Shirts and Skins Advice on San Antonio vs. New Orleans

by Bodog Sportsbook | May 2 2008

San Antonio Spurs vs. New Orleans Hornets

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Q: Aside from the fact that Tony Parker is married to Eva Longoria, who is the bigger star point guard between him and Chris Paul?

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Melissa - Hands down, the bigger star point guard is Chris Paul. I am certain of this for two very important reasons. First, he is younger, faster and much angrier than Tony Parker. Any fool could tell you that’s what stars are made of. Secondly, this is the first time this season that my crack team of NBA enthusiasts has reached a consensus on a question in less than five minutes! Simply put, it’s a miracle.

Jimmy - People seem to think that Tony Parker is a lot older than he is just because of the amount of success he has enjoyed already. Tony Parker is only 25 years old; he has three championship rings and a fourth if you count his wedding ring. So to me, Tony Parker is the bigger star based on his career as a whole to this point, but Chris Paul is close on his heels.

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Q: The Hornets are a young team and San Antonio is filled with veterans. How big of a role will experience play in this series, if any?

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Melissa -  Experience will trump youth in this series, I’m afraid. Even though the Hornets have the energy and the athleticism, San Antonio has a well-practiced bag of tricks. Like Sean Connery, the Spurs only get better at acting with time. All those fake injuries and fouls. Clearly they’re focused more on winning than being excellent role models for the kids. It won’t take them long with all their years of wisdom to figure out a way to trip up the Hornets. Literally. 

Jimmy - With these two teams being fairly evenly matched and having already split the regular season series, playoff experience will be the deciding factor in this matchup. The Spurs have considerably more experience in the playoffs than the Hornets and I expect that veteran experience will give them an edge in this series.

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Q: Who is the X factor for the Hornets and Spurs in this series?

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Melissa - Hornets: David West has “X” tattooed on his arm. Easy!
Spurs: You know what? I think Tony Parker is going to be this game’s X factor. He’s such a nice and happy guy. Will he succumb to the sliminess propagated by his teammates? Inquiring minds want to know.

Jimmy - Hornets: Peja Stojakovic is the X factor for the Hornets. When he is at the top of his game shooting the ball, nobody does it better.
Spurs: Manu Ginobili is going pose a lot of matchup problems for the Hornets in trying to contain him. I expect him to have a monster series offensively.

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Q: What is the Coach of the Year Byron Scott telling his young Hornets team as they prepare to face the defending champs?

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Melissa - Byron Scott is a smart guy. He’s probably observed the Spurs’ busting out the cheap tricks just in time for the playoffs, and has a list of things they’re going to pull on the court. He’s definitely telling his young team to watch out for carelessly placed arms and legs. That’s the oldest Spurs trick in the book. Also, he may be advising his team to run around in circles to tire the old guys out. It just might work.

Jimmy - I expect he's telling them to just go out and play. Byron Scott understands that his young team is the underdog and he's likely using that to relieve the pressure from his players. He's probably telling them that they have nothing to lose and that nobody expects them to win, so they can just go out there and play their game with no pressure. It's a good approach to take, especially with a young and relatively inexperienced team.

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Q: Who wins this game? Who wins this series?

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Melissa - If there’s something worse than saying the Spurs are going to win once, it’s saying the Spurs are going to win twice. The Spurs will win this game, and the series.


Jimmy -  The Spurs always look a little shaky in the first game of a series so I think New Orleans steals this game. The Spurs are the more experienced and better team; I like them to win this series in six games.