Spurs of the Moment

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.

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.

I just felt compelled to touch on a few topics real quick…
A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Allen Iverson could be headed to China to play ball. Is AI’s ego really so out of control that he would rather play in China than be a backup in the NBA? If so, then all I can say is “Wow”… have fun in China sucka.

Greg Oden’s knee is still in shambles. I am gonna say that by roughly November 2012 we will all be on the same page about Oden being a bust.

I like the Golden State Warriors so I am delighted that Don Nelson has finally been relieved of his coaching duties. He seemed to be on a mission to ruin as many careers as possible while in Golden State. He ran off Baron Davis, feuded with Monta Ellis, inexplicably toyed with everyone’s minutes, possibly ruined Anthony Randolph (I think he’ll show and prove in NY tho, if the Knicks don’t trade him to Denver for Melo first), and basically started D-League teams half the time for no apparent reason other than he is a crazy old man.

LeBron is still an ass. Sorry, no link. I think the evidence is everywhere.

The NBA is making Technical Fouls even more stupid than ever. In an effort to eliminate any passion or emotional connection to the game at hand, refs will now be able to call techs on players for punching the air in frustration. I can only assume that glaring at a ref will now draw an automatic 20 game suspension. Atta boy, David Stern.

Ever wonder why Avery wasn’t missed in Dallas?

There was a rumor floating around in cyberspace this week about the Knicks possibly trading Wilson Chandler to the Spurs for their first round pick in 2011. Apparently the Knicks want to use the pick in a Melo trade. I’m down with both of those moves. There may be some truth to it.

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.

Finally a Knicks/Spurs rumor that not only seems plausible, but doesn’t involve Tony Parker being traded.

It looks like Roger Mason is on his way out of San Antonio soon as he is reportedly close to a deal with the New York Knicks. He even mentioned that is was a possibility on YouTube:

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The Knicks were trying to pry Shannon Brown away from the Lakers but Brown went ahead and re-signed with LA.

Roger Mason was awesome during the 2008-2009 season, at least until the playoffs. Last year he was beyond inconsistent and even asked for a trade at one point. I still like him tho, and I hope he bounces back from last year.

Good luck in New York, Mase.

In what is sure to be one of the more bizarre subplots of this summer’s free agency, Richard Jefferson inexplicably opted out of the final year of his contract. The move will cost him $15 million dollars up front. As RJ tells it:

“I probably wouldn’t make 15 (million dollars) some place, but you could somehow recoup some of that over a multi-year deal and get some guaranteed money for the next few years.

“So you figure it out. If you’re able to get four years and 40 (million dollars by opting out) from someone, it’s like, ‘OK, I did lose out on 15 (million dollars). But I’m going to get basically a $25 million extension.’ Those are things that you think of at the end of the season.”

Wait, what? He thinks he is getting a four year 40 mil deal? From who? Is Isaiah Thomas a GM again? Ok, fine – so it’s entirely possible that he will get such a deal when the dust settles and either the Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Clips, or Heat  are clamouring to fill the rosters that they gutted in vain after no one signs there – after all, Drew Gooden is getting a 5-year $32 mil deal, and that was from the Bucks who no one is thinking about. (And quiet as kept, they are building a nice squad over there.) At any rate, the Spurs now have some wiggle room to sign someone more useful this summer, and for that we can thank Dick Jefferson.

Oh, and by the way, it’s not that I forgot about the draft, but after the Spurs picked James Anderson… well, I haven’t really known what to think of that – let alone what to say about it. My first thought was something along the lines of, “huh?” Then I figured he was meant to be RJ’s eventual replacement, but still, no one I know of had him pegged as a potential Spur, and even Bill Simmons said he figured Anderson for a bust. I guess the Spurs saw something there that the rest of us didn’t see. I’ll take another look at him later and post some thoughts.

Well, everyone is pitching ideas for why LeBron would consider signing with their favorite team, and here is yet another. This one, of course, is about LBJ coming to SA.

The scenario put forth is that the Spurs would need to trade Parker and Ginobili + draft picks. Not the most likely thing to happen, not to mention the fact that the Cavs have no need for another point guard unless they plan on moving Mo Williams. Also, it’s true that there is no state income tax in Texas, but I don’t think the statement “LeBron would be getting twice as much money” is exactly accurate.

Basically, I would love to see LeBron in San Antonio, but I don’t think he is coming here. The Mavericks have just as much a shot at pulling a sign and trade as the Spurs, but they have more desirable pieces (younger players) and their star player (Dirk) is younger than Duncan. So I would give them the edge as far as Texas teams go… but you never know. George Hill and DeJuan Blair alongside LeBron and of course Duncan would be interesting. I could speculate on this forever, but I don’t expect him to go anywhere except Cleveland, Chicago, or New York.

Congratulations to Manu Ginobili and his wife who gave birth to their twins yesterday.

Ginobili, on his Twitter page, announced Sunday’s births of Dante and Nicola.
Ginobili says mother and boys are doing great, and he later added “I just changed my 1st diaper!”

Also, Happy 28th Birthday to Tony Parker today!

Try to ignore the fact that Yahoo Sports is continuing to feed the rumors that Parker might be headed to New York. I’ve already addressed this nonsense here, and don’t have any reason at this point to change my previous opinions on the matter.

Tony Parker does not want to go to New York. In fact, Parker is trying to make it perfectly clear that he wants to be a Spur and nothing else.

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