Spurs of the Moment

 I know we’ve all been anxious to see Tiago Splitter play for the Spurs, but it looks it will have to wait a little bit longer. Popovich has already named DeJuan Blair the starting center for the opener, and Splitter’s foot injury will likely keep him from suiting up at all right away. It makes sense to not rush him into action, but it is definitely frustrating to wait a few years for a draft pick to finally make his way to the league only to be sidelined almost immediately. This is good news for fantasy drafts though, since most people will not want to take a flier on a Euro-league import who hasn’t made any noise in pre-season due to injury. That will leave him available for late round draft picks for the more savvy among us.

To get a good idea of how likely it is that Splitter will play in the opener, here is what Popovich had to say: “Sure, it’s definitely in the realm of possibility,” he said. “It’s also possible I might play.”

I don’t take that as much of an endorsement that we should count on seeing either of them in a jersey until maybe a few games into the season, and then only Splitter. Although, Pop probably couldn’t shoot any worse than Roger Mason did last season.

McDyess did have some nice words to get fans excited about Splitter’s eventual court time.

“Today was the first day I saw him get out there and shoot the ball,” forward Antonio McDyess said. “He’s got a nice little touch to him. He picks up on the plays very easy and very quick. That’s very impressive, for a guy to come in and learn this system.

“I’m just as eager as the fans are, just to see what he has. He looks like a guy who can really play. It’s going to be exciting for him to get on the court, and I can’t wait for it to happen.”

I guess we’ll have to live with that for now, but I am sure the Spurs can handle the Pacers in their first game of the season. I just hope Tony Parker doesn’t roll his ankle in the first quarter.

Oh yeah, I also got the NBA preview magazine from Sports Illustrated (finally). They have the Spurs ranked 3rd in the West behind the Lakers (1) and Thunder (2). That means, of course, that the Spurs are ranked #1 in the division. I’ve seen a few writers who rank the Mavs higher, and I’ll at least concede that that”s debatable based on talent. What I don’t get is how a writer or two have Houston ranked higher than the Spurs. If you see this anywhere, immediately write that person’s opinion off. They know not of what they speak. There is no way Houston outperforms San Antonio this season. Yao won’t play but 20-something minutes a game, Ariza – their best perimeter defender who they signed when they let go of Artest – is long gone, and Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin can score, but can’t guard me. Yeah, I said it.

But aaaanyway… go Spurs.. and Texas Rangers.

As if the Spurs being ousted by the Suns wasn’t bad enough. My Playoff Predictions went from perfect to utterly ruined in Round Two as the Cavs choked against the Celtics in what could be LeBron’s last championship run in Cleveland.

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It started ugly and ended ugly, and George Hill has the bloody nose to prove it, but the Spurs held on to beat the Houston Rockets for their fourth straight win and their first road win of the season. The Spurs missed 10 of their first 14 shots, but Houston never managed to build a lead bigger than seven points. The Rockets took a 46-44 lead into halftime, but a combination of Spurs defense and Rockets inept shooting all but doomed the Rockets as they went nearly eight minutes without a basket in the 3rd quarter. Meanwhile, the Spurs piled up an extra 14 points during that stretch. The Spurs, kind hearted souls that they are, did give the Rockets one more chance to win by committing six turnovers in the first seven minutes of the 4th quarter, and the Rockets managed to cut  the deficit to two on a Carl Landry put back with less than a minute to go. That’s when Jefferson drove to the basket, was fouled, and get this – he made both free throws for a change. Going back the other way, the Rockets missed and George Hill got his nose bloodied while coming down with the rebound. Thanks Kyle Lowry. Hill stuck around to make his free throws and took a seat. Game Over (practically). 92-84 Spurs. Read more »

During the pre-season, I did a short interview for Brian Cashiola from RocketDunks.com as part of his Division Previews. Well, naturally I got to thinking that I may have a few questions for him about the Rockets and Spurs. Check it out:

SpursoftheMoment: With Yao’s latest injury, and the reports that he could miss the whole season, how optimistic are Rockets fans about Yao playing at all this year?
Brian Cashiola: I would say we are hopeful but not optimistic if that makes sense. Most projections have him being out until around playoff time. And if the Rockets are fortunate enough to make the playoffs with this roster it will be with a very different style of basketball than what Yao is used to so I can’t see us throwing him out there in that situation and risk further injury as well as throwing off what got us there. Read more »