[Editor's note:  Another great recap by a PtR member... I never knew Jacque Vaughn could be such a source of hilarity!]

Now, before I get into the Denver game, I'd like to say that I've been spending the past few weeks believing that the Spurs are going to be lucky to have homecourt advantage in the first round.  But, there's one thing that gives me hope... something I wrote last year:

I agree about Miami; they have roughly the same chance to beat Detroit that I have in solving the grand unification theory before noon tomorrow.  Shaq isn't Shaq anymore, and Wade is still a few years away from being a player who can truly carry a team.

Yes... I believed... with little or no inclination towards even CONSIDERING second thoughts... that Miami was, at best, second round cannon-fodder.  Shaq wasn't good for more than 15 minutes a game.  They were way too laden with old guys.  Antoine Walker?  Gary Payton?  Zo?  Puhuhuhuhuhleeze.  They didn't stand a chance against Detroit.  Or against the Spurs or Dallas?  Not. A. Freakin. Chance. In. Hell.

Which is pretty much how I feel about the Spurs this year.  So there IS hope for a championship?  Nah.  Not really.  Just enough of a sliver of opportunity for a fan to commit hari-kari obsessing over it.  Not enough to ever actually, ya know... WIN.

Thoughts before the game - there's a couple of things I always look for early in a Spurs game: defensive rebounding, and getting the bigs on the other side in foul trouble early. One or the other of those, and we're probably in good shape.  If we have both, we're probably on the happy side of a blow-out.

Start of the Game :

 Spurs win tip-off - Bowen gives it to Parker.

 Not a good start to the game - the Nuggets have taken three shots inside the paint so far, the Spurs have taken ZERO, with one jumper apiece for Parker and Barry, both misses.

 Spurs finally go inside, and Camby blocks two of the first three inside attempts.  Again, not a good start.  

 Finally, TP drives and draws a foul on Anthony.  That's what I'm talkin' bout.

 I just noticed that Brent Barry is perfectly capable of staying in front of Blake.  Blake isn't much longer for this league.

 Case-in-point regarding forcing early fouls : Timmy already has a foul, so Anthony drives straight in on Duncan on a break, and TD plays matador defense so he doesn't get the early second foul.  Spurs timeout.  

 Is it just me, or do the Spurs not really play until they've been chewed out by Popovich during the first timeout?  Maybe it's mental... like a security blanket or something.

 Parker - two beautiful breaks in a row, both ending in assists from Tony.

 Just before the 6:00 mark - Manu checks in and promptly gives up a j to Blake.

 The refs just missed an obvious delay of game T on Anthony.

 sigh... Jauque Vaughn is in.  I have no idea how to spell Jauque.  Jacque.  Note to Pop: Manu can play point guard!  He can even play it better than Tony!  You don't need to put Vaughn in there just to mock Beno!

 Don't bring Horry off the pine until May. Just let him watch until then.

 Note: Jacque Vaughn cannot guard Allen Iverson.  The only way he can even stay within five feet of him is to grab the back of Iverson's jersey and hold on for dear life.

 Finley hits a three, then Oberto putts in a 5-foot gimme to end the quarter.  Finley's play over the past few games has been making me feel all tingly in my special places, even when I use the cream my doctor gave me.  

End of the first quarter : Camby - 2 fouls, Nene - 1 foul, Najera - 1 foul, Anthony - 1 foul.  Not a terrible start.  Denver's inside defense will be hurting if the Spurs keep attacking and don't start shooting jumpers left and right.

 Manu just hit a double clutch jumper while fading to the right.  There wasn't any defender within 7 feet of him, so he didn't really NEED to fade or double clutch, but he did anyway cause that's just the way they roll down in Argentina.

 Iverson just nearly took the ball away from Vaughn near midcourt; Vaughn responded by lowering his head and dribbling straight into Iverson.  Any COMPETENT player would have realized that Iverson was, at that point, several feet out of position for defense, and would have simply turned around and driven for an wide open layup.  But no... Vaughn ends up stumbling near midcourt, regaining his balance only by using his head to catch himself on Iverson's crotch.  Long story short : Vaughn is Iverson's bitch in every conceivable way.

 Overall, the Spurs are looking more comfortable in the lead, and Denver's threatening less.  

 Tony's had several good passes on breaks.  Not Manu-quality passes yet, but good.  Dick Stockton and Reggie Miller are talking about "picking your poison" between TP's inside scoring and his improved 3pt shooting.  I didn't break out in laughter... I actually wept a bit with pity for the world where these men make more money than I do.  And for myself.  Cause they make more money than me.

 Ok... TP ally-oop to Brent Barry, who actually managed to elevate both of his hands above the rim... no more hating on Tony's passing game.  He's having a damn good game so far.  9 pts, 4/5fg, and 4 assists.  Very efficient.

 They're doing quick double-teams on Anthony combined with not-so-quick rotations after the pass out.  Any halfway decent passing team could pick this Spurs defense apart.  Luckily, Denver doesn't even vaguely resemble a decent passing team.

 Denver's careless passing is killing them.  It's making the Spurs look better than they're playing.

Halftime: 5 fouls between Nene and Camby - excellent.  11 assists on 21 Spur fg's.  Good, but not great.  15 would be great.  2-11 on 3's.  Brent Barry has sucked since the new old ball came back.  For all you Tony haters, TP is at 13 points, 6-8 shooting, and 4 assists in 16 minutes.  Manu, by contrast, is at 10 points, 5-6 shooting, and 2 assists in 13 minutes.  Great game for Tony, but typical output for Manu.  I'm still all for moving TP to 2 guard and letting Manu handle the point.

Third Quarter :

 Spurs start with a full court press.. Bowen nearly fouls Anthony on the inbounds, then does foul him on the shot.  Spurs come back and go straight inside, drawing another foul on Camby.  Both Denver starting bigs have 3 fouls... that bodes well.

 Parker throws away another pass in to Duncan... that's 3 throw-aways this game.  

 Is there an uglier jumpshot in this game than Marcus Camby's?  I'm not saying it's not possible.  I just can't think of any.

 Bowen just hit a 3, which opened up a 56-39 lead, and prompted a Denver timeout.  If the Spurs are going to implode, it's likely going to happen soon.  Now would be a good time to bring in Manu. ...but no, Pop brings Barry back in, not Manu.  Dammit.

 Elson throws it away, trying to get it to Duncan.  I've seen him blow that high-low pass it seems like at least once a game.  That needs work.

 Hello... Tony just stayed in front of Iverson during an entire series of AI's patented drive-in/jump-out/drive-in-again-then-repeat flurries.  Tony's never been a bad defender, but he's never been able to handle a top-level player before.  That's promising.

 RoHo blew a break-away lay-up and Manu pulled down a save for the rebound between two Denver players.  Horry actually looks downright spry out there.  Competely ineffective perhaps, but spritely!

 Crap.  A 22 point lead, and Vaughn is coming in.  At least Finley is in there.  Oberto is waiting to check in.  And... Manu to TD.  24 point lead.  The Spurs may yet pull this one out.

 Vaughn put yet another of his body parts in Iverson's crotch again.  It doesn't look like AI enjoyed that one tho... he's still writhing a bit on the ground.

 Matt Bonner is in!  My wildest dreams have come true!  No... wait... where are my sun god robes?

End of the Third Quarter: 31 point lead, and AI looks ready to puke.  Going into the fourth quarter doesn't get much easier than this.

 TNT just switched the the Detroit-Milwaukee game.  But I'm so stoked that I correctly spelled Milwaukee on the first try that I don't really care.

 ok... Detroit won.  And the Nuggets have cut the lead to 20 in the interim.  Dammit, Beno!  

 I wonder what would happen if you showed those Sprite Sublymonal ads to someone in the 50's, they'd probably start crying or something... just before they turned into communist sympathizers.

 I'm commenting on commercials.  That means the game is over.

Well... I'm finishing up my recap while watching the PHX-LAC game, and I'm more convinced than ever that Sam Cassell is, in fact, a Zeta-Reticulan.  Burn victims have nightmares about looking like him.

This was a blow-out, so there's not much to say.  It reminds me of the kind of promise the Spurs were showing for the first quarter of the season - the defense was great, and the offense was good enough.  Tony was a nightmare to guard, but turned the ball over a bit more than he should have.  Manu turned in the kind of performance that makes him one of the most efficient players in the league - he's been playing the best I've seen him play since he joined the Spurs.  Elson continued to tease, leading the team in rebounding with 8 in 24 minutes.  Jacque Vaughn's improved play continued to make me want to change the channel.  Michael Finley has been making me giggle like a little girl even more than usual.  And Duncan was, well... Tim Duncan.  Not a single Spur played 26 minutes, and only Duncan and Barry played 25.  

Brent Barry turned in another performance that convinces me that many players in the league secretly wish they had the old ball back.  Michael Finley should have the starting spot within a week or two if Pop continues to insist on bringing Manu off the bench.

In keeping with the Pounding the Rock recap requirements, here are...

Your 3 Stars

3. Francisco Elson - He didn't play lights-out or anything, but I reallyreallyreally want him to keep playing like this, and I just KNOW that he's gonna grab 3 total rebounds over the next two games.

2. Manu Ginobili - Manu's playing as well as I've ever seen him play in the NBA, and it seems like he's still got another gear to go.  If we get far into the playoffs, he's going to be reason #1.

1. Tony Parker - Tony's on an All-Star high, or something.  He embarrassed Iverson more than once, and played solidly on both sides of the ball.  His passing was better than Manu's for once.  He met his usual minimum of at least one sick sick layup per game.