One of us took a trip to the TD Banknorth Garden Sunday to take in the game between the Spurs and Celtics. The game took a familiar NBA tone, boring first 2 1/2 quarters followed by an intense final 18 minutes. As discussed in the Roundup the Celtics ended up winning by 8, however the game felt like it was missing something with Kevin Garnett out for the Celtics and Tony Parker missing from the Spurs.

As for the entire fan experience, it had its peaks and valleys. First of all, the parking situation was convenient and cheap compared to other big cities I have attended games in, we only paid $10 to park!! We had to walk about a 1/2 mile to the arena, but walking through the picturesque Boston Common, City Hall section of the city was well worth the trek. Something about walking in Boston makes me feel smarter, not sure why it just does. Me and the group I was with stopped at a sports bar right across from the arena named The Harp. Looking to get a quick burger and drink before the 1pm start of the game, we were surprised to find out that the bar did not serve alcohol until Noon!! Other then that the place was great and I bought a burger and a beer (Blue Moon) for $15.00, not bad at all.

Upon entering the arena I was expecting to feel the same ambiance that I feel when I walk inside Madison Square Garden. Although the arena is very nice and clean, it should be given it is only ten years old, there was no aura at all. From the epic stories I heard about the old Boston Garden, I honestly expected a little more mystique. There were plenty of places to eat and drink in... [read more]

The four NBA titles in nine years that the San Antonio Spurs have enjoyed? That was supposed to happen in Boston.
Tim Duncan was supposed to be the next great player to carry on the Celtics' tradition. He was the player that would have restored Celtic Pride to what it was during The Bird Era in the 1980s. His effortless skill had every team in the league wishing that the No. 1 pick in the 1997 draft was theirs. 
Boston did everything it could to acquire that pick. The Celtics were a bad team in a league dominated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. They had no hope for the future, a pathetic team sinking slowly into irrelevance. Duncan was going to be the shot of adrenalin that the team and the city needed to care about basketball again and Rick Pitino, Boston's new head coach and team president, would be the man to assemble a supporting cast and guide the Celtics back to respectability.
But a funny thing happened on the way to rebuilding. The Celtics didn't win the lottery despite having the league's worst record, the Spurs selected Duncan and Boston took two players, Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer, who lasted a combined total of three seasons with the Celtics. Pitino was gone after four excruciating years, leaving the team he promised to turn around in complete shambles.
Fast forward to Sunday at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Celtics finally exorcised the Duncan demons with a 98-90 win over the Spurs, the first time that Duncan has tasted defeat in Boston during his 10-year career. San Antoni... [read more]

The Super Bowl this year has many people predicting an easy Patriots win, even though there is a general acknowledgement that the Giants will bring a solid game plan and sound execution to the contest. Despite the consensus that the Giants are worthy of being in the game on Sunday after an impressive playoff run, almost every NFL fan and analyst has resigned him or herself to the fact that they are just 100% outmatched. Oh, how wrong they are. 

There is legitimacy to the notion that the Patriots will win the Super Bowl: their prolific offense has set numerous records this year, they are arguably the best-coached team in the NFL, they have the most mentally prepared players with previous Super Bowl experience, and their quarterback is a sure-fire hall-of-famer who already has three championships while surrounded by arguably lesser talent. Oh, and then there’s that little part about the 18-0 record during which no team has been able to beat them (not even the Giants in week 17). 

But the New York Football Giants didn’t just stumble into this game accidentally. With them, they carry the momentum of three road playoff wins and ten consecutive road victories this season (a league record). They powered their way through their schedule with an injury laden roster, a feat not many teams have been able to do. With those injuries, primarily in the secondary, they have an experienced team that now has depth by virtue back-ups being forced into starting roles. If Brandon Jacobs hadn’t gone out week 1, would we have discovered Derrick Ward’s po... [read more]

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/01/tony-parker-out-now-what-for-spurs.html

Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs has found himself some bone spurs! He's a Spur with spurs...OK bad joke. His left heal seems to be the issue and was initially not a major worry for Parker and his team, but things have changed.

Does this mean the Spurs are in on the Damon Stoudamire sweepstakes now? My guess is going to be "YES!" Stoudamire has gone through a contractual buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies and is expected to be courted by several teams, now including the Spurs. Boston showed as an early front runner but have slipped down the pole with the Suns, Raptors and now Spurs joining the race.

Stoudamire is supposed to contact Greg Popovich on Tuesday and we'll should help to determine which way this thing swings. The Spurs could easily use Stoudamire skills although I'm not sure he is quite the fit they may be looking for. Jacque Vaughn will step in as starting point guard for the time being but is obviously not the presence on the court each night that Parker is.

Stoudamire would provide some scoring and a veteran poise, but do the reigning NBA Champions really need a player with the selfishness and past of a Mighty Mouse? Should make for an interesting week or so in the NBA; we'll see which team is really THAT desperate.

... [read more]

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/01/sonics-end-skid-beat-spurs.html

Tonight turned out to be a nightmare for the ailing San Antonio Spurs. Earlier in the day, coach Greg Popovich decided to bench his All-Star point guard Tony Parker indefinitely while he deals with bone spurs in his left foot. Then the team found its way up I-5 to Seattle to take on a team that had not won in 14 straight games. Well that streak came to an end tonight!

The Seattle Supersonics found a way to win tonight against the reigning NBA Champs. Kevin Durant had his first solid game in quite some time including a late basket to seal the deal for his young Sonics. Seattle desperately needed a win like this to try and salvage some of their season.

The Spurs on the other hand are looking bad in all the wrong places. Parker takes a seat for what could be weeks to come leaving the Spurs with an aging Duncan and a busted up Ginobili. Without one of the big 3 this season the Spurs are just 9-9 and have looked horrible at times.

San Antonio began its season at 17-3 and has gone just 11-13 since. The Spurs are 0-2 at the beginning of their annual 9 game road trip in which the AT&T Center gets overrun with stock and rodeo festivities. This could prove to be the turning point in their season and should be the indicator as to what seed they will find come playoff time.

Are we seeing an end to the Spurs run? Are they aging too fast while the rest of the NBA continues to get younger?

... [read more]

The Lakers looked awesome last night. Well, for a half at least. A night after coming off an 11-assist performance which included several wrap-around-the-back passes (the most impressive, by the way, was not the one to Turiaf, but rather the left handed around the back pass to Odom in the post—what an impossible pass…Try that Steve Nash!) Kobe had the Lakeshow rolling early. They took a 54-45 lead into halftime against the, albeit struggling, defending champs.

They looked quicker, faster, and younger than the Spurs. They played with fire, they played together, and they played well in spite of not having Bynum or Ariza or, to a lesser extent Mihm and Vlad Rad.

But when the Lakers came back out after half, they played like they were having flashbacks of that Boston game with the skimpy shorts. 22 turnovers is horrible for a junior high girls basketball game. And Mr. Passion Bucket Pass happy Kobe had 9 of them. Sure, not all of them were his fault, and sure, the Spurs have mastered the art of the foul that doesn’t get called, but come on, that’s no way for an MVP to be playing. 

Of course, learning from mistakes most definitely is how an MVP should act and respond to a game like Tuesday’s. Afterwards Kobe said, “Tonight is a good lesson for us in terms of how quickly momentum can change…” True dat.

But, despite the negative outcome, and despite dropping from 3rd all the way down to 6th in the West with just one loss (If they would have won, they would have been 2nd…crazy right?), ... [read more]

Good to see that Kobe was back to modest pt. production, in the wake of Lakers good team effort defeating Nuggets, even with Ariza going down with injury for 2 mos., a la Bynum.

Another big test: on the road against defending champ San Antonio Spurs, Jan. 24:

Early team effort good. D-Fish, Kwame, Lamar, Kobe, smooth as a team, leading 17-10.

Mbenga had a tough spell as backup center. But still no doubt better than a firing squad in the Congo. Sidebar road to a 10-day contract.

Rone Turiaf closes 1st quarter strongly for Lakers, making 2 key free throws for 27-23 lead, AND getting back on defense to short-circuit attempted Spurs quick score.

Sasha and Farmar perform well in 2nd quarter, 41-33 lead.

Lakers struggle a few series late in 2nd quarter, but pull it together, finish strong, 54-45 at the half.

BIG dry spell, first 5+ mins. of 3rd; trail 59-54. 2 Kwame muffs inside. 14-0 Spurs run.

Kobe battles the team back to a tie. D-Fish hits a 3.

67-64 Spurs lead late in the 3rd, in the wake of too many dang Lakers turnovers.

After leading the 1st half by 9, the Lakers lose the 3rd quarter by 19, unbelievably failing to score till half-way through the quarter; 76-66 Spurs. Ouch.

85-79 Spurs with 6 min. left in the 4th, as Kobe hits a 3, tightens the game again.

Ginobli's dagger 3 makes it 97-84 Spurs, with 3:46 left.

Ever since the Lakers went dry for over 5 mins. starting 3rd quarter, they've been playin' catchup, instead of leading. Too many turnovers, too few Spurs stops.

Final score: Spurs 103, Lakers 91.

What started out as ... [read more]

SAN ANTONIO –

Cleveland’s bench and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were a major factor in assiting LeBron James to beat  the San Antonio 90-88 on Thursday night in the teams' first meeting since the Spurs swept the NBA finals last season.

With a 6-1 start since the New year the Cleveland Cavaliers looks to be that team playoff team again.  Cleveland maintained the league throughout the game until the 4th quarter when Ginobili scored eight straight points to bring the Spurs within 5.  Bu the defense from Zydrunas Ilgauskas who had 17 points and Anderson Varejao who also scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Cleveland gave them the win in San Antonio.  What a great feeling for Cleveland to beat the team that swept them in playoffs.

Tim Duncan scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds for San Antonio, Tony Parker had 23 points which has lost four games at home. Cleveland Cavaliers beat San Antonio 90-88 on Thursday night in the teams' first meeting since the Spurs swept the NBA Finals last season.

Now, Cleveland looks to continue their wins as the head to Miami to face Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat.

 ... [read more]

The National Basketball Association exhibits two kinds of NBA players.  One is the wildebeast. The other is the lion.  What do you mean?

I mean that there are players in the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle Sonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, and I apologize if I left anyone out, who cow towe to team owners, peer groups, and making money, glitz, glamor, being effeminate, etc.  There are also professional basketball players who cow towe to their concept of self.  They always go to their strength.  Their strength resides in their hearts and minds. They believe in who they are because they know who they are.  Money, team owners, peer groups, glitz, glamor, being effeminate, etc. are particles of dust when juxtaposing them to their desire to perform to their greatest abilities as a professional basketball player.

 The question is, which of these players is a wildebeast and which of them is a lion?  You only have one guess. ... [read more] (2 comments)

    Hey Mavericks nation, I am pleased to report that my predictions have all been accurate thus far with the Dallas Mavericks going 3 for 3 against Orlando, Phoenix, and the LA Clippers. That little prediction was free, that being said, I am retiring from predicting Mavericks wins. I am no Nostradamus and I’d rather this be for fans of the Mavericks than a gambling blog. 
The Mavericks have the 2nd best record in the West, only one game behind the San Antonio Spurs. So much has been working well for the Mavs over the last few games. I wanted to look at what the Mavericks have changed from last year. I think that most of the Mavericks’ mistakes went overlooked and unfixed last year because they were always winning. It is tough to criticize the team in the midst of a winning streak, but when you are winning little mistakes are ignored and are allowed to slide because you are winning. The mistakes I am referring to in regards to last year’s team is the inside game. The main difference I have seen this year in the Mavs, is that their first offensive attack is to the inside with Harris, Howard, Dirk, or Dampier. If the easy inside shot isn’t there then they kick it out for the perimeter game of Jason Terry, Dirk, or Devean George. Last year they relied heavily on the outside shooting and the transition game as a first option on offense, which if you are hot, is lethal. However, the downside of relying on the outside shot is that you aren’t going to be hot all the time and when a team defends the perimeter really wel... [read more]