Spurs of the Moment

CENTER: Probably the most vital position on the floor as it concerns defense. Whether a team is good defensively or horrible, the Center is always important. For good defensive teams that rotate well on the perimeter, a center is needed to clog the middle, secure rebounds and deny second shot opportunities (offensive rebounds). On a bad defensive team that either gambles for steals a lot on the perimeter or simply isn’t interested in staying in front of their man, a Center is essential for not only rebounding and taking up space in the paint, but for blocking or altering any shot attempt that comes his way, thus stopping a guaranteed basket for the opposing team.

Tim Duncan ht 6-11 | Last season 13.4 pts 8.9 rbs 1.9 blk in 28 mins a game PLAYOFFS 12.7 pts 10.5 rbs 2.5 blk in 35 mins a game

The Tim Duncan everyone tries to remember is the Duncan that had a solid back to the basket game, a face up game as well, which included some of the best footwork of that time, and when it was all said and done a jumper with range out to about 16-18 ft. Last season the Spurs went away from Duncan on offense. They also overworked him on defense by having guys who either don’t rebound or play defense next to him at the Power Forward slot. Duncan did well for most of the season, trying to use his older slower body to grab most of the rebounds and attempt to clean up all the defensive mistakes that the other Spurs made. Thats a lot to ask an aging Center in a youth-filled league. In the playoffs it took its toll. Duncan had to guard Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, and try to protect the paint all by himself. It didn’t work!!!!! Duncan has limited mobility, but his I.Q. on defense  and offense are enough to help the Spurs go far, provided he gets legit help at the Power Forward position.

Tiago Splitter ht 6-11 | Last season 4.6 pts 3.4 rbs in 12 mins a game PLAYOFFS 6.7 pts 4.7 rbs in 17 mins a game

Tiago Splitter definitely got the 08-09 George Hill treatment. Yeah sure, they raved about him before he got here and then the guy barely played. Sure he got a few injuries; but come on, seriously??? Splitter, like Hill in his rookie season, showed signs of being able to contribute on a nightly basis. In Hill’s case, Pop wouldn’t let him get past Jacque Vaughn, and for Splitter he couldn’t get past Blair, Bonner, or McDyess. In the 08-09 playoffs the Spurs were eaten alive by the smallest guy on the court (maybe the smallest guy in the building), JJ Barea, and after going down in the series Pop put in Hill who did well. Not to mention what he did to the Mavs the next year in the playoffs. Splitter was put in the same situation. Tim Duncan can’t stop two good big men(much less one) and protect the paint at the same time. Splitter came in and did a better job than all the Spurs bigs except Duncan (obviously), and maybe Dice gets a slight nod. Splitter, despite not having a jumpshot, is mobile on both ends, is an Oberto-like rebounder (thats a good thing), and has some solid post moves.

ANALYSIS: The Spurs have decent size, good rebounding, and available low-post scoring. The Spurs, as mentioned, went away from the low-post game while allowing Parker and Ginobili to run around and do the scoring and distributing. However, if you look at the last six teams to win the Championship, they all have something in common – low-post threats on offense and equally defensive minded big-men*. With Duncan being the only big guy to get consistent touches on offense and at the same time the only legitimate big to protect the paint, the Spurs would have never made it far even if they had somehow managed to beat the Grizzlies. To get back to championship level basketball, the Spurs must once again establish a post game. This does not mean they force feed Duncan, but simply get him more consistent touches on the block, mixed in with Splitter and Jefferson getting post-up opportunities a few times a game as well. You can also never have enough big men. So if the Spurs would like to add an extra guy, free agent Aaron Gray, formerly of the Hornets, may be the answer. He’s not much statistically, but he can bang with the Bynums and Howards of the league. Next week we’ll look at the Guards.

*Lowpost threats and defensive bigmen of the last six championship teams

2011 (Nowitzki/Chandler)

2009 and 2010(Gasol/Bynum)

2008(Garnett/Perkins)

1999,2003,2005,2007 (Duncan/Robinson 99′ an 03′ – Duncan/Mohammed 05′ – Duncan/Oberto 07′)

2004(Rasheed Wallace/Ben Wallace)

2000-2002 (Shaq)

Tony Parker, who injured his calf on Sunday against Memphis, is expected to miss the next 2-4 weeks. That’s not cool seeing as how the season is winding down and the last thing we need is a hobbled Tony heading into the playoffs. The injury didn’t look too serious tho, so I am not in panic mode. I don’t think the Spurs need to rush out and try to get Mike Bibby, but part of me hopes that they will just so that the Heat don’t improve any by signing him. In reality though, the Spurs don’t really need him as George Hill should be able to fill in just fine at the point. Also if Gary Neal returns soon, he will also be able to pick up some of the slack.

So who should the Spurs pursue in the Trade Deadline Aftermath of player buyouts?
Troy Murphy is out of the question because he can only sign with an Eastern Conference team. Personally, I hope he goes to New York, but I think he’ll head to Bostonunless he wants to stand around and watch LeBron throw up bricks in the waning moments of games in Miami.
There’s Rasual Butler who was just bought out by the Clippers, but I don’t see any reason the Spurs would care to entertain that idea, plus he is supposedly headed to Chicago.
Corey Brewer is being bought out buy the Knicks, who I am a little surprised don’t want to keep him. Boston (they want everyone it seems), San Antonio, and Dallas are all drawing interest. Hopefully Brewer wants to play for the best team in the league (sorry Boston), and a proven winner (sorry Dallas). If not then all I can say is, “meh”. I think he would get some good minutes with San Antonio – at least more than in Boston or Dallas.

Other players being bought out include Leon Powe, T.J. Ford, Jared Jeffries, and Jason Kapono.
Powe may end up back in Boston, with Jeffries possibly headed back to New York. Ford is likely the Heat’s consolation prize if Bibby signs elsewhere, but it’s not inconceivable that he could end up in San Antonio if they really feel like they need another point guard. It’s anyone’s guess where Kapono will land. I don’t see teams clamoring for his services.

I don’t really think the Spurs need to sign any of these guys, but I would open to Bibby, Ford, or Brewer since I can see them each playing a significant role.

The complete rosters for the 2011 NBA All-Star game were released on Thursday and the Spurs have two players who were chosen as reservers – Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Duncan is averaging 13.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks per game this season. Manu Ginobili is averaging 18.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.8 steals per game this season. Tony Parker (17.3 points, 6.7 assists) missed the cut. While there is going to be another player selected to take Yao Ming’s place on the team (he’s been injured for basically two years, how the !@#% did he get voted in?!) I wouldn’t hold out much hope for Parker. I expect the slot to go to LaMarcus Aldridge… at least it should. The Celctics lead all teams with four players (Rondo, Garnett, Allen, Pierce).

Spurs vs Lakers

The Spurs topped the Lakers last night 89-88 on a McDyess tip-in off a Duncan miss just before the buzzer. And this is why the Spurs are the best. Parker misses, no problem. Ginobili misses, no problem. Duncan misses, no problem. The Spurs don’t stand around and hope one guy will save them (*COUlakersGH*), or have three stars and a bunch of scrubs (COheatGH*). Honestly this year should be the Boston Celtics vs the Spurs in the Finals. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be a great match-up. Anyway, the main problem the Spurs had last night was poor shooting, only 41% from the field. Tim Duncan was only 3-of-12 for eight points points plus eight rebounds. Parker led the team with 21 points, Jefferson had 18, and Ginobili had 14 along with eight assists. McDyess finished with eight points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

Kobe was one rebound short of a triple-double. Guess which rebound he wishes he got. Mwahahaha.

Highlights Below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KgjuG_GhHw

Don’t look now but the Spurs just won four games in a row – the last three against the alleged contenders of the Western Conference. Granted the Mavs were without Dirk, it’s still satisfying to watch S.A. smash thru the early conference favorites one after the other.

After beating the Lakers 97-82 last Tuesday, the Spurs went on to beat the Mavs in Dallas on Thursday 99-93. That was an interesting game since the Mavericks were without Dirk Nowitzki but the Mavericks still gave the Spurs all they could handle behind Caron Butler’s season-high 30 points and yet another triple-double from Jason Kidd. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, Tim Duncan had a bounce back game with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Gary Neal came off the bench to bombard Dallas with 21 points of his own. I kind of had to laugh at the Mavs starting Brian Cardinal. Did they think he could pass for Nowitzki and draw double-teams or something? Anyway, the poor Mavs – who I actually am more worried about than the Lakers right now – suffered another setback when Caron Butler hurt is knee in their next game, a loss in Milwaukee. finally, the Spurs completely dismantled the Thunder 101-74 on Saturday night. They held Kevin Durant to 16 points and the Thunder to 33% shooting from the field. Only Serge Ibaka came to play with 14 points, 13 boards, four blocks, and a steal – although he shot only 5-of-13 from the floor himself. Tim Duncan led all scorers with 21 points while Tony Parker had 14 points and 10 dimes.

So there the Spurs sit atop the West – the league in fact – with a 29-4 record. Nearly halfway thru the season I have to say that I think they’re only contending with three teams this year: The Mavericks (25-8), the Celtics (25-7), and maybe Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Friends (26-9). Orlando has an outside shot with their revamped roster, and Lakers can’t be counted out just yet, but if I had to call it now then I’d say get ready for a Spurs-Celtics finals. I just don’t see anyone in the West with the depth or the championship pedigree of the Spurs. Dallas is deep but are not proven winners. The Lakers are winners, but their depth is non-existent – and WTF happened to Ron Artest? Can someone chuck a beer at this clown and get his blood pumping again? As for the East, the Celtics are the clear front-runner so long as they can remain healthy during the playoffs. It seems that they are getting their injuries out of the way early this season (Rondo, Pierce, Garnett, Shaq) so maybe that won’t be an issue. Miami is kind of a question mark. They are figuring out how to win, but can they do it in a 7-game series against a quality team? I say no. And they have to remain healthy too. Losing Haslem hurt them a lot and their interior defense was weak to begin with. Can LeBron and Wade win them four games in a series on their own? Probably not.

Next up to bat are the New York Knicks, who are actually one of my favorite teams. Yes, I grew up loving the Knicks – partially cuz I was a kid who was happy to sport some Ewing sneakers, I hated Michael Jordan and all of his zombie-like worshippers, and gravitated to the scrappiness of players like Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley, and John Starks. Chris Childs punching Kobe also helped. Having said all that, the Knicks stand no chance. The Spurs are just better in every way, and the Knicks will be without Danilo Gallinari who is expected to miss the next 2-3 weeks with a sprained knee. So with that, I expect the Spurs to notch their 5th win in row tomorrow night.

It’s been a weird month and a half to say the least. Being unable to post about the Spurs going 23-3 has been a little disappointing, but I can’t be too upset – I meant they’re 23-3! Plus they’re on (another) 8-game winning streak. About 1/3 through the season and the Spurs have the best record, and they are doing it with basically the same team from last year. RJ adapted in a big way, Manu is playing like an MVP, Duncan is rolling along as usual, and even Parker has been decent in spite of the impending divorce. (The divorce sucks by the way… it’s always nice to see Eva in the stands if only cuz it keeps the camera from showing us random people who look like they aren’t sure how to cheer or if they even want to be at the game. Plus she looks better than a dude wearing a Duncan jersey.) Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair – the two players who were supposed to make a significant impact this year – haven’t really done anything special to be honest. I’m not worried though. They play their roles and that’s what matters now.

Around the League
The Celtics and Mavs actually look pretty strong this year and Miami is in the midst of a 12 game winning streak as well. I still don’t think the Miami Dwyane Wades can compete with the Celtics in the playoffs tho. Also, Orlando just beefed up big time with the acquisitions of Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. They also brought back Hedo Turkoglu who I contend they never should have let walk after their NBA Finals appearance. If Miami doesn’t make a power move soon to shore up their interior defense then they will not have a chance in May.

There are only three games tonight, and none of them Spurs games, but I just feel like commenting and making predictions.

Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Friends vs Boston Celtics
This is the most eagerly anticipated game of the year and I hope Boston slaps these cats silly.
Prediction: Boston wins 95-87

LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets
The Lake Show begins their quest for another ‘ship. Yao Ming returns. All of the Kobe fanatics and all of China will be watching this game.
Prediction: Lakers win 110-98

Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trailblazers
The game no one will be watching. Who will step up in place of Amare? This might actually be the closest game, who knows? And maybe if the Lakers blow out the Rockets more people will switch over to watch this one.
Prediction: Phoenix wins 112-109

Well, now that at least some of the dust has settled, I figure I may as well weigh in on the LeBron James fiasco/shenanigans/debacle/whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call-it. We all know the basics: LeBron had the opportunity to sign for more money with Cleveland, his hometown, and the only team he has ever played for, but decided to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami to form a super team henceforth know on this blog as Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Friends. As he put it, he is taking his ego.. err talents to South Beach. Here’s my take on the madness leading up to LeBron’s scurrying away from Cleveland, and the ensuing chaos.

The Decision
This was where LeBron went horribly wrong. I don’t particularly agree with the decision itself because it seems to me that it would be beneath him as one of the potentially greatest players ever to go hitch his wagon to Dwyane Wade’s.  Wade already has a ring anyway, and no matter how many they win together, Wade will always have that one more. But I can ignore all that, or at least I could if that was all there was to ignore. I get that he wanted to play with his buddies and try and win some easy rings and all that, but this was like taking your girlfriend on Jerry Springer to tell her you were sleeping with her sister, mother, and aunt and expected her to chill out and just remember the good times, even be grateful that you were with her for as long as you were. Who wants to be embarrassed and dumped in public by an attention whore? I don’t blame the people of Cleveland for hating this guy’s guts now. I won’t get into the allegations that he mailed in some playoff games over the last couple of years – at least not yet – but I find it strange that he never made it back to the NBA Finals even though his team continued to get better and better. We all knew there was no way he could leave Cleveland if they won it all, so maybe winning it all hasn’t exactly been as high a priority the last couple of seasons as getting out of Ohio and teaming up with Wade and Bosh…. or his team just choked, he had a wack coach, and his elbow was bothering him. I suppose that either is plausible.

LeBron vs. Kobe vs. Jordan
It became apparent during the NBA Finals that Kobe “6-for-24″ Bryant was nowhere near Jordan’s level. Actually, it was apparent to most of us for some time, but that pretty much sealed the deal. We always had high hopes for LeBron though. He has a tremendous skill set that has been compared to Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. However, after his flame-out in this year’s playoffs, Bill Simmons went on to write a brilliant piece on LeBron that summed up what we all had tried to ignore for too long. LeBron is not the second coming of Jordan, he is better compared to Dr J when you really look at it. As Simmons wrote:

Doc’s Philly teams kept self-combusting at the worst possible times. The ’77 Sixers took a 2-0 lead in the Finals, then blew four straight. They lost do-or-die playoff games by two points (1978) and three points (1979). In 1980, everyone remembers Magic (only a rookie) playing five positions, notching a 42-15-7 and improbably winning Los Angeles the title; nobody ever wonders why Philly, playing at home against a team missing the 1980 MVP (Kareem), laid such an unforgivable egg. In 1981, the Sixers blew a 3-1 series lead to Boston in the Eastern Conference finals, losing the last three games by five points total. (And by the way, they led in the final minute of all three games.) By the time Philly blew the 1982 Finals, the consensus on Doc was this: phenomenal player, loved by all, an ambassador for the game, one of the best ever … doesn’t quite have it.

Then Moses showed up, Philly finally won a title, and people everywhere forgot they had felt that way.

Back to LeBron: I think we know what we have. He’s Doc 2.0 with a little Magic and a healthy dose of Bo sprinkled in.

In all honesty, this is the biggest realization we all got from this whole ordeal. LeBron is not who thought he was, what we thought he could be, or what we wanted him to be. He just isn’t. He won’t be the legend we thought he could be, the savior of Cleveland Sports that we hoped he would be, or the competitor he probably ought to be. Jordan won his first championship in his seventh season, in LeBron’s seventh season he got booted out of the playoffs even though he was on the winningest team of the past two seasons and had a better team than the one he made it to the Finals with a few years earlier. Then he said F it and bounced. When it comes to sports hate, Kobe Bryant as at the top of my list. I can’t stand the guy, but right now I like Kobe more than LeBron because at least Kobe is more of a competitor. It doesn’t matter if you want to be or not, if you are among the best in the league you are going to be in Jordan’s shadow. Kobe is trying like hell to get out from under that shadow, and I can at least respect that. LeBron seems comfortable there, as long as he is a “global icon”… whatever the #!$^ that is.

Sour Grapes
Of course, things continued to get creepier when Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, lashed out at LeBron in an open letter that read like a bitter ex-girlfriend trying to do voodoo on her former lover. In the letter, Gilbert called LeBron the “self-declared former King” as if he had nothing to do with pushing the whole “King James”, “We are all witnesses” crap on us for the past few years. He even went on to say that LeBron tanked a few games. This is all the very definition of the phrase “Sour Grapes”. In Aesop’s fable, the Fox couldn’t reach the grapes so he convinced himself they were no good anyway, and that’s exactly what Gilbert is doing. He couldn’t keep “King” LeBron in Cleveland and so LeBron is now a cowardly, narcissistic, quitter. Of course, then for good measure he tries to throw the hex at LeBron like some kind of jilted witchdoctor by saying that LeBron will take the “curse” with him when he leaves Cleveland. Furthermore, if he was so convinced that LeBron was quitting on the team, why fire Mike Brown? The only reason that makes sense is that he was trying to appease a player he despised in order to keep him around, but it’s not like LeBron was helping find a new coach. But look, I get it. Dan Gilbert is the owner of the team and the fans who pay to see that team are pissed off and heartbroken that their guy just left. He has a responsibility to those fans to empathize with them, and a responsibility as a business owner to try to keep their business, so he is gonna say what he needs to in order to fire them up and get them to keep coming to games. I just believe he could have done it without coming off like such an idiot.

The KG Rule
There’s one real reason I partially don’t fault LeBron for leaving Cleveland, and that reason is Kevin Garnett. KG toiled away in mediocrity for years in Minnesota, only sniffing the Finals once. He was loyal to a fault and to the point that most basketball fans wanted him to get traded to a half-way decent team. We couldn’t bare to watch him wither away without a championship, or at least playing in the Finals once. Even Ewing, Barkley and Malone got to experience the NBA Finals, and KG was at least on their level. I feel like if a potentially great player has spent more than five years on a crappy team, then we should let him walk away without judgement and without branding him a cowardly, disloyal, selfish jerk. I will call this “The KG Rule”. When he was traded to Boston and won the whole thing in his first season as a Celtic, we were all happy for him and even had to wonder how many more he could have won and how much different his legacy could have been if he had played on a legit contender his whole career, or at least a few years sooner. Who can blame LeBron for not wanting to toil away in Cleveland to the point that people are begging him to request a trade? The only snag here is that LeBron’s ceiling is higher than KG’s, and he hasn’t been on mediocre teams his whole career. So while I want to apply The KG Rule to him, I can’t really do it in good conscience… the shoe just doesn’t quite fit.

Wade’s Team
Now LeBron is in Miami, teamed up with another alpha-dog who already has a championship to speak of. Who do you think is the leader here? The guy who has already been with the team for seven seasons and won a title or the new guy who is still chasing one? This is Wade’s team by all accounts, no matter how anyone sugar-coats it, and now LeBron can play second banana to Wade and not take all the criticism when they lose. The problem here is that he won’t even get half the love when they win. Bosh will get some credit as the only one of the three who plays in the paint, and Wade is undeniably the leader here, so LeBron is gonna have to get used to being Prince James.

Cleveland Now
So where does this leave Cleveland? They still have capable players in Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison. They have a potentially solid player JJ Hickson waiting in the wings for more playing time. They recently traded for point guard Ramon Sessions and dumped the problematic Delonte West in the process. Plus they received a gang of draft picks when LeBron decided to split. They have a decent future ahead of them. They are obviously not an elite team by any means, but not all is lost. They will still have to fight for a playoff spot, but I think they could still make it to the post-season. I certainly hope so, and who wouldn’t watch a Cleveland-Miami first round series and secretly(?) root for the Cavaliers?

Balance of Power
Plenty of fans, writers, and other random observers have already given Miami the trophy for the next few years. I am not one of them. The Lakers blew it against Detroit a few years back with Kobe, Shaq, Malone, and Payton after everyone handed it to them. Injuries can strike anyone at any time – just ask Dirk, Ginobili, Garnett, and a slew of others who missed crucial playoff games in the past. But more than those things, other teams are getting better as well. The Lakers signed Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, an upgrade at point guard over Jordan Farmar, and are still the reigning champs. And don’t think that Kobe isn’t working out as you are reading this so that he can erase that 6-for-24 performance as well as Miami’s title aspirations. The Mavericks have choked in the playoffs the last few years, but have also reloaded with Tyson Chandler and Dominique Jones, and it would be sweet for them to get back at Miami. The Spurs added Spanish League MVP Tiago Splitter along with draft pick James Anderson. And that’s just the West. What about Orlando who is still a threat, and Chicago who just added Boozer? Any of these teams could beat Miami next season and after, and personally, I hope they all do.

To sum things up, I don’t think LeBron was wrong to leave Cleveland. I think he was stupid to leave. Five championships in Miami won’t mean as much for his “brand” as one in Cleveland would. And there is no guarantee he will win any at this point. He jumped ship but it was the way he did it, by basically taking a crap on his former team and city on live TV, that made it so reprehensible. The sad thing is that despite his childish, selfish, easy-way-out attitude, he is likely to win a championship or two, maybe more if he’s lucky. But I won’t be rooting for him.

Well today is the day. LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics.. again. Call me crazy, but I am going to go out on a limb and make predictions one more time this season. I nailed the first round, and most of the Western Conference. However, my underestimation of the Boston Celtics pretty much ruined my bracket. I say no more! This time I am going to call it and get it right, so here goes.

Backcourt:
Kobe Bryant is among the best players in the NBA ever, and Ray Allen is among the best shooters in the NBA ever. They seem to share a mutual dislike for eachother dating back to Ray Allen’s days in Seattle, if not further. Kobe will be forced to run around and defend him all series or try to shut down Rajon Rondo instead. Rondo is making a case for himself being considered the best point guard in the league. The only problem is that he is banged up and the Celtics need him to run the show or they will be in trouble. They got a lift from Nate Robinson in Game 6 against Orlando, but that can’t be expected to work all series against LA. Derek Fisher is the weakest link here for either team, but that isn’t saying much as he is not a very mistake prone player and has a knack for hitting a timely shot or two in crunch time.

Frontcourt:
Lamar Odom and Ron Artest will be bothersome to say the least. Paul Pierce had his way with the Lakers pre-Ariza/Artest era, but it’s a different situation now. If Pierce can get going at all in this series it will help to keep Artest less active on offense, but the jury is out on how effective either can be against each other. KG has obviously lost a step since the Celtics won in 2008, but he has learned to adjust quite well. I’m sure it helps when you have a decent supporting cast around you. The question is how they will contain Pau Gasol. Presumably, Kendrick Perkins will do the honors of guarding Gasol most of the time, and that would be fine but there is one worrisome factor here. Perkins is one tech short of a one game suspension. Can he keep under control enough to not get T’d up or ejected? Then there’s Bynum who is still having problems with his knee. How effective can he be? I’m guessing not as effective as Rasheed Wallace - and that’s not saying much.

Bench:
Both teams have decent benches that can give them a boost when needed. Odom may start with Bynum having issues with the knee, but the Lakers also have Farmar, Shannon Brown, and Adam Morrison (just kidding). The Celtics can lean on Tony Allen sometimes (of course that could mean a timely five points or untimely five turnovers), and Nate Robinson in the backcourt, with Rasheed and Glen Davis in the frontcourt.

Coach:
Then there’s the Phil Jackson factor. Phil is a far better coach than Rivers, but Doc has surprised me lately. He is doing all the right things and navigated the Eastern Conference with relative ease.

In the end, I think the Celtics have the edge. They beat Orlando and Cleveland without home court so I don’t see why they couldn’t beat LA in a series format that arguably favors the road team. My prediction: Celtics in 6

Here’s an interesting article about why the Spurs are better off with RJ than their original goal of Vince Carter. From retaining the draft rights to Tiago Splitter, the salaries, and Vince’s epic choke at the free throw line this past week, it looks like the Spurs got the better deal with Jefferson. Honestly, that’s not saying a lot about RJ so much as it’s an indictment of Vince Carter’s overall uselessness.

In other news, it appears that Spurs assistant coach, Mike Budenholzer, is one of the candidates on the Cavaliers wish-list to fill their recent head coach vacancy. Mike Brown was fired earlier this week after being thoroughly out-coached by Doc Rivers. Actually, I think Brown out-coached himself more than anything with silly lineups that failed to address their matchup issues with Boston. Either way, Budenholzer is a worthy candidate, and while I don’t like to see competent people leave the Spurs, I don’t want to see them get held back either. I think it comes down to how much the Spurs want to keep him for when Popovich decides to step down.

Tonight Boston will have the chance to close out their series against the Magic in Orlando. I think the Magic threw their best punch and it was barely enough. They can’t be riding too high after that victory and the Celtics will most likely finish them off. Phoenix also won last night and evened their series with the Lakers. They’ll head back to LA for game five and hopefully be able to keep that zone defense working.

First off, here are the Spurs.com top 10 highlights of the season. Some good stuff for any NBA fan, not to mention Spurs fans.

Also, Coach Popovich’s mailbag has a few interesting bits of information in it. He chimes in a little on the Tony Parker trade rumors, DeJuan Blair’s shooting, and Tiago Splitter.

Now as for the Conference Finals, well I say it’s about time these games weren’t grossly one-sided. Orlando finally showed a pulse last night winning in OT…  in Boston no less. I wouldn’t be surprised if they can pull out one more and send this series back to Boston again. Of course, I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Celtics went to Orlando and smashed the Magic by 30 points. It’s kind of a weird place we’re in with expectations right now.

Phoenix also showed a little heart against LA. The difference here is that the Suns haven’t lost any home games and didn’t take four games to show up. I still hold out hope for Phoenix even though I know they are out-matched. Andrew Bynum’s knee issues certainly don’t hurt Phoenix’s cause right now.

In other news, LeBron is still being expected to go to pretty much any team in the NBA. It seems like everyone has a case for why he would go to one team or another. I personally think it comes down to Cleveland, New York, Chicago, and Miami – in that order. Dallas and the Clippers will try and keep hope alive but I just don’t see it.