And Dallas goes down again without the Dirkster. Will he play Friday night?

Biggest question tonight was if the subs would be able to cover the spread to which they ended up doing. Spurs move to 34-6.

Spurs just putting on a show tonight against Denver. Manu and Tony have scored a combined 42 points.

Subs are in and Denver has closed within 10 with under a minute to go. Will now be 35-6 at the halfway point of the season.

Win by 13 and Splitter almost breaks his back on a dunk. Go Spurs Go!!

[This message has been edited by agwin12 (edited 1/17/2011 8:57a).]

yea that last dunk by splitter was ugly. He swung on the rim and let go once his feet weren't under him anymore. I hope he didn't break his tailbone...

Splitter's knee was knocked into his head by the impact. That was probably the ugliest fast break dunk I have ever seen. His back might be hurting after that.

Even though he's a sub that doesn't get much time, I hope he's okay, because the last thing the spurs need is 5-6 guys hobbled with injury. Anderson & Bonner are enough for now.

yea that last dunk by splitter was ugly. He swung on the rim and let go once his feet weren't under him anymore. I hope he didn't break his tailbone...

dp sandwich

And the clippers beat the lakers to put another game between the spurs and lakers.

Homecourt will be huge for the WCF.

Yikes, on that dunk Splitter just had too much momentum. He was hoping to swing back and lost his grip. Ouch.

What is it with ESPN not giving the spurs any love?

It's several things. The Spurs play an efficient, merciless game but it doesn't have a ton of highlights and they don't show much emotion. The Spurs are still a small market. The story is basically always the same over the last decade, there just isn't much fresh about it. Finally, the Spurs have no one on their team that likes to be on TV or certainly make a statement that is remotely controversial. They come out and give a very factually based interview about what happened in the game, always being respectful to the other team and deflecting credit and then they go home. Tony and Eva getting a divorce was the only interesting back story on the Spurs this season and he certainly wasn't talking about it. I don't know if there has ever been a dynasty that is as humble as the Spurs are.

ESPN would much rather talk about how 'Melo is going to get woo'ed by a Russian billionaire or who highlights of a crazy dunk with smack talk, it makes a lot more interesting TV.

quote:

---

I don't know if there has ever been a dynasty that is as humble as the Spurs are.

---

If there is, its the Patriots. They are the football equivalent of the Spurs.

cuing simpletard in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

quote:

---

The Spurs play an efficient, merciless game but it doesn't have a ton of highlights and they don't show much emotion.

---

Note: This is NOT a personal attack--please just bear with me while I rant.

The highlighted portion of your post is pure drivel. This whole national perception of the Spurs being a boring, highlight-lacking team stems directly from the reputation they gained in the '98 and '99 seasons. Because of Tim Duncan and David Robinsons' low-key personalities, the media slapped the boring label on the Spurs and it's stuck with them throughout their run of more than a decade of success. Was the '99 team boring? They made other teams look boring through putting the defensive clamps on them. But would you call Avery Johnson's personality boring? What about the firebrand that was Mario Elie? How about Malik Rose's undying heart and hustle off the bench? Yet because Tim and David were the faces of the franchise, the boring label stuck fast (and it's not like those two were going to do a bunch to change that).

But even giving the '99-'02 teams a pass for being called "boring," I absolutely defy anyone to objectively call the Spurs' game boring since the arrivals of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They may say all the right things in the media and not rock the boat, but it's impossible to miss the fire those two players alone have in their eyes every time they set foot on the hardwood. And that attitude has filtered down to San Antonio's youth. DeJuan Blair reminds me of Malik Rose's spunk. And did anyone miss George Hill getting right back into Kobe Bryant's face in their last game at the AT&T Center?

The "boring" label will probably dog this franchise at least until Tim Duncan retires (and probably for a few years after), but let's not kid ourselves about the entertainment value of San Antonio's game.

I agree but also disagree. Looking at this year's team, the Spurs are anything BUT boring. They have finally done what the rest of the league started doing around '06, which is they let their offensive players play in the rhythm of the game. If it is fast, they'll play fast; if they have to they'll slow it down. If a shot presents itself, they take it.

Prior to this year, 1/2 of the Spurs defense was predicated by their offense. The offense WAS boring. Throw it into Duncan, and work off of him. He'd hold the ball for a few seconds, make a few moves, and then either make a shot or kick it out. Pretty boring. Not only that, but it made it so that the 2nd unit had little identity when Duncan was out of the game.

This year is an offensive free-for-all. The ball moves everywhere; Tony, Manu and Hill are all very skilled with the ball in their hands and can all make plays and distribute the ball. It started I think in the Dallas series last year, and this year they are beginning to perfect it.

Long story short:
Spurs 1999 - 2010 = boring but efficient
Spurs 2010 - 2011 = not boring anymore, still efficient

I stand by my statement. Merciless and efficient are not the same as boring. This isn't the old Spurs that were "4 Down" on every play. This team does everything well and loves to get fast break points. Manu and Parker are dynamic scorers that make plays. That doesn't change my statement though.

My point is the Spurs play to win games, period. They don't do an alley oop unless that is the smart play. They don't go for highlight reel dunks just for show. They basically don't do anything that isn't a smart basketball play. They rarely show emotion beyond a fist pump and they certainly don't talk smack, though they don't back down when challenged. As soon as a game is in hand, they pull the starters. As soon as a game is lost, they do the same. They play smart basketball and I love it but it still doesn't make for great highlights. It doesn't even mean they are "boring", it just means there aren't many new interesting storylines or things to show. The Spurs are a very professional team in a league filled with guys that generally act like they are in high school. Even the last 3 guys they had that liked to give interviews and be on TV (Sean Elliot, Steve Kerr, and Bruce Bowen) were all polished and respectful and certainly wouldn't say anything that would stir the pot.

Look at a team like Denver. They have several guys with crazy hair that are all about showing off their athleticism. They love attention. That makes better highlights and better stories. Same thing with the Heat. Or the Knicks.

All of that is ok. The Spurs are a great team and something special to watch. Still, the story generally doesn't change much and thus there isn't much new to report on. It's not like ESPN is trying to capture a larger section of the San Antonio market either or try to convert the country into Spurs fans. They want interesting storylines and TV sets and neither of those are strengths for the Spurs, nor will they be as long as Pop and Duncan are there. All they care about is winning.

I think their offense became a lot less boring (well-not to me but to the casual fan) around 2007. They started running plays just for Tony and just for Manu. Prior to that, they were feeding Duncan the ball most of the time. Since, he has become much less of a focus on offense.

I will say this, however. If this team played in New York, LA, Boston, or any other major atlantic / pacific market--they sure as hell would be talked about all the time and no one would refer to them as boring. Plain and simple, they play in San Antonio, and no one gives a damn about San Antonio except South Texans, who aren't worth anything to ESPN & TV suits.

Spurs having a great second half against Toronto. From down 11 at the half to leading by 12 with under 5 mins to go. 54 points scored so far to the Raptors' 31.

Blair also having a great night. Double-double with 22 pts and 11 rebounds.

And the mavs helping to put us another game ahead of the lakers.

You won't catch me saying this often, but let's go mavs.

Blair was a beast tonight. Spurs are 36-6 and now have a sick 6.5 game lead over the 2nd place Lakers.

Now if Boston could just drop a couple games...

Agree. Need to have Boston drop at least a couple.

Now 37-6. Pop still coaching his butt off with 24 tics left. TD laughing. Go Spurs Go!!

The Mavs are a solid 27-15, enough for 1st place in the Northwest Division. Of course since they are in the Southwest Division they are 9.5 games back.

17 straight at home by the Spurs. Considering it looks like the playoffs will go through SA that is rather ominous right now.

With the 2-3-2 format, homecourt in the finals isn't a huge deal.

I do want to see LA lose a few more

Boston only 3 back in the loss column. Trying not to think too much ahead and HCA through the west would be fantastic already but having it throughout the whole playoffs would be beautiful.

quote:

---

With the 2-3-2 format, homecourt in the finals isn't a huge deal.

---

Couldn't be more WRONG.

Having a game 7 at home is EXTREMELY beneficial for the home team--at least the history of the game says so.

Gary Neal is turning into a very complete player. His defense has been outstanding tonight and he is clearly working on his game off the dribble. The way he shoots, a serviceable pump-fake and drive will make him a very productive player.

spurs down 46-70 in new orleans. haven't been watching but SA scored 12 in the first quarter, and 8 in the third to NO's 29.

seems like the guys didn't come to play tonight.

all i can say is i'm glad there are no back to backs in the playoffs...

It was a 3 point game at halftime. In the first half, the Spurs were taking average looks way too early in the shot clock and missing lots of open shots. In the 3rd quarter, the Hornets played great defense and the Spurs lost their composure on offense.

Can't win em all. They need to take care of Golden State and Utah in the next 2 games before that road trip starts.

37-7 record...need to go 28-10 from here on out to get to 65 wins.