Partying on the Mothership

by

My good friend and colleague Jesse Blanchard has taken his talents to the mothership, penning not one but two pieces on last night’s game for ESPN’s Daily Dime. First, a look at our biggest offseason acquisition — a healthy Tony Parker:

While the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks grabbed most of the headlines for their roster moves, in the Western Conference the acquisition of the summer has been the Spurs quietly adding an All-Star point guard to the solid mix of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

Tony Parker, the All-Star version, is a major upgrade over the plantar fasciitis model that hobbled through most of last season, and it makes the Spurs a completely different team. If Duncan is the solid foundation of the team, and Ginobili its best and most valuable player, Parker is the catalyst.

He follows up by reminding us that there’s a precedent for Duncan’s graceful descent into a secondary offensive role:

It’s a role that would have been incomprehensible just three years ago, but not one Duncan is completely unfamiliar with. After all, he was once on the other end of the same story.

Drafted 10 years after David Robinson, Duncan now finds himself in a transition similar to the one once undertaken by his now-retired fellow twin tower. Still the anchor of a defense for an elite team, Duncan’s role in the offense has increasingly diminished. Now, looking back 10 years, his numbers are eerily similar to Robinson’s at the same point in their careers.

Go. Read. Dance to the sound of a 22-3 record.

  • Kevin

    Wait… are you saying that the Daily Dime had something about the Spurs? Wow! Did Jesse still meet their Kobe/Lebron quota?

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  • quincyscott

    That second piece they ran is like a month old, if I’m not mistaken.

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Jesse Blanchard

    You are correct, the main points were posted with a painting after Duncan’s triple-double again. But like the first commentor stated, it never hurts to repackage some Timmy pub for those who normally are only hit with Kobe/LeBron/and now Amare news. The first one is original though.

  • ThatBigGuy

    Nice job Jesse. After Manu’s first game winner was 3 headlines below the C’s win on the ESPN headlines the next day and his second game winner not even among ESPN’s NBA page headlines, it’s nice to see the Spurs getting some pub.

  • quincyscott

    They are both great reads. I just would have preferred ESPN to have given the piece on Duncan a little attention when it was first published. I’m sure I am beating the proverbial deceased horse here, but you would never guess based upon the media coverage that the Spurs have the best record in the league, one of the top offenses, a couple of all-star performers, a nine point differential… I know this is nothing new, but the continued fascination with overhyped, underachieving guys like Lebron, Stoudamire and Mello never ceases to bewilder me.

  • sasleepless

    Do you guys think that the lack of coverage of our beloved Spurs over the years contributed to the rise of a new breed of Spurs writers? Take you guys for example, you started this blog to express a point of view that was not always available on the national media outlets.

    Now, you are more professional, and more fun to read than some of the prominent names in sport analysis. Yes, I am a homer even for my Spurs writers but you guys, like our Spurs, are hard to ignore.

  • BigJ

    Well done Jesse. Each is a great read. Not only did ESPN do right and post your great articles, but they also did so because they needed to.

    Why that sports network does not invent a better story line for the Spurs is beyond me? The whole “no body is paying attention to them” schtick is getting old. Especially when they are the one’s perpetuating the image. SI, Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, etc give the Spurs great coverage.

  • mikrobass3

    manu and tony look so much quicker and fresher this year. i suppose not playing so much in the nba off-season has much to do with that.

  • MG20TD21

    The boys are playing some funky jazz this year!

  • quincyscott

    @ microbass3

    I also think the settling of both of their contracts is a big factor. Duncan, Ginobilli and Parker have established that they are going to finish Duncan’s career out together as teammates. Along with the added urgency of a potential lock-out, those guys seem to have the attitude of, “OK, we’re ending this thing together, now let’s get this done.”

  • Tim in Surrey

    Jesse,

    As I mentioned in another post, nice job on these. Glad to see they picked you up.

    And bonus to Graydon for the gratuitous P-Funk content. Always welcome.

  • Matt in OC

    Alright, I’ll start out my first post by saying that I am sad about having just found out about this blog, because it is excellent…

    And I agree completely that the spurs don’t get enough media attention (with the possible exception of the Eva/Tony drama, but I think we can all agree thats not what we are talking about.)

    But to be stuck in laker nation (because of my wife, who could give a damn about basketball much less my undying love and affection for the spurs) is twice as bad. All I hear about are Kobe is doing this, Lamar kardashian is doing that. I gotta give mad respect to Artest for auctioning his ring for mental health charity.

    So this place is becoming a sacred website for me. My 48minutesofheaven….

    So keep doing your thing fellas, because without you all I have to look forward to are the few nationally televised games, and ignorant, trash talking lakers lovers.

    Matt (unfortunately stuck) in OC

    “amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals train until they can’t get it wrong.”
    Go Spurs Go

  • http://www.bpifanconnect.com Alix Babaie

    Welcome to blogdom, Matt….it sounds like you are living in the 7th circle of hell! Hey, at least you can escape a skosh through this site to plug yourself in to all things Spurs.