Gregg Popovich said before Sunday’s game with the Lakers that every Western Conference team is trying to avoid the Lakers in round one. Via ESPN:
“The ones that say, ‘We don’t care who we play,’ they’re full of
baloney,” Popovich said. “We’re all trying to hide from the Lakers in
the first round and that’s the truth.
“Really, it’s like, ‘Who do
you want to play in the first round?,'” Popovich continued before
sarcastically answering his question. “Oh, the Lakers! We’ll play the
Lakers!”
After San Antonio’s 100-81 win, in Staples, without Tony Parker and George Hill (who sprained an ankle early in the ballgame), we’d like to say again what we said earlier.
Greg Popovich has forgotten more about basketball than we’ll learn in a lifetime, but even he has to see some of the same signs we do.
While our fearless leader pointed out that today’s game doesn’t show us anything new, it did reinforce some ideas that are important to consider. For starters, Andrew Bynum is a huge missing piece against Tim Duncan. Pau Gasol did a great job back on March 24th, when Duncan was struggling. Today, Duncan ran over Gasol like a freight train. Gasol might as well have been tied to the tracks by some 1920’s film villain with a handlebar mustache.
Playing the Lakers in the first round? Means either no Bynum, or one struggling to get back into rhythm. We informed you earlier that Bynum’s struggling to recover from the Achilles strain that’s sidelined him for two weeks. Another two weeks is in no way out of the realm of possibility. If San Antonio can get a matchup with LA without Bynum? That’s preferable than if Bynumzilla is at full strength.
Then there’s Kobe Bean Bryant. Bryant is somehow managing to take tons of shots and miss a high percentage, impressive for a superstar. Bryant was 8 of 24 today, going 13 of 47 since signing his massive extension. But this is Kobe Bryant. He’s going to wake up. But if this slump is the result of the myriad injuries Bryant’s suffered, you want to catch him before he heals and goes back to, you know, being Bryant. It’s probably not going to work, but it’s the best shot.
There’s also the matter of avoiding Dallas. If everyone is avoiding LA, Portland and Utah are at least not trying to avoid the Mavericks. The Spurs, on the other hand, have lost to Dallas in the playoffs twice, including last season, and the Mavericks have won the past two meetings this season. But if the Spurs fall to eighth and the Blazers move up to seventh, there’s a chance that if the Spurs were to somehow make it past LA they may not have to go through Dallas as well.
Beyond all that is the fact that Popovich has essentially said the Spurs are hoping an act of God knocks off the Lakers, like a matchup advantage a la Golden State ’07 or the Kraken or something. But you tell an aging group of veterans (but not the press under any circumstances), “We’ve beaten them this year. We can beat them. We’re not running from them, we WANT to play them” and they’re going to gear up for that.
You want to win the West? You have to go through LA. And while going through them early may not make a difference rather than later, it may present the best opportunity. And besides, is LA really playing to finish as a runner-up? It’s championship or nothing. The Spurs are playing their best ball of the season. They should try to cash in on that.
