I think it would simply be the right thing that in the future for any game or post where we are doing a head to head comparison between lineups between the Spurs and (Rest of the NBA) we STOP doing it by "starting line-ups" and do it by First Team line-ups.  Manu is clearly our First Team SG. He plays more minutes during the regular season than either of the other guys and depending who you are you think he is our second or third best player on the team (or the son of the FSM). Besides, the guy is just too darn goodlooking to not have his mugshot up there every night that we play and a few nice things said about him.

Half way through the season our beloved Spurs have stumbled-skipped-and-hopped their way to a 28-13 record. We seem to have really found a knack for squeazing by the really lousy teams by 2 or 3 pts and playing mediocre against the good teams.

A common complaint is that we are just one decent rebounding big away from being capable of taking the likes of the Lakers, Celtics, Cavs or Magic in a 7-game series - Mr. Hollinger referenced this today in his Per Diem. Spurs detractors cite the usual reasons for the end of the Spurs run: we are old, unathletic and small. New claims of this have also materialized: such as our decline in defensive team stats or Pop flat out saying we SUCK defensively. I am not here to judge which position is right but I thought it would be interesting to view what big men might be available and what are the Spurs chances of snagging them IF we were interested in them.

 The Spurs have precious few trading assets to get a quality big - and preferably an athletic rebounding one - but lets put our bat-shit crazy scientist hat on and examine (or imagine) the possibilities...

Gentlemen, behold!!

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Not a Recap, but some thoughts on last night's game.

1. Tony played some of his most selfish ball in a while and his FG% for the night reflected that. A 3-17 shooting night that did not even come close to reflecting how bad he played. Taking loads of mid-distance jump shots before even executing one pass, driving into 3-guys in the paint and putting up weak or contested shots while ignoring open 3pt shooters such as Manu, Finley, Mason. 4 assists and 4 turnovers - Letting his guy, another guy who has no business having career nights against the Spurs, blow-up for 24 pts including game-icers. Even Timmy and Manu seemed pissed at him after a couple of crappy selfish plays he executed in the 4th when we were still in the game. National TV brought out some of the worst in our Wee-Little-Freedom-Fry.

2. Manu had a less than stellar night shooting-wise, 4-12 is not enough from him, however minus a selfish stretch when he was playing with our scrubs in the 2nd quarter and literally had no other option than taking shots himself, he played unselfishly and put lots of heart into the game. Plays that come into mind: 1) two offensive rebounds he got in that second quarter (I saw him go hard to the hoop jonesing after offensive rebounds in heavy traffic quite a few times during the game, even taking some rough hits; 2) two hard fouls against Magic players to take away dunks in the 4th quarter when the game was slipping away after we had made a run. In short, his shots weren't falling but he competed hard and unselfishly and contributed in other ways. He might have even had had one fewer Turnover if Finley's reaction-time to passes wasn't 5-years deceased,

3. Timmy was a bit less than solid, but he was the best out of the Big-3. He made 5 of 6 free throws, 7-17FGs for 19pts. Looked disgusted at having lost this game when Pop say him with 3 minutes left.

4. Albatross had a nice steal and burnt Jameer Nelson down the floor for a layup and foul in the second (I think). Would love to see more of those. Didn't do much more to impress me all night, but played way, way better defense on the Magic's PG when he was in the game, than Parker.

5. Bonner, 3-5 FG. Must have got tired from launching all those bricks vs. the whorenets and learnt his role - except about that part about playing good defense.

6. Who didn't love Bruce bitching out Finley on that blown 3pt coverage rotation?

7. Thomas's savvy veteran "money" jump shot - I think I actually saw a few of them go in! Sign of the apocalypse?

8. Rashard Lewis stripping Parker on a pass right under the basket after the inbounds and dunking on Duncan + 1.  Sweet baby jesus! Tony's play took five years off Timmy's lifespan right then and there.

Schedule looks favorable next ten or so games - and no nationally televised games which means Tony's vanity/popularity stunts won't cost us any games. Sorry, I guess I am an unabashed Tony basher, even if I sometimes love the Wee-Frenchman when he is on (and not "on" as in that shirtless poster - seriously, is he trying to compete with Peja for the least manly foreign NBA player poster?

Being bored, tired and hung over, I had no better idea than to join a crappy J.A. Adande ESPN chat around 3pm to see if I could get this KG asskisser to show some Manu Love... surprise, J.A. is a verified moron.

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