Preseason Finale Preview: Rockets @ Spurs
by Tim C. on Oct 21, 2010 12:00 AM CDT
in Game Previews
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PrintThis is the end of the line for games that don't matter. The Spurs' preseason will end with tonight's game, but as we all know, the season starts next Wednesday when the Pacers come to San Antonio. So, in an effort to get everyone ready for the regular season grind, we've decided to debut something not-so-new today: a Preview separate from the Game Thread. We did it last year, and it's about time for us to kick our efforts into a higher gear in anticipation of the regular season.
Make the jump, if you dare.
Disclaimer: The stats, etc. not shown below will not be available until after the regular season begins, as basketball-reference.com doesn't keep advanced stats for preseason. This is also our first time trying out this new preview format, so complain about it let us know what you think in the comments.
If you haven't done so already, please adjust your time zone settings for your SBNation account. This will save you a lot of headache when trying to find out when the game starts in your area, as the Game Thread(which will be published later on in the day) will show you the start time for the game in your own time zone at the very top. If that doesn't work, you can always use World Time Server to figure out when it starts for you.
 Houston Rockets @ San Antonio Spurs When: October 21, 2010; 7:30PM Spurs Time Where: AT&T Center - San Antonio, TX Watch: FSN Houston
By the Numbers
Data source: basketball-reference.com |
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Key Players
Tim Duncan |
Key Players
Yao Ming |
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Matchup Analysis
Frontcourt
Without Tiago Splitter's services, we still don't have a clear picture of how the Spurs frontcourt will be able to match up with other teams, or what the minutes distribution will look like. Duncan is obviously still the anchor, though he may have the best help he's had in a long, long time. But with every near double-double, Blair is establishing himself as the man to beat for the spot next to Timmy in the starting lineup. Antonio McDyess and Matt Bonner should round out the big man rotaion, with Marcus Cousin possibly playing a very limited role before he's jettisoned to Austin.
Houston is one of Blair's favorite opponents, with Scola not providing a great physical or shotblocking presence on the defensive end. On the offensive end, however, Scola is practically a god. And everybody knows Yao is one of the best centers in this league when healthy. With Miller, Jordan Hill and Chuck Hayes picking up most of the other minutes in the front court, this Houston team is deep and versatile up front. Not quite dominant, but enough to have the edge over the Tiago-less Spurs.
Advantage: Rockets
Backcourt
Over the last decade, the Spurs backcourt has slowly evolved from just "solid" to probably the best backcourt in the league. With Tony and Manu taking the summer off, and Tony seeming to have his burst back, the backcourt may be poised for its most dominant season yet. George Hill has had a very rocky shooting preseason thus far, but has still found other ways to contribute(it bears mentioning that Manu was shooting just as badly until the last game). James Anderson has been solid, but he's also played a bit tentatively - as a rookie, that's to be expected, but I'd like to see the kid attack a little more. Speaking of attacking more, Richard Jefferson is averaging nearly double the number of FT attempts per game in preseason as he did last season. If he and Neal can get their act together with regards to shooting percentages, the Spurs backcourt will be an unstoppable force, striking fear into all that dare oppose them.
The Houston backcourt is one of the few that can compete with that of the Spurs... on the offensive end. Brooks, Lowry, and Martin can all score in bunches, and are extremely difficult to guard. Lee is a solid two-way player who probably wishes he hadn't spent last season in New Jersey(who wouldn't wish that), but should find a nice niche backing up both wing positions. And the long-standing unrequited love Spurs fans have for Shane Battier is warranted, as he is still one of the smartest defensive players in this league. When Battier's out, someone needs to stay close to Chase Budinger and make sure he's not getting open looks at the basket. This will be one of their tougher matchups, but the Spurs should have the edge here.
Advantage: Spurs
Other Reading
Spurs
48 Minutes of Hell - Our Spurs-blogging colleagues always have good analysis, and this year's been no exception so far.
Rockets
The Dream Shake - Our SBN siblings always put together good reading material, but beware: they have very strong opinions. They feel good about their team, and rightfully so. Go check 'em out.
Tuning In
TV
This game is not on TV in the San Antonio market. However, it should be available through NBA League Pass, and it will be shown in Houston.
Radio
WOAI 1200AM; Audio League Pass[web streaming]
Online
As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.
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. You can also shoot an email to poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com(IMPORTANT: Please include your PtR username in the email for reference) for further assistance.
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Comments
Good preview, I missed those.
I can see the “7:30 PM Spurs time”, but can’t find my time-zone. I did change my settings though.
The Eurbro - By Tim C.
It seems since this is the last preseason game, the starters will play more minutes. Most likely the guys competing for the final roster spot won’t even get into the game, so the competition is over. If they’re hoping to get Cousin or Gee on the Toros roster without being on the NBA roster, It may be that they will wait until the last minute to reduce the chances of another team picking them up. I’’m not sure if there is some deadline (10 day contract?) for signing a player cut by another team to be able to have them count among your own final three cuts for dleague allocation rules.
I have to think that the D-League allocation rules are the entire reason the Spurs snatched up Kevin Palmer after the Wiz cut him. Goodness knows the Spurs don’t need anymore 6’6" players.
Though I’ve not heard any announcement that the Spurs have signed him. If he were among Washington’s final 3 cuts (and assuming they have a dleague affiliate), could the Spurs actually snatch him for the Toros roster by signing him to the training camp roster for less than a week? If a player can be among the final 3 roster cuts for two different teams, it would seem the second team should be required to have him under contract and on their roster for some minimum number of days or his dleague rights should stay with the first team that cut him.
Good point, especially since we stole Gee back from the Wiz last year. It’s kinda messed up for us to steal another prospect from them.
I’ll have to DVR this game tonight. I’m only going to be able to catch the first half.
This is a very clean preview. I like the format and it seems it will be more friendly than the “white box” preview from last season.
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Oct 21, 2010 9:01 AM CDT reply actions
I can’t wait for the season to start. I’m feeling good about this team’s chances. Has anyone heard for sure if Tiago is going to play in the season opener?
by FANobili on Oct 21, 2010 12:17 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
I’m interested who Pop brings off the bench and in what order.
With all due respect, gentlemen, we're not as crazy as she is.
Good question…
Biggest coach Pop/Tiago Splitter homer on the internet™
by Josh Guyer (completely deck) on Oct 21, 2010 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions
Let me guess randomly.
Start : Timmy, Blair, RJ, Manu, Tony
1st change : Tim → Splitter, Manu → Hill
2nd change: Blair → Sandwich, RJ → Neal, Tony → Temple
3rd start 2nd Q : Splitter → Tim, Hill → Manu, Temple → Tony
Tim, Matty, Neal, Manu, Tony on floor.
I can only guesstimate till start of second. Pop is crazy after that.
Your rotation looks as though it leaves out Anderson, McDyess & Simmons. I’m not sure if this is on purpose or not. My guess would be that once Tiago suits up, Temple would become the 13th man who doesn’t suit up. I think it will also be a while before Tiago gets into the game before McDyess does, and that Anderson would come in before Neal in place of RJ.
My guess is that Temple spends a good chunk of the season in Austin to develop his skills a bit more within the Spurs system and playbook. He’s the new Hairston.
You really think so? Hmm, I wouldn’t have guessed that. I thought he might actually be important this season.
Anderson on the other hand, I am not sure if he is going to be contributing much this season(ducking Cap’s glare).
McDyess, I see him playing very limited during the season.
Anderson seems likely to get a share of minutes at both the 2 & 3 spot. I think Temple for now is the #3 PG and likely the #5 SG and maybe #4SF. He might work his way up some, but I would agree that he’ll play more at Austin than San Antonio, where he seems more likely to be the guy not suiting up. I think even if he is not suiting up, he might often travel with the team so that he’ll be close at hand if someone is injured (though it would be the next game before he’s suit up).
I’m not so sure that McDyess has dropped down to being the 5th big in the rotation (playing very limited) that is there just for insurance. I suppose that may be the case when Tiago is ready to put in 20+ minutes per game, but initially I think he’ll still be coming in before Tiago.
When Pop said the roster would carry 13 players, I think that means that’s the number that will always be with the team at all times, with the last three players at the end of the bench rotating for playing time. With Pop’s plan to sit down Timmy on back-to-backs, that 13th man will be an important spot. The Toros relegation will be filled up with the last cuts.
I figured when Pop said 13 players he meant that they would go with 9 but the league is going to make him carry at least 13.
I don’t see Temple playing any additional minutes on the basis of Tim resting in a back to back. If Manu and/or Tony rest in some back to backs, he might get a few more minutes. There’ll be times when he may be with the team just to have a body while players rest during practices as well. At the moment I don’t think he’ll get much playing time (barring injuries) and will need stints with Austin to stay sharp.
If you look at both the Spurs & Toros schedule, the Spurs 1st b2b comes before the Toros play a regular game, so Temple could be in San Antonio for the 2nd game vs. Cleveland. The next b2b is on a West Coast trip, so Temple seems likely to join them at that point. The third b2b is 12/15-16, going from a home game to Denver. On the 15th the Toros are in Calif, and then are off until the 19th when they play in Reno. I can see Temple making a side trip to Denver, but perhaps more likely skipping the Bakersfield & Reno games since the Toros are otherwise off until the 30th, which covers the Spurs 4th b2b. I could go on, but it would look like a fairly simple matter for Temple to play in the vast majority of the Toros games while being available for the Spurs in b2b’s. I would have him on the Rodeo Road trip just for the team building experience.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a limit on the number of times you can send someone down to the Toros as well as call up someone from Austin?
I did come across something that said a team could call up a player as many times as they’d like, but could only assign a player 3 times. That would seem somewhat contradictory. It’s difficult to see where any of these rules are spelled out, but perhaps while a player is on assignment with the Toros they might be able to practice and travel with the Spurs so long as they are not put on the active roster for a game. It still seems like it would work out that if a player’s first assignment did not begin until Toros games got underway, you’d have a good deal of flexibility with 3 assignments to allow a player to get some significant playing time with the Toros while being available for the Spurs during key stretches in which there are a number of games in a short time.
Dice just said that Tiago hasn't done 5 on 5 yet..
Is this a major or minor concern? I don’t know how I feel about that. He said it in the practice video from today.
Son of a bitch… for once in my life I wish I had ESPN Insider. They teamed up with Marvel comics and cover art for all 30 teams.
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Oct 21, 2010 3:01 PM CDT reply actions
SpursTalk put all of the covers (looks like it) on display here: http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4687698 – I like the Spurs’ ‘Old Glory’ look :)
"This team is like a bunch of cockroaches. They just don't die!" -Charles Barkley, after Game 7 vs. the NOOCH.
The "I'm gonna rip the eyes out of your head and piss into your dead skull! You f***ed with the wrong Marine!" face. Because Popovich can be kinda scary.
I must have missed one of those old Marvel Alternate Universe issues where Captain America is a spotlight-hungry, egotistical traitor.
Thanks Nix!
Can’t make up my mind on which one I like the most.
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Oct 22, 2010 6:53 AM CDT up reply actions
Hornets’ is definitely the lamest.
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Oct 22, 2010 6:58 AM CDT up reply actions
Hey guys, I just heard that Darius Miles was cut by the Bobcats. I was going to suggest that we give him a look, but then I found out that we already worked him out early September. I don’t know how that info slipped past us on PtR.
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on DeJuan Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Oct 21, 2010 3:50 PM CDT reply actions
Looking at his past doesn’t offer many Spur-worthy qualities, but he’s had something to prove for a while now. He’s a 6’9", 235 lb SF that was picked 3rd in the 2000 draft by the Clippers and made the all-rookie team. He later played with the Blazers, and while there, he had a confrontation with their coach Maurice Cheeks (later fired) and then had a serious knee injury the next season (‘04-’05). He missed 2 whole seasons and hasn’t really been able to make a comeback since, aside from a half-season run with the Grizz in ‘80-’09. There’s also a bit more complicating malarkey as to why he didn’t return.
Basically, he bridged the gap between the Jailblazers and the current Frailblazers. And now after learning more about him, pretty much all my interest in him becoming a Spur is gone.
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on DeJuan Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Oct 21, 2010 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Where were they? In between your couch cushions? =)
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on DeJuan Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Oct 21, 2010 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions
If you go to Spurs.com and look at the game preview picture on the home page, just off Joey Crawford’s left shoulder is JanieAnnie with her camera try to take a picture of Tim’s behind.
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Oct 21, 2010 4:56 PM CDT reply actions
Ok, can I say my semi bold prediction?
Koo-Zahn will be the 1st of the bench for Tim, and will play significant minutes as the FO looks seriously at what he can bring.
I think he has a shot at being SAM beta. Let’s face it Antonio is gone after this season and we need another big.
I hope that they give the Mahinmi deal at least, and he actually pans out.
I totally did. Too bad I’m in Houston
Biggest coach Pop/Tiago Splitter homer on the internet™
by Josh Guyer (completely deck) on Oct 21, 2010 5:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Dayum, cdeck…
I was hoping (when The Spurs were here earlier) that they’d play another preaseason game in HTown but no.
Will you be at the two games in the Spring when they’re in town? My girly and I will!
I’ll be the one wearing the #5 Argentina jersey with VISA across the front, yelling at the top of my lungs for the Silver & Black… she’ll be the one next to me with her hand over her face like “I don’t know this guy…”
¡VamoSpurs! - me.
I’ll absolutely be at those games. We’ll meet up.
Biggest coach Pop/Tiago Splitter homer on the internet™
by Josh Guyer (completely deck) on Oct 21, 2010 6:58 PM CDT up reply actions
From what I’ve seen (which hasn’t been much) RJ looks a helluva lot more comfortable on the court. His shots may not be falling as often as we’d like but it looks like he’s changed-up his release a bit. He’s done a much better job on being in the right place at the right time, filling lanes, making cuts, knowing who’s supposed to be where, when and why, and looks to be embracing the “wing defender” role.
¡VamoSpurs! - me.
Spurs just waived Marcus Cousin + Kevin Palmer. Palmer was quietly signed on Oct 20. And now he will play for the Toros, if he plays DLeague
Link: here
Biggest coach Pop/Tiago Splitter homer on the internet™
by Josh Guyer (completely deck) on Oct 21, 2010 6:17 PM CDT reply actions
What’s up guys last pre-game. I read the post but just have to be that “guy” there is no where i can catch the game tonight in S.A. except for the AT&T Center right? Or could i see it @ hooters or local sports bar etc.?
"Your all over me with your mouth open" Sean Elliot on 09 Playoffs vs. Mavs PARKER'S abuse of dampier
by Count Down City 210 on Oct 21, 2010 7:20 PM CDT reply actions
I followed the steps as follows: “You can also shoot an email to ”mailto:poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com" target="_blank">poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com(IMPORTANT: Please include your PtR username in the email for reference) for further assistance." …nothing yet but hoping soon.
"Your all over me with your mouth open" Sean Elliot on 09 Playoffs vs. Mavs PARKER'S abuse of dampier
by Count Down City 210 on Oct 21, 2010 7:27 PM CDT up reply actions
ahh man it started!
"Your all over me with your mouth open" Sean Elliot on 09 Playoffs vs. Mavs PARKER'S abuse of dampier
by Count Down City 210 on Oct 21, 2010 7:41 PM CDT reply actions
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