SB Nation User Blog: sungo

I'm Finished.

sungo — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 05:20:38 -0000

This is Matthew. I'm leaving PtR.

Wayne (AusTechSpur) has agreed to take over, but we are still waiting for approval from the leadership at SBN. That should take less than a week. Until then I will stick around to enforce the community guidelines, but I will not be posting or commenting any more.

The "rules" of PtR will not become more lenient once ownership is transferred. I admittedly find some comfort in this, but it was not something I requested of Wayne. In fact, it was his idea.

I do not feel the need to compose a long, satisfying denouement to my time as a blogger. Suffice it to say that running a blog used to be fun for me; it's not any more. I have many other interests where my time would be better spent.

Though I don't foresee it happening, it's possible that I may return to sporadically write about the Spurs or the NBA, but it won't be here, and it won't be in this format.

Thanks to Michael for all his contributions to the site. You're one hell of a writer, and I hope you someday get the chance to do it for a living.

Thanks to LatinD for his help with the game threads. If you ever make to San Antonio let me know; dinner's on me.

Thanks to Wayne for holding it all together. You're a good man, and I'm glad I've gotten to know you.

Thanks to everyone who donated money to Michael last year.

Thanks to the PtR member who bought the "Manu: Simply Erotic" shirt and then posted a picture of himself wearing it at an NBA game. The thought of that still makes me smile.

Thanks to everyone who's read, commented and posted over the years.

And, lastly, thanks be to Manu.

The story of KA1Z3R

sungo — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:28:49 -0000

In a recent game thread KA1Z3R posted about 50 pictures. I was going through the game thread afterwards, just skimming it, when I noticed the picture of the girl in a thong. At the time the community guidelines hadn't been posted, but anyone who comes here as often as KA1Z3R definitely knew this was against the rules. I deleted the photo and kept skimming. I came across at least two more photos that I considered totally inappropriate. I'm not going to get into the what they depicted.

I decided to warn KA1Z3R and hide all his comments until I could finish going through the rest of the thread. At the time I didn't know that the only way to unhide the comments is to do so one by one. That's why all the photos from that thread appear to be deleted. They're actually just hidden.

He's not banned, and since the official guidelines weren't posted until after that game thread, he doesn't even technically have a warning.

Lastly, the only people I have ever banned were obvious trolls.

I'm mailing this one in

sungo — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:23:33 -0000

I was going to write a post about the history of Spurs nicknames on PtR, but that requires research, and then I got distracted by some Uncle Tupelo music.

I don't see you through the windshield
I don't see you in faces looking back at me
Alcohol doesn't have much that matters to say
And imagine where you and time to kill will stay

I actually started the research, looking into when I first used "The Sickness." That led me to rereading some of the old blog. I cannot say for sure whether any of it is "good" or "better," but I was definitely more passionate then. Here are a couple of posts, written right before the beginning of the 2005 playoffs, when the Spurs opened up with the Denver Nuggets.

Chad Ford Molests Baby Kangaroos:

I do not regularly read any specific "sports writers." From my vantage point they seem to say all the same things over and over again. "Chemistry" this and "momentum" that. "Clutch" this and "professional hitter" that. (Tony Gwynn recently called Wade Boggs "a hitter's hitter." This is what ESPN.com calls "content.") If I want to hear the cliche garbage I'll simply watch the games and listen to the announcers.

Another reason I try to avoid the typical "sports writer" column is that I almost inevitably get pissed off. Blatant inadequacy in one's job drives me crazy. I cannot simply think "this guy doesn't know what he's talking about" and let it go.

Chad Ford writes about the NBA for ESPN.com. I read his column pretty often. This, of course, blatantly contradicts what I began this post with. I should have said "I do not regularly intentionally read any specific "sports writers."" The links to Chad's columns just happen to be on the NBA page of ESPN.com. They could link to a 4 year old writing about brussel sprouts and I would probably accidentally read it.

I have read many a negative comment about him in various, unrememberable locations on the internet. I don't recall the details. To me, Chad Ford is simply the "international prospect guy." That's all I can remember him ever writing about. Until today, that is.

Here's an excerpt from today's column regarding the DEN/SA series:

"(2) Spurs vs. (7) Nuggets This could be the best series in the playoffs this year. Based on what they've done since the All-Star break, this could be the equivalent of a Western Conference finals preview. Since George Karl took over in Denver, the Nuggets easily have bested the the Spurs both at home and in San Antonio. I still feel that the Spurs are the best team in the league and will find a way to get past the Nuggets. They have more experience, the best player on the floor and home-court advantage. But this one will go down to the wire. Insider prediction: Spurs in 7"

I have no problems with his prediction; that's largely subjective, and I'll save my opinions for the series preview I'll be posting Saturdayish. Here's what I have a problem with: "Since George Karl took over in Denver, the Nuggets easily have bested the the Spurs both at home and in San Antonio." Now, unlike Chad, I actually watched those two games, so I know that DEN didn't "easily" beat the Spurs in SA. However, just looking at the box score would have been enough. The Nuggets won by THREE POINTS. THREE POINTS. The Spurs led at half time and after three quarters. The Spurs led by 7 with 3 minutes to go and gave the game away down the stretch. How the hell did he come to his spurious conclusion? Wait, there's MORE!

If you order now, you'll get more total bullshit absolutely FREE from Chad Ford! For some reason he neglects to mention that Duncan didn't play in either game and that Ginobili also didn't play in one of them. Isn't that important information, especially if you're going to use the phrase "easily bested?"

People might say that the errors and omissions I pointed out are "small." But isn't getting the facts straight the first job of a journalist? Shouldn't Chad have spent the three minutes necessary to look at the two box scores? If that's not his job then what is?

I mean, shit, if some random guy comes in off the street and finds an error in one of my structural designs I would get canned. Yet, for some reason (that reason probably being the general stupidity of the average sports fan), "sports writers" can fill their columns with total bullshit (whether it be the cliched version of bullshit or the non-factual, unfoundable form of bullshit) and get away with it.

Here's my preview of the Denver / San Antonio series. The Sky is Still Blue, Right?:

This DEN hype does not surprise me. After all, I've learned that the First Rule of Life is "People are stupid." (There may be other Rules, but I've yet to discover them.) But I cannot say I understand why people are so enamored with DEN. The one possible angle that is remotely justifiable is: "Duncan's injury is much worse than he's letting on and he won't be able to effectively play more than 20 minutes a game." Otherwise, well, I'm confused and befuddled.

Let's take a look at some key points.

First of all, the streak. DEN finished the season on a 25-4 run. Those numbers, 25 and 4, are impressive. However, and I've said this many times, their strength of schedule over that time was extremely weak. The winning percentage of the teams they beat was 45.3%. When you extract the SEA game (Lewis and Radmanovic didn't play) and the two SA games (Duncan missed both and Ginobili missed one), the winning percentage drops to 40.5%. The team with a WP% closest to 40.5? TOR and NY. Just for reference.

DEN's best wins during the streak? SACTO (without Miller) or WAS (without Jamison) at home and MEM on the road. They didn't even play: DAL, MIA, DET, CHI. They didn't play a full strength SEA, SACTO, or SA. They played PHX three times and lost all three by an average of 9.33 points. They played HOU once (without Camby) and lost by 28.

Beating bad and/or average teams is important; during the regular season they count the same as beating good teams. But. Um. You don't play crappy teams in the playoffs. At least not in the WC.

A little more about streaks. Last year there was a team that had a similar streak. They went 24-7 over a stretch, including wins over LAL, SACTO, DAL, @SA, SA, DEN, DEN and @MINN. Wow. That's impressive. I don't want to face that team in the playoffs.

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

That team was MEM. Which got swept by SA, losing by an average of 14 points.

Another team went 17-0, including 6 wins in the playoffs! Holy crap! That's gotta be DET, right? Man, that team ruled.

Nope.

Wait for it.

That was SA, who lost 4 straight to the LAL by an average of 11.25 points.

Oh. One last thing. DAL finished the season on a 19-3 streak. They promptly lost their first playoff game to HOU.

That's enough about streaks. Let's move on to home court advantage.

The last time I checked, the Spurs have home court. SA has lost a total of 3 times this year in the SBC Center; to SEA, MEM and DEN. "A ha" sayeth the Nuggets fan. DEN has proven they can win at the SBC Center! Actually, no, sorry. Once again those pesky circumstances rear their ugly heads.

You see, Duncan, with his +/- of +16.6 was out. Ginobili, with his +/- of +15.5, was also out. DEN won by 3 points. The Spurs were up by 7 with 3 minutes to go and gave it away. DEN proved exactly diddly.

Let's look at the schedule.

Three days off. Game 1. Two days off. Game 2. Two more days off. Game 3. One day off. Game 4. One day off... You get the picture. No back to backs. Plenty of rest for Ginobili, Parker and the big mens' ankles.

Let's talk about how the teams matchup.

DEN loves to run. They actually lead the league in fast break points. How do you combat the fast break? First, you don't turn the ball over. The Spurs are 6th in the league in fewest turnovers committed. Second, you play disciplined defense and have players willing to bust their ass to get back. Hmm. The Spurs play the most disciplined defense in the league.

DEN's first option on offense is Carmelo Anthony. He takes about 5 more shots then their second option, Punkie. Here's the thing. Bruce Bowen owns 'Melo. Carmelo has a career 31.8% shooting percentage against the Spurs. He's 20-66 this year and he was 22-66 last year.

A review. DEN loves to run, which is very hard to do against the Spurs. DEN's first option on offense consistently struggles mightily against the Spurs.

Everyone's talking about the Spurs injuries, but DEN has it's own. Najera is probably out the first two games with a broken hand. Though no one seems to be talking about it, Camby isn't 100% either. He was held out of the last 3-4 games of the season with a hamstring problem. And this wasn't simply resting him, either. They put him on the IL right before a huge game with the Rockets; a game that basically sealed the Nuggets fate as a 7 seed.

Everyone seems to be talking about the Nuggets. Uh, do people realize they're playing the Spurs? A team that went 59-23 despite not having it's best player for 16 games? A team that last year narrowly lost to the WC Champion Lakers? They do realize that this year's team is better, right? Let's look at the differences in the rosters.

2004
Turkoglu
Kevin Willis
Malik Rose
Charlie Ward
Jason Hart

2005
Barry
Massenburg
Mohammed
Udrih
Glenn Robinson

That's a dramatic improvement. Not to mention that Parker and Ginobili are much better players this year.

I'm not sure people realize how good this team really is. Knickerblogger.net keeps track of team efficiencies. Basically, offense and defense are broken down into how many points you score/allow per possession. The PHX and DEN type teams are going to allow more points simply because they play faster than teams like SA. These stats are more meaningful than the typical points per game stats.

Not surprisingly, the Spurs are the best defensive team. DEN is eighth, which is admittedly higher than I expected. But, of course, DEN has a better offense. Oh. Wait. They don't. There's those pesky facts again. The Spurs have the 6th best offense in the league. DEN is 13th. The Heat and the Mavericks are the only other two teams in the top 10 in both categories.

Here's another thing to think about. Let's look at how Duncan led Spurs teams have done in the playoffs:

97-98 -- Lost in WC semis to UTA (who lost to CHI in the Finals)
98-99 -- World Champs
99-00 -- Duncan doesn't play in playoffs due to injury
00-01 -- Lost in WC finals to LAL (eventual World Champs)
01-02 -- Lost in WC semis to LAL (eventual World Champs)
02-03 -- World Champs
03-04 -- Lost in WC semis to LAL (who lost to DET in the Finals)

Take a closer look at that. Think about the teams that eliminated Duncan's Spurs. All of those teams had either Malone and Stockton (Duncan's rookie year) or Kobe and Shaq. No other team even took the Spurs to a decisive seventh game. Let that sink in. Kobe and Shaq. Winners of 3 consecutive titles. The duo that took a ridiculously bad supporting cast to the finals.

And I'm supposed to worry about fucking Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin? When Bowen owns Carmelo and Martin got embarassed by Duncan in the 2003 NBA Finals? When the schedule favors the Spurs? When the Spurs have home court? Are you serious?

Spurs in 5.

Next week I'll try to, you know, create new content.

Community Guidelines

sungo — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:09:09 -0000

Community guidelines have been officially posted, and there's a permanent link on the left sidebar. Ruthless enforcement begins now.

Welcome new readers (what PtR is all about)!

sungo — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:33:54 -0000

As some of you have noticed, PtR and the other SB Nation blogs are now loosely affiliated with Yahoo, via a link box on team specific pages. The powers that be have instructed me to write some sort of welcoming post for the flood of new users (all eight of them, though traffic has increased by about 25%). A little something that will explain the rules of the blog and give the newbs some idea of what PtR is all about.

So that's what this post is supposed to be. Except I only have 35 minutes to write it, meaning it will be woefully inadequate, and I am therefore relying on you, PtR brethren, to fill in the gaps via the comments, and I will eventually compile everything into a voluminous user guide: like a Dungeon Master's guide, but lamer.

1) We have rules. Actually, I have rules, and I force the "you" part of "we" to follow them. I'll put them at the end, because 95% of the people reading this already know (and are tired of hearing) them.

2) The first version of this blog was a solo effort by yours truly, located on blogger.com (back then there were maybe 15 NBA bloggers on the entirety of the internets). I moved over to SB Nation soon thereafter. Since the move PtR has added three main contributors, aaronstampler, AusTechSpur and LatinD. More on them later.

3) We love Manu Ginobili here. Our affection to this man goes beyond reason and normal human emotion. We joke that he is the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the sky (in other words, god), and that he has therefore been blessed with special abilities and worthy of all forms praise, except I'm not sure all of us are joking. We believe he is one of the fifteen to twenty best basketball players in the world. Aaronstampler claims to love him the most. I would claim otherwise, that maybe it's me who harbors the most affection towards The Sickness, but then stampler would point out the one time, years ago, I intimated it wouldn't be a bad idea to consider trading Manu straight up for Kevin Martin. He will never let me live this down. Nor should he; I blasphemed, and had it been anybody else we probably would have had them banned from the blog and / or bludgeoned.

4) We love nicknames here. We have oodles of them. More than we know what to do with. In item 3), "The Sickness" refers to Manu Ginobili. That was the first PtR nickname, coined before PtR was in existence. Every player has more than one, and we generally only use nicknames we come up with. Eventually I will dedicate entire posts to the history of PtR nicknames.

5) Jacque Vaughn sucks. HE SUCKS. THIS IS NOT OPEN FOR DISCUSSION.

6) Michael Finley also sucks. Some folks think this is open for discussion, and it is, for the sole reason I can't ban people for being wrong, else I'd be the only one here.

7) In general, we (excluding me), don't give Tony Parker enough credit. We just don't. For example, myself and some PtR folk were at the Wizards game a couple nights ago. Parker executed a flawless 1 on 2 fastbreak (as he is wont to do), and PtR member tomasito said "Should have passed to Manu; he was open." We laughed and nodded. Manu was on the bench. In street clothes.

8) Tim Duncan is named Tim. That's really all you need to know. This is an inside joke that I may have screwed up. We have lots of inside jokes, half of them of which I am probably totally unaware:

9) Like Argentines WRITE IN ALL CAPS. WHY? I DON'T KNOW, I JUST WORK HERE.

10) Like TWSS = "That's what she said." This would be the dumbest meme of this blog if it weren't for #12. This year we had an influx of women on the blog (read: two new female members in one week), and this somehow led to TWSS. It's puerile and silly, but generally doesn't involve into lewdness.

11) Like fish. Hipuks posts pictures of fish in our game threads. Why? Because I don't allow pictures of cheerleaders. I think that's why; I'm not even sure. We like Hipuks' pictures of fish. We need them. Apparently it's important for:

12) Mojo. People, excluding me, believe in mojo here. Wearing the lucky shirt, not shaving after a win, that sort of stuff. How strong is the belief? Allow me to demonstrate. "I think mojo is a crock, there's nothing any of us can do to influence the outcome of any sporting event. Fuck mojo in it's fucking ear." Now go down to the comment sections, and determine what percentage of the first 100 comments are dedicated to reversing the bad mojo I just introduced. I'm guessing about 75%.

13) Aaronstampler is the most talented writer on the site. Furthermore, his writing about the Spurs is the best you're going to find. Anywhere. He's also Turkish and has never been to Texas. He recaps every game, usually within 1 to 15 days of the game ending, except when he doesn't recap them at all.

14) AusTechSpur does about half the game threads. He is nice and old, but doesn't smell old, at all, so we keep him around.

15) LatinD is from Argentina. He does the other half of the game threads and likes dunks, cheerleaders and dunking cheerleaders.

16) I'm the killjoy.

17) Our most hated player? Chris Paul, by a considerable margin. We acknowledge his skill, but can't help but notice his tendency to flop around and whine incessantly. It's embarrassing, and that's saying a lot coming from a Spurs fan. At least Fabricio Oberto has an excuse for flopping: he sucks.

18) Rules? Any inappropriate language concerning any group of people will get you immediately banned. By groups I mean African-Americans, etc. (race), Muslims, etc. (religion), homosexuals (sexual orientation / identity), etc. and women. Derogatory terms, whether directed at a member of the group or not, will get you banned. Usings terms such as "faggot" or "bitch" IN ANY CONTEXT will get you banned. If you don't like it you can kiss my cracker ass.

19) More rules? Yep. No pictures of cheerleaders. No pictures of women. No links to pictures of cheerleaders or women. No talk about sex, about who you think is hot, about who you want to do what to. There about 7 hundred bazillion sites out there for that business. This is not one of them. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER RULE.

20) We curse here. Not an egregious amount, but it happens.

21) This is not a professional blog. This is not a professional anything. We don't pander to players, to coaches or to other members of the media. What the fuck is the point of that? You can get that anywhere. We give honest, unfiltered opinions about the Spurs and the NBA, with a heavy dose of irreverence and self-loathing. And pictures of fish.

So welcome. Enjoy. Auf wiedersehen good night.

Gregg Popovich pulls lineup out of hat, finds scrubs.

sungo — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:48:15 -0000

I ate Wendy's tonight. I don't particularly like Wendy's, it's simply the closest fast food joint. They put floral-print napkins in my bag. Did they simply run out of official, branded napkins? And if your car shimmies when it's idling, that's bad, right?

I think Gregg Popovich lives to tick me off.

Sunday night's game was over at halftime. The Spurs were on the road and down 27 points to a young, quality Portland team looking to avenge a recent loss. The Spurs were without Manu Ginobili and Tim was less than 100%. They had another game Monday night and a third game in four days at Dallas on Wednesday.

Here's where you throw in the towel Pop. Here's where you concede a game. Here's where you put in a young guy with promise that might actually be able to help you this year in the playoffs. What does Pop do? He leaves Mensah-Bonsu on the bench for all but the last 7 minutes of the game. This is mildly infuriating for three reasons.

Reason 1. The first reason is mere conjecture as to why Pop left Pops on the bench. Allow me to paraphrase a text message from my esteemed colleague Michael Erler:

Pop probably was displeased with the youngster's arrogance and comments to the media. All Spurs players, with the exception of Tony, must publicly think they suck at all times.

Here's what Mensah-Bonsu said after his first game as a Spur:

“(Finley) said to do what I do to make my money. ... be an energy guy all over the court, a rebounder and a finisher, and I was able to do that.

“I hope I raised a few eyebrows among the coaches, so that next game he feels comfortable to put me in when the game is still in hand.”

Well, Pops, apparently Popovich doesn't feel comfortable to put you in when the game is already decided. You should have spent your entire response talking about the one time you didn't hustle back on defense. You'll eventually learn that playing time for young Spurs is determined first on demeanor, second on which old and washed-up veteran is ahead of you, and fifteenth on how good you actually are.

Reason 2. It would be one thing if a guy like Channing Frye was taking Mensah-Bonsu's minutes. I'm not saying Frye's any good, but at least you could surmise or hope he could get better. But Pop is sending out the likes of Fabricio Oberto and Ime Udoka. We know exactly what these guys are capable of; there's nothing to learn from playing them, except for maybe how many consecutive wide open jumpers Ime can brick, or how close Fabricio can get to getting fined for flopping.

Speaking of Ime, can we just simply close the book on this guy? He's been absolutely dreadful this year, shooting 36% from the field and 31% from three (and he wasn't much better the year before, shooting 42 / 37%). His shooting numbers from both this year and last are especially awful when you consider he never has to create his own shot (not that he could if he had to). Plus, he never lived up to defensive reputation, getting absolutely abused by Kobe in the playoffs, racking up 8 fouls in 57 minutes. How bad was he? Take a look at his minutes played, starting with game 1 of the Lakers series: 25, 16, 8, 8, 0. Hmm. 2 + 2 = Ime sucked.

Reason 3. Pop loves, loves, LOVES to talk about how he doesn't really give a rat's ass about the regular season. He just wants to get the playoffs healthy, etc. If this is the case, then WHY NOT give Mensah-Bonsu and Hairston 20-25 minutes of run a night during their 10 game contracts? What benefit did the Spurs organization get from putting Kurt Thomas and Oberto on the floor for 14 and 17 minutes tonight? What benefit? Are they still learning the system? You keeping them in shape there, Pop? Trying to keep Oberto's grabbing techniques sharp?

And don't give me any of this shit about using Kurt and Oberto to try to win basketball games. Pop loves to flaunt his willingness to lose regular season games. No other coach in the NBA would sit healthy regulars in the middle of the season, and no other coach throws out the ridiculous Mason / Finley / Bowen / Udoka / Oberto lineups as much as Pop does.

Look, Pop could go into the playoffs with the Big Three and two potted plants and still be competitive. But you still have to look for improvement where improvement is possible. And right now the Spurs could improve on the likes of Finley, Udoka and Oberto. So you play the young guys with the Big 3, and you see what you got while you still have time to mess around. If Mensah-Bonsu and Hairston don't work out then you simply get your veterans back in the flow during the last 3/4 weeks of the season.

Or, if your Gregg Popovich, you orient your entire depth chart around trying to piss off a nobody Spurs-blogger. That just seems childish and silly, doesn't it?

Tony Parker is better than you*.

sungo — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:38:27 -0000

Now before the fawning and adulation begin, let's admit one thing to ourselves. If given the choice, there's a large part of Tony Parker that would love to play with this lineup for the rest of the regular season. With Tim and Manu sidelined, the Spurs have exactly one guy capable of creating his own shot on a regular basis. Tony could shoot the ball 50 times a night with this lineup, and I'm not sure Pop would blink. Tony enjoys this opportunity to have the show revolve around him for 40 minutes a night. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but that love of the limelight separates the Frechman from Tim and Manu, the two anti-stars of the Spurs three star solar system.

Now let's get down to the praise and worship part of the service.

Hoe. Lee. Crap. Before we bask in the superlative nature of Tony's numbers the past two games, let's take a look at how the two opposing point guards fared.

Jason Kidd:

35 minutes
2 points
4 assists
-19

Steve Blake:

24 minutes
0 points
1 assist
-11

In the past two games, Tony Parker has outscored his counterparts by a total of 76 to 2. Seventy-six to two! Setenta y seis a dos! That's parents-should-pull-their-kids-from-the-YMCA-game-to-prevent-emotional-scarring levels of embarrassment right there.

In the past two games (in two nights, no less) Tony combined for:

32-59 FG
11-13 FT
76 points in 72 minutes
21 assists
10 rebounds
3 TOs
+52

(I don't know how to transition from those numbers to words about those numbers.)

Now, as we all know, Tony Parker is whipping boy #1B here at PtR. But not today. Not in this post. This post we celebrate Frenchie McWonderbutt. We talk about his lovely smile, his cute accent and divine fashion sense. We go on and on about his improved jumper, his deadly crossover and his ability to work the 1-on-3 fast break to perfection. And we do NOT, under any circumstances, bring up any rap albums.

Now bring the love, people.

*Excludes: Approximately 25 NBA players, Santa Claus, Dwight Schrute and Tina Fey.

The Stress reaction and other Manu Ginobili folktales

sungo — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:50:27 -0000

(Written Saturday night.)

One $30, adjustable height ironing board.
One $6 chair cushion, which I am now sitting on.
Two $1 toilet scrubbers, which I will use at most twice before throwing away.

That is what I purchased this evening at Ikea. They have self-checkout lines there now, and I forgot they don't give you bags to carry out your stuff. I didn't feel like buying a bag I was just going to throw away, so I just hauled the stuff out to my car. On my way home I stopped at Super Fantastic Wal-Mart for soda. I again used the self-checkout line; it was either that or wait 20 minutes. In Wal-Mart. On a Saturday night. No thank you. Then drive thru at Taco Cabana. Then home.

It reminded me of something I wrote to a friend, back in the days when I wrote with an earnest belief my own words could change me:

Living alone in a condo where you never see your neighbors is considered "hip." It makes little sense when you strip away the packaging. So much of the American Dream seems superficial and isolationist. Move away to the suburbs. By a car for every adult so you don't have to share. A TV for every room so every family member can watch what they want. When did convenience come to mean the avoidance of human interaction? Success is measured by how alone one make his or her self. I am independent. Which is really the same as I am alone.

Well I don't know
I may go
Down or up or anywhere
But I feel
Like this scribbling might stay.

(That's not the Shins. That's Woody Guthrie.)

****

I will not pretend that Ginobili's injury keeps me up at night. Or that it affects me to the extent it affects Michael and, undoubtedly, many of you. But I understand the cold reality of the situation: there is no silver lining to this. This is a not a jammed pinky finger on his non-shooting hand. This is not taking advantage of an opportunity to get him some rest. This is the beginnings of a stress fracture. This is Manu staying off his leg for over a week. This is Manu getting out of game shape. Claiming this won't matter as long as "he's healthy for the playoffs" is pure myopia. (It's like buying a 3000 square foot house located 20 miles outside of Phoenix for $600,000 and telling yourself "the fact I can't afford the payments once the loan resests won't matter as long as the house is worth $700,000 by then." Well, duh.) Plain and simple, this injury makes it less likely he'll be 100% in the playoffs. Which means it's more likely we're doomed.

Doomed, I tell you.

Doomed.

Strangely enough, a couple days before his injury I was actually starting to think number 5 was a real possibility. Not probable, but possible. Coming into the season, the list of Western Conference teams capable of beating a healthy Spurs in a 7 game series was: the Lakers, Houston, New Orleans and Utah (in that order). Utah had suffered through injuries all season, and even when healthy I would give the Spurs an edge. New Orleans traded away their chance at beating the Spurs when they saladumped Chandler. Houston without McGrady wasn't a threat, and the Lakers were (in the realm of) beatable without Bynum.

It wasn't impossible to imagine a successful playoff scenario: Tim being Tim, Tony being unstoppable a couple of games, the role players continuing to play above their heads and Manu pulling 2005 out of his past a couple times. Maybe the Spurs get lucky and Cleveland takes care of Boston. Pop could figure out a way to prevent Lebron from beating us single-handedly, right? And they still don't have anyone to guard Tony, right?

But then the Spurs whiffed at the trading deadline.

And Chandler got untraded.

And Manu's frailty once again reminded us it will never be 2005 again.

What saddens me most about Manu's injuries is that they serve as a reminder that opportunities pass us by. 99% of NBA fans didn't appreciate Manu's playoff performance when it was happening. At the time he was mostly an unknown, an intrigue, a presumed one-hit wonder. Now he's been an All Star, and Barkley's screamed his name a thousand times, and John Hollinger has mentioned his greatness to the unwashed masses, and you can tell by the booing across the league that people now at least know who he is. Now he has the stage, the audience. If he were to lead the Spurs to the 2009 championship while putting up a TS% of 65.1% people would stop. They would contemplate. They would research.

Someone would compose a list of players who never had TS%s that high in the playoffs. It would include names like Shaquille O'Neal. Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. Larry Bird. Magic Johnson. Kareem Abdul Jabaar. Lebron James. Dwyane Wade. Tim Duncan. Paul Pierce. Kevin Garnett. Bill Walton. Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain.

Things would be put in perspective.

But the chance for perspective has left us, and a thousand yesterdays don't add up to one today. It's a cruel trick life plays on you: you never know where you're at, you're lucky to know where you've been, and by the time you realize any of this it's too late... you're already gone.

Quick troll update

sungo — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:35:46 -0000

As some of you guessed, the trolls in last night's game thread were repeat offenders (new IDs from same IPs). I had their IPs banned.

I feel all tough now.

A proposed Spurs trade that is actually realistic

sungo — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:43:15 -0000

The Spurs have two obvious needs (besides the health of the Big Three):

1. A big man who can play defense and rebound.
2. A permanent spot on the bench for Michael Finley.

Rasheed Wallace seems like a pipe dream to me. I find it hard to believe that Detroit couldn't get something better than Bonner, Hill, Mahinmi, Mason (these are the only four guys we would trade that anyone would want) and contract filler (especially when you consider that Detroit would have to cut guys to make room on their roster for our pu-pu platter).

So how about we go after someone who's actually available?

Drew Gooden. Yeah, he's got a tweaked groin, but it sounds like he wants to play:

"Sacramento has been interested in me for a couple years, so maybe something can work out long-term there. If not, I'm an unrestricted free agent this summer, so I'm auditioning for other teams."

If he qualified, Gooden's rebound rate would be good for 18th in the NBA this season. I doubt he could pick up the entire idiosyncratic nature of Spurs' defense in three months, but his athletic ability alone would make him a better option than Oberto. (Also, I think he's do a better job against Lamar Odom than anyone we currently have.)

Drew Gooden's best attribute is that he's available for a song. Sacramento acquired him solely because of his expiring contract. I would bet the Spurs could get him for a second round pick. The salaries could be matched by signing Horry and sending him to Sacramento.

The obvious snag in all this is that is entails the Spurs taking on about 3 million in salary. Assuming there's a good chance he's healthy enough to play the rest of the season, I think it's worth a shot.