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Thanks to Donny Maxwell for this tip.

More Spurs Trade Rumors

With the NBA trade deadline less than 24 hours away, there are still rumors floating around about possible Spurs trades, either for Vince Carter or Richard Jefferson.

The Sacramento Kings will reportedly send Brad Miller and John Salmons to Chicago for Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni. Apparently the Spurs made an offer that the Maloof brothers rejected.

Sources say the Dallas Mavericks offered Jerry Stackhouse for Salmons, and the San Antonio Spurs were willing to part with Bruce Bowen and Ime Ukoda for him. Both Stackhouse and Bowen have partial guarantees for next season – $2 million each – that are cost prohibitive to Sacramento. League executives say the Kings preferred a straight expiring deal for Salmons before they found the Bulls’ deal.

Adrian Wojnarowski also reports on Manu Ginobili's ankle injury and what it might mean for trade talks.

The San Antonio Spurs’ delay to release any specific information about Manu Ginobili’s right ankle injury has led some opposing GMs to speculate that the injury could be serious. Delaying the announcement until after the Thursday trade deadline would help keep the Spurs from losing any leverage in their ongoing talks.

In addition to their failed pursuit of Salmons, the Spurs expressed interest in the Nets’ Carter and the Bucks’ Jefferson. One Western Conference executive acknowledged they have little chance of landing Jefferson.

Bruce Bowen has been offered in nearly every trade discussion because he’s guaranteed only $2 million next season. Center Fabricio Oberto also has a partial guarantee of $1.9 million next season.

Regardless of the outcome, SpursDynasty readers have demonstrated some wisdom in these matters, and also a glaring blind spot.

With 232 votes cast so far in our poll ("Who will Spurs trade?"), the top three picks have been: Jacques Vaughn, Ime Udoka and Fabricio Oberto. For some reason, Bruce Bowen ranks seventh. Chalk it up to appreciation for his 7-1/2 years of outstanding service to the organization.

Tony Parker Joins NBA Dancers

Sorry, my headline is intentionally misleading.

I was just checking out the NBA dancers in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue and was disappointed to discover that the spread doesn't include a single Silver Spur. Don't get me wrong, these girls are hot, but our girls are way hotter than any of these ten.

Something else caught my eye and that was a Subway promotion featuring Tony Parker. See it for yourself by clicking the link or the image below.

"Manu Ginóbili is a statistical freak"

Michael Lewis, the author of "Moneyball," has an interesting piece in the latest New York Times Magazine ("The No-Stats All-Star").

Ostensibly, Lewis is writing about Houston Rockets' forward Shane Battier. But Lewis is really interested in how traditional basketball statistics don't necessarily reveal a player's impact or effect on his fellow players, and how people like Daryl Morey, the Rockets’ general manager, are using stats in new ways to build better teams and better players.

The big challenge on any basketball court is to measure the right things. The five players on any basketball team are far more than the sum of their parts; the Rockets devote a lot of energy to untangling subtle interactions among the team’s elements. To get at this they need something that basketball hasn’t historically supplied: meaningful statistics. For most of its history basketball has measured not so much what is important as what is easy to measure — points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots — and these measurements have warped perceptions of the game. (“Someone created the box score,” Morey says, “and he should be shot.”) How many points a player scores, for example, is no true indication of how much he has helped his team. Another example: if you want to know a player’s value as a ­rebounder, you need to know not whether he got a rebound but the likelihood of the team getting the rebound when a missed shot enters that player’s zone.

Lewis also has some unique praise for Manu Ginobili:

Battier learns a lot from studying the data on the superstars he is usually assigned to guard. For instance, the numbers show him that Allen Iverson is one of the most efficient scorers in the N.B.A. when he goes to his right; when he goes to his left he kills his team. The Golden State Warriors forward Stephen Jackson is an even stranger case. “Steve Jackson,” Battier says, “is statistically better going to his right, but he loves to go to his left — and goes to his left almost twice as often.” The San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginóbili is a statistical freak: he has no imbalance whatsoever in his game — there is no one way to play him that is better than another. He is equally efficient both off the dribble and off the pass, going left and right and from any spot on the floor.

Poll: Who will Spurs trade?

There have been some titillating rumors out there about possible Spurs trades, including offers for Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter, John Salmons and Brad Miller.

Honestly, I don't think that Pop and RC will trade anyone, but with just eight shopping days left until the deadline, it is a possibility.

What do you think? I've included current Spurs salary data, in case that affects your decision making.

Who will Spurs trade?
(2008-2009 salary)
Tim Duncan ($20,598,703)
Tony Parker ($11,550,000)
Manu Ginobili ($9,900,000)
Kurt Thomas ($4,200,000)
Bruce Bowen ($4,000,000)
Fabricio Oberto ($3,500,000)
Roger Mason ($3,500,000)
Matt Bonner ($2,959,190)
Michael Finley ($2,500,000)
Jacques Vaughn ($1,262,275)
Ime Udoka ($1,080,000)
Ian Mahinmi ($1,009,200)
George Hill ($1,006,200)
Malik Hairston ($314,392)
See Results

Questions About Spurs-Nuggets Game

Fran Blinebury ("Sitting Spurs' stars raises several questions") has a lot of questions about the Spurs loss to the Nuggets Tuesday night.

I've got answers:

Did Coach Pop give himself a mini-vacation?

No. Pop never takes vacation, not even in the off-season.

Is there such a thing as a good loss? Or maybe a loss that proves a point? Or even a loss that doesn't really mean anything at all?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

Was Popovich's motivation to tweak the nose of the schedule-makers at the league office back in New York who had forced his team to play in Oakland -- a high-intensity affair against the up-tempo Warriors that went into overtime -- on Monday night, then lose an hour traveling across a time zone for a Tuesday night game in Denver?

No. If Manu were healthier, or the Big Three hadn't played so many minutes Monday night, Pop might have played them in Denver.

So was it fair to the NBA fans that plopped down their hard-earned dollars in Denver to see Duncan, Parker and Ginobili and instead got Kurt Thomas, George Hill and Ime Udoka?

I'll answer this question with another question: Is it fair to NBA fans to spend money watching teams like the Washington Wizards and LA Clippers?

Was it fair to the spirit of competition throughout the league for the Spurs to mail one in?

Spirit of competition? Fran, I think you're confusing the NBA with the Olympics.

But who won and who really lost?

The Nuggets got the win. The Spurs got to rest their Big Three plus one. I'd say it was a win-win.

The victory gave the Nuggets the season series 2-1 and the first tie-breaker over the Spurs in a tight Western Conference race. But what did this game prove to San Antonio or to Denver that will matter in the playoffs?

It proved that Pop cares more about the health of his players, and playing the Celtics this Sunday, than beating the Nuggets. It also proved that the Nuggets are hapless, even when they have more talent on the court.

So do the Nuggets feel that they have an edge in a potential playoff meeting?

If they do, they're kidding themselves. And Fran, you answered this question when you wrote: "In the Nuggets' other win, back in November, Ginobili and Parker were both out. The only time both teams were at full strength, the Spurs went into Denver and whipped the Nuggets by 17."

Have the Spurs given up anything at all?

If the Spurs have given up anything, I'm not aware what that might be.

Hairston & White Are D-League All-Stars

This news from yesterday's Austin American-Statesman further validates the Spurs acquisition of Malik Hairston and calling him up to the big game last weekend.

Malik Hairston, the Austin Toros' leading scorer this season, has been selected to play in the NBA D-League All-Star Game.

Hairston will play for the blue team, which will be coached by the Toros' Quin Snyder and his assistant, Wendell Alexis.

The 6-foot-6-inch Hairston has averaged 21.1 points in 23 games with the Toros.

He was called up to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, beginning his second go-around this season with the NBA club.

A second-round pick of the Phoenix Suns in the 2008 NBA draft, Hairston was acquired by the Spurs in exchange for the draft rights to Goran Dragic.

The D-League All-Star Game will be played Feb. 14 in Phoenix.

Dakota guard Blake Ahearn, who began the season with Austin, was named to the red team's all-star roster.

The league's leading scorers, Albuquerque's Will Conroy and Anaheim's James White, headline the blue team that includes Hairston. White, a forward who once played for the Toros, is scoring 25.5 points per game for Anaheim.

Big Three Rest While Subs Scare Nuggets

Whatever his rationale, Pop's strategy against the Nuggets in Denver last night scared the hell out of me. Sure, I understood that Ginobili needed to rest his bruised hip.

"Usually, I would try to argue with (Popovich about sitting)," Ginobili told the San Antonio Express-News on Tuesday. "This time, I didn’t. I woke up really sore."

I also understood that Duncan, Parker and Finley played a lot of minutes Monday night in Oakland. But did Pop really need to keep all four players on the bench the entire game?

As expected, the Spurs lost. But even with Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Finley on the bench, the Spurs were competitive. How competitive? After a 3-pointer by Mason with two minutes to play, the Spurs trailed by just four points, 98-94.

"We should have attacked this game with a professional attitude and an intensity, and probably should have gotten the game over by the fourth quarter," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "San Antonio showed a lot of heart and a lot of character and scared the hell out of us."

That's no small feat against a Denver team that is now 3rd in the Western Conference and, with Chauncey Billups at point, thinks it can contend with the Lakers and the Spurs.

Which is why Pop benched the Big Three.

Here's my take on Pop's thinking... The Spurs just started their infamous Rodeo Road Trip*, which takes a toll on players. The Spurs needed overtime to beat the Warriors Monday night. The Big Three combined for 119 minutes in that game and needed some rest. The Spurs are playing okay in back-to-back games this season -- 7 of 10 -- but those wins came against the T'wolves (twice), the Clippers, the Hawks, the Sixers, the Bulls and the Pacers, whose combined winning percentage at home is less than 50%. The Nuggets are 19-6 at home. The last thing the Nuggets needed was a psychological boost from beating the Spurs.

If you're going to lose, make your opponent think that they only won because you let them.

The Spurs face the Celtics for the first time this Sunday in a game that could be a preview of the 2009 NBA Finals. Better the Big Three be rested for this big game. Thanks to Pop, they will be.


* Editor's note: Although the Rodeo Road Trip lasts eight games this season, by February 21 the Spurs will have played 14 of 17 games on the road. Road trip, indeed.

Also, We Couldn't Find a Cracker Barrel

Wah.
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

One would think I'd have been totally geeked for Monday night. My beloved Spurs were in town and my even more beloved Manu was on a bit of a roll. I had tickets, as always, and my girlfriend agreed to cover for me at work and I was finally going to see my SpursDynasty buds again after a long time apart (mostly my fault).

But the whole day I had a weird feeling about the game. I didn't want to get my hopes too high. The Spurs always seem to struggle in the Bay Area and make too many uncharacteristic turnovers and bonehead plays. They play poorly on defense and one Warrior - usually crazy ass Stephen Jackson - always seems to get insanely hot against them. The Dubs are an awful, awful road team and we beat the hell out of them in San Antone every single time, but at home they're a spirited, frisky bunch, having already beaten Boston and nearly doing the same to Cleveland, with the Cavs escaping on a LeBron buzzer-beater. The Spurs had gone 1-3 in their last four visits to Oaktown, including their last loss despite scoring over 100 points, a 130-121 overtime setback last year on January 7th. Yes, Duncan was out for two of those three losses, but still I was nervous and thought it'd be anything but a Spurs runaway.

Timmy was dominating early, hitting one long jumper after another, and he had 17 of our first 25 points, as well as seven rebounds. Still, his ownage of Andris Biedrins didn't translate to a big lead because we were a bit sloppy (five turnovers in the first) and also because Nellie went all out trying to hold the fort, playing his five starters for the first 11:55 of the game.

The second quarter was where the game turned ugly for the Spurs, with Pop channeling his inner Avery Johnson and letting Nellie get into his head; doing the Warriors a favor by putting lineups on the floor that he'd never use against anyone else. He gave Malik Hairston, of all people, some floor time and eschewed Tinyball altogether in favor of Microball, playing five smalls. Judging by where they lined up for Warriors free throws, I'd have to conclude that Fin was playing center and Manu was power forward. Pop always seems to dick around against the Warriors, especially on the road, because he has a soft spot for Nelson, grateful that the man gave him a chance to have an NBA coaching career, so while he doesn't take outright dives against the Warriors, he does coach a lot poorer than usual. Corey Maggette and Captain Jack killed our micro lineup, posting up whoever guarded them and the Warriors took a 52-48 lead at half. Manu didn't play as much as usual after picking up his third foul shortly after checking back into the game with under four minutes to go in the half. His second foul came out of frustration shortly after he fed Bonner for what should've been an easy layup, but somehow Rocket botched it up (Tony and Mace missed easy ones as well). Still, I was hopeful Gino would have a big second half, as he made his first attempt, a runner, and all nine of his previous 20+ scoring games had that prerequisite.

Jackson was hot early in the third period and Gino late, and when the dust settled on their mano-a-Manu duel it was still a four point deficit going into the fourth. The Warriors are truly an awful rebounding team, letting both Ginobili and Bowen have putbacks off the glass. Bob Fitzgerald, the Golden State play-by-play guy, explained that while the Spurs defense is 18th in field goal percentage and the Warriors are 22nd, the reason one team allows so many more points (the Spurs give up 17 less a game than the Dubs) than another is defensive rebounding, where the Spurs rank first and the Warriors rank last. I think this is a bit too simplistic. There's also pace and turnovers to consider, but he's not completely off base.

The fourth quarter was sloppy and ugly for both sides, but the Spurs chipped into the Warriors' 12 point lead ever so slowly. Like glacially, actually. It wasn't a run they put together, it was a crawl. The key to the game I thought was Maggette, The Man Who Was Too Good To Play For The Mid-Level Exception, missing two free throws late to keep the Spurs comeback going. The Spurs' hero on this night was Kurt Thomas, who finished the evening with 15 rebounds despite not pulling his first until midway through the 2nd quarter and having only three at half. Thomas not only rebounded like a beast at both ends, but he was also the only Spur who could check Maggette at all, with the former Clipper easily getting the better of Bonner and our horde of swingmen. Also, it should be noted, that Thomas was the only Spur outside of the Big Three who didn't play like complete ass.

Obviously the controversy at the end, at least from the Warriors' perspective was Rony Turiaf's foul on Manu with eight seconds to go, enabling Ginobili to send the game to overtime. Both Fitzgerald and his color guy Jim Barnett were livid with the call, blamed the whole loss on it, and kept showing replays of it over and over, even deep into the overtime. I guess when you call games for a loser organization like the Warriors, you have to make excuses whenever they're available. Me, I think they lost the game because they couldn't score for six minutes in the fourth quarter and often couldn't even get a decent shot up, turning the ball over time and again. It's not like the Spurs blitzed them with a 12-0 run in two minutes. They simply got one basket here and one basket there and ever-so-slowly exerted their will. Then, finally, when the game was tied with eight seconds to go, the play Nellie chose to go with was Jackson one-on-one against the Spurs' best defender. Savvy!

Besides, it was a foul. Not much of a foul, but a foul. While the announcers kept pointing out the lack of contact from Turiaf's body over and over again, they never noticed that his left arm chopped down Manu's off arm really quickly before pulling it back. He tried to be sneaky but got caught. I agree that had the ball gone in the ref probably wouldn't have blown the whistle, but it was one of those subtle nuances of the game that casual fans don't understand. Like sometimes when a guy kind of fouls another guy and forces him to lose the ball out of bounds, a ref will say the ball went out on the team that committed the foul without actually calling it a foul, despite it obviously being hit out of bounds by the guy who got fouled. You follow? We had a call like that yesterday where Parker got tripped and lost the ball out of bounds, but instead of calling a foul or saying it was the Warriors' ball, the ref smartly just said it was last touched by the Golden State player when it clearly wasn't.

Whatever. The Warriors had the last shot and three minutes of Duncan-less overtime to win the game, but let's not let the facts get in the way of a good bitchfest. Let's ignore the six minutes of offensive ineptitude and focus on one referee call. I guess announcers have to act like this when employed by their teams. It's sad, really. If I ran the sports world I make it a rule that only British men could be sports announcers, whether it's the NBA, NFL or whatever. I love British announcers. They can call their own players rubbish, question their hearts, their brains and their manhood and nobody says shit about it. Our American sports stars are fucking prima donna babies who can't take one piece of criticism even after being showered with a barrage of compliments.

Like for example, George Hill. George Hill sucked last night. He was 0-2 from the field and -14 in twelve minutes and he played terribly on defense. He wasn't just bad for an NBA player or a rookie. He was bad for a mammal. A duck-billed platypus, a wombat or even The JV would've played better. But if Sean Elliott said that on TV, he'd hear about it from Hill the next day. And that's weak.

Anyway, the game ended with Duncan finishing with 32-15-5 and Manu getting a new season high, also scoring 32. Some charming Warriors fan yelled at me outside, "Fuck Ginobili, you're a faggot, the Spurs suck."

A perfect ending to a weird night.

SpursDynasty Seeks Contributors

In case you haven't noticed, not a lot has been going on at SpursDynasty.com this season. Because I'd rather blame someone else rather than take personal responsibility, I blame the women in our lives. The Funk, Bramlet and I have wives who, surprise surprise, want us to spend more time with them, and not our computers. Bramlet has a brand new baby girl, so until she learns how to type, she won't be contributing to the site in any measurable way, except to distract Bramlet from posting. And Michael has a girlfriend. Has that kept him from writing about the Spurs? Not at all. He wrote 11 posts for PtR in January, but only two for this site. (Must be all the love he gets from PtR readers.)

[Editor's note: you'll find Michael aka Stampler's posts on PtR here.]

Despite the fact that SpursDynasty has been infrequently updated, we still manage to attract more than 10,000 unique visitors to the site each and every month. I hate to disappoint all those people by not giving them something new to read, which is why I'm seeking contributors.

Contact me at dingo at spursdynasty dot com if interested. I can't offer you much for your services, except a bullhorn, an audience and a round of drinks at my favorite watering hole.