Conference Finals are looking awfully chalky...
should've waited with predicting this. would now change my vote to San Antonio in five.
Marc J. Spears @SpearsNBAYahoo 45m
Thunder say forward Serge Ibaka is expected to miss the remainder of the 2014 postseason with a left calf injury.
If wish the Kings would play like the Spurs. Coaching staff and players should watch their games until their eyes bug out. Maybe they would learn something.
fans all across the nba enjoy saying stuff like this, but if it were easy to "play like the spurs," more teams would be doing so, i can guarantee you that. unfortunately, the spurs are an outlier; their system is predicated on both their ownership's and their front office's unfailing commitment to and faith in gregg popovich, who serves as head coach, president of basketball operations, and supreme chancellor of that entire organization's culture. he's built his legendary teams around three exceptional talents who've been playing together for over a decade, and he is consistently able to surround those three players with a complementary supporting cast because a) he knows exactly what he's looking for, and b) he has the power within the team's structure to get it...
i "wish the kings would play like the spurs," too, but the kings don't have three all-star talents with over a decade's worth of experience playing together. the kings don't have a general manager who is perfectly in sync with his head coach. and the kings don't have a head coach with experience and wins enough to demand the excellence that popovich demands--and receives--day in and day out. you simply will not find a perfect storm of hierarchical synergy like the san antonio spurs anywhere else across the league, although the detroit pistons seem to be attempting a similar organizational structure by installing stan van gundy as both head coach and president of basketball operations. he's being given popovich-level power over the pistons' personnel decisions, and that's a useful power to have if you're a quality head coach who commands some measure of respect...
At this rate OKC will get swept. They have to post up KD in the post more to put some pressure on the Spurs in the paint. I don't know why they even start Perkins, Adams is significantly better and is not a complete liability on offense. In order for the Thunder to even have a chance, KD and Westbrook each need to average 30 a game here on out at least.
Might want to amend that statement.