NBA Betting: Fit and healthy Spurs are a challenge for anyone

Basketball / Nick Shiambouros / 09 December 2008 / Leave a Comment

The San Antonio Spurs may be struggling this year but their pedigree is not in doubt and, with key players returning to fitness, Nick Shiambouros is backing them for Championship glory.

The San Antonio Spurs are undeniably the team of the decade but these days they appear to be the forgotten team of the NBA.

Since Tim Duncan joined from Wake Forest University in 1997, the Spurs have captured four championships. Duncan combined well with David Robinson and together they were known as the "Twin Towers" until Robinson retired in 2003.

The Spurs are the most successful team since the great Chicago Bulls side of the 1990s and it is hard to imagine why the Spurs have not had the recognition they deserve. One possible explanation is that Tim Duncan is a player who has always let his game do the talking. Even when he was at Wake Forest as a superstar college player he never lost perspective of who he was and never courted the limelight.

Duncan is one of the most respected athletes in America and his philanthropic work off the court is a reflection of who he is as a human being and a basketball player. If you are looking for a bad boy image you are wasting your time here.

This season the Spurs are in eighth position in the Western Conference after a shocking start to the season. They have a record of 12-8 but there are valid reasons as to why they find themselves in this predicament. Point guard Tony Parker and Manu Ginoblili have both been missing with injury and have only recently returned to the line-up.

The team lost balance and chemistry with the absence of Parker and when you lose a point guard of his quality any team would suffer. Tony Parker has improved significantly as a player over the last couple of seasons and coach Greg Popovich must take credit for his success. Popovich stuck with Parker when he was struggling with his game and both player and coach now have a solid working relationship.

The San Antonio Spurs are currently [18.5] to win the NBA championship and have been matched at a low of [7.0] and a high of [50.0] so far. I cant imagine this team not making the play-offs and now that they are fit and healthy I am expecting a good run from them.

Looking ahead to the mid-January when they have to play the Lakers I think that they have a pretty easy schedule. The Western conference is much tougher and has more depth then the Eastern Conference and there are many trading opportunities in the west.
Every team has injury problems in this long season but hopefully the Spurs can stay healthy now and can start a winning run in the west.

I am going to back San Antonio to win the championship at [18.5]. There will be ample time to trade out for a profit near play-off time. The very short price of [3.25] for the Los Angeles Lakers to win the title has left the door open for plenty of money to be made on teams like San Antonio.

Can the San Antonio Spurs win the NBA championship? Lets put it this way, with Tim Duncan owning four championship rings stranger things have certainly happened .