SB Nation User Blog: Gino20

The view from the upper bowl of EnergySolutions Arena (game observations)

Gino20 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:20:33 -0000

It was not a great game to be at for a Spurs fan. The late start time at least gave me a chance to show up early and, hopefully, snag a sig from my namesake. However, after leaving work a little late, needing to gas up, grab some grub, drive about an hour, park and walk maybe 3/4 mile, and pick up tickets at will call, there was no chance for an adult fanboy's dream to come true.

Was this an ominous sign for what would occur during the game?

Nah, I don't believe in that stuff.

The game, as you probably know, was competitive for a good chunk of the first quarter. The rest of the way, the lead seemed to hang in the 10-14 point range. There are some good things and some bad things that happened -- from our "Spurs fan perspective," it was mostly bad.

This is what I noticed (before looking at any box score):

Boozer was really, really good. He rebounded, hit jumpers, channeled his inner Hakeem Olajuwon with a couple of fadeaways, and maybe even showed some Duncan-like play. I say this at the risk of committing blasphemy. Oh, and speaking of Duncan, Boozer's usually much-maligned defense, combined with LOTS of help D, really helped limit Timmy.

Duncan looked like he struggled physically. Whether it's age, health, or a combination of the two, he did not look quick or sharp. There must have been five instances where he either got blocked, stripped, or tied up for a jump ball.

Parker was dominant in the first half. There were moments when he literally was a one-man fast break. A 1-on-4 fast break, even. And getting three-point plays while he was doing it. In the second half, however, things changed.

DeJuan Blair is a man. This guy was born in 1989. Nineteen eighty-nine! I was there -- at the game, not at DeBeast's birth -- with a buddy (he was rooting for the Jazz, but he's chill. By the way, I was sitting close to several Spurs fans, so that was decent), and we were looking at both teams' rosters and noticing that we were older than plenty of the players. My buddy couldn't believe he was older than all of the Jazz players except for a couple. But the number that jumped out was 1989.

Speaking of Blair, he really just manned his way around inside. Defensive rebound? Check. Offensive rebound? Check. Putback with three guys surrounding him? Check. Spin around a bigger, slower defender and use the rim to shield himself from the defense, then finish with a reverse lay-in? Check. Seriously, if you give this cat close to 35 minutes per game, he is a strong contender for Rookie of the Year.

Deron Williams is an outstanding ballplayer. But we all knew that. Still, he doesn't get the compliment of being called "otstanding."

The importance of Tim Kness to the Spurs success in 2009-10

Gino20 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:21:16 -0000

We all know Manu's injury was a big factor in last season's troubles, but don't forget about the other key to maintaining team health and success.

Tim Kness.

When Tim Kness felt well early last season, the team was very successful. In fact, Tim Duncan himself was dominant when Tim Kness felt up to par. Soon, however, Tim Kness started feeling pain and soreness. It was at this point that the team began to falter. You may also notice that Duncan's production went down in the 2nd half of the season when Tim Kness felt pain. I blame Tim Kness for this mess!

Quantifying Tim Duncan's value to the Spurs

Gino20 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:17:08 -0000

Fox Sports had quite the interesting column/slide show recently. They tried to determine which players in the NBA are worth "max money." If you have not read this already, be prepared for a surprise.

Citing economic conditions, as well as players' past, present and future worth to their teams, the author(s) settled on five players who were worth max dollars. Among those not making the cut:

Pierce, Gasol, Bosh, Melo, Dirk, Duncan, Chris Paul, D. Williams, Roy, Durant

Now some of these guys, I can understand being on the "not max-level player" list. Others could easily have a case made in their favor. Duncan is only one example who has given, and still gives, enough to be considered a max player. If they want to argue his age and a slight decline mean that he shouldn't get $100 M over the next 5 years, so be it. If they want to take the angle that what he did in the past should not factor into what he is paid in the future, fine. However the man is still more productive than all but a few players in the league.

Now that that's out of the way, I will spare you the details of what's great about Dirk or CP or D-Will and why they deserve their dough. Instead I will leave you with a link that will show you who these experts thought were max players. Some were obvious, while one in particular, a man whose career is often linked w/Duncan's, was a bit of a headscratcher.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/pgStory?contentId=9839674#sport=NBA&photo=9840882

Who do you think should be on this list? What do you think of the list from this link?

Matthew Powell

Gino20 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:52:19 -0000

I guess you could say this is an ode to this Web site's founder. Powell has since moved on to other things, but it's impressive to think what this site has become--so many users, posts and comments. And it all started at this blogspot location. Since then, the site became "Pounding the Rock." Eventually, it moved onto the Sports Blog Nation.

I think it is safe to say Matthew didn't foresee this much of an explosion from his original idea to start writing his personal opinions about his favorite basketball team (even if those opinions and ideas included trading Ginobili for Kevin Martin, or calling Michael Finley a dependable defender when we signed him). Who knows if Matt has checked out the Web Site recently or not? If he has, I would guess he would be impressed by what's going on. In fact, before "retiring" from PTR, I'm sure he was surprised by the quantity of witty, well-thought-out comments. And it all started with him. Others, such as Michael (stampler), really added to the quality, quantity and depth of writing. Since the blog's inception, there's been no looking back, and the snowball-like growth of PTR has continued.

So kudos to the founder of the best sports blog on the internets, with the best logo, too (based on the quote below, which is found at Spurs HQ... and by the way, pounding the rock into the shape of a Larry O'Brien trophy? Simply awsome! Quite the logo, if you ask me!)

“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

-Jacob Riis

Kelenna still a Warrior

Gino20 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:25:29 -0000

from espn:

Kelenna Azubuike will return to the Golden State Warriors after the club matched the Los Angeles Clippers' three-year, $9 million contract offer for the shooting guard on Thursday.

Azubuike averaged 8.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in 81 games last season with the Warriors, who signed the former Kentucky guard out of the NBA Developmental League in January 2007. He started 17 games for Golden State, and he should see more playing time next season after Baron Davis' departure for the Clippers, Mickael Pietrus' signing with Orlando and Monta Ellis' expected move to point guard.

"We are pleased to have Kelenna back in the fold," said Chris Mullin, the Warriors' top basketball executive. "He's a young and talented player who has continued to improve during his two seasons with our team. His versatility, athleticism and ability to shoot the 3-pointer certainly fit our style of play."

Azubuike, a restricted free agent, signed the offer sheet with the Clippers last Friday, giving Golden State seven days to match it. The Warriors, who earlier signed high-scoring free agent swingman Corey Maggette from the Clippers, also signed forward Ronny Turiaf away from the Lakers last week with a similar offer-sheet deal.

Josh Childress to play in Greece

Gino20 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:18:28 -0000

Yep. The Euro rules, and the dollar drools. If only we had signed the kid.

Anyway, Childress will be playing in Greece, as reported by the worldwide misleader here.

Could this become a trend? Will the almighty Euro trump the dollar (with respect to signing pro basketball players), limit the number of foreigners in the Association, and even steal away a good chunk of American ballers, a la Childress and high schooler Brandon Jennings? It remains to be seen.

David Stern must be silently sweating this stuff out.

Manu told me he will play in the Olympics

Gino20 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:32:25 -0000

Well, no, no he didn't tell me exactly ... but this Web site, it told me about Manu's decision:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/features/rumors?&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2ffeatures%2frumors

What are your thoughts, comments, or other things that I have to write in order to have enough characters to write a FanPost?

I, for one, am actually happy about this. I trust his judgment and I know this means a lot to him and his countrymen. Plus, this must be his final - or at least penultimate - world competition.

My most boringest post ever? Yes!

Gino20 — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:52:55 -0000

I've been too riled up for the game today. Just nerves all over the place. I am rocking the Ginobili jersey--at work!--for the first time since, I think, opening night-Oct. 30 vs. POR. Just outside my <em>trabajo</em> I found a dude wearing a NY Giants hat (bandwagon alert!) who saw me w/the Spurs jersey and he said something about how we're going to get killed today, then I said I think we'll will win in a close one, and he basically said "yeah, it will be close. Good luck."

A couple of min later I ran into a guy that said, "Game 7 tonight, eh?!" I said, "Yeah, should be a good one," and he said "I hope so."

Well I'm not sure what to make of this, since I am in Utah, but anyway.....

GO SPURS!!!

P.S. The game is at 6:30 my time, I work until 9, but I don't think the stoogetv feed will be blocked. Yes! But we have some meeting that will be about 45 min, and I was unlucky enough to be scheduled for the meeting at 7:30 pm! Other folks will have the meeting tomorrow.GRRR!

That sounds about right

Gino20 — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:33:09 -0000

Not that it's of great concern to us right now, but the official NBA MVP ballot finally was revealed. Duncan finished 7th and Ginobili was 10th. No big whoop there, but it's nice to see Gino in the top 10 for that award considering how he often gets overlooked and may or may not ever finish that high again. The only other time he had this much MVP consideration of any kind in the Association was in the '05 Finals.

http://www.nba.com/news/kobe_mvp_080506.html

2005 Playoff Manu or 2007-08 regular season Manu?

Gino20 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:29:22 -0000

Which version of Manu Ginobili has been better: the 2005 Playoff Manu or the 2007-08 regular season Manu? I think this one is worthy of a vote from our expert panel (the PTR members).
Take everything into consideration. Remember the performances, check out stats (although they don't tell the whole story...ok is this 300 characters yet?)

Poll

Which Manu is better, this year's version or the '05 playoff Manu?

2007-08 Manu

25 votes

2005 Playoff Manu

19 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed