A Glimpse of What's to Come

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29 points, 10 of 13 shooting - 4 rebounds - 2 assists - 2 steals - 2 blocks - 3 of 6 from three - 1 turnover

Heat Can't Handle the Heat

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1 down, 3 to go. Hopefully LeBron comes back strong, because I don't want to hear what the media has to say about the A/C issue. It was the same for both teams, and will likely never happen again. I also have serious doubts that 10 degrees forced LeBron's muscles to cramp-up. It happens in football all the time - when it's cold outside.

Go Spurs!!

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Final NBA Finals Post

OK well I didn't get game-6 done in time for game-7, so once again I have to lump them together. But rather than even bother, and since it's over, I'm just gonna type what I want. Everyone knows by now the Heat won. Everyone knows we blew a terrific chance to take the title in game 6. So, I'm not gonna bore everyone with two game synopses. Instead I'm gonna post a couple pictures, and focus on how I feel, and what this did to me.

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This was by far the best image from the last few days. After watching and listening to all the post-game interviews, it's hard for me to explain how I feel now. But if you saw Tim's game 7 post-game conference, and have any idea the way it appeared he felt - that's how I feel. We blew it in game 6, and I knew game 7 was just one more chance to watch my team play. Or at least that's how I chose to go about it. I was tons more confident in win #4 on Tuesday than I was Thursday. I knew we still had the chance to hoist the trophy, but I wasn't holding my breath, so to speak. Then once we were right there, yet again, I had to just smile, and enjoy it, win or lose.

Now we don't have any Spurs games until late October, and I feel like one feels just after accepting a relationship they've been in is now over. You're not still ultra-sad. You've accepted it, but there's a gaping hole. The only other time I felt this gigantic gaping Spurs hole was after game 5 of 2004's West Finals. Duncan hit the last shot at the buzzer to put us up 3-2 on the Lakers, and one game from a chance to repeat, and shut Phil Jackson up. Everyone also knows good and well that there was 0.4 left on the clock, and the rest is infamous Spurs history.

I know we had a great season - it was far beyond the expectations of most "experts". Probably beyond the expectations of most fans, too. It was in fact a season that many years from now I will hold right up there with, well, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Trite as that just sounded, that's just how close we were. I loved every second of it! We'll be back, too. This team isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Pop said so, and when Pop says something, you must believe.

Here are the two ESPN box scores in case you're interested: GAME 6 ... GAME 7

NBA Finals Update - Games 4 & 5

The 2013 NBA Finals resumed Thursday night in San Antonio for game 4. The way the series has gone, the team who loses a game rallies to win the next. Miami has even done it in this pattern for the entire series vs. Indiana in the prior round as well. So the Spurs surely expected some Heat. Yeah I intended that one.

It wasn't to be in the very beginning, however, as San Antonio came out strong, and had the early 19-11 lead. Everyone would soon get involved in the Miami offense, though, and they'd hold the 1st quarter lead, 29-26. Both teams were shooting well, and the intensity was obvious. Especially from the big-three dressed in red. Yeah Dwyane Wade and LeBron James came to play tonight. Their lead would be 9 by mid-2nd quarter, and both defenses began to tighten-up. Spurs came to within 5, and then Miami would extend it back out to 9 again (47-38) before San Antonio

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would go on a huge run to finish the half strong - something Pop stressed from our last loss. Parker & Diaw would score 11 together, while the Spurs held the Heat to 2 during the stretch, and at halftime we were tied at 49.

This one remained tight, as the Spurs held Miami's lead to 6 at the most, and after 3 quarters, the score was 81-76. Both teams struggled to score at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but the Heat found the groove first, and the lead was 10 at the midway point. Wade and LeBron suddenly were hitting almost everything they shot, they were getting the shots they wanted, and Chris Bosh was even working in the low post, contributing offense of his own. Spurs hung with them for the most part, but once Miami extended the lead to 15 with 5 minutes to go (100-85), it was clear that a win in this one would be hard to come by for San Antonio. Spurs would only score 8 in the final 5+ minutes, but putting up 15 of their own, LeBron & company Heat held on for the 109-93 victory. Here's ESPN's game-4 box score. James, Wade and Bosh combined for 85 points - their most ever as a threesome.

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Onto game 5 Sunday evening, the last of the three in SA. Between games 4 and 5, I read a lot of articles on how Manu's "done", how he's not been himself in a long time. I was even in agreement, as I produced a few stats to show my Mom just how much he's hurting our team sometimes. Going backwards, this is what that looked like:

vs MIA: 10-29 (34.5%).. 3-16 3-pt. (18.8%).. 6 reb/ 12 ast/ 3 stl/ 11 fouls.. 7 TO   (4 g's)
vs MEM: 11-27 (40.7%).. 4-14 3-pt. (28.6%).. 21 reb/ 18 ast/ 2 st/ 12 fouls.. 10 TO   (4 g's)
vs. GS: 26-76 (34.2%).. 7-40 3-pt. (17.5%).. 30 reb/ 38 ast/ 10 st/ 13 fouls.. 15 TO   (6 g's)
vs. LAL: 14-30 (46.7%).. 7-14 3-pt. (50.0%).. 12 reb/ 19 ast/ 7 st/ 4 fouls.. 8 TO (4 g's)

So I thought Pop should bench him before this gets any worse. So here we are at game time, and what does Pop do? He starts him.. Doh!

It appeared to pay off, however, as Manu hit his first shot (nearly a three), and dished out several assists right off the bat. It wasn't long before he hit a three, and was getting everyone involved -even more so than Tony- to the tune of a 1st quarter score of 32-19, Spurs, as San Antonio held Miami to 2 points in the final 4:45 of the quarter. But the drought continued, as the Spurs' lead was 14 after the first 3 minutes of the 2nd (36-22). This lead ballooned to 17 before Miami started to make their trips to the offensive end count. They would go on a 14-2

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run, and the score was at that point, 47-42, Spurs, with about 4 minutes left in the half.

Both D's tightened-up again, but the fast pace of the first 20 minutes was already in the books. Parker hit a last second shot to give the Spurs the 61-52 halftime lead. A lead that would be shrunk to 1 within 2 minutes. Then San Antonio would go on a 9-2 run to take the 61-60 lead back to 70-62, a lead the Spurs would maintain until about 3 minutes to go in the 3rd as the Heat would hit 7-straight (75-74). Then the Spurs would blow it open! Danny Green has continued his super-hot 3pt. shooting, and had hit 4 at this point already, but it was a Green three that began a 19-1 run through the end of the 3rd and the start of the 4th. Just before Green's 5th three, which tied Ray Allen's record for 3-pointers in a finals series, the score was 75-74, with 3+ minutes showing on the 3rd-quarter clock. After 3 quarters, Spurs led 87-75. By the end of the run, there was 9:30 showing on the clock, and the score was 94-75.

Those 5½ minutes would prove to be the difference in the game. But the Heat would stay strong, and make it a game again - coming to within 8 again with only 1:37 to play (109-101). Enter Danny Green again, who would sink his 6th three of the game to break Allen's record, and pretty much seal the game. San Antonio takes game-5 114-104, and leads the series 3-2, as it shifts back to Miami. Here is ESPN's game-5 box score.

Yeah Green hit a bunch more threes, and is probably our Finals MVP at this point, but the hero of this game was Manu Ginobili. Dude came out of nowhere and put up 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting, and added 10 assists.. all while everyone in the nation was thinking he should probably be benched for now. That's Pop! Bench him? Hell no, I'm gonna put him in the starting lineup so he gets to play with the starters, and not have to feel like the entire burden's on him to carry the second unit. That's the genius as we know him. Gregg Popovich never fails to impress me with his adjustments.

Game-6 is Tuesday night in Miami.

NBA Finals Update

Well I intended to have game-2's review done before game-3 took place, but after everything went down the way that it did, I'm glad I didn't.

Game-2:   HEAT 103 - SPURS 84   (a doimination)
Game-3:   SPURS 113 - HEAT 77   (not a domination)

So Sunday in Miami, we saw game-2 play much like game-1 did through the first half. It was tied at 22 after 1 quarter of basketball. Both the Heat and the Spurs would hold a 5-pt. lead during the 2nd quarter, but Miami would do it twice. The last one as the quarter finished, 50-45. The 3rd quarter was once again tight, as the Spurs came back with a 16-7 run, squashing the Heat's 8-pt. lead. But Danny Green's bucket

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with 3:49 on the clock, putting the Spurs up 62-61, would be their last one.. for a long while.

For the next 10+ minutes the Heat would hit everything they put up, going on an unbelievable 33-5 run, and before anyone knew it, Pop was emptying the bench, and the score was 94-67. During the run Chalmers, Miller, and Allen all contributed, and nothing the Spurs did went right. After 4 turnovers in game-1, the Spurs ended up with 16 in game-2, and a lot of them came during this stretch. With our back-ups in for the last (almost) 7 minutes of the game, however, we outplayed them (their starters for a couple minutes) 17-9 to make the loss a little less painful. Heat win 103-84. Here's the box score.

The media and sports sites all over were touting the Heat as glorious again, and all of a sudden they were unstoppable.. referring to the 10-minute run when calling the game a total domination. OK so we played a super-sloppy 10 minute stretch, but was the game a domination? Not in my opinion.

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Fast forward to game-3 on Tuesday, back in Texas. San Antonio fans had waited more than 2 weeks for another home game. Specifically it had been since May 21st, game-2 vs. the Grizzlies! More importantly the organization had waited SIX YEARS for this new opportunity. Obviously fans, and players alike were stoked. Atmosphere was incredible, and in showed as the Spurs jumped out to an early 8-pt. lead, 15-7. Spurs took a 4-pt. lead into the 2nd quarter, 24-20, as it appeared everyone was happy to be at home. Green was hot again (he hasn't really cooled off), Gary Neal was hitting, Kawhi Leonard was hitting, and we were taking care of the ball. With the game tied at 44, and 37 seconds left in the half, Tony hit an amazing three from the corner, followed by a steal on the ensuing possession, and a Gary Neal three at the buzzer. The moment was exciting, as momentum was 100% ours going into halftime 50-44.

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Including those 6 points, San Antonio would go on a 69 to 33 run for more than 24 minutes of Finals basketball. Neal and Green would combine to hit 13 of 19 threes for the game, and the Spurs as a team hit 16 of 32. Kawhi added 14 pts, and Duncan 12, while Tony was hampered with a strained hamstring. This, my friends, was a total domination. Mike Miller hit 5 of 5 from three, but LeBron was held to 15 points on 7 of 21 shooting. Spurs win game-3 113-77, Miami's worst playoff loss of all-time. Here's the box score.

Box scores via ESPN

Spurs 1 - Heat 0

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Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals went down last night, and boy was it a doozie! In one of the best Finals games I've ever seen, both teams played very solid basketball, and neither team led by double digits. After the Spurs went up by 7 very early, Miami would take control, and lead for most of the first half. Actually they would lead for most of the game, but only by a handful of points. Each team would make runs, and show superior energy, and then the other would counter with something just as exciting. Kawhi Leonard did a great job on LeBron for most of the night, as he only had 18 points on 7 of 16 shooting, but amassed 18 rebounds as well. Completing his third career Finals triple-double, he also had 10 assists. The problem is no other Heat player had more than 5 boards, nor more than 4 assists.

Shots fell for them for a while, but when it came down to the 4th quarter, well.. the Spurs defense cranked it up a few notches, and Tony Parker seemed to take over the game. Wade had 17, and Allen & Bosh each scored 13, but Miami critically turned it over 4 times in the 4th quarter, as well. The Spurs on the other hand had only 4 turnovers all game (tied an NBA Finals record), and along with Miami's 8, the total of 12 turnovers SET a new NBA Finals record.

San Antonio held Miami to 16 in the 4th quarter, and were able to score 23 themselves. So after trailing by 1 for a quarter, and then by 3 at both the half and 3rd quarter break, the Spurs were able to finally take the lead mid-4th. In back-to-back possessions a LeBron turnover led to a sweet Tony Parker spin move for a layup, to go up by 5. Then Ray Allen was fouled on a 3-pt. attempt by Danny Green, who had 4 threes of his own. Allen sunk them all, but on the ensuing possession, Tony dribbled-out the clock on a broken play, but hit a turn-around bank shot, under the block of LeBron, with less than half of 0.1 showing on the shot clock.

Literally by a fingertip, the Spurs led by 4 with 5 seconds to go, and held on for the 92-88 win. Tony Parker finished with 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting, 6 assists, and no turnovers in 40 minutes of Finals basketball. Duncan's hot 2nd quarter paved the way for 20 points of his own on 8 of 19 shooting, and he also grabbed 14 rebounds. Manu, Danny Green, and Kawhi Leonard added 13, 12, and 10 respectively.

Here's ESPN's game-1 box score..

Game-2 is Sunday night at 7pm - again in Miami.

The Stage is Set!

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...and I can't friggin' wait!

Yeah I forgot to come back and finish up the results of the Spurs/Memphis series, but it's only because that series seemed like a cake-walk compared to the Golden State series. Once we were up 2-0, I knew if we could stay in game-3, we'd have a great chance to win it. Likewise I also knew that if we stole game-3, it was soon to be over. There was no doubt in my mind, after what happened last year, that Pop and company was about to give them ANY chance whatsoever to come back.

Now, it's LeBron vs. Kawhi.   Wade vs. Green.   Chalmers vs. Mr. Tony Parker.   Bosh vs. Splitter.   Haslem and Birdman vs. Timmy Duncan.   Spoelstra vs. the King, Gregg Popovich.

Yeah the King in this series is not LeBron James, it's Coach Pop. He has an answer for everything. I think you'll see the key to the entire series is gonna be Pop's adjustments on the different things the Heat try to throw at us. In addition to that, I believe our team is deeper. Yeah they have several shooters. If there's one tiny achilles heel in Pop's system, it's that the one thing he has a hard time stopping is teams who shoot well from the outside. But isn't that just the way it is? Most coaches are gonna have a very difficult time stopping a team who has great games due to high-percentage outside shooting. Mike Miller, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and perhaps Norris Cole could give us trouble for a few minutes. However there exists several Spurs players not named Parker-Ginobili-Duncan-Leonard-Splitter who will certainly contribute solid minutes.

Danny Green is a starter, anyway, not Manu, so there's that. Boris Diaw, Matt Bonner, Patty Mills, Cory Joseph, DeJuan Blair, Nando DeColo, Tracy McGrady, Aaron Baynes....... Let's just say Pop will have plenty of fouls, and fresh legs for the Heat. Oh yeah, and also plenty of threes.


Schedule source: ESPN.com

Spurs Update

Well it's been exactly 20 days since Tony Parker went down with a severely sprained ankle. Tomorrow will be the 3-week mark. He was already running on the treadmill a week ago, and is now already beginning limited practices. I doubt we'll see him tomorrow night against Utah, but chances are good that my prediction from my last update (back in the lineup by Wednesday, March 27th's game against Denver) will happen. And we may even get him one game sooner than that!

Here is the same schedule I posted for that last update, but this time I've written in the results since that update:


Mine / schedule source

So 6-2 without our leader? Nothing wrong with that, I say. Especially if you consider the following:

Admittedly, we did not play well in that game vs. Minnesota, and they just flat-out wanted it more. Of course when you shoot 35%, you're not gonna win very many - if any - NBA basketball games. But in the Portland game, we actually played pretty well. Shot 52%, had only 12 turnovers, and still had an almost-acceptable 22 assists on 44 FGs. But Portland shot the lights out (62%). Soon-to-be rookie of the year Damian Lillard was practically unstoppable in the 4th quarter, and they're fighting for their playoff lives. I believe they will make it, but that's another blog post.

Anyway to continue my point, we've won a few ugly games in the span as well, as our defense has been questionable lately. Those who have stood in for Tony have done a great job on the offensive side, but Tony's value on the defensive end is becoming very evident. Most importantly, however, is that we won the one game we needed the most - OKC. The Thunder have also helped matters by losing twice since their loss in San Antonio.

Our lead over OKC now stands at 2½, with Memphis, the Clippers, and Denver ALL 5½ back. Look at this way: The Heat have won 24 in a row, and they're still only 2½ games ahead of us.

Wonder If He Realizes This?

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Yeah, that's a pretty big difference! Wake up, Mr. Stern. You approved the schedule, now fine yourself and the schedule-makers.

Spurs Update

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So the buzz all night as the San Antonio Spurs visited the Miami Heat earlier Thursday night was the fact that Gregg Popovich chose not to play Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green for their 4th game in 5 days.

Spurs had won 5 straight road games, and 29 out of their last 33 (an all-time NBA record). Now for the final game of this long road-trip, and their second long road-trip of the season already, the best coach in the league decides to rest some key players. What better experience could the guys on your already strong bench get?

The issue that shouldn't have been continued to be an issue because, of course, the TNT announcing crew of Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, and Kevin Harlan wouldn't leave it alone. Most had positive words to say, and I applaud them for that. But the media also wouldn't leave it alone. But what's new with the media? They take stupid stories involving the big-market teams (in any sport), and blow them way out of proportion. And the Spurs never get any media bias, but we, as Spurs fans, are OK with this. We don't need it, nor want it.

Not long after the starting lineups were announced, NBA commissioner David Stern came out with a statement:

"I apologize to all NBA fans. This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming." (Source)

Not only is this BS, but after the fact, it's going to be very interesting to see how Stern reacts after the outcome of the game. The game was a good one! Spurs had the chance to win down the stretch, and even led for a lot of this game. David Stern needs to step aside already, and apologize for his remarks. In a statement that his successor, Adam Silver, made in response to a very similar situation last season regarding the Spurs, Silver said:

"The strategic resting of particular players on particular nights is within the discretion of the teams." (Source)

Be sure to take a look at the box score for this game of "no-names" against the current NBA champions.

By the way, here's how ESPN's Sportsnation views the (non)-issue:


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Click here to go vote on this..

Spurs are 13-4, and doing very well, stupid issues aside. They host the hot Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, Dec. 1 in only their 4th home game since Nov. 7th. Memphis currently holds the best record in the NBA at 11-2. I would think I'd want my players fresh for that game, especially since the Grizzlies are not only a conference opponent, but a division foe as well.

UPDATE: David Stern has fined the organization $250,000.

Crock. Of. Horse$%&@.

And here's an awesome Reddit thread about this..

Must. Eat. Words.

Is Miami done?

Check out this look back at what Stephen A. Smith has to say after the Heat go down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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NY Knicks' Amare Stoudemire's Hand

As you're probably aware, the Knicks' Amare Stoudemire punched one of those glass-encased fire extinguisher thingies after their NBA Playoffs game-2 loss to the Miami Heat in the Miami visitors' locker room area. Many of us have no doubt wondered, how bad could it be that he's not playing? Well.. now we know! Apparently the deep gash nearly took out a nerve critical to hand functioning. Thankfully it did not. But wow! As barefootBam has pointed out, his hand looks like a baseball! Very, very nice suture job, too.

Via / Source: Amare Stoudemire at Lockerz.com

Spurs Update

Another stellar outing from Tim Duncan headlined our 9th home victory of the season - 24 pts. 11 reb. 4 ast. in 31 minutes. Like most games this season, the Spurs got out to a great start, and led 56-42 at halftime. The Suns were able to cut into the lead enough that Pop had to play the starters more minutes than we would've expected (all 30+). Tony had 17 pts. on 8 of 20 shooting, and 9 ast. Phoenix closed within 5 twice in the 4th, but it was solid defense down the stretch, and a few key shot from Jefferson, Parker, and Duncan, too, to give the Spurs the 102-91 WIN.



Once again my Spurs came out of the gate HOT in Miami and Blair & Parker were key contributors, as we jumped out to a 35-26 lead after 1Q. Danny Green hit a jumper at the end of the first that was sure help our momentum. We outscored the Heat 12-2 for about 6 minutes in the 2nd, as Gary Neal got hot, but then Chris Bosh started hitting several outside shots. Neal kept it up, and Parker hit 4 late FTs. Danny Green hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give us a 63-49 half-time lead. The 63 is our season high for a half, thus far.

The 3rd Q began with a quick Joel Anthony dunk, two more Bosh jumpers, a couple of nice shots by Duncan and Parker, but then a key jumper by LeBron. And it was all he needed to find his game. LeBron scored 17 in the Q, and the Heat outscored us 39-12 in the 3rd.

Here is NBA.com's video summary of the game..

The closest we were in the 4th Q was 15, but then Mike Miller started hitting threes like a robot. He went 6-6 from three in his first game back from a sports hernia injury, and sealed the deal for Miami 120-98. Danny Green led us in scoring with a sweet 6 of 7 night from three-range, and 20 points. Parker also added 18.

In Orlando the next night nothing was pretty. Both teams struggled shooting, and both defenses were very good throughout. Duncan, Splitter, and Blair led us in the first half to a 40-37 lead. We would lead most of this game until the early 4th when Ryan Anderson got hot, and he & Dwight Howard made it a game again. An amazing Parker fall-away gave us a 73-69 lead with just less than 3 minutes left. With the score tied at 73, and 36 seconds left, Danny Green drove the lane, dished to Duncan, and he hit a one-hander. In the final seconds of regulation, JJ Reddick was fouled by Danny Green. Reddick then hit both FTs, and a Parker jumper at the buzzer missed.

Parker, Reddick, Jefferson, and Howard traded buckets, but it was Gary Neal's three with 28 seconds left that gave us a 3-point lead. Von Wafer made a layup, but Jefferson hit a clutch FT to give the Spurs our 1st road WIN of the year, 85-83 in OT.

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10-5 now. Next victim is Sacramento in our place, followed by trips to Houston and New Orleans. The back-to-back is a flight to Houston after the home game vs. SAC in this case. We should get on a roll here, but with 5 of 7 games on the road coming up, you never know. Atlanta at home next Wed. is gonna be a good measuring stick.

Go Home LeBron

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The Contraction / No Contraction Contradiction

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Thursday:     "Imagine if you could take Kevin Love off Minnesota and add him to another team and you shrink the [league]," James said Thursday. "Looking at some of the teams that aren't that great, you take Brook Lopez or you take Devin Harris off these teams that aren't that good right now and you add him to a team that could be really good. Not saying let's take New Jersey and let's take Minnesota out of the league. But hey, you guys are not stupid, I'm not stupid, it would be great for the league."

My dominant lingering thought was "You are NOT bigger than the league, my friend!"

Today:     James said that he never intended to advocate contraction in recent comments he made about the league's "watered down" talent level compared to the 1980s. "That's crazy, because I had no idea what the word 'contraction' meant before I saw it on the Internet," James said after the Miami Heat's practice Monday. "I never even mentioned that. That word never even came out of my mouth. I was just saying how the league was back in the '80s and how it could be good again. I never said, 'Let's take some of the teams out.' "

My dominant lingering thought is now "You are NOT a very good liar, either."

The 2010 NBA Season Is On

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The Boston Celtics just ruined the Miami Heat's opening night. Yeah it was in Boston, but all we've heard about for 6 months is LeBron this King James that.. Miami's new big-three.. Championship bound.. blah blah blah. Right!

I'd put them at best 3rd.. in the East!

Lakers/Rockets is next for this opening night. Then by tomorrow night most teams will have begun - including my Spurs, who open at home against the Thin-diana Pacers.

Time to take a break - the last thing I want to do is watch these LA Fakers get their rings.

It's Official In Miami

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2010 NBA Playoffs

Well, so far so good. Only Miami and one extra Portland win are jeopardizing the NBA bracket I filled out right before it started. By the way, I'll gladly take the bracket loss for Oklahoma City to take out the Fakers. Nonetheless I feel pretty good about my prediction.

Click to enlarge!

Yes I'm still laughing at all the "experts" who said all along (and even as late as after our game-2 win), "Ahh San Antonio has no chance against the Mavericks."

Nothing Left

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