Charles Barkley: “The Spurs are the team to beat in the NBA. I don’t see any team that’s in their league right now east or west. They are the best team. It is the Spurs thing to win now”
most of the team in the west is literally one injury away from being champ. Spurs fans may not like it, but they’re a heliocentric team too.
It’s true
yeah they’re running 3 guard lineups (sometimes 4 with vassell being the second tallest at 6”6). wemby being freakish tall means he’s as likely to be injured as anyone else if not more, and if he misses time his replacement is luke kornet lol
Wemby has been far less injury prone than the other superstars this year and knows how to fall properly to avoid injury
Yeah, Wemby isn’t an injury concern as much.
He is however, a general health concern, and I hope he stays healthy in that way.
he’s still young so not a concern currently. i have wondered how his skinny frame will hold up.
he’s freakishly tall which means he’s inherently at risk of freak injuries. for example someone falling into a 6”3 guard is less likely to injure them than if they fell into wemby because his knees are higher. obviously no one wants him to get injured but it’s still early in the season anything can happen. we’ve already had a bunch of achilles tears as is the game is just too fast paced. there’s a reason the spurs limit his minutes as well his conditioning is also limited by his height you can tell the spurs are being ultra careful with him as they should
They do have tobias coming back as a pf but yes they could use more bigs
those bigs will not do anything. They need to pray Wemby does not get injured
What an excellent take, top-tier analysis there bud
I can tell you a west team that is definitely not just one injury away
Hey that’s not fair.
They could still win it all this season if the injury is the Pluribus virus that everyone else gets on earth simultaneously contracts, except members of the Kings franchise.
Would basketball parity increase or decrease in a Pluribus virus world? All the players share a hive mind across both teams, so wouldn’t it advantage those teams with the most physically gifted players? BBIQ and coaching would be a non-factor.
You’re right and there’s only one thing to do: Wemby, the biggest star, has to eat the others
He’s dressing up as Eren next Halloween
Unironically colossal titan would be sick but also probably a little off putting to see irl.
Wemby is the coordinate fr
Already does the eren hand bite so would be perfect
Wild to see this after coming from the AoT sub
Why doesn’t Wemby, the largest of the Spurs, simply not eat the other Spurs?
They’re probably saving it for sweeps
He actually already ate Tobias Harris, which is the real reason he hasn’t played for them yet
Omicron Persei 8 Spurs
I’m pretty sure he already has been eating the others, I mean. Has anyone seen Russel Westbrook in the nba of late? Michael Jordan? Wilt Chamberlain? Where else would they have gone.
Why does Wemby, the largest center, not simply eat the other centers? I AM CHUCK OF OMICRON PERSEI 8!”
Very Attack on Titan of you.
I disagree with this use of the term heliocentric but I agree with your point to a degree
But it’s also irrelevant. Basically every team in history loses their ability to compete for a title if their best player goes out lmao
I have a buddy in fantasy football who does this constantly. Anyone who is excited about their team he hits with “well you just have to hope they stay healthy”.
No shit, everyone has to worry about that every single year regardless of who they draft or not lol.
Well you know we could all die tomorrow in a nuclear armageddon so your team is a bit of a glass cannon I’m afraid
My goat Jordan would NEVER die in a nuclear blast unlike your bum
“If 18 goes down we’re fucked, and we don’t practice fucked.”
-Colts OC, 2011
Even more true in basketball. Football every team is dealing with a bunch of injuries and most power through.
Basketball teams most teams have 1 to 3 guys that are basically the difference between championship and not making the playoffs
The injury argument has always been my least favorite argument in all of sports. Because while its completely true that just about every team has a guy where if so-and-so gets hurt they’re probably sunk, the counter argument is just “what if they don’t get hurt?”. Its a pointless conversation to have.
i mean the eagles won with their backup qb
Timberwolves have not looked any worse since Ant went down
Because they beat the Clippers, Bucks, Pelicans, and Jazz? They got a good win against Houston, but they’re obviously not a championship team without Ant lol
They went toe to toe with the Spurs until the very end without Ant. Same thing with the Warriors. It’s cool if you don’t watch the games but don’t comment like you did
They basically look the same as what they were doing before he went down.
I think Blazers could survive better than most if the best player goes down (I mean they’re doing good without Ja rn). But if Clingan or Tou go down, then the season is lost
Yeah and the Blazers aren’t title contenders anyway lol
Also Ja isn’t the best player, it’s probably Deni, and they’d lose a massive punch without him
Those teams would definitely not be contenders under those circumstances. Do u not remember the finals against the pacers? The reason they did so well against okc was simple, they just pressured anyone not named SGA while they were ball handling and the teams offense fell apart whenever the ball wasn’t in his hands
Which non Helio centric team is on top right now
I’ll do you one better. Which NBA champion in history would confidently still win if their best player is injured?
Only team that may survive is the pistons in the early 2000’s. No “real superstars” and all Dawgs. Other than that you gotta go back to like the 60’s when the celtics were around and were collecting players like infinity stones.
The Celtics wouldn’t have won a thing without Russell.
They were below average defensively and a consistent first round exit before him (vs the greatest defense ever) and they went 10-18 after his debut without him on the court and 1-12 when he missed 3+ games in a row
If the Pistons lost Billups they would not have won a ring and gone to the Finals another year.
There’s levels to that though. Wemby carries much more water for the success of the Spurs than say… Jalen Brunson does for the Knicks. The Knicks as a team are probably 80% what they were if Brunson goes down. The Spurs are 50-60% what they were. He’s just that much more essential to the success of his team, and he has a body type that historically deals with injury in a way that lots of other players don’t
I mean you’re right but the point still stands.
Since the year 2000 to my eyes, there’s only been two teams that have won a championship without a player who going into the playoffs wasn’t considered a top 10 player in the league
The Detroit Pistons of 2004, and the San Antonio Spurs of 2014
Every single other championship team is had a true Superstar.
You need a superstar to win in the NBA, and if you’re losing a top 10 player in the league, outside of Bean, a truly momentous outlier, you simply have no shot
That goes for every single team
So I just don’t really know why people are acting like the Spurs need to be extra cautious with Victor versus other contenders.
Like maybe there are some contenders that might scrap themselves to a playoff win without their best player, but none of them, not the Timberwolves, not the thunder, not the Lakers, not the sixers, not the Knicks, not the Spurs, not the rockets, not the nuggets, not the Celtics etc are going to win win the NBA championship if they don’t have their best player when the playoffs start.
size isn’t a “body type”
The Spurs that beat the Cavs in 2007 maybe?
Do they make it to the finals if Duncan is injured?
That was a fairly competitive sweep. 2 of those games were really close. The other 2 were decided by 9 and 11 points.
Healthy spurs werent even better than 07 suns. What a dumb comment
Warriors easily. Prime warriors. I mean, take KD away and they’d still win. They were that loaded.
I think it’s highly debatable if they’d win in 2017 if you took Steph away, though.
They would have lost to the cavs lol
KD was not their best player though
KD was better than steph during that tenure.
And no warriors without KD dont win those years lmao. Stupid comment
I love rage bait comments like this. Always looking for a fight with warrior fans.
The ‘04 Pistons
Championship sonics, maybe.
Recent Celtics. Even without JT or JB they win every team that year. Jrue, White, KP all played great that season.
KP barely played in the playoffs… drop either of the jays out and they aren’t beating Dallas
They would’ve lost to the Pacers if either Jays were injured.
Maybe maybe maybe 2019 Warriors if you only take out 1 of their top 3 instead of 2
Probably one of the warriors teams with KD. They would’ve had a real chance without him despite him getting finals mvps idk about confidently win but they would have a realistic chance
the team that only won in 7 after the other teams best player went down would win without SGA? that’s an indiana sweep
no
They are probably the best example of the bunch, but they’re not a good example either.
Boston Celtics still win without Bill Russell.
Ok def not a championship team but grizzlies 2021-2022 ja Morant was out a lot but grizzlies did well even without him
Wolves been winning without Ant
Timberwolves haven’t gotten worse since Ant went down
We have but we’re compensating for him well
Probably the Wolves, even with Ant the Wolves weren’t playing heliocentric.
Awoo homie
The Warriors
/s
The fact we’re good enough so far this year to even half joke about this is astounding to me
After quite a few seasons/half seasons of “Steph and friends”
Celtics
Pacers are playing really well without Hali and winning games.
Idk they are like 4-8 or something.
I don’t feel like we’re playing very well at all. Wolves without ant have been great on the other hand
The last game looked pretty good. It sucks that Hali is out again. Hopefully he makes a quick recovery. Love that guy’s game.
Wolves are as well without Ant. We beat Houston and played the Spurs close without Rudy/Ant/donte and Lamelo fouling out early.
Yeah, but you’ve got LaMelo who’s up there with Ant in terms of facilitating.
Not the flex you think it is
Can’t you say that about every team ?
No, only Spurs fans don’t like the fact that the team wouldn’t be as good without their best player.
12-6 record without Wemby last year. Obviously they can’t win a championship, but they can keep the ship floating without him.
Every team is 1 inj away from that lmfao. What a jks comment
Do you even know what heliocentrism is? Your team not being a real competitor when your best player gets injured isn’t heliocentrism. A player having a high usage rate isn’t heliocentrism. Heliocentrism is when a player plays heavily on-ball and acts as the team’s offensive engine by playing on-ball. Wemby plays largely off-ball, he isn’t heliocentric at all. Start using terms correctly.
Thanks captain obvious.
When are you guys gonna realize that the reason Wemby isnt going to get injured is because he stretches way more and has a better stretching routine than other players? Injuries arent a pure luck thing.
Blazers are getting 15 a night from 5 players.
Are the Monstars in the league this year? Otherwise, every NBA team anlready orbits around the sun.
Bad usage of the term tbh. The Spurs are not a heliocentric team - look at games where the opposing team has sold out to stop Vic like the second Jazz game. We had 7 players in double digits. The team can switch back very easily to an offense led by Harper / Fox / Castle.
The real test this season is can a team stop the Wemby lob dunk. If they can’t they’re getting dunked on all night. If they can then the Spurs play a more normal offense.
If the other team sold out to stop Vic, then he’s heliocentric. You’ve precisely described the analogy of gravity in a system.
Heliocentrism as I understand it applies to usage rates and production, not just yes/no on if you have a superstar. James Harden, Trae Young, Luka, are heliocentric players. I don’t think we would describe Steph as heliocentric, and he’s the obvious example of one player having incredible gravity no matter where he is on the court
I don’t agree with that. Heliocentric teams are ones that cannot function without their star player. In the analogy, there would be no solar system without the Sun, the planets would simply fly off in space.
In a system where the star player is out for injury or because of opposing attention, can the offense still function at the same level? If the answer is yes, then it’s not a star dependent (heliocentric) system.
The Spurs have only had two ‘bad’ Wemby games so far this season, one of them he looked rusty the other the opposing team sold out to stop him:
In the first game against the Thunder the offense still looked good, Castle with 24, Harper with 18, Fox with 14 and Vic with only 12.
In the Jazz game, they clearly decided the Vic lob dunk was not going to be in play, and the offense instead had: Harper for 17, Castle for 16, KJ for 15, Barnes for 13, Vassell for 11, Fox for 12, and finally Wemby for 12 in a 20 point blowout win.
If the offense can seamlessly switch to one where Wemby playing full time minutes is the 7th scorer on the team, then it’s not a heliocentric one in my opinion.
Our bench is terrible though. We’re top-heavy. This is the first time I’m hearing heliocentric used to describe nba team so not sure how that fits with top-heaviness
Minnesota doing fine without Ant. Just wait till he comes back rested and ready to push the wolves to the next level.
Exactly! And it’s only November! Get into the grind and then we’ll talk.
More heliocentric than Lakers, tbf, because we have another creator and scorer in AR. OKC’s strength was waves and waves of people who played both sides of the court at an elite level, and then an elite bench, they were the most well-balanced, talent rich team. They still are, but with 5-6 people sidelined due to injuries.
Spurs is not balanced. This was also kind of exposed by the Knicks, but credit to Spurs for getting all that deep playoffs experience. THAT is important.
Their starting lineup would blow away any team but the bench will need to figure it out
Heliocentric usually means having an offensive player that does the vast majority of scoring, ball handling, playmaking. Its really hard for a big to do that unless their name is Jokic. Wemby has actually cut down on his playmaking and ball handling this year and had functioned more as a finisher. Wemby is the single most important to the team on both sides of the floor dont get me wrong, but I would not call the team playstyle heliocentric because that is usually describing the ball handler. Itd be like calling the Dwight Magic heliocentric.
Not more heliocentric. Luka is taking the most shots in the league with the highest usage by far. The last time a player was shooting this much and running the entire offense was 2018-19 James Harden. Austin Reaves when Luka plays averages 13 FGA, the same as Eric Gordon did for those Rockets. Reaves is just a better scorer than Gordon was, and his numbers get pumped up when Luka is out. Just like last year. He does a good job taking over as the primary option when he’s needed, but that’s not his job when Luka is out there.
Nobody would say the Rockets were less heliocentric than the Raptors just because Kawhi was the clear first option and if he got hurt they didn’t have another guy to step into that role.
What? Where are these stats coming from? WOWY? Because AR is not playing ball ONLY when Luka is on the court, right? Point is, this really is the best offensive backcourt in the league, and the role players are substantially better. 3&D players seem to be doing their job well.
AR compared to Eric Gordon? 2018-19 Rockets? No Westbrook, no Chris Paul? I understand the “first option when the real first option is out”, but Gordon averaged 16.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.9 apg. 54.9 TS% at that. Come on man, are we really comparing AR to Eric Gordon? Ever as an archetype, its egregious.
Even with Luka with historic usage rate, my central message still is that players other than him get plenty of opportunity to score. Because he facilitates really well. LA has two elite hybrid guards, along with an elite lob threat/shot blocker. Hardly 4 teams in the NBA can say they have that combo.
For Spurs, the offence, atleast in early part of the game, DOES run through Wemby. Him having off nights, is what those two early losses is about. Lakers fortunately haven’t had that problem (yet). Luka feeling off like the Bucks game? No problemo. Luka not playing at all, like playing the best defensive team in the league (Detroit at that time), in an away game? No problemo. Kessler not playing as well? No problemo.
This isn’t to say our team is not dependent on a handful of individual…it is. We are no (pre-injury) OKC, or even Spurs when it comes to depth. But when the topic is about heliocentricity, our offence CAN and DOES flow through more individuals that we get credit for. Because as much as Luka averaging 39+ppg, LAL is also averaging the most points in the league, at 122+.
The Lakers bench is fifth best in ppg, with 34 (Celtics are numero uno btw at 42.9) while the Spurs sit eleventh, at 30.9. In +/-, Lakers bench sits at +10, Spurs’ at -108.
Source
The stats I pulled were from NBA’s official stats (for the usage and FGA from 2018-19 and 2026-27) and Reaves FGA I manually checked the game logs on basketball reference.
Heliocentric is not about how much talent you have and who can step up when Luka is out or has a bad game. It’s that the entire Lakers system revolves around Luka. Again, he’s shooting the most shots in the league by a wide margin and has a usage rate we haven’t seen since 18-19 Harden.
For everyone that gets a lot of touches, Luka doesn’t pass as frequently as others.
Jokic - 100 touches and 80 passes per game
Haliburton - 89 touches and 75.5 passes
Acuff - 87.5 touches and 59.0 passes
Brunson - 87.2 touches and 65.2 passes
Wagner - 87.1 touches and 66.7 passes
Luka - 81.7 touches and 49.7 passes
Nembhard - 80.9 touches and 64.0 passes
Cade - 79.7 touches and 60.0 passes
The fact that Luka is also at 7.6 assists per game, one of his lowest averages in his career, he clearly is trying to put up more shots (meaning everyone else gets less). They have 2 guys that take over 10 shots per game. That’s not normal. Luka IS the system.
Look at someone like Tatum in an more egalitarian offense. 19.4 FGA, 7.5 assists, 70.6 touches and 48.3 passes. Tatum is passing and racking up assists for his teammates just as much as Luka, with less touches and is taking 5 less shots per game. That’s because the Celtics have 4 guys that take over 10 shots per game.
Or look at the Spurs, where Castle, Harper, Wemby and Fox are all between 53-62 touches per game. On the Lakers, it’s Luka (81.7), Reaves (69.8), Kessler (44.7) and Sexton (34.8) as their top 4. Huge difference in the way their teams run their offense.
You might consider Wembanyama heliocentric because he’s the primary option and can’t be replaced so he is the system, but other guys are getting touches and opportunities. I don’t think the roles that Harper and Castle have in the offense or the gap between them and Wemby makes them heliocentric necessarily.
There’s nothing wrong with admitting Luka is a heliocentric player, he’s been that pretty much his entire career. It doesn’t mean he’s bad. Harden was heliocentric and he won an MVP, scored 36 PPG and almost took down the Durant Warriors during that 2-3 year stretch. It clearly can be successful. But there’s a distinction that I feel you’re not making here in a way to paint the Spurs and Wembanyama into something they’re not.
Same with the Warriors.
Also, OKC has already had so many injuries
They survived without Wemby last year, but they seem to be more reliant on him this year.
7 Spurs players scored double digits.
“If you take out a teams best player then you might win.”
Thanks chuck.
Every team is heliocentric because they’re all on planet Earth duh
I think without Wemby they could still get out of the first and probably second round
What do you think “too” means?
Dumbass
They are also one of the few top teams without injuries and they are playing super aggressive almost playoff level intensity in a few of the games I’ve seen.
We’ll see but they are the favorites right now for sure. Honestly the whole West is stacked - much rather be in the East again (which is contrary to what people were saying at the beginning of the year)
Obviously a lot of injuries is luck, but in the Spurs case I think age is a major contributor. Their starting 5 is a 20 year old, 2 22 year olds, a 25 year old, and the resident unc Fox at the old age of 28.
Sure but look at the Thunder with all their injuries or the Wolves with Ant. Not necessarily old guys
Vassell is currently injured, but it is a minor injury. He’s significantly better than people think though an excellent defender and sharpshooter.
Tobias Harris hasn’t played a game yet either.
That’s why yall winning, ask how much Detroit or Philly fans miss that bum
Maybe thats the key to spurs success.
I kid. Hope he works out for you guys.
But that also makes you wonder if they can keep it up. They have the talent, for sure, but are they going to be burned out by the end of the season?
Dylan Harper is leading the team in minutes played at just under 32 minutes. Vic and Vassell are playing 30 mpg. No idea what this guy is talking about playoff intensity.
Don’t they have their backup rookie center injured?
And a starter - Vassell was out last night too. Tobias Harris also hasn’t played yet.
Damm I forgot about Harris 🤯
Spurs are winning it all fr, they should be going b2b right now
From losing the finals in 5 to should be going B2B is quite the leap
They aren’t playing playoffs intensity.
It is also November 12th. Look at the takes from November 12th last year.
For sure
Wemby is playing at an MVP level. Fox is looking great. The team is on a ten game winning streak (granted it’s against the jazz and kings and Edwards-less wolves and mavs) but you gotta win the easy games. Curious to see how they do against the Lakers and Celtics but the team looks strong right now.
I think the Wolves will give them a hard time in the future. That last game was the first one without Edwards and a b2b game at the end of a string of b2b games and they still barely lost.
I see the Spurs, Lakers, Blazers, and Wolves as the teams in the West right now that are the biggest threats. OKC still is dangerous too though, I don’t count them out.
Nah, wolves matchup poorly with the spurs especially after losing Reid. Wolves will be a pesky second round out
Losing Reid and gaining Lamello/Kuminga. Dude has no idea what he’s talking about. Spurs are good team, not saying they can’t win. But you’re are huffing some serious copium saying the Wolves are pesky when you’ve barely won without our star player and a mostly injured team. Rudy vs Wemby isn’t what you should be worried about and is telling.
Spurs lost to the Rockets already ffs. A team the Wolves easily beat without their star player.
Barely won? We smoked you in the playoffs, and playing much better since the first 2 games of the season. Wolves are smoking copiun even talking health when you guys break down every season. You also match up quite poorly with SA
Wolves are going to bomb threes and let the chips fall where they may.
Ok sure, a close game on a b2b without Ant or Rudy but we’ll be “pesky”
See you in May bby 😘
It’ll be the same result as last season but best of luck friend. Rudy ain’t it against wemby
!remindme 170 days
Wolves were also missing Rudy and Donte and lamelo fouled out early. I was pretty happy with how they played that game.
Rudy sucks against wemby, spurs would’ve won by more had Rudy played. And losing Reid makes the wolves matchup even worse with SA
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
You talking to a mirror? You miss the playoffs? You lost multiple games by 30+. and no Divenzenzo doesn’t flip that series. and Rudy has struggled horribly against Wemby, and it’ll only get worse as Wemby improves and Rudy declines.
Yeah, it’s been a soft schedule. They struggled against okc and Houston.
OKC was defintely on something and I think the Spurs got suck back into last year’s playoffs while ignoring the new team structure.
Houston was also a sign of them just not being sure of themselves as evidenced by Wemby saying he screwed up that last shot that got blocked.
Still, can’t wait to see how the tougher games go especially with the Lakers and Houston.
Yeah, also looking forward to seeing how they manage tougher competition, now that they got their bearings a little better (in particular the 3+ guard lineup). I also appreciate the renewed effort and success in manipulating defenses to create room for victor to roll to the basket and finish alley oops. Curious to see how it carries forward.
Tbh I’d say losing by 4 against Houston (really 2) when they were hot from 3 and the FT line (with 31 attempts at that) while we were in a shooting slump is not completely horrible. But agree we need to show up against those better teams when we see them again.
Are they still trotting out that three-guard lineup? I could see it working okay against the Lakers but it seems like the wrong thing to do against Tatum and Paul George.
but you gotta win the easy games
That’s been my thought this whole time. Even last year, it felt like we were really struggling against easy teams at times. This season feels different.
Regular season is practically pick up basketball, it’s way too early to take away anything significant.
You can tell the functionally broken teams though, like the Raptors just don’t have basketball players who can shoot a basketball.
Hey tonight looked rough… but we’ve had some good shooting games recently. Martin just had a game with 6⁄7 3s. And despite the game going to shit we had one of the best first qtrs in the league of the year tonight. Think it was like 10 3s in the first. Kinda crazy to think we let it slide so far…
The lakers schedule is equally as soft and they have no depth. Almost blow the lead every time they go to it.
Lakers have also played the most games and B2Bs in the league so far. But yeah, the non-Luka and AR minutes are ROUGH.
The lakers schedule is definitely harder than the spurs. Just the number of games has been tough.
Spurs have an easy schedule too.
Good teams beat bad teams
Do you understand what “equally” means?
Lol sorry but I would actually argue their schedule is easier.
Lakers beat the Pistons, Warriors, and Blazers.
Let’s sum it up shall we.
Pros:
10-2
10 wins in a row
The two losses can be attributed to rust/slow start (and maybe the Thunder being eager to prove a point)
Wemby has looked unplayable at times
A number of easy wins meaning that they’re learning how not to blow up leads (major issue last year, even in the RS)
Minutes properly shared which lowers the risk of injuries
Guards getting better at finding Wemby
Vassell injured, Harris not there yet
Cons:
The two losses were against the two best teams they faced, at home
Easy schedule for the win streak
Relatively spared by injuries compared to other bigwigs
They have yet to beat a “full-strength contender” with all due respect to the Ant-less Wolves or the Blazers.
They have faced a lot of teams with relatively to extremely weak interior defending against whom Wemby is not really challenged
Castle has been very clumsy so far to the point it becomes a bit worrying
Shooting has been extremely streaky instead of consistent, and their only 40%+ from 3 guy, Champagnie, is very guilty of that
Opponents have feasted on Wemby-less lineups
The team really needs to improve its “switch” when Wemby is off the floor, as they can’t defend like they do with him in cover (aka the “how to attack with Jokic” conundrum)
Kornet has struggled a lot, and Bryant as well to a degree (but it’s less of an issue for a sophomore)
The next two big games are Detroit on Tuesday and then the Lakers-Celtics combo on the 27th and 29th (with all due respect to the Steph-less Warriors). All three at home. I would say that if the Spurs end November with 3 losses or less, then we’ll start to talk about dominance.
Also, they are going to have a rather tough schedule to end the season (March will have @ Nuggets, @ Rockets, v Knicks, v Sixers, @ OKC, @ Rockets, @ Sixers, @ Celtics, @ Pistons among other things…).
They had a tough end to the schedule last season and were neck and neck with OKC.
While shooting awfully btw
I think a fully healthy Timberwolves might stand a chance in a B07 series. Maybe not in Melo’s first playoff year though
Timberwolves are good for sure
i don’t think melo will struggle too much, not being the primary option makes things a lot easier
I mean compared to other teams could be worse, I would say let castle keep shooting; you’re going to win these regular-season games anyway. In the meantime no doubt gotta upgrade from Kornet which you have the money to do so. I think someone like Kel’el Ware wouldn’t be to bad. He no doubt is still developing but he has great size. Maybe Myles Turner but I msire you guys want a bigger body down there more of a defensive anchor bc for the most part you don’t lack in offense I’m just not sure what backup centers are open in the league at this moment.
Overall though I think you guys could win the chip, only team I think would really give you problems this year is Philly bc Brown and LeBron are just big ash but besides that I see you guys as being just better than the other competition around you. Only teams I would give a chance are the teams with big forwards who can space the floor.
Yeah great comment
I don’t see 76ers being a problem at all. Embidd is a shell of himself and if he gets there he can easily get ran off the court. No back viable back up will let victor feast.
New York is still their biggest threat imo.
Don’t get me wrong I think Wemby would feast in this matchup but I think castle, Harper, and Fox would struggle. Also I just can’t see NY beating Philly 4 times in a series not this year without Mitch and bc the contract thing is going on I think that plays into there focus as well.
I definitely agree on NY having a battle with the 76ers and maybe not being able to beat them but I honestly think once they’re in form they’ll beat them easily. New York is just having that championship hang over st the moment, but contract could be playing a huge role as well.
But 76ers would have a hard time stopping castle Harper Fox.
Brown could defend one of them well, but maxey is not a good defender (showing signs this year) and VJ is fine but not some sort of stopper.
Excited to see their first match up
That’s where we differ Castle offensively cannot shoot the ball idk if it will improve but he has been very bad offensively so say for example you could put LeBron on Castle and have him just go under screens bc he cannot buy a jumpshot rn. I think BJ on Castle or Harper is fine and same with JB, they’ll probably put VJ on Fox and JB on Harper which again you go under the screens with Harper until he shows you he is hitting those shots. Also again I just don’t see the Knicks being able to beat Philly what they are dealing with isn’t just Kirk we won and gotta get are stuff together 3 of there players haven’t signed a a new deal for there contract and again that has to way on the focus of them. Philly had a bag game against Boston but they are still by far the most talented team in the east
The Knicks have beaten Philly in playoffs before without Mitch. I think there are some matchup concerns primarily will NY’s perimeter defense hold up. I think it will but that’s the primary concern imo not how they will matchup with Embiid.
forgot to mention the best team in the league the portland trail blazers thank you
Myles isn’t moving as well as he used to. Maybe it’s early season rust, but I think he’s lost a step or 3.
I did see someone say he’s deliberately playing bad to get traded💀
Philly is not making the finals
I like Barkley but that’s the Kiss of Death for the Spurs
Suns fan Chuck knows exactly what he’s doing
we’re pulling out all the stops
Yup. Pack it up boys. Seasons over.
He’s just playing the long game,
Either he looks prescient, or he now has a nice base from which to deride them later
Um no.
Um yes.
Sorry, you’ve officially been hexed. The voodoo has been released upon the Spurs like an attack dog. I don’t make the rules
Not quite a hex until he “guarantee” it. Spurs fans should lobby him to exclude that word when making declarations about the Spur’s championship aspirations.
Reddit is fucking hilarious.
Your team got washed with the spurs only playing half the game.
Do all Spurs fans have no sense of humor or just you two dips? We’re 10 games into the season & you’re already pressed about a “curse.” Pitiful
Yeah, of course the Spurs beat the Bulls. The Bulls have been rebuilding for the last 10 years. The Spurs are built. That’s supposed to happen. What isn’t supposed to happen is the Bulls dropping 70 points in one half on the Spurs — that’s embarrassing
U dont even make the sense…
If you don’t believe in jinxes, you’re not a real sports fan
ah dear, we’ve been jinxed.
Guaranteed!!
Rip
Chuck guarantee
He’ll change his pick halfway through the season don’t worry
Imagine if they signed Mamu with their MLE. We would be so fucked now
Forget about MLE. They could’ve signed him for $7M a year 18 months ago but they just let him go for nothing
Jesus thank god
And he was playing well for them too. Head scratching.
Imagine if they retained Bassey instead of signing the corpses of Olynyk and Biyombo
Get San Antonio Spurs legend Bismack Biyombo’s name out your mouth and show him some respect.
He got to bang the drum once!
Brian Wright no re-signing the only player on that roster who had an OBVIOUS synergy with Victor was a crime already, not forgiving him for losing our Flavor Flav’s idol
Really questioned Spurs management when they let Mamu go. Dude is all hustle and heart. We loved him here.
He is a bad defender
We don’t need a traffic cone at the 4, the lakers don’t play any serious defense outside of Kessler so it works fine for yall
Shouldn’t that barely matter with Wemby being deemed the greatest defender god has ever created
If he’s a overall positive player, what’s the issue with putting him on the team vs a currently injured Tobias Harris
Harris is better than Mamu and Mamu couldn’t crack this exact same forward rotation already
Squeezed the Lakers in the convo somehow
Yeah, but he is so right. He fits their team so well. The league would have been so fucked if they kept him.
Bruh we know what mamu is, we literally had him for a couple years he wouldn’t have helped the team much
Players improve!
Smart man that Chuck BUT who have we beaten? Utah x2, Dallas x2, Portland, Chicago, Minnesota without Ant, Sacramento x2 and Phoenix . Gross.
The dallas wins are decent, they seem like a playoff caliber team this season.Portland seems pretty good this season also, so I think that’s a good win.
I think the Rockets have been low key insane because they’ve had a tough af schedule and are still 9-3
Dallas is exciting but their frontcourt is just not any type of real test for the player Wemby has become. The standards are high now for the Spurs, they’re aiming for the chip for the next years to come
In the first loss Flagg was out with an injured shoulder and Kyrie sat on the second night of a back to back.
In the second loss, the Mavs played terrible and still only lost by one.
In the second loss, the mavs shot >37% from 3 while the Spurs shot <15% from 3. Again, no disrespect to them, but I just dont take them as serious competition because of their lack of frontcourt. No lively to be fair
Ignoring that Lively is injured
Wolves had a batshit schedule too, lost Ant, no Dante, and is still sitting at 8⁄3.
Tonight will be interesting though. We’ll see.
One mavs win was without Kai and Coop.
The other was a 1 point mavs loss where Wemby had to go 52⁄24
Rockets are my #2 team in the West and an excellent matchup for the Spurs. Very dangerous team.
We were down time lord and Ja so I do think it’s a bit closer as a matchup
We play them again at the Rose Garden the day before Thanksgiving, coming off a 6-game road trip. It’ll be interesting to see how that game goes.
Portland is good.
I didn’t mean to besmirch every team in that list, because obviously Minny is still good without Ant. I more so meant Utah, Sac, etc
We’re only 11 games into the season. Having 4 games against solid teams is about what you’d expect at this point. The Suns are probably better than their current record too. They had a tough schedule to start.
Yea, I wanna see how good we look vs Celtics, Knicks, Sixers, etc. Also gotta have our revenge vs houston. OKC is hospital for the foreseeable future so it is what it is. The lakers matchup coming in a few weeks will be exciting too
You play who’s in front of you, y’all are looking really good homie 🤝
Portland is a good team.
The spurs were the best team last year. They just choked in the finals.
They were missing Morant, Sharpe, and Robert Williams tho.
Not even their final form
(We also are missing Tobias Harris but we don’t know how that’ll look)
That same Blazers team missing those injured guys also just turned around and swept OKC on a b2b. Granted, their injury issues are well-documented at this point (and they missed Ajay Mitchell in that second game on top of all the rest), but OKC is still plenty good in its own right, even if they’re less consistent now than we’re used to
We had Timelord for both okc games
I think you beat us regardless, but we did come back from a b2b late at night with starters playing heavy minutes. Spurs played the kings early with garbage time we didn’t have a fighting chance against someone like the spurs heck last time even grizzlies gave us belt same scenario
Hadn’t been there before. Had to pay dues.
We got to the NBA finals last year and seemingly we’ve gotten better. Yes, OKC and Minnesota were both hurt. Can’t deny that. But you play who’s in front of you.
Yeah I still don’t really know what to make of this team based on the schedule you laid out and now even Steph is hurt for tomorrow night.
Got handled against the healthy Thunder but it was Game 1 of the season and Wemby was historically bad. Hard to know if they came up with some sort of blueprint against him and the Spurs or if it was just the first game.
Thanksgiving weekend against the Celtics, Blazers, and Lakers is going to reveal a lot.
fr our schedule has been so easy.
cant wait to see our game vs the lakers
We haven’t been playing super well, but the optimism shouldn’t really bases on the past wins, but we can play obviously much better as the season goes on and Wemby problem is getting harder and harder to solve, Fox playing better with Wemby and Castle Harper will only get better.
Hey. Beating dallas twice and minnesota is good!
No Ant, though.
Boy, Spurs have the second highest SRS rating at the moment.Educate yourself.
Do you mean SOS? Strength of schedule? The Spurs are 16th, right in the middle. SRS takes into account margin of victory, which considering we’re blowing out bad teams I don’t think that means what you think it means mate.
SRS takes into account the margin of victory AND SOS. That’s the literal formula.I don’t think you know what you say means, mate.
At this point of the season, if you’ve played trash teams and blown them all out, of course you’re going to have a very high SRS. That’s entirely proving my point? Like, the 2 good teams they played the lost to? Sometimes 1+1=2.
A statement of fact isn’t interesting if you can’t explain how and why. Educate yourself and learn how to argue and communicate.
I have explained why.
And then, they will run into Blazers…
They own the blazers
If they trade for a forward they are a problem
Hopefully Tobias Harris gets healthy, which will help, but would love a better quality 4 for sure
That’s the first time ever anyone has said they want Harris 🤣🫠
He had a good playoffs
Right Tobias is solid enough espicially if he’s like the 4th option and not the second.
The Philly years really hurt his reputation man, he’s been a valuable player his entire career. Philly just put him in a role he wasn’t particularly suited for.
He’s inconsistent, shows up occasionally, that’s not a valuable asset
The main gripe with Harris was his salary and he was expected to do too much. We aren’t over paying him and he will be our 4th or 5th option.
Hey, he was ok in Netflix/Sandler’s Hustle!
Hahaha
I’d be careful what you wish for
Somehow the sixers have had terrible performances with otherwise solid guys - Tobias Harris, Al Horford, even recently like Paul George, etc and yet yall never seem to even consider that maybe its your coaching and/or team building that’s the problem
It’s just you guys
I understand your experience with him, but without him, the Pistons get ousted in the 1st round last year.
Don’t listen to them. They’re just a bitter ex who wants everyone to believe they’ve been over it for years, even though they can never shut up about it whenever it gets brought up.
lmfao you sweet summer child
Gotta let tobias Harris play first.
No you don’t. Get a better player than him.
Funny how we all see this and yet the front office hasn’t done it. I get that we got veteran Tobias but dude is injured and needs time to gel if this is EVERYONES answer. They needed another big man vet to help spurs keep these leads they get.
They got Tobias Harris right? They just aren’t playing him at all which I don’t understand
He has a calf injury
Sabonis would be good for them.
Sabonis on the spurs would be terrifying for the rest of the league. But Fox is a negative contract now and I don’t know if they have the assets to get him. Kings wouldn’t want Fox (again) as they already have a bit of guard log jam and don’t want to take the ball away from Acuff
Fox has been a crucial part of the team this season. Have you actually watched him since he shit the bed in the finals?
He’s a Lakers fan. You know the answer to this.
People saying this about fox are negative ball knowers who only watched the spurs in playoffs last year. Without injury (so far this season and much of last) he is arguably the second most important player on the spurs.
Most likely yes. Everyone is still thinking of the finals performance and havent watched Fox at all this season.
He’s arguably the most important player not named Wemby on the Spurs right now.
You are right, You cant really expect the Kings wanted Fox for Sabonis tho, as that’s what he said
I watched Spurs games. He’s always been this way in the regular season. Its nothing new. You need big man depth and you need to offload that contract anyway.
Send Fox to another team. Heat? Or even Phoenix.
And 3 days ago he said the Lakers or the 7th best team in the West… He thinks the Lakers are a play in team
He really dislikes the Lakers s Even when they were winning titles
Yeah I know
I see the Lakers as maybe the 5th seed. They’ve been beating up a bunch of really bad teams. They’re 4-2 against teams with winning records, 4th in the West in differential, and have a bottom 10 defense.
Yall keep saying this and we got better, Luka got better and we finished top 4 in the West in reg season and playoffs last year with Luka being injured. So…
Facts the spurs have played worse competition
The defense isn’t good enough to make a playoff run. SA would sweep LAL.
Let’s get to the end of the season and see how things go before we make assumptions like 1⁄8 of the way through the season lol.
I’d love it if people would stop overhyping this team, man. We’re good but I think there’s still a ton of room for development and they make a lot of sloppy mistakes. Same with all the people falling over themselves to exalt Wemby during the finals before he fucked it.
Wish we could play in a bubble. But not in a covid way.
We just got thumped by checks notes the bulls for a half. There is emerging evidence of some development from last year and the guard thing seems to be ironing out everyday but it still feels like were coming online and its precarious.
Plus weve had a pretty easy schedule the last 10 games.
Pls dont acknowledge us (yet)!
Cracks knuckles
Yes it’s only 10 games, but the Spurs are proving to be the best team in the league, with the best player in the league (also projected to be best oat), and in the best conference in the league. It’s not even close. Don’t sell yourselves short.
I think it’s reasonably fair to assume multiple championships this early into the Wemby dynasty. Tbh the Spurs should’ve won the Finals but it was all fixed in our favor because of NYC bias.
How is claiming a team that went to the finals and kept their roster are the favorites “overhyping” them? Like I agree they need to make noticeable improvements, we can’t keep getting murdered in Kornet minutes and Castle needs to snap out of it for starters. But nobody is saying they’re perfect.
I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a Spurs fan with such sensible logic.
Wemby won his minutes 3 games out of 5 during the Finals (and overall by +8). Dumb pseudo-winning culture performing fan behavior. I’m sure you believe that being critical of your best player is akin to self-awareness. It’s not. You’re not Wemby. Gtfoh.
“WE’re good”“THEY make a lot of sloppy mistakes”You just revealed your thought process here. Nothing new, nothing surprising, I’m just highlighting it.
WE’re good
THEY make a lot of sloppy mistakes
Ah, geez. You have one blue election in Texas and suddenly everyone’s getting all worked up about pronouns again…
Pronouns? That’s sooooo 2021… we’re on tense now!
From now on I would like to be referred to in past-tense tyvm. :3
And everyone thought Boston was gonna win 5 straight championships. And everyone thought OKC was gonna win 5 straight championships. SGA been to one finals. Jokic been to one finals. Giannis been to one finals.
We thought that last year, and the Knicks just outright beat them. The air of invincibility is gone. It’s going to be even harder this year for them to get back to the finals.
If Wemby keeps up with this form, we’re talking about an entirely different beast than last year tbh, which is crazy to think about
He is a young player and that team totally bought into their own hype and forgot how to play championship basketball. The question is whether or not it was a young team’s inexperience or something more. So many young teams never got back and imploded. Let’s see. Then there is the Barkley curse. Just be glad he didn’t add a “guarantee”.
Knicks got a lot worse this year
I wouldn’t worry about any team in the east. Last year’s finals proved that the eastern conference is very good despite their record. For some reason, the eastern conference team’s records are usually worse than the west during the regular season. Even now, the west teams all look good while one has to wonder what happened to the east.
People also forgot that the Pacers forced a game 7 in ‘25 because Halliburton was the clutchest player that playoffs. It was 16-16 in game 7 when Halli went down. Literally could’ve been the Pacers that won instead of OKC. All bets are off once playoffs start. Playing for survival and for a championship just activates some people differently than others.
“A lot worse” how did you come to that conclusion? We are only 11 games in, plus the Knicks were never the best regular season team and never will be.
They are not going for a 65 win season, only that everyone makes it to the playoffs healthy
It’s the exact same team. The only change that has occurred is that they changed backup centers.
The team’s record is almost identical to what it was last year after 11 games despite injuries: 6-5 now vs 7-4 last year.
A lot worse how? They were never a beast during the regular season anyway, and the only piece they really got the figure out is Mikal Bridges who has like 6-7months to get back to form.
Thing with the Knicks is that they have a very versatile roster. They can play multiple different ways that make them tough in a series.
And if you’re watching the games, Mike Brown is experimenting, playing deep into the bench, not using his starters more than 30-35ish minutes etc. So much of that will change in a playoff series.
Spurs ate Pavement against the Knicks, Cup and Finals, double album
Yes and the Knicks will eat Pavement this year. One season wonder.
Silence kid. You think they are mere starlings in the slipstream… They are going to hit the plane down on the Spurs, no survivors. I heard it on the stereo. Go back to your range life
How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old young man?
Love the spurs but they’ve honestly had a pretty easy schedule so far. Would love to see it continue vs some of the top/bigger teams though!
Agreed, but I think context plays a role in his assessment:
OKC and many teams are injured.Spurs are fresh of a 62 win season, second youngest starting 5 ever to reach the final, while never having made the playoffs before, with a future main trio that was 20, 21 and 22, and an injured Fox.And they beat an (albeit Jdub less) 64- win Champion OKC team 8-4 over regular season and playoffs.
Even if the schedule is indeed easy, and they started out of rhythm with a new rotation, it’s probably not a stretch to assume it’s not an entire fluke.
No I get you, I don’t think it’s a fluke at all.
I guess what I’m saying is, because this team seems to be more Wemby-centric without many offensive sets, they’re going to find trouble with the teams who really know how to guard him.
OKC and NY do a really good job at eating up his space, overloading on the catch(wemby isn’t a good passer under pressure), and just keeping a body on him, which have been shown to affect him(and the team by proxy) offensively.
Very good analysis! I 100% agree. :)
Welp unfortunately the Spurs now have no chance if Chuck has picked them. Didn’t his on air bets go like 1-21 a while back lol
Spurs need to find a way to play better when Wemby is on the bench… it’s a massive weakness imo. Wemby at the end of the day is 7’6… so he’s going to need to take a bit longer bench rests than the normal superstars and the Spurs have been awful when that happens
This won’t age well will it?
He was right about the knicks
He was throwing shit to see what sticks
He also said hockey is more fun to watch than basketball. Went to a hockey game, he was right.
Hopefully it ages terribly.
Knicks fans act like they lost the finals
Speak on it brother Charles 👏👏👏
They dont even watch games
Chuck doesn’t know shit though, dude is wrong 90% of the time.
Like all he is doing is narrating the standings right now.
I am happy for our winning streak but let’s not act like we’ve played anyone of note in out last 10 games….wolves team was not full strength
POR is really good. We just beat them easily in their home.
Good point, their SOS is 16th as of today
Lifetime churros for Chuck if Spurs win it all
They said the same thing after WCF last season
Only 2 teams made the finals. Only 1 team beat the defending champs.
Acting like playing in the finals isnt an accomplishment is what stupid ppl say.
Remember half the people here think LeBron is worse for having made it to ten finals.
That’s literally the opposite of what they said
They were 1 series away from being champ and it still didn’t age well. So calling it this early in the season is pointless
Not 1 series away. They made the final series. They just lost that one.
What did every other team do? Better or worse?
One series away from being champ. Read what I wrote again.
This is not a knock on Spurs. This is pointing out it’s too early to declare it’s Spurs to win now.