SB Nation User Blog: LatinD

Toronto @ San Antonio Photo Recap: Bonnercalypse

LatinD — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:41:44 -0000

This isn't a real recap, per se, but merely an excuse to show you more of jannieannie's wonderful pictures for this game.

However, I just remembered that my first real post was a running diary of a Spurs/Raptors game, so I decided to waddle in nostalgia and try my hand at one of those again. Fortunately ILP has an archive for the latest games, so I can easily relive last night's fun. (If you missed the game, drop me an e-mail.)

Fasten your virtual seatbelts, and join me after the jump.

I think Manu stole Tim's hops

FIRST QUARTER

Our starters: RJ, Hill, Ratliff, Bogans and Finley. There's only one reason for that lineup, as far as I can tell, and it's defense. The theory, I imagine, is that Bogans (the Spurs' last-minute gamble towards defensive efficiency, people say) and Ratliff (shot blocker extraordinaire) would make up for Finley's antique self. 4 defensive "specialists" and a willful mummy: not too shabby. As anyone looking at the boxscore can guess, it didn't work - it couldn't, because two players weren't as good as advertised.
Ratliff was assigned to Bosh, and that proved to be our undoing during those first few minutes (and again at the beginning of the second half). Ratliff permanently gambled for blocks when Bosh posted up, and jumped early and often. That resulted in Bosh either getting the foul or simply pushing him around and scoring easily. Apparently Pop noticed as much, because McDyess quickly subbed in for him and he only racked up 8:30 minutes of playing time in the game. If Ratliff can't defend the opposing team's center, he has no business playing.
The other offender was Richard Jefferson. RJ did many positive things in this game, and I will mention them later on, but defense wasn't one of them, and especially not in the first quarter. It wasn't completely his fault: his assignment during this stretch, Bargnani, had 4 or 5 inches on him, and is too good of a shooter (he's averaging over 20 points per game, I believe) to be given that advantage. And yet, I imagine that will be a problem we'll have to deal with eventually considering the personnel the Lakers and the Celtics show off every night. We are a short team, and it's a problem when our opponents' frontcourt can shoot the ball.

Regardless, RJ still looks disinterested on defense at times, and it worries me. If he doesn't fully buy into Pop's philosophy, we'll have no one to guard the Carters and Artests of this league: even worse, we'll have no one to guard Carter and Artest.

But he sure was good at this

Bogans was a nice surprise. Much like our dear hack owner, Wayne Vore, I focus on the Spurs during the regular season and only watch a few other games. Bogans is still very much an enigma to me, a few descriptions read on blogs and a couple of unflattering photos. Lately he has shown me a lovely jumper and confidence from behind the arc, and unlike Bowen, he can drive to the basket as if he's moving with purpose and forethought. I like it. His one-on-one defense was good-not-great last night, too.

Bogan's good enough to crack the rotation, or at least he seems to be so far. My biggest problem with him isn't what he brings to this team, it's what he keeps away: one Malik Hairston, young man of many skills and every bit the defensive pest Bogans appears to be. Like many of you, I hoped that Tony's absence would represent an opportunity for Malik to show whether his Toros/Summer League prowess will translate to the NBA, but for some reason it never happened. Malik had almost 1 minutes of lacktion to enjoy, and that was it. Why does Pop refuse to play the youngster? I honestly don't know - beyond Pop's GOMLness spiking at the sudden youth of the roster, I can only imagine that he feels that the team has reached some sort of rookie critical mass and fears that they won't be able to adapt with another newbie learning to play with his new teammates.

Personally, I think he's just stubborn.
32-21 at the end of the first quarter. An ominous start for the game.

SECOND QUARTER

I think we're able to glean two key factors of Pop's plan at this point. First, the veteran's minutes will be kept as low as possible, which was something every pundit and blogger guessed Pop would do before the season started. What might be news is just how much he's been limiting them: so far only RJ averages over 30 minutes (30.3, to be precise) and the only player I see passing that limit when he comes back is Tony Parker. That's both intelligent and very brave of Pop, because limiting Manu and Tim to 20 something minutes per game might make sense when looking at the big picture, but the average fan wants to win now, and win often.

Tony couldn't bear this sight

The second is RJ's emergence as our third creator. As Tim C. mentioned in his quick 'cap, whoever said he was a one-dimensional scorer was flat out wrong. I don't have the stats, but RJ probably was asked to create even more often than Manu in this game. In fact, if you asked me to guesstimate the point duties ranking for the evening, it would go like this: 1. RJ, 2. Manu, 3. Hill, 4. Mason.

I'm sure most of you are happy to notice Roger's diminished role (which will only be cut further when Tony comes back), and yet when I look at his very poor shooting percentages for the season so far (.308 FG%, .238 3PT%), I can't help wonder if his accuracy depends to some degree on his usage. Ever since last season's failed playoffs experience, we've been trying to turn Mason into a spot-up shooter, a better Finley. Maybe being Finley isn't as easy as it looks.

Regardless, RJ proved that he can drive and kick out, and we all know how important that is for our offense.

Every time Mason creates, one of Pop's wines turns into vinegar

Tim Varner's analysis on our team defense up to this point is a must read for every Spurs fan. Click here now.
As far as I could tell, Hill spent most of his time on the court deferring to Manu and RJ, and he still found ways to blow my mind, making the most of his minutes at the helm. We already knew he could use his amazing athleticism to finish strong at the rim, but his different hesitation dribbles and his odd combination of tear drop/finger roll have never looked so sharp. He was quick, decisive, fearless, and even had time to dish out 5 assists.

What's Cubits' ceiling? As much as I like having him as an option to Tony to bring up the ball when the Frenchman is resting, the truth is that while RJ and Manu are active his point guard duties will be largely limited to that sole task. The development of his corner 3 gives me hope that he can become an efficient contributor at his everyday more common spot-up shooter / de-facto shooting guard role. Cubits is in San Antonio to stay, and the more excuses we can find to give him minutes in the next few years while Tony dominates the point guard role, the better.
63-63 at the half. We had this chit.

You've been Manued

THIRD QUARTER

The much-maligned hoagie-loving red-haired Matt Bonner was yesterday, as I said during the game thread, the Robin to Manu's Batman. He scored triples, hooks, ever-so-soft short jumpers and even had an awkward-yet-mighty two-handed slam dunk after driving from the 3-point line all the way to the basket. Best of all, he hustled from the beginning of the game to the end.

I kept trying to figure out why we simply couldn't get a stop in this game. In the first half, the answer was simple: incredible poor interior defense. Theo on Bosh was a disaster; DeJuan proved that he's too short to guard centers like Bosh and too unexperienced to guard power forwards; McDyess seems too slow to keep up with quick, athletic players like Bargnani or Amir Johnson, but held his own against Bosh. So who else do we have right now? This probably won't be a popular opinion, but at the moment Matt Bonner is our best option at defending those quick, tall men that can shoot over everyone. In fact, considering how similar McDyess' and Tim's skill sets seemed to me so far, I'm not sure which one's supposed to guard Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom or David West of Dirk Nowinsky if they're both playing together. I hope that my assessment of Dice' problems with quick forwards is wrong, but if it isn't, we might just have to learn to live with it.

Finally, in the third quarter our interior D improved (With Dice on Bosh and Bonner on Bargnani) - and then Bargnani and Belinelli got hot from beyond, and it was all for naught.
Seriously, why does Bosh look so much like a Deinonychus? It can't be healthy.
Something Hill still needs to work on: long, high passes when our opponent decide to use a full court press. He sends one or two of those to the nosebleeders every game, and he even hit the backboard's structure during the fourth quarter.

Bosh pounces

It was midway through this quarter that Manu started feeling it. Tim Varner and Tim C. have already covered Manu's magical night, but I just wanted to point out that I loved how he worked his way out of that shooting funk he's been in since the season started. Manu's first field goal attempt was a layup that nearly made it home, but rattled off the rim. His second layup was blocked, and the night looked bleak at that point.

His first points came off free throws after he battled for a long offensive rebound, grabbed it and was fouled. That set the pace for the rest of the night: Manu focused on driving to the basket and drawing the foul, or passing to open teammates. He had 7 assists at the half, and slowly his shot came back naturally to him - midway through the second quarter he made a three and there was no stopping him after that.
Toronto ahead by 2 at the end of the quarter, 95-93.

A whole lotta this

FOURTH QUARTER

I noticed a lot of empty seats on TV. I honestly don't understand how that can happen when you have a team that features Tim, Manu, Tony and RJ. I imagine the economic crisis might have something to do with it, but it still smells foul to me. It's a pity I can't buy a season pass to show my appreciation to our FO...
Sean Elliotism: "Wow, I need to get a rabies shot!" At least our homers are funny.
Despite RJ's best efforts, we were still virtually tied with 9 minutes left in the game. Manu came in, did his Manu things and put the game away with timely blocks and deadly daggers from deep. We all fall in love and break up messily with the +/- stat at different moments, but Manu's +21 sums up the story of this game perfectly.
As I commented somewhere, scoring points is fun, and scoring is also part of winning. Last season we started with no offense and no defense, and while we more or less regained our defensive identity through the season, we were never able to score fluidly. The D will come - enjoy the arsenal available in our new and improved Spurs.
We win, scoring a zillion points.

Your Three Stars

SENDOFF

Sorry, I was going to write a running diary and then I couldn't. I just put hands to keyboard and ended up with this... Ah well. At least you got to see janie's pictures, and I got to rewatch a fun, fun game that brought some much needed fresh air to this humble corner of the blogosphere.

Bring it on, Goldy Locks.

The Onion: Tim Duncan Makes Citizen's Foul Call

LatinD — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:04:23 -0000

The Onion: Tim Duncan Makes Citizen's Foul Call

How they love our Timmy.

This Week in San Antonio Spurs Basketball: Monday Panic Attack

LatinD — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:44:59 -0000

A bit over 6% of the regular season is behind us now, and the team's losing when faced with real teams. Should we panic? That's a tough one, let me think...

No.

See? Easy. Now join us after the jump, as we recap a pretty craptastic week.

Here we'll provide information, links and summaries for all the games the Spurs played during the week, so that no one has to miss Pop sneering at a reporter.

This week:

Date	Game	Result
Thu 05	Spurs 99 @ Jazz 113	L
Fri 06	Spurs 84 @ Trail Blazers 96	L

Standings
Current record: 2-3

Upcoming games:

Date	Opponent	Time	Local TV	Nat TV	Radio
Mon 09	vs Toronto	7:00pm	FSNSW		WOAI-AM 1200
Wed 11	vs Dallas	7:00pm	FSNSW		WOAI-AM 1200
Sat 14	vs Oklahoma City	7:30pm	My35 HD		WOAI-AM 1200

Game #4: San Antonio Spurs 99 @ Utah Jazz 113

Boxscore

Official recap

Highlights

Pounding The Rock: Game Preview #4 - San Antonio Spurs @ Utah Jazz - Back from Vacation
CapHill tries her hand at this previewing deal, and she nails it.

Pounding The Rock: PtR Quick Cap: The defense didn't make the road trip...
...and it sure didn't go straight to Portland instead.

Pounding The Rock: San Antonio @ Utah Game Thread
Davis shows us how these things are done. Part 2

Pounding The Rock: Spurs @ Jazz: Stat of the Game: 7
Spurs lacked defense against the Jazz. 48 minutes of hell got it right.

48 Minutes of Hell: San Antonio Spurs 99, Utah Jazz 113: the Late Edition
"The Spurs performance on defense last night was underwhelming at best, deeply concerning at worst."

Project Spurs: Jazz Blowout Win Brings Spurs Back Down To Earth
I think we were all pretty much rooted after the Bulls beatdown.

SpursTalk: Game Thoughts: Spurs @ Jazz - Nov. 5
timvp shares his thoughts on the game.

Spurs Dynasty; A Tale of Two Cities
"As in San Antonio, and every other city in the Association." Jazz-Spurs recap.

MySA: Spurs come out of break bittersweet
"Spurs Notebook: While the Spurs used their four-day break to get new players caught up on the system, it might have come at the expense of the team's momentum."

Game #5: San Antonio Spurs 84 @ Portland Trail Blazers 96

Boxscore

Official recap

Highlights

Pounding The Rock: Game Preview #5: San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Blazers
A good preview where Tim couldn't lose. Unfortunately, we could.

Pounding The Rock: NBA Live 10 Simulation: Regular Season: San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Trail Blazers
Science failed us. I blame Tony's injury, of course. And Matt Bonner's cold hand. And... and...

Pounding The Rock: San Antonio @ Portland Game Thread
We came, we chatted, we panicked. Part 2

Pounding The Rock: PtR Quick Cap: Blazers Thump Spurs 96-84
Because winning 3 quarters out of 4 isn't enough.

Pounding The Rock: This Year's 1st Quarter is Last Year's 3rd Quarter: Blazers-Spurs Recap
CapHill recaps another heartbreaking loss.

Pounding The Rock: Spurs @ Blazers: Stat of the Game: 17
BlaseE writes: "My first Stat of the Game post was 17, but that was margin of victor. This time it is FGA differential in the second half."

48 Minutes of Hell: San Antonio Spurs 84, Portland Trailblazers 96
"Another disappointing loss on the road."

Spurs Dynasty: The Rip City Ripping
Secretchord53 recaps the newest debacle against the Blazers, live from the scene of the disaster.

MySA: Second verse for Spurs in Portland
"Brandon Roy scored 24 points as the Trail Blazers squandered nearly all of a 17-point lead in the second half before holding on for a 96-84 victory over the Spurs at the Rose Garden."


This is the section for all the original Pounding the Rock content, including the FanPosts that have been recommended by the community.
	Pounding The Rock: Not Quite A Wallpaper: BatMANU Begins Davis catches the 'chop fever. Pounding The Rock: Spurs International Roundup -- Tiago and Nando Square Off Guess who won. Pounding The Rock: Dante Critiques: The Stern Goes to Hell Edition Take a trip through Hell and the NBA, via the poet Dante. Pounding The Rock: State of the Silver Stars Nation Our gals carry on across the sea. Pounding The Rock: Welcome to PtR. Let Me Give You A Tour Some amazing music, and a gentle introduction to our blog. Pounding The Rock: Austin Toros Draft Day The D-League draft was Thursday night, and Wayne covered it. Pounding The Rock: Stat of the Week: 0 ACLs Fred writes: "As most are now aware, DeJuan Blair is missing both of his ACLs. I had many questions about DeJuan Blair's knees so I decided to find the most knowledgeable person possible in order to get some answers. Enter Steve Stratton, PHD, PT, ATC and founder of Steven Stratton Physical Therapy located in San Antonio, TX." Pounding The Rock: Editorial: Why Tony Parker's Injury is Good for the Spurs Tim C. explains how the Spurs could benefit from Tony Parker's temporary absence.
	Pounding The Rock: George Hill: Tony Parker 0.99? Our dear romes performs the most disturbing 'chop ever, and then writes a pretty interesting post, to boot. Pounding The Rock: WatchSpurs Rand compared Tony to Rorschach, and I still loved this. Pounding The Rock: Ginobili vs. Dracula, Part 1 Mysterious new poster PEN is crazy. Pounding The Rock: Ginobili vs. Dracula, Chapter 2 PEN enthralls us with another installment of his ongoing tale.


In this section you'll find every bit of Spurs-related news we were able to find through the Intertubes during the week.
	48 Minutes of Hell: Those Tired Old Innovators Tim Varner writes: "The Spurs are one of the most forward-thinking outfits in American sports."
	Project Spurs: Is Michael Finley a Starter? David Thiessen's take on this question. I say "of course not", you crazy man. Where's Hairston when you need him? Project Spurs: Redesigning the Spurs Jerseys Michael De Leon tries his hand at designing a new jersey. I like it. Project Spurs: Spurscast In Spanish How cool is that Michael and Jeff tried this? Project Spurs: Who's Taking The Final Shot? Good times. Project Spurs: Should Matt Bonner Continue To Start? Probably not, but read what Jeff García has to say about it.
	MySA: Spurs' Parker expects to be out a week "Tony Parker says the sprained ankle that knocked him from Friday night’s 96-84 loss against the Trail Blazers isn’t as severe as others he’s suffered." MySA: Spurs notebook: Team unfazed by new rims "If the new, more collapsible rims introduced before the start of the season are really creating more so-called "shooter's rolls," the Spurs haven't noticed." No kidding. MySA: Back-to-back of bad news "The Spurs didn't get to see former teammate Ime Udoka at the Rose Garden on Friday. He was cut by the Blazers after camp and is now a King." MySA: Parker injury hands Spurs' reins to Hill "George Hill takes over as the Spurs' point guard for however long Tony Parker is out with a sprained ankle." MySA: Spurs still experiencing growing pains "There are several reasons for a slow 2-3 start, according to coach Gregg Popovich." MySA: Can practice schedule make Spurs dream team? "The Spurs have shifted to afternoon practice sessions this season after a Stanford study showed athletes who get more sleep saw improvement in their games and were able to recover faster." MySA: Blowouts allowing Duncan more rest Not that blowouts have been the norm so far.
	Spurs Dynasty: Bat-Man A recap of this historical night. Al Hamnik: Popovich, Spurs a perfect fit That smirk will be legend, too.

For the record, yes, we know the text within the tables has a smaller font size since the SB Nation facelift. And no, we don't know why. Do you?

State of the Silver Stars Nation

LatinD — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:36:07 -0000

Becky would've caught that bat, too
(via silverstarsnation.com)

A Silver Stars post? At this time of the year? I'm afraid that's what you're seeing, guys.

We'll get back to our scheduled Spurs obsession soon, but I thought it would be interesting to know what our gals are up to during the offseason. For those of you who don't know, in women's basketball European leagues (in particular the Russian league) actually pay much higher salaries than the WNBA, so just about every qualified WNBA player makes the trip to the Old Continent once they're sent fishing here. It's an interesting reversal of the NBA situation, isn't it?

The alchemical secret to turn the WNBA into a goldmine, after the jump:

For Starters

Most of this information (and the photos) comes from Silver Stars Nation. It's the best Silver Stars blog out there, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

As I said, the European basketball season has begun, and our gals are working their craft overseas. I'm going to simply do a player-by-player breakdown of them, and tell you what they are up to these days. You can follow the links to Silver Stars Nation's pages for more information and some chatting.

The Team

	BECKY HAMMON Status In love. ...I mean, eh, that Becky has actually left Russia not a week ago, and she signed for Spain’s Ros Casares, one of the juggernauts of the Spanish league. I'm sure she was paid big bucks, too, because she was one of the better paid athletes in the Russian league. Belinda Snell, DeLisha Milton, Anna Montanana, Amaya Valdemoro and Erika De Souza all play in Ros Casares. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Becky's blog
	SOPHIA YOUNG Status She will be playing in Turkey for the third straight season. Her team, Galatasary, will be competing in the both the Turkish league and the FIBA-sponsored Euroleague. The Turkish season already started, and Sophia's doing well for herself and her team. In EuroLeague they will be competing in Group A, the most difficult group that pits them against Russian Powerhouse UMMC and Spanish powerhouse Ros Casares (remember what I said about Becky?). The EuroLeague season already began, and Galatasary got spanked. Links Silver Stars Nation's threads: Thread 1, Thread 2 Sophia's site
	MEGAN FRAZEE Status Who? Megan Frazee, that's who. She will be playing her first overseas season with Cankaya. Cankaya is a Turkish team affiliated with a Turkish University that participates in the Turkish Professional Women’s league. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Megan’s blog
	BELINDA SNELL Status Belinda will also be playing for Ros Casares of the Spanish league. Prior to Becky's signing, Snelly’s team started their season on the right foot with Snelly leading it to victory in the Super Cup. Snelly had 22 points to lead all scorers. Ros will also be in Group A of FIBA’s Euroleague and will began their season winning against TT Riga of Latvia on October 28th. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread
	EDWIGE LAWSON-WADE Status Edwige of the quick hand will be playing for Russian giant Spartak Moscow. Eddy has been playing in Russia for the last five seasons. Her previous team CSKA Moscow has lost its financing leaving its players to find other teams. Eddy joins Spartak in a three month contract, and Spartak will actually be playing in the Russian Super League A as well as Euroleague Group D. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Edwige's blog
	ANN WAUTERS Status Ann will be playing for another Russian powerhouse: UMMC. This will be Ann’s first season with UMMC having previously played for Russia’s CSKA Moscow and left it this past spring in free agency. Ann’s team will be defending their Russian Super-league A Title and is once again expected to dominate. In addition to Super-league they will also participate in FIBA’s EuroLeague Group A. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Ann's blog (translated by Google)
	SHANNA CROSSLEY Status Shanna will be playing for Polish team Kosice, which will be in Group C of EuroLeague. Shanna’s team has already started play and has done fairly well, all things considered. Read more at SSN's thread. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread

Ruth Riley and Helen Darling are enigmas I can't crack. (Not true, I'm just a bum.)

Extra Stuff

I recommend reading Paul Nilsen’s Euroleague preview. He breaks down each group and goes through the best players you have to keep an eye on.
Sports Page Magazine did a photo tribute by Carmen Santiago on the great Vickie Johnson. Check it out.

That's it for the moment. We'll check back in a couple of months to see how the gals did in their respective tournaments.

Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game (via TheOnion) So damn...

LatinD — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:01:15 -0000

Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game (via TheOnion)

So damn good.

Monroe: Can practice schedule make Spurs dream team?

LatinD — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:58:18 -0000

Monroe: Can practice schedule make Spurs dream team?

I love how the Spurs are always looking for a new angle.

You mean this isn't like ICQ?

LatinD — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:19:28 -0000

Just because there's a minimun words limit

Hey there. This is a bit messy, but I didn't know what else I could do. This post will be gone before you know it.

I need some help. If someone reading this has International League Pass and feels like giving me a hand with something, please drop me a line at dmenendez@gmail.com.

Thankew.

Geeking About Sports: PETA is Insane

LatinD — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:20:24 -0000

Geeking About Sports: PETA is Insane

I love this guy. He was the guy that first noticed the PETA post.

At The Hive: Hornet Lose to Celtics: A Visual Recap

LatinD — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:06:16 -0000

At The Hive: Hornet Lose to Celtics: A Visual Recap

We need to emulate this one someday.

via Garbage Time All-Stars Too cool.

LatinD — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:01:33 -0000

via Garbage Time All-Stars

Too cool.

SB Nation User Blog: LatinD

Toronto @ San Antonio Photo Recap: Bonnercalypse

FIRST QUARTER

SECOND QUARTER

THIRD QUARTER

FOURTH QUARTER

SENDOFF

The Onion: Tim Duncan Makes Citizen's Foul Call

The Onion: Tim Duncan Makes Citizen's Foul Call

This Week in San Antonio Spurs Basketball: Monday Panic Attack

Game #4: San Antonio Spurs 99 @ Utah Jazz 113

Game #5: San Antonio Spurs 84 @ Portland Trail Blazers 96

State of the Silver Stars Nation

For Starters

The Team

BECKY HAMMON

Status

Links

SOPHIA YOUNG

Status

Links

MEGAN FRAZEE

Status

Links

BELINDA SNELL

Status

Links

EDWIGE LAWSON-WADE

Status

Links

ANN WAUTERS

Status

Links

SHANNA CROSSLEY

Status

Links

Extra Stuff

Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game (via TheOnion) So damn...

Monroe: Can practice schedule make Spurs dream team?

Monroe: Can practice schedule make Spurs dream team?

You mean this isn't like ICQ?

Geeking About Sports: PETA is Insane

Geeking About Sports: PETA is Insane

At The Hive: Hornet Lose to Celtics: A Visual Recap

At The Hive: Hornet Lose to Celtics: A Visual Recap

via Garbage Time All-Stars Too cool.