Spurs-Nugs, Game 3

http://poundingtherock.com/story/2007/4/30/222759/875

Got it in, with 4 minutes to go before Game 4!

Days 6 and 7...

http://poundingtherock.com/story/2007/4/30/51112/4913


There's no time!!!!

I Get to Wake Up in Four Hours!!!! (Day 5 Recaps)

Ah well, it wasn’t easy or particularly enjoyable at times, but that’s one. Just a mere 15 to go. Overall I thought it was an uneven performance where both teams got better offensively and worse defensively as the game wore on. Wait, why am I writing this stuff above the scoreline?

Game 2 Denver @ San Antonio: Spurs 97, Nuggets 88 (1-1)

Where was I?

Oh right, anyway for the most part we were effectively ugly in the first half. Iverson and Melo started 7 of 24, thanks mainly to good work from Bowen and Duncan, who both got screwed out of the Defensive Player of the Year award by the laughably overrated Marcus Camby. Yeah, he’s so money on defense that Timmy is being guarded mainly by Nené. Real solid work by the basketball writers out there, seriously. I suppose it could be worse. They could vote for some absurdly atrocious one-dimensional offensive player for MVP or something.

Anyway, despite the defensive intensity, (and a few bunnies that the Nugs just flat out missed) we could never turn the game into a total rout because we were having offensive issues of our own, shooting only 37% for the half. Manu was 1 of 4, Tony 4 of 10, and Fin 3 of 8. Plus the Nugs hit three first half 3s, and that’s usually not their deal. We were up 15 with two minutes to go, but Denver hit closed the half out on a 7-0 run thanks to a couple of buckets by Melo and some disastrous decision making by Le Trou Noir. Really our best two players in the half were Fab and Bruce, and that’s usually not a recipe for long term success.

I was gonna make a crack about Bruce playing more illegal defense than ever, but instead I'll just go with "More Hugs, Less Thugs."(AP Photo/Bob Owen)

In the second half our stars did play better, Manu in particular springing for 15, and we stretched the lead out to 14 again going into the 4th. Unfortunately Melo found his rhythm by this point and no longer were we stringing a bunch of stops together. Basically, it’s almost kind of like cheating if Denver’s main two guys can play the whole half without ever taking a breather. Bruce played 20 second half minutes and he was still pretty ineffective by the end due to fatigue. And Tim sat for a good seven minutes himself, so for a while they were picking on Finley and Horry. It’s amazing how both their guys can just go and go without ever getting tired, although Melo gets to cheat sometimes by resting on defense against Bruce.

I think Pop should give serious consideration to stop focusing on Duncan in the block so much and gearing the offensive game plan on going right at their main guns, maybe getting Camby in foul trouble trying to recover for his beaten comrades. Manu might want to try posting up Iverson if Karl is gonna stick to that match-up. I don’t think he’s gonna put J.R. Smith on Gino ever again, that shit didn’t work. Something about Manu’s magical “Euro-step” sure to be basketball version of the Gyro-ball.

Personally I think the EU claiming Argentina as one of its own should have been a bigger news story than some fucktard scrub on the Nuggets making excuses for being toasted by Gonzo. We in the newspaper game refer to this as "burying the lead." (AP Photo/Bob Owen)

The 4th quarter got a bit dicey because Denver somehow hit four three pointers and exploded for 28 points, only 13 from the Cornrow commandoes. We softened up inside at the most inopportune time and could have used Frankie Elson out there. Unfortunately, he has really, really, really, really sucked so far, so Pop is more likely to throw him out of the arena at this point than playing him late in a playoff game. The Nugs went to town on Oberto, scooping up five offensive rebounds in the period. A couple of buckets by Manu and Tim helped us hold on, but it was too close for comfort there.

So what do we need to happen in Game 3? Elson has to give us something. Tony can’t shoot 40% and have six turnovers. Manu needs to be aggressive from the outset and attack the basket. Make the refs call fouls and get the fans to focus more on booing him than cheering their team. It’d be nice of the coach to play our 4th best offensive player more than five minutes maybe. Just a crazy idea I’m spit-ballin’. If Tony and Manu can force their defense to collapse in the first half, we can get all the open threes we want in the second half.

We’re better than these guys. And no matter how scary they look now, (somehow the Warriors Game 3 victory makes Denver look scarier to some weirdo Spurs fans) I still think we can win this series in five. Game 3 is the key. This is the one they’ll come out all pumped for. Surviving the opening quarter will be critical. If we can somehow pull this game out and pop all the air out of their balloon, then the seed of doubt will be planted and they’ll be flatter for Game 4. I think the big three combine for 70 tomorrow, followed immediately by more bitching at the refs by George Karl.

Other than he's a fat, ugly, whiny loser who may or may not have killed somebody in the early 80's, I have the utmost respect for Coach Karl. (AP Photo/Bob Owen)

3 Stars-

3. Allen Iverson – Almost brought them all the way back, hit some ridiculous shots late.
2. Manu Ginobili – 15 second half points, a welcome change after sick quarters of “Ugh.”
1. Tim Duncan – 22-7-5-5. Get used to a lot of 1st stars for him in games we win.

Okay, let’s knock these out and I’ll be *only* six games behind.

Game 2 Washington @ Cleveland: Cavaliers 109, Wizards 102 (2-0)

Nope, I’m still ignoring it. The Cavs should be embarrassed as shit this game was so competitive. WASHINGTON IS MISSING THEIR BEST TWO PLAYERS!!!! It’s like Cleveland has no self respect at all. I blame LeBron. Whenever anything is wrong with them, I blame LeBron. It’s safe and easy and convenient and saves me the trouble of having to actually watch them play or do research. I have a bright future ahead of me in journalism you know.

Anyway, lookin’ at Mr. Boxscore, it appears that the only reason it was close was because the Cavs couldn’t shoot their threes and also Lez Bullez committed a mere five turnovers. Well that and Mike Brown gave Eric Snow 21 minutes of floor time. -15 in a game you win by seven? I lack the words to describe such futility.

I see that both Antawn Jamison and Drew Gooden had monster nights, but don’t be fooled Spurs fans. These things will happen when these two gentlemen “guard” one another. Classic ‘80s Mullin vs. English defensive apathy at its finest. Really, I’ve written more about this game than it deserves. The Cavs have Bronnie and Larry Hughes at the wings, the Wiz have Jarvis Hayes and DeShawn Stevenson (combined 5 of 25). Sometimes sports really are that simple.

Bring out the brooms, unless LeBron comes up some brilliant Nike marketing gimmick like letting Tiger Woods play center for the Cavs over the weekend. The NFL Draft will CRUSH this game in the ratings tomorrow and thank God for that.

For the luckiest human being on the face of the Earth, Mike Brown sure doesn't look happy. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

3 Stars-

3. LeBron James – 27-8-7. He’s good and stuff. Enjoy your bye into Round
2. Antawn Jamison – 31-10 in an effort that was as heroic as it was meaningful.
1. Drew Gooden – 24-14, still rockin’ the goofy hair, still should be traded in the offseason.

Game 2 Golden State @ Dallas: Mavericks 112, Warriors 99 (1-1)

Hmmm. The Mavs played Diop and Dampier a combined 41 minutes and they won. Imagine that. It’s almost as if they were comfortable playing a lineup that had worked for them spectacularly well over the course of an 82 game season than some gimmicky bullshit thing they practiced for like eight minutes the day before Game 1. Like I said in the last blog, you’d be surprised at who’s put up the highest +/- for any one game of the playoffs thus far. It was a Mav, but it wasn’t _irk or The Big Bug or even the aborted poodle fetus that is Devin Harris.

Nope, it was the aforementioned Mr. Diop (I can’t spell his first name and won’t bother to look it up) with a +27. In 27 minutes no less. Some quick math tells me that for every minute he was on the floor, the Mavericks increased their lead by a point, on average. So by all means, go back to the Hasselhoff worshipping German weenie at the five, Avery, because I’m sure Game 1 was just a fluke.

Also, despite the score this game was U-G-L-Y. The two teams combined for 24 assists and 34 turnovers. If I wanted to watch crap like that I’d have tuned in to the “Greatest Sporting Event in the History of the Universe” (aka March Madness). The Warriors truthfully were the biggest culprits here, with 9 dimes to 24 giveaways. Such wretchedness would ordinarily be punished by a blowout score, but the Mavs lacked the intestinal fortitude to turn all those loose balls into free points. Or maybe it was Dallas’ 1-16 showing from the three point line that kept Golden State in the game. Air-o-plane Terry was 1 of 7 from deep, just like his Game 6 in the Finals last year. But you know, this was worse because I think we all clearly remember the refs smacking the Mavs on their elbows during all their jumpers last June.

Dallas won largely on the strength of 16 more free throw attempts (I don’t believe it!) and the twin flip outs of Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis, two professionals not ordinarily given to such emotional outbursts. They never looked like the better team, they just happened to play better today. They still appear vulnerable to me, if not for the outright upset, at least for a long, drawn out series. Oaktown should be quite loud for Game 3.

"When? When Goddammit did it become so agreed upon to take it as an offense when someone hints at having sexual relations with someone else's mother? I happen to think quite highly of myself, sir, and any woman I choose to bed should be honored. Shit, I even called the bitch the next day, even though, and this is just between the two of us, I've had much better." (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

(Yeah I cheated, writing all that after Game 3 ended, but I said it was going at least six games before the series even started, so screw off).

3 stars-

3. Stephen Jackson – 30 points, 8 turnovers, 2 technicals. He never disappoints.
2. Jason Terry – 28 points, and resisted the temptation to touch other dude’s genitals. Ironically, this bit of restraint came against a team from the Bay Area.
1. Josh Howard – I’m slowly coming around to grudgingly accepting that he’s very good. He’s still rather unpleasant looking in the facial region, though. That’s S-Jax is guarding Dirk instead. The two of them on one screen would make the V-chip short circuit.

God, I used to be funny. What happened to me? I blame Matthew, pissing me off with his irrational hatred for Barry Bonds. Or Spurstalk.com. Seriously I need to stop going there. It’s taking all the fun out of Spurs games for me. If only I could install an electric buzzer on my computer where I’d get shocked every time I click on it… also if I picked up a cheeseburger, burrito or a buffalo wing.

Anyway, big day tomorrow. Game 3 and the draft. With the run the Bay Area has been on of late with the Sharks, Warriors and even the geriatric Giants, the 49ers will wind up drafting like six future perennial Pro-Bowlers over the weekend. For my Iggles, I would say our needs are, in order: Safety, Corner, Tight End, Outside Linebacker, big Running Back and Defensive End.

We don’t need a wide receiver as some “so-called” draft gurus suggest and this isn’t the year for a quarterback of the future. I hate every QB in this draft actually. We’re picking at #26 and only have six picks, so I wouldn’t mind trading down a few spots, to like #35 or so and picking up an extra fourth rounder. I don’t see us taking an offensive player in the first round unless it’s that TE from Miami, Olsen. He’s most likely going to Carolina at #14, but if they don’t take him, he might fall all the way to the Jets at #25. If that’s the case, don’t be too shocked if Philly trades up to KC’s spot at #23 to nab Olsen. Otherwise, they’ll try to trade down. That is my guess.

Here’s to a Game 3 victory…

Day 4: What a bore.

Okay, here’s the deal. I basically killed myself Tuesday night/Wednesday morning writing a couple of stories. I messed up my system something awful on No-Doz, and I’m just now recovering from an awful headache I had pretty much all of Thursday. To say I’ve fallen behind on the basketball writing would be a bit of an understatement, akin to suggesting that I was less than pleased with Tony’s play in the second half of Game 2. I gotta catch up, and quickly. I don’t think I watched any of these games except the Spurs one, obviously, and maybe Bulls/Heat.

But watch me pretend!

Game 2 New Jersey @ Toronto: Raptors 89, Nets 83 (1-1)

The little purple dinosaurs needed a 31-20 4th quarter to salvage a home split and methinks this is a bad sign for my “Raptors in 7” pick. Really, it’s a bit reminiscent of Game 1 of our series with the Nugs, it’s inconceivable to me how Jersey can hang in there the whole game with their big three all shooting so poorly. 17 of 54 (31%) and they’re not getting creamed? Yikes. Who knew Bostjan Nachbar, Mikki Moore and Jason Collins were so valuable.

One thing’s for sure, Raptors fans cannot blame their misgivings about the first two games on Vinsanity. Carter could not have played any worse so far, totaling 35 points on 43 shots. Using this series as a salary drive would be like Bush using his presidency to line up a six figure fee for speaking engagements throughout the country once his term ends. Yeah, in the end you know in both cases that some idiot will pay the money, but they’ll deserve all the ridicule they get for it.

Slowly turning into Gollum in front of our eyes, seeking out that "precious" max contract in tax-free Orlando. (AP PHOTO/CP, Frank Gunn) CANADA

Toronto just squeezed by thanks to Chris Bosh and a career night out of Anthony Parker. They simply need more out of Calderon, Bargnani, even Rasho. It was nice to see Coach of the Year Sam Mitchell figure out that Morris Peterson is better than Joey Graham, but the realization could have come a bit too late. New Jersey’s stars cannot play this badly at home and something goofy will have to happen to send this series back to Canada 2-2.

3 Stars –

3. Jason Kidd – 14-11-7. I’m guessing he played better than the numbers showed. He led the team with a +6, contained both of Toronto’s PGs, and lord knows how many assists Jefferson and Carter blew.
2. Chris Bosh – 25-13, played 45 minutes and is killing himself to win. Needs some frontcourt help.
1. Anthony Parker – 26 points on 13 shots, 8 rebounds, and outplayed Carter significantly on both ends. But can he do it again?


Game 2 Miami @ Chicago: Bulls 107, Heat 89 (2-0)

The scary part for the Heat here is that they didn’t even shoot too badly. Of the nine guys they played (Riley smartly benched GP) the only two who had more shots than points were Eddie Jones and White Chocolate. The veteran bench chipped in 39 points and outscored their counterparts on the Bulls by 18. Miami shot 80% from the stripe, always an impressive feat when The Diesel is involved (he was 5-5) and they forced 18 Bulls turnovers as well.

So how’d they get spanked?

To put it simply, the Bulls’ starters couldn’t miss. Chicago is a gritty club, a defensive club. They will claw for every inch and make life a living hell for your stars. What they don’t do very often is get 86 points out of their starting five. The quintet accounted for 69.3 during the regular season. When you allow 86, on 62 shots, you’re absolutely screwed. The Bulls also shot 11-17 from three and 83.3% from the line. Not exactly the type of defense the Heat played on their way to earning a ring last year.

Not a whole lot changed between Games 1 and 2. The Heat still have no answer for Deng, they have wave after wave of long athletes to throw at Wade, and Gordon is pretty much neutralizing Flash in the box scores where Miami has to dominate that match-up to have a chance. The one major difference I see in this runaway second game is that the Bulls got an average night out of Hinrich instead of his first game clunker. It must be discouraging for Miami to realize that two of Chicago’s big three will have to play like crap for them to win.

That doesn’t mean I’m saying it’ll be a sweep or anything. It could very well go back to Chicago all squared up. The zebras will give Miami some home cooking with the fouls (expect, at minimum, 30 FT attempts from Wade and Shaq) and Chicago will have to earn everything they get over the weekend. Also, I don’t quite see Miami’s dynamic duo combining for 14 turnovers again. That’s a bit much, even for them. But based on what I’ve seen so far, the Bulls have too many physical advantages and despite Miami’s veteran intangibles and know-how, they won’t be able to plug all the holes in the dyke for long. The smart money is for Chicago to come home up 3-1.

At this point, the Windy City is openly begging for a comedy intervention. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

3 Stars –

3. P.J. Brown – 10 and 4 doesn’t sound too hot, but his presence was clearly an asset on the floor. His +26 in Game 2 is the 2nd highest total of any playoff game thus far (the 1st will surprise you).
2. Luol Deng – 26-5-6. Started off shaky for a quarter and a half, but was a monster in the second half, especially the 4th quarter. Scored 18 of 20 Bulls points in one stretch.
1. Ben Gordon – 27-7-5. The best guard in this series so far.

Game 2 Los Angeles @ Phoenix: Suns 126, Lakers 98 (2-0)

Okay, so scratch that Kobe getting everyone else involved idea. There isn’t much I can say about this. The Suns put up more shots, made more, shot a better percentage from the field, from downtown and the line, had more rebounds, assists, steals and blocks and had fewer turnovers. They had four guys (S.T.A.T, LB, Matrix and the Hoser) score more than the Colorado Casanova, who topped the Lakers with 15. I am hard pressed to find any Laker who played well outside of garbage time and any Sun who didn’t. The dramatic portion of this series is over. The Suns will advance. The only question is how quickly.

All this game accomplished, from a practical standpoint, is give Kobe incentive to go down firing. Every time he trusts his teammates, he loses to these guys by 30 points. He will not cap his ’06-07 season, where he had a buttload of 50 point games, as a wallflower. He’ll shoot a bunch, score a bunch, and pretty much demand Buss to get him KG over the summer, even if he has to trade the whole roster and their next five 1st round draft picks to do it. He’s just about exhausted his patience with Mr. Odom to step up.

Might want to buy some warm duds guys, I hear Minnesota gets chilly. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

3 Stars-

3. Leandro Barbosa – I don’t know who in the league can guard him, but he’s not on the Lakers.
2. Amare Stoudemire – 20 and 9 in just 24 minutes, having his way with the Lakers centers.
1. Steve Nash – 16 and 14 in only 25 minutes, slicing the Lakers to ribbons, making it look effortless.

Day 5 Recap, including Spurs-Nuggets, coming in a few hours maybe?

Game 2 Video Highlights

In case you have some time to kill before tomorrow's game 3 in Denver, you'll find some video highlights below.

NBA TV Top 10: April 25

Spurs 97, Nuggets 88 (Game 2)

Tim Duncan post-game interview

Bowen, Finley and Ginobli: After the game

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on preparing for Game 3

Happy Birthday, Big Fundamental

Yesterday was Tim Duncan's 31st birthday. To celebrate the occasion, his San Antonio Spurs managed to lose a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter against an NBA playoff team with Eduardo Najera in the rotation.

Don't get me wrong, I like Najera, and the rest of the Nuggets. I just didn't think we would be playing them in late April. And I was still stinging from the close loss in game one. More than anything else, I wanted to see the Nuggets humiliated, for the Spurs to give Tim a big Nuggets ass-whooping for his birthday.

I thought Michael Finley was wrapping up the gift by making a jumper with 8:01 left to make it 82-65, Spurs by 17. Then Kleiza, Hillario, Camby, Carmelo, Blake, and of course, Iverson, took turns in a 23-9 Nuggets scoring barrage that got the Nuggets to within three, down just 88-91 with 45 seconds left to play.

Tim was not going to let George Karl's young team spoil his party. He put his foot down with a patented off-the-glass jump shot and a defensive rebound that stopped the Nuggets in their tracks.

Some Spurs fans, myself included, and at least one journalist, had to wonder whether the fourth quarter collapse indicated a lack of focus or mental toughness on the part of San Antonio. Tim waived off any suspicions in the postgame interview.

"We won the game. That's all that matters.

They're a heck of a scoring team and they're going to make a run. That's just how the NBA is. Teams don't give up. Teams don't lay down."

Ok, ok, Tim, you're right. A win is a win. I should be happy. And I am.

I guess I might be a bit anxious if it weren't for the fact that everyone knows that the team has played two subpar games, and your teammates know how they can improve (video link).

"Of course, I would have preferred to win by 20, but it's not gonna be easy. Nothing's going to be easy against these guys."
-- Manu Ginobili

"It wasn't a case of 'Oh-oh, here we go again,' as much as 'Come on now, let's tighten things up.' In the last two minutes of the second and fourth quarters we didn't do a good job of sustaining the things we wanted to accomplish."
-- Bruce Bowen

"They are better defensively than we thought. They're collapsing in the paint against me and Tony, but if we're smart, we'll pass out to Michael Finley and Bruce Bowen and Brent Barry in the corners and they'll be able to score a lot of points."
-- Manu Ginobili

Day 3 recap, typing with my eyes closed.

http://poundingtherock.com/story/2007/4/25/135246/416

Soooooo sleepy.

Homecourt Advantage Vanishes

Poof. Just like that, the Spurs (and the Mavericks*) lost their homecourt advantage yesterday.


Mr. Robot Face must screw head back on. (Jerry Lara/ Express-News)
The good news is that the Spurs kept it close against the Nuggets, and came back to within two in the closing seconds, despite having a truly atrocious shooting day. I doubt that Iverson and Anthony will play this well again against the Spurs.

How awful was their shooting? About three minutes into the second quarter, the Spurs were down 22-24, despite the fact that Duncan was 1 of 6, Parker was 1 of 4 and Ginobili was 1 of 9. By the end of the first half, the Spurs were still down by just a basket, 42-44, yet the big three were a combined 7 of 33 – Duncan was 2 of 11, Parker was 2 of 10 and Ginobili was 3 of 12. The team as a whole shot 33% and still only trailed by two. Unbelievable.


No, you can't have it. (Gloria Ferniz/ Express-News)
The Spurs stayed in it for two reasons: bench points and points off turnovers. The Spurs bench deserves all the credit for making this game competitive.

This was the first NBA game my wife had ever watched from start to finish, and she was disappointed to say the least. She kept asking me why the big three seemed to miss all their shots, and I didn’t have a good answer.

Maybe they were looking ahead, more concerned about facing the Phoenix Suns in the second round. Maybe the time off Popovich gave them did "more harm than good." Or maybe they just needed a wakeup call.

The regular season is over and now is the time that counts. Maybe the big three just needed to be reminded of what is at stake. We all recall the 2005 championship season, when the Spurs lost their first playoff game to the Nuggets at home, then won their next four to win the series, 4-1. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened this year.

"We've been here, but I still hate it," Ginobili said. "I'm not going to get confident because we've done it before. We are very upset."

Now to take a page from Michael's playbook ...

Your three stars

Parker and Duncan managed to salvage decent stat lines, 19-6-8 and 14-10-7 respectively, and played with urgency down the stretch, but you have to put this loss squarely on their shoulders. Your three stars kept the Spurs in the game when the big three were nowhere to be found.

3. Fabricio Oberto – for providing energy off the bench and making a baseline fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to end the first quarter, shooting 4 of 4 and grabbing six boards in 15 quality minutes

2. Michael Finley – for keeping us in it in the first half, scoring 15, including 3 of 7 from behind the arc

1. Robert Horry – for a big three followed by a monster dunk in the second, a give-and-go lefthanded dunk in the fourth quarter, and playing tough despite his age, scoring 14 in just under 25 minutes



* The Mavericks looked vulnerable against the Warriors, losing 97-85, and likely have a long and painful series to look forward to. Two weeks ago, I said: "Baron Davis & Co have a decent chance of taking the 'Ricks to six games. And what's bad for the Mavs is good for the Spurs."

Of the three lower-seeded teams that won this weekend, NBA.com fans think that the Nuggets have the "best chance of pulling off the first-round upset." We'll see about that.

Game 1 Recap, I'm not all that concerned.

http://poundingtherock.com/story/2007/4/23/82521/6060

I am exhausted though.

A SpursDynasty "Classic" Post: Proper Playoff Voodoo

In lieu of writing a new post, which would require time and energy that Bramlet unfortunately can't spare today, I give you last year's playoff post "How to Maximize the Spurs' Mojo." Let's all do our part to ensure a Spurs victory tonight and another championship playoff run. I hope you find this inspirational. And I hope you find an undigested chicken head in your poop if you don't. Apparently a lot of you didn't take this seriously enough after I wrote it during the 'Ricks series last year. Or maybe AJ's New Orleans voodoo was just too strong for our Spurs Mojo. Either way, I expect the outcome to be different this year.

And yeah, I realize that calling this post "classic" is a stretch for numerous reasons, but I have to justify my laziness somehow.

It's Shaq's World - We Just Flop In It

Not a bad first day of NBA playoffs, considering there was no Spurs game to hold my rapt attention. Both 4-5 series look like they’re gonna go at least six and T-Dot vs. Vinsanity looks pretty juicy as well. I watched maybe 2 ¼ games cumulatively, and for me that’s a lot. I don’t see that’s gonna happening tomorrow…

Game 1: New Jersey @ Toronto: Nets 96, Raptors 81

It was already half time by the time I woke up. I was up ‘til the early hours as usual working on a column, in this case the WOAI.com thing. When I went to bed the night before, I could have sworn that Matthew told me that we were in agreement on all eight series. But I check his post of our chat and what do you know, the dude changes his mind on me and takes the Nets in six (I had Raptors in seven).

Yeah, so what if he hit the Submit button when the Nets had a 15 point lead late in the 3rd quarter? That’s not suspicious or anything, right? What a sneaky bastard.

Anyway the Raptors put on a spirited comeback in the end, aided by a classic playoff choke by Vinsanity (5 of 19, 16 points) and managed to cut it to 84-83 late, but just couldn’t push the boulder all the way up that hill. Hindsight is 20/20 and I realize now that I completely forgot about Bostjan Nachbar when going over the match-ups for this series in my head. Damn Matthew rushed me! You all read it; he didn’t even want to talk about this series. Shit.

Nachbar has quietly been the Nets’ MVP in the second half of the season and he was quite good this afternoon, finishing with 16-5-4 and a +9 for the game. He cancelled out the masonry of his starting backcourt (_ason Kidd was 3 of 11, but did have 15 dimes and 10 rebounds). And RJ finished with 28, which is way too many for him.

I don't miss him. Not even a little bit. (AP Photo/Adrian Wyld, CP)


For Toronto Bosh had a solid second half to finish with 22, and their two point guards combined for 34 and 10 (worth noting that Calderon was the one on the floor during the comeback), and to me it just looked like they need a half to calm down and get settled.

Still, it has to be somewhat concerning for Sam Mitchell that his team lost despite Carter playing so miserably. Besides him and Jefferson, nobody played all that better or worse than one would expect. Suppose in Game 2 the two revert to form and Vince gets 28 and Jefferson finishes with 16. What happens then? 96 points for New Jersey again.

No, the improvement will have to come largely on offense. Even more must be asked of Bosh and they desperately need something from rookie sensation Andrea Bargnani who’s just trying to get back into the flow after missing the last couple of months.

3 Stars...

3. Bostjan Nachbar – X-factor came up big.
2. Chris Bosh – 22 points and team best +14 in his maiden voyage. Not too shabby.
1. Jason Kidd – Controlling the game and making Jefferson look good, as always.

Game 1: Miami @ Chicago: Bulls 96, Heat 91

The only contest I watched from beginning to end and I’m glad I did. I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t wind up being the best series of round one when it’s all said and done. This one featured the best and worst of both teams in various stretches. Sorry, but I’m just not sold on the Pistons this year, especially with Flip coaching them and C-Webb in the middle. I have a gut feeling that the winner of this series makes it out of the East.

The sad thing is this simpleton probably makes well into the six figures per year. Enjoy your Leno monologue, dork. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

And despite how incredibly satisfying it would feel to knock them out in the Finals, I’d still prefer to have the Heat knocked out ASAP by the Bulls. I can’t stand Shaq’s whiny bitch ass. Only one game in the books and he’s already going on about the refs and calling everyone a flopper. The dude outweighs most of his defenders by 125 lbs. It’s like he doesn’t understand the concept of physics at all. No matter what he says though, people aren’t going to call him a whiner. Go figure.

As much as I loathe Miami, they had three different stretches where they vaguely resembled the squad who won it all last spring. Shaq dominated early, scoring 17 1st half points on 8-10 shooting. The veteran supporting cast, particularly Antoine Walker staged a courageous rally in the middle segment of the 4th when both O’Neal and Wade were on the bench with five fouls. They played tinyball with Udonis Haslem at center and it somehow worked. Finally, Flash threw a scare into the home fans late and almost managed to send the game into OT with a late flurry. These guys have too much experience and savvy to disappear into the cold night quietly, and I will not discount the will of D-Wade.

All that being said, there was a reason I picked the Bulls to win the East before the season started. They’re the only Eastern team that truly frightens me. It’s relentless how many athletes they can throw at you. Deng, Nocioni, Thomas, Sefolosha, Big Ben, Hinrich. They’re just a bitch to score against when they’re in sync.

Today they managed to outlast Miami despite a nightmare performance from Kirk Hinrich (1-7, 19 minutes). Luol Deng picked up the slack, and then some and Ben Gordon managed to get the ball to the right people when he wasn’t taking horrendous shots. It’s amazing how a team could finish with 27 assists on 35 field goals when they took so many ugly shots. Making the first pass isn’t the problem for these guys, they’re not selfish for the most part, but the second pass is sorely lacking. It’s really their only weakness and one that will probably be cured with more experience.

Can you imagine if they win the lottery with the Knicks’ pick and get Oden or Durant? Good night Aunt Sally.

3 Stars...

3. Antoine Walker – Finished with 20 points on 14 shots and was a +13. Also canned all six of his FTs, a shocker considering he was 44% from the stripe in the regular season.
2. Ben Gordon – 24 points and a career high 11 assists, helped the team keep its poise in Hinrich’s absence. Game best +16.
1. Luol Deng – A force of nature out there, 33 points on 14-22 shooting. Nobody Miami threw at him – Wade, James Posey, Eddie Jones – could do anything with him.

Game 1: Orlando @ Detroit: Pistons 100, Magic 92

Saw most of the 1st quarter and that was pretty much it. Looking at the box score, I can’t believe how poorly the Pistons played defensively. Orlando shot 58% from the field and 40% from three. They would’ve easily stolen game 1 had they had just an average night from the line or took care of the ball a little better. If I told you going in that they’d have shot 50% from the free throw line and had 20 turnovers, you’d have guess that they got blown out, right? I suppose Detroit’s defense deserves some credit for forcing the turnovers, but from what I saw in the 1st quarter, I get the distinct impression that most of them were unforced.

The biggest culprit on both fronts was that freak, Dwight Howard who finished 3-11 from the line and accounted for a half dozen giveaways as well. While snatching damn near half of his team’s rebounds (19 of 39) in his first playoff showing is certainly impressive, he just killed them in too many other ways (team worst -13) to not wear the goat horns on this day. Tony Battie was just as bad, a -12 in 24 minutes, missed both of his foul shots and a total non-factor on defense.

Really their best big man today was Darko, and as odd it sounds, it was probably due to his previous playoff experience. He played within himself and had quite the good day, relatively speaking. If his foot’s feeling up to it, Brian Hill has to consider giving him more run in Game 2. Also, the team needs more from Grant Hill. They need leadership and guidance out there and he’s the talisman, if only for three more games. I don’t care that Tayshaun’s checking him, it’s not an excuse.

No wonder it never worked out for Darko in Motown. He looks positively terrifed scoring the basketball. It's like he thinks the basket will swallow his hand or something. What kind of wicked shit did 'Sheed give him as a rookie? (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

For the Pistons, nobody really stood out. Rasheed started out on fire, scoring 10 points in the first six minutes, but only finished with 16. Chauncey had 22 and 11, but never appeared to be dominating the game. The Pistons’ starters produced 84 of their 100 points and Detroit had a comfortable two touchdown lead most of the way. The Magic cut it to five late with an 11-2 run but a Prince dunk and five Chauncey freebies put it to bed.

Game two might be worth watching, at least for another first quarter. Will the Magic take heart that they can play with this team and come out with more focus early or will their shoulders be sagging with the realization that they let the Pistons get away with a “C-” game? I’m just not in love with this Pistons team.

3 Stars...

3. Darko Milicic – 14 points on six shots and a team best +5.
2. Rasheed Wallace – Got Detroit off to a nice 1st quarter cushion and they never looked back.
1. Chauncey Billups – Ho-hum 22 and 11, dominated Jameer Nelson as expected.

Game 1: Utah @ Houston: Rockets 84, Jazz 75

Perhaps my initial enthusiasm for this series was unjustified. It certainly looks like it will be close, competitive and lengthy, but given the two head coaches and the slow down tempo they prefer to play, we might be in for some eyesore basketball here. Whatever, as long as Houston prevails with their two main guys unscathed, I’ll be happy.

Jeff Van Gundy's reaction upon being informed by his head trainer that both of his superduperstars would be available to play. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

It was a game of prolonged offensive slumps and the Rockets managed to land more body blows in the 3rd quarter than the Jazz nailed them with in the 2nd. A nine point deficit became a six point lead for Houston, thanks mainly to McGrady finally rediscovering his stroke after an 0-6 first half and jaw-droppingly wretched shooting from the Jazz’ starting frontcourt. Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur finished 6 of 31 between them and were 0-10 for 0 points in the crucial third. AK-47 played 16 ineffective minutes as well before being chained to the bench by Sloan in favor of Obi-Wan Kenobe.

The guy who bears the responsibility of the game turning play however, is Derek Fisher. With 1:54 to go in the 3rd quarter the Jazz were clinging to a one point lead, 53-52 when T-Mac threw a blind pass right at Okur. He headmanned it over to Fisher and the Jazz had a 3 on 0 fast break. Mr. 0.4 inexplicably missed the bunny with nary a Rocket around him and Okur missed the tip rebound as well. The loose ball wound up in Skip to My Loo’s hands and he heaved it down court to a cherry picking Yao for a dunk, a four point swing, and a lead the Rockets would never relinquish. I couldn’t be more thrilled with how that sequence played out. Derek Fisher could shove a live grenade up his ass and I’d laugh myself hoarse.

The unsung heroes in this one for the Rockets were Alston, who hounded Deron Williams into a 7 of 19 night and still managed to not collapse on the court despite the 47 minutes of playing time, and Chuck Hayes, who made life miserable for Okur and Boozer. Yao and T-Mac did the heavy lifting on offense as one would expect and their combined 51 points was 19 more than the Boozer-Okur-Williams trio, and on 15 less shots to boot.

The funniest part of the night though was McGrady’s over-the-top self-involved interview with Screamin’ A. Smith. He announced that he is ready to take all the blame should the Rockets flame out in the 1st round again with all the gravity of a president admitting that he committed treason.

Smith yelled, “NO!” in the background, begging McGrady to step off that perilous limb, but Tracy wouldn’t budge.

“It’s on me. If we lose, it’s on me.”

No shit knucklehead. Who’d you think the media would blame? The Cookie Monster? Hey T-Mac, Kobe Bryant called. He says you’re taking yourself too seriously.

3 Stars...

3. Chuck Hayes – 4 points and 9 rebounds may not sound like much, but he was the defensive star of day 1 of the playoffs.
2. Tracy McGrady – 22 second half points and reclaimed the game for the Rockets in the 3rd.
1. Yao Ming – So this is where we’ve gotten with him? 28 and 13 and nobody bats an eyelash? Interesting.

So that's it for the first day of the playoffs. Our journey begins tomorrow.

Playoff Predictions

Michael and Matthew made their picks for the first round over at PtR. (I've hyperlined the picks that align with those of Steve Kerr, in case anyone is interested how we compare to an "expert.") There is one thing that all of us non-experts agree on: SA over DEN in 5.

Michael picks: DAL over GS in 6 PHX over LAL in 6 SA over DEN in 5 HOU over UTA in 7 DET over ORL in 5 CLE over WAS in 4 TOR over NJ in 7 CHI over MIA in 7

Matthew picks: DAL over GS in 5 PHX over LAL in 5 SA over DEN in 5 HOU over UTA in 7 DET over ORL in 4 CLE over WAS in 5 NJ over TOR in 6 CHI over MIA in 5

I'll take my picks a step further, for what it's worth. (And in the interest of disclosure, the Nets just went up 1-0 on the Raptors, so I know a bit more than Michael and Matthew did last night.)

Dingo picks:
WESTERN CONFERENCE DAL over GS in 6 PHX over LAL in 6 SA over DEN in 5 HOU over UTA in 5 DAL over HOU in 7 SA over PHX in 5 SA over DAL in 6	EASTERN CONFERENCE DET over ORL in 5 CLE over WAS in 6 NJ over TOR in 6 CHI over MIA in 6 DET over CHI in 6 NJ over CLE in 6 DET over NJ in 7
SA over DET in 6

But there is really only one series that matters, and that's the Western Conference final. As Adrian Wojnarowski wrote on Thursday:

The NBA champion comes out of the Western Conference this season, and the road goes through the heart of Texas – Dallas and San Antonio.

Best pals with Kori...

Article I wrote for WOAI.com is up.

Michael & Matthew's 1st Round Preview Extravaganza

http://poundingtherock.com/story/2007/4/21/151941/787

Man, this took a lot of work. I am exhausted. Trying to squeeze a productive chat out of Matthew is like playing ball with Shaq during January. You keep waiting for him to work himself open, to exert any energy at all so that you can set him up, and he simply refuses to budge.

If you don't think Wade will eventually be making the same snide about the big fella that Kobe used to, you're hopelessly naive about Flash's benevolence. I predict it will end badly for them, like it always does for Shaq and his second banana.

Then again, by now Shaq is the second banana. Or pineapple. Or whatever.

Lurching to the Finish, A Sloppy Account of Games 81 and 82

God, what a depressing week it's been. First the Imus thing, then the Virginia Tech killings.

Are you like me? Did you see the picture of the killer on one of the news shows and think to yourself, "HEY! I think I went to high school with that guy!"

What, too soon?

Yeah, I'm quite proud of that joke, thanks. These are the times when I'm glad I don't believe in hell.

Speaking of hell, thank God the infernal regular season is finally past us. If I had to watch Melvin Ely post up Stromile Swift or Steve Blake zoom by the Bean Burrito one more time, I'd have defenestrated my television. Thanks to Joey Crawford's power trip in Dallas - hope it was worth it, dickhead - our last two games were utterly devoid of meaning. I know it's cliché to say that the entire regular season is meaningless in basketball, (and hockey) but I dare anyone to watch a Spurs-Suns game in the middle of the season and then watch the dreck we were subjected to the past two games and explain to me how the two have any similarities at all.

Maybe it's a sickness of mine, and I certainly understand that I'm in the minority, but I really enjoy watching regular season Spurs games when they care.* "But Aaron," you're asking, with your doe eyes and your bushy tail, "Doesn't every Spur care deeply about their play every second on the floor, except for Robert Horry?"

(Even you, sweet, naive, idealistic you can't pretend anymore with RoHo)...

Yes, it's true. Almost all the Spurs do care. Unfortunately, as we saw demonstrated to us quite clearly these past two games, the majority of the Spurs also suck, and suck hard.

Caring < Sucking

Tim and Tony look upon anxiously at the eye in the sky. Manu Ginobili, however, fears nothing.

* i.e. when Manu plays.

Anyway, let's just get through this together as quickly and painless as possible, like removing a band aid or manscaping. Hopefully no one here will have to experience the former as a result of the latter.

Game 81 @ Memphis: Grizzlies 101, Spurs 91

Let me put it this way. We lost by double digits to the team with the worst record in the NBA. We let them shoot 53% from the floor and 50% from the three point line. We never led and our last tie score was 2-2.

And this was our good performance of the last two.

Your starting line up: Elson-Butler-Bowen-White-Vaughn. I've been on Pop's ass all year to play just one center and now, when only the lunatics are watching, he starts two. The man is openly taunting me.

The Positives:

Jackie Butler - had 12 and 10 in 28 minutes, and in my mind the ten boards was much more of a stunner than the points. We signed the guy knowing he could score. He's definitely got the best low post game of any center on the roster (not counting Timmy as a center). It's a shame we couldn't get this guy on board with the program until it was too late. Still, this could be a bright spot going into '07. Elson and Oberto aren't exactly long term solutions. If we can get Jackie to not spend his whole off-season eating, we might have something here.

James White - played 39 minutes, scored 17 points, and sank several jumpers with that hideous, flat shot of his. Somewhat disappointingly, he didn't get to the line at all, but the bottom line is that he wasn't scared and the dude looks like an NBA player. I expect him to be in our rotation next year, and I'm sure I'll be bitching about his shortcomings by December.

Matt Bonner - had 10 and 10 in 24 minutes and actually finished a +3. I wonder if he'll be a part of Pop's rotation in the playoffs.

Michael Finley - was 7 of 11 for 17 points as our only legitimate offensive threat for long stretches. Let's just say he didn't seem particularly concerned with his defense today.

Good FT shooting - 11 of 12 for the game, highlighted by Bonner's 4-4.

Great 3 Point shooting - 8 of 15. 3-3 for Fin, and Beno & Horry each stuck a couple.

Robert Horry - looked pretty spry out there, probably realizing that he's got to show Pop something if he wants to be the first big man off the bench. RoHo's best moment came early in the third. Pau Gasol, this giant dork who's supposed to be some kind of star, hit a half court prayer right before half to extend Memphis' lead to 13 and celebrated like some lunatic, sticking his arms out like an air-o-plane like Jason Terry does. Fresh off that euphoric moment the Spaniard tried to take a jumper right in Robert's mug the first time he touched it in the second half and Horry promptly smacked it ten feet into the air.

Bruce Bowen - extended his starting streak, played 14 minutes and didn't exactly over-exert himself.

Finally, Beno Udrih, in what might have been the penultimate big minute game for him as a Spur, finished with 12 and 9 and led a spirited 4th quarter comeback that fell just short.

Dancing With the Stars meets Blades of Glory.

The Negatives:

Defense - Everyone sucked, across the board. Everyone. All that funneling business works a lot better when Timmy's back there to funnel to. We couldn't even be bothered to defend jump shots. Just awful.

Jacque Vaughn - Wasn't exactly into it today. Crappy shooting and crappier shot selection. Not exactly husslerific.

Francisco Elson - Two early travels and 1 of 6 from the floor. He looked offended even being asked to play.

Brent Barry - Yahoo said he was "DNP - Tummy Ache." I love being a Spurs fan.

Melvin Ely - 0 of 5. Yuck.

Spurstalk.com - I spent the whole game engaged in some dumb flame war. Why do I ever go there?

Whatever, we lost. The ironic thing is that as badly as we played, if Memphis was still in a neck and neck situation for the worst record, they would have let us beat them in the end. I don't know if they'd "accidentally" turn it over a few too many times or let us go to the rim at will, but the timing of the game had more to do with the result than anything else.

Some Grizzlies couldn't wait to get the fuck out of here.

Your 3 Stars

3. James White - Ignoring team worst -18.
2. Jackie Butler Ditto Butler's -11. Still can't guard anybody.
1. Beno Udrih 12, 9 and team best + 4. 1st star, just for old time's sake.

Alright, now the complete turdfest. Our last game just happened to be against our first round opponents, the Nugs (preview coming tomorrow) so neither coach was about to show the other one anything. No le grand trois for us, no A.I. or 'Melo for them. It's unlucky for the fans, really. I think if we were playing anyone else our guys would have gotten at least a few token minutes just to get their blood flowing and give the fans a little somethin'. Alas.

Game 82 (Christ, finally) vs. Denver: Nuggets 100, Spurs 77

Ironically, I remember even less about this one than the Memphis game. We were so putrid I've blocked it out completely. I was much more concerned about the Warriors, Sharks, and even the San Francisco Giants. Plus, I was in another stupid flame war on Spurstalk. I should really knock that shit out. Maybe I'll go watch our playoff games in the lounge downstairs like I did two years ago and avoid the computer altogether. Or I'll just try to coerce Matthew into chatting during them. (Fat chance).

God forbid we let this genuis take a sneak peek at the big three out on the court for five minutes.

Positives:

Francisco Elson - 8 points and 2 blocks in 10 minutes. Methinks somebody was threatened to spend the playoffs watching Michael Finley play. He might be all that stands between us and tinyball.

Jackie Butler - 10 and 9 in 28 minutes. Intriguing. I imagine the front office is praying that Oberto doesn't cash in his player's option for '07.

Ooh, speaking of which, biggest positive of all, by far...

Fabricio Oberto - Still with us. Kinda had a scary heart situation the day of the game and needed emergency surgery. Pop thinks he'll be okay, but I have no idea what his status is for Game 1. I don't think it's a long term thing, but with a heart, you can't be too careful. In regards to '07, maybe Pop'll lay it out for Fab this way... "It's your contract, you can come back if you want, but I won't promise to even dress you." Or maybe the guy will be a playoff hero against Phoenix and Dallas and I'm a huge asshole. God, that'd be awesome.

Melvin Ely - 11 and 7 in 25 minutes. I imagine any game he's in uniform these next two months would relate directly to the previous paragraph. Nice knowin' you, Melvin.

Beno Udrih - Led the team with 13 points in what's almost surely his last non-garbage time action for us. Then again, the whole game was garbage time. I'd be shocked if he was a Spur in '07. It just never worked out for Beno here. I've heard some depressing stories about his laziness and attitude and it's almost impossible to defend him at this point. I will say that I think Pop totally fucked him last year, but this year it's all on Beno. He's got no one to blame but himself. Maybe he just didn't see the point in trying hard or practicing hard when he was never going to beat out Tony for the starting job.

Pop's gonna have to find a new whipping boy.

The Negatives:

Bruce Bowen - Started, played four minutes, hardly moved and sat down. Really stretching this starting streak thing too far. Either play the game or don't. Kinda bush league if you ask me.

Brent Barry - Returned from his tummy ache and shot a miserable 1 of 7. He's picked a bad time to be slumping. April was by far his worst month of the season.

Matt Bonner - 4 and 3 in 26 minutes. 2 of 10 from the floor. Ugh.

James White - When your jumper has the arc of a Shaq O'Neal free throw, those 3 of 11 nights will be much more frequent than those 8 of 14 nights. Coach Chip has his work cut out for him with this guy.

Everything - We got dominated by a team that shot 5 of 16 from the FT line. They outshot us 49% to 35%, made 11 of 26 threes to our 5 of 20, has 16 more rebounds and 14 more assists. We let the Nutgrabber have 19 and 20. It was an embarrassing, disgraceful showing, regardless of who we had out there. No one had any pride at all. If I paid good money for the game, I'd have been pissed, quite frankly. Even the coaches openly admitted to not caring. Maybe the Fabricio thing shook the whole team too much to even pretend in this one.

"What do you mean, 'Who do I got, coach?' Listen... what's your name again? Jay? Jamie? Whatever it is. It's the last game of the season. I'm completely wasted. I don't care who your man is. It's not like you can guard him anyway. Just run, jump, maybe do one of those oop things the people like. Just don't get hurt and don't hurt anyone else, okay? I'm gonna sit down now. From now on, if you need something, go ask P.J."

Your 3 Stars (such as they were)

3. Jackie Butler - Hoping we see a lot more from him - but not of him - next year.
2. Fabricio Oberto - Here's to a speedy recovery.
1. Us, the fans - This game was rough, even as background noise. Screw you, Simmons, Duncan was the MVP.

Finally, I heard something today, about baseball, that really made me laugh. Sadly, Seattle Mariner phenom Felix Hernandez hurt his elbow last night and it didn't look good. It's a real shame for a kid who looked like he might be on his way to a Cy Young this year, his stuff is so amazing. When asked about his condition, his manager, Mike Hargrove, replied, "I think Felix is going to be okay, but I have nothing to base that on."

Think about that. Hargrove knows he has to sound optimistic. He knows he has to outright lie basically. His owner and GM demand it of him on a daily basis. But he's too proud to fully commit to it. So he gives the greatest wink wink quote in baseball history.

I think that is the perfect way to sum up our regular season and our playoff prospects. I think we'll be okay, but I have nothing to base that on.

Crawford v Duncan: Everyone Loses

Sunday's preview of the Western Conference Finals was shaping up to be a game for the ages, a hard fought battle between the two best teams in the league. Then petty squabbling between a star player and a veteran referee ruined everything.

For those who missed it -- anyone? -- Tim Duncan was ejected late in the third quarter after being called for two technical fouls less than two minutes apart by veteran referee Joey Crawford.

The Mavs won, but it must have been bittersweet for the fans and for the players. Dallas trailed 68-74 when Duncan was ejected, and weren't able to come back and tie the game until just 1:15 remained. Even without their MVP, the Spurs almost held on to win.

It was a great game to watch. An AP writer commented, "By the third quarter, the intensity was reminiscent of their thrilling second-round playoff series last year." I agree. Too bad it was ruined by an official with an axe to grind. The ejection was only the second in future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan's 746-game career.

What exactly did Tim Duncan say or do to deserve the technicals? Not much, according to Tim:

"Joey knew exactly what he was doing. He came into this game with a personal vendetta against me. It had to be. Because I didn't do anything the entire the game."

"He's obviously got a personal problem with me."

Duncan said that he told the official, "I got fouled on the shot," and had nothing else to say to him until he got ejected.

What's more, Duncan insisted that Crawford became so belligerent with him on the floor that he challenged him to a fight.

"He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?' " Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?' "

Before Duncan delivered these charges at his locker after the game, Crawford defended himself to a pool reporter. When it was suggested that Duncan believed he had said nothing to deserve the ejection, Crawford said, "That's his opinion. He said nothing when he was walking off the court and he called me a piece of [blank]? Is that nothing?"

"... He's complaining. He was constantly complaining. He was complaining when he was on the court. Then he got on the bench and kept doing the same stuff. So I just ejected him."

"I don't know what else he wants me to do? If he wants camera time, he's going to call the techs and get the camera time he wants," Duncan said. "... I guess I can't laugh anymore. I guess I can't enjoy the game anymore. I've got to sit there and put my head between my legs."

While Steve Kerr and others lay blame squarely on the shoulders of Crawford -- I agree that ejecting Duncan was excessive -- I'm not so sure that Duncan is completely innocent either.

The NBA directed its refs this season to crack down on excessive complaining, and Tim has been a complainer his whole career. It could be my imagination, but it seems he's been disputing calls even more frequently this season. Can you blame Crawford for doing his job? Well, yes, actually, you can.

The worst part of this whole flareup is that no one wins and everyone loses. Crawford has been suspended indefinitely and may not be back for a 32nd season wearing NBA pinstripes. Duncan was fined $25,000 and his reputation as a whiner has been validated, at least in the eyes of the media and non-Spurs fans.

Lord knows, Tim will be under close scrutiny during the playoffs. Don't be surprised if some refs look forward to the opportunity to punish Duncan for getting one of their elder statesman summarily ejected. Then again, Duncan might just get a free pass throughout the playoffs, too. We'll know more in a week.

Laughing Our Way Through Minnesota and Dallas

http://poundingtherock.com/story/2007/4/16/65013/8518

Perhaps my best (and most disturbing) recaps all year. I was a bit worked up as you might expect.

4 more to go... 4 more to go...

Game 78 Vs. Sacramento: Spurs 109, Kings 100

Must...blog...on.

Hang with me, my pretties, we're almost there. Just four more totally meaningless-"Oh wait maybe if the Suns lose a couple they're meaningful"-"No wait, never mind, it's not gonna happen, they are meaningless" games.

Should I be concerned that our defense was crummy for the third straight game? Well, we have played an awful lot of tinyball of late, (19 minutes last night) but I can't really hold that responsible because we were +14 playing small and -5 the normal way. Now I'll admit, I wasn't exactly thrilled with some of Pop's line-ups, and the idea of Oberto at center and Bowen at power forward doesn't exactly scream out "rebounding and interior defense" at me. And some random gentleman named, lemme see here... Justin Williams, seemed rather unimpressed with them as well, gobbling up six offensive rebounds and finishing 7 of 9 at point blank range.

Whatever. We'll play bigger, longer (where am I going with this?) when Frankie gives a shit. Why Pop didn't give Bonner a shot, especially after he played so well against Portland? Because the man lives to drive me crazy, that's why.

Speaking of people who live to drive me crazy, Monsieur Parker was the main reason we sucked on defense for over three quarters. Bibby had a lot of room to operate out there and for once he wasn't atrocious. Now for the lion's share of this season, defense has been one of Tony's biggest strengths. Along with FT shooting, it has been his biggest improvement. And Pop has made sure to give him credit there when it was deserved, praising Tony's D against Iverson and Billups for example. So when he said after the Portland game, "Tony had great energy on offense, and Jacque on defense," well it wasn't lost on me.

Tony's D has been soft and/or indifferent for the past three games. Consequently his +/- has been, +3, -1 (in a game he scored 30 in!), and 0.

Dude was a -10 thru three quarters vs. Sac before finally turning up the heat several notches against Mini-me in the 4th. I heard after the game that his back was tight and it was doubtful on Wednesday morning that he'd even play, so I guess he deserves credit for gutting it out, but still we need him to close out on those shooters better, especially if Pop is hell bent on having us so weak inside.

All the bitching aside, I never doubted for a moment that we'd win. C'mon, this is the ___ramento Queens we're talking about here. Their point guard's defense makes Tony look like Dennis Johnson. In fact I think DJ could still check somebody better than Bibby, and he's been dead for a month.

::crickets chirping::

What, too soon?

Besides, they're coached by this knucklehead ...

I said I wanted a double with no olives. FUCK! Photo: Eric Gay/AP

He has a drinking problem, he yells and screams a lot, and he inexplicably expects horrid defensive players to be good defensive players, just because he's asking them to. What kind of loser organization would hire such a misguided individual?

Oh.

Just kidding, Pop, we love ya.

Offensively we shot 56% and pretty much got whatever we wanted, turnovers being the only bugaboo. For the second time in three games Tony and Manu combined for 14 dimes and we had 27 helpers overall. We even got Bones Barry back so we have another guy who can hit a three besides that dead eye marksman Michael Finley.
Vaughn even hit 5 of 7 and Timmy once again was much more proficient against living, breathing defenders trying (I'm guessing) to stop him than when he was standing a mere 15 feet from the hoop, straight away and all alone. Is it just me or has it been a while since we've played anyone who can play a lick of defense? Lookin' forward to the Dallas game, even though I'm not sure how seriously they'll (or we'll) take it.

H-O-R... Photo Eric Gay/AP

Oh, while we're on the subject of Timmy, I might as well put this out there now... Mr. Duncan is getting shafted not being considered for the MVP. He is, by far, the best combination of offense and defense for any elite player in the NBA and has been for a looooooong time. Take a look at your +/- leaders... Tim's leading the second closest guy, MVP frontrunner _irk, by 123 points. That's a massive differential.

To put it another way, every minute Tim has been on the floor, we have increased our lead, on average, by .273 of a point. He plays 35 minutes, that's a +9.55. With Nowitzki, the number drops to .226. The only guy with a better rate is Devin Harris at .292. Gonzo is 3rd at .261. But you knew that.

No, Mini-Me, we do not gnaw on our kitty, we just stroke him and love him... Photo Eric Gay/AP

Doesn't anyone else notice these things? One of these years we're going to need Tony and Manu to slug each other on the bench or something. Stupid boring team.

Your 3 Stars...

3. Manu Ginobili - He only outscored KMart 14-12, but give Martin credit for taking five more shots, having 0 assists and being a -12. Man I wish we had this guy instead of our slug.

2. Michael Finley - 7 of 10 for 19 points. Holy 1999 Batman! He better keep this up because this recent hot stretch has pretty much nailed the coffin shut on my fantasy of a playoff run sans tinyball.

1. Tim Duncan - 26-13-4-4. It is getting kind of old hearing opposing broadcasters chuckle game after pointless game, "Is there ANYTHING he DOESN'T do well?" before quickly segueing into crap free throw shooting. See here's why I could never be a color guy... I'd give the requisite fake laughter to my play-by-play partner before casually replying, "Well Bob, actually I hear he's not all that impressive in bed."

Sure my career would be ruined instantly, but I'd be a YouTobe immortal.

Record: 57-21 Streak: W-5
Up Next: @ Minnesota Timberwolves
The Big Ticket will be out for this one. He ignored mama Garnett and kept making that stupid fake intense face that never fools anybody and what do you know, now it's stuck that way. The operation will be Sunday and we've all got our fingers crossed. If Tony is feeling gimpy, sitting this one out wouldn't be the worst idea, I think we'll be okay.

Western Conference Playoff Previews

The NBA playoffs don't start for another week, but if the current seeds* hold, over the next six days we'll get to see previews of each of the four first round series and possibly the semis and finals in the Western Conference. The only preview game missing is the Spurs against the Suns, and we already know how that one turned out.

Here are the remaining games to look forward to:

	Friday, April 13 Phoenix leads 2 - 1
	Friday, April 13 Series split 1 - 1
	Sunday, April 15 San Antonio leads 2 - 1
	Tuesday, April 17 Golden State leads 2 - 0
	Wednesday, April 18 San Antonio leads 2 - 0
	Wednesday, April 18 Utah leads 2 - 1

* The Clippers beat the Lakers tonight, to pull into a tie with the Warriors for the eighth spot.