More adventures in blind recapping!

Well, it figures.  I recorded last night's game and planned to watch it this afternoon, since I'm taking the day off from work.  But the DVR fucked up, and all it shows when I try to play it is a heavily pixelated  four-second loop of an unidentifiable T-Wolf hitting a free throw with the score tied at 96-96, and announcers who sound like Decepticons performing a disjointed rendition of Alvin and the Chipmunks'  "Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah".

Applying my masterful skills of analysis to this four-second cross-section of the game, I could deduce that the Spurs are deep in mourning over the loss of Brent Barry, as they were all dressed in black.  That, and someone apparently filled the Target Center with helium.

Of course, there was Manu dropping 44 in the faces of Rashad McCants, Sebastian Telfair, and Randy Foye, at least two of which are on my top-ten absolute least favorite players - guys I would never want on my team.  Now, I've been remiss in following my Spurs for a couple of months now.  Manu's injury and subsequent sub-par play made me lose interest and drift away a bit, but missing this glorious spectacle is probably just the impetus I needed to get my ass back on the couch - no more of this hitting the gym, getting ahead at work, or spending time with friends and family crap.  It's almost March.  Playoffs are imminent!  There's less than thirty games left, and the eighth seed in the west is only behind the first by 4.5 games.  Any current playoff team has a reasonable chance of finishing with the first seed.  If that doesn't make for a good late-season-stretch-run, nothing will.

But at least one non-Argentinian thing tickled me silly about last night's game: Jacques Vaughn played 6:19.  Now, that's 6 minutes and 19 seconds longer than I would like.  However, for a coach like Popovich, who would start an undead corpse so long as it held a good defensive stance outside the charge-circle, that kind of restraint is remarkable.  While I'm not a huge fan of MightyMouse, he can hit a couple of jumpers, and knock down the occasional 3.  One might say the Vaughn is a better defender, but that desparate sticking-a-hand-in-a-shooter's-face bit really isn't all that effective, and Stoudemire undeniably has better foot speed.  I reserve my right to rant about Midge's decision making later, but I'm on the anyone-but-Vaughn wagon for now.  

Incidentally, TP played almost 19 minutes, and recorded a team-worst +/- of -9.  I'm skeptical that Frenchie will be able to get himself back into form by the time the playoffs roll around; foot injuries involving ligaments are pesky - they don't get better without surgery, and you're not 100% till they cut that bone spur out.  Even with Manu playing MVP-caliber ball, we need Tony to be his usual self, or we're not getting out of the Western Conference.  The Mavs losing Devin Harris won't help us much if Tony is two steps slower than last year.  

And, last item, Michael Finley.  If you keep hitting jump shots like this, then Pop may revoke your "green light" status.  He's strict like that.  If you want permission to keep shooting, then you should probably stick with what's worked in the past, and put up a few more 1-15 nights.  This 50% crap just doesn't fly on the Spurs.  Just look at Vaughn.  The man can't hit a shot outside of 3 feet, but Pop keeps insisting on him taking every midrange shot available.  The fact that opposing teams purposefully leave Vaughn completely unguarded when he has the ball only encourages Pop.  But shoot 7-9 from downtown, and I guarantee you'll be starting the next game on the bench.

Anyway, that's all I've got.  I'm going out to get a new DVR now.  Laters, all.

The increasingly-ignored-PtR-recap-required Three Stars :

3.  Jacques Vaughn - Did you seriously only play 6:19?  It was a beautiful thing to watch, I'm sure.  If you could, maybe, pull a groin or something, you'd have this 3rd star spot sewn up for the remainder of the year.  Think about it.
2.  Timmy D - Shot an excellent 8-8 on free throws.  I'm expecting a 1-7 performance in the very near future.  All the same, 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists.  By now, he's used to being eternally underappreciated.
1.  Manu - Could there be any question?  First, you punk LeBron, then you hit a game winner over a double team consisting of two players I've always detested.  Did I say we needed Tony to win another Championship?  We need another Manu.  We need 5 Manus.  Plus one extra for the bench, `cause you know he'd never complain.