Golden State has more exceptionally good players than Western Conference favorite

SAN ANTONIO -- Can the Warriors win this Western Conference semifinal series against the Spurs, which continues tonight in Riverwalk and Remember the Alamo Country?

A week ago, that question would have been embarrassing verging on impertinent. We're talking about THOSE Spurs - Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, all future Hall of Famers.

But today, there's a feeling - call it slight to moderate - of Parker Shmarker. And that goes for the rest of the Spurs. The Warriors handled them on Sunday, held them to three measly, embarrassing, humiliating points in overtime after the Spurs blew a lead in the fourth quarter.

So, we ask: Are these Spurs all that tough? Are they unbeatable? Is a Warriors' demise a fait accompli?

Let's look at the Warriors' chances pro and con.

Here are the reasons Golden State cannot win this series:

Two of the three remaining games take place in San Antonio. That is a huge obstacle for the upstart Warriors - "upstart" in a good sense.

These are the Spurs, after all, and you would be crackers to count them out or underrate them. Pure foolishness.

They have a pedigree established over many seasons, and the Warriors - no knock on the current group - are too young to know from pedigree. They are a team in search of a pedigree and a tradition.

The Spurs don't mind playing with pressure. They are impervious to it. A loss in a previous game is irrelevant to the game at hand. They never change their demeanor or their resolve, and they never lose heart. Why should they?

Ginobili and Parker can go off without warning, and sometimes the Warriors can't handle them.

Here are reasons the Warriors can win this series:

The Warriors are hot right now, and they have been the hotter team in the series.

This is now officially a long and grueling series. It will go six games and could go to seven, and a young team endures that more easily. You saw youth prevail at the end of Game 4 when Andrew Bogut blocked a Tim Duncan shot, and a sunken-eyed Duncan looked, well, shot.

The Warriors proved they can beat the Spurs in their place - of course, the Spurs proved they can beat the Warriors in Oakland.

The Warriors are in the process of learning how to beat the Spurs. This is fascinating to watch game by game. At first, the Warriors needed to score a million points and run the old Spurs out of the arena. Now, the Warriors can beat the Spurs at their own game, methodical, grind it out, low scoring. It's like the Warriors have declared, "We can beat you at Warriors Ball, and we can beat you at Spurs Ball."

This Warriors' learning curve is fascinating to observe, and the curve has not reached its apex.

Popovich is an all-time wonderful coach and all credit to him. But the Warriors' coach isn't so bad himself. We're talking Mark Jackson here. He's been remarkable.

He depends heavily on three rookies, who have produced big time.

He depends on a point guard with two rebellious ankles. Stephen Curry, the owner of those ankles, buries his feet in ice between games. He looks like an ice fisherman on a slow fishing day.

Jackson depends on a center, Bogut, with a malformed right elbow and that makes it an adventure when he shoots free throws. Bogut also has a bum ankle and no one believes he's 100 percent. But he's enough percent to be a presence - he hauled down 18 rebounds in Game 4.

Jackson mostly has lost his one All Star, David Lee, to a hip injury.

And the Warriors are still tied with the Spurs in this series.

While the Warriors don't have any future Hall of Famers - not yet - they have exceptionally good players. Crucial point here.

They have more exceptionally good players than the Spurs. Seriously.

Curry is as good as anyone on the Spurs. Although Parker is terrific, Curry, if he's healthy, is more explosive and has longer range on his shots. Parker shoots mostly 2s and Curry shoots 3s, and that's a good tradeoff for the Warriors.

The Spurs have three dangerous offensive players - Duncan, Ginobili, Parker. The Warriors have five - Curry, Klay Thompson, Jarrett Jack, Harrison Barnes and Carl Landry. That's an advantage of five to three, and it showed in Game 4 when the Spurs hardly could score at the end. So, get this, the

Warriors can match the Spurs on defense and they are deadlier on offense.

If the Warriors keep the game close, they tend to take over late, while the Spurs tend to suck air and fade. And although the Warriors respect the Spurs, as they should, they don't fear them or feel awe. Obvious.

That brings us back to the central question. Can the Warriors win this series?

Give them a chance of 50-50. Not bad, considering a while back it would have been 10-90, or something like that.