I knew NY the city and the team was going to hate the Triangle. Simple......PJAX not on bench and none of Jordan, Pippen, O'neal or Bryant on that roster.
Our other wins over good teams came without one of their best players; right? So, this is our first win over a good team at full strength, I think. We've won 2 in a row and 3 of 6. Baby steps, but they're steps forward.
Actually, no. They were missing their best player, Kawhi, arguably. He's definitely their most importantly player...
Yeah; I realized that. I don't think he's better than Duncan, Parker, or Ginobili, honestly, but he's very good, and he sure wasn't there. Honestly? Duncan is far and away their most important player. And that shouldn't take anything way from Leonard, who's very good and could be a very special player.
Why was Parker playing so little this game though? I felt like Pop wasn't taking it too serious and if they got a win it was a bonus for them. I had to leave the room a few times this game, and each time Parker was gone and Joseph was in, in OT too. So I'm happy for the team because they needed this, but I dunno, Spurs seemed to take a lot of this game off.
If we could get on a legit winning streak, like 8-12 games, we'd be right in the mix for a playoff spot or perhaps better. But we need a legit winning streak. If Byron keeps being an idiot, we won't make it.
We're not making the PO's; also, we're one Kobe injury away from being the Sixers of the Western Conference. That aside, I do like that we're fighting, competing, and scratching our ways to victories...we'll see what happens as the season progress. Optimism for this year; Getting Randle back, having 27 mill in cap space, the Houston pick, room for a max guy and 9-13 mill for other players... Randle without any crutches at a KU game...
Yes, he wasn't walking well, but he is off the crutches, so maybe the gravity tread isn't too far in his future. I know it's probably foolish, but I'd love to see him come back for a couple of games at the end of the year, just to get that off his back. I think Byron is figuring things out a bit. He has made most of the moves we've called for, even if it's taken him some extra time. I still have us at 35 wins on the season, but I'm thinking that there could be some salvageable things here. Maybe the defense can tighten up, and maybe that will make us able to retain some players on the cheap and make us more attractive to FAs.
He got hurt the last day of December; from my understanding, he had a clean break and the initial timeline for injury was 4-6 months if memory serves...he's 19 so he's going to heal I think faster than we anticipate. Honestly, he might be doing basketball related activities by the All-Star break...I'd love to see him come back if even for a stretch of 15-18 games...
Paul George was doing set shot with 1.5 months I read on another forum...so he'll be doing that soon hopefully. I don't want to rush him back, though...cautious is the best approach.
We held them under 100 points. We're 5-3 when we hold opponents under 100. 3-13 when opponents score more than 100.
That Top 5 Pick will be an afterthought if we keep this up and I'm okay with that. It's more fun to watch a competitive team and a hell of a lot easier to attract free agents.
^I'm usually more optimistic than most people, but OKC? Come on, if they don't suffer any major injuries, there is absolutely no way we can catch them
Yeah, that would be impossible. They are much better then us, and they just got their two stars back. Sure, they are a little rusty, but still... We are one Kobe or Swag injury away from the bottom of the league.