Game #76 Preview: Spurs @ Rockets - A Tale of Two Outcomes

Being without internet because of some irritatingly shady timewarner work, I am going to have to give two different previews. If we win, click here if we lose, click here.

The Spurs played well last night, at least well enough to win. Ever since the Duncan injury, the fan confidence poll on the side bar has been falling rapidly. This win should allow the "weak-minded" fans to get back on board the wagon. I mean, come on we just beat the 2nd best team in the Eastern Conference. I urge caution against over-reaction though. Just as the last 4 games showed us what we need to work on rather than the bottom falling out of the season, last night's game is the coin finally falling on heads. We can finally come out from under our holes and relax.

Tonight we play the Rockets. This team is 3 games behind Memphis for the #8 spot in the playoffs and have gone 6-4 in their last 10. They usually play the Spurs close as seen by our previous games against them. However, even with it being a SEGABABA, and after playing a rough game last night, I see the Spurs winning this game by a solid margin. They've got the mojo back and it's working!

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets Where: Toyota Center When: April 1, 2011 7:30 PM Spurs Time - Timezone Converter Watch: FSSW By the Numbers Data sources: hoopdata.com | basketball-reference.com | John Hollinger's team stats
Category Offense (rank) Defense (rank) Efficiency Rating 109.1 (3rd) 102.4 (t-8th) Rebound % 24.7 (22nd) 74.3 (t-13th) Field Goal % 47.4 (5th) 45.5 (12th) 3-Point % 39.9 (1st) 37.1 (24th) Free Throw % 76.6 (16th) 75.9 (12th) Turnover % 12.86 (6th) 12.72 (24th) Assist % 59.41 (10th) 53.99 (3rd)			Category Offense (rank) Defense (rank) Efficiency Rating 108.2 (6th) 106.7 (21st) Rebound % 27.4 (9th) 72.3 (22nd) Field Goal % 45.4 (21st) 46.8 (21st) 3-Point % 37 (8th) 36.4 (20th) Free Throw % 80 (3rd) 78 (29th) Turnover % 12.3 (2nd) 12.54 (26th) Assist % 61.21 (5th) 52.59 (2nd)
Record Wins Losses Overall 58 17 Conference 35 11 Division 10 5 Home 34 4 Away 24 13       Position Conference Division Record 1st 1st Lineups Starters PG: Tony Parker SG: Manu Ginobili SF: Richard Jefferson PF: Antonio McDyess C: Tim Duncan (?) Key Bench Players DeJuan Blair Tiago Splitter George Hill Gary Neal Matt Bonner			Record Wins Losses Overall 39 36 Conference 22 24 Division 8 7 Home 22 14 Away 17 22       Position Conference Division Record 9th 5th Lineups Starters PG: Kyle Lowry SG: Kevin Martin SF: Chase Budinger PF: Patrick Patterson C: Chuck Hayes Key Bench Players Jordan Hill Goran Dragic Courtney Lee Brad Miller

Matchup Analysis

	Point Guard
	Shooting Guard
	Small Forward
	Power Forward
	Center
	Bench
	Coach
	Intangibles
	Mojo
	Winner

Starters

PG: Parker needs to dominate Fisher. After dominating Boston so handily last night, Parker comes up against another good point guard. Lowry has definitely benefited under the tutelage of Rick Adelman. Parker still gets the Spur for being awesome.

SG: Kevin Martin is good for 1 thing. That's scoring. Even when Manu can't put the ball in the bucket to save his life, he helps the Spurs in everything.

SF: RJ has decided to hide again. Maybe someone else gave him more than $8 Million to just pretend to play.  Budinger plays with energy at least.

PF: Patterson and McDyess play similar roles and both play them well. Dyess has the veteran Spur though.

C: Chuck Hayes is a very very good low post defender. Unfortunately, he can't stop Duncan, just stall him for a while.

Bench

Tiago has been playing fantastically while Duncan has been out.  Thabeet nearly got destroyed by Blair once.

Coaching

4 rings + Tim Duncan > Rick Adelman.  Sorry Rick!

Intangibles

We are back to winning!

Mojo

DrumsInTheDeep is naming his kid after Gary Neal

Prediction

Spurs by 10 after a solid 2nd quarter.

Key(s) to the Game

Key 1 - Boxing out.  The Rockets are good at offensive rebounding, similar to the Blazers

Key 2 - Ball movement. The Rockets aren't as susceptible to drive and kick as other teams in the NBA, but their team defense breaks down on solid pick and rolls.

Other Reading

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell -

Spurs Planet - Our old friend Wayne Vore is back.

Project Spurs

Spurs Nation

OPPONENT

The Dream Shake (SB Nation) 

Following Along

TV 

FSSW

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.

OH MY GOSH!!! WE'RE THE WORST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE! WE'RE GONNA LOSE IN THE FIRST ROUND IF WE EVEN MAKE IT THAT FAR!! Whew... Glad we got that out of our system. To be honest, when Duncan went down with his sprained ankle, I, for one, expected us to tank. Duncan has been our defensive stalwart for the whole season, and while Tiago is a fantastic defender, he just doesn't know the system yet. I'm more surprised that we were even close in these contests. Our guys have been playing hard, without their top 2 players. Unfortunately this means that they will lose. Quite often in fact.

We host the Rockets tonight. We're probably going to lost without Timmy and Manu. Such is life. Ce Sera Sera. We already knew that this team was championship or bust. A few losses will not destroy that mentaliy. So don't jump off the wagon just yet. We have the real NBA season about to start.

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets Where: Toyota Center When: April 1, 2011 7:30 PM Spurs Time - Timezone Converter Watch: FSSW By the Numbers Data sources: hoopdata.com | basketball-reference.com | John Hollinger's team stats
Category Offense (rank) Defense (rank) Efficiency Rating 109.1 (3rd) 102.4 (t-8th) Rebound % 24.7 (22nd) 74.3 (t-13th) Field Goal % 47.4 (5th) 45.5 (12th) 3-Point % 39.9 (1st) 37.1 (24th) Free Throw % 76.6 (16th) 75.9 (12th) Turnover % 12.86 (6th) 12.72 (24th) Assist % 59.41 (10th) 53.99 (3rd)			Category Offense (rank) Defense (rank) Efficiency Rating 108.2 (6th) 106.7 (21st) Rebound % 27.4 (9th) 72.3 (22nd) Field Goal % 45.4 (21st) 46.8 (21st) 3-Point % 37 (8th) 36.4 (20th) Free Throw % 80 (3rd) 78 (29th) Turnover % 12.3 (2nd) 12.54 (26th) Assist % 61.21 (5th) 52.59 (2nd)
Record Wins Losses Overall 57 18 Conference 35 11 Division 10 5 Home 33 5 Away 24 13       Position Conference Division Record 1st 1st Lineups Starters PG: Tony Parker SG: George Hill SF: Richard Jefferson PF: Antonio McDyess C: Tiago Splitter(?) Key Bench Players DeJuan Blair Gary Neal Matt Bonner			Record Wins Losses Overall 39 36 Conference 22 24 Division 8 7 Home 22 14 Away 17 22       Position Conference Division Record 9th 5th Lineups Starters PG: Kyle Lowry SG: Kevin Martin SF: Chase Budinger PF: Patrick Patterson C: Chuck Hayes Key Bench Players Jordan Hill Goran Dragic Courtney Lee Brad Miller

Matchup Analysis

	Point Guard
	Shooting Guard
	Small Forward
	Power Forward
	Center
	Bench
	Coach
	Intangibles
	Mojo
	Winner

Starters

PG: Parker needs to stop dominating Fisher and start winning instead. Also, he sucks!

SG: Kevin Martin hasn't lost 5 in a row.

SF: Back to Princess Peanut again

PF: Did Patterson lose last night?  No?  Ok.

C: Hayes got a triple double this year. Tiago lost 5 in a row

Bench

What bench?  They suck!

Coaching

Pop can't coach (if you listen to Spurs fans) We should trade him for Rick.

Intangibles

We suck

Mojo

DrumsInTheDeep is naming his kid after Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

Prediction

Spurs lose by 500

Key(s) to the Game

Key 1 - Stop sucking and win

Other Reading

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell -

Spurs Planet - Our old friend Wayne Vore is back.

Project Spurs

Spurs Nation

OPPONENT

The Dream Shake (SB Nation) - Notice they haven't lost 5 in a row...

Following Along

TV 

FSSW

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.