#1 is mainly why I picked the Hornets in six. I despise San Antonio. I'll even root for Boston ahead of them. Hell, I'll even root for Detroit ahead of them.

Word. "Decisively" was definitly a stretch. Seems more like horrible variance/choke job for Pheonix to lose 4-1.

kbfc, $50 dollars friendly wager? obv i take the hornets.

I don't know what it opened at earlier today, but right now Pinnacle has Spurs as a very slight favorite, -112 for Spurs, -104 for Hornets.

I still think Bonzi will put some really big hurting on the Spurs. He ALWAYS does because the Spurs have trouble with big guards who can post. We do have Udoka now, who provides a stronger g/f but the reality of the situation is that he's been less than impressive on both ends of the court so far in these playoffs.

The Spurs are also somewhat banged up. Manu is rarely at 100% but the last 2 games he played showed he's pretty hobbled right now. 3 days off is a good amount of time to rest, but at the same time I doubt he'll be 100% at the start of this series.

The beginning of the Suns series instilled a lot of confidence in me as to how well these Spurs are capable of playing but I'd be a copmlete liar if I didn't acknowledge that the last 2 games of that series removed a good portion of that. They limped into the 2nd round as much as any team winning in five can. Game five was a gift from the Suns in more ways than one, and the offense that I saw was not very inspiring.

I do think that the Spurs will be able to enforce their will defensively against the Hornets but thats not really an issue. Their issue comes with playing a much stronger defensive opponent and with their offensive struggles. You won't simply be able to PnR NO to death because they have athletic bigs who will play it much better than Shaq did. I definitely think we'll need to see more inside out play with a much stronger 3 point presence.

I don't know, but home court may very well be the decider in this series. Game one is incredibly important. I'm ALMOST willing to bet that the winner of game one will ultimately win the series. If the Spurs go down 0-2 I don't like their chances one bit and I think if they have a shot to steal one it is going to be game one. They have a poor history in series where they have to play from behind and I would really prefer not to try to see that erased this time around.

While I think Parker/Paul is much closer than most people here anticipate - I do acknowledge Paul has an edge because he's a better playmaker and he's a better jump shooter. I guess I could analyze this series forever and (obviously) find that neither team has a huge advantage over the other.

Originally had the Hornets in 7, but now change to SA in 7. I don't even have much to base that on, but just think SA gets it done, and I don't like the team at all.

this is more or less how i'm viewing the series. i think the hornets being much better at defense than the suns matters more than the spurs being much better at defense than the mavs. i think the spurs will need finley to show up to win or we may see the spurs team we saw late in the season that looked like it couldn't find the basket

I want the hornets to win, although i could have gotten them at 22-1 to win the title the same day i got the jazz at 20-1 and i'm kicking myself for not doing it. Hornets-Jazz conference finals would be so awesome anyway and to have those tickets too would make it better.

Gonna be a great series, I haven't seen enough of either team to analyze. (Who guards CP, Bowen or Parker?) If I have to pick I'd say Spurs in 6, normally 'intangibles and experience' is a sloppy rationale, but the Spurs have just done it too many times against too many different kinds of teams. Beating the Spurs in the regular season is not the same as beating them in the playoffs. Whatever you think about talent or matchups, anyone on the Hornets except Paul could choke and it wouldn't be a big surprise. We at least know the Spurs won't.

Also the coach of the year is clearly outmatched.

I am going with Hornets in 7. I am hoping for a good series out of this one. The first round was a little disappointing, this should be a good battle.

I could be wrong, but the big difference between Parker and Paul, imo, is on the defensive end. Oh yeah, he also passes better. Paul is just very tough in every phase of the game. hmmm, maybe I have to rethink this...

Anyway, should be a great series.

Count me in Tuq's camp. Indifferent toward the Hornets, but a fan of them for now. Sweep 'em, yo.

D

I don't give a **** about PD over the course of 5 games.

Game 1 the Suns should have won but the Spurs hit the luckbox.
Game 2 was a rape where the Spurs pulled a standard 4th Q "let them back into the game, but they're still almost never gonna lose".
Game 3 was an all out rape.
Game 4 was 2.5 quarters of a rape and then Pop gave up.
Game 5 was a close game, in which the Spurs simply outplayed the Suns in the 4th quarter.

So I see 2 decisive wins, 1 close deserved win, 1 luck win, and 1 decisive loss.

I stand by my word choice.

In case it got lost on the other thread: googogogogo!

Bruce Bowen will be guarding Paul most of the time. Paul will either prove that he's a superstar or play as badly as Nash. We'll know in two weeks.

Bowen will probably guard CP3. Parker will hold his own offensively. I don't see either one of these players being the big difference. It will come down to whether NO can contain Duncan and also whether their supporting players (mainly Peja, Pargo, Wells) contribute enough.

My head: Spurs in 6.
My heart: Hornets in 7.

A Hornets/Lakers West final would rule. Don't think it's going to happen though.

Are you kidding? Parker is a top 5 PG. Shandoon Anderson was lol. You have a good point about Chandler, but depth can still be problem.

Just confirming my double or nothing bet with kbfc. $100 or even. Go NO!!!

he is 5th at best imo, but that's a different argument. i think the spurs will go as ginobli goes for the most part b/c duncan and parker will get theirs, but they shouldn't be going ape**** like they did against the suns at times . people are asking who will guard paul, but i'm more interested in who is going to guard david west.

Thomas is guarding him and he'll probably do a pretty good job.

Hornets go with Chandler on Duncan, Paul on Parker, MoPete on G-Nobe?

Spurs are going to have problems on the offensive end, IMO (though ofc, SA's D >> Dallas's D).

prop bet on who gets a higher PER in the series? I'll offer 3:1 wager up to 300.

Tuq, I've saved a spot for you on the Jazz wagon. Lemme know when you want to hop on.

I suspect he wants a wagon with a chance of going to the conf finals?

Fine, I'm guilty of hyperbole. Anyway you slice it though the Hornets have a distinct edge at the point.

Oh, burn. But you forget he has many wagons.