Spurs of the Moment

I can’t take it anymore. Even with the Fantasy Baseball Playoffs and the fact that football season has finally started and I am once again in an inordinate amount of fantasy football leagues (Eight to be exact – Money, IDPs, Keepers, Expert Leagues… you name it), I am anxious to focus on the upcoming basketball season. Let’s start today with a quick summary of what has happened and is about to happen in Spurs Land.

Last year we started the season with archaic has-beens like Theo Ratliff and Michael Finley, projects like Ian Mahinmi and Malik Hairston, and a deadly three-point shooter in Roger Mason. Oh yeah, and Keith Bogans (blech). None of them are in San Antonio anymore. Ratliff and Finley’s corpses were cast off mid-season, while Roger Mason’s jump shot and hopes for a lucrative off-season deal both died a horrible and unexpected death over an agonizing season of inconsistency.  Mason is now in New York where he will probably have much more opportunity to either find his jumper again or at least jack up tons of errant threes. Mahinmi was not retained and is now the problem of the Dallas Mavericks, and the promising Hairston decided he would rather play in Europe than watch his teammates play in the NBA. Oh, and Keith Bogans was allowed to leave (blech again).

Mid-season acquisitions Alonzo Gee and Garrett Temple are both still around as is Curtis Jerrells who was cut, then brought back later in the year.

The Spurs did mediocre in the draft by picking up James Anderson with the 20th pick and Ryan Richards at #49. I wasn’t a big fan of the picks (I liked Jordan Crawford, Dominique Jones, and maybe even Damion James better), but I am keeping an open mind.

Also added to the mix was Summer League sensation Gary Neal. And of course, the most unheralded major off-season acquisition, Tiago Splitter was finally brought to San Antonio from the Spanish League where he is the reigning MVP.

I’ll do some more analysis of the Spurs newbs in the coming weeks.

The NBA Preseason begins October 3rd, but the Spurs have their first game on October 7th @ Houston. Their first home game is October 9th vs Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Friends. The rest of the Pre-season schedule goes like this:
Oct 12 @ Clippers (in Mexico City)
Oct 14 @ Cleveland (at the U of Pittsburgh)
Oct 16 vs Vitoria (I believe that this is one of the 50 names for Tiago Splitter’s old Spanish League team)
Oct 18 vs Oklahoma City
Oct 21 vs Houston

The season opener is a home game vs the Indiana Pacers on October 27th.

Another guard is leaving San Antonio this summer. Keith Bogans has agreed to a 2-year, $2.5 mil deal with the Chicago Bulls. Bogans had a few solid games, but for the most part he never quite fit in and fell almost completely out of the Spurs rotation during the playoffs. He started 50 games last season, but only averaged 4.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. During the post-season, his playing time dwindled to less than seven minutes per game and he only scored five points total over 10 playoff games. He was supposed to be a defensive specialist, but never really had that kind of impact over the season. I thought last year that Bogans or Hairston would emerge as replacements for Bruce Bowen as defensive stoppers, but neither really did and now both are gone. The Spurs’s Malik Hairston signed to play in Europe. Free-agent Roger Mason agreed to a deal with the New York Knicks last week.

According to the folks over at Project Spurs, Malik Hairston has signed with Euroleague team Montepaschi Siena in Italy. There’s no mention of the Spurs severing ties with Hairston on Spurs.com or mySA (yet), but a quick look at the Montepaschi Siena website shows Hairston listed on their roster.

Apparently there are just too many shooting guards to wade through for some quality playing time now that Gary Neal and James Anderson are in the picture. I can’t say I blame him for going somewhere else to get paid and build his skills against some new competition.

Goodbye, Malik. It’s been real.

There are several players besides the ones listed below who could potentially be drafted by the Spurs, but I have selected the ones that I found the most likely. Personally, I am for Whiteside or Crawford, but I trust the Spurs to get the most bang for their buck with the 20th pick. Here are the players that I consider the top prospects for the Spurs in this year’s draft.

Solomon Alabi 7-1 C Floirda St.
Alibi is already a controversial pick as the debate about whether he is a potential steal or potential bust rages on. He certainly has the height and raw talent to lure any scouts in with his upside, but will he be able to cultivate his game and thrive in the NBA? Air Alamo weighed in on the debate and had this to say:

In our opinion, whoever the Spurs select with the 20th pick will serve as an early indicator of how negotiations with Tiago Splitter are faring this off season. In our latest Mock Draft we have the Spurs taking Solomon Alabi from Florida State. Given Pop’s recent non-committal statements on that topic we’ve gone with what we think is a very intriguing prospect at this stage in the draft.  Alabi has only been playing organized basketball for about 7 years now, but has been pretty fully immersed in the world of USA-style hoops for that entire period of time (unlike say Ian Mahinmi).  Alabi is listed at 7’1” tall. He has been measured with a wingspan of 7’3” and a standing reach of 9’1”.  This length has served him well at the collegiate level but he relies a bit too much on that alone for his success.  He won’t have quite the same advantage at the pro level and his relative light weight (241 lbs) could be a problem.

Larry Sanders 6-10 PF/C VCU
Sanders is widely considered an “athletic freak” – and yes, that’s a compliment. He also is drawing comparisons to Theo Ratliff – the All-Star version, not the one the Spurs traded last season. Courtside with the Spurs chimed in about Larry Sanders and had this to say:

Sanders — a 6-foot-10 power forward/center not to be confused with a character Garry Shandling played on HBO — improved in each of his three college seasons, cresting at 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds as a junior. His long arms and athleticism make him a natural rebounder, and he can finish around the rim with authority. Sanders has the ability to run the floor and finish breaks, fitting a role the Spurs have been looking to fill (mostly unsuccessfully) essentially since David Robinson retired.

Sanders is still raw as an offensive player — he lacks even the semblance of a post move — but scouts are optimistic he can polish his game given NBA experience.

The website NBAdraft.net projects Sanders as a Theo Ratliff type, which is a compliment. At his peak, Ratliff was an All-Star.

Daniel Orton 6-10 C Kentucky
Daniel Orton was a trendy pick in recent months, but he may be someone that the Spurs ultimately decide to pass on. His stock is dropping according to Yahoo Sports’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

There’s a great deal of uncertainty and caution surrounding Kentucky center Daniel Orton, who has cancelled several workouts in the final days before the draft, but has tentatively planned a visit with Indiana on Tuesday.

League executives say Orton has been out of shape and struggling with knee issues during the predraft process. Orton, a 6-foot-10 freshman, had planned to hire agent Raymond Brothers, but sources said an internal family struggle over control has kept him without formal representation. With so much uncertainty surrounding Orton, he could face a steep drop Thursday night.

Orton has been working out with former NBA coach Bob Hill. As one Eastern Conference executive said Monday, “There are too many red flags right now.”

Hassan Whiteside 6-11 PF/C Marshall
Hassan Whiteside is high on a lot of peoples’ lists largely due to his defensive prowess. I’ve seen folks predicting everything between Theo Ratliff in his prime to Marcus Camby, which are both intriguing possibilities. Pounding the Rock mock drafted Whiteside and had this to say:

Whiteside is arguably the ‘Best Player Available’.  He is a shot blocker, leading the NCAA last year in blocks per game, per 40 possessions, and per 40 minutes.  All Spurs fans agree that a shot-blocking big is something we want.  He’s a good rebounder and efficient scorer as well.  His defense isn’t great, but this draft pick is for depth, potential, athleticism, and the future.  I guess the other two serious contenders for C are Daniel Orton and Larry Sanders.  Most of our bigs are currently on the shorter side of 6’10″ so I’d prefer 7’0″ Whiteside to 6’9″ Sanders.  I’m picking Whiteside over Orton for his shot blocking.  By the way, I would have taken Alabi over Whiteside.

Jordan Crawford, 6-4 SG, Xavier
Crawford is the only Guard on this list. The main reason is that the Spurs let Michael Finley go, and should be considering letting Roger Mason go, and need someone besides George Hill to pick up the slack in the backcourt for Ginobili and Parker. Crawford could very easily be the perimeter scorer that the Spurs wanted Mason to be last season. Bill Simmons evaulated him after the NCAA tournament, and he puts it all in perspective better than I ever could.

On the flip side, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford didn’t just score 55 points in the first two rounds or make a variety of clutch plays. He got to his spots. Those were 55 relatively easy points. Crawford had been pigeonholed as a “talented with a crummy attitude” second-round prospect, but those two games changed everything. He certainly didn’t hurt his cause Thursday night, pouring in 32 points and making a game-saving 3 in the first overtime. I guarantee every Kansas State fan was petrified of him. So why couldn’t he sneak into the top 20 of this year’s draft? How many NBA 2-guards make 40 percent of their 3s AND get to their spots? Trust me, it’s not a long list. Of course …

 …

Back to Crawford. By all accounts, it sounds like he had trouble suppressing his inner a-hole this season. Maybe dunking on LeBron last summer (and the subsequent Internet firestorm) was detrimental to him. But that’s a defensible character flaw. And a fixable one. These are young kids. They are easily influenced. They have no experience handling adversity or prosperity. Heck, on my podcast this week, Ohio State’s Mark Titus discussed how much Evan Turner changed since his freshman year, when he played with a chip on his shoulder and clashed with teammates and coaches. Now he doesn’t. What happened? He got older. He matured. He learned how to deal with other people.

What’s the difference between being a fixable head case and an unfixable head case? It’s simple, actually. You can’t become un-lazy. You can’t go from being clueless to having a clue. You can’t go from crazy to sane. You can’t go from selfish to selfless. You can’t go from soft to tough. You can’t go from being a knucklehead to being savvy. You can’t go from ADD to totally zoned in. You can’t go from being a DEFCON 1 hothead to a soothing presence. But you can absolutely mature from “being an a-hole” to “not being an a-hole.” Crawford may have had issues earlier in the season, but all we saw in the tournament was heart and swagger. That has to count for something.

Damion James 6-7 SF Texas
Last but not least, is Damion James. James is the player that 48MinutesofHell selected in their mock draft:

So we can see that the Spurs’ wing situation is thin. Jefferson will either be traded or wished-well when his contract expires. Gee and Hairston are interesting, but uncertain. And the Spurs need to upgrade their collective skill set at the 3.

What does Damion James does well is enough to justify the 20th pick. He can guard three positions, is a passable spot-up shooter, and can supply a brand of low-minute, high-energy hoops that necessarily enamores players to coaches. Beyond this, James receive high praise for his work ethic and professionalism, two things the Spurs value as basketball skills and not merely character traits.

So there you have it, the players I think are the most likely candidates to be Spurs in the next few days, and the case for each of them. We’ll see how it all plays out and in the meantime keep our fingers crossed for Tiago Splitter’s arrival in San Antonio.

Aaron Brooks wins Most Improved Player, George Hill and Kevin Durant finish tied for second.

Brooks earned 403 of a possible 615 points, including 62 first-place votes, from a panel of 123 sports writers and broadcasters. Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City and George Hill of San Antonio tied for second with 101 total points.

So for those of you who still don’t know who this George Hill guy is, well you should know after Game 4. Still, he was creating a stir around the league before now and this is just further evidence that the Spurs know how to draft talent and will not fade into obscurity as the Big Three get older.

Spurs’ edge over Mavs: Fear not

Blair celebrated his 21st birthday just three days earlier. Hill will turn 24 in another week. The Spurs don’t usually win with players so young and with their stars contributing so little. Still, all of their championship teams owned the same trait: From Mario Elie to Stephen Jackson, from Steve Kerr to Bruce Bowen, from Malik Rose to Fabricio Oberto, the Spurs’ supporting casts were cut from the same sturdy fiber that Hill and Blair now share. There’s a reason why Jaren Jackson left the Spurs with a championship ring and Hedo Turkoglu didn’t. To survive in San Antonio, one must not only withstand the heat of the playoffs, but also Popovich’s personal fire.

More props given to Hill and Blair. It seems that finally more people are noticing that the Spurs have not just stood around and waited for their stars to get old while adding on a vet here and there (McDyess, Jefferson). In fact, the Spurs have been developing other talented players too like Malik Hairston and maybe even Ian Mahinmi, not to mention other players they picked up during the season such as point guard Garrett Temple.

Spurs’ Blair keeps his head in game

Knowing that the slightest hint of bravado might have given referees an excuse to call a double technical — the better to clean up some of the chippiness that characterized the second half of the Spurs’ 92-89 victory — Blair beat a hasty retreat toward the Spurs’ bench.

One more reason we have come to like Blair so much. Not only is he a maniac on the glass, prone to ripping off the arms of future-draft busts, and a beacon of hope to ACL-less people the world over, but he has a rare trait known as “common sense” that keeps him from getting into trouble with the refs during big games.

Dallas Morning News columnist: Spurs know how to win, Mavs don’t

This isn’t about effort or desire or any other intangible. This is about the Spurs, a franchise with championship pedigree, finding ways to win, while the Mavs, a franchise with a history of choking in the playoffs, finds ways to lose.

Uh oh, don’t look now but it sounds like trouble in paradise. The home team is getting berated by their own newspaper, but it’s not like they don’t deserve it. You can only rip out a city’s heart with uninspired play for so long before they show up with pitchforks and torches.

Ginobili will sit out World Championships

“My body kind of needs it, and I want to play the (2012) Olympics, so I decided to pass on this one.

“Besides, there’s another little factor here: My wife is going to have twins in a month. Those are the times you don’t want to miss. Both, one next to the other, makes me take this tough decision.”

 Thank goodness. I figured his better sense would prevail over his competitive side this summer. Plus it looks like the Spurs have a chance of going deep in the playoffs this year so he will need the rest.

The Spurs went back to their wishy-washy ways this weekend with a mind-boggling loss to the Grizzlies followed by another great win over the Denver Nuggets – a Western Conference contender. It’s a good thing the playoffs are starting soon because this recent trend of losing to bad teams but beating good ones will be much more useful in the coming weeks. Also, there hasn’t been a ton of minutes for Malik Hairston lately, but the good news is there haven’t been many for Keith Bogans either. At any rate, let’s recap the games a little bit and see what other Spurs news I can dig up.

Stupid Blue Bears
The Grizzlies beat San Antonio on Friday night thanks in part to Zach Randolph’s 28-point, 15-rebound performance. The Grizzlies outrebounded the Spurs 48-39 and held a 16-7 edge in offensive boards. It boiled down to the Spurs having seven more free-throw attempts, but the Grizzlies having 13 more field goal attempts – 10 of which they made. They were simply better at getting to the ball and outplayed the Spurs for the whole night except for the first quarter.

The game got out of hand in the second quarter when the Grizzlies scored 22 points in the paint on their way to 46 for the night. Watching Mike Conley run amuck at the end of the first half kinda shows you how important it is for George Hill to return.

Richard Jefferson had one of his off nights with only seven points on 1-of-4 shooting, and he only grabbed two rebounds. Not his A game in other words. Manu Ginobili, for his part, at least led the way for the Spurs with 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. A comforting stat line in light of his recent contract extension. Unfortunately he was off from downtown on 1-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Fortunately, Matt Bonner was able to hit 6-of-10 from deep on his way to 19 points off the bench. We needed every bit of it since McDyess was back to playing like crap (0-of-3 from the field for zero points, four boards and a turnover in 15 minutes), and DeJuan Blair couldn’t stay out of foul trouble (5 points, 3 rebounds, but four fouls in eight minutes). Tim Duncan did his usual double-double thing with 15 points and 10 rebounds, plus he had five assists. Temple was adequate with eight points as the starting point guard again, but Tony Parker played about the same amount of minutes (26) and had 13 points and eight assists. I think he will be starting again before season’s end.

No One’s Scared of the Nuggets
The Spurs showed up in Denver though, as they kept the pressure on the Nuggets all night before turning the game into a blowout in the 4th quarter. The Nuggets got about 50 technicals in the second half, two of which got Carmelo Anthony booted from the game. He finished with 19 points, four rebounds, two steals, one assist, and five turnovers. I kind of understand them losing their minds though. The Spurs shot 45  free throws in the game. That is not a typo. Forty-five free throws – they made 30 of them. The Spurs also outrebounded Denver 48-31 and shot 46% from the field compared to only 39% for the Nuggets. So basically it was everything that could wrong kind of did for the Nugs. Billups was on his game though with 27 points – he just couldn’t get anyone else going as he only had three assists. Yes, that was the team high for both.

For the Spurs, Tim Duncan had 18 points and 10 rebounds. RJ bounced back with 15 points, seven boards, and two assists. Ginobili was slowed down a little bit with only 15 points of his own to go with seven assists, three boards, and a steal. Temple was still the starter at point guard but only played 20 minutes, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds. He might have played more if not for foul trouble. Tony Parker played 31 minutes and had 12 points, six assists, two rebounds, and… you will never guess… five turnovers. Sheesh, man. DeJuan Blair had one of his better games lately with 12 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

Next On the Schedule
There are only two games left. Monday night’s game against the T-Wolves, and the Wednesday night finale against the Dallas Mavericks. They should be able to win against the Wolves easy enough, unless they pull another Nets/Grizzlies game out of their hats, so the real fun will start on Wednesday when the Spurs play the Mavs. Then it’s Playoff Time! But I’ll get into all of that in my next update. Stay tuned…

Ginobili’s Summer
Manu signed a nifty contract for $39 Million over three years, but is still deciding on whether or not he will play in the World Championships this summer. Personally, I would like him to take off because it would suck immensely if he got hurt after the Spurs just gave him all that money. Also, with his wife set to give birth to twins, maybe staying with her is a better way to spend the down time this year. I wouldn’t blame him either way – he’s a professional basketball player so that’s what he does – period. Still, I hope he leans toward an easier summer. He says he will make his decision in the coming days.

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 Spurs got blown out by the Magic 110-84. This game was all kinds of ugly as the Spurs got outscored in every quarter and were particularly bad in the 3rd when all hopes of a comeback completely disappeared. Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson were the only two Spurs players who gave us any hope early on. RJ was the best Spurs for once, and he finished with 20 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. Ginobili had 18 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

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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.