NBA: My Spurs are on a hot streak

[lazarus]

2 straight games won by 30+ point margins, and 5 in a row by at least 15 points.

#1 in defense, both points and FG%.
#2 in point differential, winning by an average 10.3 points.

And tonight, in a complete thrashing of the Sixers, our bench outscored our starters.

I was at the game on Saturday when we destroyed Utah. That was fun. This team plays beautifully together.

For instance, tonight we had as many assists as Philadelphia had field goals.

Sadly, the team is considered "boring", because the roster is all character guys instead of fighters and philanderers. You'd think the league would be pushing a team like this, wouldn't you?

But instead, on Xmas Day, for the first network televised games of the year, we get Indiana vs Detroit II, and the first meeting of Kobe and Shaq since Kobe told police Shaq was paying off women he slept with, and got Shaq run out of town.

Yeah, that'll help the league's PR image. :eyes:

I guess the Spurs need more tats or something to get "street cred".

Edit: And when are the Rockets going to fire van Gundy? That team is just horrible.

[fleabert]

1. there is no team better than the Spurs!

No team has more talent or more character than they do. I have even come to like Pop, who pissed me off by firing Hill right before Christmas the season before we got Duncan; and then naming himself coach. That made me mad, but I have to say that he has redeemed himself since then.

I love my Spurs!!!!

I love it when Barkley talks about them, he can't love on them enough, at least he used to, I don't get enough games out here on the west coast. It's all kings and no spurs. :-(

[lazarus]

2. Ginobiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE that!

I bought the League Pass this year just for my Spurs. (I wish the league would offer a smaller package. For instance, instead of $160 for the whole league, how about $80 for just one team? I'd have bought the Pass the last three years for that.)

As for Bob Hill, ask yourself this: Where is Bob Hill coaching right now?

If he was any good as a coach, he'd have surely landed somewhere in the NBA. But he's not even an assistant.

[Gman]

3. Barkley's "Ginobiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!"

is how our Cocker Spaniel got his name!

My daughter went to the game tonight. My wife and I caught part of the game in the 3rd Q on WOAI. Later we got the final score and I told her, "they're gonna win it all this year, assuming (the standard qualifier) everyone stays healthy."

This team is much better than the team that won it in 1999 and I think they were better than the team that won it in '03.

Last year was tough without David. But I think they clearly have overcome the gaping hole left last year by David's retirement. This, plus their outside shooting make this team devastating!

Get ready to drive around downtown and honk your horn and yell your head off in June '05!

[lazarus]

6. I think they're much deeper, too

The bench players could start for a lot of teams in this league: Barry, Rose, Horry.

Beno Udrih has been yet another foreign gem that Pop and RC Buford dug up.

And how about Devin Brown? That guy's a monster the last two games!

Friday night will be a great one, on ESPN, against Detroit in Ben Wallace's return.

But I believe our second five is as good as some teams' starting five, to be honest.

And Rasho is finally playing great. He doesn't score enough, but he's a man on defense, and his rebounding is really clutch. Manu is just miraculous (my daughter's got the hots for him, too!), and TP and Bowen are as good as ever.

Of course, you also have Groundhog Day, aka Tim Duncan, who's simply elite.

[fleabert]

8. He really likes Manu a bunch, doesn't he? :-)

I know, Hill hasn't done anything to speak of lately. Could it be that Pop broke his spirit and love for the game by firing him for no good reason right before Christmas? I loved Bob Hill, I have gotten over my anger towards Pop, but still think it's kinda suspect when a GM fires a coach and hires himself into the job permanently.

Pop's done a good job, but he also has some of the best asst. coaches out there. and he has Tim and team...the best players in the league!

I thought about league pass too, just to expensive. I would love to be able to pick a team, you should pitch that to Time Warner and I will pitch it to Comcast.

[lazarus]

9. about Bob Hill

Realise that he and Pop had a fundamental disagreement about the direction of the team. Pop thought they should be more defensive, and Hill was still infatuated with DRob's offensive capability.

Note that the Spurs never could get anywhere in the playoffs.

As for the timing, Pop had to do it before DRob came back. For all he knew, the Spurs could have actually salvaged the season, giving them a record good enough to make firing Hill even harder. So it had to be done then.

[fleabert]

10. I can see this side of the situation,

but my bleeding heart goes out to anyone losing their job the week before Christmas. there was no way they would salvage the season though, I think Pop knew they could get one of the top picks the worse the season turned out to be, and we got Tim because of it!

He did focus the entire team on David's ability to score, and that was obviously not his strongest suit. He really kicked ass defending and not being the only good player on the team. I love DR, he's amazing. He and Tim are two of the nicest people in the world.

[lazarus]

12. The way I heard it put

Hill (and Lucas and others before him) wanted Robinson to be Wilt Chamberlain, but Popovich knew he should be Bill Russell.

Yeah, the timing sucked, I'll give you that.

[fleabert]

16. interesting way to put it, I can see that happening.

David could have been Wilt, with the right team and a different league playing him...Wilt's backup and Wilt's NBA too.

That man is unbelievable in talent and personality.

[oblivious]

4. Off topic -- Is it true the Sonics lost to Seattle this week?

BBC News gives one or two NBA scores on their sports news once in a while, and this week the announcer said the Sonics lost again to Seattle!!!

[lazarus]

5. Yup

lost 100-94.

This is the NBA, and on any given night, anyone can beat anyone else.

[Mojambo]

7. They lost to Portland

But for all the east coast media knows (or cares) the Pacific Northwest teams are all the same.

[democracyindanger]

11. Geez, your team's doing well

but ramming the Spurs' "moral superiority" down everybody's throats is irritating. Duncan's a good guy. Super. Congratulations. We get it. You can quiet down about it now. Jeebus. :eyes:

[lazarus]

13. One post is "ramming"?

Why so annoyed? Sorry the Spurs haven't got a lot of serial abusers or thugs or anything. Heck, the ESPN guys were calling them "boring" because they're all character guys.

If you start seeing a similar thread started every two or three days, then you might have reason to react like this. Otherwise, I'm thinking maybe you're a bit too sensitive.

[democracyindanger]

14. Um, two

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=215x873

In as many days. And maybe if the Spurs didn't get thumped 4-2 in the semis, they'd be playing on TV on Xmas. But they didn't, so they aren't. Go figure.

[lazarus]

15. LOL

The other one was more a matter of one player vs another, but go ahead and be bitter.

I guess the Lakers just aren't living up to the Kobe dream, are they? Likely to not even make the playoffs.

As for being thumped 4-2, yeah, we lost the series. From what I can tell, though, Miami didn't make it to the Finals, nor did Indiana, but they're playing on Xmas day.

And it's going to be several years before the Lakers even sniff the Finals.

Or maybe I'm just guessing wrong here. Why not post some nice positive stuff about your team? Or is it just easier to smack at someone else's?

[democracyindanger]

19. Sorry, Laker-hater here

Nor Miami, nor Indiana, nor Dey-twaa. Couldn't give less of a crap. But I'm not talking smack, I'm just preachin' the troof about NBA TV scheduling. It wants a story, whether it's a rematch of a conference finals or part of a soap opera. I'm also fully aware that a TV game on Xmas is planned before the season even begins.

And what was that I saw during the Pistons-Spurs game? Saint David Robinson is part of Detroit ownership now? He should drop out from any connection with such a group of 'thugs'!!!

[lazarus]

20. Um, no

David's in the Spurs ownership. :shrug:

[mosin]

17. Can I join...

the party a day late? The Spurs do look fantastic. They are incredibly deep and multi-talented. I can't wait for the game tonight on ESPN. :)

I also got tired of all the whining after the basketbrawl about how the league had no "superstars" with a positive image. I guess that's what comes from being the NBA's Pete Sampras. You never get the attention of an Andre Agassi for just being the best day in and day out. You need to be flamboyant to be a "superstar."

[lazarus]

18. Yup

If he got some tats and started yelling and screaming after every dunk, maybe people would think he's all that.

Did you ever see his American Express commercial? Hilarious.