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.