Posts Under Featured Category
And like that, we’re into the second round. Barring the last 5 minutes of the game, in which the Jazz made one last in-the-throes-of-defeat comeback, I was very impressed by what I saw in the series. I expected the series to go 5, the Spurs swept; I expected the Jazz to give the Spurs lots of trouble and play close games, and they really didn’t. For the most part, the…
The Spurs had 53 at the half; the Jazz had 53 after 3 quarters. That should tell you all you need to know about this game, as thorough a beat down as you’re bound to see in a playoff game. The Spurs controlled the game from the start, but used a 20-0 run at the end of the first half to blow it open, running even further away in the…
Congratulations to Coach Gregg Popovich for being named the 2011-2012 NBA Coach of the Year. It is a well-deserved honor for one of the greatest coaches of all time. The NBA Coach of the Year Award is an interesting one, as it is often handed out to the coach of the team that has the most surprising year. And when a team has a surprising year, it’s usually because the…
The Spurs started the game sluggish and out of sorts, looking like the scared, untested playoff team. Manu Ginobili missed an open-court fast break dunk… The Jazz out rebounded us by 6… The Jazz also had 8 more fast break points than us… Leonard and Green were mostly invisible the entire game… Splitter injured his wrist in the first half and never made it back into the game… The Jazz…
I don’t have an extensive playoff preview. The team was embarrassed of sorts last year, and we’re seeking redemption. No other team is playing better in the league right now, and legacies are at stake. It can be easy to look at this year and see the comparisons to last year, rolling into the playoffs as a surprise #1 seed. But this year couldn’t be any more different. Last year…
I’m not going to lie: I wanted 50 wins this season. Spurs fans don’t need it, because they already know; and it’s certainly not in the “Spurs way” to seek any sort of recognition for success or achievement, particularly from the unimportant regular season. But the competitor and the sentimentalist in me wanted that 50th win, because I wanted 13 straight seasons of 50 or more victories, because I wanted…
I was all set to entitle this post ‘Freight Train’ and talk about how our offense was an unstoppable juggernaut. We had 55 points with 4 minutes to play in the 2nd quarter. We were on a roll; the game was ours. Over the next 28 minutes we scored 32 points. We still won, and for that, I’m quite happy. And this game had the feel of one of those…
I can’t remember ever seeing a better passing team in my (albeit brief) love affair with the NBA. Literally every player on the roster is an above average passer with excellent court vision, and the joy the team has in sharing the ball is amazingly infectious. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed watching an offense more. This is particularly evident playing against young, inexperienced teams like the Cavs. Offering little…
Another great win for the Spurs, pushing the current win streak to 5 games. What’s really impressed me over the last 4 games, in particular, is the defense in the 4th quarters. Over the last 3, we’ve given up 17, 11, and 14 points in the 4th quarter, averaging out to 14 points/game. That’s really impressive. Add in the Dallas game (24 by Dallas in the 4th), and the average…
Wow. That was an impressive 3 wins. I don’t care what team you are or what team you’re playing: to win 3 games on 3 consecutive nights is impressive. After playing ugly (but with energy and some urgency) and winning last night, the team came back home and played a mostly sterling game against a very good team. Philadelphia is a tremendous defensive team, using their athleticism to swarm and…
