SB Nation - George Hill

Spurs 100, Pacers 99: Pacers Miss Out On Chance For Road Win

Tom Lewis — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:14:52 -0000

It's about time to issue a warning: Follow the Indiana Pacers at your own risk.

On any given night, their play may force your heart to stop intermittently or your brain to go numb. You may pull a hammy dancing with joy, or become life-less, depressed pile of bones as the buzzer sounds.

Against the San Antonio Spurs tonight, all of the above side effects were felt as the Pacers rallied from a 13-point second quarter deficit to take a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter.

From there, the heart fluttered, mind froze, dancing ceased and depression set in after T.J. Ford's potential game-winning jump shot was just wide right, allowing the Spurs to escape with a win, 100-99.

Just when the expectations for the Pacers sink, as they did after last night's double-digit loss to Memphis, the team puts together an effort to draw you back into and actually have you thinking win...on the road...at San Antonio. It was all there for the taking early in the fourth quarter.

But you could feel the Spurs mounting an attack, plus the Pacers' recent history made a late run by the Spurs standard operating procedure. Once the Spurs made their run to make it a one possession game with five minutes left to play, I began to wonder if this would be a repeat of Orlando where the Pacers would shut down offensively while the Spurs methodically pulled away.

Not tonight.

The Spurs biggest lead would be three points with three minutes to go. But a dunk by Brandon Rush and a near-miraculous tip by Roy Hibbert gave the Pacers points on consecutive possessions and a one-point lead with a minute to go.

Nope, no fade tonight, just a missed opportunity.

After weathering a couple of Tim Duncan offensive rebounds, the Pacers had the ball and the lead with 33 seconds to go. After using up some clock, T.J. Ford missed one of his patented little 12-foot fade away jumpers, leaving the Spurs 10 seconds to win the game.

Naturally, the Spurs went to Duncan. Roy Hibbert met Duncan at the rim and stuffed the Hall of Famer's first offering. But Duncan quickly took the rejecting and jammed it home. Spurs up one with four seconds left.

Once again, the Pacers went to Ford to be the hero, clearing out for the point guard to work from the top of the key. It appeared he had George Hill off-balance and rose up for a clean 16-footer which helplessly clanked of the right side of the rim. Depression.

Plenty of thoughts and observations from this one:

For starters, why go with T.J. Ford down the stretch? Pretty good question, but T.J. was a catalyst, making the Pacers go through much of the second half. Ford was playing off the bench, with Earl Watson starting, but he had a nice offensive flow going much of the night. Plus, he's made that type of shot in the past and Mike Dunleavy was off all night and didn't play much in the second half.
As mentioned above, Jim O'Brien shook up his starting lineup, moving Ford and Brandon Rush to the bench to start Watson and Dahntay Jones. The team jumped out to a solid start in the first quarter, but a late 9-2 run to end the first quarter, with mostly bench players on the floor, nullified the good start.
Things switch in the second half, when the second unit played the Pacers back into the game. T.J. Ford ended up playing more minutes than Watson.
Roy Hibbert had moments of brilliance at the offensive end. The Spurs didn't feel the need to double Hibbert much and the big fella took his time and made them pay, even squaring up and scoring over Tim Duncan with a solid move in the lane. Hibbert's presence was felt at the defensive end as well, especially late with a couple of big blocks. Hibbert finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocks.
Brandon Rush played a lot of minutes off the bench, as well. His play was up and down as usual, but he was hardly floating. Although, floating would've been better than the end result of a few possessions Rush botched. His baseline back-cut for a dunk late in the game was sweet and gave the Pacers a boost to eventually reclaim the lead.
Troy Murphyhad his shot going early and finished with 21 points on 8 of 13 from the floor. Murph was saddled with fouls as he struggled to defend Duncan at times.
Tyler Hansbroughwas in the mix during the Pacers late second quarter run which helped set up a late third quarter run, also involving Hansbrough, to give the Pacers the lead. The rook finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds with a few blips along the way. Actually, one was more than a blip. After being hung out to dry guarding Richard Jeffersonon the wing, RJ crossed-up Hansbrough and left him leaning in cement sneakers as Jefferson threw down a pretty reverse dunk. Wasn't a poster dunk, because Hansbrough would've been out of the picture.
The Pacers caught a break with the Spurs missing 15 free throws. Tony Parker missed five of his 12 attempts.
Life doesn't get any easier for the Pacers as they head home for a day before hosting the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, followed by a quick trip to Boston to play the Celtics on Tuesday.
Jeff Foster played a few minutes before retiring for the night with more back issues.
Luther Head took advantage of some rare playing time to provide a nice spark for the Pacers, as he has done in the past. Luther had 9 points on 6 shots and once again made a case for more playing time.

Game Preview #23: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors

CapHill — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:09:12 -0000

Thank you, Suns. Why don't you stomp on it too.

Well, that was fun. I hate losing, especially when you manage to crawl out of the abyss, but then fail to close out on the best 3-point shooters in the League!

More doom and gloom after the jump.

Please, FSM, I can't take much more.

I thought that I would have some time to distance myself and do a real preview, but no, this is a SEGABABA. Crap. It's Game #23 and, according to Lauri, it's okay if I start panicking. Time to redo that poll, dfjmed. (My "Now" vote isn't looking so crazy, is it?)

San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors
Where: ORACLE Arena - Oakland, CA
When: December 16, 2009, 9:30 PM Spurs time
Watch: FSNSW

How They Stack Up


10-4	Home	4-5
2-6	Road	3-12
101.8	Offense	107.0
96.6	Defense	111.7
48.0	FG%	47.1
39.2	3-pt%	36.9
73.8	FT%	78.2
42.0	Rebounds	37.0
14.2	TOs	16.3
7-3	Last 10	2-8
Lost 1	Streak	Lost 3
2nd, Southwest	Position	5th, Pacific


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	12:30 AM
West Coast	7:30 PM
Philippines	11:30 AM
Central Europe	4:30 AM
Palestine/Egypt	5:30 AM
East Coast	10:30 PM
Last Night's Massacre	8:30 PM
Perth, AUS	11:30 AM
Tokyo, JP	12:30 PM
Sydney, AUS	1:30 AM

Spurs (12-10)	Matchups	Warriors (7-17)
Tony Parker Meh	Point Guard Tony still seems to be having trouble integrating to the new offense. Plus, he seems a step slower. However, he actually is a point guard, unlike Curry, who's a shooting guard (emphasis on shooting) in a supermodel's body. Advantage: Spurs	Stephen Curry Not a Point Guard

Keith Bogans Meh	Shooting Guard Bogans is another one of those players whose contributions don't always show up in the box score. However, his non-boxscore contributions haven't been showing up lately either. Ellis isn't really big enough to play the 2, having a supermodel frame just like Curry. However, dude can shoot the damn ball. Advantage: Warriors	Monta Ellis Not a Point Guard

Richard Jefferson Meh	Small Forward RJ is still not showing up during some games. Morrow is a young kid who hasn't been starting the whole year. I could probably figure out who has the advantage by looking at advanced statistics, but I don't feel like it. Advantage: Neither	Anthony Morrow Summer League Stud

Tim Duncan Spurs' Savior	Power Forward I don't know why we even bother with rating this position. Timmeh is far superior to any Power Forward out there - don't even try arguing. Hollinger's PER compooper can't comprehend the greatness that is Tim Duncan, even though he's old and can't play anymore. Take that, you freakin' "experts". Advantage: Spurs	Vladimir Radmanovic Laker Cast Off

Antonio McDyess Meh	Center McDyess has been down lately. We need to see the boards and the pretty jumper come back. Mikki Moore has the height to play the center position, but not much else. With the way Dice has played the last few games, no one deserves the advantage here. Advantage: Neither	Mikki Moore Token Big Man

DeJuan Blair BAM	Bench & Role Players Corey Maggette seems to be the first player off the bench, but the Dubs also have Anthony Randolph, the other Summer League Stud. However, we have DeBeast, who will promptly dive on the floor to recover the flailing arms that he has ripped out of the sockets of the Warriors' front court. I love this guy! Oh, and we have Manu Ginobili and George Hill too. They're not bad. Advantage: Spurs	Corey Maggette Who Knows

Gregg Popovich No Beard for Mojo	Coach Even though we don't always agree with Pop and his crazy small ball lineups, at least we don't have to deal with Nelson and his game-by-game, throw the dice decision-making process when filling out the lineup card. Advantage: Spurs	Don Nelson Mr. Crazy Lineups
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
We really, really, really, really, really need a road win, especially against a team that's this bad at home. Advantage: Spurs
Mojo
We have none, after the Suns killed us. But then, the Dubs just lost to the Sixers. It's a tie for crappy karma. Apparently, both teams suck at sacrificing chickens. Advantage: Neither
Winner: The Spurs (I Hope)
The Spurs need another victory after that heartbreaking loss to the Suns. The Warriors want to trade all of their players. It should be a blowout, but it'll probably be too close for comfort. Prediction: Spurs win by less than 10.

Keys To The Game

Starters Show Up - Other than Timmeh, our starters have been wildly inconsistent this year. We can't continue to depend on Duncan to carry the team in the first quarter, or depend on BAM to pull our butts out of the fire.
No Crappy Quarters - Each game, the Spurs have one really bad quarter, or two, or three. It's hard to win when you start the game in a 20 point hole. No more RQCs (thank you, romes).
Defense - Defense is supposed to be a hallmark of the Spurs - not this year. Too many open 3s, too many easy jaunts down the lane - this is NOT acceptable and needs to be cleaned up.

Strength of Schedule

This is a SEGABABA on the road, after another crappy road loss, TO THE SUNS. This does not bode well for the team or our livers.

The Warriors are coming off of a road loss to the Sixers. However, they will be playing on one day of rest, at home. But the Dubs are less than .500 at home, so who knows.

Last Time They Met

Our last meeting with the Warriors was November 25th. We won 118-104, but not because of our defense on Ellis. Monta went off for 42 points, but no other Warrior did much. We had six players score double digits.

Here's some old school Bernard King and the Warriors vs. Iceman and the Spurs.

And now for my second favorite playoff upset of all times.

Some Other Reading

Warriors

Golden State of Mind - The Warriors' SBN blog is one of the most enjoyable blogs around. You gotta give it to Warriors fans, no matter how hard Nelly tries to destroy this franchise, the fans just keep coming and coming at you in waves.
Warriors World - The TrueHoop blog for the Dubs. Their tagline says it all: "We Got Suck and Salary Protection." Perfect.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Best damn TrueHoop affiliate out there. Always a must visit Spurs site.
Project Spurs: Features live chats, call-in shows and podcasts, with lots of content. Give 'em a try.

Twitter Musings

Nothing worth sharing (unless you count some more LOLs by Blair), but you can always find all the official Spurs Sports & Entertainment Twitter accounts here: http://twitter.com/spurs/official/members

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be aired on FSN Southwest. If you have cable or satellite, you'll have to look up your individual channel. And of course, there's always League Pass for the haves. For the have nots, read on.

Online

As always, NBA League Pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Most Spurs games will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance.

NBA League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).

Game Preview: Suns vs Spurs

PanamaSun — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:01:26 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Alvin Gentry will go against one of the best coaches in the league and a colleague he's known for 30 plus years.

Browse more photos »

The Phoenix Suns will play hosts of the San Antonio Spurs tonight as they seek to remain perfect at home. Playing the Spurs is always fun and painful at the same time. Whenever I see their uniforms I can't help but to remember all the times they have broken my heart.

I've been bitter for days because of them. I've punched the wall, yelled at my friends, fought with my significant other, fought with my Mother In Law for fighting with my significant other, screwed up reports at work, I've forgotten important appointments and I've even kicked my dog... and I love my dog.

Interesting enough, I don't have any bad feelings towards them. I've tried to hate them, I've tried to channel my anger and convince myself that they are the bad guys. Nothing. All I feel is respect and admiration. They are disciplined and deadly accurate when running plays on both ends of the floor and all you can do is just shake your head and wish your team would execute in crunch time just like they do.

But this year the Spurs are struggling. They have been playing better as of late but their season has not started the way everyone predicted. Their off season moves looked very good on paper but they have had a hard time adjusting to Pop's system.

I wanted to ask a few questions to the enemy so I contacted Austechspur, fellow blogger from our brother SBN Blog Pounding the Rock, and he was kind enough to answer my inquiries.

His responses after the jump!

P-Sun: The Spurs are 12-9 as of today. You guys are used to a slow start and then picking it up in the middle of the season. Do you feel confident it will happen this year or do you have reasons to be concerned?

AustechSpur: I feel that we have a very good team and that we will get better, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little concerned as well. We all thought we would be better at the start of the season and then turn into a juggernaut, which is what you have to be in order to have a chance to win it this year. We have a rather pedestrian 12-9 record with a pretty easy schedule. I think we will pick it up during the season, but we have LOT of picking up to do to get to the top.

P-Sun: It's early in the season but do you feel the off seasonn moves (Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Keith Bogans) have improved your team?

AustechSpur: It's really hard to say. We are different this year and we are different in two ways. We are different in that we have new faces for a change. It's been several years since we have had to new players in the top of the rotation. We are different in that the team is a little more athletic with less defined roles. I'm not really sure how the three new guys fit into the offense and I'm not sure they know how they fit into the offense. Athletically, we should be much better than the last few years. But, until that translates into guys knowing where they need to be and shutting down opponents and making shots, I'm reserving judgment.

P-Sun: DeJuan Blair is playing really well for you guys. How important is this kid to the Spurs franchise and what are the areas you feel he needs to improve?

AustechSpur: DeJuan Blair is an absolute beast. He brought tremendous skills with him and he's getting better very quickly. He's learning to use his giant body on defense. I have no doubt that he will be a very good player. If he can learn to hit the mid-range jumper, he will be a border line all-star in the league for the next 10 years. If you watch one thing with him, check out his feel for the game around the rim. He has TREMENDOUS touch.

P-Sun: Have you had the chance to watch the Suns play this season? What are your thoughts about our team?

AustechSpur: No, I haven't seen them at all.

P-Sun: It seems that no one can stop Steve Nash this season. Now that Bruce Bowen is no longer a Spur, what do you think Pop will do to try to slow him down? Who's the "stopper" on the team now?

AustechSpur: Do you remember this joke? Q: Who is the only person that could keep Michael Jordan under 20 points per game? A: Dean Smith. Replace Jordan with Nash and Smith with Porter. Steve Nash is just fantastic in space. It's his game. We don't' really have a replacement for Bowen who is the one-stop shop for all defense from Steve Nash to Dirk Nowitzki. I expect Steve will see a whole lot of George Hill. George has the perfect attributes to deal with Steve. He's quick enough to stay with him and he has ridiculously long arms to harass passes. That's all you can do with Steve anyway.

P-Sun: What is it about the Spurs system that it takes so long for new players to learn it?

AustechSpur: I'll refer you to this article by DK Wilson for FoxSports.com http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/10471634/Spurs-not-yet-jelled,-but-could-still-turn-into-force and this quote from Antonio McDyess "Everything here is so exact; every play there's so much detail." Apparently, the Spurs are VERY particular about every little detail and where you should be. I think this causes players to think instead of play for a while. I get the sense that Pop rarely says, "Just go out and play your game."

Let's take a look at the key match-ups for tonight's game

Guards

Everyone that plays the Suns try to do different things to slow Nash down. They try guarding him with a small but pesky player, they try switching to a big man, they try double teaming him. Nothing works. Truth is that Steve Nash is playing amazing basketball and I don't even remember if he has had a bad game all season. Pop is smart and he might try different things to keep Nash under control. Like Austechspur said, we might see a George Hill on him. He might bother Steve with his quickness and length. Good luck George, you are going to need it.

On the other hand we have Tony Parker. In the last two games he has had assists in the double digits but has also been a turnover prone. The Suns need to keep him under control and limit his baskets in the paint. We can afford him scoring but the Suns can't let him get his teammates involved. Depending on how he's playing, I expect to see different defenders on him.

Manu Ginobili is still dangerous. He has had very good games this season and when he plays up to his talent the Spurs are almost unbeatable. He has been slowed down by injuries and this has taken a toll on his defense. Once a feared and hated defender, Ginobili has noticeably lost a step. The Suns should take advantage of this and drive to the hole on him.

Forwards

Amar'e has been playing really well. He continues to be very efficient from the field but everyone has noticed that he's not as explosive as he once was. That's what recovering from an eye surgery will do to you. I expect him to continue making those jump shots to keep the Spurs defense guessing. This is a big game for him.

Timmy Duncan has been playing out of his mind. Just like with Nash, everyone doubted he would have an excellent season. He's knees are holding up quite well but that doesn't mean that Spurs fans don't cringe whenever he goes down on the hardwood. Channing Frye will get a chance to defend him and if he get's in foul trouble Robin Lopez will have his hands full with him.

Richard Jefferson is averaging 13.7 point per game. He has struggled offensively and I expect Hill to be on his grill. We need to keep him under control. We already have our hands full with Duncan and Parker.

Predictions

The fact that the Suns are at home, where they have played really well, gives them an advantage over a Spurs team who's still working on their on-court chemistry. The Suns are always fired up to play against them and they'll come out firing. They just need to be consistent throughout 48 minutes of basketball and not throw away any early leads. I feel confident that the Suns will win this one.

Game Links:

Spurs vs Suns coverage
Spurs vs Suns preview
azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish - PaulCoro - The Imperial March
The magic number is 100 for most teams. For Phoenix, it's fittingly higher at 104. When the Suns score less than that this season, they are 2-8. When they score at least that, they are 14-0.
Will Hill and Billups Receive Hall Passes? -- NBA FanHouse
Hill looked to have a sure-fire Hall pass when he came out of Duke in 1994 and starred for six seasons for Detroit. But Hill, after signing with Orlando in 2000, had numerous ankle problems that nearly wrecked his career. Between 2000-04, he played in just 47 of 264 possible games.
Game Preview #22: San Antonio Spurs @ Phoenix Suns - Pounding The Rock
Preview for Spurs-Suns, complete with Nash-photoshopping link.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/15/09 3:31 PM MST ]

Video's via Suns.com from today

Spurs vs Kings: Stats of the Game

BlaseE — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:52:55 -0000

More photos » by Darren Abate - AP

Browse more photos »

Ever since they lost Kevin Martin, they've really been a team. I was impressed with the Kings' effort last night. They are a scrappy bunch. We could learn a thing or two from them. Oh yeah, Casspi was meant to be a Spur. I'm praying it still happens someday. Come inside for a couple stats....

Here is your song. It's the Beatles' Good Night off the White Album for anyone stuck behind a firewall who is curious what the song was.

1. Manu had an outstanding game.

Exhibit A: 20 points...in 26 minutes!!! Most of them were pretty timely too.

Exhibit B: 8 FTA's on 11 FGA's and he made all 8 of them

Exhibit C: 3 assists and 2 steals to 1 turnover

Exhibit D: Tell me you saw that fake out and then the dunk he had in fourth. If that didn't get you up out of your seat (computer chair, couch, or AT&T center fold out), then you are crazy and/or stupid and/or lame.

I think that is like 8 fingers around the rim. Pretty nice.

2. We got our turnovers down to 13 this game from those disgusting atrocities we'd been forced to witness. At the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th, there a particularly terrible stretch though. To go all ATS on you, Bonner turned it over to Evans on a bad pass with 1:38 left in the 4th. That lead to Tony fouling Evans. We missed our next two shots, Bonner and Manu. Tony Parker has the ball stolen with 4 seconds left in the 3rd and Evans gets another layup. Manu misses to start us off in the 4th.

RJ comes through with some points finally and makes his 3. Manu misses another shot. Dejuan Blair gets loose ball foul. Richard Jefferson gets called for an illegal defense. Bonner misses another shot with 9:53 left in the 4th. The lead was still 8 at this point because the Kings failed to capitalize on our poor shooting and execution over this period.

Finally after all of that Hill and Mason come in and score 7 points over the next minute to get our lead up to 13. We then let them back into it again with a missed Mason 3, George Hill turnover, and then a Blair defensive 3 seconds. Just like that, we are up by only 6 with 6:33 to play. The Spurs failed twice to end this game early and send the Kings packing.

3. The Kings had 62 points in the paint to our 48. They left 7 points on the charity stripe (7 of 15 FT's). They played an aggressive game and if they had made a few of their free throws and had one or two less turnovers themselves, then they could have really made this game interesting. I mean they were within 3 with 4:00 minutes to play. Yes, Manu and Parker took it over and Duncan had an EPIC BLOCK, but the Kings really showed something to me.

I like their chemistry with this group. I think they should trade Kevin Martin and try to get another big man to move Hawes to the bench. Kevin Martin had 1 assist, 29 points and a +/- of -28 the first time we played them. Hawes was the only other player to score over 7 points. He had 22 off the bench. I'm not saying they are a playoff team yet, but they sure are way better than last year's travesty.

Preview: Kings at Spurs

Ziller — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:00:23 -0000

by Darren Abate - AP

View full size photo »

THE OPPONENT

The Spurs are far better than .500, despite the record. I could try to explain what's gone wrong, but Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell can do it from a tighter perspective, much more eloquently.

[T]hrough 18 games, those horses have come up lame. Rather than getting a lift from the supporting cast, Tim Duncan is playing with MVP-efficiency and barely keeping the Spurs at a half-respectable .500. If the Spurs recover from their start of sputter and stall, Tim Duncan ought to be placed at the center of the MVP conversation. He’s threatening a career season, at least in terms of efficiency. And it’s all lost on a 9-9 start.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that no one else is playing well. Matt Bonner is a having a career year; DeJuan Blair is occasionally sensational. Tony Parker is not dominating, but playing competent basketball. I get all that, and I could further qualify. It’s just that the supporting cast taken as a whole is providing more drag than momentum-gathering boost. Tim Duncan is all dragster, and the team is mostly parachute.

Richard Jefferson has certainly been disappointing, and Manu Ginobili has seemingly been on-and-off, hot-and-cold. For the Kings' sake, given that our defense isn't bright and the Spurs' defense continues to be, let's hope Jefferson disappoints and Ginobili is more cold than warm.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Tim Duncan	16	32.3	7.6	13.8	55.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	4.0	5.2	77.1	3.1	7.7	10.8	3.4	2.0	0.5	2.1	1.9	19.1
Tony Parker	14	30.4	6.4	12.8	50.3	0.1	0.4	20.0	4.7	5.9	79.5	0.1	2.6	2.7	5.6	3.3	0.7	0.3	2.1	17.6
Richard Jefferson	18	33.2	4.4	10.1	43.4	0.9	2.8	33.3	3.1	4.6	68.3	0.7	3.6	4.3	2.7	1.6	0.8	0.3	2.1	12.8
Manu Ginobili	13	22.8	3.5	9.6	36.8	1.6	4.4	36.8	4.0	4.8	83.9	0.7	1.8	2.5	3.6	2.0	1.2	0.5	1.9	12.7
George Hill	18	25.3	3.7	9.0	40.7	0.9	2.3	38.1	2.4	3.1	78.6	0.6	1.4	2.0	2.1	0.9	1.0	0.4	3.4	10.7
Matt Bonner	18	21.5	3.3	6.7	49.2	2.0	4.4	45.6	0.7	0.9	81.3	1.6	3.7	5.2	1.4	0.7	0.2	0.2	2.3	9.3
DeJuan Blair	18	14.9	2.8	4.7	60.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.2	45.5	1.9	3.6	5.4	0.7	1.1	0.2	0.7	2.5	6.2
Antonio McDyess	17	20.9	2.5	5.2	47.7	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.1	1.5	69.2	1.8	3.8	5.6	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.4	2.6	6.0
Roger Mason Jr.	17	18.4	2.3	6.0	38.2	0.9	3.1	30.8	0.4	0.5	77.8	0.1	1.6	1.6	2.2	1.1	0.3	0.2	1.5	5.9
Michael Finley	17	18.2	2.1	4.6	44.3	0.7	1.7	41.4	0.4	0.5	66.7	0.2	1.5	1.7	0.9	0.6	0.3	0.2	0.5	5.2
Keith Bogans	17	17.5	1.4	3.5	40.0	0.5	2.1	25.0	0.6	0.8	76.9	0.2	2.4	2.5	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.1	1.9	3.9
Marcus Haislip	1	3.0	1.0	1.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
Theo Ratliff	9	8.8	0.7	1.4	46.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.4	50.0	0.6	1.2	1.8	0.3	0.7	0.0	1.2	1.4	1.6
Malik Hairston	9	3.8	0.3	0.6	60.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.7

THE KEY BATTLE

Tony Parker vs. Tyreke Evans. Reke struggled to defend the pick-and-roll against the Spurs last time around, with Parker slicing to the rim at will. Now granted, Parker does this against most teams. But if the Kings want to compete, Parker can't own the driving lines. He's going to have to work.

On the other end, it's a two-fold challenge in attacking San Antonio's defense: win the favorable size mismatches (particularly Evans-Parker) and overachieve in the problem spots (Andres Nocioni against the tough-inside, anti-three team defense, Jason Thompson vs Tim Duncan). Evans is the biggest key here, both in terms of punishing Parker without getting denied by Duncan and friends, and in terms of setting up Thompson, Spencer Hawes and others with easy attempts.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

Let's play Inane Arguments, hosted by Grant Napear! His tirades against

a) Paul Westphal for protesting the shot clock violation when the Kings inbounded with 1 second on the clock, and

b) Jason Thompson for protesting his fifth foul, which came when he pulled Darius Songaila's jersey on defense

were inane. Everyone, including Westphal, who, you know, has been around the league a while, knows that there could be less than a second left. Westphal was indicating he thought the New Orleans scorekeeper jobbed the Kings by starting the shot clock just a touch before the ball was touched. This is a pretty classic home court advantage type move. If you read Westphal's lips, he says "Nice timekeeper!" or something like that. He is indicating that he believes the shot clock was started early. Not that the Kings deserve a full second because the clock read 1. You idiot.

Regarding Thompson, Napear kept on about how obvious a foul it was, and how Thompson should have shut up about it and play smarter defense. Of course, Thompson was protesting the fact that he was assaulted repeatedly at the other end, with nary a whistle to help him out. You can see him motion to the refs that he had been beaten about the head by the Hornets defense, and how he deserved to get some calls if the refs insisted on calling Nancy garbarge like the jersey yank. Thompson wasn't saying, "I didn't pull his jersey!" He was saying, "They are beating me about the head and whatnot, how bout a whistle, chum?"

And missing those things isn't terrible. It's the attitude that he, Grant, is the smartest person in the world that grates.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Matt Bonner takes more three-pointers than Spencer Hawes.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Spurs by ... never mind. I am not a jinx.

DETAILS

The tip-off, again, is at 5 o'clock. Game thread then, with the second game thread at 6 and the post-game thread at 7:45. Recap someday.

Spurs vs Wizards: Stats of the Game

BlaseE — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:54:44 -0000

Sorry for the lateness on this, but Sunday is a slow day for all of us to catch up on our NFL (I think). The Cowboys are really playing ugly right now and the Titans (and VY) get a MNF game to conflict with a Spurs home game. Cedric Benson is hurt so I rooted against the Bengals today and they lost! To the Raiders! Ricky Williams dominates for the Dolphins on the Thursday night game, but I'm stuck watching our Spurs lose to the Jazz.

So yesterday, I skipped watching the UT game live on TV to go see our Spurs in person. UT ate the Jayhawks' dinners (night game) without my mojo from watching and wearing my burnt orange. The Spurs treated me to what I've needed whether they needed my mojo or not: a dominating beatdown of an opponent to end this misery streak. Stats and a song after the jump.

Your song sounds sad but it is optimistic. I'm breaking out my favorite band for this one Copeland's "When Finally Set Free". We are "finally set free" of this losing streak. Not only that, but I think we are just starting a winning streak. I posted a couple of weeks ago that if we could make it past the Wizards game over .500 we'd stay that way for the rest of the season. At 5-6, we're just going to have to wait until after Golden State on Wednesday and then @ Houston on Friday to cement it.

1. You think Pop was pleased with our defense holding them to 33.3% shooting for the game? They averaged less than 20 points for the first 3 quarters. We only had one more offensive rebound, but if you factor in that they missed 56 shots, holding them to less than 20% offensive boards is damn impressive. The league's worst offensive rebounding teams are Cleveland at 20.6% and New York at 20.7%.

2. I worship at the shrine of TD. Tim Duncan was just shy of a triple double at half. We were dominating them so bad, he only had to play 27 minutes which is probably the only reason he didn't get it. He didn't even get a double double finishing with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. TIM DUNCAN DOMINATES!!!

3. Our bench, without Manu, shot 17 of 40 (43%) compared to their 10 of 37 (27%). Hill was not good at 3 of 10 and no FTA's which I'll take as room for improvement. Finley didn't help with his 2 of 7 either, but 2 of 7 is good for a zombie. Without those guys having coldish shooting nights, this game could have been ugly.... If Bonner can get 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block after every Fred Silva bashing of him, I think Fred might need to make his analysis more regular.

4. Oberto co-lead their team in +/- at +1.

5. Mike Miller has been having a great season and his 7 minutes were really disappointing. I mean he wasn't disappointing. The fact that he got injured and had to leave was really disappointing. I like the Wizards, mostly because I think they have the talent (if healthy) to challenge one of the Eastern powers in the playoffs. Many people will throw this game away as beating a bottom dweller fodder team. The Spurs wanted this game more. Parker and Duncan's aggression was amazing so if this is your only time watching the Wizards, know they are better than this. I hope this team can get healthy and makes this win look even more impressive in hindsight. They did just beat Cleveland last week in Jamison's first game of the season. I think that is the Wizards team we should expect on a nightly basis.

6. Bonus: I just noticed this and had to add it. Parker lead all Spurs with a +/- of +31. The next closest was Duncan at +19. Oh, Parker, we missed you so...

This is the win I think we all needed. Enjoy it and I'm predicting it right here: The Spurs are going to go into that Boston game with a 9-6 record.

Preview - Utah Jazz @ San Antonio Spurs

Basketball John — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:57:43 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

Manu, you just can't flop effectively without the floppy hair. You're going to have to sit a bit.

Browse more photos »

We all partied like it was 1999 when the Jazz last won in SA. I've written this before, but at this point I want the win just so we don't have to talk/hear about it anymore. The actual win itself would be secondary.

The Spurs are giving us one of the better chances we've had because both Tony Parker and Manu will be out with injuries. I'd like to say that beating them with those two playing would bring more satisfaction, but it won't. I just want a win in SA before the 00s close out.'

It's already been over ten years since we won there with that win coming in Feb of 1999. We played them again in May and lost, starting the current streak.

If you take a look at the roster the last time we won, it's of course completely turned over. Nobody on the current team has ever won in SA.

It was also the strike-shortened year. The Jazz were 11-2 at that point despite it being in February. The key to that win was that they played some great D. Duncan got his, but nobody else had a good game. They held the Spurs to 41% shooting and forced 17 turnovers.

Let's hope that it's the same case tonight. Even with Parker and Manu out, it's important not to let someone like Richard Jefferson have a career night or for George Hill to hit another 45 three-pointers.

I have to say I've been swayed a bit by the team's recent play on the road. I don't know why I keep getting my hopes up. But just going on feeling and emotion alone, the team doesn't seem to have that look of despair about them right now.

In fact, are they, GULP, having fun as Boozer states,

Carlos Boozer punctuated Wednesday's victory by slapping the backboard after his follow-up dunk with 2:53 remaining, drawing an immediate (and automatic) technical foul. He joked after the game about last trying such a move when he was 17.

"It’s worth it, though," Boozer said of the technical. "I’m having fun out there. My teammates are having fun. It got my teammates hyped, it got the crowd hyped. That’s part of basketball. I mean, you get T’s like that, that’s the fun part of basketball."

Both teams are coming off a game last night so that should factor in evenly for them. The Jazz really have some momentum right now and this could be the a huge kicker for them if they are able to pull out a win tonight.

Game Thread @ 6

Game 9 Recap: Oklahoma City 101, San Antonio 98

Zorgon — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:08:16 -0000

Yahoo! Sports Box Score:

Good interior defense? Against the Spurs? Wow!

We moved the mountain!

I'm a bit in shock after this win, really. The spurs had a full lineup, a 2 game winning streak, and were at home....he did we manage to win? It might be my image of the spurs being the NBA's impenetrable wall of defense, which is about half a decade out of date, but man, am I excited about this win.

The game was fairly tight during the duration of its run, except when the Spurs had a 53-43 lead near the end of the 2nd. But, that was when the Thunder really showed up, as they were back in front with 9:18 to go in the 3rd.

After that bad run of luck, the Thunder never trailed by more than a point, so their victory should have seemed secure. Yet, these are the Spurs we're talking about, so there's no way one can ever count them out of a game. With 31 seconds to go in the 4th, they were down by 6, and it was looking pretty bad for them. But then, George Hill made a 3, cutting the lead to just one possession. After Kevin Durant made both of his free throws, Tony Parker promptly made a layup, keeping the gap at one possession. We all held our breath as Kevin Durant barely missed one freethrow, only increasing the lead to 4. Michael Finley missed a 3, but the Spurs managed to tip it in in what looked like a mess from a College game. As the lead was down to two with 2 seconds to go on the clock at this point, Thabo Sefolosha was in the same situation as Kevin Ollie was last game. If he makes both, the game is sealed, but if he misses one, the game is in danger of overtime. Guess what happened? He missed one. Luckily, the Spurs could barely get it over half court before time expired, and George Hill had to resort to an extremely long, leaping 3 that easily missed the mark.

And now, the Thunder are 5-4!

Below: Awards, Analysis

There's no question as to who tonight's Thunder Wonder is. Russell Westbrook had a cool 19 Points on 7-13 Shooting, 5 Rebounds, and 11 Assists, making for his first solid performance in a while. I mean, he outperformed Tony Parker! That's a statement in and of itself, even though Parker was coming back from an injury. Also, Jeff Green did more than enough to earn the Thunder Down Under award, scoring 21 Points on 8-19 shooting, and grabbing 10 rebounds.

It was clear that Scott Brooks wanted to exploit the fact that the Spurs didn't have a very good defending center, as Nenad Krstic took 3 of the first 4 shots. He missed two of them, but he finished with a solid 5-11 shooting performance, with a surprisingly high 7 Rebounds, 2 Steals, and 3 Blocks. Nevertheless, sometimes oyou wish that he could make his mid-range shots more often. They're hardly ever contested, and he manages to brick half of them.

A key to the victory could have been the fact that the Thunder managed to outrebound the Spurs. One would think that such a team would manage to be excellent rebounders, but for some reason, guys like Nenad Krstic were grabbing rebounds for us, and nobody but McDyess and Duncan was able to grab rebounds for the Spurs.

One can't really give a Thunder Wonder award for this game fairly, because....well, nobody had a bad performance. So, I'll just give it to Thabo Sefolosha for missing a crucial free throw at the end of the game. Yes, fate can be cruel.

On San Antonio's side of things, you'd got to expect better things from players like Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson. Together, they combined for 1-12 shooting and 11 points. Sure, Ginobili did some rebounding and distributing, but you'd expect these guys to get at least 10 points a game on their own. Still, there's no question that Tim Duncan was the Thunder Plunderer for this game. He had 22 Points, 10 Rebounds, 3 Assists, and a couple of sick dunks. Even when some things go wrong for the Spurs, Duncan is the only constant. You can't discount George Hills contribution, either, as he scored 18 points too make up for Ginobili and Jeffersons floundering. And Tony Parker had his usual performance, adding 17 Points, 5 Rebounds, and 5 Assists.

Next Game: Versus the Clippers, Sunday, November 15th, at 6:00 PM Central Standard Time

As a Taco Bell fire sauce packet once said: "Ah, we meet again."

Game 9 Preview: Oklahoma City at San Antonio

Zorgon — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:33:05 -0000

by Eric Gay - AP

Get away from our basket!

View full size photo »

This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.

Time: 7:30 PM Central Standard Time

Place: The American Telephone & Telegraph Center, San Antonio, Texas

TV: Fox Sports Net Oklahoma, KMYS My Network TV 35

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)

Enemy Blog(s): Pounding the Rock, 48 Minutes of Hell, Project Spurs

Backstory: The Spurs are like the old, forgotten team. They won a championship not so long ago and they continually make moves to stay competitive, but injuries just keep getting in the way of true success. This year, that description has held true to what the Spurs are. They made some off-season buzz by obtaining Richard Jefferson to fill a hole at Small Forward, but not near the amount of news the Magic made by grabbing Vince Carter, the Cavaliers made by grabbing Shaq, or the Lakers made by grabbing Ron Artest. And this season has started out with injury after injury, firstly to Tony Parker and secondly to Tim Duncan. One of them is probably going to play tonight, but we are unsure of who. Thus, I am very unsure of whom is going to win this game.

Meanwhile, the Thunder have been the epitome of average. At times, they look like they're on top of the world, able to compete with teams like the Lakers and blow out the short handed Magic, but at other times, they look pretty bad, barely beating the Clippers and playing extremely ugly games against the Trail Blazers and Kings. One never knows what we'll do against a slow, monotonous team like the Spurs, but considering we split the series last year, we have a fair shot at beating them.

Below: Matchups, Prediction

Matchups: (Please Note that the Spurs lineup wavers from game to game, so I'll just follow the lineup Pounding the Rock says that the Spurs will have.)

Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Matt Bonner

Wow, a matchup of two outside shooting Centers! To be honest, I haven't seen much of Matt Bonner, but I'm pretty sure he's not much of an inside guy. I'd say that Bonner has the advantage outside, whereas Krstic has the advantage inside.

Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Tim Duncan (Possibly Jefferson or Blair)

Well, this is a mismatch if I've ever seen one. To be honest, if Green can get his outside shot going, this could turn very nasty. And, if Green doesn't get his outside shot going, this could also be very nasty. I could see either side dominating the matchup, but in the end, I think it will be a wash, with Green having less rebounds than usual. If Jefferson starts, I see him winning the matchup, as he's a more versatile scorer than Green.

Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Richard Jefferson (Possibly Michael Finley)

Durant wins this matchup either way, but if old man Finley gets the start here, I could see a Durant bonanza starting to form. If the Spurs are smart, he won't start here. Either way, I don't see Durants defense getting in the way of Jefferson or Finley, so I think they'll have good games as well.

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Keith Bogans (Possibly Michael Finley)

That's right, Manu Ginobili isn't starting. He'll often be the top performer for the Spurs, but he does it off the bench for some reason. Well, whatever floats the Spurs' boat is fine with me. I think that Sefolosha will win the matchup, just because of his recent performance in the intangible categories, something which really isn't seen in the Box Scores of Bogans. If Finley plays, I think Sefolosha can do a fair job of keeping him down. In his day, he was one of the NBAs best scorers, but these days, he's just alright.

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. George Hill (Possibly Tony Parker)

George Hill is a really nice scoring point guard to have, but he's not nearly the distributor Tony Parker is. With the way Westbrook has been playing, he's about equal to George Hill, but if Tony Parker plays, he'll find himself out of his league.

Battle of the Benches:

Well, by having Manu Ginobili on their bench, the Spurs get an automatic win here. Oh yeah, can they've got Antonio McDyess, Dejuan Blair, Roger Mason Jr., and Theo Ratliff as well. Talk about us getting outclassed.

Coaching and Intangibles:

Gregg Popovich is an excellent coach from way back, the Spurs are at home, and they've won their last two games without Duncan or Parker. I think even the dullest bowls of soup can determine who has the advantage here.

Bottom Line:

The odds are stacked against the Thunder, and if either Duncan or Parker play, we'll be up against even greater odds. But if the Thunder can focus on ball movement, Kevin Durant can luck into good matchups, and, if Duncan or Parker play, the Thunder can neutralize their threat, then we'll have a chance. But, in the Spurs house....I think we're going to fall back below .500.

Prediction: Spurs 85, Thunder 73

How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!

And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I might be here during the game to drop my thoughts as well. Go Thunder!

Poll

Who's going to win tonight?

The Oklahoma City Thunder

25 votes

The San Antonio Spurs

15 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

Spurs vs. Mavericks: Stats of the Game

BlaseE — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:36 -0000

I love the Spurs. I was at our elimination game last year and needed this so bad. Thank you Pop for not playing around with the starting lineup and setting the tone for the whole game. The substitutions were predictable and made tons of sense.

Stats? After the jump....

I got a good song for you this time. It's Dredg's Savior. I know Tim likes them too and put one of their songs on a TWSS awhile back. Some of the lyrics fit tonight. Our savior tonight was RJ. Clearly he picked up some of the FSM gospel from watching Manu go crazy against the Raptors. It mentions some stuff about revenge (There's no need for forgiveness, It's already said and done, But don't let revenge consume and take hold of you, Cause it will blind you) which I'm sure a lot of us were craving tonight; not that a Spurs fan should openly admit that a regular season game is revenge for a playoff defeat.

1. Dirk had 29 points on 9 of 27 shooting. Sure he got to the line 10 times and made them all but he looked out of rhythm for 90% of the game. He seemed to be preventing anyone else from finding a real great streak too. This stat was my girlfriend's pick.

2. RJ had 10 FTA's. I don't care that he missed 5. FTA's are a measure of being aggressive and getting into the paint. Even if one player is missing them, they can speed up the opponent going into the penalty so other players can get opportunities. RJ had more than every other player on the team combined, 10 to 9 and Bonner's 2 were just a forced foul at the end by the Mavs. Usually Duncan takes contact in the paint and gets to the foul line for us. Without him, it was great to see RJ step up...

3. ...which leads me to RJ stepping up in terms of minutes. We knew going into this season that Parker, Duncan, and Manu were likely to see reduced minutes because of injuries or playing in the summer for Parker. We brought in RJ to carry some load. If we played this game last year, how many minutes do Manu and Hill play and we still probably lose. RJ played 41 minutes. Bogans shared the load and finished second with 34.

Hill had a respectable 33, and Manu was able to play an efficient 29. Sure, you can say Blair saw limited minutes because of foul trouble or being a risk on defense, but I think 20 minutes and his first career start is pretty damn good for the rookie (playing for Pop). He finished with a +6 and some decent rebounding numbers and had one of the top highlights of the night, his block on Dirk. We shouldn't have to ask Blair to play any more than 20 minutes a night and last night, we were able to limit him with a shallow rotation.

4. This is just a funny stat line to me. James Singleton played 1 minute with 1 foul and a -10 plus/minus.