If this report is true, then the Hornets are looking to shed Chandler's salary early in exchange for some expiring contracts. Unfortunately, we don't have any large contracts that expire this year, and so it would require packaging a bunch of players. 

I put together a trade for Chandler in exchange for Finley, Bowen, and KT. Obviously we lose depth on the wings, and we don't add depth at the center position, but it sure helps our defense and rebounding right away. A Chandler/Duncan c/pf combo would be the best in the league, defensively, and not far away from the best offensively (because Duncan is a badass m10r). 

I don't know that the Hornets would be willing to do this, mostly because it would help a rival, and it is expensive, but it certainly peaks my interest. 

I know that I am probably preaching to the choir here, but I've spent enough time around people who don't appreciate sports to hear them talk make comments about how watching sports is a waste of time or lazy. I know we've all heard it I even get onto myself from time to time and try to cut back the hours I spend on my fantasy basketball roster(s), PtR, and justintv. However, in an effort to begin a communal rethinking of sports fandom, I present to you, my PtR brethren and sistren, the 3 ways that watching the Spurs* has made my life better.

via www.cbc.ca

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via i.a.cnn.net

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A couple of basketball fans with Ph.Ds have tried to figure out the best way to measure the plus/minus rating for an individual player independent of the impact that his teammates might have. They have used 5 years worth of data in order to adjust for teammates impact, and then specifically focused on each players contribution in the 2007-08 season. Check out where our big three are located.

http://82games.com/ilardi2.htm

[Mgmnt note: This is from the FanPosts. Thought I'd do a bit of a SBNation big-brother act at PtR, and get something about this signing on the front page.  -bb]

Apparently, Damon Stoudamire's stint with the Spurs was not painful enough. Now we get another vertically challenged ball hog to sit at the end of our bench. Woo hoo!! This has been the best off season ever!

I wish that people paid attention to the FanShots. Then I could post this there instead of in the FanPosts section, with it's stupid 75 word minimum.

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Halftime of USA vs Angola and the occupiers of Iraq are up comfortably, 55-37. The game was pretty close there for a while, until somebody reminded Lebron James that there are a lot of potential customers watching. Then he started volleyball-spiking Angolan shot attempts and doing double-clutch dunks.

I should also point out that Kobe is 0-5 from the field while Lebron and Howard have combined to go 10-10 in the first half.

Halftime box score courtesy of espn.com

It's been 4 years since the Lakers have been relevant (an eternity in NBA time). And I realized while thinking about the upcoming series that my hatred for the Lakers has dimmed during the last few years. In order to prepare for the Wednesday night, I need to be reminded of all the reasons why we hate the Lakers. Here is a partial list of things that I remember:

Shaq's disrespect of David Robinson

Phil Jackson and his publicity antics

0.4

The Colorado Cassanova

Kobe's elbow on Ginobili

Their overrated, bandwagon jumping fans.

Everything is fair game: players, coaches, team officials, history, uniforms, stadium, city of residence, fans, style of play, etc. Help me relight the fires of my hatred once again.

via www.nba.com

Since it is 7am here and I am too full of excitement and caffeine to sleep before work, I figured I would try my hand at a game recap. Let me know if it sucks.

Tim Duncan is a champion. Hornets fans who were hoping that the Spurs game 3 win was like Dallas' game 3 win in Round 1 have already realized their mistake. Tim Duncan is not Dirk Nowitski, he doesn't play like Dirk, he doesn't lead like Dirk, and most of all, his team doesn't fold when the games start to matter (like Dirk's).

We all knew that TD was going to come on strong tonight. He had been sick and underperforming during the first three games of this series. Maybe he was "due," maybe he had something to prove, maybe the Hornets just played him differently, but TD went off. 22pts on 10-13 shooting from the field, 15 boards, 4 blocks, and 3 assists (including a Manuesque zinger to TP underneath), and 5 Tyson Chandler fouls meant that the Spurs were going back to NO with the series all tied up.

Now he has done that which causes NO fans to tremble, he made the Hornets think. He is in their head. Scrappy-doo is pissed, West is pushing people and complaining to officials, Chandler is cussing himself out on the bench, Peja is forcing up 10 ft runners with two guys in his face. Sure, this isn't all the work of TD, but he made it possible. His defensive and offensive presence allow the lesser Spurs (read: all of them) to do what they do best instead of having to force the issue.

Because of Duncan, Thomas and Oberto can stay closer to West because they know TD has the rim protected. Because of Duncan, Parker can go under the screen because he knows TD will push Scrappy out and give him time to recover. Because of Duncan, Bowen can invade Peja's personal space because a driver will simply end in another awkward layup attempt. Because of Duncan; Bowen, Finley, Ginobili, Udoka, Horry, Barry, Parker, and Thomas can all shoot open jumpers off of New Orleans double-teams.

Tonight, once again, we are reminded that this is Duncan's team. Pop may be the front-man, Ginobili is our favorite, Parker is the flashy one, but in the end it all comes down to #21. When Duncan plays well, the Spurs win. When Duncan does not play well, the Spurs do not win.

Other Observations:

It may just be me, but I'm really getting tired of Scrappy-doo getting the Jordan treatment. One play in the 3rd quarter illustrated this best: Paul drove into the lane, barely missed Bowen with his right elbow (which was above his own shoulder) barreled into Parker with his left forearm, threw the ball wildly at the basket, and was rewarded with 2 fts. (Please note: I'm not complaining about the calls in general today, if anything I think the reffing favored SA, but I HATE the idea that superstars are somehow entitled to get those calls).

Udoka seems to be getting more comfortable as the playoffs go on. Let's hope he continues to get playing time, as he is our best rebounding win player and is the only Spur who can match up well with a fully-functional Bonzi Wells (who, I admit, we haven't seen this series).

David West is a bitch. I know that Oberto flopped on his elbow/push underneath the basket, and I suspect TD probably did on the other end as well, but West just cannot control his frustration when he is playing poorly. The Spurs have gotten into his head in each of the last three games. His response is usually a mixture of covert violence and complaining to the refs.

Reggie Miller is an alien who is still learning the English language. I don't think this requires an explanation.

Let's Go Spurs. Take game five and really get these kids doubting themselves.

I'll be honest, when I first saw Tim Duncan laughing at the end of the bench during the final minutes of the ass-whooping that the clowns from Phoenix put on us last night, I was a little perturbed.

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Mr. DuPree over at SI gets it right with his list of the top 5 most exciting NBA players. It's good to see that even in the midst of this losing streak we can still celebrate getting to watch the love of my life as he puts on a show each and every night.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/david_dupree/03/18/all.fun.team/index.html