As usual, there are a couple of things I would like to address before getting into the recap. As is also usual when I have capping duties, the game is a yawner. That, or it would be one of Manu's all-time greatest performances, but my DVR would spazz out, and I wouldn't get to watch it anyway.

      Either way, I lose.

      Soooo... first things first, I want to stop a certain trend I noticed a while back. It's been gaining, and I want to try and halt it in it's tracks. I refer of course, to people calling Matt Bonner "Boner". This isn't clever people... it is utterly and completely tasteless. It's cheap toilet humor of the lowest kind. As you all probably know, Matthew Powell has been posting notices and trying to clean this site up a bit and make it more family friendly. I can utterly sympathize with this, and want only to pledge myself to upholding the lofty and strict standards he has set for us. Now, as we should all know, Bonner already HAS a nickname - a perfectly good nickname which has followed him across his NBA career, from team to team. It's Red Rocket. I want everybody to repeat after me: "I shall NOT refer to Bonner as 'Boner' ever again – he is, and always has been, and always shall be, 'Red Rocket'".

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There are lots of ways to flop. There's the I-really-did-get-fouled-but-need-to-make-it-look-far-worse-to-catch-the-refs-attention flop, there's the I-just-lost-the-ball-and-need-to-pretend-someone-hit-me flop, and there's also the ever popular flying-backwards-twenty-feet flop, most commonly, but not exclusively, used on attempts to draw offensive fouls. And it's obvious that some flops (and floppers) are definitely more flagrant than others, but that begs the question... exactly how do we quantify flopping? Can we really say that someone who slightly exaggerates a legitimate foul is as bad a flopper as someone who, say, flys backwards as if they got hit by a .44 slug, writhes on the ground for a prolonged period, but is revealed by replays to never have even been physically touched?

It may be audacious and hubristic to try to define such a delicate art, but I'll take a swing at it. The idea is simple. There are three main factors to consider: the severity of the contact, the over-reaction, and the effect on the refs. Here, in honor of our own master thespian, I present to you the Flopobili Scoring Index (which is actually a table):

 

One thing to consider is that it's hard to draw an offensive foul without hitting the ground. So, on offensive fouls, it's only a major exaggeration if it's accompanied by unnecessarily flailing arms and launching one's self backwards. Just falling backwards after a potential offensive foul scores under the "drawing attention" category, but can be bumped up to the next level for flailing arms, whiplash, ect.

Next to consider is the effect on the refs. This is difficult, because flopping without getting a call is even more pathetic than if you get a call out of it, but affecting the refs is the entire point of flopping, and exactly why it's so hated, yet so widely practiced. So, the Flopobili bonus for affecting the refs:

 

I was considering adding a negative score for stuff like having no reaction to a flagrant foul, but that's more a toughness factor, which I don't think should be considered in this context. We're trying to isolate and study the flop itself here, without any extraneous considerations.

Now, let's put this sucker to use... first up, a foul sure to be a perennial favorite:

Of course, there are a couple of possible interpretations here. If you're a Suns fan, then that was more than a legitimate flagrant 2, Tim Duncan and every Spurs player should have been suspended, and Horry should have been arrested on the spot. However...

If you're slightly more objective, then Horry's foul was a hard foul, and could only be considered flagrant because Nash was going full speed. But it was Steve Nash's writhing on the ground which upgraded the foul to a flagrant2, resulting in Horry's suspension for the next game. I'm going to call this a legitimate flagrant foul, and legitimately hitting the ground, but with unnecessary writhing in pain by the foulee, resulting in an upgrade from a flagrant1 to a flagrant2. That awards Nash a respectable 5 (2+3) on the Flopobili Index for his performance.

Next up, we have a recent cut of Chris Paul:

Notice the well-timed arms-and-head-flying-back by Chris Paul at 1:03 and 1:10. Also notice that Bowen's "kick" never actually connects with any part of Chris Paul's anatomy. This montage saw Bowen receive not only a foul from the refs and a punch in the nads from CP3, but also a one-game suspension from the league. Here, Chris Paul achieves one of the most difficult feats in basketball flopping: a non-contact no-call to a flagrant2 upgrade. The way that Paul stands up afterwards affecting a look of school-boy innocence with his hands behind his back makes me want to add another category to the index. So, adding together his flying backwards/hitting the floor unnecessarily and the suspension/flagrant2 bonus, CP3 earns an impressive 15 (7+8) for his imitation of a Bruce Bowen victim.

Here's Raja Bell:

In this sequence, there's incidental contact with exaggeration involving flailing, launching backwards, hitting the floor, and turning a no-call into a foul. Here, Raja Bell scores a solid 9 (5+4) Flopobilis.

In a nearly identical situation, here's the master himself, also scoring 9 Flopobilis agains Bonzi Wells:

Yeah... karma's a bitch. I'm not sure who's more indignant after the foul calls against them - Manu, or Bonzi.

Anyway... ummm... recap. Yeah. There was a game yesterday, and Corey Maggette out-flopped Ginobili by a cumulative Flopobili score of 9(5+2+2) to 2. But was a slow game all around for drama fans. I was kinda hoping for a few on-court explosions, and maybe a fight or two. That's not normal for me, and I'm blaming it on the fact that I spent most of yesterday commiting acts of race-baiting and engaging in various levels of hyperbole, and I have to admit... it was fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Granted, I woke up this morning feeling like a small part of my soul had been seared away forever, but at least now I understand why Al Sharpton keeps that crap up year after year.

Matt Bonner? He's totally the ginger Rosa Parks.

Unlike some tho, I'll be more than happy to leave that kinda crud alone forever and get back to my normal life of making stupid observations about basketball. Like, while I was watching the game, I got the impression that Jacques Vaughn wasn't sucking so badly. However, the popcorn machine tells me that he was a -5 for the night. This either indicates my natural lack of attention while the JV is in, or it's a showing of how low my expectations of any backup point guard of ours have fallen.

Speaking of falling expectations, the Caribbean Queen had a competent game last night, shooting a shot over 50% and pulling in 6 rebounds in 35 minutes. However, this is very probably the best we can ever expect from Finley ever again; he's not likely to have another game where he nails 8 threes in the playoffs. He's going to have games where he's utterly killing us, and then he's going to have games where he's just barely holding his own and not screwing everything up for the big three. And I totally want to take a jab about who gets going when the going gets tough, but I'm coming up blank.

Grammys AND Championship Rings are too much for one man to ask

Needless to say, the Spurs started out strong, let the Clips back in it, then Manu had to bail them out at the end, scoring 8 points in the last 4 minutes. Tim held the fort in the meantime, shooting 8-10 from the field and tallying a more than acceptable 10-13 from the line. Ime actually pulled in the low-end of the +/- with a -13 score, but I still prefer having him in there over Finley.

Also, for some reason, Bruce Bowen continues to attempt at least one running jumper/floater/finger-roll per game. I have yet to see him actually make one in the past two years. Does he make these in practice? It's not like he looks extremly bad or awkward shooting them, it's just that he misses every single one. You'd think he'd luck into one or two eventually...

As for the wee Frenchman... I don't know what too think. We need him. Badly. We're first or second round cannon-fodder unless he steps up and plays like a man who knows he's nailing a starlet. We need him to be good enough that outsiders will actually wonder if he's better than Manu. He did decently yesterday - he was reasonably aggresive and even hit a long jumper that looked good on the release and rotation. I'm overjoyed that Popovich finally put Manu back on the reserve list to enable Parker to look for his own shot for the first five or six minutes of the game, and I hope it's soon enough to let Frenchie get his groove back before the playoffs. The Spurs are always most formidable when Tony and Tim start in on a team, then step back and let Manu exploit all the cracks in the defense they've opened up. But when Manu's starting, Tony defers too much to him. That's not Tony's game, it doesn't help Manu much, and it hurts the Spurs overall.

All in all, not putrid. It was a SEGABABA, and the good guys won. But we won at home over a weak opponent who was also on a SEGABABA. There are far too many deficiencies in the Spurs right now for me to be comfortable against any potential playoff opponent, but the defense is looking better as of late. If the Spurs can get rid of those damned offensive droughts, we MAY... just MAY have an outside chance of facing Boston in the finals. But we're not good enough right now to beat an LA team that's going to be getting every break imaginable as the league seeks to renew an old rivalry.

Anyway... to wrap up, the Three Stars:

3. TAFKaMF - Ok... you didn't suck. But my parents used to play Suddenly over and over when I was a kid, and I can never forgive you for that.
2. Manu - Like I said above, the formula is getting old, but Manu keeps bailing us out at the end of games.
1. Timmeh - Taking advantage of Chris Kaman is a national pastime in the Virgin Islands.

More adventures in blind recapping!

Well, it figures.  I recorded last night's game and planned to watch it this afternoon, since I'm taking the day off from work.  But the DVR fucked up, and all it shows when I try to play it is a heavily pixelated  four-second loop of an unidentifiable T-Wolf hitting a free throw with the score tied at 96-96, and announcers who sound like Decepticons performing a disjointed rendition of Alvin and the Chipmunks'  "Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah".

Applying my masterful skills of analysis to this four-second cross-section of the game, I could deduce that the Spurs are deep in mourning over the loss of Brent Barry, as they were all dressed in black.  That, and someone apparently filled the Target Center with helium.

Of course, there was Manu dropping 44 in the faces of Rashad McCants, Sebastian Telfair, and Randy Foye, at least two of which are on my top-ten absolute least favorite players - guys I would never want on my team.  Now, I've been remiss in following my Spurs for a couple of months now.  Manu's injury and subsequent sub-par play made me lose interest and drift away a bit, but missing this glorious spectacle is probably just the impetus I needed to get my ass back on the couch - no more of this hitting the gym, getting ahead at work, or spending time with friends and family crap.  It's almost March.  Playoffs are imminent!  There's less than thirty games left, and the eighth seed in the west is only behind the first by 4.5 games.  Any current playoff team has a reasonable chance of finishing with the first seed.  If that doesn't make for a good late-season-stretch-run, nothing will.

But at least one non-Argentinian thing tickled me silly about last night's game: Jacques Vaughn played 6:19.  Now, that's 6 minutes and 19 seconds longer than I would like.  However, for a coach like Popovich, who would start an undead corpse so long as it held a good defensive stance outside the charge-circle, that kind of restraint is remarkable.  While I'm not a huge fan of MightyMouse, he can hit a couple of jumpers, and knock down the occasional 3.  One might say the Vaughn is a better defender, but that desparate sticking-a-hand-in-a-shooter's-face bit really isn't all that effective, and Stoudemire undeniably has better foot speed.  I reserve my right to rant about Midge's decision making later, but I'm on the anyone-but-Vaughn wagon for now.  

Incidentally, TP played almost 19 minutes, and recorded a team-worst +/- of -9.  I'm skeptical that Frenchie will be able to get himself back into form by the time the playoffs roll around; foot injuries involving ligaments are pesky - they don't get better without surgery, and you're not 100% till they cut that bone spur out.  Even with Manu playing MVP-caliber ball, we need Tony to be his usual self, or we're not getting out of the Western Conference.  The Mavs losing Devin Harris won't help us much if Tony is two steps slower than last year.  

And, last item, Michael Finley.  If you keep hitting jump shots like this, then Pop may revoke your "green light" status.  He's strict like that.  If you want permission to keep shooting, then you should probably stick with what's worked in the past, and put up a few more 1-15 nights.  This 50% crap just doesn't fly on the Spurs.  Just look at Vaughn.  The man can't hit a shot outside of 3 feet, but Pop keeps insisting on him taking every midrange shot available.  The fact that opposing teams purposefully leave Vaughn completely unguarded when he has the ball only encourages Pop.  But shoot 7-9 from downtown, and I guarantee you'll be starting the next game on the bench.

Anyway, that's all I've got.  I'm going out to get a new DVR now.  Laters, all.

The increasingly-ignored-PtR-recap-required Three Stars :

3.  Jacques Vaughn - Did you seriously only play 6:19?  It was a beautiful thing to watch, I'm sure.  If you could, maybe, pull a groin or something, you'd have this 3rd star spot sewn up for the remainder of the year.  Think about it.
2.  Timmy D - Shot an excellent 8-8 on free throws.  I'm expecting a 1-7 performance in the very near future.  All the same, 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists.  By now, he's used to being eternally underappreciated.
1.  Manu - Could there be any question?  First, you punk LeBron, then you hit a game winner over a double team consisting of two players I've always detested.  Did I say we needed Tony to win another Championship?  We need another Manu.  We need 5 Manus.  Plus one extra for the bench, `cause you know he'd never complain.

The Mavs have just traded away two of the players who created the most problems for the Spurs.  

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That's right.  Fuck the guilt.  Fuck the foul.  Fuck the way this whole shitty situation been spun by every 2-cent commentor and columnist who always hated the Spurs anyway.  Fuck it all.

I honestly turned off the TV immediately after Horry's foul, and refused to even LOOK at any basketball related article, picture, or web-page until a few hours before Game 5.  I knew there would be a shit-storm over Horry's foul.  I knew he'd probably be suspended.  What I did not know was that Stoudemire and Diaw would be joining him on the no-show list.  

So I spent today, the day after Game 5, reading every stupid article from FreeDarko to Steve Kerr, and almost nowhere did I find anyone who had any sense of balance about the situation.  Nobody bothered to notice that the Spurs had been indisputably raped by the refs in the last four minutes of Game 4.  Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili all got badly and obviously fouled on drives to the basket in the closing minutes, and nary a whistle was heard.  ...but Steve Nash trips over his own feet and Duncan picks up his fifth foul despite literally not touching him.  The Spurs should still have been able to pull it out despite the refs, but the refs' mistakes were the primary reason the Suns were able to close in to begin with.  If you have it on Tivo or DVR, go back and watch again... the Suns got the benefit of EVERY bad call and bad no-call that quarter.  

So, yeah, a frustrated Horry gives an unnecessarily hard hit to a player already moving a full speed, and Nash doesn't skimp on the acting job... not that he even needed to.  If Nash chooses to bounce up, it's a flagrant 1 and Horry gets a fine.  A little time spent wincing on the ground earns him a flagrant 2 and maybe gets Horry suspended.  But, just a little more writhing against the scorers table by Nash, and Bell rushes Horry, Stoudemire and Diaw jump off the bench, and next thing you know, David Stern is flying in like Demento Superman to see just how he can fuck up the situation even worse than it already was.

But, in keeping with my theme, fuck Game 4.  It's over.  Water under the burning bridge.  The Spurs have lost and won more than one 5-on-8 game before, and they'll lose and win more in the games to come.  Doesn't fucking matter.  Games can't be won by the whistle, they can only be lost.  It's never because of the refs when it's your team on top, is it?  

The Suns take Game 4 at a pyhrric cost, and the  following days coverage of these media darlings is so fawning that you start expecting tornado and tsunami victims to start sending sympathy letters to pampered multi-millionares.  The Spurs, by contrast, get multiple bomb-threats called in at the hotel they're staying in. (And no, I'm not making that last part up.)

...So the Spurs went into game 5 with a huge paper advantage, and everyone in the country was ready to spit and piss on them for having the nads to even show up at the Arena.  Barkley said they played guilty... and he wasn't wrong.  But I think it's more accurate to say that they didn't want to play period.  It wasn't just their worst quarter of the series or the playoffs; it was the worst quarter they've played for more than a year.  This heartless, soulless, cold-as-ice, thuggish machine called the Spurs couldn't seem to muster the will to play against the wrongly depleted Suns.  These Spurs, these foul characters cast as dirty cheating ruffians, didn't seem to want to even be in a match so ill-conceived.  

Such ignobility cannot be ignored, right?

Credit the Suns for playing hard.  If they hadn't come out of the gate so fast, the Spurs might not have woken up at all.  If the score had been 14-13 after one period instead of 24-13, the boys in black might have stayed in their stupor.  Make no mistake... in the first half, the Spurs were almost ready to lay down and give this game away.

But that doesn't last for long.  The analogy has been made before that these athletes are our modern day gladiators.  Once the blood gets flowing, it's hard to stop or even slow down.  Giving the game away would almost certainly mean giving the series away, and no man who has the requisite drive to make it to the NBA is going to give that up just because any number of bottom rung journalists think it might make for a better story.

So fuck it all.  Fuck the popular version.  Fuck the good stories.  Fuck the fuzzy feel-good righteous underdog crap.  I haven't forgotten Manu's black eye.  I haven't forgotten Barbosa undercutting Parker on drives and jumpers.  I haven't overlooked Nash complaining on every damn play, and I haven't gone without noticing Raja Bell making Ginobili look like an amateur at the art of flopping.  I'm not going to ignore Kurt Thomas fouling Duncan every other play, and I'm not going to ignore Stoudemire's whining stupidity.  I'm not going to lay down and pretend that the Suns are the only team that's ever have a few bad breaks go against them.

I'm gonna max out my credit card, and I'm going to get some damn good seats for tomorrow's game.  I'm going to scream at every call, good and bad, against SA - and I'm going to scream every epitaph I can think of against every goddamn orange jersey I see.

I'm a mother-fuckin Spurs fan, dammit.

[Editor's note:  Another great recap by a PtR member... I never knew Jacque Vaughn could be such a source of hilarity!]

Now, before I get into the Denver game, I'd like to say that I've been spending the past few weeks believing that the Spurs are going to be lucky to have homecourt advantage in the first round.  But, there's one thing that gives me hope... something I wrote last year:

I agree about Miami; they have roughly the same chance to beat Detroit that I have in solving the grand unification theory before noon tomorrow.  Shaq isn't Shaq anymore, and Wade is still a few years away from being a player who can truly carry a team.

Yes... I believed... with little or no inclination towards even CONSIDERING second thoughts... that Miami was, at best, second round cannon-fodder.  Shaq wasn't good for more than 15 minutes a game.  They were way too laden with old guys.  Antoine Walker?  Gary Payton?  Zo?  Puhuhuhuhuhleeze.  They didn't stand a chance against Detroit.  Or against the Spurs or Dallas?  Not. A. Freakin. Chance. In. Hell.

Which is pretty much how I feel about the Spurs this year.  So there IS hope for a championship?  Nah.  Not really.  Just enough of a sliver of opportunity for a fan to commit hari-kari obsessing over it.  Not enough to ever actually, ya know... WIN.

Thoughts before the game - there's a couple of things I always look for early in a Spurs game: defensive rebounding, and getting the bigs on the other side in foul trouble early. One or the other of those, and we're probably in good shape.  If we have both, we're probably on the happy side of a blow-out.

Start of the Game :

 Spurs win tip-off - Bowen gives it to Parker.

 Not a good start to the game - the Nuggets have taken three shots inside the paint so far, the Spurs have taken ZERO, with one jumper apiece for Parker and Barry, both misses.

 Spurs finally go inside, and Camby blocks two of the first three inside attempts.  Again, not a good start.  

 Finally, TP drives and draws a foul on Anthony.  That's what I'm talkin' bout.

 I just noticed that Brent Barry is perfectly capable of staying in front of Blake.  Blake isn't much longer for this league.

 Case-in-point regarding forcing early fouls : Timmy already has a foul, so Anthony drives straight in on Duncan on a break, and TD plays matador defense so he doesn't get the early second foul.  Spurs timeout.  

 Is it just me, or do the Spurs not really play until they've been chewed out by Popovich during the first timeout?  Maybe it's mental... like a security blanket or something.

 Parker - two beautiful breaks in a row, both ending in assists from Tony.

 Just before the 6:00 mark - Manu checks in and promptly gives up a j to Blake.

 The refs just missed an obvious delay of game T on Anthony.

 sigh... Jauque Vaughn is in.  I have no idea how to spell Jauque.  Jacque.  Note to Pop: Manu can play point guard!  He can even play it better than Tony!  You don't need to put Vaughn in there just to mock Beno!

 Don't bring Horry off the pine until May. Just let him watch until then.

 Note: Jacque Vaughn cannot guard Allen Iverson.  The only way he can even stay within five feet of him is to grab the back of Iverson's jersey and hold on for dear life.

 Finley hits a three, then Oberto putts in a 5-foot gimme to end the quarter.  Finley's play over the past few games has been making me feel all tingly in my special places, even when I use the cream my doctor gave me.  

End of the first quarter : Camby - 2 fouls, Nene - 1 foul, Najera - 1 foul, Anthony - 1 foul.  Not a terrible start.  Denver's inside defense will be hurting if the Spurs keep attacking and don't start shooting jumpers left and right.

 Manu just hit a double clutch jumper while fading to the right.  There wasn't any defender within 7 feet of him, so he didn't really NEED to fade or double clutch, but he did anyway cause that's just the way they roll down in Argentina.

 Iverson just nearly took the ball away from Vaughn near midcourt; Vaughn responded by lowering his head and dribbling straight into Iverson.  Any COMPETENT player would have realized that Iverson was, at that point, several feet out of position for defense, and would have simply turned around and driven for an wide open layup.  But no... Vaughn ends up stumbling near midcourt, regaining his balance only by using his head to catch himself on Iverson's crotch.  Long story short : Vaughn is Iverson's bitch in every conceivable way.

 Overall, the Spurs are looking more comfortable in the lead, and Denver's threatening less.  

 Tony's had several good passes on breaks.  Not Manu-quality passes yet, but good.  Dick Stockton and Reggie Miller are talking about "picking your poison" between TP's inside scoring and his improved 3pt shooting.  I didn't break out in laughter... I actually wept a bit with pity for the world where these men make more money than I do.  And for myself.  Cause they make more money than me.

 Ok... TP ally-oop to Brent Barry, who actually managed to elevate both of his hands above the rim... no more hating on Tony's passing game.  He's having a damn good game so far.  9 pts, 4/5fg, and 4 assists.  Very efficient.

 They're doing quick double-teams on Anthony combined with not-so-quick rotations after the pass out.  Any halfway decent passing team could pick this Spurs defense apart.  Luckily, Denver doesn't even vaguely resemble a decent passing team.

 Denver's careless passing is killing them.  It's making the Spurs look better than they're playing.

Halftime: 5 fouls between Nene and Camby - excellent.  11 assists on 21 Spur fg's.  Good, but not great.  15 would be great.  2-11 on 3's.  Brent Barry has sucked since the new old ball came back.  For all you Tony haters, TP is at 13 points, 6-8 shooting, and 4 assists in 16 minutes.  Manu, by contrast, is at 10 points, 5-6 shooting, and 2 assists in 13 minutes.  Great game for Tony, but typical output for Manu.  I'm still all for moving TP to 2 guard and letting Manu handle the point.

Third Quarter :

 Spurs start with a full court press.. Bowen nearly fouls Anthony on the inbounds, then does foul him on the shot.  Spurs come back and go straight inside, drawing another foul on Camby.  Both Denver starting bigs have 3 fouls... that bodes well.

 Parker throws away another pass in to Duncan... that's 3 throw-aways this game.  

 Is there an uglier jumpshot in this game than Marcus Camby's?  I'm not saying it's not possible.  I just can't think of any.

 Bowen just hit a 3, which opened up a 56-39 lead, and prompted a Denver timeout.  If the Spurs are going to implode, it's likely going to happen soon.  Now would be a good time to bring in Manu. ...but no, Pop brings Barry back in, not Manu.  Dammit.

 Elson throws it away, trying to get it to Duncan.  I've seen him blow that high-low pass it seems like at least once a game.  That needs work.

 Hello... Tony just stayed in front of Iverson during an entire series of AI's patented drive-in/jump-out/drive-in-again-then-repeat flurries.  Tony's never been a bad defender, but he's never been able to handle a top-level player before.  That's promising.

 RoHo blew a break-away lay-up and Manu pulled down a save for the rebound between two Denver players.  Horry actually looks downright spry out there.  Competely ineffective perhaps, but spritely!

 Crap.  A 22 point lead, and Vaughn is coming in.  At least Finley is in there.  Oberto is waiting to check in.  And... Manu to TD.  24 point lead.  The Spurs may yet pull this one out.

 Vaughn put yet another of his body parts in Iverson's crotch again.  It doesn't look like AI enjoyed that one tho... he's still writhing a bit on the ground.

 Matt Bonner is in!  My wildest dreams have come true!  No... wait... where are my sun god robes?

End of the Third Quarter: 31 point lead, and AI looks ready to puke.  Going into the fourth quarter doesn't get much easier than this.

 TNT just switched the the Detroit-Milwaukee game.  But I'm so stoked that I correctly spelled Milwaukee on the first try that I don't really care.

 ok... Detroit won.  And the Nuggets have cut the lead to 20 in the interim.  Dammit, Beno!  

 I wonder what would happen if you showed those Sprite Sublymonal ads to someone in the 50's, they'd probably start crying or something... just before they turned into communist sympathizers.

 I'm commenting on commercials.  That means the game is over.

Well... I'm finishing up my recap while watching the PHX-LAC game, and I'm more convinced than ever that Sam Cassell is, in fact, a Zeta-Reticulan.  Burn victims have nightmares about looking like him.

This was a blow-out, so there's not much to say.  It reminds me of the kind of promise the Spurs were showing for the first quarter of the season - the defense was great, and the offense was good enough.  Tony was a nightmare to guard, but turned the ball over a bit more than he should have.  Manu turned in the kind of performance that makes him one of the most efficient players in the league - he's been playing the best I've seen him play since he joined the Spurs.  Elson continued to tease, leading the team in rebounding with 8 in 24 minutes.  Jacque Vaughn's improved play continued to make me want to change the channel.  Michael Finley has been making me giggle like a little girl even more than usual.  And Duncan was, well... Tim Duncan.  Not a single Spur played 26 minutes, and only Duncan and Barry played 25.  

Brent Barry turned in another performance that convinces me that many players in the league secretly wish they had the old ball back.  Michael Finley should have the starting spot within a week or two if Pop continues to insist on bringing Manu off the bench.

In keeping with the Pounding the Rock recap requirements, here are...

Your 3 Stars

3. Francisco Elson - He didn't play lights-out or anything, but I reallyreallyreally want him to keep playing like this, and I just KNOW that he's gonna grab 3 total rebounds over the next two games.

2. Manu Ginobili - Manu's playing as well as I've ever seen him play in the NBA, and it seems like he's still got another gear to go.  If we get far into the playoffs, he's going to be reason #1.

1. Tony Parker - Tony's on an All-Star high, or something.  He embarrassed Iverson more than once, and played solidly on both sides of the ball.  His passing was better than Manu's for once.  He met his usual minimum of at least one sick sick layup per game.