Bulls and Spurs seem very similar me.

Both teams:
-Are extremely well coached
-Have great depth and role players
-Maintain focus over 82 games and take pride in defense on a night in, night out basis
-Have a PG that ignites the offense

Over the course of an 82 game season, I have little doubt that teams like the Spurs and Bulls will come out with the best record (all other factors like injuries held constant). They'll even dispose teams like Hawks and Clippers in the playoffs with no problem.

But the Thunder and Heat seem to hold the trump cards for the Bulls and Spurs in a seven game series.

The edge in focus and strategy that the Bulls and Spurs enjoy for most of the season seems to disappear against the uber talented and athletic Heat and Thunder squads, who will lift their focus and attention to detail when the stakes are high.

Rose/Parker can be gameplanned against and taken away from their strengths in a seven game series. Role players who perform admirably during a long season can't really be counted on to pick up any of Rose/Parker's slack. Then Pop and Thibs have very tough decisions to make on how to initiate offense.

This is why I'd like to see the Bulls revamp their team and try to bring in another superstar (somehow). I love the Bulls chances in an 82 game season. But I don't think we have the horsepower to win a seven game series against OKC or Miami. We need another (consistent) way to score when Lebron is guarding Rose.

Obviously the Spurs didn't exactly get blown out by OKC. It was a very competitive series. But with OKC and Miami as they are right now, I'm just not sure if the Bulls/Spurs recipe for success will be good enough for title.

Excellent post. We need more of this real talk than the garbage that Simpletard spews.

I would like to know how the bulls would have done this playoffs. They had questions, but who didn't. Rose is a monster and seems to elevate the dudes around him. I'm not sure another superstar is what they need, but dumping someone like boozer and pulling off a trade for someone like gasol or Bynum would really put them over the top.

The spurs ultimately needed experience, which is crazy sounding since everyone called them old all year. The problem is the huge drop off between the guys like Tim, Tony, and manu and the guys like green and Neal. Couple their lack of intense playoff experience with Jackson and Diaw not having a full season to assimilate (let alone a full off season) and the spurs didn't have a shot. The reason the Thunder can pull it off with a lack of experience is that they have at least four players who could be legit number ones on a lot of teams. It just felt like they could cover their flaws with sheer athleticism.

I think both of these teams can get it done with relatively minor tweaks. I can't wait to see what the coming months hold.

[This message has been edited by Obi Wan Ginobili (edited 6/10/2012 10:25p).]

good post. just a minor quibble with a couple of points.

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Both teams:
-Maintain focus over 82 games and take pride in defense on a night in, night out basis

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The spurs were #11 in defensive efficiency. Not exactly a lockdown defense. They were the #1 seed because of their excellence on offense.

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Over the course of an 82 game season, I have little doubt that teams like the Spurs and Bulls will come out with the best record

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Yes the Spurs won the west by 3 games, but it took an insane run at the end of the season for them to get past the Thunder. The Spurs were not clearly the best team in the West, at least not until the last week of the season.

But the overall point does stand, that some teams seem constructed in a way that leads to more success in the regular season (based around excellent "team ball" that doesn't take a night off) and others seem constructed for success in the postseason (superior #1s and #2s capable of carrying an entire series).

quote:

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We need more of this real talk than the garbage that Simpletard spews.

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Obi Wan Ginobili posted

spurs playing good basketball. i would love to hear some non-spurs, non-lakers rationale as to why the spurs aren't going anywhere come playoff time.

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i must have missed the part of this playoffs where the lakers crapped out and the spurs played in the western conference finals.

you also must feel really good about yourself pussing out of a st. jude charity bet when i gave you the field and i took the spurs.

[This message has been edited by Obi Wan Ginobili (edited 6/11/2012 5:03p).]