Sheridan: Spurs Likely to Get Big Al jefferson

[StartOrien]

I think they'd be entirely too slow.

How many easy transition buckets would they give up against Denver, LAC, and if the Thunder went small?

They would control the boards. 


And it is hard to run when the offense is making baskets.

I'm not so sure. Devner pushed the much superior LA Lakers to 7 last year b/c they got about 10 easy baskets a game beating Gasol/Bynum up the floor.

[Galeto]

I think they'd be entirely too slow.

How many easy transition buckets would they give up against Denver, LAC, and if the Thunder went small?

They would control the boards. 


And it is hard to run when the offense is making baskets.

Jefferson shoots 47.5 percent and hardly gets to the line despite having one of the best pumpfakes in the game.  He's not exactly a world beater offensively. 

[CelticConcourse]

Spurs should keep Splitter, Duncan still not back to playing, but...
With Jefferson (or even without)they're a top 2 contender.
Totally up there with OKC as undisputed two best teams.

[Who]

Who will the Spurs have to play against to make it out of the West?

- LA Clippers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Golden State Warriors
- LA Lakers

Big Al and Duncan will force teams to stay big against them.

- I think that Big Al and Duncan combination will work well against Oklahoma. Give San Antonio an extra (new) advantage over Oklahoma that they haven't had in the past. The Thunder's small ball lineups have been difficult for San Antonio in the past. I am not sure that is enough to get them past Oklahoma though. Plus, they lose Jackson as a secondary defender with size/length against Durant.
- Lakers (if they make the playoffs) look too weak to beat San Antonio.
- I don't like Memphis' chances against San Antonio with or without Big Al. 
- The Clippers might be the biggest threat. They have the size to matchup defensively against San Antonio in the paint. I don't think either Big Al or Duncan are athletic enough to defend Blake Griffin effectively. Chris Paul can put Big Al in pick and rolls regularly and take advantage of him. Clippers are dangerous in transition and can exploit Big Al and Duncan again.
- Golden State can matchup well against the Spurs size. Lots of shooters and scoring on the perimeter. They'd still be dangerous against SAS.

Not sure Big Al really gives them that much of an added weapon / improvement in making it out of the West. I think he'd be pretty useful against the Thunder but I am not sure they would gain that much against the other teams in the West.

[LooseCannon]

The Jazz need a point guard, and the Spurs have two of them not named Tony Parker. So you can expect Patty Mills (who Lindsey is familiar with and fond of) to be the preferable choice over Nando de Colo.

Technically, they have a fourth (not including Gary Neal's ability to play some PG).  Cory Joseph has been bouncing up and down from the D-League.  I mention him because he was the PG on Avery Bradley's high school team.

[Moranis]

Garnett makes way more sense for them than Jefferson does and I'd probably do Jackson and Splitter for KG (I'd like that a lot more than Bledsoe and pieces from LAC).

[Snakehead]

I think Big Al and Duncan would be a VERY tough combo.  Two low post offensively gifted bigs is a very rare thing in the NBA right now, the only other duo being Memphis and I think this is better as far as scoring.

[BleedGreen1989]

It would be nice to see Big Al on a top-tier playoff team.  I hope this happens.

This is how I feel. I don't really care what anybody says, I stil love Big Al and his game.

Please basketball gods put him on a good team for once to show the nba what he can do!

[snively]

If I'm San Antonio, I make a hard push for KG with a similar package. 

KG is a much better fit for their team needs than Big Al.  Gives them a much higher defensive ceiling (Parker/Green/Leonard/KG/Duncan would be a fantastic defensive grouping) and a much more versatile and useful offensive skill-set for their offense. 

[jgod213]

How great would it be to see Big Al play with Tony Parker?

Jefferson has such little exposure to top-flight point guard play.  He only experienced about half a season with Deron Williams before Williams took off for Jesey.  And obviously Rondo was not Rondo back in 2006.

That would be quite a team to contend with on the glass between Duncan/Jefferson/Leonard.

[Donoghus]

Losing Splitter would actually hurt the Spurs as crazy as that might sound.

[timobusa]

If this is true, I'm happy for big Al, his game is made for the playoffs, hope he gets his!

[Kane3387]

Who will the Spurs have to play against to make it out of the West?

- LA Clippers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Golden State Warriors
- LA Lakers

Big Al and Duncan will force teams to stay big against them.

- I think that Big Al and Duncan combination will work well against Oklahoma. Give San Antonio an extra (new) advantage over Oklahoma that they haven't had in the past. The Thunder's small ball lineups have been difficult for San Antonio in the past. I am not sure that is enough to get them past Oklahoma though. Plus, they lose Jackson as a secondary defender with size/length against Durant.
- Lakers (if they make the playoffs) look too weak to beat San Antonio.
- I don't like Memphis' chances against San Antonio with or without Big Al. 
- The Clippers might be the biggest threat. They have the size to matchup defensively against San Antonio in the paint. I don't think either Big Al or Duncan are athletic enough to defend Blake Griffin effectively. Chris Paul can put Big Al in pick and rolls regularly and take advantage of him. Clippers are dangerous in transition and can exploit Big Al and Duncan again.
- Golden State can matchup well against the Spurs size. Lots of shooters and scoring on the perimeter. They'd still be dangerous against SAS.

Not sure Big Al really gives them that much of an added weapon / improvement in making it out of the West. I think he'd be pretty useful against the Thunder but I am not sure they would gain that much against the other teams in the West.

Could have sworn the Clippers got swept in dominating fashion last year against SA..

[Fafnir]

Who will the Spurs have to play against to make it out of the West?

- LA Clippers
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Golden State Warriors
- LA Lakers

Big Al and Duncan will force teams to stay big against them.

- I think that Big Al and Duncan combination will work well against Oklahoma. Give San Antonio an extra (new) advantage over Oklahoma that they haven't had in the past. The Thunder's small ball lineups have been difficult for San Antonio in the past. I am not sure that is enough to get them past Oklahoma though. Plus, they lose Jackson as a secondary defender with size/length against Durant.
- Lakers (if they make the playoffs) look too weak to beat San Antonio.
- I don't like Memphis' chances against San Antonio with or without Big Al. 
- The Clippers might be the biggest threat. They have the size to matchup defensively against San Antonio in the paint. I don't think either Big Al or Duncan are athletic enough to defend Blake Griffin effectively. Chris Paul can put Big Al in pick and rolls regularly and take advantage of him. Clippers are dangerous in transition and can exploit Big Al and Duncan again.
- Golden State can matchup well against the Spurs size. Lots of shooters and scoring on the perimeter. They'd still be dangerous against SAS.

Not sure Big Al really gives them that much of an added weapon / improvement in making it out of the West. I think he'd be pretty useful against the Thunder but I am not sure they would gain that much against the other teams in the West.

Could have sworn the Clippers got swept in dominating fashion last year against SA..

CP3 and Blake were both hurt.

If your top two players are 50% to 80% its tough to beat another contender.

[Boris Badenov]

Why can't the Jazz get more for Jefferson? And why not trade for a wing or PG?

I'm confused.