El Conclusion: Such a Meh Performance

It was such a bad game turnover wise. We didn’t protect the ball worth a damn. My biggest question is who do we want to win tomorrow with the freethrOklahoma Thunderefs and the Blazers..??

This is one of the most lifeless Spurs games I have watched. Let’s be realistic here: despite the record, this Spurs team is *not* a contender. We probably will advance to the second round, after a tough firts round, before been knocked out by the blazers, rockets or thunder (if we fall to 4th seed). Come on, if we continue to be decimeted by injuries, we may not even win a single game against these teams in the regular season. Last year we were much more consistent all year, won games against every oponent , except Miami (both games bein very close despite the starting lineups), and beat a full Thunder team twice (once around the all star game). This year we have mostly been inconsistent, and are feasting on the lesser teams only because they mostly are not trying hard enough to win! No player has been consistent. Duncan started slowly and is giving everything he’s got and at his age (and comparing to other players his age like Garnett) his numbers are pretty impressive. Parker has been mostly disisterested, as if he is only waiting to be traded for the impending rebuilding (his body language tells “I have done my part to give Duncan a 5th title, only to be robbed by poor decisions by Pop in game 6 of the 2013 finals , putting none other that the franchise player on the bench for the most important play of his historied career - he would most certainly pulled down one of those two rebounds - followed by putting me on the bench at the end of overtime!”). Ginobili, despite the effort, is a shadow of his former self. Splitter is injury prone, aparently injury-soft, and given his lack of mobility, useless in certain games, Leonard has not improved as we antecipated, Green has regressed sharply, De Colo and Baynes are soft, Belinelli and Diaw are good role players, but cannot carry the load once one of the big three are hurting or having a bad night. The others are mostly effort, but struggle against phisical , athletic teams like Portland, Oklahoma, Houston, LA Clippers, Miami, Indiana (i.e. every contender!). We have no backup for Leonard (in a league full of strong small forward stars who can play power forward in small lineups - James, Durant, George, Anthony, Chandler, Batum) Even the amount of comments here have declined significantly, as if we are preparing ourselves to the impending end of an era.

Jalen Rose says Spurs are interested in Philly’s Evan Turner. A trade involving Bonner/DeColo gets it done (both expiring, add 2nd rounder for sweetener). You would think Turner’s shooting % would increase within Pop’s system and provide instant depth at the 3. But he does play the same position and needs a contract extension at the same time as Kawhi. I’d rather stand pat, renounce free agents and decline QO’s this summer, then offer Lance Stephenson a 4yr/$50 million deal. He’s young, good at both ends of the court, and would pair nicely with Kawhi. Plus, Spurs could still retain several of their own free agents (any combo of Bonner, Diaw, Mills, Baynes, De Colo) via Bird Rights and/or salary exceptions.

We will be fine once healthy. Go Spurs!

We most likely won’t have the space to make an offer like that to Stephenson (unless TD retires). And while I’m meh on Turner, I have to think Philly would need a 1st rounder to even consider a deal. They’re barely above the salary floor, so expiring contracts don’t hold the same value to them as they might to a team at or above the tax line.

The FO will have an interesting decision to make on Kawhi this summer - extend him or let him go through restricted FA (similar to Favors/Haywood for Utah last summer). I’d bet they extend him this summer - they’ll probably get a slight discount given his uneven play this year. Something like 4yr/$40M would be a fair.