Now that's Spurs Basketball

"People in the West are getting stronger because of the Spurs''

I just got an email from a true Spurs fan...

Hey homo,
I ran across this quote, pretty much everything we have been saying, yet no one in the media has the balls to say the moves are made to counter Timmy and the Spurs. Surprising it came from Tim's arch nemesis:


"People in the West are getting stronger because of the Spurs,'' Kevin Garnett told USA Today. "The Spurs are the best team in the league. You don't have to go by records; they're the champions. Phoenix made their move because of the Spurs. I think the Lakers made their moves because of the Spurs.''

The link is here:

I still don't understand the fact that no one has mentioned this yet, and if they have, why they didn't make a bigger deal out of it. The Suns, God rest their souls, went for Shaq to take on Timmeh, but now that allows Bruce to spend all his time on Nash, and Tony can play on Bell and since all he does is shoot 3's, our defensive game just got easier!

I mean, this deal still looks retarded to me. The Mavs deal, still don't know why they would go for this. People are saying that they weren't going to win this year with this crew, but I have to disagree. Even though I hate the team, they still had the nucleus of 3 years that knew how to win, despite the losses in the playoffs and the subsequent challenge of their mental capacity (which I think is way overblown), this was a good team that had just as much chance to win as any of the other teams, especially when it comes to playing us. The Lakers however scare me, not sure how that is going to work out for us, gotta wait until our first game with them. Anyway, peace biotch.

erik

Spurs mid-season player grades...

From the great poundingtherock.com... great stuff

Manu Ginobili (The Sickness, Opus, etc.) Grade: AA++++

What can be said that has not already been said? How about this? The man's play has given me an erection three different times this season. And one of those times I was wearing my Pope-blessed erection proof Chastity Chaps!

Tim Duncan (The Cornerstone, Timmeh!, etc.) Grade: B+

He's coming along after a lazyish start. Hasn't been hurt all that much.

Tony Parker (The Wee Frenchman, Frenchie McWonderbutt, etc.) Grade: B

He was pretty freaking awesome before he hobbled his ankle. And that shit with him doing Grease with Eva was funny as all hecky-shucks-darn.

Matt Bonner (The Gingerhead Man) Grade: B

Maybe it's been my imagination, but I swear he hasn't sucked. I swear. However, if you consider how little playing time he's gotten, and who Pop's playing in his place, well, he must of sucked the suckiest donkey balls ever sucked.

Pop (Coach Wino) Grade: D-

The only thing saving him from an F is the fact he hasn't physically injured Manu yet.

Robert Horry (Ear Muffs, etc.) Grade: G

Horry's proving it's ok if you suck balls as long as it's the coach's balls your sucking. Sorry. That was gross. Just picture that. Eww.

Michael Finley (Conspicuously Devoid of a Nickname as Far as I Can Remember) Grade: C

He tries hard all the time. His multi-directional fadeaways give me the runs.

Jacque Vaughn () Grade: D

During the RRT I nearly threw my effing shoe at my tv because that horrible color commentator kept going on and on about how well he'd been playing. He sucked balls. Check his stats. They were awful. He just shot the ball a lot out of sheer embarrassment. If Tony Parker played that way he'd be tarred, feathered and shipped out of town.

Fabricio Oberto () Grade: B-

Thoroughly uninspiring but sucks way less than Elson.

Bruce Bowen () Grade: B-

Not shooting all that well lately and takes way too many jump shots. Bruce, just because you practiced your running left hander all summer doesn't mean you get to shoot it every time you're open.

I'm out of time. Sorry Brent. Get well soon. Everyone else hasn't mattered. [Edit: Sorry, Ime, you matter, too.]

San Antonio Spurs interested in Grant Hill

Spurs fans it is time to be excited again. According to the San Antonio Express News...

The San Antonio Spurs are planning to speak with veteran free-agent forward Grant Hill of the Orlando Magic. Hill, who will turn 35 near the start of training camp, hasn't ruled out returning to Orlando, but also has made it clear he would like to play for a championship contender. He averaged 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 30.9 minutes while shooting 51.8 percent in 65 games last season.

That's right... that is right... as a Spurs fan I sincerely hope we pick up Grant Hill... he would be perfect. The Spurs need that small forward to come off the bench and back up the Bruce Bowens of the world and actually make a substantial difference on both sides of the ball. I know that it might not happen, but I would love to see Hill come to San Antonio get a championship and I don't think anyone would disagree with me on that one. He is one of the estimable class-acts in the NBA.

Anyone else want a championship.... that's right... come to the Spurs baby!!!

Bruce Bowen is praised on best fan sign ever.

A Spurs' fan was spotted at the NBA finals game last night with possibly the best sign of all time. Sorry I couldn't find a picture of it just yet, but I just found it too important to not post. It's actually on the 'Spurs' championship video' I recently posted, at the very end. It read, to some extent, '70% of the world is covered by water, and the rest is covered by Bruce Bowen.' The truest statement I have ever heard.

This is from the Spurs "unofficial" Blog, and I put this up because I couldn't have said it any better myself: "I love that Bruce Bowen held Lebron James to 32-90 in the Finals. 32-90. And he did it while playing over 40 minutes a game, committing a total of only 7 fouls and never once giving anyone any reason to question the cleanliness of his play." That by itself speaks volumes. I know Tony Parker won the Finals MVP, but I would have loved to see Bruce get the award. I know it wouldn't have been possible, but he epitomizes everything that the San Antonio Spurs are by how his hard work gets practically unnoticed by everyone except for the NBA purists. Bruce Bowen, I salute you and Lebron you got BOWNED.

Good Pics

Well TNT Fails Again

Ok TNT, I get it. I get that the play by Lebron at the end of game on of the Eastern Conference Finals was a big deal and we need to talk about it over and over and over again until we kill it, but here is one thing I just do not understand. Tonite, during the game two pre-game they (Barkley, Magic, Kenny Smith) failed to mention anything about that dirty play by Lebron James when he came down on Chris Webber with an elbow after a jump shoot.

So, let me get this straight. It's ok to focus on how "dirty" Bruce Bowen and the San Antonio Spurs are and the plays that they did in the series against the Suns, which are just as bad as what Lebron did to Webber, but when its Lebron, "the face of the NBA," they are afraid to even discuss the play. Maybe it's because Chris Webber took the shot like a man and didn't really complain about it while Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns whined like little babies and focused more on how the Spurs were being "dirty" (actually beating them down physically) than how they were playing the game of basketball.

Magic Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley are the biggest tools I have ever seen. They were so quick to talk about plays that Spur's players did (Bowen and Horry) and not Lebron, even when they were less than or equal to the dirtiness of what Lebron did, a "Kobe!" Now, I know the Pistons took it more like men then the Suns, but just because Steve Nash and Stoude-whiner complained more than they beat the Spurs doesn't mean that the media can not be objective and discuss something negative that the NBA poster-boy did (which should have earned him a suspension). WAY TO GO TNT. Extra note: Ernie Johnson was not the host tonite on TNT, it was some other guy, maybe he would have said something. Then again the NBA probably told them not to because it might have tarnished Lebron's image as the NBA's face.

Very True (Steve Kerr is The Man)

San Antonio's star power
By Steve Kerr
Saturday, May 19, 2007 3:43 am EDT
Courtesy Yahoo Sports

When we look at NBA history, a common theme among NBA champions is the presence of star tandems. Cousy and Russell. Magic and Kareem. Bird and McHale. Jordan and Pippen.
The idea is that if you can put two superstars together, you've got a chance to win it all, at least in theory. When the San Antonio Spurs won their first NBA title, most of the credit -- rightfully so -- went to a pair of Hall of Fame big men, David Robinson and Tim Duncan. But since Robinson's retirement in 2003, it has been a different, very unlikely tandem that has made the Spurs the most consistent team in the NBA: Duncan and ... Bruce Bowen?

Yes, I know it doesn't have much of a ring to it (so to speak), and the names don't exactly conjure up images of West and Chamberlain. But watching San Antonio beat the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 on Friday to win the series, it was clear that Duncan and Bowen have become the most important tandem in the NBA.

I know Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are great players and are the keys to the team's success, but Duncan and Bowen define the Spurs. They're incredible defensive players -- one inside and one outside -- and their relentlessness on every possession gives opponents fits trying to score the ball.

Ultimately, the combination of Bowen's perimeter defense and Duncan's rim protection is the reason San Antonio is who it is. No matter the opponent, all Gregg Popovich has to do is put Bowen on the best perimeter player and Duncan on the best inside man, and the Spurs have an advantage.

Dirk, Carmelo, Cassell, Nash -- Bowen will take them all. Duncan will cover Shaq, Stoudemire, Garnett, etc. Bowen will harass, bother, intimidate and chop away at his opponent for every second he's on the floor, never once taking a rest. And on the rare occasion that he gets beaten to the hole, Duncan is there waiting to help.

San Antonio's defense on Steve Nash in this series was a clinic. Bowen picked him up past half court, worked him side to side, stayed with him everywhere and had help coming from Duncan constantly. The other Spurs stayed at home on three-point shooters, so in many ways the game evolved into Nash and Amare Stoudemire against Bowen and Duncan.

Nash didn't get his customary three or four layups per game because of Duncan's positioning and long arms. And with Bowen harassing him, Nash hardly had any room for perimeter shots. As for Stoudemire, he scored well, but he had to work for his points. And most importantly, no one else had any room.

San Antonio basically said, "We're relying on Bowen and Duncan. Let's see if you can beat us." And the Suns couldn't. They were close, and if the Game 5 suspensions didn't occur, they might have pulled it off. But ultimately, they couldn't play the way they're used to playing, which is to run and make threes.

Even though Phoenix scored 100 or more points in five of the series' six games, it didn't do it the way it normally does. After averaging 10 made three-pointers per game in the regular season, Phoenix made a total of 37 in this series. Normally when a team takes away the Suns' shooting, there's no one to contain Nash on the inside, but Bowen bothered him from end line to end line, wearing him down just to the point where, even though Nash was great, he wasn't spectacular.
There's been a lot of talk this week about how boring the Spurs are, and how fans across the country don't really want to see them advance in the playoffs. Perhaps that's because their style isn't the most entertaining, or because they don't have any major personalities on the team. Or maybe it's because they're being led by the tandem of Duncan and Bowen. There have been plenty of championship teammates who brought more flash and glamour than those two. But there may never have been a pair who could defend like the Spurs' duo. And that's why San Antonio is moving on.