Above is the play-by-play for the final ten seconds of last night’s game against the Indiana Pacers. Hidden inside this very standard and typically unhelpful form of score-keeping is a wealth of information about what has been going right and wrong for the Spurs this season.
You know what they say about a team’s final five being more important than its starting five. Well, that’s all true. In a perfect world, one free of foul trouble and injury concerns, a coach finishes the game with his best five players on the floor. Through 8 games, George Hill is unquestionably the Spurs’ [...]
An under-reported Spurs story through six games is their three point shooting slump. Have a look: Season Three Point% Career Three Point% Roger Mason Jr. .238 .392 Matt Bonner .345 .407 Richard Jefferson .294 .352 Manu Ginobili .387* .376 Quick Thoughts: I’ve included Manu Ginobili in the slump chart because his 6-8 performance against the [...]
After the most active offseason in recent memory, It’s odd to remember that last offseason’s marquee free agent signing was Roger Mason, Jr. Over the last three months he may be one of the team’s least mentioned members. I was supportive of his signing: A confident defender and perimeter crack shot who was still south [...]
Some version of that question keeps rearing its head in our comments section. It’s one those counter-intuitive things. You’d think Spurs fans would be satisfied after an offseason that saw a massive roster overhaul. But when post trade euphoria sets in, the market suddenly expands to all of our favorite players (that we imagine are [...]
Mike Monroe reports that Roger Mason Jr. dropped his body fat percentage this summer in an effort to become “more active.” (I know, I’m late to the Monroe article.) Johnny Ludden tells us that Tim Duncan is down to 240. The arrival of skinny Timmy and a slim Mase raises my curiosity, but in a [...]
On his latest podcast, Bill Simmons talks offseason with Marc Stein and Ric Bucher. It gets a little catty, and each man wins points here and there. When the talk turned to the obligatory “Who will win the title?” question, I was surprised to hear each man offer support for the Spurs (Bucher throws Boston [...]
During the 2nd quarter of Sunday’s Spurs Summer League game, Dennis Lindsey gave an insightful interview to Joel Myers, who had the game call. An transcript is not available, but LJ Ellis has summarized the interview in a set of talking points. He’s given me permission to reproduce his notes here. The Spurs are sometimes [...]
Rikiddo, Pounding the Rock sage and friend to this site, has done a nice job breaking down the Marcus Haislip signing. Between him and Graydon, there is little else to say until we actually see Haislip on the court. But still, I’ve scrounged together a few scraps from under the table. Think of this as [...]
Austin Nichols is Ime Udoka is Roger Mason Jr. is Bruce Bowen. Since the Spurs were eliminated from the playoffs, I’ve tried to paint a big picture of their options this summer. Those sort of discussions always gravitate toward marquee names. That’s fun, and given the current state of team, entirely possible, but as some [...]
In Wednesday’s post, I suggested the Spurs needed to put their backcourt house in order. This might come about naturally as players develop and learn the system. The return of Manu Ginobili will help, as if I needed to tell you. But if I let the impression with any of our readers that the Spurs [...]
One of the unanswered questions-so far-of this offseason is trying to figure out how the Spurs see their 2009 backcourt. Personally, I see George Hill as a point guard and Roger Mason Jr. as a shooting guard. But that’s not how Pop played them down the stretch, and we have reason to wonder how things [...]
In his end of the season exit interview, Gregg Popovich said the Spurs’ front office plans to use the unusually long summer to…work. One of the first major scouting assignments he named was the Euroleague Final Four, which begins streaming today on ESPN360. Outside of the Bulls-Celtics series, it’s the most compelling basketball of the [...]
It wasn’t that long ago. May 22, 2006. The Spurs were facing an elimination game against the Mavericks. Game 7. Western Conference Semifinals. You remember it, I’m sure. They lost. Tonight the Mavericks have the Spurs on the brink of elimination once again. The national press, with a few exceptions here and there, are writing [...]
The SportingNews says Spurs in 7. Kelly Dwyer, Yahoo!: The Hornets took in another hot one from David West, who poured in 34 points, but he was outplayed by Tim Duncan. West tried, he contested shots and worked, but Duncan finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, four turnovers and a block in 33 [...]
