Game Preview #31: San Antonio Spurs @ Washington Wizards

by Lauri on Jan 2, 2010 1:00 AM CST in Game Previews

Happy New Year, PtR readers! You know, we've been posting things along the lines of "It looks like just possibly the Spurs might perhaps be about to begin playing decent basketball" for what seems like weeks now. I'm just going to go ahead and make the leap--the Spurs are playing good basketball. Great basketball? No, not yet, not consistently, but I think we would all rather be on the way up than on the way down.

For our first game of 2010 we face the struggling Wizards. I'm typing this on January 1, as various reports are surfacing that teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the locker room while arguing over a gambling debt (the sound you just heard was David Stern's head detonating). I'm not sure what to say about all that but "sweet fancy Moses." Arenas denies it and is allegedly threatening to sue the New York Post. David Aldridge seems to have the best handle on the situation, but details and fall-out are still impossible to predict. Regardless of what further investigation reveals, the Wizards are all kinds of messed up. These are seriously unhappy times for Wizards fans.

But not for Spurs fans!

Washington Wizards @ San Antonio Spurs
Where: Verizon Center - Washington, D.C.
When: January 2, 2010, 6:00 PM Spurs time
Watch: FSN SW; NBA LP

How They Stack Up


14-5	Home	5-8
5-6	Road	5-12
102.4	Offense	99.4
96.0	Defense	102.9
48.6	FG%	44.2
38.5	3-pt%	34.0
75.0	FT%	75.9
42.5	Rebounds	43.0
14.6	TOs	14.7
8-2	Last 10	3-7
Won 4	Streak	Lost 3
2nd, Southwest	Position	5th, Southeast


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
FANGIO LAND	9:00 PM
West Coast	4:00 PM
Philippines	8:00 AM
Central Europe	1:00 PM
Palestine/Egypt	2:00 AM
East Coast	7:00 PM
CapHill's Frosty Hell	5:00 PM
Perth, AUS	8:00 AM
Tokyo, JP	9:00 AM
Sydney, AUS	10:00 AM

Spurs (19-11)	Matchups	Wizards (10-20)
Tony Parker Needs a better "Grease" wig	Point Guard The last time the Wizards and Spurs met, Arenas led the scoring with 18 points. That was a different Spurs team, though, without Tony and without Manu. And at this point, it's unclear whether Arenas will be playing at all. He's still listed in the media notes as a probable starter. Advantage: Spurs	Gilbert Arenas Needs to ditch the guns, srsly

Keith Bogans Defensive Specialist	Shooting Guard Randy Foye, filling in for the injured Mike Miller, has typically been scoring in the low double digits. Bogans only played 19 minutes against the Heat--which is why we get the white box. Our bench gives us the advantage in this category. Advantage: Spurs	Randy Foye The BAM calls him "Dinner."

Richard Jefferson It's coming together	Small Forward Caron Butler has five double-doubles on the season and is apparently the de facto leader of this team, especially if Arenas is suspended or has his contract voided. He was quoted at length in the Washington Post yesterday, and he sounded like a man on a mission. I expect Richard Jefferson to continue improving, but Butler still has the slight edge over him. Advantage: Wizards	Caron Butler Cap probably still hates UConn

DeJuan Blair Devourer of Worlds	Power Forward The Spurs are listing DeJuan at center, but who am I to argue with the game preview template? And this way I can say, "That Blair kid puts the POWER in power forward!" Advantage: Tied	Antawn Jamison Captain Consistent

Tim Duncan Player of the Decade	Center Tim Duncan versus Brendan Haywood. Do I really need to break this one down any further? Advantage: Spurs	Brendan Haywood Cannon fodder

Manu Ginobili Sparkle Motion	Bench & Role Players The Wizards bench has been stone cold over the last three games. And even if they're at their best, the Spurs should still get the white box: The best scorer off the Wizards bench is Blatche, with an average of 9.2 points per game. Earl Boykins follows with 8.5. Meanwhile, the Sickness is averaging 13.1, and Sir Hotbod Handsomeface is at 9.8. Advantage: Spurs	Andray Blatche Rough going of late

Gregg Popovich Kindly Old Cuddlebug	Coach Saunders isn't going down without a fight, and he's not going to let his team be swallowed up by despair. But there's only so much he can do with the tools at his disposal. Advantage: Spurs	Flip Saunders Don't blame him.
	images via yahoo.com

	OTHER FACTORS
Intangibles
The Wizards haven't beaten the Spurs since 2005. This doesn't seem like the most likely time for that trend to be reversed, but I suppose stranger things have happened. This could turn into one of those situations where the Wizards come out determined to prove something. We'll have to be prepared. Advantage: Neither
Mojo
If we're talking about sheer momentum, the Spurs are holding all the cards here. This entire season must be feeling like a nightmare for the Wizards faithful. Advantage: Spurs
Winner
Prediction: Spurs win. When both teams are on streaks (winning in our case, losing in theirs), it feels like tempting fate to assume both streaks continue. But that's just what I'm going to do.

Keys To The Game

Defense - The Wizards defense, in this case. In losing to the Oklahoma City Cowboy Thunderclusters, the Wizards allowed 46 uncontested shots. If they do that again tonight, they're cooked. Of course, our shots will have to be falling if we're going to take advantage of any defensive lapses. And I would expect the Wizards to be very, very focused on defense, given recent events. In fact, according to the Washington Post, Saunders put the team through "an intense three-hour practice" on Thursday that focused exclusively on defense. Maybe this would be a good time for Pop to review some foul-drawing strategy with our shooters. . . .
Keep Doin' What We're Doin' - Man oh man--more than anything I would like to see us win the same way for a whole series of games. The entire month of January, say. We've discussed flow, rhythm, integrating the new guys ad nauseum. Now it's time to become a well-oiled machine.

Some Other Reading

Wizards

Bullets Forever - The guys who run this SBN blog are doing what they can to capture the emotional hell that comes with rooting for a dysfunctional team. Which means that all in all, it's a damn good read. Check it out.

Truth About It - The TrueHoop affiliate for Washington. Not a ton of comments, but the writing is good.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: The best TH blog around. Graydon's been doing a great job of manning the ship during the holidays, making us remember why it's the best TH blog..

Project Spurs: Lots of good folks in here. Visit, read, comment, come back. And don't miss their podcast, either.

The (sort of) Daily Twitter

DeJuan45
In DC think bout Pitt days VS GTOWN SHOUT OUT TO MY PITT BROTHERS!!!!! MAD MEMORIEs DO YALL THING K KNO YALL ALL ON TWITTER NOW WILin LOL!!!

George_Hill3
Now headin to his [Hill's agent, in D.C.] house. His wife is cookin dinner. Fried chicken corn rice brownies and red kool-aid. God is Good....

MoneyMase
What is going on with my old squad? I hope the rumors are false, guns to the arena? Wow. Anyways, its nice to be back in my hometown.

shitmydadsays
"Universe is 14 billion years old. Seems silly to celebrate one year. Be like having a fucking parade every time i take a piss."

And finally, consider this recent statement from Flip Saunders:

"Spots will be open," Saunders said. "If guys don't like it, that's fine but that's the way it's going to be. I'm not going to sit there, stand there and look at that any more. You evaluate for 30 games where you're at. Right now, where it's going, it ain't getting done."

You can find all the official Spurs Sports & Entertainment Twitter accounts here: http://twitter.com/spurs/official/members

Other things of possible interest

THE END: Super cool page displaying "The End" title screens from Warner Bros. spanning the years 1925 to 1975. Fascinating to scroll down the page and watch the history of graphic design spool out before your eyes. To see the specific films these are from, mouse over the title cards.

Where to Tune In

TV

The game is available on Fox Sports Network Southwest, even if you have Time-Warner Cable (negotiations have been extended), as well as on NBA League Pass.

Online

As always, NBA League Pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash.

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, 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).

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Comments

Lets get off to a good start so we can watch our bench play garbage minutes again. I wanna see if Haislip can do more than hoist up 3ptrs. And I wanna see if Hairston can actually play without turning the ball over.
Against the Heat I felt sorry for Hill and Mase that they actually had to play 5 mins with those guys. Hopefully they will look more professional tonite.

by GhosTown on Jan 2, 2010 4:00 AM CST reply actions

Haislip

I thought Marcus Haislip showed us a little flash of something worth consideration with Matt Bonner down for a while, especially with all these small lineups we have been putting out there. Seems like we could use his size out there from time to time. He seems mobile enough to play a “small ball” uptempo style we seem to be getting into, and his size and versatility could make him an asset. He looked a little akward out there but I think anyone would if they had only like what, 20 minutes of floor time all season to account for.

by finn ball on Jan 2, 2010 8:27 AM CST up reply actions

I don’t even KNOW what to say or think about this Arenas/Crittenton incident; bizarre doesn’t even BE-gin to cover it. But I’m certain Pop will have his guys prepared for a likely Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards lineup tonight.

"...and programmed to save the day!"

by transgojobot on Jan 2, 2010 5:45 AM CST reply actions

the spurs should not take the wizards lightly. There’s still a lot of talent on that team, and Butler and Jamison are capable of carrying a team.

by spursfan87 on Jan 2, 2010 11:03 AM CST up reply actions

They’d better be prepared for it. The Wiz will probably play better without him.

The Spurs - now playing like sh*t again!

by Tim C. on Jan 2, 2010 2:26 PM CST up reply actions

They did last year, didn’t they? Also, it’s one of those weird situations where a wounded team often plays over their heads for a game or two.

Consider the gun jumped
5 in 10

by J.R. Wilco on Jan 2, 2010 6:00 PM CST up reply actions

like Portland without Roy did against us…..

by BlaseE on Jan 3, 2010 3:45 AM CST up reply actions

Ahh. The bad memories. They come flooding back.

Consider the gun jumped
5 in 10

by J.R. Wilco on Jan 5, 2010 1:38 AM CST up reply actions

I am going to the game. Eh, what a choice of a game to go to though :O. The wizards soo bad, I don’t even wanna see the game, but I will still make the drive to catch our beloved Spurs.

If you read Arena’s twitter comments, its just sad. The guy is trying to act soo juvenile. I think I can begin to get Butler and Jamison’s troubles.

by LionZion on Jan 2, 2010 8:48 AM CST reply actions

Good luck. I hope the mojo is kind to you.

The Spurs - now playing like sh*t again!

by Tim C. on Jan 2, 2010 2:26 PM CST up reply actions

Great preview. Teflon may be needed tonight.

Neither he nor Gob were prepared for the challenges of using cats to catch a seal.

by Cedarpark on Jan 2, 2010 9:31 AM CST reply actions

Let’s get it done. Fantastic preview Lauri!

by Ed (dfjmed) on Jan 2, 2010 11:47 AM CST reply actions

I'll be there...

I’ll be at tonight’s game – and while I will be rocking #21, I’m excited about the complimentary Arenas jersey I got with my tix. It’s never too early to be thinking about next Halloween, and depending on how things play out, Agent Zero’s apparent license to kill may make him a good costume choice.

Anyway, I’ll be back tomorrow with my thoughts on what I see tonight. My hope is that, by being there in person, I may be able to pick up a few souvenirs. My life will be complete if I end up taking home:

- A game ball, passed to me personally by Manu when a lesser-mortal Spur fails to cut
- A severed arm, ripped from an opponent by Blair and tossed into the stands
- A drop of Timmy’s sweat, the curative properties of which I shall use to fix my back
- My date, who will hopefully still be alive after hearing the things that come out of my mouth during a Spurs game

by Rand on Jan 2, 2010 1:17 PM CST reply actions 4 recs

Ah, Rand, you warm my heart.

Bone breaking? -340
Dunkin' Cheerleaders

by LatinD on Jan 2, 2010 4:27 PM CST up reply actions

BTW, “Rand” is the name of one of my favorite characters ever – Randolf “Rand” O’Keefe. Thought I’d mention it.

Bone breaking? -340
Dunkin' Cheerleaders

by LatinD on Jan 2, 2010 4:28 PM CST up reply actions

Rand sprite from Breath of Fire II for SNES

by BlaseE on Jan 3, 2010 3:48 AM CST up reply actions

- A game ball, passed to me personally by Manu when a lesser-mortal Spur fails to cut
- A severed arm, ripped from an opponent by Blair and tossed into the stands
- A drop of Timmy’s sweat, the curative properties of which I shall use to fix my back
- My date, who will hopefully still be alive after hearing the things that come out of my mouth during a Spurs game

Rec’d.

The Spurs - now playing like sh*t again!

by Tim C. on Jan 2, 2010 2:28 PM CST reply actions

We definitely should not take these Wizards lightly…like someone said they still have lots of talent on that squad. What we need to do is go in there guns blazing………………………………………………………..yeah………………I went there………………………………..was that too soon lol

"There are two things in life that should never go together.....those two things are cheese and herpes..." - Santa Claus

by Cello the great on Jan 2, 2010 2:30 PM CST reply actions