Game Preview #2: San Antonio Spurs @ Chicago Bulls - Here we go again
by LatinD on Oct 29, 2009 10:54 AM CDT
in Game Previews
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Because you can never have too much firepower.
What a night, eh? Hopefully it will be the first one of many to come. Fittingly enough, we play our first back to back tonight against the upstart Bulls. Let's see how the new Spurs react to SEGABABAs now, shall we?
A collective preview, after the jump:
Get Pumped
Literally. (NSFW? Don't ban me.)
Preview
Disclaimer: The positional matchups below are based on who is the primary option, not who starts.
 San Antonio Spurs @ Chicago Bulls Where: United Center - Chicago, IL When: October 29, 2009, 7:00 PM Spurs time Watch: TNT
Details/Stats
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Matchups
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 Tony Parker Right now |
Point Guard Last year's rookie of the year is the Bulls' best player, and a top 7 PG in this league. Unfortunately for him, he's going up against a top 3 PG in Tony. Frenchie needs to bring it tonight, because we all know Rose will. Also, Hill is going to destroy Pargo.Advantage: Spurs |
 Derrick Rose Soon |
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 Manu Ginobili Oh mama |
Shooting Guard Mike Finley probably gets the start again, but we all saw what Manu did last night. He looked like Manu, and it was beautiful. Mason will probably see some minutes here as well. For the Bulls, Salmons is a very good player, but he's no Manu.
Advantage: Spurs |
 John Salmons Who needs Gordon? |
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 Richard Jefferson Princess Rage |
Small Forward RJ had a terrible shooting night last night, but still managed to have a very positive impact on the team. Tonight, I think he'll have a much better night, and we'll need his defense against Deng, who isn't exactly chopped liver.Advantage: Spurs |
 Luol Deng Yawn 2.0 |
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 Antonio McDyess Savvy |
Power Forward Tyrus is (as every year) an incredibly a promising young PF, but the tandem of McDyess and The Beast are going to destroy him.Advantage: Spurs |
 Tyrus Thomas Potential |
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 Tim Duncan Savvy quota |
Center I like Noah, I really do. He's a great energy guy, and is very effective on defense. But, Tim Duncan is still one of the the greatest big men of all time. And Bonner has an opportunity to get good looks, too.Advantage: Spurs |
 Joakim Noah Best hair |
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 Dejuan Blair Double-Double |
Bench & Role Players DeJuan, George Hill, Roger Mason, Matt Bonner, and Michael Finley are all guys that can easily put up double figures, as they showed last night. Courtesy of Hipuks, we shall henceforth refer to the bench as BAM, for Bad Ass M11s. Chicago has... Hinrich, Brad Miller, Jannero Pargo, and... wait, who else is there?Advantage: Spurs |
 Kirk Hinrich Captain Bench |
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 Gregg Popovich Beardless Sage |
Coach Pop vs. Vinny? Let me think about that one... yeah, Vinny sucks. However, he should've been included in that poll for best hair. Head & shoulders, me thinks.Advantage: Spurs |
 Vinny Del Negro Teenager |
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| images via yahoo.com | ||||||
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Other Factors
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Intangibles |
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| This is the Bulls' first game - that's right, they're one of two teams that didn't play any games in the last 2 days. Their home crowd is going to be pumped. Advantage: Bulls | ||||||
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Mojo |
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| Anyone see that game last night? We have to be feeling the mojo on our side after that performance. Advantage: Spurs | ||||||
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Winner |
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| Let's build on the momentum of last night's win. The BAM brigade is going to run amok in this game, with predictable results. Spurs by double-digits. |
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Keys To The Game
- Outside Defense - Perimeter defense is going to be a big key to this game, since Rose and Salmons are one heck of a one-two punch. If we can frustrate those two on the defensive end, things will go our way early.
- Ball Movement - Last night the Spurs had 29 assists on 45 shots. That is phenomenal, and it needs to continue. With the number of weapons in the Spurs' arsenal, great teamwork like that will do terrible things to the psyche of the enemy.
- Bench Play - Our bench has to continue to completely dismantle opponents like they did last night.
Last Time They Met
It was in January 17 this year, when the Spurs beat the Bulls 92-87. Looking at the boxscore you can see everything that was wrong with our team last season: our Big Three scoring the majority of our points and the win hinging on the performances of one-dimensional shooters like Finley and Matty. I think we're past that.
No highlights were found for this game. We are ashamed.
Some Other Reading
Bulls
Blog a Bull - Here you can find SBNation's Bulls blog, with lots of good information and plenty of traffic. Head over there on gameday and there should be a nice preview.
By The Horns - The True Hoop Network's Chicago affiliate. Seems like one of the better THN blogs at first glance.
Spurs
48 Minutes of Hell: As always, 48MoH is required reading. Graydon wrote a nice recap of last night's game over there, and they always have great content about the Spurs.
Project Spurs: These guys have stepped up their game, and had a live chat during the game last night, much like 48MoH did. Check out the podcasts, those are pretty cool.
Spurs on Twitter
manuginobili
Thank y'all 18k fans for the warm welcome back. It was amazing! I missed it so much! Now heading to Chicago ///... http://bit.ly/1GRmrK
DeJuan45
Thanks for all the love tonight!!! thanks to all the fans that showed love and support tonight! we are on our way to Chicago...
Da_Finster (on Oct 27)
Thought of the day: Its ok to dream big, but always work hard and honest to increase your chances of making your dream more of a reality.
The Magic That Happened
Hey this is basketball right? I mean where’s the guys with the designs carved in their heads?
by olf
Wayne has a pretty bad ass circular design carved in his head.
by Hipuks
We may get beat by a few teams in the starting unit. But the second wave will overwhelm the opposition. Destruction comes in waves – The Texan Tsunami.
'DSilverlining
Playoff Duncan and Regular Season Duncan are two different beasts. Playoff Duncan is a beast Blair can’t even comprehend yet.
BlaseE
Some Other Viewing
Spurs vs. Hornets, Game Highlights
Other things of possible interest
- 88 Examples of Aerial Photography - Breathtaking. Literally.
- The Best Google Logo EVER - I might have to agree.
- Mental Gymnastics - Eerie but interesting photos. Warning: some may be NSFW.
Where to Tune In
TV
This game will be aired nationwide on TNT. Hell-to-the-yeah!
Online
No League Pass for this game, since it's nationally televised. However, the ILP guys have it.
Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance.
Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year and worked last night, so check it out.
Radio
If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).
33 comments
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1 recs |
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Comments
Loved the way the young guys played last night – my hope has been rejuvinated. Seeing Timmy not being Timmy was difficult, really difficult. His hops are gone and he is painfully slow – i still got love for ya big guy – and know that you still play a very integral part of this team! you are still its beating heart and the torch is being passed to a fresh generation that counts on you. Go Spurs Go!
"It's the ten-thousandth and one hammer blow that makes the team"
Good preview
I voted 90% as there is no such thing as a sure thing.
Timmy will be fine he just needs to find his groove. Don’t doubt him. He is a winner and always will be.
I’ll be focusing on Dejuan Blair’s defense. If he is playing center I don’t think Noah will give him much difficulty as Noah’s offense sucks. However, if he’s playing a PF spot he could have more trouble.
Heh, glad somebody fixed my mistake on the coach section. Thanks, whoever did that!
9.20.21.24.34
ACLs are like crutches. They’re only for the weaklings who can’t get along without them. -jollyrogerwilco
Well, the answer to Hipuks’ poll has been answered. Here is Pop’s quote on last night defense:
"I was very disappointed with our defense in the second half. With the amount of points we gave up and the shots that they made, we really lost our focus defensively. Fortunately, we kept scoring."
Here’s hoping the defense is better tonight.
My people call it "sarcasm." - Lauri
In a way, I’m comforted by Pop’s return to form. Pop grousing about defense makes it feel like all’s right with the world—like mommy and daddy are out in the living room chuckling at the Carol Burnett Show, there’s no school tomorrow, and all the doll’s faces are turned to the wall so they can’t scare you with their glittery eyes.
WWTD?
by Lauri on Oct 29, 2009 1:37 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
wow, that’s uber awesome. I want to find me a nice girl that lives high in an apartment building, just so that I can then hire a bunch of bums to help me win her over by collectively doing things like that. rec’d jrw.
When the tooth fairy's own tooth falls out, it is taken during the night by Princess Peanut.
by the little o on Oct 29, 2009 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions
I voted 80% just based off of the Spurs history of losing in back to backs. Which of course was because of old age, so maybe we"ll do better since we have a few younger impact players. Does anyone happen to subscribe to SLAM? Interesting article in there called " Rookies most likely to……". Well they put together a poll on rookies most likely to average 20 points for the year, 10 Rebounds, 10 assists, etc. They even vote on who will most likely get bench splinters. The beast Dejuan Blair is voted on only one category… Most likely to hurt himself running laps.
90%
I believe we’re better and no one played even 30 minutes. Plus, the defense should get better.
It’s great to have basketball back. Even better to have our Spurs back.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
Has anyone heard about Parker sitting out?? The line just switched from Spurs favored by 4 to Spurs favored by 2.5…
Game notes show the same starters as last night, so I doubt Tony will be out.
9.20.21.24.34
ACLs are like crutches. They’re only for the weaklings who can’t get along without them. -jollyrogerwilco
My brother sent me the answer…
“Beware of bad officiating tonight…
Sean Wright and Scott Foster are two referees assigned to this game. Home Dogs from 0-4.5 points were 8-4 ATS with Foster last season and 4-2 ATS with Wright last season."
I had to ask what this ATS meant and it is Against the Spread.
90%
Good game last night, I’d like to see some more tonight please. I wonder if last night is how 2/3rds of the season will go: Starters get it going, bench blows it open, starters play enough to stay lose and in rhythm, bench finishes it off, everyone scores. Then as the playoffs near, starters play more, bench still blows it open, starters roll to victory.
I’m probably being overly optimistic, I know, but I really like the idea of whipping teams that aren’t great and just winning when are play those “great” teams. Last couple of years we tended to play to the competition.
I am working tonight, dammit, so. Try not to miss me too much.
Hilariously maladjusted. But for all the right reasons.
We all can’t possibly stay this amped up for this team for 82 games, can we?
Can we?
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain
98 games, my friend.
…at least.
9.20.21.24.34
ACLs are like crutches. They’re only for the weaklings who can’t get along without them. -jollyrogerwilco
by Tim C. on Oct 29, 2009 5:09 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Thanks
Thanks for the links, guys. BTW we also did a 10-hour marathon of a live audio show leading up to gametime. It was a lot of fun and we’ll have to bring you guys on next time. We’ve actually been live blogging before coveritlive or scribble live ever came out. Technology is great isn’t it. Back then I was doing it in wordpress and just updating the post every time I added something. Looking forward to tonight’s game and seeing Rose vs. Parker. How sad for Bulls fans to see “Advantage: Spurs” all the way down the board but I completely agree. BTW, if you guys wanna hop in, we will be live blogging tonight starting around 6:30. No 10 hour marathon show though :D
Project Spurs
http://twitter/com/mdeleon
http://projectspurs.com/
by Michael De Leon on Oct 29, 2009 6:09 PM CDT reply actions
We had to refresh every minute before SB Nation switched to auto-update. I’m not sure how we could live like that, honest. :)
Straight from the No-Stat Zone to your computer!
Dunkin' Cheerleaders
About the google logo
That would be a mess at 60
There are no sacred cows for DSL except for holy cow Blair.
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