While most of the national media attention continues to go to the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose, whether or not he will play against the defending champion Miami Heat, quietly the San Antonio Spurs are preparing for their second round series against the upstart Golden State Warriors. Granted, the Spurs have never needed fanfare to get up for a playoff series. And, considering that they boast an impressive 29-0 home record against the Warriors in the Tim Duncan era, internally they
Here’s the bottom line on Carmelo Anthony’s recent play. Using the measuring stick of points per shot, it is his worst four-game stretch of the postseason since the first four playoff games of his career. Furthermore, when compared alongside other worst four-game stretches of contemporary solo superstars, it is near the bottom. Following Sunday’s loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference semifinals opener, the Knicks are 1-3 in their last four games, including 0-2 at home. Their only win saw them nearly
The San Antonio Spurs are in the second round of the playoffs. That’s pretty much the biggest non-story of the postseason, given that they’ve failed to move past the first round just three times in the Tim Duncan era. For the Golden State Warriors, it’s nearly uncharted territory – they’ve made it to the conference semifinals only twice in the last 22 years: once back in 2007, when they upset the Dallas Mavericks as an 8th seed, and once back in 1991,
SAN ANTONIO – After each Spurs practice, the media assembles in a corner of the facility and prepares for an encounter with famously gruff San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. Other teams call it an interview session. With Pop, it’s more like a duel at 10 paces. Pop is the only one armed. Verbally. Within the word “intimidate” is the word “timid,” and that combination exists at each get-together. Pop has a naturally irritated look that has been refined by years of repetition.
We all know at this point that Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is this season’s Defensive Player of the Year, but how many were unsatisfied by the results? Players will always be unhappy when their best defensive player doesn’t get the award, and some will go on record about it. Manu Ginobili openly wondered how Tim Duncan didn’t win, and Dwight Howard thought the results were funny. [Read more…]
It took every available day of the regular season and meant wounds both self- and externally inflicted, but the Lakers managed to qualify for the playoffs Wednesday night. They even avoided the high-powered Oklahoma City Thunder in the process. And while the San Antonio Spurs, winners of 58 games and featuring the best power forward in history along with the league’s best coach can hardly be considered the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it is certainly a
With the regular season just about over, it’s time to hand out the annual awards. MVP and Rookie of the Year are forgone conclusions: it’s LeBron James and Damian Lillard’s to lose. Case closed. It gets much murkier after that, though, as no one else has truly separated themselves to be called unanimous candidates to win any particular award. [Related: Chris Bernucca – The Envelops, Please] [Read more…]
