Season Predictions
Regular Season: Almost every year it’s the same story with the Spurs. People write them off at midseason only to watch as they go on a late-season run and ultimately make noise in the playoffs, and five times on the route to a championship on PF/C Tim Duncan’s watch. They’re always a hard team to predict going all the way because they really don’t have a superstar ever since Duncan started aging, and they’re just a lot better than the sum of their parts. This season, with the same exact core as last year where they won the title, they’ll be looking to prove the doubters wrong again as they currently possess the seventh seed out in the impossible West.
Projected Record: 50-32
Playoffs Round One
Memphis Grizzlies (#2) vs. San Antonio Spurs (#7)
I don’t want to be one of those guys, I really don’t. I have followed basketball for quite a few years now, watching author after author write off the Spurs, saying this year was different and Duncan was too old and this and that, only to be proven wrong come playoff time by one of the most consistent franchises in sports. I know I’m sounding a lot like a hypocrite, and I’m almost positive that San Antonio will go all the way just because I said this (kidding), but I really do think that the Spurs will get eliminated in the first round. There’s no motivation for a Finals redemption like last year, as they’re sitting pretty with 5 rings in the past decade and a half. Other than Duncan, star PG Tony Parker has been playing poorly, as have others, and the Spurs as a collective unit just don’t seem to be putting the same energy out there and having the same ridiculous ball movement and three-point shooting that they had in last year’s magical season. In addition, the brutality of the Western Conference finally catches up to them, as even after mustering 50 wins in the hardest division in basketball, they have to take on the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis is another commonly overlooked team, but with a few stars in PG Mike Conley, PF Zach Randolph, and sort of in SF/PF Jeff Green, not to forget about superstar C Marc Gasol of course, this team is legit. There’s plenty of playoff experience and chemistry here, though maybe not as much as the Spurs, as well as depth everywhere, though again maybe not as much as the Spurs. Still, the talent discrepancy in the starting lineups will just be too much to overcome for San Antonio, and seemingly unlike their counterparts, these Grizzlies are hungry for a playoff run.
Series Prediction: Memphis wins 4-3
Regular Season: Almost every year it’s the same story with the Spurs. People write them off at midseason only to watch as they go on a late-season run and ultimately make noise in the playoffs, and five times on the route to a championship on PF/C Tim Duncan’s watch. They’re always a hard team to predict going all the way because they really don’t have a superstar ever since Duncan started aging, and they’re just a lot better than the sum of their parts. This season, with the same exact core as last year where they won the title, they’ll be looking to prove the doubters wrong again as they currently possess the seventh seed out in the impossible West.
Projected Record: 50-32
Playoffs Round One
Memphis Grizzlies (#2) vs. San Antonio Spurs (#7)
I don’t want to be one of those guys, I really don’t. I have followed basketball for quite a few years now, watching author after author write off the Spurs, saying this year was different and Duncan was too old and this and that, only to be proven wrong come playoff time by one of the most consistent franchises in sports. I know I’m sounding a lot like a hypocrite, and I’m almost positive that San Antonio will go all the way just because I said this (kidding), but I really do think that the Spurs will get eliminated in the first round. There’s no motivation for a Finals redemption like last year, as they’re sitting pretty with 5 rings in the past decade and a half. Other than Duncan, star PG Tony Parker has been playing poorly, as have others, and the Spurs as a collective unit just don’t seem to be putting the same energy out there and having the same ridiculous ball movement and three-point shooting that they had in last year’s magical season. In addition, the brutality of the Western Conference finally catches up to them, as even after mustering 50 wins in the hardest division in basketball, they have to take on the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis is another commonly overlooked team, but with a few stars in PG Mike Conley, PF Zach Randolph, and sort of in SF/PF Jeff Green, not to forget about superstar C Marc Gasol of course, this team is legit. There’s plenty of playoff experience and chemistry here, though maybe not as much as the Spurs, as well as depth everywhere, though again maybe not as much as the Spurs. Still, the talent discrepancy in the starting lineups will just be too much to overcome for San Antonio, and seemingly unlike their counterparts, these Grizzlies are hungry for a playoff run.
Series Prediction: Memphis wins 4-3