Pounding The Rock

Editorial: Why Tony Parker's Injury is Good for the Spurs

2009-11-08T03:45:38Z

Just a little caveat about the title of this post: Tony's ankle injury is good for the Spurs only if it's short-term, like he says.

The ankle injury that Parker sustained on Friday night in Portland could end up being the best thing to happen to the Spurs in the early part of the season. Yes, I know he's the leading scorer. That's kind of my point.

So, why do I think the injury to Tony is such a good thing? Well, there's actually a couple of reasons:

1. It's going to be a key to sharpening the skills of at least two key players early in the season.
2. It forces the Spurs to win games on the defensive end.

Let's expand on that, shall we?

Sharpening Up

There are at least two Spurs players, and probably more, who are going to have to step up their games in Tony's absence.

Let's start with the most obvious one: George Hill. George is now the first option at the point, and is going to get a lot of minutes running the team. This is an immediate upgrade at the defensive end, but George is going to get into the practice of playing with all the starters on the team, and he'll be able to better learn what each of them can and can't do. Cubits also has the physical tools to run a drive-and-kick type of game, which we haven't seen much of from him. Hopefully, this opportunity will help him develop those skills a bit further. And obviously, George is important to out defensive schemes as well.

Another player that should benefit from the additional responsibility is Manu Ginobili. Manu doesn't have to develop skills as much as he has to re-discover them. I'd like to see Pop utilize Manu as the backup point guard while Tony is out. Everybody has probably noticed by now that Manu's not very sharp so far this season. The best way to get him back in the game mentally is to give him the responsibility of running the team. He's played some limited minuted at the point already, but now it's time to throw him into the fire. Offensively, Manu is easily our second best point guard, and giving him more time at the point can only help him get his mojo back.

The third player that might benefit here is Roger Mason, though not for the same reasons. Inevitably, Roger is going to get some time at the point. Due to his summertime weight loss and conditioning, he's better suited to play the point than he was last year, but I think we'd all prefer that Roger's playing time at the point is limited. But it's definitely conceivable that Roger could get some more minutes at the off guard position than he has been. For a gunner like Roger, more minutes means more confidence about how he can work within the offense.

There's one last guy who might benefit by Tony's absence. Tony is surely going to be on the inactive list, and the team is likely to move a guard off the inactive list to take his place during the time that he's out. There's only one guard on the inactive list, and we all know who that is. Malik Hairston is going to get the chance to prove that he deserves a spot in the Spurs' rotation, and he's going to get it soon. Look for him to get some minutes as soon as Monday night against Toronto. Unfortunately, good performances by Hairston are unlikely to end Pop's love affair with Michael Finley, but perhaps it will make him more willing to change up the inactive list on back-to-backs later in the season.

Learning to Swarm

Without their leading scorer, the Spurs are not going to be able to depend on the ability to simply outscore their opponents. This means they're going to have to win games the tried and true SPURS* way: they're going to have to act like an angry swarm on the defensive end.

(*capitalizing only the word SPURS is © SiMA, and was used without permission.)

There have already been signs of this: in the loss to Portland, the Spurs were playing decent defense in the first half. But after Tony limped off the court right before halftime, the Spurs came out focused on D in the second half. The Hill/Bogans/Jefferson lineup was an especially good combo, forcing lots of bad shots and even a few shot clock violations. The Blazers didn't get a truly open look at the basket for most of the second half. The Spurs limited Portland to 17 3rd quarter points, and their 28 4th quarter points were inflated a bit by some intentional fouling towards the end of the game. Keith Bogans got extended minutes, and seemed to bring an infectious energy to the defensive end. I, for one, would like to see Pop continue to use him in the starting lineup. Personally, I thought that the brief appearance of the "ugly", "boring" Spurs was the most comforting thing I've seen so far in this young season.

If the Spurs can get their bearings on defense, and become a top 5 defensive team (like they have been in every season Pop has coached), they will become nearly impossible to stop. Even with Tony out, there's enough offense on this team to win plenty of games. Where they stand on the defensive end is going to make the difference between being also-rans and being true title contenders. This injury is the best motivator I can think of to bring the Spurs together on that end of the floor. Let's hope we all see that swarming, tough defense we've been waiting for, and that the second half performance in Portland wasn't just a fluke.

This Week In San Antonio Spurs Basketball: Late Saturday Edition

2009-11-08T03:36:29Z

Okay, so this one's late. We had a SEGABABA going into the weekend so this was moved to avoid distraction, and again to provide an avenue for us to drown our sorrows with each loss. Still, lots of good links and music, with a special contribution by our resident Fish Man, Hipuks, after the jump.

Mood Music

How about putting something that Tony Parker will be pleased about? Here's from a French music duo who call themselves Air. This is just all instrumental, don't mind the French-speaking part at the beginning.

Here's one from Tim C, who goes to strange places to find inspiration after last night's loss:

Okay, this isn't music but just in case you missed it on TV. Christopher Walken is a kuh-raaaazy man.

Last but definitely not the least, this is from Hipuks, who describes it this way:
As you may or may not know, my significant other is studying music history to make music for ads/tv/film etc. Anyway, she had this one assignment in school and she made a one minute trippy song, and I uploaded into youtube and made what could be considered the greatest video of all time.
P.S. I don't really know why it's called Vampires in Space, that was the name of the song.

Peachtree Hoops: Goodbye Sekou Smith, these links and quotes will never be the same
The Hawks lose a great beat writer to the Evil Empire.

CelticsBlog: Flash Forward
Jeff Clark of Celtics Blog already looks ahead to life after the Big 3. I think Rondo becoming the eventual leader of the team worries him. I will, too, if I were him.

Rufus on Fire: Someday, We'll Find Out What the Bobcats Were Thinking
"Rufus on Fire wonders about the theory driving the Bobcats' recent roster decisions." -- caused by some GM dude named Michael Jordan, maybe?

Blog a Bull: Bulls 86, Cavs 85: If winning ugly's the only way to win, I'll take it.
If winning is as ugly as Noah is, then the Bulls will still take it because well, they have no choice.

Mavs Moneyball: Ballin' with Big, Mav's week one
"Big", yes, that's his name, reviews the Mavs' first couple of weeks of basketball.

Motown String Music: Does Dumars Have Something Up His Sleeve Involving Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell?
Dumars not yet done wheeling and dealing, unsurprisingly.

Fear The Sword: Cavaliers sleepwalk to 86-85 loss to Bulls
"Cleveland's lethargy leads to 86-85 loss to the Bulls at The Q."

Denver Stiffs: Meadowlands Massacre in reverse...
Boy, I wonder what the point differential of this Nuggets team is. They are just blowing out everybody SO FAR.

Golden State Of Mind: RUMOR: Charlotte Bobcats (+ Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets) Interested in Stephen Jackson- Boris Diaw anyone?
Yet another Stephen Jackson trade rumors merry go 'round.

The Dream Shake: The Sports Guy's phone call to Daryl Morey (the secret recording)
"The secret (read: totally hypothetical) phone conversation between Bill "Sports Guy" Simmons and Daryl "Dork Elvis" Morey."

Silver Screen and Roll: The Lakers Have Signed Kermit Washington 2.0
"This year on NBA TV during a discussion about the Lakers, Brent Barry, a retired Spurs player, was asked about the Lakers signing Artest and his immediate response was, 'Anger is one letter short of danger'."

Clips Nation: Can Chris Kaman be an All Star?
"His numbers are great, but unless the team gets better, forget Dallas." -- The long and short of it? Umm... no.

Straight Outta Vancouver: Overlooking the Abyss: Grizzlies lose to Warriors 113-105
"The Grizzlies lose again to another below average team."

Peninsula is Mightier: Michael Beasley's bench time getting lots of attention
"Show me the game where Beasley is on fire, scoring at will and rebounding well, and I'll show you the game where he's on the floor in the final minutes instead of watching from the bench."

Brew Hoop: Everyone Loves Brandon Jennings
Nah, no... not me. I still think he's a brash little punk.

Canis Hoopus: The Goldman Sachs Approach to the NBA
"I am in no way suggesting that the Wolves lost the game vs. the Celts because of the refs. What I am suggesting is that we got a quick view of what a classless NBA society looked like in the preseason and a small change in the way fouls were called with the old refs back in place re-stratified things and created a big impact on how the Wolves are able to play."

At The Hive: Hornet Lose to Celtics: A Visual Recap
A must read. Too hilarious.

Posting and Toasting: He Who Must Not Be Named
LeBron has now achieved Voldemort status in New York.

Welcome to Loud City: Another Interesting Move by Presti?
"Has Presti made another great move? Latavious Williams is drafted right out of high school by the Tulsa 66ers." -- ZOMG! Is Presti out-RC-ing and out-Pop-ing us?

Third Quarter Collapse: A statistical look at last year's referees
"This isn't a measure of who is a good or bad referee (since the games referees are assigned could skew their numbers), but it can give an idea of who to watch for when referees are announced for a game." -- Mebbe we can use this.

Bright Side Of The Sun: Carlos Powell Goes First in the D-League Draft
First! Oh wait... this is the D-League? Sheesh.

Sactown Royalty: A Young Team With an Aversion to Youth
"Signing Ime Udoka continues a cycle of ignoring all the non-name talent out there... Udoka spent the last two seasons as a Bowen Memorial player off the bench in San Antonio." -- Hey! We sorta loved Fatality's time out here.

Bullets Forever: Wizards lose to Heat: Final wrap, including some questioning of Flip Saunders' in-game strategy
"Recapping the Wizards' loss to Miami last night and wondering what could have changed the outcome from the start."

SLC Dunk: San Antonio @ Utah GameThread
Read about the beatdown from a Jazz fans' perspective, if you're a masochist.

Raptors HQ: Tip-In, Toronto Raptors' Post-Game Report: Back on Track?
"After a solid 110 to 99 win over the Detroit Pistons, Franchise lauds the play of TO's big 3, but worries about Jose Calderon as the team embarks on a tough West-Coast swing..."

Blazersedge: Questions and Answers
Dave of Blazers dge analyzes the difficulties the Portland Trail Blazers have been facing in their slow start.

Ridiculous Upside: 2009 D-League Draft Results and First Impressions
Your 2009 D-League draft results. I think Wayne will give us more information on our new draftees once the games get going and he gets to watch them.

Manu Ginobili and the Bat Fallout

Freetail Brewing Co.: Free Beer if you live in SA
"You gotta love free enterprise. Or in this case freetail enterprise. And no, not that kind of free tail." -- bellasa

MySA.com: Pop to Spurs: Leave bats to the pros
"I think it happened so quickly, Manu didn't think about it," Popovich said. "If he'd had more time, he probably would have thought about it, or one of us would have yelled, "No, don't touch that thing!"

MySA.com: Bat makes Ginobili a Web hit
"By now, the video has flown around the world, which is more than can be said of one of its stars. The bat that Spurs guard Manu Ginobili swatted from midair during Saturday's game at the AT&T Center won't be flying very far anytime soon."

Geeking About Sports: PETA is Insane
Yep, I think they are.

Courtside with the Spurs: Rabies shots for Manu
"Manu Ginobili's Halloween run-in with a bat made for entertaining news fodder for a few days. Ginobili, however, isn't laughing anymore."

TrueHoop: Manu Ginobili and the little things
"When Manu appeared on the screen, Bryant says, with meaning, 'that's a bad boy right there.'"

48 Minutes of Hell: PETA on Manu: ‘No respect for lives humbler than his own’
The guys at 48MoH join in on the PETA-bashing fun.

News Around the League:

Don't forget Bobcats in Stephen Jackson sweepstakes
"...the Bobs have seriously explored the prospect of trading for Jackson, apparently undaunted by the fact that they weren't mentioned when Jackson announced late in the summer that he wanted to be dealt to Cleveland, New York or one of the three Texas teams."

TrueHoop: DeJuan Blair 10 seconds away from being a Cavalier
"On draft night 2009, Cleveland offered Denver $2 million for the 34th pick. Cavs GM Danny Ferry thought it was essentially a done deal and had fingered Blair as the pick."

LA Times: Ron Artest keeps his cool in return to Houston
Ron Artest is still Mr.Crazy Pills with quotes like these: "Artest later acknowledged the desire to wrap his hands around Ariza's throat during the game."

LA Times: Donald Sterling to pay $2.725 million to settle housing discrimination lawsuit
"Los Angeles Clippers owner and real estate mogul Donald T. Sterling has agreed to pay a record $2.725 million to settle allegations that he discriminated against African Americans, Hispanics and families with children at scores of apartment buildings he owns in and around Los Angeles."

The Quest for the Hoagie Grail: Matt Bonner’s Sandwich Hunter
Matty's quest takes him to Potbelly in Chicago: "It all started with a man, a dream, and a sandwich. Now the Potbelly empire has expanded to over 300 shops nationwide, and for good reason."

Kings sign Ime Udoka
You go, Udo.

Slate Magazine: How can DeJuan Blair play without an anterior cruciate ligament in either knee?
"It's possible that Blair, without consciously intending to do so, has found a way to jump and land that's less harsh on his knees. Or that his other ligaments are particularly resilient."

Yahoo! Sports: Paul's frustration grows, even as he hides it
"Beyond the charming smile and gentlemanly disposition, Paul has a tenacious will and a terrific temper. Beyond it all, he’s downright ferocious."

Hardwood Paroxysm: The Night Dirk Went NOVA
"..a reminder that when Nowitzki is in that zone, that level, he can take a game that you feel is on lockdown to absolute disaster. Don’t look away. It’ll hurt more if you don’t see it coming."

Deadspin: Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read
Here are a handful of excerpts from David Stern's favorite book, Blowing the Whistle, by Tim Donaghy.

sonicsgate.org
"Official Site for the Documentary about how Seattle lost its basketball team." -- old, but just in case you haven't seen it yet.

Sam Smith: Will LeBron join Kobe in L.A.?
If this happens, I'm done with basketball.

Big 12 Hoops: The College Brand vs the NBA's
"For my money, I would take a game between student-athletes over a one played by millionaires."

I live without cash – and I manage just fine
I've found Pop's secret to his Castaway lifestyle.

Pink Tentacle: Animated stereoviews of old Japan
These "3D stereoviews depicting life in Meiji-period Japan" are rad. Just because I'm getting tired of using the word awesome. Maybe our photo geniuses here at PtR can find some inspiration.

suckatlife.com
The artist on this site is the exact opposite of his url. His works are cool.

Perception: Something to think about.
Seriously, this is a serious piece that'll make you pause for a bit, then move on with your loser life.

Dwight Schrute as your Halloween Costume
At his young age, this kid already gets the meaning of life.

Monster jam over a monster. Bench this guy, Pop!

A gem of a find by LatinD:

From Lauri, in one of the loser threads. Funny as hell. Popped collars do not rule:

From Tim C. Told ya it's the BatManu Edition.

This Bat deserves a swatting:

Weekly Award

With our losses to the Jazz and Blazers, no one should be getting an award. But thanks to Bat-gate that officially cemented his status as a g-o-d, we'll just give it to Manu.

Photos of the Week

from Ball Don't Lie

from Garbage Time All-Stars

Mmm... tuna.
from Ball Don't Lie)

Nooo Manny why did you touch that crazy coot?!

Photos from Tony.psd of Golden State of Mind

Quotes of the Week

Pop after the Utah Jazz loss:

We've got a lot of work to do to become a good defensive team and Utah obviously took advantage of that tonight.

Duncan on Boozer and the Jazz:

They got the momentum going early on and got rewarded for their physical play. We knew it would be that kind of game.

Pop after the Blazers loss:

"From the second quarter on, we competed, we were physical, a lot of guys did a good job for us defensively. We didn't make shots very well, but I'm not that concerned about that. I'm happy with what I saw defensively. It was a step in the right direction.

See you on Monday for the Spurs edition of TWSS. Hold that head up high. There's still a lot of basketball left to be played.

Spurs @ Blazers: Stat of the Game: 17

2009-11-07T21:12:10Z

My first Stat of the Game post was 17, but that was margin of victor. This time it is FGA differential in the second half. More on that with an awesome song after the jump....

So here is your very awesome song.

Doves - Kingdom Of Rust (via dovesofficial)

We got dominated in the first quarter (by 15 points), won the second and third (by a combined 5), and then would have won the 4th (by 2) without the free throw gimmes for Portland at the end (which put it by 2 the other way).

At half, we were down 43 to 31 in FGA's (-12 Spurs). We were allowing them to shoot 44.2% and were only able to shoot 38.7% ourselves. When you're shooting that cold, the only way to get back into the game is to limit their opportunities and to take as many as you can get. We finished the game 79 to 74 FGA's (+5 Spurs). We increased our own second chance opportunities with 7 second half offensive boards compared to only 2 in the first half. The main thing was on defense though. We were limiting their opportunities with shot clock violations, reducing their offensive boards from 7 in the first half to 4 in the second half, and forcing the Blazers to create their own shots. Portland only had 11 assists for the entire game on 32 shots. The assists were pretty balanced with 5 in the first half and 6 in the second for them though. If a few more of our shots, especially 3's, had gone in or the Blazers didn't have a lucky string of events to end the game ending with Blake's clutch 3, we could have had a successful comeback.

Manu and Tony both said it was important to start strong with our home heavy schedule so I'm curious if they meant "at home" with our 0-3 road start.

This Year's 1st Quarter is Last Year's 3rd Quarter: Blazers-Spurs Recap

2009-11-07T09:00:20Z

More photos » by Don Ryan - AP

1 day ago: Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy, right, drives past San Antonio Spurs guard Keith Bogans during the first half of their NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Browse more photos »

Another night, another loss. The man on the left killed us. As did the oldest man in the NBA, who ironically isn't a Spur.

On the positive side, at least our defense kinda, sorta showed up tonight. Unfortunately, the offense didn't. Despite what Fred has told us in the past, I don't like SEGABABAs. I don't think the Spurs do either. And I'm fairly certain they aren't fond of the Northwest Division right not, either.

The Bad

Here's the Boxscore. Notice the ugliness that is the Spurs' shooting percentage. We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn tonight. And even though the 3s weren't falling, we continued to chuck, to the tune of 4-21. That's below the Mendoza Line. The Spurs also got killed on the boards, allowing the Blazers way too many second chance points. Pryzbilla grabbed 13 rebounds (6 offensive) in 18 minutes. Those are Blair-like numbers.

The 1st quarter was atrocious - no energy, no defense, no nothin'. Duncan got pushed around most of the game by Oden (14 pts), and Pop insisted on not providing him with any help by playing small ball for too many minutes. We were also sloppy, with too many turnovers in the 1st half, and stupid fouls at the end of the second half (yes, Manu, I'm talking to you). Not to mention that the bad defense in the last two minutes of quarters from last season reared it's ugly head again.

For the Spurs to have a chance against good teams, the slow starts have to stop. Getting behind by double digits in the 1st quarter requires too much energy to overcome. If this isn't fixed, the Spurs will continue to rack up numbers in the "L" column.

The Good

However, unlike last night's debacle, there were some bright spots. If you throw out the 1st quarter, the Spurs were slightly better than the Blazers. The defense made an appearance in the 2nd half, spurred by our last signing of the summer, Keith Bogans. I now begin to see the wisdom of RC in inking Bogans as the defensive specialist. Brandon Roy did most of his damage against other defenders. Bogans' aggressiveness on the defensive end coming out of halftime helped change momentum.

George Hill did a good job taking over primary point guard duties after Tony got hurt. Yes, he made some mistakes, but he rebounded from his poor showing last night. RJ responded to Pop's scolding and was much more aggressive going to the basket in the 2nd half. McDyess finally showed some glimpses of what we were hoping he could be.

Your 3 stars (Slightly Different from Wayne's):

3. Antonio McDyess - He wasn't great, but he looked better than he has all year, and went 4-6 with his midrange jumper.

2. Richard Jefferson - Yes, his plus/minus is bad, but he provided points when needed, was more aggressive on the boards, and had a great dunk that overly excited many of the PtRers.

1. Keith Bogans - In a not good game, he was +4. He managed to slow down Roy, and his defensive intensity seemed to spark the rest of the team. As a bonus, he provided 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Side note: When Blair was in the game tonight, I spent some time watching his defense. Although he did lose his man a few times on backdoors, overall his pick and roll defense showed improvement. He is learning to move his feet, which is another tidbit of good news.

Parker Expects to be Out 1 Week

2009-11-07T07:16:50Z

Parker Expects to be Out 1 Week

Somewhat good news for us. It looked worse watching it live.

PtR Quick Cap: Blazers Thump Spurs 96-84

2009-11-07T06:51:31Z

The Spurs dug themselves out of a 17 point third quarter hole to pull within 3 with 5:30 to go. They couldn't get any closer though as Portland scored 21 points from there on out. Box Score.

The good thing that came out of this loss was that for a stretch the Spurs discovered their defense. Down 64-47 with 6:20 to go in the third, the Spurs finally started playing basketball with some intensity. Even desperation. Over the next 13+ minutes, the Blazers scored 9 points.

It isn't a lot, but it is something to build off. And right now, I'll take it.

Your 3 Stars:

3 - Coach Popovich: He called a time out 46 seconds into the game. He benched Rage 2:48 into the game. Bonner only played 11 minutes. FinDog only played 14. He looked mad. He even chewed out Tim once, I believe.

2 - Antonio McDyess: He looked a little better tonight. Not a lot. But better.

1 - RAGE: RJ responded to his benching with some aggression. He started rebounding hard and driving to he bucket. He wasn't spectacular and he had a team worst -22. However, it looked like he had an attitude adustment.

Our next game is Monday night against the Raptors at home. Hopefully, we will see a team starting to build a little defense.

Tony only played 11 minutes. He tweaked his ankle late in the second quarter and didn't return. X-rays were negative.

San Antonio @ Portland Game Thread, Part Duex

2009-11-07T04:45:53Z

Time for a comeback? Tony's probably not coming back, but the Spurs are at least playing D tonight.

Spurs at Blazers: Dazed and Confused

2009-11-07T01:55:19Z

We have a couple teams struggling trying to figure out how to put the pieces together. Who wants it more?

No fancy graphs or charts tonight.

In honor of the Spurs defense last night, I give you this masterpiece. It's 40 years old.

Spurs @ Jazz: Stat of the Game: 7

2009-11-06T20:10:13Z

Last night featured an abysmal performance by our San Antonio Spurs. I watched the entire game in disbelief. I kept thinking, "There is no way the Spurs will play this poorly for 48 minutes;" but obviously, they did. There were many stats that I could have highlighted that would have helped to explain just what happened, but none were so impactful as the 7 three pointers that Utah took. 6 of those came when the game was already decided. They only connected on one of their attempts, but the fact that they only took 7 threes implies that the Spurs gave up easy, high-percentage shots to Utah all night long.

If you watched last night, you must have noticed that Utah's game plan was to attack the Spurs in the paint. (And if you did not watch, lucky you.) Sloan had his offensive players relentlessly attacking the paint and the Spurs' defenders were consistently baffled. What troubled me was the complete lack of a Spurs response.

The Spurs guards could not stay in front of anyone. Utah employed their Princeton style offense with a plethora of backscreens and ball picks to be sure this was the case. However, I would argue that the weak spot of our defense was not our guards, but our big men. With the hand checking rule, it's nearly impossible to stop a quick player; just ask Tony Parker, he has made a living off of it. But when an opponent gets a step past his defender, it is up to the big men to cut off the gap and not allow the offensive player to penetrate. This rarely happened, and when it did, the defensive rotation behind the scheme was late resulting in easy dump-offs for the Utah guards.

We all know Bonner is an atrocious defender; we know that going in. If Bonner is not making his threes, he really hampers the starting five. That's fine. We lived with it all of last season. It does not mean we like it, but we are accustomed to it. My concern resides with Antonio McDyess. He was hyped by the media as a great defender. Last night he played like Bonner on the defensive end. He offered no help defense, and was routinely scored on at will by Mehmet Okur. Memhet Okur! As in, Greg Ostertag's ugly little brother. We need McDyess to be a stopper. We need him to clog the paint. If he does not perform better, the Spurs will be in for a long season. I guarantee Sloan's strategy of attacking the Spurs in the paint will be mimicked in the coming weeks. The Spurs need to find an answer fast.

One last thing, so the Jazz are killing the Spurs underneath and Pop's response is to start the fourth small? He had RJ playing PF and Blair at center. Shockingly, that did not work at all and the Spurs never came back. Someone needs to explain the logic. If you are getting killed in the paint, why not throw Ratliff in there with Duncan, and play Bonner or McDyess at the 3 with RJ at the 2? Pop did the complete opposite of what seemed logical to me.

I realize this was just one game and only our fourth game of the season, but this game seemed more than a simple 'bad loss' for the Spurs. Utah found a huge weakness and exploited it for 48 minutes and the Spurs never came up with a response. Maybe McDyess just needs time to get acclimated to our defensive rotations. Maybe Ratliff needs minutes. Maybe Bonner needs to injure himself, (just kidding, kind of.) I'm not setting the alarm bells off, but I will say these next six games will be very telling as to what kind of team the Spurs possess. @ Blazers, Raptors, Dallas, OKC, @ Dallas, and Utah again. Five of the next six will be extremely challenging. Let's hope Pop can sort this out sooner rather than later. In Pop we trust, for now.

NBA Live 10 Simulation: Week 3 POLL

2009-11-06T16:35:04Z

Week three of the regular season we have three games but Monday night will be out of the question for me as I dont' get home till late and won't be able to get the game up in time.

All three games are at home this week. Monday (Toronto), Wednesday (Dallas) and Saturday (Oklahoma City).

So with that said we do have two other choices and I feel that I know which one will be the landslide.

Vote away!

Poll

Which game you want simulated for week three?

NBA Live 10 Simulation: Regular Season : San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers

2009-11-06T16:05:54Z

What's up everyone! I am back with this week's winning pick for the Simulation. Last night was a tough night for us on the floor as we all painfully watched our beloved Spurs get taken down by the Jazz. No fear, we are undefeated when I am doing these sims so we SHOULD win tonight.

Just some notes before the jump. I do play these games out in full to get the most realistic stats that I can so I know it truly isn't a 'simulation' as that would mean cpu vs cpu and let it play out that way.

As I am a fan of NBA LIVE 10 I do like to play out some of the games but will in the future do the cpu vs cpu.

You can check out my previous simulations by clicking here.

The good stuff now follows. Enjoy and comment please.

The starting lineups for the game:

My biggest concern going into this game was speed. Portland has that on their side. Though we have Tony Parker and his match-up with Steve Blake is to our advantage. Brandon Roy and Michael Finley. Finley wouldn't be much of a factor in this game as Manu played 27 minutes.

Another concern for me in the game was that of LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, their twin towers. Oh, remember the days of Timmy and David..........okay sorry.

We win the tip and first thing I wanted to do was establish Duncan down low to try and get the bigs in foul trouble. Duncan would pace us in the first period hitting the teams first six buckets. This didn't come from down low. I had Duncan out by the free throw line, elbow, to be exact and nailed three straight jumpers with him from the same spot.

Later they would jump that spot and then was able to find my shooters on the perimeter. Richard Jefferson was one that caught on fire along with Duncan. I would use Jefferson's speed against Martell Webster whom is a good defender. Would take Jefferson off the dribble and nail some key jumpers as well as get Jefferson open on the wings for a pump fake and slam.

Matt Bonner would nail one of his four threes on the night.

What would be key after the first period, by the way we took a 28-22 lead after one, would be the play of our bench. Matt Bonner came off and simply shot lights out from the three point line. Hitting 4 of 5 and finishing with 12 points.

Manu Ginobili would pace the bench with 16 in 27 minutes. He went 6 for 11 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line.

DeJuan Blair would get into the act as he finished with 5 points and 5 rebounds. George Hill added 4, Roger Mason added 6 and Theo Ratliff with 8.

Starters played a lot of minutes and were led by Tony Parker who played 40. Parker finished with 16 points on 8 of 19 shooting.

Jefferson would celebrate with Manu after he finishes a play while getting fouled.

Jefferson finished with 14 points. Michael Finley added 7 but had his hands full with Brandon Roy who finished the game with 20.

Just a couple of stats from Portland. They outrebounded us 54 to 45. LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden combined for 28 of them.

Final score would be the good guys 102 and the Blazers 92.

Box Score and Stats

Video Highlights

More Coverage

Pounding the Rock's Game 5 Preview

Spurs vs Trail Blazers coverage

Blazersedge

Game Preview #5: San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Blazers

2009-11-06T11:00:18Z

Don't let the beauty fool you. This is going to get ugly.

Tonight, our Spurs take on my second favorite team, the Trailblazers. So from my perspective, one of my teams will win and the other will lose. I can't lose. Or should that say "I can't win"? Oh forget it, let's talk about what to expect.

The Spurs got their asses kicked last night. They didn't play an ounce of defense, which has become quite the disturbing trend. I'd try to come up with words to describe how I felt watching that debacle on TV, away from PtR, but maybe a link would be better. The 14-point spread doesn't do justice to just how badly the Spurs sucked. Tonight, they should be sufficiently pissed off to make a game of it. I'm also hoping to see some different people on the inactive list, since Finley and Bonner are not going to be useful against this team.

The Blazers have a losing record at home so far this season. Good news for us, right? Wrong. Remember how fired up Utah was last night? Apply that same energy and desire to a better team with no significant weaknesses, and you'll have an idea what the Spurs are up against. The Blazers lost at home to a team they should have beaten on Tuesday night, and haven't played since. The bad taste from that loss has had time to stew, and they'll be ready to play tonight.

San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Trailblazers
Where: The Rose Garden - Portland, OR
When: November 6, 2009, 9:30 PM Spurs time
Watch: ESPN(National); My35(San Antonio); KGW(Portland)

How They Stack Up


2-0	Home	1-2
0-2	Road	1-1
102.5	Offense	94.2
98.8	Defense	93.2
47.6	FG%	42.2
28.9	3-pt%	35.0
67.4	FT%	81.5
39.5	Rebounds	41.6
12.8	TOs	14.4
2-2	Last 10	2-3
Lost 1	Streak	Lost 1
3rd, Southwest	Position	3rd, Northwest


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	12:30 AM
West Coast	7:30 PM
Philippines	10:30 AM
Central Europe	4:30 AM
Palestine/Egypt	4:30 AM
Least Coast	10:30 PM
Colorado/Arizona	8:30 PM
Perth, AUS	10:30 AM
Tokyo, JP	11:30 AM
Sydney, AUS	1:30PM

Spurs (2-2)	Matchups	Blazers (2-3)
Tony Parker Rank Poetry	Point Guard I don't like this, not one bit. There's one guy in this league who always seems to give Tony problems, and he now plays for the Blazers. Yes, Miller has often been like Tony's own version of kryptonite. That being said, Miller hasn't quite lived up to expectations in Portland so far, and I think Tony has learned how to beat him. Cubits vs. Blake should also be to our advantage. Advantage: Spurs	Andre Miller More Savvy Than the JV

Manu Ginobili The ~~Rabies~~ Sickness	Shooting Guard This might be a controversial pick, but let's talk about these guys in terms of their importance. Manu is the second most important player on the Spurs' roster, averaging 24 mpg. Roy is averaging 38 mpg, is the unquestioned leader of his team, and actually has better per-minute averages than Manu. But make no mistake: It's very close, and I'll take Manu in the clutch over anyone. Also, Rudy Fernandez kicks slightly more ass than Roger Mason. Advantage: Blazers	Brandon Roy Manu 1.1

Richard Jefferson Princess Peanut	Small Forward The Blazers don't have a major weakness at any postion, but SF is probably the closest they get to a weakness, especially with Nic Batum out. Martell is a very good defender, and RJ is going to have to work hard against him if he wants to be effective on the offensive end. On the defensive end, RJ and Michael Finley have their work cut out for them: Webster's very effective, and his backup is Travis Outlaw, who is an extremely efficient scorer with great length and quickness. In fact, Outlaw would make a great Spur in 2010-11. (hint hint) Advantage: Tied	Martell Webster Not Just Filler

Tim Duncan Where's My Ice Thrown?	Power Forward The Power Forwards in the West just keep on coming, don't they? We all know Timmy is the best PF ever, but LaMarcus ain't exactly chopped liver. Great scorer, good rebounder, good passer. There are no weak points in his offensive game. Aldridge is still a bit raw defensively, but when you have two intimidating defensive mountains tag-teaming behind you, it doesn't matter too much. Timmeh will adjust, and we'll probably see him going glass a lot tonight. Advantage: Spurs	LaMarcus Aldridge Duncan 0.3

Antonio McDyess Swine Flu No More	Center With apologies to Dice, this is one of the easiest matchups on the floor to pick. Oden and Przy are great shot blockers and rebounders, and they can be intimidating to anyone that tries to get in the lane. Oden seems to have rediscovered his quickness during the offseason, making him an absolute monster defending the paint. The guy plays good for his age. Also, Matt Bonner is going to get eaten alive on defense, so I expect more minutes for Antonio and Theo today. Maybe even a Yawn sighting. Advantage: Blazers	Greg Oden Oldest NBA Player?

George Hill Twitter Noob	Bench & Role Players George is the X-factor tonight. For us to win, he needs to play his usual lockdown D, and knock it down anytime he gets an open look at a 3. In fact, I'd like to see some lineups with Cubits playing alongside Tony. Portland's "second unit" of Blake, Fernandez, Outlaw, Juwan Howard and Przybilla is pretty damn solid. Forget Orlando - this is the deepest bench in the league, other than ours. Dejuan Blair, Bonner, Finley, and Roger will all need to be solid contributors tonight to seal a win. Advantage: Spurs	Joel Przybilla Not Foreign

Gregg Popovich Oregon Winer	Coach This isn't a slight against Nate. He's a good coach, but he's still pretty unproven at this point. Pop, on the other hand... Advantage: Spurs	Nate McMillan Class Act
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
SEGABABA for us, two days of rest for them. The bench is our best hope. Advantage: Blazers
Mojo
The Blazers are off to a pretty bad start this year, and an uncharacteristic 1-2 at home. They're going to be fired up and focused on winning this game. Advantage: Blazers
Winner: Blazers
There's no reason to believe what you're about to read, it's just a gut feeling. Originally , I was going to predict a win for the Blazers, based solely on desire. But after last night's beatdown, I get the distinct feeling that the Spurs want this one just as badly. Spurs win a nailbiter, after rediscovering their defense. Prediction: 94-92, Spurs

Keys To The Game

George Hill - I can't overstate this: George is the key to this game. He's the only guy that's a mismatch for the Blazers at both ends. Roger, Fin, and Matt all need to make their shots, but they're also defensive liabilities against Portland's younger, more athletic lineup. George is the only shooter we have that also matches up well defensively with these guys. He had a bad outing last night - now is the time to make up for it. If Hairston is active for this game, we'll have two players out on the perimeter who can go toe-to-toe with these guys on both ends.
Contain The "Other" Guys - Aldridge and Roy are going to get theirs. The question is, how are we going to defend everyone else? If we can limit the effectiveness of players not named Roy or Aldridge, we'll be in good shape. That means protecting the paint. Of course, if we can defend nobody at all, like last night, we're going to get blown out of the gym by the end of the first quarter.
Get an Early Lead - Coming off long minutes in the Utah game last night, the guys in the first unit are probably going to have less in the tank tonight. This means that getting out to an early lead is very important, to enable the bench to come in with fresher legs and maintain the lead, instead of using our primary lineup in a tough, close struggle.

Last Time They Met

The Spurs and Blazers last met in San Antonio on April 8th, with the Spurs losing 95-83. That looks bad, but Manu was hurt and Timmy's knees were in bad condition. That one was also a SEGABABA. No highlights, since I don't particularly want to relive that game.

Some Other Reading

Blazers

Blazersedge - This is one of the busiest blogs on SBNation... in fact, they make our traffic look weak. There's lots of smart, insightful people over there, but the traffic and participation can make it a challenge to keep up. Expect a few visitors from there during the game.

Bust a Bucket - Here's the Blazers' Bloguin site, a sibling of ProjectSpurs(see below). Very slick-looking blog, and they have a sense of humor. As somewhat of a Blazer fan myself, it's highly recommended reading.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Tim and Graydon still do their thing like nobody else on the TrueHoop Network. We're lucky to have them.
Project Spurs: These guys do a great job with multimedia content, and it's always good to get another perspective. Go say hi, they don't bite.

The (sort of) Daily Twitter

George_Hill3 Thanks for all the fans that showed up to get tickets hope y'all enjoy the game and tickets. Game is officially over

That's right, Cubits is tweeting now. And of course, Lauri and Wayne couldn't resist talking to him.

Lauri: @George_Hill3 I know someone who dressed as you for Halloween--check this out : http://tinyurl.com/ykf3m3k

George_Hill3 @Lauri who is that someone tell him to follow me and send me a tweet n he will get a tix cause I like that costume

Lauri: @George_Hill3 I'll tell him. I think you've met him. He runs the Spurs blog Pounding the Rock: http://www.poundingtherock....

poundingtherock @George_Hill3 I'm the guy in the Cubits Ninja Bot costume.

George_Hill3 @poundingtherock thanks for ur support where r u

poundingtherock @George_Hill3 in Austin, Tx. austechspur@gmail.com is the contact

tp9network Hello! I've invested this year in the French club ASVEL. My little brother, TJ, joined the club this summer. Check... http://bit.ly/47EcW2

The Magic That Happened

Nothing bad happened!

Some Other Viewing

No highlights from last night's game, since masochism isn't really my thing.

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be televised nationally on ESPN for those of us in the US. Everyone else, check your local listings.

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area. This one should also be on ESPN 360, if your ISP provides access to it.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to rikiddoko@gmail.com for more assistance.

Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).

PtR Quick Cap: The defense didn't make the road trip...

2009-11-06T06:47:27Z

...or maybe it went straight to Portland instead.

Here's your box score for this 113-99 loss. Read it along with me...

The two eye opening stats. 1) The Jazz shot 53%. 2) The Jazz had 14 offensive rebounds which was 41% of their missed shots. You will win approximately 1 game out of 82 giving up those numbers.

Deron Williams ate the Spurs lunch. I was so disgusted by our defense I failed to be impressed by his masterful game. He scored 27 points, dished out 9 assists, and grabbed 7 rebounds. He also played some great defense on Tony in the second half holding him to just 4 points.

Your 3 UN-stars:

3 - Matt Bonner: 1-6 shooting, 1-5 from 3-point, 2 rebounds in 17 minutes

2 - First half Manu/Second half Tony: Manu hit the break with 4 points on 2-7 shooting, 2 turnovers and 0 assists. He didn't look right. Tony got shutdown in the second half and had 4 points on 2-5 shooting and 1 assist.

1 - George Hill: George was 1-8 from the field and that wasn't the worst part. He gave up lots of easy baskets on defense. Forced shots. Committed bad fouls. Williams scored at will on him. Not a good night for George at all.

Your 3 stars:

3 - RAGE: He wasn't great, but he was decent. He made some shots. He took it to the hole a few times.

2 - Parts of the Big 3: Tim, Tony, and Manu all looked good for stretches and mediocre and out of shape for others. They all ended with Ok numbers, but I wasn't thrilled with any of them.

1 - BLAIRRRR!!1!: He really wasn't that great. He padded his stats in the last two minutes of garbage time. However, I'm continually amazed at his ability to score in the paint in a crowd.

Game Preview #4 - San Antonio Spurs @ Utah Jazz - Back from Vacation

2009-11-05T15:46:15Z

Did everyone enjoy their vacation from the NBA?

And we're back. It's Thursday (for which Lauri is very happy), and after a strange four day break in the schedule, the Spurs are embarking on a little road trip, with the first stop in Utah.

More after the jump.

Welcome to the first truly hack preview of the season. This is much, much harder than it looks (major props to Wayne, Tim, LD, and davis for making this look easy). However, I am excited that our beloved Spurs are on national TV again, since I'm too cheap to spring for League Pass.

San Antonio Spurs @ Utah Jazz
Where: EnergySolutions Arena - Salt Lake City, UT
When: November 5, 2009, 9:30 PM Spurs time
Watch: TNT

How They Stack Up


2-0	Home	1-1
0-1	Road	0-2
103.7	Offense	99.3
94.0	Defense	105.3
50.8	FG%	45.7
34.4	3-pt%	36.6
71.6	FT%	79.6
40.7	Rebounds	40.5
13.3	TOs	14.5
2-1	Last 10	1-3
Won 1	Streak	Lost 2


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	12:30 AM
La La Land	7:30 PM
Philippines	11:30 AM
Central Europe	4:30 AM
Palestine/Egypt	5:30 AM
East Coast	10:30 PM
Cap's Place	8:30 PM
Perth, Australia	11:30 AM
Tokyo	12:30 AM
Sydney, Australia	1:30 PM

Spurs (2-1)	Matchups	Jazz (1-3)
Tony Parker Top 5 PG	Point Guard Tony is faster. Williams is bigger. Tony shoots a better percentage. Williams is the better assist man. They are both pretty damn good. Advantage: Jazz	Deron Williams Top 3 PG

Manu Ginobili Argentine	Shooting Guard Brewer has improved each year in the league, but he's not Manu. Advantage: Spurs	Ronnie Brewer Not Argentine

Richard Jefferson Shaved	Small Forward Andrei Kirilenko is known more for his defensive prowess. Jefferson is slowly acclimating to the Spurs. They have similar statistics this year, but I give the edge to RJ for his better offensive game and ability to create his own shot. Plus, RJ's contract looks great compared to AK-47's. Advantage: Spurs	Andrei Kirilenko Schoolboy Hair

Tim Duncan GOATPUFF	Power Forward Even with his down numbers this year, Timmeh is still statistically better than Boozer. Plus, Timmeh actually plays defense. Boozer is shooting an abysmal 35% from the field this year. It's not even close. Advantage: Spurs	Carlos Boozer Bad Chemistry Experiment

Matt Bonner Shooter	Center Bonner has been starting, so he goes in the center spot. He likes sandwiches. Okur not only shoots pretty well, but has been pulling down 8 boards a game this year. Advantage: Jazz	Mehmet Okur Better Shooter

George Hill Mr. PER	Bench & Role Players Millsap is a good player who always hustles. However, Hill should be able to take either Price or Maynor, and Blair and McDyess should have their way with the inexperienced backups. Advantage: Spurs	Paul Millsap Over Achiever

Gregg Popovich HOF Coach	Coach I love Jerry Sloan. Seeing he and Pop match wits should be fun. The fact that between the two of them, they have exactly ONE Coach of the Year award is redonkulous. However, the Jazz are experiencing both injury and chemistry issues, giving the edge to the Beardless One and his crazy lineups. Advantage: Spurs	Jerry Sloan HOF Coach
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
The Spurs haven't played since Saturday, so they should be well-rested and ready to go. Advantage: Spurs
Mojo
The Jazz got spanked in the 4th quarter of their last game. No one was particularly happy with the effort. Advantage: Spurs
Winner
Spurs have gotten plenty of sleep this last week and the starters should come out firing. The BAM squad should build on the early lead, with the Spurs taking the victory. Spurs by 10.

Keys To The Game

Start Fast - The Jazz are 1-3 and coming off that (almost) historic 4th quarter by D-No on Tuesday. The Spurs' need to come out ready to play, even after the long rest, and not allow the Jazz to get their feet under them. Sloan has been scowling at his players for 2 days and should have them ready to go.
Be Aggressive - Utah allows over 105 ppg and doesn't have a lot of front court depth. Boozer had foul trouble against Dallas. We need to drive the lane, and if nothing is available, then kick it out to the 3-pt line, where the Jazz let their opponents shoot 44%.
Bench Play - The Jazz have Paul Millsap - that's about it. Our bench needs to step on the gas when they enter the game and take advantage of our depth.

Last Time They Met

The Spurs last played the Jazz way back on April 10th and Tony had a monster game (boxscore). I don't remember this game, but I did find highlights. It's weird to see Gooden in a Spurs uni.

Some Other Reading

Jazz

SLC Dunk - The Jazz SBN blog. They are not too happy about the start of the season and the Boozer mess.
Salt City Hoops - This is the TrueHoop network blog for the Jazz. I know nothing about this blog, but it looks snazzy.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Speaking of THN blogs, we're extremely lucky that the best one is dedicated to the Spurs. Tim and Graydon always do an excellent job of breaking down everything that's happening in the Spurs' organization.
Project Spurs: Good independent blog with lots of good content. Spurs fans are lucky to have so many good blogs out there.

Quote of the Day

"That's not winning basketball, that's just taking your paycheck and going home."
- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan on his players' failure to provide help to each other defensively in Monday's debacle against Houston.

Other Thing of No Interest to Anyone but Myself

Since the highlights to the Kings game are not available on NBA.com, I bring you the diverging diamond interchange - it's new, it's different, and it's cool (to me). Be sure to keep arms and legs within the vehicle at all times.

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be aired nationwide on TNT. Yay for me!

Online

Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).

Stat of the Week: 0 ACLs

2009-11-05T06:04:58Z

As most are now aware, DeJuan Blair is missing both of his ACLs. While in high school, Blair tore both ACLs and had them surgically repaired. Unfortunately, the surgeries were unsuccessful as it has been revealed that he does not have either ACL. After the surgeries, his body must have rejected the repaired ACLs and absorbed them. I had many questions about DeJuan Blair's knees so I decided to find the most knowledgeable person possible in order to get some answers. Enter Steve Stratton, PHD, PT, ATC and founder of Steven Stratton Physical Therapy located in San Antonio, TX.

Steve Stratton is an extremely interesting man. He graduated from BYU Cum Laude while also earning First Team Academic All American honors in NCAA football as a full back in 1973. Oh, and by the way, he did this while playing without an ACL. Since he suffered from the same injury, Stratton was extremely knowledgeable on the subject. Stratton told me that before playing football, he was a power lifter and when he hurt his knee, doctors diagnosed it as a simple sprain so he continued lifting. It was not until years later, when he tore his meniscus, that doctors x-rayed his knee to find an empty socket where his ACL should have been. He explains, "I was so strong from power lifting that tearing my ACL did not impact my performance to the point that any alarm bells were set off. So I continued with a torn ACL and over time, my body absorbed it."

Dr. Stratton began our discussion by explaining that the ACL is simply a stabilizer of the knee, and is not the most critical stabilizer; that would be the PCL. He said 95% of athletes that have their ACL surgically repaired return to their sport. He explained that he played running back at BYU for two years and had his ACL-less knee hit every way imaginable without any problems. It is not unheard of for a person without an ACL, or two, to have a lengthy, successful athletic career.

However, a knee without an ACL is an injured knee that can give at any moment. The wrong tweak or hit could damage the PCL, at which point it would be game over. I then asked, "How many years can we expect from DeJuan Blair?" I pointed out that his knee injury occurred while he was in high school and he played college basketball at Pitt without re-injuring it. The doctor responded that all he could say for certain was that Blair would not be able to play as long as he would have if both knees were healthy. He clarified that there is no way to know how an individual's body will cope with not having either ACL. "It's all about his genes." Person A may be missing both ACLs and blow out his knee tomorrow whereas Person B without either ACL may live into his 50's without the wear and tear catching up to him.

At this point, I realized that when Stratton tore his ACL, it went unnoticed and his body absorbed the injury leaving him without an ACL. I told the doctor that DeJuan Blair had surgery to repair both ACLs, but his body rejected the scar tissue and absorbed both. To this he responded in a slightly disconcerted way. He explained that any surgery, even the most perfectly executed surgery known to man, results in wear and tear because the body must heal the affected area. Given that the surgeries were unsuccessful, Blair's knees went through unneeded wear and tear, which is clearly not a good thing. Without an ACL, you are in a constant battle with wear and tear, as you are down a knee stabilizer. Stratton said that strengthening the muscles that surround the knee can slow the wear and tear, but not eliminate it. The unsuccessful surgeries serve to further reduce the shelf-life of Blair's knees.

I asked Stratton if Blair was experiencing any daily pain. I told him that I have not heard Blair mention anything about pain in his knees, but I thought he might just be doing his best to not cause alarm. He responded that Blair is most likely not experiencing any pain whatsoever. Blair is a huge, strong man and is only 20 so his body should be feeling great. The doctor cautioned, once again, that the wrong tweak or hit to the knee could change everything.

So what can we take from this? Should we be worried? Well, if that's your nature, feel free. Clearly there is reason to be worried. The guy doesn't have any ACLs! But, as Dr. Stratton pointed out, there is no way of predicting how Blair's knees will handle life in the NBA without either ACL. The fact that he played injury free at Pitt is a good sign. In addition, the weight that Blair lost will help. Dr. Stratton said that having less weight for his knees to absorb will clearly be beneficial. I plan on enjoying every game that DeJuan 'Heavy D' Blair can give us. If that's 10 years, fantastic. If it's 3, then so be it. Let's just not spend his entire career worrying about something that neither he, nor we, can control.

Austin Toros Draft Day

2009-11-05T05:58:20Z

The D-League draft is Thursday night and the Toros are hosting a draft party at the Hyatt in Austin. The party starts at 6:00.

Some of the Toros roster is already set. To almost no one's surprise, Curtis Jerrells is on the squad.

Draft Express (as always, the greatest) had the lowdown on the squad. All the other teams are listed. You should check it out. There are some interesting names.

Here are the current roster guys for the Toros:

Justin Bowen (Veteran) - Returning player
Ryan Bright (Veteran) - Returning player
Fred Gibson (Veteran) - Returning player
Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson (Veteran) - Returning player
Dwayne Jones (Veteran) - Returning player
Jason Parker (Veteran) - Returning player
Curtis Jerrells (Rookie) - Allocation player
Roderick Riley (Veteran) - Allocation player
Jawan Bailey (Rookie) - Local tryout player

The drafted players will round out the roster. The Toros have the 6th pick in the draft. It's a serpentine draft so they'll have something like the 10th pick in the second round.

Here are the players in the draft pool. Donnell Taylor and Alonso Gee were on the Spurs summer league roster.

- - NAME COLLEGE POS HT WT
    - DeAngelo Alexander Charlotte SG 6-4 203
    - Rodney Alexander Oklahoma City SF 6-7 225
    - Ronald Allen Cincinnati F/C 6-10 237
    - Shagari Alleyne Kentucky C 7-3 270
    - Alade Aminu Georgia Tech PF 6-10 235
    - Antonio Anderson Memphis G/F 6-6 215
    - Rashad Anderson Connecticut G/F 6-5 225
    - C.J. Anderson Xavier G/F 6-6 215
    - Eddie Ard Lipscomb G/F 6-5 195
    - Craig Austrie Connecticut PG 6-2 185
    - Christopher Ayer Loyola Marymount C 6-10 230
    - John Barber Youngstown State G/F 6-6 220
    - Sean Barnette Wingate G/F 6-5 220
    - Mike Battle Florida G 6-4 195
    - Brayden Billbe American C 6-10 235
    - Justin Billingslea Georgia State F/C 6-8 240
    - Jimmy Binnie Dayton F 6-7 225
    - Tony Bobbitt Cincinnati SG 6-4 205
    - James Booyer IUPU-Indianapolis PF 6-8 220
    - Jordan Brady Utah Valley State SF 6-6 210
    - Ira Brown Gonzaga SF 6-4 220
    - Cecil Brown UC Santa Barbara SG 6-4 190
    - John Bryant Santa Clara C 6-11 300
    - Joe Buck USC PF 6-7 245
    - J'Nathan Bullock Cleveland State SF 6-5 235
    - Kenny Burkes CW Post PG 6-0 185
    - Draelon Burns DePaul SG 6-4 200
    - Tim Bush Baylor PF 6-6 240
    - Rashid Byrd E. Oklahoma JC C 7-0 230
    - Pete Campbell Butler F 6-7 220
    - Geno Carlisle California SG 6-3 200
    - Garrison Carr American PG 5-11 180
    - Pat Carroll St. Joseph's SG 6-4 200
    - David Carson IPFW SF 6-6 215
    - D'Lancy Carter St. Bonaventure C 6-10 257
    - Russell Carter Notre Dame SG 6-4 200
    - Matt Clement Maine Maritime AcademyF 6-7 230
    - Lewis Clinch Georgia Tech SG 6-3 195
    - Kris Collins New Mexico G 6-2 190
    - Darren Cooper Portland G 6-3 195
    - Jamelle Cornley Penn State SF 6-5 215
    - Anthony Cox Farmingdale PF 6-9 225
    - James Cripe Dayton C 7-0 250
    - T.J. Cummings UCLA PF 6-9 225
    - JamesOn Curry Oklahoma St. PG 6-3 195
    - Joe Darger UNLV F 6-7 225
    - Lorenzo Davis Fort Valley State C 6-10 230
    - Chris Davis Southern SG 6-3 190
    - Jeral Davis Talladega College C 7-1 225
    - Kenny Dawkins Lamar PG 5-9 175
    - Ulises De La Vega Barry University G 6-1 195
    - Ryan Diggs W. Washington PG 6-1 180
    - Marcus Dove Oklahoma State F 6-9 225
    - Ramon Dyer Houston F 6-7 225
    - Damarcus Ellis Robert Morris PG 6-1 190
    - Jamarcus Ellis Indiana SG 6-4 200
    - Gary Ervin Arkansas PG 5-10 180
    - Brian Evans Texas A&M Corpus ChristiPG 6-0 180
    - Desmon Farmer USC SG 6-5 210
    - Patrick Fields Baylor SG 6-4 200
    - Jeremiah Fort Texas Southern F 6-7 210
    - Martane Freeman Colorado F 6-7 210
    - Travis Gabbidon UTSA SF 6-7 225
    - Cheyne Gadson Oklahoma State PG 6-2 200
    - Sundiata Gaines Georgia PG 6-1 195
    - Reece Gaines Louisville G/F 6-5 210
    - Mike Gansey West Virginia SG 6-4 190
    - Alonzo Gee Alabama SF 6-6 220
    - Brock Gillespie Rice PG 6-0 180
    - Mickell Gladness Alabama A&M C 6-11 230
    - Kevin Goffney Chattanooga SF 6-6 220
    - Leemire Goldwire Charlotte PG 5-11 190
    - Anthony Goods Stanford SG 6-3 195
    - Louis Graham Georgia Southern PF 6-8 220
    - Joel Green Rider F 6-8 210
    - Orien Greene Louisiana-Lafayette PG 6-4 210
    - Quemont Greer DePaul PF 6-7 240
    - Harold Griffin Lee F 6-7 245
    - D'Mond Grismore Hutson-Tillotson
    - Erek Hansen Iowa C 6-11 230
    - Haron Hargrave Sacramento State PG 6-0 180
    - Paul Harris Syracuse SF 6-6 225
    - Jeff Hawkins Kansas PG 5-11 180
    - Shawn Hawkins Long Beach State SF 6-5 220
    - Christopher Hayes Detroit-Mercy PF 6-8 225
    - Russell Hicks Florida International C 7-0 245
    - Delonte Holland DePaul SF 6-7 220
    - Travis Holmes VMI SG 6-4 195
    - Antoine Hood Air Force PG 6-4 185
    - Lance Hurdle Miami (FL) PG 6-1 183
    - Elijah Ingram New Mexico State PG 6-1 185
    - Deveon Jenkins Jarvis Christian SG 6-4 210
    - Josh Jenkins Cal. State Northridge PG 5-10 190
    - Paul Johnson La Salle SF 6-5 215
    - Jermaine Johnson Charleston PF 6-7 245
    - Perrin Johnson Louisville SF 6-6 215
    - Mitchell Johnson Jarvis Christian SF 6-5
    - Brandon Jones Amherst College SF 6-6 205
    - LeVonn Jordan Elon SF 6-6 210
    - Jeremy Kelly TN-Martin PG 6-4 195
    - Yaroslav Korolev Russia G/F 6-8 225
    - Brian Kortovich Cuyahoga PG 6-1
    - Alain LaRoche North Florida SF 6-6 205
    - Darnell Lazare LSU PF 6-8 240
    - Adam Liberty Oral Roberts PG 6-1 190
    - Cornell Littlejohn Cascade College G 6-1 165
    - Damien Lolar West Texas A&M G/F 6-4 225
    - Ivan Lombard-Jackson Livingston College
    - Casey Love Robert Morris PF 6-8 245
    - Chris Lowe Massachusetts PG 6-0 180
    - Harry Lum Florida International SG 6-2 210
    - Terry Martin LSU SG 6-5 200
    - J.C. Mathis Michigan PF 6-8 225
    - David McClure Duke SF 6-6 205
    - Adam McCoy North Texas SG 6-4
    - Stephen McDowell Chattanooga PG 6-1 190
    - Scooter McFadgon Tennessee SG 6-5 210
    - Bryson McKenzie Northern Illinois C 6-11 240
    - Lawrence McKenzie Minnesota G 6-2 190
    - Derrick Mercer American PG 5-9 170
    - Jonathan Meriweather Park Univ. F 6-7 210
    - Nate Miles Southern Idaho JC G/F 6-7 200
    - Corey Minnifield Illinois-Chicago F 6-8 220
    - Carl Mitchell Northern Kentucky SF 6-8 225
    - Nicholas Moore Evergreen State CollegeF 6-7 198
    - Christopher Moore Virginia Union PF 6-8 235
    - Raheem Moss Cleveland State SF 6-4 220
    - Moustafa N'Doye Senegal C 6-11 230
    - Jared Newson Tennessee Martin G/F 6-4 210
    - Augustine Okosun Northwood University C 6-10 230
    - Kenan Oliver Central Missouri 6-7 205
    - Vince Oliver Cal. Davis SG 6-3 190
    - Kevin Owens Monmouth C 6-10 240
    - Tim Parham Maryland-Eastern ShorePF 6-8 240
    - Charlie Parker Millersville SG 6-3 195
    - Fred Peete New Mexico G 6-4
    - Reggie Peyton Christian Brothers G
    - Travis Pinick Yale SF 6-6 210
    - Robert Porter Univ. of Phoenix G 6-2 190
    - Rashaad Powell Idaho SF 6-6 210
    - Carlos Powell South Carolina SF 6-7 225
    - Haminn Quaintance Kent State PF 6-7 195
    - A.J. Ratliff Indiana SG 6-3 195
    - Ray Reese Tulsa G/F 6-5 210
    - Jason Richards Davidson PG 6-2 195
    - Tony Roberts Hope International UniversitySG 6-2 190
    - Brandon Robinson Cal. Baptist SG 6-3 187
    - Andres Sandoval Dayton PG 6-3 195
    - Melvin Scott North Carolina PG 6-1 185
    - Dwayne Shackleford USC PG 5-11 178
    - Mustafa Shakur &nb

Welcome to PtR. Let Me Give You A Tour.

2009-11-04T16:00:34Z

As the regulars can tell, the look of the site under went a dramatic change in appearance. All that was done by the powers that be at SBNation. There have been some other changes, maybe subtler, in the last couple months and I want to point them out. This will also serve as an introduction to the newer people who are finding us everyday.

Some music for you while you read. This is a PtR tradition. We like music around these parts.

Porcupine Tree - Modern Prog Rock Band

A while back, some people pointed out that Neill Peart of Rush is why they started playing drums. From what I hear, Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree is a modern day madman of the skins. The place where I read about music can't speak highly enough of him as a drummer.

Porcupine Tree goes back about a decade now, but I really like their 2007 Fear of a Blank Planet release. It's a 6 song tour de force. Here is the third song. It's so long it shows up on YouTube in three parts. If you aren't sure you want to commit the time, go to Part II and listen to sections beginning at 1:20 and 6:30. The guy flat out tears things up.

Traffic

About three weeks ago, we had our 2 millionth page view in PtR history. This was quite the landmark feat. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everybody that reads the site. I'm looking forward to another great year for both the Spurs and PtR.

PtR Staff

We have a great variety of very talented people who contribute to PtR. They do a tremendous job of providing great content and put in a tremendous amount of their time. It wouldn't be 1/20th as good as it is if it weren't for their efforts. I'm very proud to work with them and I love them very much. So if you want to say something negative about them, you should know that you'll have to contend with me. And I'm a nasty man when protecting my loved ones.

Seriously, I can't emphasize enough how great these people are.

Those Other Guys

There are other very good Spurs blogs on out there. 48 Minutes of Hell and Project Spurs, in particular. Sure, in some sense we are competitors, but we get along pretty well with each other. I encourage you to read them as well. If you aren't familiar with them, make yourself familiar. We all have our different styles and I think we provide great variety.

Sections

PtR has these things called sections that we are using pretty regularly now. When you are on the PtR home page, you will find them on the left. Each section is like a mini-blog where you can find various stories grouped together. For instance, if you just wanted to read the International posts (you know, because they are so popular), you could click on 'International' under sections and you will see all the posts about the Spurs abroad. Same goes for recaps and analysis.

Additionally, you will see there is one for game threads. Game threads are the place where we talk about the games as we watch them. OR, as LatinD likes to say, it is where the magic happens. Because we have gotten a little busier around these parts, and because a game thread of 500 comments tends to kill people's browsers, we will have multiple game threads per game. I expect we will start doing one per quarter. In an effort to not have the front page full of game threads all the time, we will be removing the game threads from the front page about the day after the next game. So if you are looking for game threads, look in the 'Game Threads' section.

Pages

Just below the iPhone image -- did you know that there is a PtR smartphone app? -- are the PtR Fun Pages. Here you will find our FAQ, a Quotes page, the Lexicon (when some lazy ass ::cough:: finishes it), Wallpapers, and all images BLAAAAIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!. We'll continue adding more as we go.

Standards

We do have some standards around here. Some are atypical for a sports blog. You can read the community guidelines for a good introduction. Additionally, Lauri crafted the following style guidelines. I think they very much reflect the spirit that I would like PtR to have.

One of the best things about Pounding the Rock is its collaborative nature, and the conversations that break out in the comments on stories and game threads are a big part of why the regulars here stick around and participate. We want everyone to feel free to jump into the mix. All are welcome. In a way, we like to think this blog reflects the Spurs style itself—we’re a diverse group with wide-ranging opinions, but respect is paramount. To keep everything enjoyable and to maintain the reputation PtR has for playful but intelligent discourse, here are:

Some guidelines to posting on Pounding the Rock

1.    Avoid text-speak and unnecessary abbreviations. It’s not that hard to type out what you mean, and who knows—you may find yourself using interesting words instead!

2.    Spell basic words correctly as a courtesy to the people who will be reading what you post. We’re not asking for perfection—people from all over the world come here to read and to post, and for many, English is not their first language. But you should at least take the time to spell "Spurs" correctly. Interestingly enough, a lot of those for whom English is a second language put the native English speakers to shame when it comes to thoughtful, well-crafted comments.

3.    Be respectful. Yes, you’ll see a lot of us playfully insulting one another, and we can be a sarcastic lot, but use your common sense. Unless you know someone well enough to joke that way, refrain from ad hominem attacks when responding to a post or another comment. In other words, we (meaning those who know and love him) are allowed to call LatinD "OCD." You (meaning a first-time visitor or complete stranger) are not. That sort of familiarity is earned.

We think you’ll agree that it’s much easier (and more fun) to read language that reflects the writer’s personality. And which argument is more likely to be taken seriously here, "Your assertion that the Lakers have dominated the Spurs over the last decade makes no sense, given that their head-to head record for the past 10 years is 35 to 35. Which, holy hell, surprises even me," or "wtf u talking about, the Sprus r00l, r u insaen?"

Needless to say, all the obvious rules hold true here as they do (or should) across society: no hate speech, no racism, no sexism, no slurs or scurrilous language. That’s basically it! Not so hard, right? Have fun, and remember—someone is always wrong on the Internet.

I will only add to this that mistakes get made. I have on more than one occasion been offensive with other members. Don't be too big of a man or woman to apologize. Nobody's perfect. Least of all me and you.

Reading In This Place -- Knowledge is Important

Learn to use your keys when reading an active thread of comments. z, a, shift-a, c, and shift-c are your friends. For those of you who read, but don't have accounts this won't make sense to you. Comments get marked as read or unread if you have an account. Unread comments are yellow (or a shade of yellow depending on your browser) so it is easy to see which comments you have read since the last time you read the comments. The unread vs read gets saved from one viewing of a post to the next. Also make sure to check out the PtR FAQ.

FanPosts and FanShots

Over on the right side there are posts created by random users. You can do it too. FanPosts should be for things you write yourself. If you want to link to something you found on the web, use a FanShot. If it is something good, we won't hesitate to put it on the front page.

We Aren't Done Yet

There are still more new things coming, we just need to wait for some things to become official before we can tell you.

Again, thanks to all our readers,

Wayne Vore -- the artist formerly known as AusTechSpur/ATS.

State of the Silver Stars Nation

2009-11-04T04:22:39Z

Becky would've caught that bat, too
(via silverstarsnation.com)

A Silver Stars post? At this time of the year? I'm afraid that's what you're seeing, guys.

We'll get back to our scheduled Spurs obsession soon, but I thought it would be interesting to know what our gals are up to during the offseason. For those of you who don't know, in women's basketball European leagues (in particular the Russian league) actually pay much higher salaries than the WNBA, so just about every qualified WNBA player makes the trip to the Old Continent once they're sent fishing here. It's an interesting reversal of the NBA situation, isn't it?

The alchemical secret to turn the WNBA into a goldmine, after the jump:

For Starters

Most of this information (and the photos) comes from Silver Stars Nation. It's the best Silver Stars blog out there, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

As I said, the European basketball season has begun, and our gals are working their craft overseas. I'm going to simply do a player-by-player breakdown of them, and tell you what they are up to these days. You can follow the links to Silver Stars Nation's pages for more information and some chatting.

The Team

	BECKY HAMMON Status In love. ...I mean, eh, that Becky has actually left Russia not a week ago, and she signed for Spain’s Ros Casares, one of the juggernauts of the Spanish league. I'm sure she was paid big bucks, too, because she was one of the better paid athletes in the Russian league. Belinda Snell, DeLisha Milton, Anna Montanana, Amaya Valdemoro and Erika De Souza all play in Ros Casares. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Becky's blog
	SOPHIA YOUNG Status She will be playing in Turkey for the third straight season. Her team, Galatasary, will be competing in the both the Turkish league and the FIBA-sponsored Euroleague. The Turkish season already started, and Sophia's doing well for herself and her team. In EuroLeague they will be competing in Group A, the most difficult group that pits them against Russian Powerhouse UMMC and Spanish powerhouse Ros Casares (remember what I said about Becky?). The EuroLeague season already began, and Galatasary got spanked. Links Silver Stars Nation's threads: Thread 1, Thread 2 Sophia's site
	MEGAN FRAZEE Status Who? Megan Frazee, that's who. She will be playing her first overseas season with Cankaya. Cankaya is a Turkish team affiliated with a Turkish University that participates in the Turkish Professional Women’s league. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Megan’s blog
	BELINDA SNELL Status Belinda will also be playing for Ros Casares of the Spanish league. Prior to Becky's signing, Snelly’s team started their season on the right foot with Snelly leading it to victory in the Super Cup. Snelly had 22 points to lead all scorers. Ros will also be in Group A of FIBA’s Euroleague and will began their season winning against TT Riga of Latvia on October 28th. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread
	EDWIGE LAWSON-WADE Status Edwige of the quick hand will be playing for Russian giant Spartak Moscow. Eddy has been playing in Russia for the last five seasons. Her previous team CSKA Moscow has lost its financing leaving its players to find other teams. Eddy joins Spartak in a three month contract, and Spartak will actually be playing in the Russian Super League A as well as Euroleague Group D. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Edwige's blog
	ANN WAUTERS Status Ann will be playing for another Russian powerhouse: UMMC. This will be Ann’s first season with UMMC having previously played for Russia’s CSKA Moscow and left it this past spring in free agency. Ann’s team will be defending their Russian Super-league A Title and is once again expected to dominate. In addition to Super-league they will also participate in FIBA’s EuroLeague Group A. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread Ann's blog (translated by Google)
	SHANNA CROSSLEY Status Shanna will be playing for Polish team Kosice, which will be in Group C of EuroLeague. Shanna’s team has already started play and has done fairly well, all things considered. Read more at SSN's thread. Links Silver Stars Nation's thread

Ruth Riley and Helen Darling are enigmas I can't crack. (Not true, I'm just a bum.)

Extra Stuff

I recommend reading Paul Nilsen’s Euroleague preview. He breaks down each group and goes through the best players you have to keep an eye on.
Sports Page Magazine did a photo tribute by Carmen Santiago on the great Vickie Johnson. Check it out.

That's it for the moment. We'll check back in a couple of months to see how the gals did in their respective tournaments.

Dante Critiques: The Stern Goes to Hell Edition

2009-11-04T00:00:37Z

Welcome to the second installment in the Dead Authors Series. If you missed the first one, you can find it here.

As the world bids adieu to another All Hallow's Eve, it's time to take a journey through the very place that inspires an entire genre of terror: Hell. Forget the modern portrayals by Western culture - we are stepping back in time to vicariously experience Purgatory through the eyes of a poet. In the portion of his Divine Comedy known as The Inferno, Dante details his arduous passage through the Underworld, traversing the interminable descent replete with monsters-human and otherwise.

As inscribed on the Gates of Hell:

Abandon every hope, ye who enter here.

Hell, at least in medieval terms, is not a dark hole or a fiery pit, but nine downward circles, each increasing in the wickedness of its sinners, terminating at the center of the Earth. The first of these circles of Hell is Limbo. But first, some musical selections:

Courtesy of Lauri

An absolutely fabulous classical selection

First Circle (Limbo)

Limbo, the place where the uncommitted reside. Although not punished, those who dwell in Limbo live in a pale representation of Heaven and will never be allowed to enter the real Paradise. The NBA equivalent of Heaven is the presentation of the O'Brien trophy and the unfurling of a Championship banner. Much like the poor souls in Limbo, the Cavaliers will never be allowed to experience Paradise. Is it too late to declare the Shaquille O'Neal acquisition a failed experiment?

Second Circle (Lust)

The second circle of Hell is where the true punishments start. Here Minos, previously the King of Crete, sits as judge over the damned, sentencing each person to a circle by wrapping his tail around his body an equivalent number of times. (And this is where I imagine a really big ring-tailed lemur.)

In the second circle, the lustful are constantly buffeted by tempestuous winds, much as they were controlled by their passionate whims during life. Mark Cuban has given his emotions free reign during his ownership of the Mavericks, constantly lusting after his ultimate goal, an NBA Championship. However, his restless ardor has often caused him to forgo the future for the now, possibly to the detriment of his dream (see Harris, Devin trade).

Third Circle (Gluttony)

Guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog, the gluttons are forced to lie in swampy mire, while being pelted by rain and hail. Instead of enjoying the fine food and drink of their life, these shades now must wallow in filth for eternity. Now this brings us to Eddy Curry. Here is a man paid to be in shape, yet he has let his body mimic his bloated contract. He lost all of last year due to injuries, and has yet to see the court this season due to conditioning. (And y'all thought I was going to talk about Shaq.)

Fourth Circle (Avarice)

Squaring off in the fourth circle are the Misers and the Spendthrifts. They constantly antagonize each other, in a demented game of Red Rover, shoving weighted burdens that crash together, with neither side winning. In this corner, you have the Grizzlies, hoarders of cap space to use only for the betterment of other teams. In the other corner, you have the Knicks, wasters of prolific resources who insist on acquiring every bad contract ever inked. The proper punishment for these two organizations would be to allow them to only trade with each other, in perpetuity.

Fifth Circle (Wrath and Sloth)

Trapped by the swampy waters of the Styx are the angry and the sullen. The angry souls are vindictive even in death, tearing into one another. The sullen sink into the murky depths, choking on the slime as they choked on their resentment while alive. Joey Crawford is one angry man, feeling the need to constantly T-up players who might disagree with his calls. Heck, he even once ejected a player for laughing on the bench. NBA fans can verbally tear into him, but I'd be content with Joey C. never reffing a Spurs game again.

Unfortunately, sullenness brings one NBA player to mind - Stephen Jackson. Here's hoping Captain Jack can snap out of his "poor me" state. The privilege of playing in the NBA should outweigh the troubles of having to play for Don Nelson.

The Styx serves not only as the source of punishment in the fifth circle, but as a demarcation between Upper Hell (passive sins) and Lower Hell (active sins). We now enter the City of Dis, capital of the nether regions of the underworld.

Sixth Circle (Heresy)

Here Dante encounters fallen angels who try to bar entry to the lower levels. While waiting for an angel from above to open the gate, the Furies and Medusa use the time to talk smack to the quaking poet. Upon entering the sixth circle, the poet sees a vast cemetery with numerous sepulchers, all engulfed in flames. Here lie the heretics. Despite what the casual fan might think, defense does win NBA championships. Those teams that eschew this half of the basketball equation are doomed to go down in flames (i.e., the Seven-Seconds-or-Less Suns and the post-2007 Warriors).

Seventh Circle (Violence)

Entry to the seventh circle is guarded by the Minotaur, mythological beast of the Labyrinth. Those guilty of violence toward others are doomed to immersion in a river of boiling blood, getting shot by the arrows of Centaurs. Those who hurt themselves are either torn at by Harpies or chased through the underbrush by vicious dogs. Those violent against God and nature must dwell on a plain of flaming sand, with fire raining down like snow. Author note: In this last group, Dante includes usury, which just confirms that credit card companies and uber-banks are evil. Violence in the NBA? Hmm, never happens. Except, of course, for that minor scuffle in Detroit. Despite his good behavior with Lakers this season, Ron Artest will be forever linked with The Malice at The Palace. Crazy Pills is his own worst enemy, raining down punishment upon himself.

Eighth Circle (Fraud)

"There is a place in Hell called Malebolge" for the fraudulent. The Eight Circle is divided into ten separate evil pockets. Since Dante spends over ten cantos (chapters) describing the various Bolgias, let's simplify it and look at the Grafters. These sticky fingered souls must spend eternity beneath thick, boiling pitch. Scary demons with hooks grab those who rise out of the pitch. Now who in the NBA has notably been on the graft? Tim Donaghy. Using his position to make money and influence the outcome of games. This is one guy I wouldn't mind Ron-Ron taking a swing at (hypothetically, of course). Although if any of Donaghy's allegations are true, the NBA is in deep poo, the poetically symbolic retribution for flatterers.

Ninth Circle (Treason)

Cocytus, the frozen lake at the bottom of Hell. Here, the traitors are imprisoned, ranging from neck deep to total immersion. Some acts of treachery are so appalling that the perpetrator is immediately ripped from the body and falls into Hell, with a demon taking the place of the soul in the body above. (This explains my junior high algebra teacher.) Welcome, Clay Bennett and cronies.

Yes, technically you had to right to move the team. However, do it in an honorable way. You can't state you want to keep the team in Seattle, hold the city hostage, and then move the team anyway - the only team in the city to EVER win a chip. (Stern deserves a good portion of the blame, but we'll get to him.) Author note: The ninth circle is where I would place Comcast, if I could.

Satan (Center of Hell)

While traversing across Cocytus, Dante wonders aloud about the source of the ever-present wind. He soon finds it, as in the center of the ice, in the very depths of Hell, is Satan. The ultimate betrayer is encased in ice up to his chest, a hideous creature with three faces and flapping bat-like wings that create a freezing wind. Each mouth is busy chomping down on a sinner, with the greatest pain reserved for Judas. Now who in the realm of the NBA could possibly be viewed as Satan? Yes, that's right, the commish - David Stern.

Let's list just a few of his transgressions:

Helping push the Sonics out of Seattle - just shameful.
Allowing referees to run roughshod over the rules - clean that crap up.
Failing to address the numerous conspiracy theories with openness and candor.
Marketing the NBA as stars only.
Preferring flash over substance.
Exuding that pretentious vibe.
Growing that 1980s mustache.
And last, but definitely not least, FORCING ALL FANS TO "WATCH" PRESEASON GAMES VIA THE BOXSCORE! FANGIO!

The Judas in Stern's mouth isn't a sinner, but the fan getting eaten by the NBA's corporate mentality and inability to address the common man.

To leave Hell, Dante is forced to climb down Satan's hairy backside to the other side of the world. And with that image now stuck in your head, I bid you farewell.

Spurs International Roundup -- Tiago and Nando Square Off

2009-11-03T20:13:46Z

A big head-to-head duel between Nando De Colo and Tiago Splitter as Valencia and Caja Laboral duked it out. I'm here to tell you who won. Hint: There is one less undefeated team in the ACB.

Also, this was the final week in the EuroCup qualifying for Valencia. It was exciting.

Tiago Splitter

Caja Laboral

ACB (Spanish Domestic League): 3-1

EuroLeague (Group Play): 1-1

In EuroLeague play, Caja fought past Maccabi Electra 86-81. Tiago had a monster game going for 26 points and 7 rebounds. He was 10-14 from the field and 6-8 from the line. He also chipped in 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Nando De Colo

Valencia

ACB (Spanish Domestic League): 3-1

EuroCup (Group Play): 0-0

Nando De Colo's Valencia squad had a HUGE week.

It started last Tuesday with the second game of their EuroCup qualifying showdown with the Belgian squad Dexia Mons-Hainaut. In the first game, Valencia got pummeled 78-63. The matchup is a two-game aggregate, so Valencia needed to win by more than 15 to advance. So what did they do? They won by 15 exactly. Which meant overtime. You see, it's really like a single double-length game. It doesn't really matter who wins the first one, the second game just starts (figuratively speaking) with the final score of the first game and they play another 40 minutes. At the end of the second 40 minutes, the teams were tied. Valencia won by 3 in OT and qualified for the EuroCup season with a 142 to 139 aggregate victory.

Nando was solid, if not spectacular, with 15 points on 5-11 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 turnovers.

Valencia topped Caja 81-74 Sunday night, knocking Caja Laboral from the ranks of the unbeaten in the ACB. Both our future Spurs had huge games. Nando had 18 points, 3 rebounds and an assist (and another 5 turnovers), while Tiago had 19 points and 7 rebounds in defeat.

Check out the highlights. About midway through, Tiago has a nice dunk on the break.

Eric Dawson -- Mitsibishi Diamond Dolphins -- JPL

Eric didn't play in either game. It says DNP-CD, but I would find this very surprising.

James Gist -- Unknown

I'm going to guess that James is playing in the D-League. I expect we'll hear something soon.

Robertas Javtokas

BC Khimki

Russian League: 1-1

EuroLeague: 1-1

BC Khimki got destroyed in EuroLeague play by defending champs Panathanaikos 101-66. Robertas had 7 points, 1 rebound, and 4 turnovers in the defeast.

In Russian League play, Khimki lost a tough 71-70 game to Krasnye Krylya. Robertas had 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting. He also had 1 of something and 5 of something else.

Jack McClinton

Aliaga Petkim

Turkish League: 1-2

McClinton's Aliaga Petkim got hammered 97-59 by Antalya. Jack contributed 12 points on 5 of 12 shooting.

Asvel -- Tony is part owner -- French League

Asvel lost 78-76 in OT to Fenerbahce Ulker. The lost dropped Asvel to 0-2 in EuroLeague play.

In French League play, Asvel picked up their second victory with a 62-54 win over Poitiers.

Pounding The Rock

Editorial: Why Tony Parker's Injury is Good for the Spurs

Sharpening Up

Learning to Swarm

This Week In San Antonio Spurs Basketball: Late Saturday Edition

Mood Music

Weekly Award

Photos of the Week

Quotes of the Week

Spurs @ Blazers: Stat of the Game: 17

This Year's 1st Quarter is Last Year's 3rd Quarter: Blazers-Spurs Recap

The Bad

The Good

Your 3 stars (Slightly Different from Wayne's):

Parker Expects to be Out 1 Week

Parker Expects to be Out 1 Week

PtR Quick Cap: Blazers Thump Spurs 96-84

San Antonio @ Portland Game Thread, Part Duex

Spurs at Blazers: Dazed and Confused

Spurs @ Jazz: Stat of the Game: 7

NBA Live 10 Simulation: Week 3 POLL

Which game you want simulated for week three?

NBA Live 10 Simulation: Regular Season : San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers

Game Preview #5: San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Blazers

Keys To The Game

Last Time They Met

Some Other Reading

Blazers

Spurs

The (sort of) Daily Twitter

The Magic That Happened

Some Other Viewing

Where to Tune In

TV

Online

Radio

PtR Quick Cap: The defense didn't make the road trip...

Game Preview #4 - San Antonio Spurs @ Utah Jazz - Back from Vacation

Keys To The Game

Last Time They Met

Some Other Reading

Jazz

Spurs

Quote of the Day

Other Thing of No Interest to Anyone but Myself

Where to Tune In

TV

Online

Radio

Stat of the Week: 0 ACLs

Austin Toros Draft Day

Welcome to PtR. Let Me Give You A Tour.

Porcupine Tree - Modern Prog Rock Band

Traffic

PtR Staff

Those Other Guys

Sections

Pages

Standards

Reading In This Place -- Knowledge is Important

FanPosts and FanShots

We Aren't Done Yet

State of the Silver Stars Nation

For Starters

The Team

BECKY HAMMON

Status

Links

SOPHIA YOUNG

Status

Links

MEGAN FRAZEE

Status

Links

BELINDA SNELL

Status

Links

EDWIGE LAWSON-WADE

Status

Links