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Go Spurs Go!

Scratch That...

...nobody beats the Clippers 19 times in a row.

I Should Just Stop Waiting for the Other Boot to Drop

After a slow, ugly, and unsteady first half that luckily only saw the Spurs down 4, the team came out in the second half with more energy and precision, racing off to a quick 11-4 start and taking the lead for good. Although we were never able to get any real separation from the Bobcats, we were able to hold them off just long enough to come away with a 4 point win and improve our record to 5-1 on the young season.

What I Liked:

--Behind the arc. We got great 3-point shooting, particularly from Neal and Ginobili, who each hit 5 a piece. Throw in Anderson's 2, and you have all of our 3 pointers. But 12 3s in 26 tries is great, and almost always leads to great things for our team. Even more impressive, is that we held the Bobcats to just 6-19 from behind the arc. I believe they hit 4 of 5 in the first quarter, only able to connect on 2 of their next 14 for the remainder of the game. Our 3-point defense in the second half looked particularly sharp as we chased shooters off the line hard, preventing many attempts (and turning them into long 2s) and contesting almost all of them. This is a tenet of Pop's defense, so it's nice to see it starting to take hold this season

--And suddenly there was a bench. The guys over at 48MoH did a fantastic job diving into Pop's reliance on the bench this season and compares it to Alvin Gentry's use of the Suns bench last year. I agree with their assessment, and I like the way our bench is shaping up this year. I'm very impressed with Neal and Anderson's play early; McDyess looks like the player I always coveted when he was with Detroit; George Hill will come around; and Splitter and Bonner offer differing yet both very important skills from our 4th/5th big. Most importantly, I trust each of them to be on the floor at any given point in a game.

--Blair's D. Blair's having a tough start to the season, especially on offense, where I think every one of his shots has bounced off the rim. But I thought he played nice defense on Tyrus Thomas, a player who had a nice game and had his way with McDyess. But when Blair was on him, he was able to stay with him to cut off the driving lanes and still contest his jump shot. Thomas is a type of player (quick, athletic 4s) that gives us fits, so it's nice to know we have at least one player that can defend it.

--Morgan. The Bobcat's play by play guy called Blair 'Morgan' at least 2 or 3 times. Hilarity ensued.

--Splitter's inside presence. It's not always showing up in the box score yet, but I think Splitter is having a nice impact on the interior both offensively and defensively. He's getting some nice Offensive rebound putbacks, and on only play he occupied both Bobcats bigs as they boxed out, allowing McDyess to slide in, grab the rebound, and throw down a dunk. Splitter is still obviously learning the game, learning the system, and finding his legs, but I like what I see.

What I Didn't Like:

--George Hill, Point Guard? Hill seems to be regressing a bit in the early going. The injury may have something to do with it. Perhaps it's the pressure of being expected to be a major contributor. Whatever the reason, he's not given us much in this early season. He's particularly rough at PG. When he was running the offense, it went really stale and just stalled out completely. The ball movement died, the ball didn't reverse sides of the court, and we didn't get a lot of good looks nor run a lot of nice sets. His ball-handling is good, and he's fine in that role, but it's clear that he's better suited as a 2-Guard, and that either Parker or Ginobili will need to be in at all times when the games really start to matter.

--Turnovers, Rebounding, 2nd Chance Points. I haven't harped much on either of these categories this year. The rebounding numbers don't look great, but it doesn't pass the eye test. It feels like we're rebounding better this year and allowing less 2nd-chance points. (This discrepancy could also be because we're allowing opponents to shoot so well that there aren't as many rebounds to collect.) However, in this game, we gave up 15 offensive rebounds and gave up way too many 2nd-chance point opportunities.

We also seem to be turning the ball over way too much this season. We were particularly sloppy in the first half when the Bobcat's aggressive, pressing defense really seemed to bother us into some careless passes and mistakes.

--The end of the game. Having stretched our lead to a comfortable 9 points with around 2 minutes left, our next few possessions looked like this: missed 3 from the corner; turnover; missed basket on a poor possession; turnover that led to a 3-point play the other way that turned into a 4 point play when Thomas missed the free throw attempt but the Bobcats rebounded the miss and put it back in. In this run the Bobcats closed the deficit to 2 and put some real heat on our last possession and the last 15 seconds of the game.

Game Ball:

Luckily, we have Manu Ginobili, stone cold assassin. He calmly ran the clock down, drove the lane, got to his left hand thanks to a Duncan pick, and banked in a running sideways leaner that probably almost got blocked and looks completely out of sync and awkward if anybody besides Manu Ginobili attempts it. Throw in his team high 26 points and 5 3-pointers, and you've got yourself a game ball winner.

Looking Forward:

The Clippers come to town Wednesday night. This will be our second meeting already in this young season. I keep expecting a down game from the Spurs, and they keep threatening to deliver, yet winning in the end. Part of me feels like I'm reverse jinxing the team by doing this. So I'll continue to do it. The Clippers seem committed to moving past Baron Davis and letting the kids run the show, and they have some pretty good kids out there. We own the Clippers; but nobody beats the Clippers 18 times in a row, right? Right?

Still, I expect us to win.

Sometimes It's Better to Know the Results Before You Start Watching

I was unable to watch the Rockets game last night as I had an early show that directly conflicted with the game. My plan was to watch it today (Sunday), yet I know, from previous experience, that it's almost impossible to avoid the final score before I start watching. So I don't try anymore.

Boy was I relieved that I knew the final score before I watched that game. I might have thrown my phone (the thing nearest to me) right through the screen of my brand new computer as the Rockets made their run in the 4th quarter and the Spurs seemed to fall asleep at the wheel and give the game away. Luckily, I remained calm, and reminded myself that this all ended in OT with the Spurs somehow securing 3 more points than the Rockets. Wouldn't you know it, that's exactly how it ended.

You have to give the Rockets a ton of credit for playing so hard and so well even as their best scorers went down one by one. First, Yao didn't even play; then Brooks went out with a nasty ankle turn at the end of the half; finally, Kevin Martin's ankle followed suit and put him out of the game. Down to primarily bench players, the Rockets did what they always do, which is to play tough and get scoring from just about any player that seems willing and able.

Luckily for us, this might be the most offensively talented Spurs team in the Duncan era. We have 4 players that can easily score 20 in any given game, and another 3 to 4 that could always end up between 10 and 15 points. We all know about Jefferson's early season resurgence that shows no sign of ending as he grows more assured with every game. But don't let McDyess' improved play from last year get lost in the shuffle. He's shooting that 15 foot jump shot with the scary accuracy that we were all expecting last year. He's also playing solid defense, rebounding very well, and making 2 to 3 really important hustle plays each game. Duncan may be slipping ever so slightly with age, but his offensive game might be more efficient than at any other point in his career. Ginobili and Parker look like the whirling dervishes of years past. Throw in Hill's abilities, and Neal, Anderson, and Bonner's shooting, and it all adds up to 109 points per game, good for 3rd in the league.

However, this may be one of the worst defensive teams of the Duncan era, as well. We're allowing 105.4 points per game, good for 23rd in the league. Ugh. Teams are shooting 48% against us (42% from 3), which might just send Pop to an early grave.

So far the offense is really carrying us and allowing us to win games. While it's nice to have that offensive luxury to increase our margin of error in games, eventually the D will need to come around if we're going to be any sort of serious threat in the playoffs. The good news: we still have 77 games left and Pop as our head coach.

Looking Forward:

We travel to Charlotte Monday for a game against the Bobcats. Last year's game in Charlotte was a painful and ugly ordeal. They play very well at home, and can play suffocating defense. This is a game we can win, and this is a game we should win. Hopefully our newfound offensive prowess can overpower their D, and just maybe our D can start to find some life. But be prepared for a stinker. Or a slog.

The Kid Stays in the Picture

Spurs-Suns games always seem to follow a familiar narrative, regardless of the rotating cast of players. Little runs by each team to go up 6 or 7; opposing runs to level the score; odd shifts in momentum, during which either team looks like they could very easily pull away, yet never do. And always, coming down to under 5 minutes, the score is close. For years, it was always the Spurs who wrote the ending of these stories, breaking the hearts of the Suns and their fans.

Then, last year, a funny thing happened. The Suns flipped the script on us, and rattled off 7 victories against us, including a humiliating 4-game sweep in the playoffs. Suddenly it seemed as if we just didn't have the offensive juice or the defensive mojo to play with these scrappy Suns anymore.

But after last night, all is right with the world again.

There are some teams that the Spurs play with which analysis is mostly futile: the Suns and the Mavs are the most obvious. So let's just enjoy another good victory against the Suns, and thank whatever entity you pray to (or not) that Richard Jefferson seems to be figuring it out and has bought at least a timeshare in the Bruce Bowen corner.

Thank you, Richard Jefferson. I swear I always believed in you, even if my words, my body language, my spirit, my anger, and every fiber of my being said otherwise.

Looking Forward:

The Spurs are back home Saturday night against the Rockets. The Rockets beat us handily a few times last year. They're also struggling this year, having yet to win a game. They will be playing desperate, and they always give us a good fight. I'm hoping for another strong win, but bracing for the possibility of another Hornets-like downgraded effort. Prove me wrong, Spurs.

What Clippers Fans Said

ClipsNation.com:

The Clippers have lost so many times to the Spurs, and usually in such embarrassing fashion, that only being down 10 entering the fourth quarter, forcing Messieurs Duncan and Parker and Ginobili to actually exert effort after 9:30 PM, is a major accomplishment. Especially considering that LA was playing with their third string point guard.

Taking advantage of the ossifying-before-our-eyes Antonio McDyess, Blake Griffin flew straight to the rim on a couple of occasions. The Spurs played off of Blake, as all teams are going to do until he learns to hit a 17 footer, but it surprisingly didn't seem to matter. Even giving him a wide cushion, McDyess was too slow to stay in front of him.

Looking at the box score, you would think it would have been close. The Clippers outrebounded the Spurs 40-39, and enjoyed a 10 to 7 advantage on the offensive glass. They turned the ball over one fewer time than San Antonio. They made the same number of field goals. They took one more free throw.

ClipperBlog.com:

The Spurs dominated with stellar perimeter play, every time the Clippers made a little run there would be three from Manu, Richard Jefferson or Gary Neal. Those three and Tony Parker, he of the $50 million contract extesion (sic), combined for 67 points. Tim Duncan finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds but was no where near as tough a cover as he was even last year.

It was troubling that the solid play didn’t result in a halftime lead even though the Clippers looked active, enthused and they kept Tim Duncan to 4 points on 2-6 shooting. Even with Ginobili and Parker playing well, you shouldn’t expect to be down unless those two were dominating and they weren’t. Parker had 13 and Ginobili had 11. The surprise that made up for Duncan’s absence was Gary Neal, he of the preseason dagger three in Mexico City (if there is such thing as a preseason dagger). Neal scored 16 points in 18 minutes, many on momentum swinging shots.

The second half didn’t bode any better for the Clippers who continually let the lead grow and grow until they lost 97-88. It was simple and gradual and incredibly infuriating, like Chinese water torture. The Spurs kept making shots, Tim Duncan decided to make an appearance in the late third quarter and fourth even though he wasn’t operating much from that extended elbow area that he normally likes.

ClipperBlog.com ("Continuity and Corporate Knowledge – The Clippers and the Spurs"):

With three straight stomach-churning losses to open the season, the last team the Clippers want to see tonight is probably the San Antonio Spurs. Asides from the fact that they’ve lost sixteen straight games to San Antonio, the Spurs franchise embodies a no-frills, quiet professionalism, that stands in stark contrast to the Clippers organization. The Spurs are an old team, and the reign of Tim Duncan is slowly coming to a close. But they are a team that has a clear understanding of who they are; as a franchise, as a unit on the floor, and as individuals, and that makes them dangerous to a Clippers team that is searching for an identity, and is teetering on despair.

Clippers Lose 4 in a Row; Baron Davis Already Checking Out

Ho-hum. As the Clippers announcers said late in the game, sometimes a team just has another team's number. The Spurs have the Clippers number. We've won 17 in a row, apparently, and have barely lost to them in the Tim Duncan era. Granted, the Clippers haven't been all that good ever, really. But they have talent on the team, and they're certainly better than losing 17 in a row to one team.

And the win certainly felt good. After Saturday's iffy performance against the Hornets, it was nice to see the team perform better and secure a fairly easy win. There were still some trouble spots, but it's early, and in general, we played well.

What I Liked:

The shooting. I should single out Gary Neal and Richard Jefferson here. Oh my, can Neal shoot. And with good shooting comes scoring. Looks like Pop and Buford knew what they were doing when they signed him straight out of summer league. If he can give us a solid 10-15 minutes a night and chip in double figure points, that will be a boon for us.

And RJ just looks like a different animal this year. His stroke is much better, he's confident, and he's playing within himself and within the offense. Hopefully scoring will rarely be the issue for this team.

Overall, the team shot really well tonight (48% overall and 43% from 3). When we shoot that well, and especially when we shoot that well from 3, we'll usually win. (Notice how poorly we shot from 3 against New Orleans.)

The Bench. Our second unit just annihilated their second unit. Positive contributions from Neal obviously helped, but McDyess and Anderson also played big minutes, as did Bobby Simmons. In fact, Neal and McDyess had the best +/- on the team with a +14 and +15, respectively. The next closest player was Tony Parker, with a +5 (not counting Hill, who only played 6 minutes). When a team angles to rest its starters in the regular season, a good bench is of paramount importance.

26, 18, 21, 23. The Clippers scoring, by quarter. Only one quarter over 25, and an even 44 split per half. We're still allowing teams to shoot the ball too well, but we're also creating more turnovers than in years past and rebounding better than in the last few years, meaning we're giving teams more empty possessions and less extra possessions. I especially like the competitive will shown by the younger players to get out and guard on the wings.

Tiago Splitter. I know, he didn't play that much or all that well. But it was his first NBA action ever, and really his first time even playing with the team. He made lots of mistakes--some from nerves, I'm sure--but threw down a monstrous dunk after running the floor with Ginobili, made a great baseline pass that led eventually led to a Neal 3, and, perhaps most importantly, showed great lateral quickness on defense.

What I Didn't Like:

Sloppy and stagnant. Seems like we're still a little sloppy and stagnant on O, especially in the half court sets. It used to be we were sloppy out on the break, but now we look very good on the break, but often sputter to a halt in the half court. It's clear we're moving away from giving the ball to Duncan on the block and just letting Parker or Ginobili create from the pick and roll. Hopefully it's just early season growing pains, and we'll figure it out as the season progresses.

Confused Beast. DeJuan just seems out of sorts. He's getting owned by bigger centers on the defensive end, missing easy offensive conversions, and even making sloppy passes and decisions. He earned the starting position with his play in the pre-season, but I still wonder if he's best suited coming off the bench and energizing the second unit (and playing against other teams second units that probably won't contain 7-foot elite centers). Once integrated, Tiago might be the most natural starting center, with Blair coming off the bench with McDyess and Bonner.

George Hill's takedown. Hopefully Hill is OK and will be back in action Wednesday night.

Observations:

Eric Gordon is a really good player. I hope he has a bright future and isn't ruined by the Clipper stink.

Looking Forward:

The old rivalry with the Suns is renewed Wednesday night as the Spurs go into Phoenix for the first time after their season ended their last year. Since then, the Suns have lost A'mare and built an all small forward + Steve Nash offense. By all accounts, they seem to have taken a step back from last year, but whenever these two teams play, all bets are off. Despite our sterling record against them over the last 5 years, the though of Steve Nash running an offense against us still gives my nightmares. Still, this is a game we should win.

What Hornets Fans Said

AtTheHive.com ("Hornets 99, Spurs 90: Third Quarter Dominance Leads to 3-0 Start"):

The Hornets won at the AT&T Center for just the third time since 2002 with another convincing defensive performance. Chris Paul was also involved.

As the offense went from abysmal to good to stellar, the defense steadily tightened. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around (when the Hornets' offense dipped and the defense struggled to contain a Spurs squad fueled by desperation), the lead was insurmountable. We've seen double digit leads vanish in three consecutive games now, but on the flip side, we've eventually managed to protect each one successfully.

Tim Duncan looked absolutely terrible tonight, and Emeka Okafor certainly deserves a lot of credit. While Duncan was able to back Okafor down on occasion, Mek did a terrific job denying the face-up game. Okafor was only credited with one official blocked shot, but he challenged or altered almost every single Duncan attempt.

I don't think I've ever seen Duncan so rattled. He's still one of the game's best, and he'll undoubtedly post another stellar year. But for one night, he looked like a lost rookie. And it surely wasn't all Okafor's doing. The defining moment came in the fourth quarter when Duncan caught a pass underneath the hoop with no Hornet nearby. All he had to do was flip it in, or if he wanted to get fancy, dunk it. Instead, he traveled. Without the slightest possible reason to move at all, he traveled!

Hornets247.com ("The Hornets beat the Spurs"):

Tonight the Hornets built a sixteen point lead and then held off a late rally by the Spurs, including a crushing double cross-over by Paul to seal the win.

The Spurs did their usual strategy to try and beat the Hornets (or Suns) - stay home on the wings and make the point guard unable to generate easy open looks for his teammates. It didn’t work out this time as the Hornets were able to find other scoring opportunities, and their defense was good enough for several long stretches that the team pulled out the wind.

Big Easy Buzz Blog:

It was over when Chris Paul’s gorgeous crossover dribble and drive around Spurs defender George Hill led to a floating layup and a 97-90 Hornets edge with 27 seconds remaining. New Orleans won for the first time in San Antonio since the division-winning club of 2007-08 routed the Spurs at AT&T Center.

The Hornets struggled mightily on the road for much of last season, making Saturday’s win at the Spurs arguably their best away from New Orleans since 2008-09 or longer.

SwarmAndSting.com ("New Orleans Hornets Spur San Antonio For The Win"):

After a poor start Chris Paul did his thing working the Spurs over for 25 points. San Antonio does a good job of taking away the passes Paul usually finds, and force him to be a scorer, he was happy to do just that.

David West is off to a great start for the year. He’s hitting most of his jumpers, playing tough inside and more importantly doing a good job on defense. Towards the end of the 4th the Spurs showed the true sign of respect, doubling (or attempting to) West in the post.

Other than the 4th quarter I have to say that the Spurs crowd was rather quiet, what’s up with that?

The Third Quarter Massacre

A familiar problem to anyone who watched the Spurs last year resurfaced in tonight's 99-90 loss to the New Orleans Hornets: the inability to play a complete 48 minutes. We played 2 sterling quarters (the first and the fourth), winning them by a combined score of 54-40. However, the middle two quarters were a completely different story, as the Hornets outscored us 59-36. Yikes. The real killer was the close to the third quarter, when the Spurs went almost 6 minutes without a field goal and the Hornets pulled away, ultimately putting the game out of reach, despite a noble effort by the squad of Ginobili, Hill, Jefferson, Neal, and Blair that played almost the entirety of the 4th quarter and got us to within 3 before running out of gas.

People may question Pop's choice to play the same group for the entire quarter and not put Duncan or Parker back in once the game got close. I can see both sides of the dilemma, but I support continuing to play the players that got you back into the game. That squad had a real chemistry going and clearly had the Hornets back on their heels. We were one 3-pointer away from tying the game in the last 2 minutes and changing the complexity of how the game ended.

The Hornets present a particularly frustrating challenge to us, as their best players are at the two positions that seem to give us the most trouble defensively: PG and PF. Chris Paul is an all-world player and is a problem for anybody. But the way he went off in the 3rd quarter was devastating. That might have been partly why Pop never went back to Parker, even though he was playing very well offensively. David West has been a thorn in our side for the last 4 years. We really don't have anybody to guard those middle 4s, who rely mostly on midrange jump shots. I'll be interested to see how Splitter fares against them.

What I Liked:

Welcome to the team...now start making some 3s. Both Anderson and Neal got a healthy dose of playing time tonight, and both played well. Again, I was impressed with Anderson's will to compete, especially on the defensive end. And Neal showed why the Spurs gave him a contract out of summer league: the man can flat out shoot, something our team sorely missed last season. I like the way the pieces are starting to fit together.

Richard Jefferson's mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. Of all the things that keyed our 4th quarter rally, perhaps nothing was more important that RJ's offense. He's aggressive and attacking the rim, but he's doing it with a confidence and a purpose that he didn't have last year. I'm excited to watch how he grows with the team this season.

George Hill, 4th Quarter Specialist. Does Hill just need to play the 4th quarter of each game? Again, he was spectacular in the final frame while playing poorly in the first 3. His defense on Paul was nothing short of terrific.

More Cohesion. At least to start the game, the starters played much better together, and the offense was really clicking in the first quarter. Parker was especially effective, looking like the Parker of yore.

Lock that up. Speaking of which, congrats to Parker on his new extension. Despite rumors and innuendo to the opposite, Parker has always insisted that he wanted to remain a Spur; and now he will. Parker is a favorite scapegoat of the Spurs faithful, but when he is healthy, he is as dynamic a player as there is in the NBA and gives our offense a unique dimension.

My new iMac. My 6-year old starter Dell died last week. Honestly, it was a miracle it had lasted that long so effectively. I took the plunge and jumped over to an iMac. How have I lived until now? This thing is amazing. Not only that, it's instantly my best TV and makes watching the games online more enjoyable than when the Spurs are on National TV.

What I Didn't Like:

Half a game. As mentioned earlier, we played a really great half of a game. We need to tighten that up, obviously.

Early game giveaways. This is a game we could have won and we didn't. I would like to see more urgency from our team early in the season to get some wins.

George Hill, First 3 Quarters Dog. Again he seemed to press, he seemed out of sorts, and his shot is still MIA. I know he'll find it. I just wonder if the pressure is getting to him a little bit. Much like jumping from 50 wins to championship contender seems to be the hardest leap for a team, jumping from really good player to great player seems to be the hardest jump for a player. We have a lot of expectations for Hill this year, but it might be rough roads for a while before he figures it out and finds his place on this team.

Slow Down, Big Man. As Sean Elliott said on the broadcast, Blair is just moving too fast at times. So many times he gets blocked at the rim or just misses the shot point blank because he seems to be in hyper speed. Blair has shown amazing aptitude in figuring things out quickly and implementing them almost instantly, so I expect he'll correct this. But we left quite a few points on the floor from missed shots.

Game Ball:

Has to go to Jefferson tonight. He scored 18 points and really helped key the team's best play in the 4th quarter.

Looking Forward:

We go on the road to LA to take on the Clippers Monday night. We've owned the Clippers for the last few years, but hope springs eternal in ClipperLand with the arrival of the much heralded Blake Griffin. I don't expect this to be an easy one, but I do expect a win.

For Halloween, Pop is Going as Don Nelson

The Spurs won their season opener at home against the Indiana Pacers 122-109 in a closer-than-the-final-score-indicated game. After playing a Nellie-ball style first half in which both teams made every shot and seemed to have little regard for that 'D' word, the Spurs tightened the screws just enough in the fourth quarter to pull away late and bury the inexperienced Pacers. The game showcased both how potent our offense can be this year, and how far our defense has to go. Don't worry, though; it's just the first game.

What I Liked:

--It's Duncan and Ginobili's court; the Pacers just play on it. Oh, mama, did the bigger of the Big 3 have great games. Duncan put up the dominatingly efficient line we hope to expect from him in his dotage: 23 points on 12 shots, and 12 boards to boot. He looked quick and healthy, and his jumper was money in the bank. I don't really know what to say about Ginobili other than that's why we love him so. You think he's been itching to start this season?

--George Hill, Quarter 4. Georgie shook off some early yips to play a solid 4th quarter in which his intensity and aggressiveness on both ends of the court really keyed our rally. The Big 3 obviously need more help than ever this season, and with Hill, Blair, and Jefferson battling every night to be that 4th player, we might just end up with 6 really good players every night.

--Richard Jefferson. 16 points on 6 shots and he seemed much more comfortable in the system. During the broadcast, Sean Elliott kept saying that he didn't necessarily expect Jefferson's numbers to increase this season. I agree, but I expect his efficiency and efficacy to greatly increase. Early signs are positive.

--Believe the lie. It seems the dedication to running is for real...at least for now. It was clear that the Spurs were committed to pushing the ball and trying to get as much early offense as possible. And for the most part, it worked well and effectively. Honestly, it was our set offense that seemed to struggle the most.

--Not bad, for a rookie. James Anderson had a solid first showing. During his first stint he seemed a bit overwhelmed, and he did press. But as he settled down and settled in, he made some big jumpers, and he competed hard, especially on the defensive end. Hey, isn't that what Pop is looking for from his back-up small forward? Huh.

--44. During the Pop era, the Spurs try to hold their opponents to an average of 22 points per quarter. The Pacers scored 44 points in the second half, which seems to indicate that the defense was good if not spectacular the second half. Using the eye test, the team certainly competed a hell of a lot harder during the second half and in very un-Spurs-like fashion created havoc and TOs.

What I Didn't Like:

--65. That's how many points we gave up in the first half. That's how many points we should be giving up in 3 quarters. That's bad math.

--George Hill, Quarters 1-3. He was pressing, trying to do too much. He would pass up shots in the flow of the offense to dribble into the defense and make things worse. Year 3 will be an interesting year for Hill. He was solid as a rookie, and he made a leap in his second year. For him to really become a great player, he needs to make another leap in Year 3, and he has to start fulfilling some of his promise. I love the kid, and I hope nothing but the best for him and have no doubt that he'll continue to improve.

--You guys have played with each other, right? The offensive execution was pretty bad. The spacing was off a lot, people seemed to be moving into each other. Passes were bobbled, lost, or thrown away. We just weren't crisp. It's not uncommon to see this early in the season, obviously, but I don't remember it ever being quite so bad in the Big 3 era. One thing the Spurs always seem to have going for them is continuity. It seemed like last night was the first time playing with each other for lots of guys. Which I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

--Matt Bonner's ankle. Sucks to lose a player in the first game, even if only for a little bit.

Observations:

--We seemed to miss a lot of shots and lay-ups right at the rim. This is obviously crappy because it's lost points. But the good news from that is that we're getting to the rim pretty easily. Parker especially was having trouble finishing off drives. But that will come with a little bit of time. It's a good sign that we're attacking and getting there.

--I'm of two minds on the new technical rule, but in general I'm in favor of players calming down after calls and just playing the game. And yes, I'm aware that Tim Duncan is one of the biggest complainers in the game. (Take that aspect away from him and you may very well have the most perfect player ever.) I think players should get an initial reaction--that's just human nature--but beyond that, zip it. The passion isn't being taken out of the game. I'm pretty sure you can still celebrate when you make a huge basket, or get a big stop, or do things within the framework of the game.

But what's really interesting to watch is how hard players are trying not to react, and how conscious they are of it. Seriously, watch it. It's fun.

Game Ball:

Tough to decide between Ginobili and Duncan, but we're giving it to the Big Fella for the home opener.

Looking Forward:

Next up is New Orleans at home on Saturday night. New Orleans is one of those teams that I have no idea what to expect from them this season. Chris Paul is back and is still one of the best players in the league. But is he happy? Does he have any quality around him? And how will the team adjust to a new coach and new system?

This is another early season game that the Spurs should win. Look for an increased emphasis on our defense. Continue to watch how Jefferson is fitting into the system, and see if Blair can have a bit of a breakout game since he won't be playing against a 7'4" opposing center. Also, see if some of Parker's lay-ups start to drop. If they do, watch out. He loves playing against Paul, and always seems to acquit himself very well against him.