Spurs of the Moment

In the span of 24 hours, the Spurs went from beating an elite Eastern team in Boston in a blowout, to losing to the lowliest team in the league in New Jersey. I like to blame Keith Bogans, but when you lose to the freaking Nets there’s plenty of blame to go around.

The Boston Blowout: (Spurs over Celtics: 94-73)
Let’s go over the Boston game first… then maybe I will run out of steam and not have to rip the Spurs so much for losing last night. The Spurs handed the Celtics a 21-point loss on Sunday, their worst home loss of the season. San Antonio outscored Boston 33-17 in the 3rd and that was all she wrote. Amazingly, the Spurs had 16 turnovers to only 10 for the Celtics, but a rebounding edge of 48-37 (14-9 offensive) helped the Spurs take command of this game. Also, the Celtics flat out couldn’t shoot, going 37% in the game including 1-of-14 from downtown.

Manu Ginobili was brilliant as usual, dropping 28 points along with seven dimes, three boards, and a steal. He was the high-scorer of the game and played 36 minutes – in a blowout -we’ll get back to those minutes. Tim Duncan was kind of pedestrian in the box score with only eight points and nine rebounds, but he only had to play about 27 minutes. Richard Jefferson had one of his best nights with his first double-double in forever. He finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists. He shot 6-of-11 from the field and played only about 29 minutes. March has been kind to RJ and the glass is starting to look half-full with him in a Spurs uniform. George Hill also finished in double-figures with 15 points, three boards, three assists, and three steals.

For the Celtics, KG had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, and Pierce led Boston with 18 points. Then there was Michael Finley. You remember him, right? He’s the old guy who lost his mojo then decided he was worthy of more minutes on a contender or something and requested to be released from the team about a month or so back. Well, he played 13 minutes, went 0-of-2 from the field and committed two fouls. Oh, and he had one rebound. Wow, how could we have let this guy go?

The New Jersey Debacle: (Nets over Spurs: 90-84)
Then, just when it seemed the Spurs were a team to be reckoned with, it all came crashing back down. Manu Ginobili, who played 36 minutes the night before, had to sit out this game with back spasms. When I first heard about him sitting out, I figured it was more precautionary than anything – and it probably was. Afterall, if there is a team to rest players against, it should be the Nets. Well, the Spurs were already down Parker, so sitting Ginobili meant there was no real playmaker in the lineup. The Spurs also lost Roger Mason in the first half to a sprained finger. He played only nine minutes, but was actually having a pretty good game when he was hurt. He finished with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting, making his only three-point attempt, and dishing out two assists. The Spurs still controlled the game until halfway through the 4th quarter, though. Then the Spurs fell victim to miscommunication and carelessness. The Spurs had 16 turnovers for the second straight game, while the Nets had only four. That pretty much neutralized the 53-43 rebounding edge the Spurs had, as well as the fact that New Jersey shot only 37.6% in the game. They ended up with three more shot attempts and four more free-throw attempts – speaking of which, the Spurs only shot 11-of-20 from the stripe compared to New Jersey’s 21-of-24. It all came down to the Nets wanting it more and taking this game more seriously. The NJ players stepped up and played with some pride while the Spurs simply went through the motions and got smashed in the mouth for it.

George Hill led all the Spurs with 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Tim Duncan had a double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. He also had four turnovers though – see “4th quarter miscommunication”. Richard Jefferson had a nice game with 16 points, five rebounds, a team-leading five assists, and one block. Matt Bonner finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and one steal. DeJuan Blair also had a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and one assist.

That brings us to Keith Bogans. When the two best backcourt players on the team are sitting out, this is the time to step up your game and carry some of the load. Instead of doing that, Bogans started the game, played 19 minutes, and finished with this stat line: One point, one rebound, three fouls, 0-of-2 from the field, 1-of-4 from the free throw line. Are you kidding me? Can someone check this guy for a pulse? A Heart? A Jump Shot? Something… please? That is ridiculous. I am not saying that Bogans lost the game single-handedly, but I am saying he should be forced to earn minutes behind Malik Hairston and not the other way around. Hairston, by the way, finished with four points on 2-of-4 shooting, and five rebounds in 26 minutes. No, he is not “the answer”, but it sure as hell isn’t Bogans. I just hope Popovich has seen enough so that we don’t have to endure KB in the playoffs.

By the way, I am also growing tired of Antonio McDyess’s so-so games since he went back into the starting lineup. It’s not a huge issue when the Spurs are winning, but I don’t know how much more I can watch him play 20 minutes or so and not break double-digits in scoring or rebounds. He’s had exactly two double-doubles this year, one in November and one earlier in March (against the Knicks). He has only grabbed double-digit rebounds one other time this month and hasn’t scored in double-figures at all outside of that Knicks game. This is not a matter of minutes, or playing Blair over him – Dice just needs to play better, period.

Ginobili To Test Free Agency
From the San Antonio Express-News, Ginobili is ready to test the free agent market this summer. If we lose him this summer then it will go down as strike two for the Spurs management (strike one being the Luis Scola misfire).

“I know I’m going to get a job,” Ginobili said Monday before sitting out the Spurs’ 90-84 loss at New Jersey with back spasms. “It doesn’t matter where or how. I’m not going to be unemployed.”

Spurs Sign Gee … Huh? Who?
This is also from the San Antonio Express-News:

The Spurs signed forward Alonzo Gee for the remainder of the season, bringing their roster to the NBA’s maximum 15.

Gee, a 6-foot-6 rookie from Alabama, became available after Washington declined to pick him up for the rest of the year after he completed the second of two 10-day contracts Sunday.

The Spurs sweetened their offer to Gee, who played for the team’s summer league entry in Las Vegas and spent most of the season with its Development League affiliate in Austin, by including a make-good offer for next season that would bring him to training camp.

Since Gee joins the roster after March 1, he will be ineligible for the playoffs.

The last time the Spurs played the Cavs, Manu Ginobili scored 38 points in a losing effort. This time he only scored 30 points, but the Spurs managed to notch another one of those elusive victories over a quality team in a 102-97 win. Read more »

The Spurs beat the Miami Heat last night 88-76. The game ended up being a lot close than it should have considering that the Spurs had a 24-point lead in the first half. The Spurs outscored Miami 29-14 in the first quarter, but the Heat tried to make a little run late in the game and even outscored the Spurs by six points in the second half. In the end, the early damage was too much, Ginobili was too much, and the Heat not being able to hit shots was too much.

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The Spurs have won seven of their last eight games and are on a three game winning streak again after that debacle against Cleveland. OK, so they only played the Clippers, T-Wolves, and Knicks, but as the Knicks showed our North Texas Nemesis, if you don’t come to play, there are no easy wins in this league – not even against the cellar dwellers.

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The Spurs beat the Knicks last night 97-87 in a game that was a little too close for a little too long. All of the Spurs starters scored in double figures while no one off the bench scored more than six. We got a grand total of 16 points out of our bench last night. Al Harrington had 15 points alone off New York’s bench, and that my friends, is why we couldn’t pull away for most of the night. Not that New York was exceptional, but neither were the Spurs.

Manu Ginobili led all scorers with 28 points to go along with five rebounds, six assists, and a steal. The man is possessed, I tell you. In his two recent starts he is averaging 33 points, 6.5 rebounds, five assists, and 1.5 steals. He is shooting 22-of-41 from the field (53.7%), including 9-of-17 from downtown (52.9%), and is 13-of-15 from the charity stripe (86.7%). I know that Pop has been trying to keep Manu healthy this season by limiting his minutes, but when Parker returns he should really consider leaving Ginobili in the starting lineup and taking out Bogans. It’s nice to have Manu’s energy coming off the bench, but it’s also nice to not play from behind or struggle to put bad teams away early, especially when Duncan and Parker could get more rest if games didn’t stay close for 48 minutes.  Come playoff time, I feel that Pop really needs to roll with the Duncan, Blair, Ginobili, Hill, Parker starting lineup. That means that he is also going to have to find out which 3-5 players he is going to lean on to carry the bench scoring for the playoffs. I think RJ, McDyess, Mason, Bogans, and Bonner are it at the moment (in that order), but Hairston and Jackson should be seeing some significant minutes right now to see if one of them can do the things Mason is not doing right now – which basically means score.

Speaking of Mason, he had another terrible night going 0-of-3 from the field. He only played 15 minutes, and he did grab three rebounds to go with three dimes and a steal, so he wasn’t all bad. Still, he is in there for his scoring and he needs to find his shot and stop losing track of it. Keith Bogans had a bounce back game with 13 points, three rebounds, and one assist. He seems to do that against crap teams tho, so I am not a believer yet.

Malik Hairston played 12 minutes and had four points, three rebounds, and one block. Two of those points came on a nice dunk that you can check out in the highlights. Antonio McDyess started at center and had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Tim Duncan had 18 points and nine boards, while George Hill had 12 points, four assists, and three rebounds.

Richard Jefferson had another bad scoring night, but he is still crashing the boards so I won’t berate him. He had seven rebounds, one steal, and two blocks. One of those blocks was just vicious and is also shown in the highlights. David Lee led New York with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

On another note, College Basketball fans should check out the FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS BRACKET CHALLENGE which has some huge cash prizes and even an autographed LeBron James jersey. Check it out, read the rules, sign-up, and pick well.

The Spurs lost 97-95 last night to the Shaq-less and LeBron-less Cavaliers who also played with only 1/2 of Antawn Jamison. How did it come to this? Well, I’m glad you asked. Allow me to break it down box-score-commentary style.

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The Good News: The Spurs have won four straight games, are 36-24 (12 games over .500), and are in 7th place in the West still – 5.5 games ahead of Houston (9th) and Memphis (10th).
The Bad News: Tony Parker is out for the next six weeks with a broken hand.

That’s the short and sweet version of events, but I feel compelled to elaborate. Let’s start with the wins.

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The Spurs won the second game of a back-to-back, played defense, and shot 50.6% from the field. On the one hand, I’m very happy with the win. On the other hand, I shouldn’t be so shocked when they play well – especially against a team that is 9th in the West and is missing their best player. Then again, screw it, I am gonna enjoy the win since it’s all the Spurs basketball we are gonna get until Friday when they play the Hornets again.

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It looks as though Coach Popovich’s love affair with Michael Finley will be coming to an end today. Read more »

The Spurs beat the Thunder last night 95-87 with Manu Ginobili leading the way. Ginobili finished with a game high of 26 points along with nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a re-freaking-diculous block. With Kevin Durant about to dunk on a fast break for a one point lead, Ginobili came up huge by stuffing him at the rim. Even he thought he was going to get dunked on instead but, thankfully, fear of being posterized did not factor into his decision making process.  Read more »