HOOPLOG: Tim Duncan

2007 NBA Season At An End

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:02:45 -0800

The San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in what had to be one of the least watched NBA Finals in many years. Watching the Lebron-led Cavs break against the solid as a rock Spurs left everyone here at Hooplog looking forward to the off-season, as the Eastern Conference has a lot of work to ahead to match the likes of the Western powerhouses, Spurs, Suns, and Mavericks. With Kobe possibly on his way out in L.A., maybe he could help revitalize an Eastern Conference team.

The series we have all been waiting for!!!

Sat, 06 May 2006 15:03:29 -0800

What a great first round. We, the humble fans of the NBA, have been given some great contests filled with buzzer beaters and last second heroics. The first round rattled off without much of a hitch as the favored teams have won as expected. The only outcome which remains to be seen would of course be Phoenix and Los Angeles tonight at America West Arena. It will be a shame for one of these teams to have to start planning their fishing trip tonight, as they have both played a great series. With that said, let us look ahead to a matchup that many NBA fans have been looking forward to for months.

San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavericks

The much anticipated west semifinal is finally upon us! Avery Johnson and company will make their way to the AT&T Center for the series opener tomorrow at high noon. This matchup promises to be an extremely exciting one.

Dallas of course comes into the second round after taking out Memphis in four straight. The Spurs, on the other hand, had a little bit more trouble with Sacramento. Given the regular season split of two games a piece this series could very well stretch to seven games. There will be some key factors in this series that play into who is moving on to the next round and who is getting their fishing gear ready. These are a couple of questions that might hold the answer as to who wins the series.

Who will set the tone in Game 1?

Unfortunately the Spurs head into game 1 only 36 hours after playing the Kings in Sacramento. Parker's right thigh contusion and other ailments on his right side will definitely be hurting him. Duncan has looked solid over the the last few games and showed signs that the plantar fascilitis isn't bothering him as much as it had during the regular season. Ginobili also looks to be back close to 100% again. Still, the limited rest has many Spurs fans concerned. The Spurs have played less than .500 basketball on back to backs this year. The Mavs come in with plenty of time off, in fact maybe a little bit too much. They haven't played a game since Monday so the key for Dallas will be how rusty they are and how quickly they can shake that off. However, the pressure lies more squarely on San Antonio being that they must come out and protect their homecourt. The Spurs will have to set the tone by matching Dallas' intensity on both ends of the floor to have a chance of beating the Mavs in game 1.

Whose bench will step up?

Both of these teams possess a lot of depth off the bench. No doubt that the edge of the bench play will be pretty even on paper. San Antonio has enjoyed solid production from Finley, Barry, and Horry thus far in the playoffs. Jerry Stackhouse and Erick Dampier gave Dallas a spark off the bench is the opening round, while Marquis Daniels has the ability to give the Mavs a solid contribution as well. Pop made a change and started Robert Horry in games 5 and 6 of the first round against Sacramento, similar to switching out Ginobili with Brent Barry in the first round last year against Denver. Nazr Mohammed or Rasho Nesterovic will probably slip back into the starting spot for the beginning of this series unless Pop feels that he would rather keep the change with Horry starting and Rasho giving energy off the bench. Regardless, a big key for San Antonio is winning the rebounding battle, meaning Mohammed and Nesterovic will have to give Duncan as much help as possible on the glass inside.

Who will win the battle of the big men?

For Dallas on offense Dirk Nowitzki can create mismatch problems for the Spurs. He is not a prototypical seven-footer in that hes not a low post player. Duncan, who is not an excellent perimeter defender, will hurt the Spurs if hes sucked out of the post. Duncan is a dominant rebounding force and he must remain inside to prevent the Mavs from crashing the offensive glass. Its no secret that the team that wins the rebounding battle usually puts themself in a better position to win the game. Pop, who used Bowen at times during the regular season to guard Nowitzki, will probably give him the assignment along with Robert Horry. Keeping Duncan inside will force Nowitzki to take more jump shots and leave the Spurs a dominant rebounder and shot blocker inside.

Will the student become the teacher?

Avery Johnson will match wits with his former coach Gregg Popovich for the first time in playoff competition. Johnson knows the Spurs better than any head coach in the league. Using his knowledge to exploit the weaknesses of his former team will be crucial if the Mavs want to win the series. The problem: the Spurs don't have a lot of weaknesses. They are the most well-rounded ball club this side of Detroit. Still, Avery has his guys playing great basketball right now and he will bring the defensive mentality that Pop instilled in him during his playing days in silver and black.

Fans should be happy that they get an early preview of the Western Conference Finals. San Antonio and Dallas might be the two best teams in the league. The winner of this series is going to win the West and has a good chance of winning it all. So get ready for some action-packed-hard-nosed-ratings-producing basketball!

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Spurs clobber Kings, ready for Mavs

Sat, 06 May 2006 15:03:19 -0800

The San Antonio Spurs' most entertaining first-round series in years ended the way it began: with a methodical blowout victory for the defending NBA champions. Tony Parker scored a playoff career-high 31 points and Tim Duncan had 15 as the Spurs finally shook the Sacramento Kings, winning Game 6 of their first-round series 105-83 Friday night.

Nothing fits forever

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:49:48 -0800

It would seem that last night’s infernal burst of Gilbertology might truly need no comment from ours truly. As in, we live in heaven, he lives alone, our souls are intertwined and the moment need not be soiled by explanation. The more and more I gazed upon that fascinating still—one as destined for iconic status as Tiger with the fist pump or Yao’s scream of antiquity—the more brutally apparent it becomes to me that Arenas, far from being an oddball, is the living, breathing god of my favorite kind of NBA player: the kind you watch, instead of just view. What Iverson, Kobe, Nash, and a handful of others I go out of my way to see play have in common is this ability to not merely produce on any given night, but to casually redefine themselves through masterstrokes of basketball impressionism.

Let me put briefly put aside the strained fire and brimstone that guides this site long enough to admit, as I did last week, that this is by and large a league of consistency. Unlike baseball and football, where one can be violently up and down from one game to the next but still get recognized overall as a fantastic contributor, to be a credible contributor a guy’s got to come with steady output. Freaks and streaks can be profound, but no player’s a recognizable force (or definite failure) in this league until he can be counted on; to scrape the ridges of Mount Dunkmore, he’d better be guaranteed to account for a serious percentage of his team’s production, both in the box score and as a reliable force when the ball hits his hands. Until then, he will always get saddled with the p-word, no matter how impressive he is in spurts.

When you reach the rarified air of superlative hoops accomplishment, there are at least three kind of consistency. Most obviously, there are the rock-solid bequeathers, under-appreciated and often big men like Duncan, Brand, Bosh, Dirk, Jamison, Kidd, Ray Ray and Redd. These folks give it their all with frightening regularity, churning it out from the opening bell and expected to operate as if to a rhythmic tick. I want to stop short of saying that you can intuit them from looking at a box score, but by and large there is no dramatic arc to their in-game performances. Professional, workmanlike, whatever you want to call them, these are consummate anchors of an offense, the given you pencil in at most moments during the season’s onslaught.

In the next category, you find explosive players with a tendency toward predictable outcomes, who ebb and flow over the course of a game, occasionally make you doubt, and ultimately bring you right back to who you always knew they were. I’m talking about Garnett, Pierce, Wade, Vince, Billups, Bibby, Gasol, Melo, Richardson, Jefferson, Sheed, Marion, and Artest himself—unquestioned experts who sometimes lull, sometimes soar, but never have to redeem themselves and are constantly working within their own limits and images. This isn’t a knock on any of these fine, hurling turtles; merely to point out that if you turn on the television to see them play, you know what you’re getting and will be accordingly excited. Each game reinforces their , with ups and downs that end in a pointed reminder of yeah, that’s him.

Gilbert and his gang, as I will now aptly dub them, rest upon their own set of shaggy shoulders. To return to last week’s trope of half-assed existentialism, All-American and yet bleakly Continental, they are players constantly exceeding themselves, or at least engaging in what feels for all the world like a motherfucking statement game. It can LeBron or Amare exerting and expanding their dominance, Kirilenko or Gerald Wallace twisting up the parameters of a box score, Nash working his conductor-ly magic, or Kobe, Iverson or McGrady scoring not only at will, but as if it’s unnatural for them to miss—or even repeat themselves out on the floor. Arenas is a must-see, not only because he’s likely to put on a show, but for what each and every game can do to your sense of him as a player and personality. If Wade proves with each big game that he’s still Wade, still proud, then Gilbert does it up in a way that’s not only unpredictable; with each of these self-transcending events, he also manages to seem unlikely all anew. As does Kobe, Bron, et al. In the crucible of the game, their legend is broken down and created anew, surprising you not only with this most recent installment but, in its reconstitution of the player’s most basic essence, shock you yet again they exist at all, that anything they do has ever happened in the glare of man’s senses.

This may seem like two-bit metaphysics for those of you not in tune with my lifelong education on this planet (or anyone merely taking issue with my late night sloppiness). But next time you find yourself up past bedtime watching one of these aforementioned idols, think about whether or not you feel you’re seeing them for the first time, whether you’re transfixed partly out of the fear that you’re witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Not just a good game from your favorite NBA player, or one of those “instant classics” this blog will reference two years from now; I mean one of those performances where, in some ways, you feel like you’re discovering the sport again for the very first time.

Isiah Thomas is an Excellent Driver

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:11:28 -0800

Though I enjoyed it very much, the slam dunk contest was a joke. The problems have been written about all over the place, so instead I'll offer a solution. Each of the four contestants get four dunks. The first three rounds are limited to three attempts per dunk with the last round having unlimited attempts. After all dunks are completed a panel of "experts" (as in former players who have at least the cognitive ability of a multi-cellular organism) will pick the four best dunks (one per player to avoid a situation where the fans split the vote between two dunks by the same guy). The public will then pick the winner, in 10 minutes of online and/or text messaging voting.

This prevents the judges' inevitable premature adulation: giving perfect 10s in first round when everyone knows better dunks are coming. Fan involvement is encouraged, likely to increase ratings (and revenue to whatever cell phone company sponsors the text messaging portion). Barkley and crew could banter about which dunk was the best for each player. Leaving the unlimited attempts round to the end will build anticipation on what crazy-ass dunk each player is going to pull out. During the voting period TNT could interview the active players in the arena that didn't participate. You know Iverson, Shaq and company would love to share their opinions on who should win and the crowd would eat that shit up. (Did anyone notice Kobe's reaction when he realized that Robinson had won instead of AI? He looked crushed; I thought he was going to buy some diamond encrusted fronts for Igoudala just to say he's sorry.) They could interview random posse members and celebrities as well. Running voting results could be displayed on the scoreboard. What's not to like?

Call me crazy, but I had absolutely no desire to see four Pistons playing at once in the All Star Game. This has nothing to do with my thoughts on whether they deserved the spot; it was simply boring. If I wanted to watch "Pistons basketball" I would watch a DET game. Do people really want to watch Rip running off staggered screens? And was anyone really surprised that four Pistons plus Pierce outplayed the West? Hell, four Raptors plus Pierce would likely beat the West, too. Virtually any NBA team playing team basketball would beat an All-Star team featuring guys trying lobs from half court. And yeah, I would feel the same way about four Spurs. I know how the Spurs play. I don't know how Manu would play with Nash, Marion, Dirk and Brand. That's what I would want to see.

My favorite part of the latest Isiah trade isn't that the Knicks will be paying $60+ million a year (including luxury tax) for Marbury and Francis. It's not that these two players are incompatible due to both of them being undersized for a shooting guard (not that they play much defense anyway). Nor is it that the combination will drive the lying, sniveling Larry Brown to a premature demise. The best part about this deal is that multiple media outlets are reporting that Isiah is stockpiling assets in order to go after Garnett in the summer.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I can see only one high-quality asset the Knicks have that MIN could possibly want. And that's Channing Frye. They have don't have any premium draft picks over the next two years. Meanwhile a team like CHI could offer some combination of Deng, Gordon, Duhon, Nocioni, Hinrich and Chandler plus multiple premium first round picks.

I didn't get to watch the SA-SEA game because the NBA League Pass channel was blacked out and I didn't notice until the game was already over. I'm beginning to see the early signs of Spurs withdrawal.

Here are my quick midseason player reviews; based on minutes of careful consideration and preseason expectations.

Coach Pop, B

Clearly trying to establish a rotation ASAP but stuck with Finley in the starting lineup way too long. Has successfully kept Manu's minutes down but needs to do the same for Timmeh; props for loosening the reins on Parker.

Mike Budenholzer, A+

I just like saying his name. Boo-din-hol-zer.

Sean Marks, B+

He's played well when given the opportunity and helped spawn a new catch phrase: AND SEAN MARKS FINISHES THE JOB!!!

Beno Udrih, B

Yeah, Van Exel is a better ball-handler, but that's the end of the list in my book.

Fabricio Oberto, C+

He looks less lost every time he plays and always brings the effort.

Brent Barry, D

40.3% from the field and 33.7% from 3 isn't good enough for a guy that's getting $5 million a year to shoot the ball.

Robert Horry, NA

The regular season? We're talking about the regular season?

Nick Van Exel, D

Why do I have the feeling that Spurs fans will blame a key playoff loss on his poor shot selection and total inability to guard anyone with legs?

Nazr Mohammed, B-

I'm seeing improvement, but he needs to up his blocks and cut down on turnovers and the ubiquitous mental errors.

Rasho Nesterovic, B

As solid as ever, but he needs to cut down on his ubiquitous lack of athleticism.

Michael Finley, D-

How bad has Finley played? The lineup of TP/BB/MF/TD/RS has outscored its opponents by a whopping 13 points in 286 minutes. That amounts to 2.2 points per game. For a team with a 6.5 point differential.

The Sickness, B-

Swap Manu for Finley in the above lineup and you have a squad that has outscored its opponents by 113 points in 335 minutes; 16.2 points per game. Certainly not the same guy we saw in the playoffs, but, well, this isn't the playoffs. His regular season numbers from last year are similar and his grade would be higher if not for the injuries.

Bruce Bowen, A-

He's added to his offensive game without adding FGA, but I'll be damned if he hasn't lost a quarter-step on defense. Yeah, I said it.

Tim Duncan, B

Lowest, PPG, FG% and BPG of his career. 59% of his FGA are outside of the lane which is higher than Parker and Ginobili. Still an incredible defensive anchor but, like last year, not capable of offensively carrying this team to a title. His plantar fascia cost him a half-grade or so.

Tony Parker, A

Better shot selection this year and maybe the best guard finisher in the NBA (his eFG% inside is 71.1% compared to 55.3% for Wade, 52.3% for Bryant and 63.7% for LeBron). Still has the undeniable Achilles heel to his game that will be exploited without mercy during the playoffs.

Head-to-Head's Up (2/20-2/26): Trade Deadline Edition

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 09:54:14 -0800

Well I’m glad the NBA (David Stern) came to its senses and invited Gilbert Arenas to play in Houston this weekend after all. Too bad Gil had to go and finish the first half of the season with a 4-for-22 effort and 6 turnovers at Dallas. Ouch.
So we have All-Star festivities to get through this weekend and then we’re back to the real games and hopefully an exciting week full of blockbuster trades. Here’s looking at you, week 2/20-2/26.

Four Games: Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, LAL, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New Orleans, Orlando, Portland, Seattle.
Three Games: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Golden State, Houston, LAC, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Utah, Washington.
Two Games: Denver, Miami, Phoenix, Sacramento, Toronto.

Season-long trade rumors are finally coming to fruition this week. Darko is moving to Disney World, former Terrapin Chris Wilcox swapped area codes with Vlad Rad, and Stevie Franchise just may get another ‘change of scenery’ if Isaiah Thomas continues his quest to bury the Knicks six-feet-under. Keep a close eye on pending trades as several players are sure to find themselves in new situations that could really boost their second half value.

Plug ‘em in, Plug ‘em in:
Josh Smith/Childress, G/F – The reigning Slam-Dunk champ just put up career-highs of 21 points and 15 boards, while fellow swingman Josh Childress also scored a season-high 21 in a win over the Lakers Wednesday. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Al Harrington will be asked to pack his bags before the Feb. 23rd deadline. Josh & Josh would immediately reap the benefits should Harrington (and his 37 mpg) depart. Smith averages an incredible 2.3 blks in only 27.5 mpg, and Childress contributes across the board but especially in steals with 1.2 spg in 28.4 minutes. Hopefully both will see 30-35 minutes a night the rest of the way and improve on their already respectable numbers. The youngsters have four games next week so get them in your lineups.

Delonte West, PG – LeBron (43/12/11) and Paul Pierce (50/7/8) may have stolen the show in an overtime thriller the other night, but Delonte also filled his stat line with 15/10/8 and 3 blocks. One of the best waiver wire pickups of the year, the versatile guard just keeps on truckin’. Jefferson, Perkins, and Wally are banged up, so West should have plenty of scoring chances in four contests next week.

Anthony Johnson, PG – Jamaal Tinsley is starting to make Marcus Camby and Fred Taylor look like iron men. He’s only appeared in 23 games this season and hasn’t been healthy for a full year since his rookie campaign. Veteran point guard Anthony Johnson has been handed the reins and asked to do what he can to help salvage Indiana’s season. A.J. has been a member of the Pacers’ starting five since the end of December and averages nearly 30 mpg as a starter. Usually just a borderline fantasy starter in deep leagues, Johnson’s hot hand (19/4/5 with 2 threes and 1.3spg in last 3 outings) makes a decent plug-and-play for four games next week.

Darko Milicic, F/C – If there ever was an ideal situation for the young 7-footer, Orlando is it. Darko’s playing time was so limited in Detroit that analyzing his stats does not really give you an indication of his potential. He’s shooting an impressive 51.5% from the floor, yet a miserable 37.5% from the charity stripe this season. But of course, his 17-of-33 FGs and 3-of-8 from the line are such small samples that they are essentially rendered meaningless. If one were to ascertain anything from his stats it would have to be his impressive 15 blocks in only 140 minutes of play this season. He’s sure to see plenty of playing time on his new team, and starting alongside league-leading rebounder Dwight Howard (12.6 rpg) seems to be a perfect fit for the Serbian big man. If you’re feelin’ Darko, get him in your lineups right away. Let's just hope for the best.

Chris Wilcox, F/C – Assuming Evans/Fortson get shipped out of town sometime before next Thursday, Wilcox will have a great opportunity to excel as the new starting PF in Seattle. Now that he lives in Starbucks capital, USA, maybe some grande caramel macchiatos can help Chris wake up and get his head in the game. The former Terp has immense talent and this appears to be a good situation for him. The Sonics frontcourt has lacked athleticism and been clogged up with the likes of Evans/Swift/Collison/Petro/Fortson for too long. Wilcox brings much needed explosiveness up front and could average 15 and 10 if he's focused and motivated. Think of him as a younger/healthier Kenyon Martin, with center eligibility to boot.

Stash ‘em or at least keep on your radar:
Antoine Walker – He was back in the SLU for a couple games before the break (scored 26 pts and hit six treys on 2/15). Employee #8 needs a starting gig to be a consistent fantasy contributor, and he may just land one if traded to the right team.
Shaun Livingston – Prep-to-pro point guard struggling in his second season, "the next Magic Johnson" has started three of the Clips last five games, averaging 6.7 assists in those contests. The potential is there for a monster second half if 36-year-old Cassell were to go down with an injury.
Earl Watson – Incessant trade rumors surrounding Denver’s reserve PG are making me nauseous. He could have some value if given a starting job somewhere (New York?)
Nazr Mohammed – The big man averaged 11 pts and 8 rebounds for the Knicks last season. He has been stuck on the Spurs’ bench all year, but exploded for 18 pts and 20 boards Wednesday night at Philly. He could make some noise if he were to take the starting spot from Rasho, or perhaps filling in for an injured Duncan.

Forget about ‘em and move on:
Larry Hughes – just went under the knife again and will be lucky to return for the playoffs.
Emeka Okafor – they’ve been saying he’ll be back in 3-5 weeks for over a month now. Word out of Charlotte is that he’ll likely sit for the rest of the season.
Jameer Nelson – Specialists can’t figure out what is wrong with his foot, and he is out for at least another three weeks. Even if he returns, he’ll have to fight for playing time with a crowded Orlando backcourt.
Sebastian Telfair – Stephon Marbury’s little cousin was benched in favor of the Blake/Dixon combo. Bassy needs to learn the pro game and improve on his "Dick Cheney-esque" shooting (36.6%FG) before he can be a reliable fantasy force. Maybe next year.
Marko Jaric – Yes, he may be traded, but he is just stinkin’ it up this season.
Deron Williams – Did they really draft him ahead of Chris Paul? Williams is simply not a good fit for the Jazz and Jerry Sloan is not a good fit for fantasy owners.

Also… the Knicks/Magic exchanging Jamal Crawford and Steve Francis would help all parties involved (especially their fantasy owners).
Enjoy the All-Star festivities and be ready to pounce once those trades are announced.

SIMULBLOG FOR SONICS V. BUCKS

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:58:23 -0800

Bucks 27 Sonics19 at the end of 1 Quarter
I love Andrew Bogut. I have said from day 1 he is the next closest thing to Tim Duncan and the more I see him the more I believe it.
Make TJ Ford shoot the ball please
Without Vlady the next thing will be when we don’t have to see Flip on the floor. How pleasant it could be.
Ridnour went out with 2 fouls, on a silly foul, and the score was 21-15 Bucks.
Swift lasted just two minutes and Collison was poor in the 1st Quarter

Quick thoughts on the Trade
I love the Radman for Wilcox deal.
First it is trading a fading asset for a potentially terrific asset.
The goal of any trade like this is to try to find the next Jermaine O’Neal and three years ago the Sonics pinpointed Wilcox as that guy
It makes the Sonics a more traditional basketball team. Collison and Wilcox are a nice combo for 48 minutes of power forward and Swift and Petro are 48 minutes of centers.
If you want to go small you can use any of the 4 as the center and Lewis as the power forward.

Nuggets hold off Spurs with fourth-quarter flurry

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 11:29:59 -0800

Earl Boykins scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Denver Nuggets held Tim Duncan to one field goal in ...

Raja and Kurt Spurs stoppers?

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 10:55:33 -0800

Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas were brought to the desert for just this purpose - for defending Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, for helping shut down the San Antonio Spurs....

Discontent

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 14:40:48 -0800

Recently some FreeDarko readers have pointed out that we haven’t devoted many words lately to actually covering this NBA season. While it may be true that our last 37 posts have focused on profiling individual players (“profiles in courage” according to Shoals), I hardly think we can be blamed for this. Have you watched the league this year? It’s pretty bleak my friends, as the Association seems to have reneged on nearly every promise it made during the off-season. Obviously the Artest saga has broken the hearts of young and old Darko-ites alike, but not even Ron can shoulder the blame for this season. Indeed, last year’s FreeD faves—Phoenix, Washington, and Seattle—have all suffered from the effects of injuries and free agency. Meanwhile, teams that were supposed to step up and fill the void—Denver, Sacramento, Golden State—have all floundered around the .500 mark. The Miami circus has yet to get off the ground and even Phil and Kobe have failed to provide any cheap laughs. Yet, no team has disappointed me as much as the Rockets.

In the wake of the Stro’/Rafer acquisitions and the Suns’ demise, the Rockets were the only team that appeared capable of threatening the Spurs. But the truth is that my hope for the Rockets had more to do with their city than their actual talent. Houston was having a breakthrough year, and it only seemed natural that the Rockets would participate. The city’s long-simmering rap scene finally exploded beyond the Texas and Louisiana borders, the Astros made their first World Series, and even Hurricane Rita knew enough not to fuck with Clutch City. Surely, this would be the year that T-Mac and Yao put it all together.

It has been said that the law is in the region and the region is in the law, but I like it best when this principle applies to sports. To some degree we all identify teams with the cities they represent, and it’s always more interesting when the makeup of a team says something about the city. Whether it’s the blue-collar play of the team from the Motor City, the glamour of the Hollywood Lakers, or the way the state of Utah seems to insist on the Jazz roster matching the complexion of the Alta snow. Houston 2005 offered such a tidy package of regionalism that it was impossible not to ponder things like, “What came first, the slow humid culture or the drank?” Or, “Is the success of TV Jewelry somehow related to a skyline of mirrored buildings?” I’m not sure about these questions, but I do know that Mike Jones is the rap equivalent of Enron, relentlessly hawking a product that never really existed in the first place. The Houston Hustle. An H-Town thang.

In this day and age the NBA and hip-hop are inextricably intertwined, so hopefully you’ll forgive me for heavy-handedly lumping together the city’s roundball team and rap scene. In all likelihood the city’s music and economics bear no real resemblance to the style of the Rockets (although Van Gundy slows more shit down than Michael Watts, and if Rafer, Stro, and T-Mac ain’t a screwed-up click I don’t know what is), but what’s important here is that the city has a strong identity. People at least have something they can attach to the Rockets. The same cannot be said for Houston’s I-10 rival, the San Antonio Spurs, and I’d like to submit that San Antonio’s lack of civic identity contributes at least as much to the Spurs=Boring perception as Tim Duncan’s game. What you know about the Alamo? What you know about the Riverwalk?

All of this leads me to a confession: even I’m bored with the Spurs. Sure, I still watch most of their games, but at this point it has more to do with duty and a desire to watch basketball than unbridled enthusiasm. Oberto is a bust and Finley can only contribute if he’s given 30 minutes a night. Ginobili has yet to get going, and it’s beginning to appear that his style is too reckless to ever keep him off the IR for long periods of time. What’s worse, they’ve become everything I said they weren’t when Shoals brought up the notion of “inevitability.” They open up 11 point leads only to squander them and hang on for the most uninspiring of wins. Sure, they’re 19-5, but if you’re going to be an elite team at least have the decency to dominate. They are now the oldest team in the league, and are capable of losing to anyone on the second game of a back-to-back, as evidenced by losses to the Hawks and Hornets. And while I’ll never be able to root against them, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me hoping for something new.

I wanted so badly for the Rockets to play that role. After watching them score consecutive road wins against the Warriors and Sonics I was even prepared to herald their resurgence in this post. But now Yao is out for the foreseeable future, joining Rafer, Bob Sura, Derrick Anderson, Jon Barry and everyone else on the Rockets’ injured list, leaving T-Mac and his bad back to keep the team afloat. Oh, well, I guess the West is going to suck this year. There is an upside to this, however. Doesn’t an awful West set the stage for a certain someone to rise from the microfracture ashes?

Whatever gets you through the winter.

Spurs rally past Clippers in overtime

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 22:00:07 -0800

Tim Duncan hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to send the game into overtime and then led the Spurs past the Los Angeles Clippers for a 95-87 victory Tuesday night. The Spurs climbed back from deficits as large as eight against the Pacific Division's leader, outscoring the Clippers 11-3 in overtime. Michael Finley, filling in for an injured Manu Ginobili, had 21 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs. Finley had seven points in overtime, including two free throws with 28.

Spurs to Paris, Clips to Moscow

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 08:28:20 -0800

Two months after visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands in a show of support for Tim Duncan, the Spurs have made plans to hold their next training camp in Tony Parker's homeland. Two NBA sources said Monday the Spurs will spend...

Game 17 Preview: SA @ Orlando Magic

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:49:37 -0800

There's a new Carnival of the NBA up. It's a collection of links to the best of the NBA blogs. Insert your own joke here.

Starting lineups:

SA (13-3, 6-2 away)
PG The French Layup Machine
SG Michael Finley
SF Bruce Bowen
PF Tim Duncan
C Rasho Nesterovic

ORL (7-9, 4-4 home)
PG Jameer Nelson
SG DeShawn Stevenson
SF Hedo Turkoglu
PF Dwight Howard
C Tony Battie

Both Steve Francis and The Sickness are listed as questionable for tonight's game. I doubt Pop will let Manu play for many reasons including the looming Miami matchup as well as giving Finley some time with the first group. Good ol' Hedo missed the Magic's last game with "flu like symptoms." I would think that by now he's regained enough strength to get on the floor and play his game: standing at the three-point line.

The soon-to-be 20 year old Dwight Howard has 7 games of 15 or more rebounds this year. That amounts to almost half of ORL's games. That young man has a future in this league. Tonight's line: SA -9.5
Tonight's total: 173
My pick: SA
The Spurs are 6-10 this year ATS. I am 4-12.

Game 15 Open Thread: SA @ Dallas Mavericks

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 18:11:05 -0800

Minor Spurs goings on:

-Earlier this week the Spurs waived Alex Scales who played all of 20 seconds. SA is now back to the same roster it had to start the season.

-The official Spurs site has a nice wallpaper available for download. It depicts Manu's backdoor reverse layup alley-oop from the Lakers game.

Starting lineups:

SA (11-3, 5-2 away)
PG Tony Parker
SG Manu Ginobili (questionable)
SF Bruce Bowen
PF Tim Duncan
C Rasho Nesterovic

DAL (10-4, 5-1 home)
PG Jason Terry
SG Marquis Daniels
SF Josh Powell
PF Dirk Nowitzki
C Erick Dampier

DAL will be without the services of their best perimeter defender Josh Howard who's out three weeks with a sprained ankle. (Three weeks?) Unfortunately the Spurs may not be able to take full advantage because The Sickness may sit as well. He has a "jammed ankle" of unknown cause. Stackhouse is still out due to his trick knee.

The injuries have taken the luster off what could have been a big game (for this time of year anyway). DAL pounded the Spurs earlier this season as Finley went 1-6 in his return. The Mavericks also pummeled SA in a meaningless game at the end of last season. I am going to repost what I had to say back then (when I could actually write worth a damn):

The rest of today's Wilco lyric is "...And it doesn't seem to mean anything" and it goes out to Jerry Stackhouse and the Dallas Mavericks. This past Thursday they won the NBA Championship in decisive fashion, crushing the Spurs by 36 points. Oh wait, that's not it. This past Thursday the Mavericks earned a trip to the NBA finals by sweeping the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. No, that's not right either. The Mavericks, in resounding fashion, locked up a division title by bludgeoning a rival Spurs team. Hmm, that's wrong, too.

On Thursday, the Mavericks beat a Spurs team without its best player on the second game of a back to back. Ginobili and Parker played a combined 40 minutes. The Spurs shot 0-12 from three. For some reason the entire Dallas team whooped it up the whole second half. Darrell Armstrong was waving towels, the bench was standing up most of the time and Stackhouse was talking trash. Afterwards he said, regarding Duncan: "He would've made a difference," Stackhouse said, smiling, "but I don't think he would've made a 40-point difference." He continued on with "I think we were able to put them on their heels with our defense," Stackhouse said and culminated with the following:

"About the only thing that went wrong for the Mavericks was letting Mike Wilks hit a short jumper with 13.3 seconds left, preventing them from giving up their fewest points. Team owner Mark Cuban told the players on the bench how close they were, so they were all standing up and rooting for one last defensive stand.

"They just got a lucky little putback," Stackhouse said."

I just don't get it. This game meant nothing. The only thing the Mavericks could be happy about is not embarassing themselves. They weren't even playing for playoff positioning. San Antonio was without their best player, intentionally limiting the minutes of their other two best players and clearly threw in the towel (in terms of who was playing) with 18 minutes to go. What is Dallas so happy about? And why would they do anything to piss off the Spurs? Which they clearly did: sometime in the second half Duncan ripped up a stat sheet one of the coaches was holding and said "This means nothing."

The Spurs were in a similar position a couple of weeks ago; they played a depleted Sonics team at the SBC center and crushed them. The Sonics never even had a lead. And the game actually meant something in the sense that the #2 seed was in doubt at the time and this particular game determined the tie-breaker. It was just another game to the Spurs. No laughing it up or spouting off incendiary quotes to the reporters afterword.

Needless to say, a post season series between these two teams would have a little something extra.

tion that is apparently necessary for them to play at their best.

Tonight's line: SA -3
Tonight's total: 187.5
My pick: SA
Matty da Blade's plays: SA | Over
The Spurs are 6-8 ATS this year. I am 3-11. Da Blade is 8-5-1 ATS | 3-3 TOT.

This is an open thread. I don't know why I keep writing that. They're all open threads.

Game 14 Open Thread: Los Angeles Lakers @ SA

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 15:10:58 -0800

[Update: I added a relevant link in the paragraph about Kobe. Thanks to massive boisson for the heads up.]

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Starting lineups:

LA (5-7, 2-3 away)
PG Smush Parker
SG Kobe Bryant
SF Lamar Odom
PF Kwame Brown
C Chris Mihm

SA (10-3, 5-1 home)
PG Tony Parker
SG Manu Ginobili
SF Bruce Bowen
PF Tim Duncan
C Rasho Nesterovic

The effing Lakers come to town tonight. As you probably know, Kobe is hoisting 29.1 FGA per game which accounts for 36% of the team's total. That's outrageous. But, then again, who the hell else is going to shoot the ball? In fact, take a look at their roster... how many of those guys would even get into the Spurs rotation? Kobe and Odom. That's the list.

Phil Jackson, apparently choosing money over the preservation of his partially-deserved legacy, is back coaching the Lakers. I hate that Zen-talking sunuvabitch. You may have noticed I tend to dislike players who I deem overrated; well the same goes for coaches. I'm an equal-opportunity hater. I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said countless times, but DAMN, a loosely coagulated lump of whale sperm could have led those Bulls teams to titles.

Loosely Coagulated Lump of Whale Sperm: "Alright Mike. Here's what I need you to do. Wait a second... You're the most skilled player of all time and also one of the most motivated. Just do what you do."

Jordan: "You're nothing without me. I made you."

Loosely Coagulated Lump of Whale Sperm: "Actually Mike a large whale penis made me, but I get your point. Scottie, I need you to stay out of Mike's way, play killer defense, run the break and grab some boards. And slap some people around with those amazing hands of yours."

Pippen: "They are a sight to behold, aren't they? You know what they say about a man wi-"

Loosely Coagulated Lump of Whale Sperm: "Pip. I CAME FROM A WHALE. It was, like, bigger than your whole body. Rodman: show up, rebound and don't kill anybody on our off days. Well, maybe off the occasional crack whore, but that's IT. Everybody else: play defense and make the open shots and layups that MJ and Pip create for you. And visualize success or something. Zen. Buddha. Nepal. I chi. Whatever. Now somebody get me a moist towelette."

Phil Jackson's career record is 832-316, a 72.5% winning percentage. Pop's is 396-210, a 65.3% WP. Let's assume SA wins 60 games this year; that leaves Pop at 66.3%. The Lakers are currently 5-7. So if the Lakers lose 104 consecutive games Pop will have a better WP% than Phil! Damn. I thought it would be closer than that.

Here's what Matty da Blade has to say about tonight's matchup:

I was going to send an e-mail saying that I'll take the Spurs -(anything less than 10.5)....then I looked at the line...it is the Spurs -13 and the total is 186.

This is a tough call. By all means, the Spurs should win this game by 30. They played poorly last time out. They have had plenty of rest. They are playing against a weak LA team with a 2-3 record on the road. Plus, LA is coming off a 5 game homestand spread over two weeks (talk about favorable). I believe they are susceptible to mailing in their first road game in a fortnight.

However, having said that, 13 points is a lot. An awful lot in an NBA game.

So, I am torn...logic and reason says Spurs...risk aversion says Lakers...emotion says Spurs...

....therefore, da blade does not recommend a play on this game....but for entertainment value I'll take the Spurs and the under.

-13
Tonight's total: 186
My pick: SA
Matty da Blade's plays: SA | Under
The Spurs are 6-7 ATS this year. I am a 3-10. Da Blade is 8-4-1 ATS | 2-3 TOT.

This is an open thread. Commenters will receive a free spoon. Wait! There's more. If you promise to tell a friend about my blog I will send you another spoon free of charge. Two spoons people! One for each hand!