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

Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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.

Experts

Source: ESPN.com Screenshot

I just have to laugh at these things. It was the same way with the last series vs. Golden State. No one gives us much credit. We win titles.. we contend every single season for the last ... 19 seasons? Nine of these seasons we've been in the conference finals. C'mon, man! And Magic was saying the other night (just before our game-3 win, when ESPN thought of nothing better than to allow these guys to ponder when the Spurs were going to retire.. when they'll be done..), "All these young teams are gonna take over the Spurs next year..."

We're all used to it though.. All the media bias. All the lack of respect. All I have to say to them is "Expert this!"


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Spurs Western Conference Finals Update

OK now we move the series to Memphis, up 2-0.

In the mean time the Heat and Pacers have played two incredible games in Miami. LeBron won the 1st in OT, after trailing a lot of the game, with a driving layup at the buzzer. Their heroics fell short in game 2, however, as Indiana held on for a game-2 win. Now they go to Indiana split.


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Spurs won game-1 pretty dominantly after leading by double-digits most of the game. Tony Allen tried to trip Tony Parker, but it wasn't even called a foul. Why is this important? I'll answer this later. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard had super games. Matt Bonner hit 4 of 6 threes, as the Spurs established a playoff record, 14 of 29 shooting from three-point range. The Grizzlies came within 6 at one point, but that was as close as they would get. Spurs, 105-83.. 1-0. Here's ESPN's box score..

Game-2 saw pretty much the same basketball as did game-1. We led most of the game, although not by as much as in game-1. Seemingly culminating at half-time, a 46-31 Spurs lead wouldn't hold long. So far through 7 quarters, with the lead 76-63, my Spurs seriously played great basketball. But the 4th quarter of game-2 was terrible for the Spurs. With Timmy in foul trouble throughout a lot of the late 3rd quarter and early 4th, Memphis figured out a way to capitalize. So our shots didn't fall. We missed almost everything we put up in the 4th (too many threes).

With half a minute left, and a Spurs lead of 4... 85-81, Tony Allen had a break-away lay-up following a stupid Spurs turnover. Manu did what he should have, and fouled the shooter to put him on the line. Unfortunately, the refs ruled his foul was a flagrant-I. Allen made both free throws, and then Memphis scored on their ensuing possession. The game went to overtime, and Timmy ruled. Spurs win 93-89 (OT).. ESPN's Box score - HERE..

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Announced yesterday, Tony Allen was fined for "flopping" on the play. Here's the whole play:

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You be the judge! Here's a funny .gif I found


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What can we expect from this guy in game-3? Who knows. I'm not worried. I'll be back with my positive analysis of games 3 & 4. This could be a sweep, but I wouldn't feel bad at all putting all the money on 5 games.

Game-3 is in Memphis Saturday night. Spurs lead 2-0. Gonna be great! We just have to get one and come back to San Antonio to close it out.

Did That Really Just Happen?

Spurs 129 - Warriors 127 Final/2OT.

Couple hours later, and I'm still amazed, and in disbelief! Turrible as that Manu three was a few seconds prior, the last one was simply amazing. And that crowd reaction - yowza, I wish I would've been there.

Way to comeback, Spurs! Now don't get so far behind in game-2!


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Spurs Update

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There's been lots of NBA action the last few days. All six series that weren't done went to a sixth game. One of those went on to a 7th game, and that one is tomorrow. The other five are done, and we are almost ready for second round action.

Yeah it's about time we get to play. Golden State is a team to be reckoned with. But they haven't won in San Antonio in a long, long, long time. I picked them to beat the Nuggets, and no one else did. Now let's go Spurs!

Four Down - Twelve To Go!

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Bring on the Warriors! Or the Nuggets if it has to be that way. If you still think the Nuggets are gonna win that series, you must not be watchin'! Nevertheless, nothing from here on out is gonna be as easy as it's been so far!

Spurs Update

Well all the "experts" said we would lose our top-seed because of Tony Parker's serious ankle injury. Not only did he come back well before the 4-week time-table, but we did just fine without him. We did not lose our #1 seed while he was hurt. I'm gonna post the same image I have posted the last two updates, although of course it's updated with the results since my last update.


Mine / Schedule Source

Oddly enough, Tony Parker played in the first game since my last update. We have gone an unimpressive 5-4 since then. Tony missed a bunch of games, and I think we went 6-2 or something without him. But many other things have struck this team. In the 2nd quarter of Tony's 4th game back, at home vs. the LA Clippers, Manu twekaed a hamstring that's been bothering him somewhat all season. It was determined that it was bad enough that he would miss 3-4 weeks. Boris Diaw missed several games due to a back problem. DeJuan Blair was sick and missed several. Stephen Jackson had missed a bunch of games, and appeared only here & there when his ankle would allow. Then Tony got a neck stinger during the OKC game, and had to miss two more!

We went through a stretch of FIVE straight games, even with Tony, which were all decided on the last play of the game. And for one (James Harden) reason or (Chris Bosh) another, we lost 3 of those 5. We competed well, and should've won against a Miami team, who sat its stars this time around. A phantom Kawhi Leonard foul on Norris Cole lost us that game. Then the very next night against Memphis, we had a 3-pt lead with mere seconds to go, for the second night in a row, and Mike Conley buried us with last-second heroics. Both of these games were officiated badly, and we should've won - no doubt.

Friday, April 12th was not a good day. News surfaced that Boris Diaw had back surgery to remove a spinal cyst, and would miss 3-4 weeks. Then just hours later it was revealed that a week-long ongoing "feud" between Stephen Jackson and Coach Pop resulted in him being CUT. Apparently he's been upset about his diminished role, and probably still not 100% psychologically since the death of his unborn child. He argued with Pop, and you know who's gonna win that battle.

So here we stand with THREE games remaining.. tied in the loss-column with OKC, but without the tiebreaker. Tony is looking great, but not quite 100%. Manu might be back midway through the first round of the playoffs, which begin NEXT SATURDAY. We won't see Boris Diaw until probably the second round. Our fierce veteran leader, and only small forward not named Kawhi Leonard is history. Yeah I hate the move, but I don't run the team. Thank you Captain Jack!!

The silver lining is that Timmy Duncan has been playing lights-out.. All season, really. Like he's 26 - not 36. Gary Neal's been one of our only sparks off the bench, and we're gonna need that to continue. There are 3 games remaining. The Lakers lost Kobe to a ruptured achilles.. He's done for a long time. We should be able to win all three of these. The only problem is OKC can just as easily win their two. We're probably gonna be stuck in the 2-seed, but at least it wasn't because of Tony Parker's ankle, as everyone assumed. It's because this team has been hit with a broad, gigantic spectrum of things no one could foresee. But that's OK with me - this team is historically resilient. A few players are gonna have to step up right now. Kawhi Leonard. DeJuan Blair. Tiago Splitter. Even you, Mr. Bonner. A series against Houston or Golden State doesn't bother me at all, really. And a Denver team who was as hot as hot can be the last month is also now reeling with Lawson & Galinari injuries of their own.

So the question remains:

Can we beat OKC in the Western Conference Finals? Of course we can! Putting our franchise's 4-0 Finals record against these Miami Heat, however, might be a different story altogether.

Here are the current NBA standings with four days left.

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.

Spurs Update

Your San Antonio Spurs have gone 5-1 since my last update. We stand at 42-12 at the all-star break, and that's good for the best record in the NBA.. 2½ games clear of Oklahoma City, who have lost 2-straight, and 4 ahead of Miami.

Here are the current standings, and here is a look at the complete Spurs' season schedule, of which the following screenshot is taken.


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The hiccup in Detroit can only be attributed to a Pistons squad who wanted it more. They shot well, and out-rebounded us 49-33. Tim and Manu had both missed a bunch of games, and Tony & Stephen Jackson even missed 1 and 2 respectively, but the last one in Cleveland saw the big-3 playing together for the first time in weeks. Tim & tony will get their quick minutes during this all-star weekend, and that'll be that. Pop's coaching, so I'd be surprised to see either of them on the floor for more than about 10-12 minutes each. Matt Bonner and Kawhi Leonard, on the other hand, I expect to have coming out parties this weekend. Then we'll be back on the road to finish up the rodeo road trip.

Spurs Update

Apparently with our win earlier tonight, Gregg Popovich is guaranteed the job of coaching the West in the All-Star game. And this is a great honor! It's only been 9 games since my last update, but this is another good place to post one. Not only because of the All-Star coach deadline, but because it also marks the end of the January schedule for San Antonio: a month in which we went 12-3.

More importantly, we've strung together 9-straight since the loss @ Memphis.

Screenshot from here

Tony is back to form. Tim has sat for 4-straight games, due to a sore knee. Tiago Splitter has been incredible during this stretch, averaging 14.3 ppg, 8 rpg, and shooting 65%! Also during this 9-game streak, Aron Baynes made his season debut. In only a few appearances, he's already showing why he might just be the BIG we've needed this whole time. So yeah, DeJuan Blair's days might be numbered. Sorry buddy.

This 9-game winning streak should improve to 10 right before we go on our annual rodeo road-trip. By the way, a win Saturday would increase our home record to 22-2. Yikes! This year's rodeo trip lasts from Wednesday, Feb. 6 to Sunday, Feb. 24, and encompasses 9 games. Five of those opponents have losing records, so I expect nothing worse than 6-3, but 7-2 is more likely.

Sitting pretty at 37-11 right now, best record in the NBA, PPG scored 3rd overall, PPG allowed 6th overall, and a scoring differential of 8.4 - tied with OKC for tops. We also lead the league in assists per game, are 4th in assist-to-turnover ratio, 2nd in total shooting %, #1 in opponent 3-pt%, and 3rd in shooting defense.

Like a well-oiled machine, we are rolling.. smoooothly! But this is business as usual for us right about now.

All stats from ESPN.com

Spurs Update

28-11, 1st in the Southwest Division, 3rd in the West - at nearly the halfway point.

Here's the stretch of games since my last Spurs Update:

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Not too shabby, but not nearly up to potential. We ran off a solid 7-straight, scoring an average of almost 112 a game. Then we laid an egg in the big apple during our quest for revenge on the Knicks loss from early in the season. But it's been clear to me that something is wrong with Tony Parker the last several games. I'm not sure whether he's just not seeing the open man, or whether guys just aren't getting open, but he's averaging 5 assists per game these last 5 games. More importantly his assist-to-turnover ratio the last three games is 14:15. (Source & math)  Ouch! Anyone know if he has a new girlfriend or something? Perhaps he lost a girlfriend?

Granted he's shooting the ball well (53.3%, last 5 games), and scored 30 last night in an OT loss in Memphis. He has also been hot from three-range, which is not really his niche (20 of 46 for 43.5% on the season - by far his best). He even went 3 for 3 and nailed the shot at the buzzer last night to send the game into OT:



Nevertheless it's not all on Tony, or any particular player. I have been posting on the Spurs' Facebook page for several games now that Pop has got to recognize when Tony is struggling to keep the offense running fluently. Patty Mills has got to get in the game!! He gives us such a tremendous spark, but we don't get that when he's merely waving his towel on the bench. Even Gary Neal's & a few other bench players' minutes are down, and I'm not sure why Pop isn't going a little deeper these days. Tony and Tim both played 40-ish minutes last night. Yes it was OT, but that's way more than their average minutes per game, and way more than necessary when you have a Patty Mills on the bench (and a DeJuan Blair getting basically NO playing time).

C'Mon guys - it's time to ratchet it up!

Spurs Update

Spurs drop two straight for the first time in a long time...

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No worries, though. We've played a TON of road games (and have gone 11-4 so far, with a 7-2 home record).. this is like our third road trip of 7 days or longer, and it's only December. And the annual "rodeo road trip" is still coming in Feb. Now that we're getting all these road games done-with, we'll be winning a crap-load of home games, while other teams are going out and losing on the road. We just looked tired tonight (19 turnovers, 7 missed FTs, and the Blazers were sharp). Also Damian Lillard. That guy is the rookie of the year for sure.

Spurs Update

So Wednesday night, this happened:


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Nothing wrong with that defense, really, just can't let teams hang around to get the opportunity to take the game winning shot.

Spurs Update

Through 21 games..


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Tied for 1st in the West, and tied for 1st in the league.

Here are the current NBA standings.. (courtesy ESPN.com)

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..

Danny Green: Clutch!

Spurs 84 - Lakers 82

Image Source (Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images)


Source (Gary A. Vasquez/US Presswire)

7-1 Oh Yeah!

Way to Go, Spurs!

1 down - 97 more to go!   Here's a recap:

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The 2012-2013 NBA season kicked off Tuesday night, and the Spurs began their schedule on Halloween night with a clutch WIN at New Orleans 99-95. They will follow it up by quickly flying home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. Yeah that's it, start us off with a back-to-back! Anyway, Anthony Davis was impressive in his debut (21 points, 7 rebounds, and 0 turnovers). He has a very pretty shot, in addition to being a premier defender & rebounder. I think he went 9 of 9 from the FT line. Take that Dwight Howard. Here's the box score..

No doubt there will be a seriously high level of revenge in the eyes of San Antonio tonight. After all.. the Thunder ended our 20-game regular season & playoffs win streak, and then our entire season - all in less than a week last June. It should be very loud in the AT&T Center - and extremely white.

Regarding the game updates, am I going to continue where I left off last year? Unfortunately no, I'm not. Not that I didn't enjoy doing them, but they do take quite a bit of time, especially the handful of occasions when I got behind. Plus, I just kind of felt like there were only a few hundred dozen of you actually reading them. Perhaps if I get enough encouragement, I might reconsider this decision. I love my Spurs, so don't worry.. I'll do an update every now & then - just not every single game.

By the way, the all-stars Lakers are 0-2, Dwight Howard has 11 fouls in 2 games.. he's missed 15 of 33 FTs, and Steve Nash left last night's game with a nasty-looking knee injury.