[Russell0WestbrookParticipant]

Many credit Pop for being one of the greatest coaches ever and many will say the Warriors came back because Kawhi went out but this is on Pop. He has stuck with Patty Mills when the young kid Murray has been playing fantastic and that has cost the team as Patty has given them nothing. Sometimes great coaches outcoach themselves and it can cost you. Next game I look for Murray to start and put Patty back in as a spark plug off the bench. This game should’ve been over with or without Kawhi

[halfdecayedParticipant]

 these warriors always get injury break. When was the last time they beat a good fully healthy team in the playoffs? I can’t even remember if they ever did. Dirty play by Zaza. Cavs will beat them anyway

[BleedGreen808Participant]

It’s a fair point to say Kawhi going out had a lot to do with the Warriors coming back to win the game  Being without an MVP candidate and one of the best two way player is a huge loss.  Kawhi is capable of defending Steph and KD while also being the Spurs go to player on offense.  

[OhCanada-Participant]

 The crazy thing to me is how bright the Spurs future is. They are just gonna always be in the contenders picture.  Aldridge, Gasol, Ginobli, Parker are only getting older but when you look at thier best player Leonard and thier future PG Murray you cant help but wonder how they managed to pull this off and not fade into obscurity. The fact that Pops coaching has evolved and the way the Spurs have started to use free agency more actively for big fish shows how on top of things the Spurs are. 

[nill650Participant]

 game 1 comeback did’nt happen until Pachulia "took out" Leonard.

The warriors were set to suffer thier worst loss in ages.

The Warriors and thier fanbase wont see it that way, but the fact is Pachulia absolutely put his foot right where it needed to be to cause an injury,there is a last second stretch of his leg that is not "normal motion"

Somebody needs to put Pachulia in the hospitial , the league probably won’t do anything, and that is even more of a problem.

Spurs in 7 without Leonard, Spurs in 6 with him.

Warriors just proved they are way overated in the national media and Vegas with thier rediculous odds of winning this series.

My money was also on GSW until this game , now the Spurs have all the incentive they need for pay back.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sewok15Participant]

 I agree that Murray should start he brings a different dynamic that this Spurs team needs without Tony Parker. Mills is bettern suited off the bench as he is really only effective when his outside shot is dropping which it hasn’t been.

I would also like to see more of Simmons and Anderson. Pau was virtually non existent when he wasn’t getting fouls called on him. Considering the Warriors have around zero post players they should play a smaller lineup to matchup better on both ends. 

It is hard to question Pop with his track record of success but there were some things that left me scratching my head. They absolutely lost this game because Leonard got hurt he easily looked like the best player on the floor when he went down. The Spurs offense stalled without him and that gave the Warriors confidence to come back with a Curry barrage of 3’s. 

This was a huge win for GS because if SA was going to take a game in Oakland game 1 would have been their chance with the Warriors having off for a week and the Spurs coming off creaming Houston. If Leonard can play effective tuesday and the rest of the series it will be interesting but without him Golden State will possibly sweep them just like everyone else. Aldrige makes some shots but if he is the focal point of the offense they are in trouble because he handles double teams like a rookie. His 6 turnovers are unnacceptable for a player with his style and the pressure would only increase without Leonard. 

 

 

[UncledrewParticipant]

I actually thought Pop coached a hell of a game. At the start of the 4th quarter I said If the spurs can score 115 points they will have a great chance to win. They ended up with 111 and loss by 2. It was obvious when Kawhi went out the warriors were going to apply pressure and that’s exactly what they did. At the same time Pop exposed exactly how to play them. The attention to personnel from a defensive standpoint was as good as it gets. But it revolves around finding a locking on to Curry and Durant and staying home on everyone else which they did a great job of in the first half. When Durant touched the ball in the first half they gave him contested pull up jumpshots and he was something like 3-7. In the meantime Klay became nonexistent, if he’s not in a catch and shoot situation he’s not involved. No pick in roll plays, no curl plays to the basket like he likes nothin. The warriors are such a jump shooting team that when there not hitting they turn to force feeding Durant or a Curry Iso and they were just getting funneled into a wall of Spur defenders. Had kawhi been healthy it would have been an easy win for the Spurs. He’s to much of a creator and facilitator now in there offense that they have to have him in those big stage moments. The real story is his development as an overall player. Who would have thought 4 or 5 years ago we would be seeing shades of Jordan and Pippen in this guy, he clearly look like the best overall player on the floor when healthy by a mile. I’m looking at you KD

[HeroescantdieParticipant]

I personally hate the warriors, because of their style, I think they are a great team but their confidence is the thing that I hate the most. I honestly don’t know why. Sometimes I think their to arrogant. lol, when Leonard injured his ankle, man, I was so pissed. Spurs was killing them the whole game until Leonard left. Damn this Pachulia guy, even KD got injured in the regular season beacuse of  him lol.

[SubZeroParticipant]

Delete this topic immediately. Literally the only reason they came back is because they took out the only player who’s as good as the Warriors’s best 4, and they still barely won on a lucky bounce by Steph. Zaza could be expelled completely from the game of basketball and the world would be better for it

Has any dynasty in sports had as much luck as Golden State has? Like someone said up there, they basically haven’t beaten a good team fully healthy besides OKC, who handed it to them on a silver platter. I don’t care how good at basketball they are, I’ll be happy when they fall off

[MatosParticipant]

worst part was Zaza galloping away in disbelief after he clearly stuck his foot in Kawhi’s landing spot. SMH.

[SubZeroParticipant]

Yup. And just as worse is the fact that them and all their “fans” are gonna get super cocky from the win, even though the game should have them worried.

Lebron is our only hope at this point

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

It’s not like Murray could’ve single-handedly negate that comeback. They lost because Kawhi got injured plain and simple.

It’s really amusing how much Murray is being overrated in this site, now saying that playing him instead of Mills would’ve granted them that W. He couldn’t create for himself that game, aside from that one floater he had. He shot airballs and lost Curry on D a lot, just like Mills. 

[Sewok15Participant]

 Murray outscored Mills while only playing 13 minutes to Mills 37. Murray is 5 inches taller and the much better athlete. He doesn’t have the experience of Mills but he is better in every category except outside shooting….but when Mills isn’t making outside shots (28% from 3 since Parker’s injury) there is absolutely no reason he should be playing 37 minutes. 

No matter which one guards Curry they are in trouble especially if the big men aren’t helping out on screens. I would go with Murray because his upside could be a much needed jolt for the Spurs. Mills can still get hot from outside in a hurry but I think he has a better shot of that coming off the bench and not worrying about going head to head with Steph. 

 

 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 To say they "collapsed" is a little ridiculous. When kawhi got hurt and Steph started rolling you could see the gs was going to come back a mile away. Even before kawhi went down, it never really felt like the lead was safe. Given the discrepancy in talent on the floor and the fact that gs was playing at home, I’m not really sure what more popovich could have done. I actually think he deserves some credit for having the c onfidence in such a young and inexperienced player like Murray at all in such a big game. Most coaches wouldn’t. The spurs lost the lead because they were playing a vastly superior opponent without their best player plain and simple.

[nill650Participant]

 The spurs lost the lead because they were playing a vastly superior opponent 

I disagree with bold text. They lost the lead because of several factors not because GSW in vastly superior. If anything GSW proved they are vastly overated.

The biggest problem I have with GSW  now is thier need to be Champions is so great that they will go to the point of injuring the opponent to get that ring.

The key reason obviously for the comeback was the loss of Leonard and his ability to create was lacking in the remaining roster aside from a rookie and an undersized guard both of whom are liabilities defensively. Add the fact that Leonard is a top 3 defender in the league didn’t help either.

Also didn’t like a lot of the euro prototypical intentional fouls Manu made in the 1st half, most were unnecesary. several other Spurs in foul trouble played into it.

They had a chance to save face and tie it at the end but Aldrich missed.It would have been better for the Spurs had they not had the big lead and lost than to give up that much directly after Leonards exit in the 3rd. It was almost scripted the way I see it. 

Meanwhile behind the facade of this inocent looking locker room at half time : Draymond says ok either me or Zaza will take out Leonard ,Klay you are thje decoy ,Curry use that momentum and destroy them, get it back within 5 with 5 minutes left and we will be there at the end.

Leonard would not say he thought Pachulia did it intentional , but he has to know it is better for him to say he thinks it was an lumbering bigs mistake without proof of it anyway. 

What made it so obvious to me wasn’t just that extra step into Leonards space , it was the fact he didn’t turn around to see if Leonard was alright after he knew he landed on his foot. That failuire to turn around proves it was intentional , proves he is dirty and at the very least proves he has total disregard for others and doesn’t deserve to play in theis league.

 

 

[Russell0WestbrookParticipant]

 All we here is this great offensive system but for some reason they couldn’t score when Kawhi went out and did nothing to get easy shots. This is the 2nd time this year they’ve lost to the Warriors after leading by 20 or more and the other game they had a fully healthy Kawhi. No reason one of the greatest coaches ever should lose to a team twice in the same season after leading by 20. He should look to get Murray, Anderson, and Bertons some serious run as they matchup well with this team. I always give Pop major credit for adjusting his lineups in critical moments and I expect he will this series. The fact is he blew game 1 from a coaching standpoint 

[SubZeroParticipant]

You expect Pop to be able to beat the team who won 73 games then added the 2nd best player in the world the next season after his best player and only go to option on offense goes down? I think he’s the best coach ever but your expectations are insanely high

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