Fred Silva's Articles

Since I am now writing for Pounding the Rock, I thought I should compile everything I have written in one place. The following is a collection of all the articles that I have written thus far. Check Pounding the Rock for my new stuff. Also, follow me on Twitter @DartFred for updates.

The Immortalized Spurs

In this series I wrote an article about each retired Spur.

James Silas

Johnny Moore

George Gervin

Avery Johnson

Sean Elliott

David Robinson

The Starting 5

The Ginobili Effect

Random Rants

A Tribute to Bruce Bowen

My take on the Western Conference

My take on the Spurs' Roster

Fictional pieces that pit the current Spurs team against the championship Spurs of 1999.

Game 6

Game 7

An analysis on the supposedly deadly back to back games.

Pounding the Rock

I am going to begin writing for Pounding the Rock soon. I should make my first post later this week or early next week. Follow me to www.PoundingTheRock.com for all your Manu loving Spurs news.

No Longer @ Project Spurs

I am no longer writing for Project Spurs. I am going to take a short break from writing while I consider my next move. I have an article presently headlining on Pounding the Rock, if you're bored.... http://www.poundingtherock.com/2009/9/4/1016303/back-to-backs-analysis-should

Montana, The Rock Game

Montana is fairly spectacular.  I visited with five of my fraternity brothers from Dartmouth this past week.  No one lives there.  It is as unpopulated as Alaska, and just as beautiful.  It has been called the last frontier.  We flew into Bozeman and drove an hour to our condo in Big Sky.  While driving we nearly ran into a mountain goat, which we thought was either a bear or a mountain lion until we got close enough to identify it.  This goat was freaking huge.  We hiked eight miles up a mountain the first day.  It was beautiful, but about as bad of an idea as signing Turkoglu.  Four miles straight up a mountain?  I'm 6'3 and weigh 200 pounds; the hike was made for smaller people.  But the views from up there were amazing.  We fly fished the next day, the entire next day.  We were on the Madison River from 9am till 6pm.  Everywhere you looked basically was a postcard.  We were up in the mountains fly fishing, catching the most beautiful rainbow trouts I have ever seen.  

The third day we played The Rock Game.  Now this is a fantastic idea.  Basically, you put a rock on top of an empty beer can and stand about 20 yards away.  Everyone throws rocks at the can and the first to hit the target gets to choose who shotguns the next beer.  The big winner then sets up the next target.  It's brilliant in its simplicity.  As the game progresses, the targets become more intricate and the rules can be tweaked.  The last formation of The Rock Game involved three cans, and if you knocked over one of the cans but failed to knock over all three, you had to shotgun a beer.  J-Rad made the first connection but only knocked over two of the three cans, so he was forced to shotgun.  We killed a 30 within an hour.  You have to be sure to pace yourself because you can easily throw out your arm if you are too aggressive or throw big rocks.  As one of my friends put it, "Professional baseball players throw 100 'rocks' in a day and then get five days off.  So we need to be careful."  The best thing about the rock game is its prerequisites.  All you need is beer and rocks.  And all too often, nature will provide you with half of the supplies.  If swimming backwards can be an olympic sport, I think The Rock Game should be one too.  It involves accuracy, endurance, and tolerance.  What a game.  I challenge each of you to play The Rock Game in the near future.  You're welcome.

Hedo Turkoglu

Here is the thing about Hedo, he really is not that good.  In fact, I am relieved that the Blazers are going to sign him.  To me, this cements their fate of losing in the first round next year.  Now, I realize Hedo made the finals, but I would argue this is a function of every good team missing a player to injury which led to Hedo overachieving on the big stage.  Think about it.  This was really a mediocre finals.  The Celtics were missing Garnett.  We were missing Manu.  Houston was missing half their team and still pushed the eventual champion LA Lakers to seven games.  That's our champion this year?  A team that was pushed to the limit by Brooks, Battier, Artest, Hayes, and Scola?  Seriously?  It sounds like a D-League team.  This year, the healthiest team won the championship, not the best team.  That's why Denver made it to the conference finals.  They really were not that great.  They overachieved because they ran into a Dallas team that was essentially missing Josh Howard.  The healthiest team won.  

Hedo was once a Spur.  We chose not to resign him because it became apparent that the guy was just not that good.  Take a look at his stats.  This past season, arguably his best, he shot 42.8% from the field and 38% from distance.  When you factor in that he is a horrible defender and needs the ball to be effective offensively, he does not help, he hurts.  If Michael Lewis studied him, he would be the anti-Battier.  As a 6'10" two guard, shouldn't he be shooting just under 50% from the field and getting around 8 boards a game?  He plays against guys half a foot shorter than him.  The problem is that Hedo is too slow.  He cannot blow by shorter players because he lacks speed.  This means that he shoots that funky midrange step-back jumper all too often and makes it 40% of the time.  If Dwight Howard had any kind of offensive game or if Rashard Lewis learned how to drive, Hedo takes 5 to 8 fewer shots a game.  Now he is scoring around 12 ppg and that is about where he should be.  

So congratulations on winning the Hedo sweepstakes, Portland.  You just shot yourself in the foot.

Zach Randolph to THE GRIZ!

Yeah, just kidding, who cares?  Zach Randolph is a waste of my time, he belongs on the Griz.  In other news, Mark Cuban and Mike D'Antoni are duking it out for Jason Kidd.  This is fantastic.  Fighting for a 36 year old point guard that could not stay in front of a chair if it had wheels may seem a little strange, because it is a little strange.  I realize that Cuban had his interns skew stats to make Jason Kidd the best player in the league, but even he can't believe that, right?  Cuban's problem is that if Jason Kidd bolts for NYC, he essentially gave away Devin Harris for nothing.  Apparently both teams are offering 3 year deals to Kidd.  So you want to lock this guy down until he hits 39?  Ouch.  What a terrible idea.  That three year deal is three years too long.  Oh, and let us not forget that Jason Kidd is a bad guy.  If you watch enough of those "The NBA Cares" promos you tend to forget that Kidd was arrested for domestic violence in 2001.  His wife called him "A serial abuser and adulterer."  But he's a great leader, no really.  Where are you going?  

In Spurs news, Pitt's DeJuan Blair fell to the second round where we quickly snagged him.  His knees are definitely suspect but he was a steal in the second round.  Think of him as a new-school Malik Rose.  He is undersized at 6'6" but his freakishly long wingspan at 7'1" should allow him to be an effective rebounder for the Spurs.  Currently, we only have Duncan, Bonner, and Mahinmi underneath, so snagging Blair was crucial.  He is exactly what we needed.  In fact, this is what Bill Simmons tweeted right after we drafted Blair.  "DeJuan Blair to the Spurs at 37?  How does shit like this happen?  You're damn right I just swore.  Unbelievable."  I assume the Spurs will sign one more big guy before the season commences, but if we do not I could see Blair starting over Bonner.  That's how crazy this second round draft pick was.  The pieces continue to fall in place for the Spurs, it is looking very good.  As of right now, we arguably have one of the top rosters in the League.  Here is the current circle: Spurs, Celtics, Magic, and the Lakers with the Cavs and Nuggets losing ground.

I just got back from a week in Montana with some of my fraternity brothers.  It was fantastic.  Best line of the trip: My 6'5" Hindu friend was sporting a gold chain.  I was like, "Really, a gold chain, man?"  His response, "Chicks dig it.  I'm a walking hedge against inflation."  I might have to start wearing gold just so I can use that line.

Richard Jefferson

The Spurs traded Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto for Richard Jefferson.  I just listened to and read everything that ESPN is saying about this trade.  The consensus seems to be that it helps the Spurs, but does not get them over the hump.  The thought is that the Lakers are still, by far, the best team in the West.  This is absurd and here is why.

Richard Jefferson is exactly the type of player that the Spurs lacked last year.  He's athletic, a slasher, a competent defender, and hits close to 40% of his threes.  Last season he averaged 19.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg with 2.4 apg and only 2 turnovers.  He played for the miserable Bucks so one would have to assume that he was not going all out.  He has great size at 6'7", 225 pounds.  He is the missing piece to the Spurs' puzzle.

Yet ESPN analysts claim that the Spurs still do not have enough.  Ridiculous.  Check out our '07 championship winning roster.  We played seven over 20 mpg in the playoffs.  Parker (37.5), Duncan (36.8), Bowen (34.4), Ginobili (30.1), Finley (26.9), Oberto (20.8), and Horry (20).  Now, compare that lineup to the Spurs' '09 lineup.  Parker, Duncan, Ginobili, Jefferson, Mason Jr., Hill, Finley, Big Guy X.  Now answer this question; if that '07 lineup can go all the way why can't this '09 lineup?  Remember, in '07 Finley, Oberto, and Horry were all shadows of the players they once were.  This '09 squad is arguably the best roster the Spurs have ever had.  I'm ecstatic.  All we are lacking is Big Guy X.  Let's just assume the Spurs pick Gooden back up.  Imagine this lineup to close out a game.  Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, Gooden and Duncan.  Wow, that's an offensive explosion.  Or, what if the opposition goes small?  Not a good idea.  Parker, Mason, Ginobili, Jefferson, and Duncan.  We would have five weapons on the floor.  If you are the opposition, who do you help off of?  What team has five competent defenders that they can put on the floor?  No one can stay in front of Tony.  Duncan will kill single coverage.  Mason, Jefferson, and Ginobili will be deadly from the outside.  My head is spinning.  Spurs fans, we can wave goodbye to all those, "The Spurs have gone 8 minutes without scoring a single field goal" nights.  There will be two prolific scorers on the floor at all times.  The hell with Big Guy X.  We could play 4 on 5 and win with Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and Jefferson.  No box and one, just box.  

And it sounds like the Spurs are not done trading yet.  I hope they do not touch the big four, Mason, or Hill.  Please let them use Bonner and Finley as trading chips for a big guy.  All we need is a big competent body next to Tim and we have to be considered favorites.  What a day!  (I used an exclamation point, which I generally do not believe in, just to show how exciting this is.)

NBA Notes

The Lakers are soft. Last year they lost to the Celtics and in Game 6 they were pushed around and humiliated. That was supposed to be their motivation to take every game seriously this year. Well, in Game 4 against the Rockets we saw the same performance. The Rockets punched the Lakers in the stomach to begin the game and the Lakers were never competitive. It really comes down to a personnel issue. As much as I dislike Kobe, he does not lack the killer instinct. However, he has aged and cannot completely take over a game as he once did. These days he is capable of taking over a quarter, but only at the expense of the previous one. In other words, if he is going to have a huge fourth quarter, he cannot be aggressive in the third. If he wants to have a huge second half, he has to take it easy in the first half. In this way he is greatly dependent upon his teammates. Unfortunately for him, his teammates lack the killer instinct. No matter how many times you preach toughness, if your players are not tough it will not carry over into a series. The Phoenix Suns preached defense all year, and yet they were one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The Suns personnel were not equipped to defend, just as the Lakers personnel are not equipped to be physical. Pau Gasol is a finesse player out of Spain. Vujachic is a European metro that is at best a pest, not a physical presence. Lamar Odom has had his heart questioned since he came into the league. Dereck Fisher is really the only other Laker that is tough, but age has taken a toll on his ability to impact the game. The interesting question that comes up is, if the Lakers are unable to win a championship this year, is it time to retool? They are arguably the most talented team in the NBA, but if they are not tough enough to win a physical series, then a championship will never be a possibility. With Kobe’s championship window closing, they may be forced to make some serious personnel changes this off-season.

Mark Cuban is the punk. He is reminiscent of a 5-year-old throwing a tantrum. Nothing would make me happier than witnessing Kenyon Martin “take care of him.”

And the Dallas fans made me look bad. I wrote that the Lakers had the most obnoxious fans and then the Dallas fans berate and pour a beer on Kenyon Martin’s mother. You stay classy, Dallas.

Lebron is great, but the East is awful. Detroit had no business making the playoffs. Atlanta had trouble putting away the Heat. The Heat has a hobbled Dwayne Wade surrounded by bush- league rookies. Let’s wait until the Cavs face a real opponent to crown them champions. Unfortunately, we will have to wait for the NBA finals for that to happen. The Magic and Celtics are not much better than the Hawks.

Five Hour Energy drinks are a scam. I’m pretty sure they are successful due to the placebo effect. The real Five Hour Energy drinks are Emergen-C’s. Those little packets rock.

If I had more free time I would create my own basketball statistics, watch every game, and put a number on each player. I realize that there are many subjective variables that can pollute the data, but if this were your fulltime job, I see no reason that you could not come up with a formula that took everything into consideration. Seriously, let’s think specifically about steals. Let’s say that it was asked of us to decide who the best player was in the NBA in terms of steals. If you sat down and tracked every variable, you could give an educated answer, couldn’t you? For example, some stats to take into consideration would be: home vs away (more points for good steals away since it’s more difficult), the height and size of the players on the court, the offensive ratings of the players on the court (if a player is able to steal the ball from a player that rarely turns the ball over, more points), the number of turnovers committed per game by that team (teams that give up more turnovers result in less of a steal,) the number of steals given up by that team, deflections (count as half a steal,) good defensive steals (steals that do not put the team at risk if missed, to be worth more), bad defensive steals (steals that would have placed your team in a quandary if missed, to be worth less), good missed steals (steal attempts that indirectly resulted in a turnover)….etc. If it was your fulltime job to define everything that happened on the basketball court and put a number to it, you could do it, right? These notes took me about five minutes to come up with. It just bothers me when I hear the Rocket’s GM claim that it is so difficult. I bet he’s just playing coy.

Party Planning Committee

So, I am throwing a little birthday party for one of my friends. I have an idea of how I want this thing to run. The thing is, one of my friends wants to throw a wrench into my party by demanding that he cook for everyone. Now, I admit that there is a lot that I am not good at. For example, I know little to nothing about hockey. Since I do not know anything about hockey, I’m not going to give hockey advice to someone that knows a great deal about the sport. In the same way, I know a lot about throwing parties and take offense when someone with a lesser party pedigree attempts to take control of the party. There is an art to throwing parties and subtle decisions can make the difference between a party you can do without, and one that everyone remembers and will be talking about for months.

Here is the thing about serving dinner at a party; nothing good can come of it. Serving dinner means that your party will have to start early, let’s say 6pm. Three things always happen when you start a party early with a meal. Half the guests gorge themselves and are worn out by the time the real party begins. These guests will leave early and this is one of the worst things that can happen to a party. All it takes is one guest to leave early and suddenly it becomes okay for anybody to leave. It’s contagious and can easily snowball into an empty party. The second thing that happens when you start a party early is everyone begins drinking early. The problem here is that some people are lightweights and some people are heavyweights. When lightweights begin drinking at 6, they are useless by 9. Here again, these guests will want to leave early and we have the same problem of the party emptying. There is a third issue that presents itself if you start early. Inevitably, there will be guests that are not free early. These guests will skip the dinner portion of the party and show up later. So when these latecomers arrive, they are met by the useless lightweights and the worn out overeaters.

There are three things that can bring a party to a screeching halt. One, everyone drinks too much too early and when the party should be picking up, it dies down. Two, people are tired and the party never reaches an apex, it simply plateaus and then trails off. Three, the guests' arrival times are varied so the party can never develop a rhythm. This is similar to Gregg Popovich’s horrendous substitution patterns. How many games did Tony make three shots in a row and then get pulled because there were three minutes left in the quarter? The following quarter Pop would finally put Tony back in at the 8 minute mark, but Tony lost his groove and it takes him 4 minutes to get his rhythm back. At this point the Spurs are down by 8 with 4 minutes remaining in the half, and you know how this story ends. Parties are like games. You need the right mix of people, and just as importantly, you need to set the team up to win. The timing of the party needs to be flawless, and this does not happen by accident. By serving a meal to begin a party you are inviting a disaster. I, for one, will not throw a party if food is to be served. It will kill my street cred. And if I lose my street cred, I may have to do something drastic to regain it. Maybe I’ll rob a convenience store and shoot the employee with a BB gun like this guy.

5 Rule Changes

1.) If you are taller than the offensive player, you cannot take a charge.

2. ) If you are going to take a charge, you must be set before the offensive player is airborne.

3.) Foreigners cannot take charges, ever. If they do a technical is immediately administered.

4.) The “Egregious Flop” is a new violation. The Egregious Flop is to be defined as an overtly obvious flop. If two Egregious Flops are committed by a player in a single game, he is ejected and suspended for the following game.

5.) Head coaches can administer “strikes” to referees after horribly officiated games. Each head coach can give 3 strikes during the regular season and 1 strike during the playoffs. These strikes are to be counted throughout the season. The referee that has accumulated the most strikes at the season's end is to be fired. If a referee gets a strike from both coaches for the same game, he is suspended for 30 days without pay and must wear a scarlet S for the rest of the season, which obviously stands for “SUCKS.”

Houston Rockets

I have to admit, I like this team. However, I do not like their d-bag fans. I realize every team has these fans. It’s the guy that goes to the game more to make your experience miserable than to watch the game. It’s the guy that sits one row in front of 10-year-old kids and still drops the f-bomb over and over. It’s the guy that stands up and claps after every point his team scores. It’s the guy dressed like a gay rainbow wearing shades inside the arena. These fans are almost always brand new NBA fans. If you quiz one of them to name their starting five, they will be stumped. I promise. Regardless, I hate the d-bag fans.

As far as d-bag fans go though, the Lakers definitely have the most, followed by Dallas and then the Rockets. So, from the perspective of a Spurs fan, the Rockets fans are by no means the worst. Once the Spurs are out of the playoffs, you need to root for an underdog to keep things interesting. This is especially true if they lose in the first round. If they lost in the conference finals, you are not allowed to root for another team, unless it is out of spite. For example, in 2006 I was rooting for the Heat because Dallas somehow beat us in the Conference Finals. When picking a substitute team, you cannot root for a favorite, cause then you are no better than a d-bag fan. So, I have decided the Rockets are my substitute team. The following explains why Houston makes a good substitute for me, as a diehard Spurs fan, and would make a good substitute for you.

First, let’s bring it back to the ‘93-’94 season for one of my earliest NBA basketball memories. This was one of the two years that Michael Jordan decided to take off so that he could pursue his baseball career, as least that was what we were led to believe. Michael Jordan’s exit suddenly made the championship a possibility for all playoff contenders. The Spurs lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Utah Jazz. This was before the David Robinson era when our starting lineup consisted of Terry Cummings, Antoine Carr, Willie Anderson, Lloyd Daniels, and Vinny Del Negro. We were decent, but no where close to thinking we had a chance to win it all. At that time, making the playoffs was a big deal, forget about winning a championship. It’s funny how today, making the playoffs is an afterthought for Spurs fans. But regardless, with the Spurs out early, I began rooting for my substitute team, the Houston Rockets. At this time, Spurs fans were jealous of the Rockets. Check out this lineup: Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, Vernon “Mad Max” Maxwell, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Robert “Big Shot Rob” Horry, Mario “Junkyard Dog” Ellie and Sam “Sam I Am” / “The Alien” Cassell. When you have six players that all have well-known nicknames, things are going well. I remember this series specifically because I was on a family vacation in Aspen, Colorado when the finals took place. I remember being dragged to a dinner function and escaping with my dad to catch the Rockets, Knicks game. I was 12, but had a decent understanding of the game and loved the team chemistry that the Rockets possessed. They seemed to all be friends and loved playing with each other, and at the age of 12 that meant something to me. Today, I can see those same traits in this Rockets team. By trading away Rafer Alston and losing Tracy McGrady for the season, suddenly this Rockets team seems like a group of friends. It’s refreshing.

Second, I really hate the Lakers. No, really. Kobe Bryant is a horrible person. No one on his team likes him, they tolerate him. He was accused of raping a girl, which was admittedly dropped, but regardless he still committed adultery. And to make it up to his wife, he bought her a huge diamond ring the day after the story broke. How classy is that? Quick tangent, if Kobe was in Iran, he would have been stoned to death. Seriously, they still stone people. How backwards is that country? A man was recently convicted of adultery and sentenced to stoning. To stone a person, the victim is buried waste deep, and then pelted with rocks, not big enough to kill him immediately, until he is dead. Can someone drop a bomb on that country already? But back to the Lakers, I cannot stand Dereck Fisher, especially after the .4 second shot he made that destroyed one of the Spurs’ championship runs. That shot still bothers me. There is no way that he caught the ball fading away, squared up, jumped, hesitated, and released the ball in .4 seconds. It’s simply impossible. The referees were spineless and gave that game to the Lakers. During the subsequent offseason, the League created the rule that you can catch a shoot the ball in .4 seconds, but could only tap the ball in .3 seconds. What? So .1 seconds is the difference between a catch and shoot and a tap? The League created that rule in order to justify the absurd ruling of that game. Lamar Odom is just weak. He has the talent and the body to be a number one option for a good team, but lacks the heart and mental toughness. This is why he consistently disappears in big games. Pau Gasol was stolen from the Grizzlies. The League should have never approved that “trade.” The Lakers traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenon, and Aaron Mckie’s corpse for Pau Gasol. People wonder why the Lakers have more talent than every other team in the West. Here is your answer; they acquired a seven foot allstar and gave up nothing. If Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic were not basketball players, they would definitely be the d-bag fans I described earlier. So, reason number two for rooting for the Rockets is that they are playing the Lakers.

Reason three, the Rockets have a chance at winning the championship. Yes, I said it. And do you know why they have a chance? It’s because they are freaking huge and built to get stops. Charles Barkley said something very insightful last night; he said, “The only thing consistent in basketball is defense.” What Charles meant was that a team can execute perfectly on the offensive end, but that is no guarantee that the ball is going in the basket. A team cannot control the way in which the ball decides to bounce. However, a team can consistently control their defensive intensity and make it extremely difficult for their opponents to score during the course of a game. While offense is variable, you can fix your defensive intensity. Defense was the key to the Spurs’ four championships and the Rockets are built to play defense. Check out the Rockets starters: they have a pesky, lightning-quick guard in Brooks, Shane Battier plays shooting guard and is 6’8”, 220, Ron Artest plays forward at 6’7”, 240, Luis Scola plays power forward at 6’9”, 245, and Yao Ming is the center at a listed 7’6”, 310, (more like 350.) The Rockets physically take up a ton of space and play rough. They do not back off of anyone. If a Laker has the ball, there will be a Rocket sweating on him. Driving into the Rockets defense turns the offensive player to a crash-test dummy. There is a reason that Kobe took so many jump shots in Game 1. He does not like getting hit, and who does?

The fourth reason to root for the Rockets, and quite possibly the best reason, is that they are playing their best basketball in ten years without Tracy McGrady. In case you missed it, here is a quick recap of McGrady and the Houston Rockets. Tracy McGrady basically represents everything wrong with the NBA. The guy has all the potential in the world, but at some point decided to quit on his team. He made $20 million this year and will make another $21 million next year. If a team wants to fire a player that has obviously quit on them, then they should have the power to do it. This is not France. We are not socialists, not yet anyway. This is capitalism. If an employee is not performing, then the employer should have every right to stop paying him. This season, McGrady showed up overweight and out of shape to the Rockets' preseason camp. Because he was overweight and out of shape, he quickly sustained an injury. When he was cleared by the team doctors, he refused to play claiming that he was still in pain. Most agree that he simply was disillusioned with the franchise and basically wanted to pout. Well, Houston had had enough of Tracy and decided to trade him. As soon as it got out that the Rockets were shopping McGrady, he announced that he was going to have micro-fracture knee surgery to eliminate any chance that the Rockets had of trading him. McGrady thought that the Rockets were going to trade him to a subpar team and obviously, did not want that to happen. Now, he did not discuss this knee surgery with his coach or anyone in the organization. He made the announcement without their knowledge on some radio station. Today, McGrady is watching the Rockets rally around him not being a part of the team. He still has not made it out of the first round, and if there is any justice in this world, he never will make it out of the first round.

[Correction: Roceketsfan pointed out that Tracy called ESPN’s Stephen A Smith to announce his knee surgery. I suppose Tracy thought IT WAS THE SENSIBLE THING TO DO. Stephen A. Smith is atrocious. So is Stuart Scott, but at least Stuart has calmed down his gimmicks in recent years. He used to throw a BOO-YAH out every other minute. And I feel bad for Stuart Scott because his eye is all messed up. If you are wondering how it happened, in his early years of sports reporting he was struck in the eye by a football. I am grateful that ESPN has not made Stephen A Smith an NBA commentator. That would be unbearable, like Bill Walton commentating to the infinity power.]

So, let’s root for the Rockets for the good old days, because they resemble the Spurs, because we hate the Lakers, because they are the underdog with a shot at winning it all, or because Tracy sucks at life. Any of these reasons will do, Go Rockets.

A Not so Disappointing Finale

The Spurs’ season has ended in a first round defeat to the Dallas Mavericks. Oh, the agony. Make no mistake, Dallas was the better team. However, the absence of Manu clearly played a vital role in this series. I just have one thing to say to Dallas fans. How can you root for Dirk? The guy is seven feet tall and chooses to post up 20 feet away from the basket on defenders that are a foot shorter and are outweighed by 50+ pounds. This undersized defender will proceed to push Dirk 3 to 5 more feet away from the basket. If Dirk finally manages to secure the ball, he turns into the defense, makes a face, pretends to get hit, and then shoots a fade away. Wow. Just wow. How does that guy live with himself? He’s essentially a WNBA all-star. People like to be nice, they say he is a finesse player. “Finesse player” is a label that gets attached to players that have no guts and do not like contact. They like to stand at the three point line and shoot fade-aways over points guards while pretending to get fouled. It’s just atrocious. How do you look at yourself in the mirror? Can you even make eye contact? “Great game Dirk. It was awesome when you posted up Tony Parker 22 feet away from the basket, missed a fade-away over him, but with your solid acting skills sold the foul. Way to go, man.”

But I digress, without Manu, the Spurs were a .500 ball-club. .500 teams do not make it out of the first round. Even though the Spurs managed to lock up the 3 seed, their record was not indicative of the team that took the floor.

Due to the missing Manu, the Spurs were forced to ask their role players to produce much more than they were acquired to produce. It also forced the Spurs to play many players out of position. In the perfect world, Manu would have played backup point guard and Roger Mason would have spotted up for wide open threes. Instead, Roger Mason was forced to play out of position and handle the ball, which took him away from his strengths.

The ESPN/TNT analysts blamed the Spurs’ role players for not stepping up in the playoffs. I would argue that due to Manu's injury, the role players were not put in the position to succeed in the playoffs. Mason, Bonner, Thomas, Udoka, and Finley are not creators. We did not acquire them to run the offense or create shots for others. We acquired them to hit the wide open open jump shot that Tim, Tony, and Manu create. Without Manu, the Spurs were ultimately predictable and were not able to create the open shots that our role players were acquired to make. Instead of spotting up for a wide open three, Mason would have to run the pick and roll several times to get a contested pull-up three pointer. Bonner, Udoka, and Finley would often have to give a pump fake and drive into the lane instead of taking the shot because they were not open. So let’s not place all the blame on the Spurs’ role players, they were not hired to perform the job that they were forced to execute.

On the bright side, how good did Tony Parker and Tim Duncan look? Tony could not be stopped and Tim looked like he turned the clock back five years. If you throw out Game 3’s stats, the game in which the Spurs were blown out and Tim and Tony barely played in the second half, Tony averaged 33 ppg, 4 rpg, and 8 apg, while Tim averaged 24 ppg, 9.5 rpg, and 4 apg for the series. The last two games of the season, Tim averaged 27.5 ppg and 9 rpg.

Clearly, some roster work needs to happen during this off-season. However, I hope the Spurs do not do anything too drastic. I think Tim and Tony proved that they still have a lot left in the tank, and if Manu can get healthy, this team’s championship window has not closed. We need our role players to get younger and more athletic. I expect to see the Spurs shed players like Finley, Udoka, Vaughn (Fingers Crossed), Oberto, and Bowen in exchange for youth and athleticism. Hopefully the big three, Roger Mason, and George Hill will still be wearing the silver and black next year, but everyone else is dispensable.

In retrospect, it was probably better that the Spurs lost to Dallas. Denver would have been next up to bat. Have you been watching the Denver/New Orleans series? Denver is playing the most physical brand of basketball in the playoffs. They are doing what Erica Dampier threatened. They will physically beat the Hell out of the Mavericks. I’m not guaranteeing a series victory, but I am guaranteeing that Barea will get thrown to the floor many, many times. And it will make me happy. Even if the Spurs were able to beat Denver, the Lakers would be waiting. And the Lakers are exceptional. If Kobe broke his foot in Game 1 and Gasol decided to leave Earth in favor of his home planet, and the Spurs somehow pulled out that series, the Cavs would be waiting in the Finals. A championship was pretty much impossible this year. I couldn’t even talk myself into it. Well, at least once I found out Manu was officially done for the season.

Well, that’s all I have for now. As far as this blog in concerned, I will continue posting. NBA playoffs will be a central topic for the coming months as well as more funny additions similar to the Pirates piece.

Cheers and Jeers,

Popovich's Main Adjustment: Bruce Bowen

ESPN analysts have pointed out many differences between Game 1 and Game 2, mostly focusing on defense in general, defensive rebounding, and Tony Parker’s offensive explosion. What no one has mentioned, and I thought was the biggest adjustment from Game 1 to Game 2, was the utilization of Bruce Bowen. Bruce spent most of the season in Popovich’s doghouse for reasons that have not been publicized. Bruce averaged 18.9 minutes per game this season, his lowest average since 1999 when he played sparingly for the Philadelphia 76ers. Bowen started for the Spurs during their championship runs in ’03, ’05, and ’07. He was a main contributor to those teams as he often shut down the best offensive weapon that the opposition had to offer. In Game 2, Popovich went with what wins and played Bowen a season high 29 minutes. During his time in the game he harassed Dirk, corralled Barea, mauled Howard, and shut down Terry. Do yourself a favor and watch the game a second time, as I did. You will be amazed with Bruce’s defensive performance.

Bruce played so well that Popovich started him in the second half with Parker, Duncan, Bonner, and Finley. As I mentioned before in WTF #9, starting a defensive lineup is the best move the Spurs can make. They are not going to outscore a team, so why should they start their best offensive lineup at the expense of their defense? If the Spurs are going to win, it will be because of their defense, not offense. Even with the Spurs shooting 53% and Tony pouring in 38, they still only managed to score 105 points. The Spurs won the game because they held Dallas to 84 points, not because they scored 105.

Bruce allows limitless flexibility on the defensive end. As I mentioned, Bruce defended Dallas’ power forward, forward, shooting guard, and point guard. Popovich can assign Bruce to whoever is hot to take them out of the offense. Bruce is also a great help defender. Many times he showed a double to force Dirk to pass the ball, then recovered to his man in time to deter the three point shot but still not allow him to drive to the basket. This is an incredibly difficult thing to do. If you recover from helping too slowly, you will allow a three point shot. If you are too fast, the offensive player will give a pump fake and drive right by. The ability to approach at just the right speed in order to deter the three point shot and still not allow the drive is incredibly challenging. The Mavs' shooters only need a second of daylight to get off their three point shots, but this second was not available with Bruce scrambling. When Bruce guarded Barea, he gave him a cushion on the pick and roll and dared him to shoot. Barea is so short that he needs an extended amount of space to get up his shot. Bruce’s length deterred him from shooting even when Bruce went under the pick. The few times that Barea was able to drive into the lane, Bruce guided him to Duncan or Thomas who promptly blocked his shot. When guarding Dirk, Bruce is simply a pest. He fronts Dirk, even when Dirk is 25 feet away from the basket. If Dirk manages to receive the ball, Bruce gets into his chest and dares Dirk to put the ball on the floor. Bruce is quick enough to make contact with Dirk and still recover if Dirk attempts to drive past him. Bruce shadowed Terry all over the court. Terry likes to use screens to find an opening. Bruce masterfully avoided the screens and played the passing lanes limiting Terry’s touches and wasting Dallas’ shot clock. Bruce played Howard somewhat soft. He knew that Howard was not healthy so he played a little off and dared him to shoot. In Game 1, Howard did most of his damage off of cuts and drives, so Bruce took that away and made him a jump shooter. If you like defense, watch Game 2 over again and study Bruce Bowen’s performance. It was truly a masterpiece.

Thoughts on Game 1's

Portland looked awful. Houston delivered a stomach punch in the first quarter and the Blazers never recovered. Their youth was the story of the game. Houston looked good, but I am still convinced that their lack of elite players will be their undoing. They just do not have enough guys that you can count on scoring 20+ points every night. When they win, it is because of an unexpected contribution. Does 'unexpected contributions' sound like a winning playoff recipe?  I think not.

The Spurs looked confused. Confused on the defensive end with Barea getting into the paint at will. Confused on the offensive end with Popovich obviously still trying to figure out his rotation. The silver lining is that the Spurs could have, and probably should have, won the game. They lost because Dampier, Barea and Bass combined for 37 points. If those three can average a combined 37 points for the series, then bless them. I do not see it happening and still think the Spurs win in 6.

The Jazz did not look horrible against the Lakers. I expect the Jazz to lose the series, but I am not sure if the Lakers win a game in Utah. Home-court fuels Utah’s defensive intensity and that is all it will take for the Jazz to get a few W’s.

The Orlando, Phlliy Game 1 was atrocious. The fact it was close made it somewhat entertaining, but the level of basketball being played was far lower than any other series. If Orlando cannot get healthy, whichever team wins this series is definitely going to get swept in the second round.

Dwayne Wade is playing 1 on 5. As I mentioned before, his team is nonexistent. If I were him, I would demand a trade, like now.

The Cavs looked okay. They did not impress but got the W without too much trouble. Detroit has a few players that want to win, but most of that team is already on vacation.

Derick Rose had an amazing Game 1. The scary part is that he does not have that Kobe, “I am going to take every shot for the next five minutes” mode and still scored 36 points with 10 assists. If he decided to drive every time he got the ball in the fourth, he probably would have scored upwards of 50. The Celts looked like the Spurs. They came out a little flat and it seemed that they expected the Bulls to fold at some point; that never happened.

Denver was impressive in their win. Eight threes by Chauncey definitely helped them out. If the Hornets can take Game 2, look for the Nuggets to implode. Their ‘crazy’ is going to catch up with them sooner or later.

I Lost my Voice Screaming, "COME ON, POP!"

Without Manu Ginobili to mask mistakes, coaching errors are amplified. Below are my top ten What the F's from Game 1 on Saturday.

1.) Why is George Hill riding the pine?
With about a month remaining in the season, I was listening to WOAI’s ‘Ask the Coach’ segment and the question posed was, “Why is George Hill no longer playing backup point guard?” The answer was that historically speaking, rookie point guards never produce in the playoffs. The coaching staff wanted to use George Hill in the playoffs, so they thought that moving him to the 2 guard position would be best. Clearly, this was a horrible mistake. Hill is a point guard, not a shooting guard. Hill has a mediocre to poor outside shot. He is most effective when the ball is in his hands and he has the option to drive and create. By moving him to the 2 guard, the coaching staff took away his strength and amplified his poor shooting ability. In addition, Roger Mason is not a point guard, he is a shooting guard. He is most effective when someone creates for him and he can get an open look. The coaching staff did Mason a disservice by moving him to the backup point guard position. George Hill should be reinstated as the backup point guard and Roger Mason should play his natural shooting guard position.

2.) Why is Matt Bonner not riding the pine?
Matt Bonner is a terrible defender. Watching him attempt to play post defense is reminiscent of a big brother backing down his little brother in the back yard. Bonner is clearly the little brother. The Mavs smartly fed the ball to whomever Bonner was guarding, and they beat him like a red-headed step child. When Bonner is making his outside shot, he negates some of his defensive mistakes. However, when he is missing, he has a huge negative impact on the Spurs. Please bench him.

3.) Why does Popovich refuse to start Gooden?
If we bench Bonner, that opens up a starting position. Gooden should be our starter. Granted, Gooden makes a lot of dumb mistakes on the defensive end, but he commands attention on the offensive end clearing the lane for Tim and Tony. Gooden is a better rebounder, a better defender, quicker and more athletic than Bonner. He should be our starter.

4.) Why does Popovich not play Gooden with Duncan more?
Elaborating a little more on WTF #3, Duncan and Gooden play great with each other. In Game 1 against the Mavs, we got a look at their chemistry on the court together. The Spurs built their biggest lead of 13 when Tim and Drew were playing together. For some reason, this lineup was short lived and Popovich chose not to play them together for the rest of the game. But the production was there when they were in. Drew’s ability to post up is huge. If we play Drew and Tim together, then we could post up which ever player had the weaker defender. If the weaker defender is Dirk, we could get him in foul trouble and it could be the difference in the game.

5.) Why in God’s name is Mason guarding Dirk during crunch time?
This was one of the reasons I lost my voice at the Spurs game Saturday night. Is Popovich trying to lose? I just do not understand the logic. Mason is one of the weakest defenders on the Spurs’ roster. Why would we ask a weak defender to guard the Mav’s best player during crunch time? Thomas, Bonner, Udoka, Bowen, Hill, Duncan, and Finley all are better defenders than Mason. I just don’t get it.

6.) How is it possible that a hobbit single-handedly took Game 1 from us?
That little troll, also known as Barea, epitomizes what is wrong with NBA officiating. This little hobbit mauls everyone in his vicinity and never gets called for a foul because he is missing a chromosome. Not only do the refs not call fouls on him, but they give him the call every time he flops. And these are not offensive fouls that could go either way, these are EGREGIOUS flops. Someone needs to knock the hell out of him. If I were coaching, I’d let Thomas know that the first time Barea took it to the rim I wanted him laid out. All it takes is one good hit and that little troll will think twice before driving recklessly to the basket.

7.) Why do we not post Tim Duncan every possession?
Tim looked great in Game 1, unfortunately he did not get enough touches. If Tim is in the game, he should touch the ball every offensive possession. There is no reason for Bonner or Udoka to take a shot early in the shot clock when Tim is on the floor. We should force feed him the ball on the block. I promise, good things will happen.

8.) Why doesn’t Popovich yell at the officials?
The second time that little troll made an egregious flop, I looked over at our bench expecting to see Popovich enraged and saw no passion. It was as if he did not see it happen. Popovich needs to YELL. He needs to get in people’s faces. He needs to turn red and lose his voice. If the momentum starts to shift, Pop needs to stop it. It’s like he doesn’t care anymore.

9.) Why does our starting lineup not consist of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen, Roger Mason, and Drew Gooden?
Here is the problem with our current starting lineup; Finley and Bonner are horrible defenders. Using horrible defenders in the starting lineup guarantees that your opposition is going to get off to a good offensive start. In addition, if Finley and Bonner are missing, it guarantees that the Spurs will be down after the first quarter. How many times have you thought, “Wow, the Spurs really crushed that team in the first quarter.” Once, never? This is because our starting lineup cannot get stops. If we are lucky, Finley or Bonner will hit a few threes and we will keep pace with the other team. However, most of the time we will be down a few points when our subs come into the game. By inserting Bowen and Gooden into the starting lineup, suddenly our guys can get stops. Furthermore, bringing Finley and Bonner in off the bench means that they will be matched up against other bench players. Their poor defense will not be as obvious against the second unit of a team. With a defensive starting lineup, suddenly it’s not about outscoring the opposition, it’s about shutting them down. Isn’t that the philosophy that won the Spurs four championships? Why did we stray from it?

10.) Why do we not make defensive adjustments during a game when it is clear that our schemes are not effective?
Back to the little troll who is missing a chromosome, the only reason he was effective was because our defensive scheme was flawed. He consistently drove into the paint because our pick and roll defense allowed him to. Normally when guarding a pick and roll, the big man shows on the pick to pause the guard so that his guard can recover and play defense. For some reason, when Barea ran the pick and roll, our big guy did not show so he had an open path to the basket. I assume the thought was that we wanted our big guy to stay close to the guy setting the pick, because it was normally Dirk, but allowing Barea to reach the rim causes a plethora of problems. It puts our help defenders in a bad spot. If they help, Barea can kick the ball out for a three, and if they do not he has a layup. In addition, if our big guy shows late, it frees up Dampier for the offensive board. I believe this same thing happened three times, resulting in three easy put backs for Dampier. The way to prevent this is to simply have our big guy show hard on the pick, and have our guard recover. Why did this adjustment never take place during the game? I have no idea.

Playoffs Preview

1 Cavs vs 8 Pistons  

Fred's Pick: Cavs in 5

The Cavs are really good.  I mean really, really good.  Lebron is finally reaching his potential and he is surrounded by the best role players he has ever had.  The one troubling thing about the Cavs is that they really only have one elite player.  Mo Williams is not elite as he cannot create for himself or his teammates.  This means that if a team figures out how to effectively contain Lebron, the Cavs are beatable.  This, however, will not happen when they face Detroit.  The Pistons have been in a tailspin ever since they traded Chauncey "Team Glue" Billups away for Allen "Me First" Iverson.  The only reason I gave the Pistons a game is because Detroit is a tough place to win at, especially in the playoffs.

2 Celtics vs 7 Bulls  

Fred's Pick: Celts in 5

The Bulls have acquired "cool pick" status, somehow.  Everyone seems to think they will give the Celtics a run for their money since the Garnet news came out.  The Bulls are a young team and if a young team is going to make a splash in the playoffs they need a great coach.  Last time I checked, Vinny Del Negro was coaching the Bulls.  Sorry Chicago, not going to happen. 

3 Magic vs 76ers  

Fred's Pick: Magic in 5

Yuck.  This is exactly why the East sucks.  What a horrible series.  I am a basketball junkie and if this came on I'm flipping the channel to watch a King of Queens rerun.  If Rashard and Hedo were both healthy, it's definitely a sweep.  As it is, it's going to be a sloppy win for the Magic.

4 Hawks vs 5 Heat  

Fred's Pick: Hawks in 6

This series has also become an analyst favorite.  Why?  I still do not know what the Hawks are trying to do.  Are they going to outrun you?  Will they out-execute you?  Will they control the pace of the game?  What are they good at?  And as far as the Heat are concerned, it's one fabulous player surrounded by some of the worst talent ever assembled.  This team will be alright in two years because they are so young, but the fact they are a 5 seed this year illustrates just how much the East sucks.

1 Lakers vs 8 Jazz

Fred's Pick: Lakers in 6

The Jazz are not your typical 8 seed.  They would be a 3 or 4 seed if they had not suffered so many injuries during the course of the season.  They have one of the best point guards in the league and two great low post presences in Boozer and Millsap.  The Lakers should not take this team lightly, or it could go to 7 games.  However, the Lakers are the most complete team in the league.  They have two elite players in Kobe and Gasol.  They have elite role players in Odom and Bynum.  And they have veteran experience.  Their only weak spot is at the point guard position.  Fisher has been awful this year and Farmar did not improve from last year.  The fact that Utah has a great point guard and the Lakers are below average at that position is another reason to like the Jazz in this series.  I still am picking the Lakers, but I will definitely keep my eye on this series.  

2 Nuggets vs 7 Hornets

Fred's Pick: Hornets in 6

What do Carmelo, Kenyon, and JR Smith all have in common?  They are crazy.  Billups has done a masterful job of keeping this team together, greatly without the help of George Karl.  This is a front running team.  Things are great when they are winning, but as soon as they are losing they all start pointing fingers at each other.  I get the feeling that if the Hornets can deliver one good stomach punch, the wheels will fall off for Denver.  

3 Spurs vs 6 Mavs

Fred's Pick: Spurs in 6

Here is the thing about the Spurs.  At this point, they only have two elite players and a bunch of mediocre role players.  Therefore the Spurs will need their two elite players to have great games.  Dallas cannot defend Tim or Tony.  Tony scored 37 in the last two games they played, the second of which Tim and Manu did not play and the Spurs still won by 18.  On the flip side, the Spurs have trouble guarding Dirk.  However, the Spurs have a plethora of defenders to throw at him, while the Mavs have no one that can stay in front of Tony.  The edge goes to San Antonio.

4 Blazers vs 5 Rockets

Fred's Pick: Blazers in 5

Do the Rockets have an elite player?  Yao is alright, but how can you be 7'6" 310 pounds and not average more than 10 rebounds a game?  Shouldn't he get around 10 boards a game by accident?  Is he even trying?  Artest is well past his prime, although he is still effective.  Teams that win in the playoffs have to have a go-to guy.  The Rockets are a great team, but lack a star.  The Blazers have Brandon Roy.  I really think this guy is great.  He reminds me of Tim in that he never loses control of his emotions, but still has that undeniable passion to win.  The Blazers are more athletic and have an elite player.  I do not think they will have a problem taking out the Rockets.

For the Love of God, Popovich

The Spurs landed in the three spot. Previously, I said that I would prefer the Spurs to be the four or five seed rather than the three. However, at that time it looked like the sixth seed would either be the Hornets or the Jazz, both of which would provide difficult matchups for the Spurs. Turns out the Spurs will play the Mavericks. This is the best case scenario for the Spurs. At this point, we basically are comprised of two stars. We need Tim and Tony to have great games in order to win. Tim always crushes Dallas and the Mavs have no one to defend Tony. For this reason, the Mavs are the best possible matchup for the short-handed Spurs.

There is one area of concern. We need Tim and Tony to play. It’s as simple as that. I attended the Hornets, Spurs game last night and was extremely frustrated for about 47 minutes. I kept asking, “How are we supposed to win if our two best players are not playing?” Luckily, the Spurs won a game that they should not have and earned the three seed. However, the Spurs cannot count on luck to win a playoff series. We need Tim and Tony in the game. Last night Tim had a +/- of +21 and Tony had +15. This means that when Tim was in the game, the Spurs outscored the Hornets by 21 points. We won by seven. Therefore, when Tim was on the bench the Hornets outscored the Spurs by 14 points. How easy is this to see? Can someone forward this to Popovich? When Tim is in the game, we are infinitely better than when he sits on the bench. Tim and Tony played a combined 77 minutes last night. Chris Paul and David West combined for 95 minutes. If you were wondering why the Spurs almost lost, you can stop studying the box score. Here is your answer. Their best two players played 18 more minutes than our two best players. It’s as easy as that. If we are going to fare well in the playoffs, this trend must end here. Tim and Tony must play more minutes than they have averaged during the regular season. Popovich needs to go for broke. There are no back to backs in the playoffs, so playing Tim extended minutes should not be a concern. In addition, Tony Parker is 26. 26! Are you telling me he can’t play more than 34 minutes a game? He is a world-class athlete.

Keep an eye on the minutes column. If Dirk and Howard/Terry play substantially more minutes than Tim and Tony, this could translate into an extended vacation for the Spurs.

Navy Seals > Pirates

Seriously? How incompetent are these “pirates?” It is really quite baffling when you think about it. In 2003 I made it a point to read any article about pirates that I came across. In the summer of ’03 I attended Semester at Sea. Basically, you sail around the world for a semester and take classes while at sea for college credit. The ship docks at different locations around the world and while docked classes stop and you basically are on your own to explore the country. It was really quite fantastic. My year we sailed to Vancouver, Alaska, Japan, Russia, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. While at sea, we would often have pirate drills, similar to fire drills at school, so we knew what to do in case of a pirate attack. The students all had a safe location on the ship to hide and the crew would man water cannons that were located all around the ship for defense. This spiked my curiosity of ‘pirates’ as I was previously unaware that they still existed. So I have kept up with the pirates since ’03 and was hooked when they took over an American ship this past week. The following is a recap of what took place along with my thoughts. The recap will be a summary from the articles I have read from WSJ, NYT, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Breitbart.

About a week ago four pirates armed with pistols and AK-47’s attempted to capture an American vessel. They maneuvered their tiny boat next to the enormous vessel and straight pirate style used ropes with hooks to climb onboard. Once onboard, the pirates realized they were greatly outnumbered by the crew. However, the crew did not possess guns, so advantage pirates. Apparently, there was a scuffle between a few crew members and the Pirate Captain. During this brouhaha, a crew member stabbed the Captain in the hand with an ice pick. The crew members tied the Captain to a chair and thus had a hostage. The American Captain realized that this situation could easily escalate with the three remaining armed pirates still onboard. He decided to give himself to the pirates to avoid violence. So now the pirates have the American Captain and the Americans have the Pirate Captain. The pirates then demanded that the Americans give them one of their life boats. The Americans agreed so now the three pirates and the American Captain were off the main vessel. It was negotiated that the Americans would give the pirates the Pirate Captain back and then the pirates would release the American Captain. So the Americans released the Pirate Captain who rejoined his crew on the life boat. The Americans asked for their captain back and I assume the response from the pirates was something like, “Um, we’re pirates. Lying is a big part of what we do.”

So now the four pirates are on this life boat with the American Captain. The pirates attempted to demand that the crew follow them to the coast of Somalia, but the crew decided that was a bad idea and took off. In this time, the first American Warship arrived on scene and negotiations commenced. The pirates wanted ransom, something in the range of 2 million dollars, for the American Captain. Negotiations carried on for the next several days. During this time, the Captain saw an opportunity to escape and took it. He dove into the ocean and attempted to swim to one of the nearby American Warships. The pirates fired several shots, (it is unclear whether they shot at the Captain or in the air,) at which point the Captain surrendered and was recaptured. This was enough for Barack Obama. He had had it. When this happened, he gave the order for the Navy Seals to intervene if the captain was in “imminent danger.”

During the next four days, two more American War Ships arrived along with War Helicopters. This must have been quite the spectacle. Picture it. Four pirates on a life boat surrounded by three American Warships with War Helicopters buzzing around. So negotiations did not go well for the pirates because apparently they have never seen an American movie. “WE DON”T NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS.” We kill terrorists. Yesterday, one of the pirates boarded an American Warship to make their demands clear. Their demands were rejected by the Navy and the pirate became irate. 100 feet away on the life boat, one of the pirates made the unfortunate mistake of pointing his gun at the head of the Captain. This qualified as “imminent danger” so the Navy Seals opened fire. Three shots, three head wounds, game over. The fourth pirate is now in custody. The captain was unharmed.

Now, what were these pirates thinking? That our Navy was going to have 2 million in cash, hand it over to them, and they would be on their merry way? Never to be seen again? Living like kings? What??? What was their best case scenario? Life in prison, most likely. If negotiations had succeeded, this is how it would have played out. The pirates get some money and release the Captain. Once the Captain was safe, the pirates are captured and sent to an American jail. The end. Worst case was they piss our new president off, and he gives the order to take them out. Obama was not about to allow four “pirates” to make a fool out of him in front of the entire world. At some point, one of the four pirates had to have second thoughts, right? Like when the third Warship arrived and there were freaking War Helicopters buzzing all around, he had to start thinking, “Um, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea and we should get the hell off this tiny life boat.”

The other confounding part of this was that they chose the life boat over land. They were docked right off the coast of Somalia. It is well documented that we are not good at finding people in caves. Doesn’t Somalia have caves? Wouldn’t that be your go-to move? Either the four of us can sit in this tiny lifeboat surrounded by three Warships and helicopters, or we can go on land and meet up with our pirate buddies and negotiate from a hard-to-find cave.

I feel like these pirates were just some dudes trying to make a quick buck, and before they knew it they were surrounded by Warships and really had no idea what to do. Somalia is not a place you want to visit. Since the late 80’s, Somalia has been in a civil war. There is no government, no economy, no nothing. If you are in Somalia, and you see these ships passing by constantly, it may make sense to take a chance for some money. Here is where they made the mistake. Stay away from ships flying the American flag. Pick on the French. You know they won’t retaliate. The Americans have been kicking the crap out of Iraq for a decade now because they basically called us names. America is not the nation you want to pick a fight with, especially if you do not have any allies that will have your back. Today the pirates were quoted as saying America is their new number one target. Really? Pirates, you have no chance. We will send a few ships over, a few troops, a few helicopters, and dominate your existence for the next decade. Here is some advice. Forget this happened. Apologize to the U.S. and then continue picking on the French. That’s what I’d do, anyway. You got a good thing going with your throwback pirate business. Don’t mess it up by picking a fight you do not have a chance at winning.

Quick Spurs Update
We can beat the Blazers in a series. We want the four or five spot. Four would obviously be preferable, but five would be better than the three spot. It looks like New Orleans will be in the sixth spot, and we do not match up well with them. Also, I really hope we play the Lakers in the second round. If we win, fantastic. If we lose, well that’s the best team in the West and we are injured. Worst case scenario would be meeting the Lakers in the Conference Finals and getting stomped. If we are going to get stomped, let’s hope it’s in the second round so our guys get an extended off-season to recuperate.

Optimistic Spurs Outlook

I realize my last few posts have been fairly pessimistic. Most of it was skewed by my emotions following the recent upsetting losses. I thought I should make it known that I expect the Spurs to finish the rest of the season 6-2 and make a run at the championship. At first glance, this might seem uber-optimistic considering that five of the remaining eight games are on the road, and four of the remaining eight are against playoff teams. However, if one takes a closer look at the Spurs’ rough month of March, there is reason for optimism.

The Spurs record for March was 9-8. It looks bad until one realizes that seven of the eight losses were by 7 or fewer points, five were by fewer than 4 points. Clearly, many of these games could have gone either way. If the ball had taken a different bounce, if the officiating had been slightly less than horrific, if Popovich had not played Jacque Vaughn, many of these games would have been wins.

The opponents that the Spurs lost to were respectable, for the most part. The only “bad” losses occurred against the Oklahoma City Thunder, to which the Spurs dropped two games. The rest of their losses were to playoff teams.

The Spurs were playing with incomplete lineups for the majority of the month. Tim Duncan sat out for most of the back to backs and missed a string of games due to knee soreness. Manu Ginobili only played in the last three games averaging only 25 minutes per, and as expected struggled to shake the rust off.

These reasons serve to explain why the Spurs were out of sync in March. In my eyes, these untimely injuries resulted in the Spurs woeful three point shooting slump. March was the Spurs worst three point shooting month of the season at 37.1%. In their eight losses, the Spurs shot a putrid 32%. Given how close these games were, if the Spurs shot 35% suddenly they are viewed in a completely different light. Instead of, “The Spurs Limp into the Playoffs,” headlines would read “The Spurs Sprint Towards the Finish Line.” It’s interesting how a single percent can completely shift the public’s perception of a team.

Injuries kept the Spurs from developing a rhythm during the month of March. Players were attempting to get Drew Gooden acclimated while not knowing which of the Big Three may be playing in the next game. The Spurs ball movement became less fluid and the league’s leading three point shooting team struggled to connect from range.

All this can be turned around within a week. If the Spurs can take a step back and play through this rough patch, they will regain form and steady the ship. I am hoping that this last week was enough for the Spurs to find themselves. So, I am still optimistic that the Spurs can make a run at the title this year. Everyone seems to forget the most important factor heading into the playoffs; it’s an odd year, and the Spurs own odd years like they own the Suns.

Popovich Makes My Head Hurt

Well, the precedent has been set. There is nothing we can do about it now. The Thunder officially believe they can beat the Spurs regardless of the circumstances. This is the same thing that happened with the Milwaukee Bucks. At some point, the Bucks won a fluky game against the Spurs, followed that with a close win, and now the Spurs have trouble beating the Bucks twice a season. The Bucks could be 10-42, it does not matter. The Bucks will always play the Spurs close because they show up with impenetrable confidence. And now we have this to look forward to for the next decade every time we play the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Nearly every good team has one of these annoying match-ups. The Lakers like to lose to the Bobcats. The Magic like to lose to the Pistons. It’s not necessarily a guaranteed loss, it will just be a closer game than it should be and the lesser team will always have a shot at winning in the closing minutes.

Popovich is really to blame for last night’s loss and a decades worth of close losses to the Thunder. First, the lineups he played were horrendous. If Tim, Tony, and Manu are healthy, there is absolutely no reason that the Spurs should play a lineup that excludes all three. It makes no sense. A lineup without the big three will never happen in the playoffs, so why play it now? All it does is serve to destroy the Spurs' rhythm and give the opposition confidence.

Second, why in God’s name is Jacque Vaughn playing? We have George Hill! What the HELL?!?! Jacque Vaughn entered the game when the Thunder had two seconds on the shot clock. Jacque somehow lost sight of his man, who cut backdoor and received the pass for a lay-up. Jacque fouled the guy and he made both free throws. Two seconds in the game, two points for the Thunder. He played 13 minutes, scored 0 points missing two wide open shots, and had as many turnovers as he had assists, 1. His plus minus was -2. Could George Hill have performed worse? Is it even possible? What Jacque’s stats do not display is that when he is in the game, the other team is essentially playing five on four on the defensive end. They do not guard Jacque Vaughn. This kills Manu’s impact because whenever Manu drives, Jacque’s man is right there to stop him. Also, the guy that Jacque Vaughn guards always has a free pass into the lane. The backup point guard on one of the worst teams in the NBA looked like an All Star because he was matched-up against Jacque. 34 year old Chucky Atkins has averaged 2.9 points, 1.8 assists, and .8 rebounds this season. Against Vaughn, he nearly doubled his production and apparently was EVERYWHERE, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, making both of his free throws. Tell me that he is that effective against George Hill, who is 22 and 6’3” with a 6’7” wingspan. Again, Jacque Vaughn is playing??? I feel like putting my head through a wall.

Third, how many times have you heard a commentator say this? “Wow, what a great decision by the coach. Instead of calling a time out, they decided to push the ball down by one. They completely caught the defense off-guard and got the easy layup for the win!” Maybe once, when the Suns were under D’Antoni? The vast majority of the time you hear, “Well, they had a timeout but chose not to use it because they thought they could catch the defense sleeping. Unfortunately, they got off a horrible shot and lost the game.” Let me go Hubie Brown on you for a second. “If I’m Gregg Popovich, I KNOW that my team is not as athletic as the Thunder. I also KNOW that if I call a timeout, I can advance the ball to halfcourt and draw up a play that could take advantage of the Thunder’s inexperience. If I’m Gregg Popovich, there is NO WAY that I don’t call a timeout here.” Well, he didn’t call a timeout. The play was broken from the start when Tony failed to bring the ball up the court. Passes were deflected, Tim ended up with the ball 20 feet from the basket with three seconds on the shot clock. He threw it to Finley who missed a contested fade-away from 25 feet at the buzzer. Ouch. If Popovich calls a timeout, what are the odds the Spurs take a worse shot? 10%? 5%? I completely do not understand his logic.

Fourth, Kevin Durant absolutely tore the Spurs apart for the first three quarters. Finley, Udoka, and Manu all had their shot to defend him, and all were torched. Guess which two players did not get any playing time last night? Arguably the Spurs’ best two perimeter defenders, Bruce Bowen and George Hill. How does that make any sense at all? I feel like I am taking CRAZY PILLS.

The loss obviously falls on Popovich. Why was he so bad? Did he chug a bottle of Nyquil before the game? Did he total his car? Did he take a look in the mirror for the first time in 20 years? What the Hell was he thinking? Obviously, I’m still irate. I may have to bring back my old website, http://www.heypoppleasestopkillingmyteam.com/

West vs. East Which Confernce is Better?

You may have heard ESPN analysts claim that the Eastern and Western Conferences are as close in talent as they have ever been. They like to point out that while the West has nine above average teams, they also have six of the worst teams in the NBA. They claim that the Eastern Conference, while not as top heavy, does not have many terrible teams, so the conferences are fairly even this year. This bothers me to no end. The Western Conference is much better that the Eastern conference and this is why three teams from the Eastern Conference, the Cavs, Celtics, and Magic, have ridiculous records.

The NBA schedule is created by following a few rules. First, each team will play each team from the other conference twice, 30 games. Each team will play ten teams from their own conference 4 times, with teams within their division always being one of these, 40 games. The four remaining teams from the conference will be played three times each, 12 games. These games add up to the 82 that make up the regular season. As you can see, a team from the West will play 52 out of their 82 games against other teams from the West.

Now, let’s take a look at the makeup of each conference. In the West, you have nine superior teams and six inferior teams. The superior teams are the Lakers, Spurs, Rockets, Nuggets, Hornets, Trailblazers, Jazz, Mavericks, and Suns. The inferior teams are the Warriors, Thunder, Timber Wolves, Clippers, Grizzlies and Kings. For argument’s sake, let us assume that every time an inferior team played a superior team, they lost. And when an inferior team played an inferior team or when a superior team played a superior team, they split games. What you would have is exactly what the Western Conference records reflect. The nine superior teams have good records, but nothing extraordinary, because there are nine superior teams all splitting games with each other. The six inferior team’s records are horrible because they cannot beat the nine superior teams, and only have five other inferior teams to split games with. (Note, the Lakers are an anomaly because they stole an All Star, Pau Gasol, from the Grizzlies and gave nothing in return. Their team is loaded with talent.)

In the East, you have three superior teams, and twelve inferior teams. Using the same logic, how would this play out? Well, the three superior teams would have outstanding records, since there are only two other teams they face that they split games with, and twelve inferior teams that they can beat consistently. The twelve inferior teams would have mediocre records, because they spilt with each other, and only face three superior teams that they cannot beat.

Given this logic, it is ridiculous to say that the Western and Eastern conferences are equal. The true measure a conference is the number of superior teams in the conference. The West has nine, while the East has three. It would be more correct to say the West is three times better than the East, than it would be to say the conferences are equal.

Let's talk Michael Finley

Below is a conversation I had with one of my coworkers concerning Michael Finley. He cannot stand Finley while I have grown to respect his game. Ryan had put together a table demonstrating that Finley plays better against weak opponents.

From: Ryan
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 10:47 AM
To: Fred
Subject: Can't stand Finley stats

I had a minute so I put this info together about the horrible M. Finley….

I don’t know how this guy even averages 9.6 pts per game, but my thoughts were that he has his best games against the worst teams (which looks to be accurate in the table below). The only bright spot is that he has seemed to do okay against the Lakers, Cavs, and the Hornets somehow.

I still can’t believe the amount of minutes he gets and WHEN he gets his minutes, like at the end of games! Horrendous. I don’t know what Pop’s love affair is with this guy.


From: Fred
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 11:08 AM
To: Ryan
Subject: RE: Can't stand Finley stats

I don’t mind Finley. He’s a role player. He’s out there to hit the open three and he is shooting a career best 42% from beyond the arc. And who is Pop going to play over him? Pop screwed up by moving George Hill to the two guard; he has been horrible since they made the change. And I have no confidence in Udoka. He’s been playing alright recently, but he is undersized, can't jump, and slow. He’s also a much more inconsistent shooter than Finley. With Manu out, I don’t know who would be better with Finley’s minutes. Mason can only play so many minutes, especially if he has to run the team when Tony takes a break. And it kills me to admit this, but Bruce has lost a step. And he seems even more lost on the offensive end than normal.


From: Ryan
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:15 PM
To: Fred
Subject: RE: Can't stand Finley stats

If you look at him and when he really has an opportunity to affect something in the game, he really doesn’t hit those open threes. George Hill needs to play the backup point and Finley should play about 15 minutes a game. I have much more confidence in Mason’s shot than Finley when he’s not running the backup point and someone else is setting him up for shots. Hopefully Finley will be the one to lose minutes now that Manu is back and not Mason.

I closely watch Finley for his productivity and timeliness of his shots, so this is why I’ve got issues with him.


From: Fred
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:14 PM
To: Ryan
Subject: RE: Can't stand Finley stats

I don’t think his job is to affect the game. He needs to hit the open shot, and more importantly, not make a mistake. I cannot think of a single mental error that Finley has made in the closing minutes of a tight game. He is solid defendively, his turnovers are very low, and most impressively, he has the highest +/- of any Spur in crunch time. Check out the Clutch Stats from 82games.com. 82games takes the clutch stats and expands them over 48 minutes so you can get an idea of which players step up in close games. As you can see, Finley commits the fewest turnovers of any Spur during crunch time, and ranks third in rebounds. I think that’s what you want from your fourth option. He’s probably not going to win the game with his individual heroics, but he will not lose it for you and the team seems to perform best when he is on the court. He has a high basketball IQ and this cannot be argued when you consider he has the best +/- of any Spur during crunch time.

Here are the tables that we were referencing.

Tim Playing Hurt? Manu Should be Suspended

I was present for the Celtics game, and watched the losses to the Thunder and Rockets. The Spurs probably should have won all three, but a combination of mental lapses and horrific officiating resulted in three losses for the Spurs. The Spurs now sit ½ a game behind the Rockets for second place in the Midwest Division, third place in the Western Conference.

I could spend the next thirty minutes describing each horrific call that doomed the Spurs. The no-call on Yao Ming's putback immediately comes to mind. What drove me crazy about that game was reading Shane Battier's comments that if Bonner had made the last second three for the win, the Rockets would have locked arms and not left the court till they were given the win. As if the game was called perfectly up until that point and it would have been thievery to count that shot. Not only did the Rockets get the go ahead bucket off of a horrendous no-call, but moments later the Spurs were called for a ghost foul that cemented the Rockets' victory. The Spurs should have locked arms after Ming's offensive goal tending and not played until the refs made the more than obvious call.

While the officiating is nothing short of disgraceful, the most upsetting thing I saw was Tim Duncan playing on one leg. The guy is clearly playing hurt. It pains me to think about, but he is playing 50 to 60% right now. He seems to lack his normal explosiveness off his drive. This is forcing him to take more contested outside jump shots, and since he does not have the lift from his legs, he shoots short in the second half. When healthy, Yao cannot get close enough to Tim to challenge his jumper. If Yao gets close, Tim would normally put the ball on the floor, take his two steps in the lane, draw contact and make his patented running hook. In his current state, this shot is not an option for Tim. Against Perkins and Yao, Tim could not get the separation from the defender on his drive, and they would get a piece of the ball. Yes, he gets fouled the majority of the time, but the referees are awful and have not made this call since the All-Star break. The referees seem to not understand that if you hold a player down with one arm, it’s very easy to get a piece of the ball when the shot is taken. Apparently holding is no longer a foul in the NBA, unless it’s a point guard 35 feet away from the basket.

So, what are the Spurs chances with Tim playing at 50% and Manu playing at 75%? I don’t want to think about it. Imagine how good this team would be with all three of its stars playing at 100%. They should have beat the Celtics and Rockets with a hurt Tim and absent Manu.

What really killed the Spurs this year was Argentina. If Manu does not play on his already injured ankle during the off-season with the Argentine national team, he probably gets enough rest for it to heal and does not require surgery. If Manu does not miss any time, Tim does not have to carry the load for 50 games this season and is fresh coming into the playoffs, rather than playing on one leg.

This has to be addressed in the much talked about mediations between the Players’ Union and David Stern, right? Players that are being paid millions of dollars should not be allowed to play during the off-season without the consent of their employer. To me, it’s similar to what happened in Golden State this off-season with Monta Ellis. During the offseason, Monta rode a scooter, which was specifically forbidden in his contract, and injured himself. He was suspended by the team without pay for most of the season. Manu should also be suspended for his poor decision making. He knew he was hurt. He knew the Spurs were counting on him this year. He knew how much money they were paying him. And he still chose to play hurt during the off-season, perhaps costing the Spurs a chance to win the championship this year. He should give half his salary to Tim for forcing him to carry the team in his absence. Who knows how this will affect the rest of Tim’s career. Did Manu just shave two productive years off the end of Tim’s career? No one is talking about this, but I promise it’s on Pop’s mind, Tim’s mind, the Spurs’ minds. If a player decides it’s more important to him to play for his nation than it is to make millions of dollars playing a game, then that’s his decision. But he should not have the option to play hurt, costing his employer millions in the process, and fans like you and me a season during an ever-closing championship window.

Defining Sports

Ever since high school I often found myself debating what exactly constituted a sport. I would argue with participants of the less popular activities over why basketball and football were superior. In order to validate my feelings toward the lesser activities, I developed criteria that an activity must meet in order to be considered a sport, and not just a leisure activity. Below I will list my criteria and discuss.

1.) There has to be defense.

When I say defense, I am not talking about simple physical constraints such as water or the lack of oxygen. I am referring to opponents whose objective is to beat you. Defense is a key to any popular sport. It brings the best out in everyone by injecting competitiveness. Without defense, you often here, “He really is battling inner demons,” or “It’s about self-discipline and concentration.” That is fantastic, but when you have defense not only do you have to battle yourself, you also have to battle someone who will do anything they can to prevent you from succeeding.

So with our first requirement, we have defined swimming, track, car racing or any of its derivatives, and golf as leisure activities. While we are on swimming, how can a guy who only swims win 6 different gold medals? I know this has been brought up before, but it upsets me every four years. Shouldn’t swimming get a single gold medal? Since a great swimmer can win so many gold medals, I think that next year there should be a medal awarded to the best freethrow shooter, the best three point shooter, the best rebounder, the best dunker, the best team, the MVP of the league, and the best defender. That way the best basketball athlete could also win 6 gold medals. When a guy as goofy as Michael Phelps can be the greatest Olympic champion of all time, it’s time to reevaluate the system. Clearly, something is not right.

2.) The sport requires top physical condition and its players peak in their 20’s, and decline in their 30’s.

At first look, this rule would seem to invalidate baseball. We’ve all seen fat pitchers on the mound who clearly are not in top condition. However, the other positions require conditioning so I will not let the pitchers destroy the entire sport, although they do not help baseball’s case. In addition, recently players have been peaking in their 30’s, but it has become obvious that this was due to steroids, so baseball gets a pass here also.

Top physical condition is important because it implies that the sport is extremely challenging and players must be in their prime as human beings to compete at the highest level. So, we can define bowling, darts, and golf as leisure activities. You should notice that many of the leisure activities violate more than one of the requirements. This only further condemns them.

3.) The sport must draw paying spectators.

If people do not want to watch the sport, it is not a sport. So, this pretty much encompasses all sports played by women with the sole exception of tennis. This requirement is also interesting because you can apply it at the national and international level. This requirement can be used to rank sports in your local area.

For example, in Texas the hierarchy would consist of football and basketball on top, then baseball, soccer, lacrosse, hockey, and finally rugby. Another way to look at this is that the best athletes will play football and basketball first, then baseball, then soccer, etc. So, if you are playing lacrosse in Texas, you probably got cut by the football team. However, in the Northeast, lacrosse and hockey may be on the same plateau as basketball and football. At the international level, football may be last and soccer or rugby would come in first.

Regardless, this requirement identifies leisure activities such as water polo, dodge ball, and other activities of that nature that no one cares about. One could argue that activities can switch from ‘sport’ to ‘leisure activity’ depending on the location. For example, in Texas nobody wants to watch lacrosse or rugby, so these could be considered leisure activities. In Mexico, no one wants to watch football.

So swimming, golf, track, water polo, cheerleading, dancing, dodge ball, car racing, gymnastics, cycling, and every sport played by women aside from tennis are all leisure activities. Okay? Glad we got that cleared up.

Fantasy Baseball

As we approach the end of our NBA fantasy basketball season, my friend asked me if I wanted to organize a fantasy baseball league. Fantasy baseball is apparently the best fantasy experience because this is where fantasy began and the statistics are much more developed than those of basketball.

However, I have many issues with baseball and shot his thought down without hesitation. First, I’m not in the best shape of my life. I do not work out religiously and do not watch what I eat. I’m not fat, but I’m not cut either. And here resides my first issue. Why am I going to watch a sport that pays “athletes” who are in worse shape than I am? So, you are a professional athlete being paid millions of dollars and cannot keep yourself in shape? I don’t get it. And do not kid yourself. These guys have bellies. They are definitely not in their best physical condition. And the other thing I cannot make sense of is that apparently, all these guys were using steroids. Roger Clemens, I’m looking at you. How can you use steroids and still be fat? It’s ridiculous. This is how un-athletic baseball is, it has players on steroids that still cannot keep themselves in shape. Hey Roger, when is the last time you ran a mile? College? High School? It was a long time ago, I can promise you this much.

Have you ever thought about heaven and hell? My heaven would consist of an infinite number of HD TV’s, half constantly playing March Madness games and half playing NBA playoff games. Hell would consist of TV’s playing WNBA games. Seriously, it’s time to put the WNBA to sleep. When I think of women’s basketball, I think turnovers, missed layups, and an inability to jump. It’s basically like watching 20 Jacque Vaughn’s square off. And this is on TV? It’s dumbfounding. But I digress, purgatory would definitely have baseball on the TV’s. Think about it. If you arrived to purgatory and all that was on was baseball, would it even surprise you? I would think, ‘Yup, that’s about right.’

If someone told you the score to a baseball game, would you still watch it? Unless you are completely obsessed with baseball, the answer is 'no.' If someone told me that the final score of a baseball game was 3-2, I can guarantee you that there is no way I would watch this game. However, if someone told me the Celtics beat the Lakers 99-98, the likelihood of me watching the game just increased. If I found out the Cardinals beat the Steelers 35-33, I would want to see this game. This is because basketball and football are just more exciting than baseball. There is more action, more points scored, and better athletes. I know I could not play basketball or football professionally, but whenever I see a baseball pitcher I think I have a chance at the MLB. If I injected the steroids directly into my throwing arm, could I get my fastball into the 90’s? If so, I’d get a contract.

Baseball homers like to tell themselves that people who do not like baseball just don’t understand the intricacies of the game. They say, “Well, you never played so you just cannot appreciate it.” This is absurd. Baseball is not as complicated as baseball homers like to believe. It’s similar to how counting cards was portrayed in the movie 21. Counting cards does not require a gifted mind from MIT. All you do is add 1 and -1 over and over again. Similarly, just because people like to say baseball is overly complicated does not make it true.

My final thought on baseball is, how will it survive the recession? I’ve seen the stands while watching Sports Center. Does anyone go to the games? Whenever a homerun is hit, they zoom into the stands to show a fat guy leaping over 3 empty rows of seats to secure the ball. How are they going to pay CC Sabathia millions this year and survive? By the way, CC gets a $161 million contract and McDonald’s sales increase by 5% during the worst recession in decades…. Coincidence? I think not.

Spurs, Lakers Preview

As we get closer and closer to the playoffs, games against possible playoff opponents carry more meaning. In these games it’s important to ask, “Who needs this game more?”

In this case, the answer is clearly the Lakers. Before beating the Rockets in Houston yesterday, the Lakers lost to three Western Conference teams on the road in a row: Denver, Phoenix and Portland. If the Lakers want to feel confident on the road come playoff time, they will need to start playing much better away from LA.

In addition, the Spurs team that the Lakers will face in the playoffs will be much improved from the team they face tonight. In the playoffs, (crossing my fingers,) we will have a healthy Manu Ginobili and Drew Gooden. These players allow the Spurs to give opponents different looks on both ends of the floor. Basically, this means that the Spurs will play tonight’s game with half their playoff playbook. If the Lakers cannot beat this shorthanded Spurs team, they surely will have doubts about beating a much improved Spurs team in the playoffs, regardless of what the national media has to say. And on the other side, the Spurs will beam with confidence if they can secure the win. In fact, I would argue that if the Spurs keep this game close, they will have the mental edge if they meet the Lakers in the playoffs.

Some may point out that the Lakers are also shorthanded, as Andrew Bynum is out. However, it is much more likely that the Spurs will have a healthy Ginobili and Gooden than the Lakers will have a healthy Bynum. Remember, this same scenario played itself out at this time last year. Bynum was playing great and suffered a knee injury. It required surgery and the Lakers continuously said he would be ready by the playoffs. But this did not happen and he missed the entire season. He had knee surgery again, the Lakers claim he will be healthy again, so do not be surprised if he misses the playoffs, again.

As for my pre-game prediction, this one is a tough call. This game means more to the Lakers so expect them to come out with something to prove. Lamar Odom will play with a chip on his shoulder because he was suspended for leaving the Lakers’ bench during an altercation in Portland, and this is the game after the suspension. The Lakers lost a great game to the Spurs last time they were in San Antonio, even though Kobe Bryant did everything humanly possible to win the game, so will be motivated by the memory. As for the Spurs, they have won three in a row in impressive fashion. Tony Parker has been playing fantastic, averaging 26 ppg since Manu went down with the injury. Roger Mason has averaged 16 over the last several games as he too has stepped up in the absence of Manu. And most importantly, the Lakers played Houston last night and it was close. If the Spurs can keep the game close, keep an eye on the fatigue factor. It could have a big influence in the final 3 minutes. Bottom line, Spurs by 6. I could see the Spurs with the ball up by 4 points with 30 seconds left. The Lakers foul, Spurs make both pushing the lead to 6. Lakers make an uncontested layup to cut it back to 4. Lakers foul again, Spurs make both and are up by 6 as time expires. It feels like that kind of game.