Spurs Update

Finishing out the 2011-2012 NBA regular season with 13 games in 19 days, and 4 games in the last 5 days (geeeez), the Spurs traveled to both Phoenix and Golden State for the final two games. After complete warm-ups prior to Wednesday's game in Phoenix, it was decided that Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili would fly back to San Antonio, and not play these two games. However, We're also missing Gary Neal due to a sore shoulder from a great pick set by Kurt Thomas Monday against Portland. What was the most surprising, however, is that Gregg Popovich decided to fly back with them. So without four of our top players, and our head coach, Assistant Coach Mike Budenholzer would take the reigns for these two.

Both games were close most of the way, as the Suns were set finishing up with a winning record, but the Warriors were set on giving the youngsters some serious experience.

Wednesday the Suns even gave Nash a final hoorah late in the 4th-Q, down by only a few. It could be his last game in Phoenix, but who knows. At least the home crowd was prepared. So he came in the game, and promptly turned it over, after a pretty decent 8 pts., 7 asst., and 3 reb. in only 17 minutes. Shannon Brown and Sebastian Telfair led them in scoring with 21 & 20 respectively, but our energy was too high, and the Spurs pulled out WIN #9 in a row, 110-106. Patty Mills & Tiago Splitter both registered career-highs with 27 & 26 respectively, while FIVE others contributed 10 or 9 each. Here's the boxscore..
Splitter was huge - Image Source (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Thursday night in Oakland, the Warriors started 5 rookies - marking the first time in NBA history any team has ever done so. They had started 4 rookies against us just 10 days ago, but this was unprecedented. Close all the way just as it was the
Mills had back-to-back career games - Image Source (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

previous night, the Spurs would capitalize on a few too many Warriors' late mistakes, despite being out-shot 52% to 44%. Patty Mills was again the hero as he bested his new career-high from last night by 7. He had 34 pts., 12 asst., and 5 boards in 43 solid minutes. DeJuan Blair & James Anderson followed with 22 & 19. It was Mills' two straight threes with the score tied at 95, and about 5 minutes left, that would ultimately do in the Warriors on this last day of the regular season. The Spurs' 107-101 WIN was the 10th straight win, as we were not only the only team with a double digit winning streak this season, but we wrapped it up in style with THREE of them (11, 11, 10). Here is the boxscore..

The San Antonio Spurs finish the 2011-2012 regular season with a record of 50-16, and will have home-court advantage over everyone except the Chicago Bulls, who also finished at 50-16. Thankfully, our first game is Sunday at Noon. I'll be back with more amazing regular-season stats later! WooHoo!

Here are the FINAL NBA standings for 2011-2012:

Click for clarity..

Source (ESPN.com)

Spurs Update

Thursday night the Spurs hosted the Memphis Grizzlies for the 4th and final time this year. The race is tightening, but we've beaten the Grizzlies 3 times already. Tim Duncan (28 & 12 on this night) would continue to turn back the clock, as he and the guys come out strong. The Spurs did well containing the Grizzlies' interior play - a weakness exposed the night
Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

before by the Lakers. But Duncan guaranteed a better performance, and he certainly delivered. Spurs ended the 1st-Q with a 10-4 run (27-21).

For most of the 2nd-Q, we would hold a small lead while the starters rested, until about the 5½ minute mark, when Conley hit a three to give them the lead 37-36. But that wasn't all. We were scoreless for almost 6 minutes, during which Memphis scored 13 straight to change the game (44-36, Memphis). Duncan & Diaw would be the ones to bring us back, however, as some tight D and several key shots brought the half to an end - down by just 4, 49-45: a Spurs 13-1 run!

This time it was the 3rd-Q which proved to decide the game, for the most part, as Duncan would score 14 in the quarter. Everyone was back to sharing the ball at this point again, and lock-down D allowed a 13-5 Spurs run to end the 3rd-Q with an 8-pt. lead, 82-74. But the run continued - Manu & Bonner increased our lead to 14, as most of the rest of the final quarter, we maintained a small 5-8 point lead. What a perfectly bad time for a 5-minute Spurs' scoring drought. OJ Mayo hit a shot to bring them to within 2 at 94-92 with 2:54 left. Sigh.. Suddenly the game was on again.

The last 2 minutes were tight, but everything seemed to go our way, as our BIG THREE were all working like a well-oiled machine, and Timmy continued his dominance. Almost all our shots fell, and we got the stops we needed. Manu hit all 6 final-minute FTs in Memphis's foul-mode to clinch the 4-0 SWEEP of the Grizzlies with the 107-97 WIN. Here is the boxscore.

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After a nice day of rest, the team took the court Saturday night to face a Phoenix Suns squad, who won in Houston on Friday, in the comfy confines of our AT&T Center. This one featured a spectacular start by the home team, and to be honest, it was nearly over after one quarter. We jumped out to a 21-4 lead before a Phx timeout, and then poured it on with ultra-high intensity to take a 35-13 1st-Q lead.

The Suns would finally start to maintain the pace (coming to within 17 at 47-30), but an 11-0 run peaked our lead at 28, but became 62-38 at
Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

halftime. Since Phoenix was so far behind, Pop started Manu for the 2nd-half, in the hopes that he, too, could sit while the bench closed it out. Word surfaced that Steve Nash & Grant Hill would not return due to injury tweaks, and with that, we went up 27 again (74-47). But by 3rd-Q's end, Suns closed to within 19 (84-65).

Phoenix continued to fight back, and after outscoring us by 5 in the 3rd, they would do the same in the 4th, but it was too little too late. We shot 53% for the game and 9 of 18 from three. Everyone got in on the action once again, as all 13 Spurs had double-figure minutes, and everyone scored. The dominating 105-91 WIN sealed the Spurs' Southwest Division Championship. But yeah - we've got much, much larger goals. My man Timmy was definitely the #1 factor for these two games. Already playing younger than his years, I believe he got a little wake-up call.. Thanks, Andrew Bynum! We'll see you Tuesday! Here's the boxscore..

Our second B2B2B is Mon-Tues-Wed. all on the road against Golden St., the Lakers, and Sacramento. All eyes are on you, Pop! I expect minimal minutes out of Tony, Manu, & Tim for the first one.

Spurs Update

Spurs @ Phoenix, 3/26/12

We begin a back-to-back tonight in the land of the Phoenix Suns. Patty Mills is finally in uniform, as is everyone else, except for Tiago Splitter. Jackson is apparently going to be held out for "rest". It's an odd decision in my opinion, but I'm not Pop.

So our big-3 are in full-force for the first time in a while, and it's a good thing. It's always a good thing. Timmy continues to turn back the clock with his play this season. He would score 11 of our first 13 out of the gates.. but Shannon Brown, starting in place of Grant Hill, also gets off to a HOT start. By the end of the 1st-Q, it's Shannon Brown 14 - Tim Duncan 13. (Spurs 29 - Suns 28).

Spurs would momentarily pull away, but Shannon Brown would not let up. Then Sebastian Telfair would follow Brown's lead, as he would go off for 12 straight
Image Source (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Suns' points in the 2nd. But Kawhi Leonard, Timmy & Tony would keep us ahead, despite some late Marcin Gortat heroics. Our lead was 5 at the half: 62-57.

Just as I was expecting Pop to pull some crazy personnel magic to begin the 3rd, it didn't happen, but Phoenix went on a 14-4 run instead. But now down 5, 71-66, Manu & Timmy would do what we do best - more pick 'n' roll, as each would score 7 over the next 4 minutes or so. But Gortat, Nash, and Brown got theirs as well.. 80-79 1:57 left in the 3rd-Q. Hakim Warrick would enter and score 6 straight for the Suns, but after an 84-83 lead after 3-Qs, Tony Parker would make 6 straight, and then a Boris Diaw jumper quickly gave us the 9-pt. 96-87 lead.

With 7 minutes to go Kawhi would nail a nice three.. and then a sweet defensive stop later, Timmy would lay it in from a Manu assist. 103-91, now. But too late for the Suns, foul mode began, and Tony made them pay. We finished off the WIN 107-100, and it's onto Sacramento later tonight. Timmy had a night to remember with 26 & 11, and Tony had 24 & 7 asst. But Manu & Kawhi had great games under the radar: 13-5-5 and 14-7 respectively. Wow our guys are kicking it!

Kudos to a career-high 32 for Shannon Brown, and a 21-14 game from Gortat, as Nash had 16 & 8. Good game guys!

Superstition Mountains, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Source (Photo by Robert Quinn) / Via - (NSFW)                                                                               CTE!

Wikipedia link..

Google Maps link..

More images of this gorgeous area..

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.

Images Source / Video Source

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.

Rattlesnake Den Discovered

Image Source

"I was called in to remove an unknown number of snakes waiting out the winter inside of a garage of a Scottsdale, AZ home. In this video, I had discovered where they were, and went back to get my gear for the capture.

The lights are off because there is no power in the home.

These snakes have not been harmed in any way, and will be relocated to the wild as soon as possible.

All snakes will be released unharmed once the weather warms a little."

WARNINGS:
• Do not watch this video if you are afraid of snakes!

• Do not watch this video if you are afraid of the dark!

• Do not watch this video in the dark right before going to sleep if you are afraid of snakes, afraid of the dark, or hate dreaming about lots of rattlesnakes crawling around in a tiny, dark room!

Enjoy!



Source / Via - (NSFW)

Phoenix Snake Removal Dot Com

Oh Well..

Bring On The Suns

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Nothing HUGE here. I was actually over-confident; I had them winning in 5. Kudos to George Hill, and Antonio McDyess, though. As usual it's not always the "big-three" that get it done for us. Sometimes other guys step up and are the difference.

Ho-hum.. on to Phoenix!