If We Could Only Play the Clippers More, We'd Have the Best Record in the League

Nothing about last night's game was surprising. I believe this is the third time we've beaten the Clippers handily. The Clippers aren't a bad team, and they certainly have a lot of talented players. But they have just never been able to coalesce into a functioning unit, and we have their number.

Perhaps the most interesting subplot of the night was George Hill going off for 17 points in the first quarter. Since being put into the starting line-up as our 2 guard, he has been playing extremely well. I love him in the role as starting 2 and back-up PG. His PG skills still aren't natural or instinctive, though certainly satisfactory for a back-up. But his value to the team is too important to not have him on the floor more. He was a 2 in college; let him be a 2 in the NBA.

A thought occurred to me while watching last night's game: Is George Hill turning into what we hoped Richard Jefferson would be? As Jefferson continues to be mired in mediocrity, Hill is rising. He is averaging around 15 ppg since being put into the starting line-up, but can easily go for 20+; he has a much-improved and reliable jump shot; he is quick and athletic and is not afraid to attack the basket or get out in transition; and he is a tenacious defender who can defend multiple positions.

Granted, there are differences, mostly size and position. But aren't these the things we were hoping to get from Jefferson. Maybe, just maybe, as Parker and Ginobili and McDyess continue to round into form, Hill will fill that vital 5th spot on the "closing" team.

Looking Forward:

We were expected to beat the Clippers, and we did. Next up, the other LA team. We play the Lakers on Monday. Kobe did not play last night in a Lakers' victory in Portland. There's a chance that he won't play again Monday. Either way, the Lakers are a tough out. This is one of the 3 games I pegged as the most important of the Rodeo Road Trip. We already lost the first; I don't want to lose the second.

Baby I've Been Here Before I've Seen This Room and I've Walked This Floor

We needed this win. We've struggled on the road and against good teams all year, and this was a chance to reverse both trends.

And we had it. Our defense suffocated them in the third quarter. We got the pace where we wanted, we were executing our offense with precision, limiting turnovers, and we were slowly taking control of the game. It felt like a game from a few years ago. Slow it down, grind it out, and eventually our execution, confidence, and trust would prevail. Well, at least 2 of those things are gone, and I'm pretty sure the 3rd one's not far behind.

We wilted down the stretch and gave the game away. Portland did their part to win it, but make no mistake: we should have won this game. We were firmly in control of the game in almost every aspect. Then, without notice, we started turning the ball over; we started taking horrible shots (Manu's 3 from 5 feet behind the line comes to mind) and stopped working to get the best available shot; our defensive rotations broke down and we gave up some back-breaking wide open 3s. I can't even remember a good offensive possession we had in the last 5 minutes of the game, save for Pop's awesome out of bounds play down 3 with under 20 seconds left.

Jefferson is clearly struggling. He's just not getting the system, he's doubting himself, he's hesitant, and he's passive. He rebounds like crap. And I don't think he's all of a sudden going to magically "get it". He'll go through stretches where he plays decently, but then it's like he forgets and regresses. We're past the point where people need to be reminded to play hard and compete. This is professional basketball.

Doug Collins said it on the telecast. These are the types of games the Spurs used to always win. Tight games that come down to execution and defensive stops down the stretch. I think we can safely say that this is no longer that Spurs team. We've rarely been blown out this year, but we've lost a ton of close games. That is not a coincidence. We are lacking something critical that allows us to win close (important) games, and I'm not sure exactly what it is. I don't think anybody else does, either.

What are the answers? A trade? For whom? And who do we give up? Will anybody take Jefferson? Will it even matter?

Looking Backwards:

I was only able to watch the last 4 minutes of the Kings game. I saw enough to see us pull away, then watch Tyreke almost magically bring them all the way back. Man, that kid is frightening. It's hard to find any fault in anything the Spurs did, other than the 2 careless TOs. We had the score and the clock on our side, and we did what we needed to do. I can't comment on anything up until that point, but I'm grateful for the win.

Looking Forward:

Next up is the Clippers on Saturday. I fully expect that we'll win this game and win it convincingly. Yawn. I've seen this movie before. We need the win, and we'll take it. But the next game of importance is Monday night against the Lakers. I said we needed at least 2 of the 3 big games on the road trip, and we already lost the first. I'll let you do the math.

Something Something Rodeo Road Trip Something

Tonight's game against Sacramento marks the first game of the fabled Rodeo Road Trip. We all know what this means for the Spurs. This is when we "turn the corner" and "come together as a team" which will inevitably lead to our "second half surge".

The thing is, we have played extremely well on these trips with surprising consistency. And it has often been a harbinger of things to come. The question is: is that true for this year's team?

Yes and no. It is very possible that we'll have a great road trip and it will springboard us into a strong close to the season and into the playoffs. The talent on the team can not be ignored, and perhaps all the calls for patience and trust in the process of growth were spot on. It's also possible that we have a poor road trip for the first time and continue our average play for the remainder. But there is one other possibility that we should keep our eye on: that we have a successful road trip and that it doesn't lead to anything of substance.

This last premise all depends on how we define "successful".

Let's take a look at the schedule. The trip this year consists of 8 games:

2/3 @ Sacramento
2/4 @ Portland
2/6 @ LA Clippers
2/8 @ LA Lakers
2/11 @ Denver

(All-Star Break)

2/17 @ Indiana
2/19 @ Philadelphia
2/21 @ Detroit

The first thing that stands out is that this isn't a terribly difficult schedule. We only have one back-to-back; we have an extended stay in one place (Los Angeles); we have 2 days off between our 2 most difficult games (Lakers and Nuggets); and we only play 3 teams currently over .500.

The common perception of the Spurs' season is that the team is inconsistent. In a sense, that's true. From play to play, quarter to quarter, half to half, we can be. But our record is anything but. Consider:

--We are effectively in a 3-way tie with Portland and Phoenix for the 9th best record in the entire league right now. Our record against teams that are tied or ahead of us: 3-12. Our record against the 19 teams below us: 24-7.

--Let's split it right down the center. Our record against the 15 best teams in the league: 8-15. Our record against the 15 worst teams: 19-4.

--One more for you. Our record against plus-.500 teams: 11-19. Our record against sub-.500 teams: 16-0.

To me, this is the model of consistency. We beat the teams we should and lose to the teams we shouldn't. Doesn't get any simpler than that.

Now let's look at the road trip again. 5 games against sub-.500 teams, 3 against plus-.500 teams who are also tied or ahead of us in the standings. If we maintain the status quo, we'll most likely go 5-3 on the road trip, which on the surface looks like a good record.

But I contend that the success of the road trip should be measured in how we perform in those 3 games against Portland, the Lakers, and Denver. In my mind, we have to win at least one of those games and we need to win at least 2. If we hold court against the other 5, that can put us at 6-2 or 7-1, which would be a superb Rodeo Road Trip.

But what if we win 2 or even 3 of those big games, but lose one or two against the poorer teams? That could put our record for the trip at 5-3 or 4-4. But the trip should still be considered a success if we can get some wins against the better teams, even if we lose a game or two to some bad teams.

That's why we can't look strictly at the record; we have to consider the opponent. The success of the trip should be measured in our quality of play, especially against the very good teams we will be facing in the next few weeks. The Spurs can finish the road trip 5-3, and that could be either extremely frustrating or extremely gratifying.

Let's hope for gratifying. And let's hope it does springboard us into that "surge" we've all heard so much about.

Congratulations, Roger Federer

I stayed up until 4am last night watching Roger Federer win his 4th Australian Open Title, and 16th overall major title. I love Federer. I love his grace, his stoicism, his ability to continually rise to every occasion and leave the rest of the tennis world baffled. At last year's Australian Open, after losing a heartbreaking 5-set final to Nadal (his only true peer in the game), he broke down on the podium, sobbing uncontrollably and letting his emotions spill forth. It was a rare show of vulnerability from a man who is often seen as preternaturally confident and private. Many fans and critics saw it as a crack, a sign of weakness. But this show of humanity made me love him even more. This is why we love sports, not just for the glory in victory, but for the pain in defeat, the humanity, the indomitable human spirit.

Many people wrote him off that day, saying he would never win another major. Exactly one year later he has won 3 more majors and was one set away from winning a 4th. He broke the all-time Major Titles record previously held by Pete Sampras, cementing his place in Tennis History. He is a living legend, and we are blessed to be able to see him play live, to say we were there when it happened. Who knows how much time we have left with him; but I know that I will be there for every Major, for every title, for every collapse of joy and tear of defeat, until the end.

5 hours later I woke up to watch my other sports love. It was a game like so many other this season. We played from behind most of the game, never letting the Nuggets pull away, yet never getting over the hump. I have a lot of thoughts on this game, but CapHill over at PtR summed up most of my thoughts in his post, and I recommend you read it. To me the biggest points of the game were the 3-Point shooting disparity (and the woeful shooting by the Spurs, particularly Duncan, who is clearly in a shooting funk, in general), and the continued excellent play of George Hill and Antonio McDyess. A dispiriting loss, but still room for hope.

For today, however, I'm going to revel in the joy of Federer's latest triumph; I'll get back to worrying about the Spurs tomorrow.

Hill Tries to Steal Parker's Wife; Instead, Steals His Game

Tonight's game was quite odd. In so many ways, we played poorly. There were more careless turnovers than I care to remember, often leading to easy transition baskets for the Grizzlies (and often leading to their own ridiculous turnovers). We were unable to get a convincing stop down the stretch. Despite the nice numbers, Duncan really had a poor game, getting blocked on consecutive trips down into the low block and more or less getting owned by the Memphis bigs' defense. And yet we led the whole game anywhere from 2 to 11 points. Despite the Grizzlies best efforts, it never felt like we were going to lose. It was a good win, but not a spectacular one.

George Hill and Roger Mason, Jr. carried the team for important stretches. Hill came out aggressive, attacking the rim with ferocity and zeal. Mason, Jr. shot the Grizzlies out of the game in the 4th, hitting clutch basket after clutch basket. It was nice to see these two players come up big for us.

It was also nice to see McDyess have a third consecutive solid game. Rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated it would appear. Right now he's averaging about a 5/5 (points/rebounds). It'd be nice to see his average sitting somewhere closer to 10/10. Then, if we can get something similar from Blair off the bench, that would give us 20 points and 20 rebounds from our "other" big. That would be incredible.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this game was how unremarkable it was. It just felt like another mid-season win for a Spurs team poised to make a second half surge, the type of win we've seen a hundred times in the past. No glaring holes or weaknesses, nothing to set off the alarm bells. Just a nice, normal game to enjoy.

Looking Forward:

Looks like the voodoo worked. That makes us 2 for 2 with ritualistic voodoo sacrifice to compensate for our lack of lock down defense, team chemistry, and offensive consistency.

So what do we do for nuggets?

Stick a fork in 'em

The Grizzlies, that is. Allow me to explain.

Before the Spurs-Hawks game the other night, I sacrificed a hawk. Ok, it was actually a pigeon. And I didn’t exactly sacrifice it; my wife ate it for lunch at a Cantonese restaurant. I made sure to hex it and hurl a few profanities its way before she ate it, though. And the result revealed something that should have been obvious all along: What the 2009-2010 Spurs have been missing is not chemistry, or commitment to team defensive principles, or height, or PT for Ian “the D-League Dominator” Mahinmi, or a player on the roster who doesn’t look foolish trying to guard Dirk “Deutschebag” Nowitski, or a roster with fewer creaky vets and more youthful athleticism. Please. They’re right on the cusp of being a great team. All they need now is a little heartfelt voodoo.

I remain convinced that the heroic action I took against Lindsey “Lohan” Hunter in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the 2005 Finals pushed the Spurs over the top and gave them their third championship. Don’t recall my heroism? Let me engage in a brief bit of verbal onanism. Until that point, Hunter had been eating the Spurs alive (along with Beno Udrih’s career), so in my desperation I did the only logical thing: amidst a turbulent sea of cocky Pistons fans at a San Francisco sports bar, I ate him. The rest is history. You’re welcome, Spurs fans.

By 2007 a combination of complacency, confidence that the Spurs had outgrown their need for my supernatural support, and actually having better things to do with my time conspired to retire me from the voodoo business. Their 2007 voodoo-free ’ship appeared to vindicate my belief that such self-absorption and o’erweening hubris (i.e. that the Spurs were good enough to win championships without my voodoo) were acceptable.

But now, as if raised by a voodoo ritual myself, I have returned from the Hades of my own complacency. My wife will be thrilled.

For tonight’s game, I have concocted a simple voodoo strategy: panda vandalism. If you’re a real Spurs fan and not merely a self-deceiving poseur, you will download these PDF instructions and execute them as faithfully and maliciously as possible.


(A note to my daughter, if somehow you happen to read this at some point in the future when you can read: No, of course I didn’t actually hurt your precious pandas. I’m well aware that daddies who do such things go to hell. I only took their photo and then returned them, unmolested, to your pile of stuffed animals. Then I hurt someone else's pandas instead.)

The Spurs are struggling with a number of obstacles this season: age, Tony’s injuries, new players still learning the defensive system, RJ’s difficulty fitting in on both ends of the court, one of the toughest Western Conference races ever, and Manu’s being weighed down by that enormous chip he’s obviously carrying around on his shoulder. They need your help. I may or may not be at leisure to sully this blog with an occasional demented rant as the regular season goes on, but either way, I expect you loyal SpursDynasty readers to build on the foundation I have laid today. With voodoo, the Spurs are 1-0 against good teams this year (100%, folks!) and look focused, energetic, and resilient. Without it, they flop around like a 25-18 fish out of water on its last legs.*

Statistically, it’s a no-brainer: Stick a fork in those Grizzlies, or impale ’em with whatever pointy implement is lying around. Make the enemy mascot your lunch on every game day. (Unfortunately, the Lakers present a certain logistical challenge in that regard, but I’m sure you resourceful Spurs fans can find a way.) It’s your voo-duty.

*Yes, perhaps the most brilliant sentence I have ever written.

When You Eat With the Devil Use A Long Spoon

I watched the second half of the Suns 112-106 win over the Mavs tonight. I wanted to get a better handle on Amar'e and what he could bring to the Spurs; plus, Mavs-Suns always seems to produce entertaining basketball. It's also about the only time I'll end up rooting for the Suns.

Three things of interest:

1. He only had one rebound for the entire game.

2. On the season, he has 48 assists and 121 turnovers. That's an average of 1 assist/game and 2.57 TOs / game, for a horrible 0.39 assist:TO ratio. Ouch. For his career, his A:TO is 0.52. Basically, he turns the ball over twice for every assist. I know assist numbers can be deceiving for the player on the receiving end of most Pick and Rolls...but still.

3. He didn't play the entire 4th quarter. A quarter in which the Suns outscored the Mavs 28-16, played really good defense, and seized control of the game. As the team dug in their heels, got stops, and took the game, Gentry saw fit to keep their marquee player and best point maker on the bench. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

All of these things point to a player that the Spurs probably don't need or want. Take away the baggage and the name recognition, and just look at the strengths and weaknesses and the production, and it's probably not a good fit for what the Spurs need.

One other point of contention that I haven't seen mentioned yet other than Kelly Dwyer's great article today: Amar'e has a player option for next season. Most people assume that he'll opt out and join free agency. But with his stock dropping every so slightly, and the market being what it is, who's to say he wouldn't pick up the option and get the $18 million he has coming to him. If he were on the Spurs and picked up the option, that could completely cripple the franchise.

You know who would be a good fit from that team? Grant Hill. Fits the Spurs mold perfectly, too. Cagey veteran, smart as hell, and leaves it all on the floor.

Other names that we've been linked to are Tayshaun Prince from Detroit, Marvin Williams from Atlanta, and Marcus Camby from The Clippers (that was last season, but I'm sure the interest is still there). I actually like all three players and how they could fit in with the Spurs. There are two glaring needs for the team right now: another legitimate big, preferably an honest-to-God center; and a versatile small forward that can play slightly bigger or slightly smaller if needed.

Camby would fit the bill on the first, and would be a pretty good running mate with Duncan. Prince, when healthy, is exactly what we need on the second. He could be a legitimate PF when we play small with Duncan. His defensive versatility is great. A line-up with Duncan, Prince, Hill, and Manu would be quite the defensive team. Prince is having a down year this season, but he's always been one of my favorite players in the league, and a player I've always wanted to see in a Spurs' uniform. I don't know much about Williams, other than he's been a tad disappointing, especially considering the talent that followed him in the draft (Chris Paul and Deron Williams). But he seems like a good Spurs fit: a hard worker with defensive leanings and tremendous athletic ability who can hit the corner 3.

It feels like the Spurs will be making a move this season. The writing is on the wall, and we're still a piece or two short. What can we get? And, more importantly, what will we have to give up to get it? Ginobili and his contract is very appealing and is probably our strongest asset and trading chip. Is that a move that the Front Office is willing to make? Can you trade the heart of your team and make it better?

Can you make a deal with the devil and come out the victor?

The Battle and The War

We beat the Atlanta Hawks 105-90 tonight. It was a well-played and (perhaps more importantly) hard-fought win for our beleaguered team. Antonio McDyess was reinserted back into the starting line-up and responded with his best overall game as a Spur. He had 17 points on 8-9 shooting. More importantly, he was active on both ends of the floor. Let's hope this is a sign of McDyess rounding into his usually excellent second half form. I love Blair; but McDyess's best is better than Blair's best, and McDyess, not Blair, gives us the best chance of making some noise in the post-season.

George Hill also had a marvelous game. He got us going in the first, scoring on jumpers and Parker-esque drives to the hoop. He has a confidence and coolness that belies his age. Although I am a fan of Bogans, I am very pleased with Hill and his promotion to the starting line-up. Plus, I think Bogans is better served as a defensive specialist off the bench.

But the game belonged to Tim Duncan. 21 points, 26 rebounds, 6 assists in 35 minutes. He was a beast, and his defensive effort was clearly raised a notch or two. More than anything, that is this team's barometer. When Duncan starts raising his intensity and focus on the defensive end, that's when the Spurs start to make their surge. Let's hope it's here to stay and not just a reaction to losing 3 home games in a row.

Despite Atlanta's 30 point 3rd quarter, our defense was actually quite good tonight. We controlled the paint and the glass for the most part, and we forced Atlanta to take the shots we wanted them to take. It just so happens that Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford were making those shots. That's not bad defense; that's spectacular (and a little lucky) offense. Almost all of their shots were contested mid-to-long 2 point jump shots, precisely the shot defenses want to give up. If the other team makes them, you tip your hat and play on. Outside of those two players, the rest of the team scored 34 points (24 of which came from Marvin Williams and Josh Smith) and shot 10-43, a baffling 23% from the field. I would say that's good defense.

Finally, I was quite pleased with the rotation tonight. If McDyess continues to play this way, I like him back in the starting line-up with Jefferson, Parker, Hill and Duncan. Ginobili and Blair will be our first off the bench with Bogans used situationally (more defense, or, like tonight, to spell Hill with foul trouble). I like Blair off the bench for two reasons: One, he is a high energy player who can change the feel and complexion of a game instantaneously (much like Ginobili); two, he plays really well with Ginobili. The two have a natural rapport with each other on the court. Bonner and Mason, Jr. round out the rotation, as our best shooters off the bench. (Bonner is clearly out of sync and struggling, but once he gets that first 3 to fall, I think he'll start settling back in). It will be interesting to see what the return of Finley does to the rotation.

Of course, this could all be moot, as Parker left the game in the 3rd quarter with a sprained left ankle. Winning the battle, losing the war.

We won't know how serious the injury is for at least a day or two, but it seems certain with the way that he was carried off the court that he'll miss playing time. The Spurs have shown great resilience in playing with star players down. Hill is more than capable to fill in for Parker. The real concern is who then fills in for Hill? Will Ginobili be used as our other PG? Will Mason, Jr. get some more run as a PG?

The other concern is exactly how many games he will miss. An ankle sprain can mean missing anywhere from a game or two to missing several weeks. Couple in Parker's history of ankle injuries, and there's just no way to tell. In a crowded Western Conference, a key injury can mean the difference between the 2 seed or missing the playoffs entirely. With an impossibly tough schedule coming up over the next month, it is not a good time to lose your starting PG and motor of the offense.

But there could be a silver lining to all of this: rest for Tony Parker. Perhaps now he'll be forced to sit out. And while his ankle heals, he can get some much needed rest. His plantar fasciitis can not heal completely, but rest and inactivity can help it. And when we get him back, maybe he'll be a bit refreshed, and we'll see more of the Tony Parker we've grown accustomed to seeing, zipping past players into the paint and dropping his teardrops and layups into the basket. In which case, we'll be better positioned to fight well in the war as well.

Looking Forward:

Everybody knows about the rumor that came out today about the Spurs' interest in Amar'e Stoudemire. To most Spurs fans this must seem like a cruel joke. There is perhaps no player more antithetical to the Spurs' Culture than Mr. Stoudemire, who is perceived as an all-offense/ no-defense chemistry-killing loser who can score lots of points but does nothing to help teams win games. Whether accurate or not, I can't imagine a player being less accepted by Spurs' faithful than Amar'e.

But there's still reason to consider the trade. Players of his size and athleticism are extremely rare, and he has proven his ability to score big-time points in big-time situations. Is it too crazy to think that if he were to be paired with Tim Duncan Coach Popovich that his defensive effort and intensity might increase? And that he might rebound more? Could the Spurs' all-encompassing and winning culture make even Stoudemire happy?

I doubt the trade will happen; big ones rarely do. But it does seem like a move is coming for the Spurs. The real question is: of what magnitude? And who is leaving?

The Memphis Grizzlies come to town Friday night. They are playing absolutely great right now, and have played themselves into the thick of the playoff hunt. We lost a close one to them in Memphis about 10 days ago; it would be nice to exact some revenge. It would also be nice to start a little winning streak and build some momentum while playing winning basketball, something we seemingly haven't done in almost 2 years.

At Least I Won't Have to Worry About Making Plans in June...Or May

Another night, another soul-crushing loss. I must plead ignorance because I only watched the last 5 minutes of the game; but I feel like I saw enough in that 5 minutes, which is the same thing we saw in the last 5 minutes of the last game, and the game before that, and many times this season: we can not get defensive stops.

But I saw something else in these 5 minutes as well: our offense is horrid in the end of close games. Gone are the days of superb execution and getting exactly the shot we want. Now it seems as if we're settling for one on one, driving into multiple defenders, hoping for bail out foul calls from the refs and hoisting up bad shots. (To be fair, Parker looked good in the end game. But that's it. And only when he really did it all himself, usually in early offense.) Our players are trying to win the games themselves, rather than trusting the team and the system and working to get the perfect shot. It reminds me of the old Lost adage: live together; die alone. Hey, at least I have Lost coming back to me next week since the Spurs seem dead set on ending the season as early as possible and making every moment until then as painful as possible.

Maybe I missed something in the previous 43 minutes that would help explain the game better. Is there a reason we went to an 8-man rotation? Is there a reason that Manu was our PF down the stretch? I'm sure there's reasonable explanations for these things. But there's no good explanation for this: in the last 5 minutes, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker were outplayed by Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. And it wasn't even close.

Looking Forward:

Atlanta comes to town Wednesday night. This could get ugly.

Pop Listened to Me, So We Should Listen To Him

Way back when, I wrote this:

I wouldn't be surprised to see Hill get a start in one of these games. A starting line-up of Duncan, Parker, Hill, Jefferson, and McDyess/Blair would be interesting. With his long arms, Hill can guard PGs all the way up to finesse PFs. Having him on the floor with Parker gives us another ball handler, and allows both to handle and play off the ball (remember, George was a 2 guard in college, and Parker plays very well off the ball). Manu could check in for Geoge about the 7-minute mark, then Hill could come back in for Parker near the end of the 1st/beginning of the 2nd.Just a thought, if you're reading, Pop.

It seems as if Pop is reading, because that's exactly what he did to start the game. And it seemed to be working beautifully, as we got off to a great start, jumping on them early and building a double-digit lead just minutes into the game.

Then it all started to unravel as the Rockets started chipping away at the lead. By halftime it was tied, and by the 4th quarter they had built a double-digit lead. Unfortunately, we were never able to get all the way back into the ball game.

I watched the second half of the game at a bar waiting to play a show. There were 40 TVs playing the Blazers-Celtics game (which the Blazers lost in heartbreaking fashion in OT), and one playing the Spurs game. I was shocked to see that the Spurs game was on; by the end of the game, I was pissed that it was on. I would have rather not seen that pathetic performance right before going on stage.

Since I watched the second half in a crowded, loud bar with no sound and plenty of interruptions, I'll leave the recapping to Pop:

You got to play a lick of defense if you want to win in this league. Our defense against Utah and against Houston was very poor. 60 points in the second half against Utah and 61 in the second half tonight. That’s not going to win basketball games. It looks like the effort and all that sort of thing is great, but way too many mistakes…not enough focus…not enough execution. We’re scoring enough points to win games. We’re scoring more points than we’ve ever scored in our lives, but our defense is really sub-par and it’s killing us.

Timothy Varner over at 48MoH has written a great recap of the game that addresses several of the issues I was going to talk about. There seems to be an obvious correlation between our lack of defensive power and our over reliance on small ball, especially to close out games. It's hard to protect the rim when Richard Jefferson is your PF. But it's also obvious that outside of Duncan (and sometimes Blair, who really isn't that big to begin with), we have no other big who really deserves crunch time minutes. McDyess isn't getting it done; Bonner is still injured and not a great defender as it is; Ratliff, while a great defender, essentially handicaps us on offense. So what's the answer? I don't know. A trade? But is that even our biggest glaring hole? It seems like what we need more is a SF to back up Jefferson a bit more. I have more thoughts on this for a later post.

The other issue is Tony Parker, and more importantly his bum foot. With Plantar Fasciitis, there are no easy answers. We can try resting Parker for a game here or there, or maybe even a week or two. But for total recovery, he's probably going to need at least 2-3 months rest. It took me(granted, not an elite athlete with a world-class trainer at my disposal) 3-4 months of complete rest with absolutely no activity to finally get over it. If 3 months rest isn't in the cards for Parker (that would take us right to the start of the playoffs, if we'd even make it without TP), then what he is doing is all he can do: wearing the straussburg sock at night. I had to wear this damned thing every night for months.

It feels like something is broken, doesn't it? We're just not the team we've been nor the team we thought we'd be. Nothing seems to be working, and the mystique is quickly evaporating. No longer can we be counted on to pull out the crucial win down the stretch. Something needs to change, but I don't know what it is. I hope to God that Pop and Buford do.

Looking Forward:

The home stand continues on Monday night as Chicago comes to town. The Bulls have been playing much better of late, posting an impressive win over the Suns in Phoenix last night (I also got to watch that game in the bar). You might remember that they kicked our butts in the second game of the year, as well. I would say a little payback is in order, but the way this team is playing, I have my doubts. At this point, I just want to see us win a game.