Photos - No Lift-Off for the Rockets Tonight

by janieannie on Jan 30, 2011 6:11 AM CST in Scenes from the Season

If you've ever been to a Rockets' game, home or away, you know their fans always cheer loudly during the National Anthem's refrain ". . . and the rockets' red glare". After an initial lift-off that saw Houston up by one after the first quarter, the Spurs went to work, winning the second and third quarters by 3 each before turning it on in the fourth to extinguish all "red glare" from the Rockets, 108 - 95. And Timmy seemed bored with the whole thing at one point as he seemed to consider a novel defense to stop Houston from scoring:

Fabricio Oberto was in town and enjoyed watching good friends Manu and Scola on the court. The three enjoyed a dinner the night before and swapped a few more stories before the game.

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The Coyote paid Fab a visit in the Spurs' box and they improvised a funky kind of air guitar duet. The act was shown on the big screen in the arena and Fab received a nice ovation. He appeared very relaxed, and a bit below his playing weight. He willingly posed for photos, signed autographs, and dispensed hugs. I asked him when his wine would be available in the US, and he said "soon". Such a nice guy.

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Manu was The Man tonight - and Kevin Martin had a long night trying to guard him. In the first quarter, Manu faked him out and drove the lane, prompting Sean Elliott to say, "Aw, Manu, don't do that." In the fourth quarter, Manu shot two threes over him, even though Martin played him close.

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DeJuan was DeBeast again - dunking as though he was auditioning to be included in the All Star Dunk Contest.

Tony operated within the paint at will, putting in 17 points for the night - with one corner three as well. Uncharacteristically, he got in foul trouble with five fouls.

James Anderson entered the game late in the fourth quarter to nice applause from the fans. He grabbed one rebound and missed on a three before scoring on a long two pointer in 3 minutes of play. He appeared a little "hyped-up" but settled down after he made the basket.

RJ had a very good game, especially shooting: 18 points, 7 of 8 from the field (2 of 3 three's).

And then there are the photos just for fun:

Tony came out of the game after picking up his fourth foul, and Chris Quinn was quickly dispatched to the far end of the bench.

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For those who care, the draw was held in Argentina this week for the FIBA America's tournament this summer. The top two teams will qualify for the London Olympics (USA is exempt because of winning the world championship last summer). The two top teams should be Brazil and Argentina, and they ended up in different pool play.

Pop was calm most of the night, even though he barked at Timmy as a time out was called in the third quarter for his lack of defense on Scola.

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Comments

Some of these were hilarious! Nice work janieannie!

I suppose the dinner last night w/Fab and Scola, didn’t have anything to do with how efficiently and effectively Manu played last night now did it?

I would say that that was a turn back the clock performance, but we all know that Manu can still play like this on a regular basis, especially when the other guys are doing their thing.

by SpursfanNrome on Jan 30, 2011 6:46 AM CST reply actions

Actually I have to take some credit – brought him some alfajores before the game. He always seems to have a great game after receiving them.

"Ginobili. . .He's weaving, he's throwing up triple axels in sneakers, he's willing the ball into the basket. It's Cirque du Soleil with refs." Dan Oshinsky / KENS 5

by janieannie on Jan 30, 2011 7:16 AM CST up reply actions

If that’s true you’ll have a lot of travelling to do these next few weeks, delivering alfajores before each of the RRT games. ;-)

by Spurlady on Jan 30, 2011 10:47 AM CST up reply actions

Naw – gave him enough to last for a few weeks! Fuel for the roadtrip.

"Ginobili. . .He's weaving, he's throwing up triple axels in sneakers, he's willing the ball into the basket. It's Cirque du Soleil with refs." Dan Oshinsky / KENS 5

by janieannie on Jan 30, 2011 1:19 PM CST up reply actions

Hehe, good job again

by jalberto on Jan 30, 2011 7:44 AM CST reply actions

A quotation from a man who speaks with true wisdom:

"They are too solid," Scola said. "Most solid team in the NBA. They’re the best team in the NBA, period."

by 4Him on Jan 30, 2011 8:34 AM CST reply actions

Love the photos and the ‘captions’.

"SMH!!! ITS THAT BAD IMMA A BEAST LOL!!!!" - DeJuan45

by greyberger on Jan 30, 2011 10:11 AM CST reply actions

as always

Great Set of PIcs!

by old man River on Jan 30, 2011 10:28 AM CST reply actions

My favorite of this series is the one of deBEAST. Great timing on your part and perfect caption. You didn’t have much room left for more text in the photo of Hayes, Martin and Battier, but it looks like Tim is in the background thinking, “Manu’s got it. I’ll just stay back here and watch.”

Once again, I love what you are doing with this. Keep up the good work. You have a great eye for basketball photography.

"Do something stupid and you’re going to regret it but, for God’s sake, don’t stand there and do nothing at all." - hirschof

by the old photog on Jan 30, 2011 1:30 PM CST reply actions

Thanks – digital photography and the ability to edit photos on my computer makes a huge difference. I used to use film to photograph baseball games – sure wasted a lot of film!

"Ginobili. . .He's weaving, he's throwing up triple axels in sneakers, he's willing the ball into the basket. It's Cirque du Soleil with refs." Dan Oshinsky / KENS 5

by janieannie on Jan 30, 2011 2:28 PM CST up reply actions

“Jefferson Airplane”…
Ha!.. Groovy!

by In the 666 on Jan 30, 2011 1:41 PM CST via mobile reply actions

♩♫ Fly. jefferson airplane ♬ get you there on time ♪ (see, or hear: Bless It’s Pointed Little Head)

Great stuff ~~again~~ still janieannie! It’s ‘where its at’. I love it.

"Entropy isn't what it used to be."

by oldtimeyspurfan on Jan 30, 2011 7:08 PM CST up reply actions

"Entropy isn't what it used to be."

by oldtimeyspurfan on Jan 31, 2011 1:32 AM CST up reply actions

Woke to some SA-WEET trax this morning!..
I, of course, will have to send some of my own good sir…
And, many thanks.

by In the 666 on Jan 31, 2011 7:52 AM CST via mobile up reply actions

--

Fly Jefferson!

"Entropy isn't what it used to be."

by oldtimeyspurfan on Jan 31, 2011 12:39 PM CST up reply actions

--

Take off!

by In the 666 on Feb 1, 2011 1:02 AM CST up reply actions

I hope you don’t mind janieannie …

by In the 666 on Feb 1, 2011 1:04 AM CST up reply actions

Not at all – just wish I knew how to do that stuff!

"Ginobili. . .He's weaving, he's throwing up triple axels in sneakers, he's willing the ball into the basket. It's Cirque du Soleil with refs." Dan Oshinsky / KENS 5

by janieannie on Feb 1, 2011 12:33 PM CST up reply actions

"He was just a young skinny guy who looked like a winner. We didn’t know he was going to be as good as he is."
—Popovich on Manu Ginobili

by spursfan87 on Feb 1, 2011 3:17 PM CST up reply actions

Heh, yeah that was a nice reference for RJ,

"A life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s what happens while you wait for moments that will never come." - Lester Freamon, The Wire

by silverandblack_davis on Jan 31, 2011 7:48 AM CST up reply actions

Good stuff, Janie!

I smell death... everywhere.

by LatinD on Jan 30, 2011 2:08 PM CST reply actions

Great as usual

One thing i can do...................is FINGER ROLL.

by gunnin' gervin on Jan 30, 2011 3:20 PM CST reply actions

Loved them as always. It is wonderful for you to share.

by LakehillsFan on Jan 30, 2011 6:52 PM CST reply actions

Awesome pics, Janie. Loved the captions as usual.

by TD21 on Jan 30, 2011 9:32 PM CST reply actions

As always, great candid shots, Jeanieannie. I especially liked the captions on the Scola/Dice photo. And Coyote and Oberto is as heartwarming as it gets for a Spurs fan.

All these GIFs are breaking my browser.

by quincyscott on Jan 31, 2011 12:36 AM CST reply actions

All these wins could get monotonous at times.

I look forward to home game, because of your personal photos.

Thanks to your photos and captions, Janie, each game has a personality all its own.
I appreciate it, greatly.

"It's hard to see all my teammates working hard and have to sit there and watch the games." "Of course, the massages are nice." ~Tiago Splitter

by eastbaysd on Jan 31, 2011 12:44 AM CST reply actions

Cool photos, thanks again, j/a. Btw, I didn’t know Fab has a wine business? Please do enlighten me some more on this.

"A life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s what happens while you wait for moments that will never come." - Lester Freamon, The Wire

by silverandblack_davis on Jan 31, 2011 7:49 AM CST reply actions

I can’t fine the name of the vineyard, but have seen a photo of a bottle labeled “Fabricio Oberto #7” – he is part owner. I follow him on Twitter and I’m sure he will let everyone know when it is available in the US. If anyone has yet to try Argentine wines, you are missing some good stuff: red Malbec and white Torrontes.

"Ginobili. . .He's weaving, he's throwing up triple axels in sneakers, he's willing the ball into the basket. It's Cirque du Soleil with refs." Dan Oshinsky / KENS 5

by janieannie on Jan 31, 2011 9:50 PM CST up reply actions

Found the link to Fab’s site about the wines – it’s in Spanish, but Google Translate will do wonders!
http://www.fabrioberto.com/vinos.html

"Ginobili. . .He's weaving, he's throwing up triple axels in sneakers, he's willing the ball into the basket. It's Cirque du Soleil with refs." Dan Oshinsky / KENS 5

by janieannie on Feb 1, 2011 3:57 PM CST up reply actions