OKC's Fisher & Martin: Double-Flop

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James Harden Traded to Houston

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No way OKC made their team better by this trade. I've always said it was Harden who made their team as great as they were - the finals performance notwithstanding. Westbrook is not the PG he wants to be, nor that they want him to be.

Good luck with him, Houston! I think you might have something here, especially with the other guys. OKC got Kevin Martin, JLamb, and 3 high picks. Ehh - we shall see.

Spurs Update

Just realized I forgot to review the game against the Grizzlies in Memphis Monday night. We took the court in Memphis ready to see if anything carried over from the very near victory by our bench in Dallas the night before.

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The 1st Q stayed close for the most part, until Bonner hit a three with 8 seconds left to give us a 24-19 lead. Blair had an early 6 points to get us going. As soon as the 2nd Q began it was fairly obvious they weren't gonna match our energy. A layup from Tony, and a jumper from Tiago, combined with a three each from Bonner and RJ pushed our lead out to 34-21. Memphis would again go cold for a bit, as they'd be stuck on 28 for about 4 minutes. 5 from Conley and 2 from Sam Young, and our lead of 17 was 10 at the half, 45-35.

Out of the gate in the 3rd Q, RJ hit a three, and Kawhi Leonard picked Rudy Gay's pocket to take it for a nice dunk.. 50-35. It was around this point that Gay finally scored his 1st point of the game - on a FT. Tensions were building, and it was quickly becoming crystal clear that he was extremely frustrated by Kawhi's stifling defense. Teams traded buckets for a while, and our lead shrank to 10 again. We then went on a 15-3 run for almost 7 minutes - our lead grew to 22 - before OJ Mayo hit a shot to close the 3rd Q with the score 75-55.

This time the starters stayed in longer than I thought they should have, but after a late Memphis run (we went scoreless for 5 minutes), we closed them out for the WIN 83-73. Bonner, Timmy, RJ, and Green had 15, 14, 13, and 11 pts. respectively, and Tony added 12 asst. & 5 pts. But the stat of the night was "1": Rudy Gay's total on 0 for 7 shooting in 35 minutes. Rudy, meet Kawhi Leonard. I expect you'll know who he is next time around! Here's the boxscore.

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After a day off on Tuesday, the Spurs would begin a 3-games-in-4-nights home stand with, once again (and for the last time), the Houston Rockets last night.

The beginning of this game was turrible, to quote Charles Barkley. The Rockets jumped out to leads of 13-3, 20-7, and 24-9 before a couple layups, and a Gary Neal three gave us some life, and woke up the crowd. Two scoreless minutes later, the 1st Q ended.. 27-16, Houston. Nothing was going in on our end, and their tough shots were falling, as it wasn't bad Spurs' D that saw us fall behind by as much as 19 twice. But the last 4

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minutes of the half, with the score 46-27, Timmy & Tony began doing what they do best. We finished up the half strong, 52-39. Kevin Martin had 21, and Courtney Lee had 11 in that half.

The Rockets would again stretch the lead out to 18, but we were staying with them for the most part. Duncan began to take over (17 3rd Q pts.), and combined with another Houston cold-spell, we had closed to within 4 going into the 4th. With the crowd again going nuts, the entire team fed off of it this time. With 7:01 left we took the lead on a Danny Green three, 81-79. It was bucket for bucket - with both defenses cranked up a couple notches - for almost 5 minutes, when Patterson's 16-footer at 2:21 tied it up at 91. It was also the last points the Rockets would score.

Gary Neal nailed a quick jumper. Then after a missed Kevin Martin three, and a nice drawn charge by Neal, Matt Bonner's three with 1:04 left was pretty much the nail in the coffin. Add on 3 FTs, and the game was OURS, 99-91. We held Martin to only 8 2nd-half points (29 total), and as a team outscored them 60-39 in the 2nd half. Timmy had 25 & 7 boards in 31 minutes, and Tony had 24 in 38 minutes (ouch). Bonner's 8 pts. & 10 reb., along with Neal's 15, were some crucial stats as well. (boxscore)

We're now 14-9, 5th in the West. Our defense is definitely improving - allowing only 90.3 ppg in the last 9 games. Tonight it's New Orleans, and then after a critical day of rest, we get the best-in-the-West Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

Spurs Update

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I'm gonna be lazy on this post, simply because I don't feel like typing up an analysis of two games that showcased how crappy the Spurs have been playing ever since being up by 17 in the late 2nd Q in Miami. But here are some links:

• Our 1st home loss vs. the Sacramento Kings, 88-86.

• With Duncan "resting," another loss in Houston, 105-102.

Spurs Update

We lost a game we should've won in Milwaukee Wednesday night. But as has been consistent with the last few games, our opponents continue to shoot a great percentage. Tony took it a little bit too much upon himself near the end of this one, and tried to do a lot of it himself. Nevertheless, RJ had a chance at the buzzer, and it didn't fall this time.
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L 103-106

I'm glad we beat Houston (in San Antonio) tonight. Those guys don't need to get it in their heads that they can beat us. After two preseason games in which we split victories, we have now split two regular season games. And there will be two more in the next three weeks. Sigh.

It was close the whole game, and it sucked that we had to go to overtime to win, because the play under their basket with only 12 seconds left should've been determined a shot-clock violation. After a Duncan block on Kyle Lowry that didn't hit the rim, Danny Green touched the ball only to save it from going out of bounds. Amidst the chaos, the shot clock should've ended, but was shown to be shut off at :05 (before Danny Green touched the ball during his under-the-basket save), and the Rockets were awarded the basketball under their own basket. Scola then hit a running hook-shot with a few ticks remaining on the clock to tie the game and send it to OT.

At any rate, Tony had hit a crazy shot that I thought would give us the win with 1:22 left. Nevertheless the aforementioned screwed-up play happened, and we have to win it in OT.

If not for the fact that Kyle Lowry hit two nasty threes - one in the final minute of regulation, and the other in the final minute of OT, it would've been a lot less exhausting. Duncan missed 3 of 4 FTs, and another wide-open jump shot. Two minutes and 28 seconds went by in OT before anyone scored. But it was (once again)
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an RJ three at 1:08 and a Duncan post-move shot after a Houston timeout that gave us a 4-point lead. Immediately after Lowry's second amazing three (96-95, Spurs), Parker draws a foul which leads to two crucial made FTs, followed by a stellar defensive stop, and rebound by Kawhi Leonard. He then ices the game with a FT, and two more from Tony, and it goes down as a 101-95 Spurs OT WIN.

Saturday night we host Portland, and that one will be TOUGH. Then Monday night it's Phoenix here in SA. I would hope we can get that one because the next two after this will be a difficult back-to-back on the road, at Orlando and Miami next Wed-Thurs.

That's About Right

Thanks Matt!

Young Girl Catches a Piranha in Texas

msnbc 9/27/2011



Texas is reminding folks that keeping piranhas as pets is a no-no. The warning this week comes after a 5-year-old girl on her first fishing expedition hooked a red-bellied piranha at a lake near Houston.

Lindsay Schutte used a hot dog to lure her unique prize.

"When I took the hook out of the mouth and saw it had pretty big teeth I was concerned, but I'm in Texas so I don't know, there could be fish like that," Christi Schutte, Lindsay's mom and a recent transplant from California, told NBC affiliate KPRC-TV.

But when the fish bit Lindsay's brother, the family decided to notify the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which killed the fish and then froze it for further study.

"An actual piranha is a VERY rare occurrence in the wild — only 2 documented specimens in 30 years — and possessing and releasing live piranhas and dozens of other exotic, harmful or potentially harmful fish species is prohibited by Texas law," the department said in a statement on Monday.

The department emphasized that the Tom Bass Park lake "remains a great place to go fishing and is completely safe to go fishing there."

"We strongly believe that this is an isolated catch," said the department's Dave Terre.

Natives of tropical waters in South America, piranhas are unlikely to be able to survive a Texas winter, the department noted.

The caught specimen was possibly held as a pet by someone who then tried to get rid of it in the lake, Terre said.

The department also noted that a first offense for possessing or releasing outlawed fish in Texas can mean a $500 fine. Repeat offenses can lead to jail time and heftier fines.

Piranhas have a reputation far greater than their size, which typically ranges from 5 to 10 inches. Contrary to movies and popular culture, piranhas don't typically swarm together to gobble up much larger prey in seconds.

Source - (with video report)