In case you haven’t heard, Game 1 of the Spurs/Suns series was an all-timer, 2OT multiple clutch shot contest which the Spurs ended up winning on an all too easy Ginobili layup. Here’s the video, if you need to catch up.

You can go just about anywhere for a game recap, in fact I suggest the post at SpursDynasty.

I’d like to talk about some interesting things I noticed about the game, you know, basically just ramble to myself…

• The Suns Won’t Get Any Better
  What do I mean by that you ask? Well simply this… until the Suns can admit to themselves that they were beat by the other team (read: Spurs) they can never be considered a championship contender. For a number of seasons it’s been, “Oh well if not for the suspensions” or “Oh we had some key injuries.” Always with the excuses these guys… they’ll never improve as long as they keep using them.
• Why Do People Hate the Spurs?
  Besides the obvious jealous factor. Why is it when Manu draws a charge it’s called a flop but when Nash does this it’s good defense? (As if Nash can play good defense, just pretend here people.) This shouldn’t bother me but it does simply for the matter that people keep asking for a great team completely ignoring what’s in front of their face. On TrueHoop today, Henry posts this reader comment : “I don’t like the Suns for any reason other than they are enjoyable to watch and I feel that on some level they ‘deserve’ to win.” The idiocy of this statement astounds me.  In what way do they “deserve” to win.  No team deserves to win; a championship team goes out and takes what they want regardless of the circumstances.
• The Best Possible Way to Win
  Seriously though… the only thing better than outright beating a team in the first game of a series is to give them confidence then win it against all odds.  Bwahaha…

Well those are my thoughts for now.  See you all after Game 2.

First off it has to be said that while well developed and insightful, Vincent’s article smacks of the rationalization inherent in band-wagon fans. By laying the groundwork for a perceived “change” in the methods of the Celtics organization, he is building the board for his now undeniable powerhouse of the league. Never mind the notion that although the team makeup is predominantly African-American it is not profoundly more so than it has been throughout much of the current decade. In fact, the 2005 team featured such prominent black players as Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Ricky Davis, Gary Payton, Al Jefferson and was coached by Doc Rivers. To say that this year’s Celtics are somehow more representative of the black majority within the NBA is both misleading and ignorant.

Vincent also cites players such as Larry Bird and Kevin McHale in a manner that downplays the abilities of these two players. Although never much of a McHale fan myself, it was clear that during his career he was a legitimate talent and a player capable of starting/subbing in a majority of the teams across the league. And if we’re going to talk about not giving enough credit where deserved, the glossing over of Larry Bird’s abilities is a downright travesty.

Still, it resulted in deep, pervasive, long-lasting backlash within the black community. (And from players, too. When Dennis Rodman, later cosigned by Isaiah Thomas, said that Larry Bird wouldn’t be lionized if he were black; that was not essentially a knock on Bird, it was indictment of the American media and public.

Immediately, one should call into question the wisdom of suggesting that Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman are worthy representatives of the Black community. By reaffirming the quote as an indictment of the American sports media; the author not so subtly confirms his own belief in this theory. Anyone who has seen Bird play in person or highlights cannot question the immense talent and willpower this man possesses. To state that the 80’s Celtics were Larry’s teams downplays the fact that Bird possessed the the talent to be the go-to man on any team in the league including the author’s own Lakers. And Magic would have been glad to have him.

To give the author some credit, his paragraph concerning “hood-heroes” is spot on; the same sentiment can be seen today in people perception of my own San Antonio Spurs. Just replace Dr. J with Allen Iverson or Moses Malone with LeBron and you have the very same feeling which makes the Spurs the “scourge” of many current NBA fans. Now, as was then, people are attracted to flash and style which all too often is trumped by form and function. As a result seeing LeBron fail miserably in the Finals versus a team based philosophy has the same affect on the Spurs as seeing Dr. J fail against a team based in Boston; more often than not people will prefer to discount the team over the person.

In addition, the author makes many good points concerning the cities past in regards to race relations in the nation overall. Boston was at the center of one of the most divisive issues in our nations history, segregation in school, and no doubt had a great number of people who would openly identify themselves as racist. However, this was in the past and while some of those ideas persist, it is primarily in the actions of the past generation exposed to that nonsense. To hold, the modern and better educated citizens of Boston liable for the sins of their fathers is cruel and unfair.

In fact, the most disconcerting notion of this article is that the author continues to push the notion that the color of the team is a reasonable method for choosing your favorite team. Only now it is in the reverse; a portion of Black basketball fans are using race as a rationale for selecting a favored team. I’m not saying that one cannot oppose a clearly racist institution; in fact, it is every persons duty to oppose ignorance in any form. However, I am hard pressed to state that the Boston Celtics franchise is a racist institution while evidence suggests quite the contrary. Ultimately, this article boils down to a race-based view of team favoritism. This shows a lack of progress on our parts as Americans and human beings; indeed it does a disservice to those who fought and died for their belief in a united human race.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

ESPN Recap: Mavs @ Spurs

Did anyone else notice how Dirk is allowed to run almost the entire width of the court out of bounds, bump into Manu (defending the inbounds), then step in and accept the inbounds pass? Watch it again, I’ll be here all day.

I’m not entirely surprised a lot of people missed it; after all we’re just fans. But how about the officials; shouldn’t they have stopped the play then? I understand it’s difficult to call fouls on the last play of the game; but when it’s something blatantly obvious and pretty easy to identify the call should be made. This is easy to forget since Dirk missed anyway (he’s just not a game winning kind of guy is he?), but this kind of officiating needs to be corrected.

Two mini-observations:

• After coming up with a great block on Jet, how does Elson lose Dirk on the inbounds anyways?
• Watch the video again and check out Timmeh’s expression when Dirk shoots. Classic!

Stole this video from PtR…

The MRI scans show no ligament damage; chances are he’ll be out at most 2-3 games (although I think he should take another week just for good measure).  Spurs fans rejoice; Suns fans can go ahead and claim that God was unfair in his ruling on the matter.

Scary moment during yesterdays game against the Trailblazers.  Around midway through the second quarter there was a very strong disturbance in the force as if millions of central/south Texans screamed out in fear and then fell silent.  Of course, I refer to James Jones tangling up Timmeh as he was chasing down a pass from the Sickness.

The look of it was frightening as Tim first twisted his ankle by stepping on Jones’ foot which caused the bulk of his frame to collapse on a twisted knee.  A million thoughts ran though my head; foremost being,  I wonder if Tony and Manu are ready to lead the team this year.  Thankfully, news out of the locker room suggested that it looked much worse than it was.  Preliminary diagnosis is that of a knee contusion (inner muscle bruise) and a sprained ankle.  The MRI is scheduled for today; however, they found no evidence of fracture or ligament damage.

So I’m guessing 2 weeks; however if Pop’s smart and I think he is, he’ll probably be out as long Pop can physically restrain him.   So what does this mean going forward… first, I think Manu can kiss his Sixth Man award goodbye (not that he cares for such meaningless accolades).  It’s well documented that Manu didn’t spend his teenage years training in Buddhist basketball techniques for personal glory.  He plays for the glory of San Antonio, Texas, and Argentina (probably not in that order).

Second, Tony is going to become the focus for the opponents defensive schemes.  This I’m actually happy about as he has been playing brilliantly and I believe it’s time he takes the next step.  That can’t be done without testing and the next two weeks should be a ample enough time to gauge his progress.

C. Big Shot Rob picked the perfect time to come back to the team; although I imagine if he hadn’t already suited up, he would of been getting ready to go as soon as he saw Timmy go down.  That’s just the kind of player he is; he really doesn’t get enough credit for what he does for the team on daily basis.  On that note, despite his poor shooting, Big Shot looked as good as ever yesterday, even fooling the smaller Blake into believing he’d blown by him for an easy layup only to slam his weak shot against the backboard on the other side.  That’s kinda smarts you only get through incredible age.

IV. With defenses collapsing on Ton, he’s going to get plenty of passes out to wide open shooters.  Fin, Bones, Rocket and Big Shot have to be able to hit those shots when they get the opportunity.  If not, Manu may just have to take things upon himself to keep the team cruising.  I’d prefer him resting however so if you guys are reading this, time to hit the gym fellas.

I think this is almost not funny until Manu leaves; that part makes the commercial.

Thanks to KMGoSpurs at SpursReport for the link.

New Orleans look like a really good team; it’s unfortunate that the fans don’t turn out to support the team but then I know I wouldn’t bother with it if I were amongst the majority of Big Easy residents.  In fact, pay close attention to the makeup of the crowd and you’ll see that the African-American representation does not seem to match the makeup of the city. What does this mean?

Well at the risk of being inflammatory; I’d say it means the richer, whiter class have had no problem moving back but things aren’t so easy for everyone else.  And of course that means the great culture of New Orleans may be on it’s last legs.  Sad… but anyways, enough social commentary.

The Spurs played great even if not up to potential.  What’s important is that the potential is there.  For an example, view the Sickness below…

Great stuff!

(It’s just a post to let our RSS readers know that you can find one on the site.)

So… one of the major problems of being a Spurs fan in Austin is the fact that we get a lot of blacked out games since we’re supposed to be in the San Antonio market, yet there’s no way we could get reception of the local telecasts.

To try and help my fellow Austinites, I’ve tried to create a schedule of telecasts we will be able to enjoy. I believe it to be pretty accurate but if not, let me know and I’ll update it ASAP.