3rd game of the RRT and I'm already tired of the road. Though last night's win definitely put me in a much better mood. I just love seeing us beat the Lakers, though I wish we had beaten them by more. I expect to see a lot of Splitter tonight to give McDyess his day off because he was so good in that last .3 seconds. The only thing different is if there had been .4 seconds when he tipped it back in, but what can I say, I'm a little cold.
Sure the Kings are in the bottom half of the league, but have started playing much better in their last 5 games. They narrowly lost to Boston on Tuesday, scored 30 more points against the Hornets the game before that, Beat the Lakers at home the game before that, and beat the Blazers by 15 in Portland. Is this a trap game? Does David Stern love the Lakers? This is far worse than a trap game, we're in for a horrible ride on the SEGABABA,
and I for one am a little worried about this one.
The Kings have a good assortment of promising talent, along with that come quite a few headcasees (Cousins, I'm looking at you). Unfortunately for them, up until recently, nearly all of them have been under performing. Cousins was supposed to be the second coming of Duncan (bwahaha), Evans is the reigning Rookie of the Year (a year in which he dominated the ball so much that they had to give him the award). Jason Thompson comes off the bench,
and Beno Udrih has been, well, Udrih. If they ever get a coach that will discipline them, they could easily make some noise in the League. Of course, you can say that about nearly every team.
The only thing I really remember from last year's Spurs/Kings matchup was this:
AT&T Connection - BatManU (via veteran37)
But it's infinitely awesome, so we'll just leave it at that and get into the stats.
San Antonio Spurs @ Sacramento Kings Where: Arco Arena When: February, 4, 2011, 9:00PM Spurs Time - Timezone Converter Watch: KENS 5
By the Numbers
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Lineups
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Lineups
Starters |
Matchup Analysis
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Mojo | ||
Winner |
Starters
PG: Parker needs to dominate Fisher. He didn't last night and I was disappointed. So far this season, Udrih has been shooting extremely well from 2 point. He excels in that mid-range game that the Spurs hate so much. I expect him to score close to 20 points this game. That being said, Parker is Parker, and I don't think Udrih can keep him out of the lane.
SG: To be fair, Evans has been doing better lately, ever since he went home for Christmas and ate some comfort food. But Batmanu is returning, and there's nothing PETA can do about it.
SF: Omri Casspi is awesome. RJ 2.0 is pretty good. I expect a push.
PF: Cousins might be the only big guy that Blair can't push around. Cousins is also playing so much worse than even Splitter. He's shooting 42% on the season. Of course, even the blind squirrel finds a nut. We need Blair to Beast him up.
C: Often referred to as the Black Hole from Haiti, Dalembert has never been able to pass. He averages 1 assist every 2 games (for his career!). This is what Mahinmi could have turned into, in my own humble opinion. Duncan is GOATPUFF, need I say more?
Bench
I left Dyess off last time. Though, judging the Portland game, I think he deserved it (ed. I wrote this up before that awesome tip. I'm sorry DYESS). I also don't know if he's actually gonna play, being that this is SEGABABA. We need Neal to hit his stride again. Hill just needs to be Hill.
They are missing Jason Thompson. It's too bad, he's a good rotational player.
Coaching
Did you know that Westphal coached Barkley to the Finals? Pop coached Duncan to 4 championships...
Intangibles
RRT, SEGABABA, are there any intangibles in our favor?
Mojo
The Mojo is with us after missing 3 shots to win and then finally getting one to drop
Prediction
We've seen the Spurs fall to the Clippers on a SEGABABA, but I have faith they eke (no pun intended) one out with Blair destroying Cousins.
Key(s) to the Game
Key 1 -Rebounding. Both Offensive and Defensive rebounding needs to be a priority. This team loves to get O-Rebounds, but isn't disciplined to get D-Rebounds.
Key-2 - Tired legs, the Kings will be looking to pounce on us early. Let's take it to them first!
Other Reading
Spurs
Spurs Planet - Our old friend Wayne Vore is back.
OPPONENT
Sactown Royalty - Used to be run by the great Tom Ziller. It's still good though. Go ahead and check them out.
Following Along
TV
KENS 5
Radio
WOAI 1200AM; Audio League Pass[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.