Spurs, Nuggets at risk for upsets (merged)

Bibby-4-Three

G-League
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12408777/from/RS.2/

By Matt Guokas
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 8:36 p.m. ET April 20, 2006

Matt Guokas

The NBA playoffs could hold a few surprises starting as early as the first round as some of the matchups like the Spurs-Kings and Nuggets-Clippers could be determined by the health of star players.

Spurs seek clean bill of health
The West is totally up for grabs as there is not one team -- not even defending NBA champion San Antonio -- that sticks out to me as a overwhelming favorite.

San Antonio has to be concerned because it has been a tough year for Tim Duncan, who has been nagged by injuries and who has been playing hurt.

Duncan hasn't shown he's been at 100 percent, and his numbers point to that as he averaged career lows in points (18.6), rebounds (11.0), blocks (2.03), and field goal percentage (.484).

The playoffs are a long grind, and Duncan is so important to the Spurs that if he is not right physically, San Antonio is definitely in jeopardy of not getting a crack at a second straight championship.

Manu Ginobili has also battled injuries, missing 17 regular-season games. He too must stay healthy in the playoffs. If Duncan and Ginobili cannot bring their best games, the Spurs' title defense will be a flawed one.

The Spurs have been relying so much on point guard Tony Parker, who has had a fabulous regular season, but come playoff time he usually steps back a little bit, and he's not nearly as effective a player during the postseason.

When playing against Parker in a series, opponents can prepare for him and try and take certain things away from him, while also going at him from the other end of the floor and making him defend.

The top-seeded Spurs will encounter a Sacramento team that saw its season turn around after a Jan. 25 trade that sent Peja Stojakovic to the Pacers in exchange for Ron Artest. By adding Artest, the Kings got a player who helps them win games at both ends of the floor.

Upon acquiring Artest, the identity of the Kings changed. Their defense greatly improved. Sacramento went from allowing opponents 100.2 points per game before obtaining Artest to limiting teams to 94.0 points per game after his arrival.

Before Artest came to Sacramento, the Kings allowed opponents to shoot .461 from the field. After his arrival, that percentage dropped to .444.

Artest can greatly affect a game as can Mike Bibby, and Brad Miller, who is a tough guy to handle because he is a big man who can go outside and shoot the ball, pass the ball, and put it on the floor enough to create things -- and that's a weapon most teams don't have.

Historically, Sacramento has been very tough in its own building so if the Kings can steal a game in San Antonio, they become all the more dangerous. I'm not saying Sacramento is going to knock off the Spurs, but if it happened, it wouldn't shock me.
 
I think, every teams have their chances in this competition, if not, why they compete at all, right ? I just hope it would be a great series, no blowing out (whether the end result is 4-0 or 4-3 for anyone, that's not really matter. I sure hope the Spurs would prevail though :D)
 
The NBA playoffs could hold a few surprises starting as early as the first round as some of the matchups like the Spurs-Kings and Nuggets-Clippers could be determined by the health of star players.

Nobody can upset the Nuggets because they have the worst record of any Western Conference team in the playoffs. It would be an upset if the Clippers lost.
 
SpursIndonesia said:
I think, every teams have their chances in this competition, if not, why they compete at all, right ? I just hope it would be a great series, no blowing out (whether the end result is 4-0 or 4-3 for anyone, that's not really matter. I sure hope the Spurs would prevail though :D)


I think Kings will win 1 of the first two. If they do than the Kings will win 2 games, if not they will win one at home, and lose in the 5th :(
 
Steve_002 said:
Nobody can upset the Nuggets because they have the worst record of any Western Conference team in the playoffs. It would be an upset if the Clippers lost.

I think you've hit the nail right on the head...
 
The Most Exciting First/eighth Seed Matchup In Recent History. We Can Win This. Read!

Personally I feel this is going to be the most exciting first round match up since the 99 Knicks faced the Heat. Sure the Kings are stuck in the 8th spot, but the fact remains this team is not an you typical pushover 8th seed. Since Feb. 4th this Kings team has the 4th best record in the NBA! That being said, if the Kings had Artest the whole season, this match up could EASILY be your Western Conference finals!

I’ve been reading various reports on different NBA sites and it seems many people from the media are beginning to respect the Kings. I know the Spurs are the heavy favorites when betting, but let me break down the reasons this kings team has a chance at the biggest up set (possibly) in league history!

First and foremost, this kings team is hungry to win this (especially Artest)! Sure the Spurs have ample amounts of experience but as of late just about every King has been playing their best basketball of the season. Bibby has been lighting it up from three, Bonzi has been an animal down low, Artest is proving to be a nightmare for his opponents on defense, Thomas has been a rebounding machine. Lastly, Martin and Reef have been hitting their jumpers and playing solid . That being said, we need Miller to step it up come playoff time! He has been doing decent lately, but needs to take his game to the next level along with the rest of the team.

On paper the Spurs have possibly the best team in the league. The fact of the matter is the Spurs players are getting up there in age and many of them are past their prime. Right now you are thinking “dude they are the defending champs”. I know they are but in the NBA it is all about match ups. Remember how much trouble the old kings team caused Utah when Utah was number 1. Simply because the teams matched up well. This is the same thing. Bibby for the most part takes his game to another level when battling it out with parker. Artest will drastically slow down Manu. Bowen will not be able to contain Bonzi’s furious play down low. And with all the problems Duncan has had with his feet all season, he is not the same player he has been in previous playoff series.

All and all, win or lose this will be one hell of an exciting match up to watch!

Peace...
 
The betting summary consensus I just looked at favors the Kings in game 1 at 52.8% to 47.2%.

San Antonio is considered the underdog, at home, by the betting folk.

There are some fun stats here.
 
BALLER4LIFE:

I like what you had to say.

BUT.......

I just think this team needs time to grow. I don't think we have been together long enough to win a 7 game series against a team like the Spurs. IF we had gotten the 6th seed and went up against Denver than we would have beat the Nuggets in 5 games easy.

Also, I understand what you say about the "matchup" issues that San Antonio has with us. Well Bowen will not guard Bonzi the whole game. Bowen will guard whichever perimeter guy is hitting shots. We are pretty much a perimeter team (although Artest, and Bonzi go low a lot) and I think this will be key. We can in effect take away Bowens game if we go low to Artest or Bonzi, and then kick it out to Bibby for 3 or Brad for a elbow shot.

It will dfinitely be interesting! But alas, I don't think we got enough cohesion yet to win more than 2 games in this series. I hope they prove me wrong!
 
If the Kings beat the Spurs, somebody needs to find Steve Kerr and Charles Barkley for interviews as soon as possible. It may be playback time.
 
BALLER4LIFE said:
Personally I feel this is going to be the most exciting first round match up since the 99 Knicks faced the Heat. Sure the Kings are stuck in the 8th spot, but the fact remains this team is not an you typical pushover 8th seed. Since Feb. 4th this Kings team has the 4th best record in the NBA! That being said, if the Kings had Artest the whole season, this match up could EASILY be your Western Conference finals!
spurs always look beatable. every season, the spurs' opponent is predicted to win by several national journalists/analysts. i'm not saying that means it won't happen, just saying that any team in the playoffs (except for recent east bottom feeders) have a chance.
 
Dave McNulla said:
spurs always look beatable. every season, the spurs' opponent is predicted to win by several national journalists/analysts. i'm not saying that means it won't happen, just saying that any team in the playoffs (except for recent east bottom feeders) have a chance.

hehehehe!!! Yep! Otherwise let's award the trophies and go home.
 
bibbinator said:
The betting summary consensus I just looked at favors the Kings in game 1 at 52.8% to 47.2%.

San Antonio is considered the underdog, at home, by the betting folk.

There are some fun stats here.
The Kings are not favored. They are 8.5 point underdogs. What are you talking about?
 
thesanityannex said:
The Kings are not favored. They are 8.5 point underdogs. What are you talking about?

:eek: Yikes! I misread that consensus to be for an absolute win or loss, not beating the point spread!
 
bibbinator said:
:eek: Yikes! I misread that consensus to be for an absolute win or loss, not beating the point spread!


Well, I sure hope no one rushed off to place a bet somewhere based on what you had said. :eek: :p
 
bibbinator said:
:eek: Yikes! I misread that consensus to be for an absolute win or loss, not beating the point spread!
Hope you didn't put any money down.
 
Gary said:
BALLER4LIFE:

I like what you had to say.

I just think this team needs time to grow. I don't think we have been together long enough to win a 7 game series against a team like the Spurs. IF we had gotten the 6th seed and went up against Denver than we would have beat the Nuggets in 5 games easy.

nah.
 
Nuggets beating the Clips would be an upset in my opinion because they have went into the Playoffs cold and that they have the worst record in the west has something to do with it also. However, Boykins is back and their backcourt will be great, though Boykins will be rusty. Nugs are not nearly as good as they were last year.
 
Sac.Kings said:
Nuggets beating the Clips would be an upset in my opinion because they have went into the Playoffs cold and that they have the worst record in the west has something to do with it also. However, Boykins is back and their backcourt will be great, though Boykins will be rusty.

to be fair the clips are just as cold and the ONLY reason we have the worst record is that we didnt really play our last 4 games...no reason to. but homecourt in the clips favor definitely pushes the series to their side.

Nugs are not nearly as good as they were last year.

fortunately the clips are not the spurs, the team that took us out last year.
 
NugzFan said:
to be fair the clips are just as cold and the ONLY reason we have the worst record is that we didnt really play our last 4 games...no reason to. but homecourt in the clips favor definitely pushes the series to their side.



fortunately the clips are not the spurs, the team that took us out last year.

The Clips are cold, but the Nuggets have been a mystery as of late. After winning your division, the Nugs just.....disappeared. The Clips are definetly not the Spurs, but the Nuggets where on a 32-8 run(or something close to that) after the All-Star break last year. The Nuggets were the hottest team no doubt after the All-Star break. The Spurs of last year have a much weaker bench compared to this year and what the Kings have to face, though Duncan was healthy. I hope the Nuggets reappear in time and knock off the Clips because it would suck if they advanced and we didn't.
 
Sac.Kings said:
The Clips are cold, but the Nuggets have been a mystery as of late. After winning your division, the Nugs just.....disappeared.

pretty good reason for that.

The Clips are definetly not the Spurs, but the Nuggets where on a 32-8 run(or something close to that) after the All-Star break last year. The Nuggets were the hottest team no doubt after the All-Star break. The Spurs of last year have a much weaker bench compared to this year and what the Kings have to face, though Duncan was healthy. I hope the Nuggets reappear in time and knock off the Clips because it would suck if they advanced and we didn't.

my comments were comparing the spurs of last year to the clips of this year - our opponent is not as good. i was not comparing the spurs of last year to the spurs of this year (for the kings perspective). just wanted to make that clear. i think you guys have a good chance at the upset.
 
Geeze, that's all we need! We were better off going into the San Antonio series with reduced expectations. The Kings should not be viewed as "the favorite". I don't like the psychology of that situation. All sports teams are superstitious, and I think the Kings may be particularly suseptible to mental breakdowns. :eek:
 
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