As most are now aware, DeJuan Blair is missing both of his ACLs.  While in high school, Blair tore both ACLs and had them surgically repaired.  Unfortunately, the surgeries were unsuccessful as it has been revealed that he does not have either ACL.  After the surgeries, his body must have rejected the repaired ACLs and absorbed them.  I had many questions about DeJuan Blair's knees so I decided to find the most knowledgeable person possible in order to get some answers.  Enter Steve Stratton, PHD, PT, ATC and founder of Steven Stratton Physical Therapy located in San Antonio, TX.

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The season starts NOW.  Holy FSM am I ready for it.

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The first post I did at PtR was a season preview two years ago.  It was a long rambling mess.  Just a mess.  I'm glad I can't find a copy of it.  One part that I did like, though, was the schedule analysis.  I tried to find the easy parts of the schedule and the tough parts of the schedule so that I could later match them with the Spurs record. 

I did it again last year.  I had us at 53-29 and the Spurs ended 54-28.  I had this comment about March "Less than 12 and I'll be making vacation plans for May."

Month by month, here were my picks and the results:

• November - ATS:  10-6.  Reality:  9-7
  
• December - ATS:  9-6.  Reality: 11-4
• January - ATS:  9-6.  Reality: 12-3
• February - ATS:  7-4.  Reality: 7-4
• March - ATS:  12-5.  Reality: 9-8
• April - ATS:  6-2  Reality: 6-2

Let's take a look at 2010 (follow along with the schedule)...

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This is the first of a series I hope to continue throughout the season. I love beautifully executed basketball. It's well thought-out, fun to watch unfold, and often results in an easy bucket. Whenever I see a play like this, I love to watch it over and over. Soaking in the subtleties. Noticing the smallest details and how they each contribute to making the play what it is -- a gorgeous display of mental acuity and physical skill blended together with preparation, teamwork and a heavy dose of Spurs awesomeness. The result often takes no longer than 5 seconds to see, but far longer to dissect and fully appreciate.

So, follow me to the other side of the jump, into a world where time may move slowly, but the hand is still quicker than the eye.

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I know what you are thinking.  Why today, ATS?  Why today for a team preview when the preseason has just started?  Well, today is my day.  As part of blogger preview organized by Jeff at CelticsBlog, I've got the Spurs on Saturday, October 10th.  So let's get down to it.

With the Spurs offseason acquisitions putting them well into luxury tax land for the first time, there is only one sufficient outcome to this season.  Winning it all.  Will they do it?  Let's take a look.

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The first pre-season game is tomorrow night.  I'm excited to see all the new guys.  I think it is time for me to start realistically setting my expectations.  The more I can get those expectations in line with those of the organization, the less surprised I will be.

The summer roster changes created a lot of excitement.  The Jefferson trade, the draft, and the free agent signings.  I think all the excitement leads to some unreal expectations.  This became clear to me at the media day last Monday.  I shouldn't have been surprised.  We'd already seen the first glimpse of our reality smack-in-the-face when Jack McClinton was released.  But still, there is nothing like some facts to really open the eyes.

The Spurs have the Big 4now.  We all know this.  We know that Jefferson is a very strong 4th wheel.  The eye-opening thing for me was the New 4.  I went into media day thinking about all the new faces and all the young faces.  What I wasn't prepared for was the concept of the New 4.  The Spurs presented it to me as "the New 4" in describing the day's activities.  Manu, in his interview, references the New 4 and then throws in a "five with Bogans". 

The New 4 are:

• Richard Jefferson
• Antonio McDyess
• Theo Ratliff
• DeJuan Blair

Conspicuously missing, to me anyway, was 48MoH feature of the day Marcus Haislip.  The players the team considered to be of media interest were Tony, Tim, Manu, Jefferson, McDyess, Ratliff, Blair, and the very newly signed Bogans.  Not the returning contributors.  Not Mason, not Finley, not Hill, not Bonner.  Not the returning fringe guys.  Not Mahinmi, not Hairston, not Williams.  And not Marcus Haislip.

I'm reading between the lines here some, but this just tells me that the organization's expectations of Haislip are not high.  They don't consider him to be a "big" signing and that they aren't expecting him to be a large part of the rotation. In much the same way, I don't think they are expecting much from Ian, Malik, or the other Marcus.

For the record, I started writing this post on Saturday.  I'm not responding to the 48MoH choosing to post their interview with him today as way to dismiss the article .  Tim and I get along just fine.  His interview with Haislip is very good.  You guys should read it.  I love me the guys at the end of bench as much as anybody.

Age is a sensitive subject for Spurs fans.  For the past several years, ESPN analysts have posed the question, "Are the Spurs too old to win a championship?"  They then explain that the Spurs’ average age is thirty-something while the youngest team in the NBA is around 25.  And we see these stats, listen to their logic, and doubt enters our psyche.  We begin to think that maybe we are too old.  Maybe they are right.  After all, if enough analysts for ESPN are saying the same thing, they must be correct, right?

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By now, everyone knows that the Spurs recently signed Curtis Jerrells and Keith Bogans.  That makes 19 players that will be at training camp for the Spurs, with one spot still left to be filled.  Let's explore the impact of this a little bit more, especially the Bogans signing.

Who's the lucky new Spur?

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