Spurs of the Moment

Manu Ginobili is at it again. Bleeding from a nasal fracture from a Dirk elbow in the third quarter, Manu bandaged that sucker up and scored another 11 points in the 4th quarter to keep the Mavs at bay in a 94-90 win. Dallas went on a little run to take a nine point lead late in the game, but it wasn’t enough. Ginobili finished with 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and one block. He is now averaging 21.3 points in this series. He did much of his damage last night by getting to the free throw line where he was 7-of-8. The Spurs shot 20-of-26 from the line in this game while the Mavs went 14-of-15.

George Hill decided to finally join the party last night. He had 17 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block. Nice to see you, George. The Spurs needed him to step up since RJ faded into the background again and Tony Parker is playing well enough as a reserve that Popovich probably would like to keep that going. RJ finished with six points, three rebounds, and three assists. Parker finished with 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. He is averaging 19 points in the series.

Tim Duncan had 25 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one block. He didn’t really crash the boards, but then again, no one did. There were no double-doubles in this game from either team. The main thing for Duncan is he had another five turnovers. He had six in Game 1, but none in Game 2. He is averaging 25.7 points in this series.

The rebounding edge belonged to no one as both teams were even in that department. Turnovers were about the same as well. However, the Spurs shot 11 more free throws than Dallas. Of course, they also missed every three-point attempt while Dallas went 8-of-20 from downtown. In the end, it was just slightly better shooting that made the difference as the Spurs shot 48.7% from the field compared to 44.7% for Dallas.

Dirk was the best player for the Mavs, as usual, with 35 points, seven rebounds, three asssits, two steals, and one block. Also, Jason Terry is doing his thing off the bench still. He finished with 17 points and was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Dampier/Haywood tandem was as pitiful as ever finishing with a combined four points, eight rebounds, one steal, one turnover, and seven fouls. Wow, they can’t even manage a double-double  between them – and in a combined 45 minutes? Even the Spurs’ DeJuan Blair had two points, five rebounds, one assist and no turnovers last night, and he only played about 4 minutes. Caron Butler and Shawn Marion have been non-factors in the past two games, well Marion has been a non-factor in all three. Granted Rick Carlisle opted to go with the hot-shooting J.J. Barea (14 points) for much of Game 3 instead of Butler, the fact of the matter is Butler needs to show up for the Mavs to have any chance. Shawn Marion is not any better and hasn’t reached double digits in scoring or rebounding once in this series. The Mavericks picked these two guys up specifically for this moment and neither is worth a flip right now. The Mavs have no chance of winning it all this year even if they miraculously make it past the Spurs. Frankenhead will probably spend another few million to bring in another fringe star, former All-Star, or overrated has-been this summer and everyone will get all excited until this time next year when the Mavs start falling apart yet again. Tsk. Tsk.

Check out the Game Highlights.

The Spurs evened their first round series with the Mavs at 1-1 with a convincing 102-88 victory. The Spurs never trailed in the game after jumping out to a 9-0 lead to set things off. Dirk, who had a monster game on Sunday, was off for the most of the night. Mavs fans should have known he wouldn’t be as efficient in game 2, but they are a delusional bunch.

Jefferson Steps Up
RJ bounced back in a big way with 17 first half points. He finished with 19 points and was aggressive all night which was exactly what we needed. He also had seven boards, one assist, and a steal. He needs to bring it every night like this and he did just that against the Mavs in three of their meetings during the season, not to mention the nice run he had while Ginobili was running wild and securing his contract extension. The Mavs now have to find a way to address him and that means things are going to open up for someone else a little bit… hopefully George Hill can get out of the doghouse in Game 3.

Tim Duncan is Still the Man
Duncan went off for 25 points and 17 rebounds and carried the Spurs in the second half, especially when he scored several straight buckets as the Mavs were trying desperately to rally late in the game. Haywood, Dirk, Dampier… no one could really stop him as he shot 11-of-19 from the floor.

Other Spurs Stat Lines
Manu Ginobili: 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals – Another great game from the rejuvenated Ginobili. Aside from the three turnovers, he was great.
Tony Parker: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists – Tony is still coming off the bench, but unless George Hill gets his act together, that will soon be over – hell it might be over already.

Hill had seven points, three boards, one assist, and two steals in 31 minutes – not quite what we’re looking for.
McDyess was a little better with nine boards and four points.
Bonner played 20 minutes off the bench and had eight points.
DeJuan Blair, Roger Mason and Garrett Temple barely played.
Keith Bogans never saw the court – thank goodness.

Game Stats
The Spurs had the rebounding edge 51-42
The Spurs had only nine turnovers in this game – they had nearly twice as many in Game 1
The Spurs shot 48% to only 37% for Dallas
The free-throw discrepancy of Game 1 was non-existent in this game

Game 3
The Mavs will surely be looking for stronger efforts from Marion and the Dampier/Haywood combo – especially on defense. The Spurs are shooting very efficiently in this series so far and the Dallas defense has yet to do anything about it. This will be their undoing. Mwahahahaha…

You know how all season long I have been harping on the way the Spurs don’t take care of the ball? You know how I said that the Spurs had to play near mistake-free basketball in order to win this series? Well, last night’s Game 1 pretty much summed it up better than I ever could. A few things went right, but a few more things went wrong for the Spurs. It’s not time to lose hope though. We knew this would be a longer series – no matter who eventually wins. Hopefully the Spurs can bounce back from this loss with a better game plan and better execution, and steal Game 2 in Dallas. Let’s review…

What Went Right
-Points in the Paint: The Spurs had a 50-34 edge here
-FG%: The Spurs shot 50% to the Mavs 47.3%
-FT%: The Spurs shot 85.7% to the Mavs 73.5%
-3PT%: The Spurs shot 36.4% to the Mavs 35.7%
-Manu Ginobili: 26 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals
-Tim Duncan: 27 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists (although no blocks)
-Tony Parker: 18 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, and 2 steals off the bench

What Went Wrong
-Turnovers: 17 Total – Ginobili had five and Duncan had six.
-Rebounding: Mavs won this battle 45-37 – I am surprised DeJuan Blair only played eight minutes. He was not in foul trouble. Didn’t do anything too stupid, and had four points (2-of-2 shooting), two rebounds, one assist, and one block. I think we could have used more of this type of efficiency.
-Free Throws: The Mavs shot 34 free throws compared to only 14 for the Spurs – I actually counted on this sort of discrepancy when I saw that Bennett Salvatore was one of the officials – when he’s around, always bet on the home team shooting a gang of free throws. Just ask the Mavs about Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Miami a few years ago.
-Dirk Nowitzki: 36 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block – As soon as I saw Matt Bonner enter the game in the 3rd quarter with the score tied I knew trouble was on the horizon. The Mavericks immediately scored six unanswered points with Dirk capping off the mini-run with a shot over Bonner’s outstretched hand. It does no good to stick your hand up as if you are contesting Dirk’s shot if your feet are glued to the ground. That’s how Bonner plays defense – flat-footed, stuck to the ground, waving his hands in front of his defender. That is not going to stop a lot of players, especially Dirk.
-George Hill:  Hill was 0-for-2 from the field with zero points, two fouls, two turnovers, and three rebounds.
-Richard Jefferson: Jefferson wasn’t that bad, he just wasn’t that good. He had only four points, but he did manage to grab seven rebounds, and he played defense better than Bonner or Bogans.
-Keith Bogans: I thought this guy was supposed to be a defensive player…? He did absolutely nothing but watch Caron Butler make shots over his head.
-Roger Mason: 0-for-2, one assist, four fouls – ’nuff said.

What Needs to Happen
-George Hill needs to show up. I don’t wanna hear about his ankle. I wanna see him scoring and making some stops late in the game.
-Richard Jefferson needs to be more assertive. The rebounding is great, but he needs to attack the basket and help balance out the free-throw attempts.
-Take care of the #$!% ball! Can’t say enough about this. There is no reason for our two best players to combine for 11 turnovers in the game. None.
-Unleash The Beast! Popovich needs to quit punking out and let DeJuan Blair loose. The Spurs can out-rebound the Mavs and rough them up a little in the process, but we need someone who isn’t afraid to be physical and fight for loose balls – that’s Blair.

The rivalry continues tonight and I’ve already let it be known that I expect the Spurs to win in six games. I have to agree with Kenny Smith in this video when he says it wouldn’t really be an “upset” so to speak, since we are talking about a couple of 50 win teams that might not even be facing eachother if the regular season went a week longer.

Kenny and I aren’t the only ones who believe the Spurs could win this series. ESPN has 3 of 10 analysts picking the Spurs (Abbot, Hollinger and Thorpe). I’m not enthused about only getting 30% support from their “experts” but Dallas has been a popular pick since the All-Star Break trade.

In J.A. Adande’s playoff preview, he lists the Spurs as the “Scariest Team”:

Put it this way: They even had the Suns wondering if they might be better off losing their final game of the regular season to avoid any possibility of facing the Spurs in a potential 3-6 matchup. After all, these are the Spurs that sent the Suns home in the 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008 playoffs.

Record since Dec. 15: 38-20.

Number of playoff games: Tim Duncan, 160; Tony Parker, 122; Manu Ginobili, 107; and Richard Jefferson, 78.

And now, with Ginobili’s extension locked up, the Spurs enter the playoffs distraction-free. Not that they’ve traditionally been an easily distracted group. The last time they had issues looming, with David Robinson’s pending retirement and the possibility of Jason Kidd replacing Tony Parker at point guard, the Spurs won a championship.

Interesting. The Spurs did what they always seem to do, start off slow then click late in the season. They clicked waaay late this season and are still overcoming an injury to George Hill, but beyond that are ready to go. George Hill is a better defender than Parker and will be needed big time to help slow down the Dallas point guards.

The Mavs have some ferocious rebounders in Haywood and Marion, but Tim Duncan, DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess should be able to battle them to a draw if not out-rebound them. The problem is that the Mavs have the best rebouding point guard in Jason Kidd. A problem for the Mavs is that DeJuan Blair is the most ferocious rebounder on either team, and Richard Jefferson has been improving on the glass as well. It will be interesting to see how the battle of the boards plays out.

Manu Ginobili will be the guy the Mavs have to focus on the most. He can and will wreak havoc on the Dallas defense by slashing to the rim, popping threes, dishing to teammates, creating fast-breaks, etc. However, the Spurs will have their hands full with Dirk trying to do much of the same. He isn’t as good a play-maker as Ginobili is, but he doesn’t need to be with Kidd running the show.

One of the biggest keys to this series for the Spurs is going to be turnovers. The Spurs simply have to take care of the ball and play near mistake-free basketball for 48 minutes. Turnovers have been an issue all year and especially with Tony Parker. We need him to make better decisions and play like his All-Star version in this series.

The Spurs have been getting better and better all season and I still don’t think they are playing their best basketball. What better time to crank it up a notch than right now?

I couldn’t help but goad Chris Stuckey from MavsBall.com into a little smack talk over the first round matchup between the Spurs and Mavs. Here’s our email exchange:

Brian (Spurs of the Moment) vs Chris (MavsBall)

Brian: Chris, I noticed you mentioned that Popovich was being arrogant since he benched Duncan and Ginobili for the season finale. I think it was more a testament to a) not wanting to risk injury to a key player after finally getting everyone healthy again, and b) not wanting to risk facing the Jazz. What do you think?
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Chris: If you say that resting Ginobili and Duncan was in part due to the fact that the Spurs did not want to risk playing the Jazz, you are disrespecting Mavs. I understand not wanting to risk injury, but the Jazz excuse is weak.
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Yeah, Utah is crazy good at home and if the Spurs had to play the Jazz they would be playing that series without the luxury of home court advantage.  That would certainly be a tough task but why would playing the Mavs be an easier?  Who has the best road record of any team in the Western Conference?  That would be the Dallas Mavericks.�
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Let me get this straight.  The Spurs would rather play a team that is great at home and the best on the road than a team that is one game over .500 on the road?  Child, please.
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Brian: Given that the Jazz beat the Spurs all four times this season I am personally more worried about them than those choke artist Mavs, then again, maybe I am crazy (probably) and Popovich could care less. That’s entirely plausible and probably the case. The concern over injury is legit though. After all, Manu missing the playoffs last year sure didn’t hurt the Mavs effort to advance.
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Chris: Sounds to me like Pops is trying to channel his inner-Phil Jackson.  Head games galore.  The media is making this more of a story than it really is and I guarantee you Pops is loving it.  But I do think that Pops wanted the Mavs and that’s exactly what he got.  Be ready.
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Brian: What do you think are keys to this series for the Mavericks?
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Chris: The Mavs can’t let Ginobili beat them.  Manu is by far the best player on that eyesore of a Spurs roster and when healthy he is borderline dominant.  But that’s where Shawn Marion enters the picture.  The Matrix is the best defender in the league…yeah I said it.  Beware.
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Some other keys are bench scoring and the battle of the second scoring options.
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Brian: Which league are we talking about again? I’m just wondering if that’s the same Shawn Marion that let Richard Jefferson drop 29 on the Mavs earlier this year, then have a 13-point and 11-rebound game, and a 15 point game after that? I’ll be the first to admit that RJ took a long time to adjust to the Spurs system, but the Mavs are going to have to account for him cuz he seems to have an easier time against them.
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Bench scoring I think will be a wash. The Mavs have some nice backups in Terry and Beaubois, the Spurs have Blair and Hill. Even Matt Bonner and Roger Mason can be problematic when they come in and start hitting threes right away. The problem for the Mavs is that Blair is a madman on the glass and can grab a ton of offensive boards. Dirk or Marion are likely to get an arm ripped off they try to battle him for a rebound. I gotta admit that Haywood is going to be a nuisance, but I think McDyess and Blair can hold down the fort – not to mention Duncan.
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Chris:  It’s hard to take Matt Bonner seriously when my banker looks more athletic. The dude can shoot but he’s streaky at best. Just another reason to not like the Spurs.
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Is Blair going to get many minutes? He’s a rookie with no playoff experience or ACLs.

Brian: Ahh, the ACLs again. They didn’t stop him from having a 27-point, 23 rebound game in the season finale in Dallas. I don’t expect that in the playoffs, but he is clearly a force on the glass and can give the Mavs problems in the paint.
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What matchup do you think the Spurs should be most worried about?
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Chris: The big German. Honestly, who on the Spurs can guard Dirk Nowitzki?  Still thinking?  Perusing the roster?  Yeah, I can answer that.  No one.  Prepare the double-team.  But just want to let you know, Dirk will throw 10 assists on the Spurs if they double him.
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Brian:  You may have forgotten about this guy named Tim Duncan, but he is a pretty decent Power Forward and has been known to play some good defense. Now if Dirk actually remembers how to take the ball to the hole he might do well, but I don’t see him sticking a ton of those jump shots over Duncan. Never know though, they usually have a pretty good battle, especially when the teams are both at full strength which neither team has really been in any meeting this year. I don’t think Dirk can count on another silly foul from Ginobili to help them squeak into the next round though.

What matchup are you most worried about?
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Chris:  You must be talking about the Mavs currently unknown second round opponent…right?  Nah.  I’m just kidding.  The Mavs should be worried about Ginobili. They can’t sleep on him or his bald spot.
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Brian: I would agree with that. And yes, the bald spot has a dizzying, hypnotic sort of power. We have already seen it work against Dampier, or is he always that useless?
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Chris:  Ask Timmy D if Dampier is useless then get back to me.

It’s your turn.  What matchup are you most worried about?

Brian: You mean besides a classic Duncan vs Dampier battle? Hmm, I would have to agree with you and say Dirk. Like I said, if he settles for jumpers all series then the Mavs are beatable. When he goes to the rack, the rest of the team follows his lead and that’s when they get to be the most dangerous since as soon as teams start clogging the paint it starts raining threes. Duncan’s lateral movement isn’t what it once was, so if Dirk insists on taking him or McDyess off the dribble more often than not then we’re in for some long nights. Heaven forbid Popovich puts Bonner on him.
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Chris:  Let’s get this on the record.  What is your official series prediction?  I have the Mavs taking down the Spurs in six games.  The Mavs are simply a better basketball team.  Don’t be a homer, Brian.

Brian: I say Spurs in six. It will be Miami and Golden State all over again. High expectations and no delivery, but either way it should be another great Texas Shootout.

Thanks, Chris! I know we’re both looking forward to Sunday night’s tipoff and more smack talk next week!

Go Spurs!

The Spurs lost to the Mavericks last night 96-89. After initially saying that he would play everyone, Popovich’s paranoia (and good sense) prevailed as he opted to rest Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili until the playoffs.

“The real bottom line is that I’m paranoid about Timmy and Manu being healthy for the playoffs,” Popovich said. “We’ve had playoffs where Timmy hasn’t played, where Manu hasn’t played, where Timmy’s been half-speed, where Manu’s been half-speed for a variety of reasons. We’re entering this playoff pretty healthy except for George and I didn’t want to screw that up. … I want a healthy team come playoff time and that’s really the bottom line.”

So there you have it. I suspect he played Parker and Hill to get them a little closer to “game shape” since they have been working their way back from injuries. However, Hill only played about five minutes before calling it a night. Tony Parker played 29 minutes and finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting. He only had four assists with three turnovers. A decent night, but he will need a little more time to find his groove I think… and stop with the turnovers already. Roger Mason got a huge chunk of minutes – 37 to be exact – and did nothing with it. He had two points on 1-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, and six assists. Honestly, if his shot was falling he may have had a nicer looking line, but that’s been his problem much of this season – “if his shot was falling”.

All in all it was a pretty forgettable contest that even Dirk said felt like a preseason game. There is one exception though: DeJuan Blair. Blair had another monster night with 27 points and 23 rebounds. He shot 12-of-21 from the floor, grabbed eight offensive boards, and had four assists and three steals. I can hardly wait for him to be a focal point of the offense.

Now we’re in for another classic Texas Shootout between the I-35 rivals and I think the Spurs are in position to upset the Mavs. The Spurs are clicking lately and the Mavs are ..well the Mavs. Historic upsets are their forte, but I’ll get into more preview stuff later. For now, I am just going to be happy we don’t have the Jazz first.

The Washington Wizards, desperate to turn over probably their entire roster after the Agent Negative 80 Million fiasco, completed a seven-player trade with the Dallas Mavericks today. That’s not a big deal until you realize that the Mavericks just got a whole lot better. The Wizards gave up Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson for a package of Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton.

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The Spurs handled business last night and defeated the Grizzlies 104-97 without Tony Parker. There’s still no exact time table for Parker to return from his ankle injury, but the general consensus is “several games”. Luckily, Hill and Mason are manning up in his absence. Six Spurs scored in double figures, and none of them were named Keith Bogans (he was 1-for-5, ech). Tim Duncan led the team with 19 points, nine boards, and seven assists.

“Jefferson surprised by kudos from Popovich”, and quite frankly, I am too. I think RJ is probably onto something when he says, “He was just saying that because Carmelo is coming to town.” Then again, Melo has missed three straight games and it isn’t known if he will play tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Spurs have won two games in a row and are threatening to compete with good teams, so hopefully tomorrow goes well against the Nuggets (12:00 PM CT on ABC). It’s a home game against a playoff caliber opponent. Possibly no Tony Parker and/or Carmelo Anthony. Who knows what will happen? Maybe ABC shows another game entirely… that would suck.

I know it’s a little late, but Tim Duncan narrowly beat out Dirk for the starting Power Forward spot on the All-Star team. Also, a couple of other native Texans – Chris Bosh and Deron Williams – are on their way. On a side note, I think David Lee should have been there instead of Al Horford for the East.

Also, the Spurs waived Marcus Haislip a little over a week ago, but he is now playing in the Greek league.

The Spurs lost to the Mavericks 112-103 after they blew a 10-point 4th quarter lead by getting outscored 42-23 in the final period. Yes, you read that right, 42-23. That’s insane. Not just losing the lead but giving up 42 points in a quarter. The game was wack from the jump though with DeJuan Blair getting whistled for two fouls in the first minute of the game, Pop getting ejected soon after for arguing with the inept refs, and Dirk going into God Mode in the 4th quarter. The Spurs shot well for the most part, hitting 52.6% from the field in the game, and both teams went 7-of-15 from downtown. The Spurs shot one more free throw than the Mavs but made one less. The Mavs out-rebounded the Spurs 39-32 including a 12-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Spurs committed 12 turnovers in the game. The Mavs had 7. But it really all came down to that brutal 4th quarter when Dirk, after missing 13 of his first 16 shots of the game, went bonkers and started hitting everything regardless of what the defense threw at him. So I can’t really blame it on the refs even if Zach Zarba is an idiot and Joey “I Want To Destroy Tim Duncan” Crawford was on hand.

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The Spurs lost to the Mavs in OT last night even after holding them to less than 40% shooting for most of the game. The Spurs played some good defense, but there were still some glaring problems, namely injuries, interior defense, and turnovers. I won’t play the injury card since the Mavs were without Shawn Marion (ankle), Josh Howard (ankle), and Erick Dampier (illness). However, it is worth noting that the Spurs did not have Tony Parker last night, who aggravated his ankle injury against the Thunder. Manu Ginobili started but played only seven minutes before retreating to the locker room with a groin injury. Still, the bigger problems were that, A) the Spurs allowed 46 points in the paint compared to the Mavs allowing only 22, and B) the Spurs turned the ball over 18 times leading to 19 Mavericks points. Meanwhile, the Mavs turned it over only 5 times leading to only 2 Spurs points. Read more »