Me three. These Spurs would pass circles around the 2008 Celtics.

 

Would they be able to get stops with a lineup of Parker, Ginobili, Kawhi, Diaw, and Duncan though? Diaw would struggle to guard the 2008 version of Perkins underneath. They'd have to use Splitter against him, and the move to Diaw really made the Spurs take off against the Heat.

Would they be able to get stops with a lineup of Parker, Ginobili, Kawhi, Diaw, and Duncan though? Diaw would struggle to guard the 2008 version of Perkins underneath. They'd have to use Splitter against him, and the move to Diaw really made the Spurs take off against the Heat.

Would the Celtics be able to guard them? No. And Splitter isn't bad, the spurs just played better in the I've series with Diaw starting.

Would the Celtics be able to guard them? No. And Splitter isn't bad, the spurs just played better in the I've series with Diaw starting.

 

Completely agree on Splitter. I'm just saying in reply to people's assertions that the Spurs would pass circles around those Celtics are forgetting that they'd have to match-up with pre-injury Perk in the form that got him those horrible deals that he has now too.

 

I think Rondo has enough defensive ability to frustrate Parker. He's just as quick/fast as him and its bigger, longer, and jumps better.

 

Garnett and Duncan HATE one another and Garnett was a guy who could get after it on D enough to match up well with Duncan at this stage in his career. Remember, Duncan and Garnett came into the league at the same time, but Duncan had played 4 years of college ball and since we're talking about the Celtics of 6 years ago, that'd mean we're talking about Garnett playing against a guy a decade older than him.

 

Not saying either team would be a huge favorite to win a 7 game series because you could let them play a ton of times and it's probably going to be split fairly close to even, just that I can see that Celtics team being able to do some things that would give this year's Spurs some trouble. If they put Duncan on KD, he draws him away from the goal and opens some things up, most likely including a match-up where they post Perkins on Diaw if you play Boris. If you don't, then you've got Splitter and the teams match up much better, but they've lost part of what made them so dominant against the Heat (and even the latter part of the Thunder series when they first made that switch).

 

The same works in reverse for San Antonio as well though. You'd have Perkins matching up with Diaw and Allen (though younger than the one we just saw) matching up on Ginobili. You'd have to think that Ginobili would be able to penetrate against Allen, meaning they show help or take their chances with that. You'd also think Diaw would be able to draw Perkins away from the basket, unless they put him on Duncan and let KD check Diaw, which would be a pretty risky move.

Completely agree on Splitter. I'm just saying in reply to people's assertions that the Spurs would pass circles around those Celtics are forgetting that they'd have to match-up with pre-injury Perk in the form that got him those horrible deals that he has now too.

 

I think Rondo has enough defensive ability to frustrate Parker. He's just as quick/fast as him and its bigger, longer, and jumps better.

 

Garnett and Duncan HATE one another and Garnett was a guy who could get after it on D enough to match up well with Duncan at this stage in his career. Remember, Duncan and Garnett came into the league at the same time, but Duncan had played 4 years of college ball and since we're talking about the Celtics of 6 years ago, that'd mean we're talking about Garnett playing against a guy a decade older than him.

 

Not saying either team would be a huge favorite to win a 7 game series because you could let them play a ton of times and it's probably going to be split fairly close to even, just that I can see that Celtics team being able to do some things that would give this year's Spurs some trouble. If they put Duncan on KD, he draws him away from the goal and opens some things up, most likely including a match-up where they post Perkins on Diaw if you play Boris. If you don't, then you've got Splitter and the teams match up much better, but they've lost part of what made them so dominant against the Heat (and even the latter part of the Thunder series when they first made that switch).

 

The same works in reverse for San Antonio as well though. You'd have Perkins matching up with Diaw and Allen (though younger than the one we just saw) matching up on Ginobili. You'd have to think that Ginobili would be able to penetrate against Allen, meaning they show help or take their chances with that. You'd also think Diaw would be able to draw Perkins away from the basket, unless they put him on Duncan and let KD check Diaw, which would be a pretty risky move.

 

You focus too much on individual matchups. The Spurs play fantastic team basketball. You shut one guy down...another one steps up. I'd imagine that's exactly what would happen these two teams played. The spurs have a lot of depth and move the ball well enough that I think they'd beat those Celtics.

You focus too much on individual matchups. The Spurs play fantastic team basketball. You shut one guy down...another one steps up. I'd imagine that's exactly what would happen these two teams played. The spurs have a lot of depth and move the ball well enough that I think they'd beat those Celtics.

 

True. Much like I've often been told and readily admit that I favor athleticism over skill in player development, I also tend to favor individual match-ups more than others, and that's an entirely fair criticism.

 

I think Popovich is a better coach than Rivers and definitely think you have a great argument at him being able to get more out of his group than Rivers would from his.

Well said. This Spurs TEAM is fantastic. They pick each other up and look for the mis-match that benefits them. They don't need a guy to score 35 a night for them to win. They all seem to be perfectly happy with the W, not the individual stats.

You focus too much on individual matchups. The Spurs play fantastic team basketball. You shut one guy down...another one steps up. I'd imagine that's exactly what would happen these two teams played. The spurs have a lot of depth and move the ball well enough that I think they'd beat those Celtics.

 

 

This.

Would they be able to get stops with a lineup of Parker, Ginobili, Kawhi, Diaw, and Duncan though? Diaw would struggle to guard the 2008 version of Perkins underneath. They'd have to use Splitter against him, and the move to Diaw really made the Spurs take off against the Heat.

 

Diaw would pull Perkins from the basket. You know as well as I do that that man can not avoid a foul. He's like a moth to a flame.

Diaw would pull Perkins from the basket. You know as well as I do that that man can not avoid a foul. He's like a moth to a flame.

 

True, but I'll still take my chances with Diaw having to guard Perkins one on one in the post and stay out of foul trouble just the same. I don't think they let Duncan shade him and take his attention from Garnett draining 15 footers from the high post.

True, but I'll still take my chances with Diaw having to guard Perkins one on one in the post and stay out of foul trouble just the same. I don't think they let Duncan shade him and take his attention from Garnett draining 15 footers from the high post.

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they had Diaw on Garnett.