Dark Side of the Carton

Last night’s draft was both expected and totally unexpected at the same time. On one hand, the first 3 picks being Rose, Beasley, and Mayo was what just about everyone expected. The rest of the draft field, however, kind of shook things up.

Joe Alexander, one of my favorite prospects, went 8th to the Bucks. I wasn’t expecting him to go anywhere higher than a 12 or 14. Looks like the Bucks realized what a good prospect he was. Another pick that moved up at the last minute was UT’s D.J. Augustin. I think he was a projected 20th pick and he went 9th!

More surprised were revealed when the Spurs went all American and drafted no Euro players. With the 26th pick, the Spurs selected George hill from IUPUI. A surprising move considering there were a slew of players from both Memphis and Kansas left on the board including Joey Dorsey, Mario Chalmers, and Chris Douglas-Roberts (who ended up going 40th in the 2nd round to the Nets).

I’ve got a lot of faith in R.C. and Pop and most of these guys will end up being busts. I just hope our picks are the ones that shine.

There is A LOT of player movement going down as we speak including a deal where Mayo and Love swap teams. Chalmers is going to Miami. Dorsey to Houston. It’s only going to get worse over the next week or so.

One thing is for sure and that is that the West is going to be much more difficult in about 1 or 2 years. I’m preparing myself now for a short streak of getting dominated by teams like the Hornets, Sonics, and Blazers.

To check out the full Draft Board go here. For all the information on the current player movement go here.

Seriously Kobe. Are you blind enough to actually believe that Fisher didn’t foul Barry on that last shot? Even the Zen Master admitted that Fisher bumped him.

I really scaled back all my sports posts because I realized that I don’t really have anything interesting or unique to stay on the topic and I really come off as a blatant Spurs homer, which I am.

I did want to take a moment to give the Spurs a shout out for showing up last night and showing the Hornets what it’s like to play a Championship caliber team. They weren’t prepared and didn’t bring it. The result is that the Spurs have a chance to engage in another battle with the top of the West, the Lakers.

Before the playoffs started, I was pretty sure that Boston would sail through the East and whip up whoever came out of the West. After all, the West is a battle this year. I was wrong. I think that the Spurs or Lakers, whoever comes out on top, is going to crush either Detroit or Boston. Boston has shown they don’t have the composure to compete at this level and the Pistons are just passed their time.

Regardless of how it all plays out, I think this is hands down the best post season ever. I’m sure my wife will be glad when it’s over as I’ve watched almost every single playoff game to date.

I had to go and open my fat mouth yesterday about how well the Spurs were doing and how we were well on our way to winning the Western Conference. Last night the Spurs met up against a red hot Warriors team in Cali and got promptly schooled by the run and gun Nellie team. This is the team that bounced the top of the league Mavs out in the first round last year.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid to meet up with the Warriors in the playoffs this year.

Normally the Spurs follow-up Championship seasons by sucking it up big time. For some reason we can’t ever seem to get it in gear coming off a huge season. So far this year, things are shaping up to be a tad bit different. The NBA had some major player movement that resulted in a shake-up of the top teams in both Conferences. Notable moves included Ray Allen and KG moving to Boston, leaving their respective teams with not much hope. In the case of Seattle, a possible relocation by the new owners and a rookie with tons of potential that is getting 100% of the attention due to no other stars is making their chances of a bounce back low.

As for the Spurs, we picked up a few players in the off season and traded away a few of our under-utilized guys and so far it’s looking to be yet another smart move by Spurs Management. They are off to one of the best starts in franchise history at 17-3, and undefeated at home which I know is a team best. The only team that boasts a better record is the overloaded Celtics with their 17-2 record.

I don’t want to jump the gun, but things look really good for the Spurs in 2007-08. The usual obstacles will be there in the form of the Suns and the Mavs, but I think winning the West is totally within reach again. The question remains whether or not the Spurs can take the Celtics in a 7 game series. My gut tells me that the star power is no match for a team that just jives, but I’ll be the first to admit that the Celtics look good. They look real good.

I just finished watching the Spurs take down the Mavs here in San Antonio without Tim Duncan and I can’t help but strongly dislike Jason Terry. I don’t care for the Mavs at the present time as Mark Cuban has done a great job creating a hated rivalry here, but I honestly just don’t like Jason Terry. Ever since Jason Terry punched ex-teammate Michael Finely in the junk in the playoffs a few years ago I haven’t been able to bring myself to like him. I find him to be just a little too dirty for my tastes. He might not be any worse or dirty than any other players out there, but I just can’t get over it.

The Big 12 Championship Game was being held at the Alamodome down here in San Antonio, TX this year and a friend of mine happened to come across 4 extra tickets. I decided that I’d brave the thousands of screaming fans and take my son to a “big” sporting event. To preserve my sanity, I drug along my sister-in-law and my father-in-law. Kickoff was slated for 7pm so we headed downtown about 6. It took us about 40 minutes to get into downtown, which is a little longer than usual.

Upon arriving into the heart of our fine city, we were greeted by road closures and hundreds of OU and Mizzou fans roaming the streets. There were plenty of cars down there creating quite a traffic pileup. After circling all the nearby parking lots and finding not a single spot, we drove as far as we could in the opposite direction of where we needed to be and miraculously found a place to park. Of course, this put us about 2 miles from where we needed to be… with a 3yr old… in downtown… and it was dark. I think you see the dilema here.

Luckily, or unluckily I got to carry my son through this mess of downtown as we made our way to the stadium. We arrived at our seats about 40 minutes after kickoff, yet we had only missed about 8 or so minutes of game time. Gosh, I love televised games… not really. We did the usual thing of getting settled, then having to get food, and then go to the bathroom.

The first half of the game was pretty decent, but since it was taking about an hour for each quarter of play we decided to bail shortly after the start of the 3rd quarter. After I got back to the house, I checked the highlights for the game and realized we watched the slow part of the game and missed the real good stuff when OU turned it on and put the hurt on Mizzou. For shame really.

I snapped a few pics with my phone. You can check the set out over at Flickr or below:

Last night’s Spurs/Jazz game was highly anti-climactic. The Jazz were playing with a gimped out Deron Williams and D.Fish was a no-show until the 2nd half. With a 19 pt lead in the first quarter, I took the rest of the evening to clean the house and play some video games with my son. All I know is that I feel sorry for the Cavs or Pistons. The Spurs can taste it already and there is going to be some manhandling going on in June. Someone pack the trophy up now, its coming home to SA.

With history on their side and all the momentum on their side, the Utah Jazz played host to the San Antonio Spurs in a very decisive Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. The outcome of this game would undoubtedly be an indicator of the final outcome of this series. San Antonio is winless (0-8) all time in Utah in the postseason, something that the Jazz and their fans had to hope would remain true at the conclusion of the game. Game 3 saw a huge shift from San Antonio winning decisively at home to Utah laying the smack down on my Spurs with a 26 point victory.

The game was a teeter totter game with the the lead bouncing from 1 up to 7 or so throughout much of the game. The Spurs retained the lead most of the night, but we all know that the Spurs are notorious for blowing massive leads with a single bad quarter of play. As the 4th quarter got underway, the Spurs clung to a 1 point lead. 45 seconds into the 4th quarter, Sloan was T-ed up for mouthing off about a call that had Ginobili going to the line and Millsap charged with a foul. This would prove to be the first in a long string of calls that shows that Utah just doesn’t have the composure to win an NBA title.

With 2:26 left in the game, the Spurs had run the lead up to 8 when Manu drove on Fisher, who attempted to draw a foul and failed, and made the lead 10. D.Fish was obviously irritated at the call and gave Manu a bump on the way back down the court. Everyone in the NBA knows that this was not a smart move. Manu went along with the contact and drew a call that saw D.Fish hit with his first Technical. As they went to a commercial break, you can see Jerry Sloan exiting the courtside. Apparently he was unhappy with the call and received his second T. Maybe Jerry should realize that coming back from a 10 point deficit is doable if you keep your cool and get some good stops.

The teams exchanged baskets for a few possessions when Manu and Fisher were matched up again. Manu drove, stepped back, and drew a hard foul from Fisher. The officials had seen enough and hit Fisher with another T, obviously leading to an ejection. Okur had also fouled out 39 seconds before. This resulted in the classy Jazz fans starting to hurl debris onto the court. This left the Jazz coachless and without 2 key players and their fans spiraling downward. The Spurs went on to win a 91-79 victory and had to be rushed off the court as the fans continued to hurl things onto the court.

The game was hard fought and probably didn’t have a perfectly level outcome on the officiating end of things, but the Jazz turned the ball over more than enough times to let the Spurs win this game. With momentum and history on their side, the Jazz failed to take the Spurs in a very important game and the only thing I’ve heard all day is people whining about the officiating as if the officials had it in for the Jazz. You mean like how the Spurs were treated in Game 3? What? You forgot all about the officials advantage you received in that game?

All I know is that poise and determination will win you a title. The Jazz have neither. As for the fans, well, you guys were super classy. I hope the NBA hits your team with a fine for your wreckless behaviour. We’ll be nice and end this series in 5 so you don’t have to endure another heartbreaking loss at home since you obviously can’t handle that.

I’m a big fan of the NBA and basketball in general. I’ve always loved basketball and as a fan of the Spurs I’ve seen just about every regular season game this year. In addition, I’ve watched almost every playoff game period, much to the chagrin of my wife. It’s playoff time and everyone knows that the level of play goes way up in the post season. From the Warriors knocking off the Mavs to the recent controversies in the Spurs/Suns series, it’s all great basketball.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard about the Horry/Nash incident. With ~20 seconds left in game 4, Robert Horry “hip checks” a sprinting Nash into the scorers table. This incident resulted in a few Suns players leaving the bench, only to be dragged back by their coaches. After the outbreak was supressed, the Suns went on to win the game and ultimately tie up the series 2-2. Yesterday evening the NBA handed down their ruling on the situation. Robert Horry was hit with a 2 game suspension and Amare Stoudemiere and Boris Diaw were both hit with a single game for leaving the bench during an “altercation”. This is a key word that makes all the difference.

On my drive to work in the morning I listen to “Out of Bounds” on Fox Sports Radio. J-Dub and Shemon are very entertaining to listen to, even if I don’t agree with what they say. This morning, however, Chris Moore was filling in for Shemon and the garbage spewing from his mouth forced me to turn the radio off. Moore seems to think that the NBA’s ruling on the situation was way off base and that Amare and Diaw should be allowed to play because it’s what is best for the game.

I’m sorry Moore, but last time I checked, ignoring the rules simply to make the game better isn’t why rules exist. Should superstars be allowed more than 6 fouls because it’s better for them to be in the game and not ridin’ the pine? No. Should superstars be allowed to travel because if they don’t then they don’t get to make spectacular shots? No. The rule was established for a reason, and while I think it needs to be revised, the NBA can’t just willy nilly change it for a specific incident.

The rule is 10 years old and everyone knows about it, so what is surprising is that people like Amare don’t have the presence of mind to say to themselves “If I leave this bench and go out on the court, I am going to be suspended and severly limit my team’s chances of winning a championship.” I personally believe that Nash sold that foul to make it appear much harder than it was. Raja Bell approached Horry and instigated the conflict, and Suns players ran out on the court. I fail to see how that portion of the incident is anyone’s fault but the players that made that decision. Robert Horry didn’t run to the Suns bench and taunt Amare.

It was also brought up that Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen came onto the court earlier in the game and that they too should be suspended. Remember the key word from above? Altercation. In the rule that comes into play here, players cannot leave the bench during an altercation. When Elson was undercut and TD and BB came onto the court there was no altercation. Elson didn’t jump up and start pushing or busting people in the face. No foul was called, the ball was inbounded and play resumed. At worst, the Spurs might have been hit with a T for having 7 guys on the floor, but to call for a suspension over that is a gross mis-interpretation of the rules and a horrible attempt at grasping for straws to try and even up the game after a bad decision by 2 Suns players.

While I think that having Amare and Diaw out makes for basketball that isn’t quite as exciting, you can’t let them play simply on that basis. It just wouldn’t be right and would show a gross inconsistency in the league that is already losing fans due to officials and other league non-sense.

As a Spurs fan I am definitely biased and if the roles were reversed I’d be pissed at my own players for losing their heads and charging onto the court and not the opposing team.