We are finally here. The first post season of the inaugural NSL season. I have loved every minute of it. Hats off to anyone and everyone who had a part in this. That is even you Gav, who was such a bad manager that you got sacked from the old league and it started a huge chain reaction that has landed me right here. Writing a preview for The Clips v The Spurs. Andrew vs Nelson.

Andrew is an NLL vet. You know what you will get from him. He isn’t going to be super vocal and active. But he knows how to get the best out of his squad. He is no stranger to the big games. I think he made the NSL Finals last year. Correct me if I am wrong. He knows what it takes to win big series.

 

 

The Incident!!

Nelson. Nelson. Nelson. There is a lot of hostility between he and I. Let me tell you a story about him. We were 12 years of age. We were out riding out bikes by the lake during Summer vacation. I tried to cut across what I thought was a shallow part of the river. It turned out to be very deep. I had my feet strapped into the peddles, as I wasn’t a strong ride. I also wasn’t a strong swimmer and I began to feel myself sinking. I couldn’t get my feet out. I was going under quickly and I was panicking. Nelson, who happened to be riding past, saw everything. To his credit, he dived in and as my head was just going under, unclipped my feet and he then pulled me to the surface.

 

My bike was ruined, as was my ego and reputation. But I was still alive. Thanks solely to Nelson. I told my parents the harrowing story and they were, naturally, forever indebted to Jeremy. This is where it went downhill. My entire family loved Nelson. They couldn’t get over how heroic he was for saving me. They put photos up all over our house of him. He always came over for dinner. He had become the golden child of a family he wasn’t apart of. So naturally I became jealous. I hated him for saving me and I hated him for taking over my family. On my 14^th birthday, he stole the show, when he kissed my girlfriend during a game of pass the parcel. That was it. After that I vowed to hate him forever. A vow I keep to this day. But it is my cross to bear, not Nelsons. He did nothing wrong besides kissing Stacey. So, I won’t hold it against him during this preview.

 

 

How Do the Clippers beat the Spurs?

 

Simple. Get the ball in Giannis hands. Keep him out of foul trouble. Set him free for 44 minutes and let him do the rest. It has been well documented that this team relies heavily on The Greek Freak. They do in fact have some other nice pieces. Andrew does a lot of testing, so he must have decided to put the entire load on Antetokounmpo’s shoulders was a sounder strategy than spreading the load. Credit to him, he finished in 4^th spot, so it worked. The likes of Sabonis, Barrett and even Sexton and Giles are nice young pieces. However, Barret, is the only one who Andrew seems to trust to have the ball in his hand, besides Giannis. Rondo and Rubio are solid vets, so to is Moore of the bench. Perhaps they can play crucial roles come Playoff time. Only time will tell.

Only 2 players average over 10 points a game. That contrasts with The Spurs who have 6. Giannis will be matched up on KAT. KAT isn’t known as an elite defender, however, has been playing good defence in this NSL season. Giannis needs to beat KAT on both ends. If he can limit the oppositions best players output while still putting up his own 40+ PPG then The Clippers will beat not just the spurs but probably everyone in this league.

 

 

 

How do the Spurs Beat the Clippers?

Crowd the Key. Play strong hard interior D and hope Giannis gets in foul trouble regularly throughout the series. The Clippers shoot 36% from 3. But they only took 19 a game. The lowest in the league by a long way. Giannis only made 58 3’s for the entire season. The Spurs need to play a fast, up-tempo style. My 3 points is worth more than your 2. That is the mentality. Quick, fast paced, shoot at will. Get into this rhythm, try and throw the Clippers off theirs.

If I was playing The Clips, I would just be collapsing the key. Watching them play a bit this season, Giannis likes it in the post and likes to muscle his way in. He also gets a lot of lobs and a lot of Offensive Boards. This all leads to me thinking if you can lock it down in there and force them to beat you on the outside, they probably won’t be able to.

I like the Spurs spread. Yeah KAT is the man, but they can beat you in multiple ways. I will be interested to see how deep they will play and what their rotation will look like. All things Nelson needs to figure out by the 17^th of April.

Game 1 in in LA. However, the season series home court might mean much. With the away team winning all 3 matchups. So 4 vs 5, which by using logic should be the best series of the first round. Coupled with no home court advantage for either team a 1 man wrecking ball against a well-rounded team. I have absolutely no idea who is going to win.

The Clips won one more game for the season than The Spurs. So that does give them the HUGE advantage of 4 games at home. Can they make the most of it? All Spurs need is one win away, which they did twice at Staples this season and then they have the upper hand. The experts pick is 53% Spurs 47% Clippers. I think there is an element of Nelson being a part of the lifeblood of the league and Andrew being more reserved. I just lean towards the experience of Andrew in a 7-game series and having the best player in the Matchup.

 

 

Prediction

I think this one is going to 7. I think it will be the best series of the 8 we have. I think Giannis has 2 50ppgs and is simply unstoppable in game 7 at home.

Good luck to both teams. Nelson gets embarrassed when I tell the story about him saving my life, so please don’t badger him with questions about it. I owe him a debt forever; however, it doesn’t mean I have to like the guy. Can’t wait for the playoffs to start!!