Sutherland Beard

4 games into the season...

Gregg Popovich has an awesome Beard.

Fabricio Oberto has a regular heartbeat again.

Tony Parker has a new personal best.

The Spurs have one win.

Sticktoitiveness

The Spurs have it.

I do not.

It's not my strong suite anyway. I leave a wake of unfinished projects and abandoned ambitions as I paddle through my days.

I'm trying to get better about staying with things I start. Well, no I'm not. But I'd like to, now that I think about it. So here's something: I'll get back to work on my radical Spurs blog here.

The NBA Season is back!!

There wasn't a ton of Spurs news I missed during the off-season.

* The only free agency splash made by the Spurs was the signing of Roger Mason Jr. The following article is the most interesting thing I've read about him. It's way interesting: Only 101 reasons to like Mason (highlights: he went to a fancy schmancy middle school with Chelsea Clinton...he owns a construction company...this summer he made 101 out of 107 3 pointers in one practice session)

* The S.A. Silver Stars were swept by the Detroit Shock in the 2008 WNBA Finals. The Austin Toros also lost in the Championship last year

* Brent Barry sent a mean and hilarious text message to Fabricio Oberto. I miss Brent Barry so much. So much. He'll still be funny in Houston. Just not as funny. Or cool.

Okay, that's all I'll make myself do today. Come by often. I'm going to stick to it. Spurs-style. Odd Years, baby! 2009! Title time!

The Marvin Gaye Olympic Nike Commercial

I won't try to speak for this.
Except to say please buy Nike's shoes forever, so they will keep making commercials.

On Wind and T. Boone Pickens

A few weeks ago I relayed what I thought was--from an ecological standpoint--an exciting story about how the AT&T Center will now be fully wind powered.

Well it turns out, once again, that the Spurs were just a little ahead of the curve. A couple days ago, My Way News ran an article about how Texas is becoming a pioneer in the use of wind energy. Utility officials just okayed a $4.9 billion plan to construct new transmission lines from the breezy plains of West Texas to other parts of the state.

West Texas is most famous as the heart of the Texas Oil Industry; but now'days the oil derricks that speckle the landscape have taller, cleaner neighbors. It's a welcome change in the landscape, if you ask me. And it's an especially promising sign of the times when a billionare oil tycoon named T. Boone Pickens is dumping resources into creating a 200,000 acre windfarm that will eventually produce enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes. Propa'.

And to follow up on the Manu Olympic Games mini-saga, it was announced yesterday that, yes, he will be on the Argentina squad after all.

I mention that, mostly because I've kind of committed to including a picture in every post here, and Manu dunking is a lot more fun than the pictures I found of T. Boone Pickens.

Vegas Babies

This week in Las Vegas, Nevada, a bunch of NBA teams will suit up their youngest, least proven players--along with a lot of players who may or may not ever make a roster spot on any NBA squad--in very plain versions of their team's uniform to compete in something called the NBA Summer League. Last week some teams met in Orlando to do the same thing, but the Spurs weren't there. We played our first game of the Summer League yesterday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Spurs won 78-76 (recap here). Ian Mahinmi scored 18 and pulled down 8 rebounds; George Hill debuted as a Spur with 17 points, 8 rebounds.

At the end of the first quarter, O.J. Mayo, the high school sensation and rookie guard out of USC, hit a last second 69-foot two-handed heave to score 13 of the Grizzlies 17 first-quarter points.

Darrell Arthur, whom I talked about getting the draft day shaft and falling all the way to the Hornet's 27th pick (before being traded to Memphis), made me look even smarter, and led all scorers with 23 points in this game.

These games don't mean anything. It's just a good chance to see some of these lesser known players get some burn against each other. Sometimes players will rule the Summer League, and fall completely flat in the NBA (Marco Belinelli was a perfect example last year--37 points in his Summer League debut, breathless comparisons to Larry Bird by respectable NBA journalists...then a total flame out in the regular season [source: True Hoop]). The same goes for a team's record; the Knicks went undefeated last Summer, but were one of the worst teams in the league this year [from same article].

In less interesting news, the Spurs have evidientally done some realligning of their front office. A guy named Rick Pych has been promoted to "President of Business Operations," while Greg Popovich will take over as "President of Spurs Basketball," while, of course, remaining the head coach. R.C. Buford will likewise remain the General Manager, but will also take on the role of "President of Sports Franchises." This means he'll be in charge of the WNBA Silver Stars, the American Hockey League San Antonio Rampage, and Austin's own Toros of the NDBL.

Like I said, not all that titilating, but if you consider how many guys in other front offices and head coaching positions around the league came from the current Spurs system (Danny Ferry in Cleveland, Steve Kerr in Phoenix, PJ Carlisimo in...Oklahoma, and Avery Johnson...well, nowhere at the moment, to name a few), it's a name worth taking note of. Pych will probably be a GM for some other team in a few years. Which will also barely be blog-worthy. But give me a break, it's the Summer.

Oh and now Manu says he thinks he'll be able to play in the Olympics. I'd be surprised if he didn't to be honest. I mean, it's Manu. Come on.

Farewell to Bones: "Mangos Don't Do That, Manu."

The Spurs have announced they will sign Roger Mason Jr. to a two year, $7.5 million dollar contract. Mason, entering his 5th season in the league, is a 6-5 defensive-minded guard who averaged 9.1 points per game with the Wizards last season in Gilbert Arenas's absence, and shot 40 percent from 3-point "land." He sounds like a good Spur, and he doesn't tie up a lot of cap space.

But with this addition comes a far greater loss for the Spurs--a loss that can't be quantified by statistics. That's not to say that Brent Barry's on-court contribution won't be missed. But what we're really losing (to the Houston Rockets. Brent Barry signed with them as a free agent this week) is--and I'll defend this point--the funniest active player in the NBA. Seriously. Gilbert Arenas is funny; Shaq is funny...but for my money, Brent "Bones" Barry is the most funniest of them all.

The main evidence of this I have observed in the form of post game interview quotes. A recent jewel came after Tim Duncan hit his 3-pointer to send Game 1 of this year's Spurs - Suns playoff series into a second overtime: "It's about time he did something like that," deadpanned Barry.

Then after game 5 against the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, Barry responded to the NBA's admission that a foul should have been called on his last second shot attempt that could have tied the game: “That’s awesome because Doc Brown is waiting for me outside, and we’re going to get in the DeLorean and fire up the flux capacitor and we’re going to go back and shoot a couple of free throws.”

Brent Barry is also responsible for nicknaming Manu Ginobili "El Contusion."

He's also responsible for a series of surprisingly well-produced short musical parodies starring other Spurs players this season. They were part of an entire evening of entertainment that he volunteered to produce and emcee for this year's "Spurs Tux n' Tennies" fundraiser event for the Spurs Foundation. He was injured at the time and obviously had plenty of free time and energy to pour into this endeavor. The highlights included Robert Horry spinning around a hillside as Maria in a perfect, if slightly disturbing, send-up of The Sound of Music; the same can be said of Bruce Bowen in a shot-by-shot recreation of that famous Flashdance scene. Manu Ginobili dolled up as Evita Peron and lip-synched "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," and Matt Bonner continued the gender-bending trend as Little Orphan Annie. Actually Tony Parker was the only player that I recall assuming a male character, as Danny in a Grease spoof (Eva took some time off from her serious acting work to play Sandy).

Unfortunately these videos haven't been formally released on the net anywhere. A handheld video of the screen at the event was up for a while on someone's blog, but has since been removed. So for now you'll have to take my word for it: pretty funny.

In the stead of those clips, I'll post a few H-E-B commercials featuring Brent doing some funny stuff with Tim, Bruce and Manu. If you live in San Antonio you have probably had your fill of these spots already, but I think they are way way better than local grocery store commercials staring atheletes have any right to be.









Happy Trails, Mr. Barry. I'll look forward to some humorous quotes after the Rockets lose to the Spurs next season.

While I was Sleeping

Blogging aint easy, but it's neccessary.

But obviously it isn't neccessary either, so what is it? Well, I'm still figuring out what this blog is, or if this blog is (over the previous 10 days, this blog was not). It was very easy to keep up with when I had a desk job and nothing to really do for most of the day. But now I'm couch surfing and waiting for my sweet new Dell job to start up, and somehow I'm actually more busy than usual. It's not easy being homeless, I guess.

Here's the rundown of what's been going on. Sadly, not much of it is real cheery news:

Spurs Court and Fail to Sign Free Agent Corey Maggette


For most of the week, it looked as though the Spurs were the front-runners to sign the atheletic 28 year old 6'6" Small Forward, Corey Maggette. It didn't happen. Maggette is reportedly signing with the Golden State Warriors.

That stinks for the Spurs, because as the Spurs waited on Maggette, they appear to have missed out on other free agents such as Mikael Pietrus, who has reached an agreement with the Orlando Magic.

But if you're a Clippers fan (I know, you aren't), it's been a far more depressing series of events. Only two weeks ago, the Clippers were being talked about as having returned to playoff contention in the Western Conference after they signed Baron Davis from the Golden State Warriors. But today it's also been announced that Elton Brand, the Clipper's star Power Forward, has reached an agreement with the Philidelphia 76ers. So now, with Maggette leaving as well, they're left with Baron Davis, promising 2nd year player Al Thornton, and--seriously--that's about it. They're going to be one of the worst teams in the league again next year. I love it when teams that have been really hopeless for decades suddenly get good. It freshens up the landscape of a sport--like when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl a few years ago. But it just seems like there are some teams in the NBA for whom that is never ever going to happen. The Clippers may fit that definition better than anyone.

So now the Spurs will pursue J.R. Smith, and a bunch of 2nd tier free agents such as Roger Mason, Jr, Carlos Delfino, Jarvis Hayes, Eduardo Najera, and James Posey.

The good thing about these players, is that they would not tie up much cap space, and next Summer, we'd be able to make a serious run at whoever the top free agents are after this season.

The bad news might be that these aren't really impact players. They can all play, and some might add elements that were missing from the Spurs game against the Lakers--especially Smith--but will it be enough? That opens a whole other debate...a good one I think: do the Spurs really need to make drastic changes to have a chance at the title this year? They were awfully close...and seeing the way the younger Lakers players folded against the Celtics, I think the Conference Finals could have easily gone a different way. A healthy Manu would have made a particularly interesting difference.

Which brings us to news item 2 from the last 10 days:

The Spurs Don't Want Manu to Play in the Olympics

In what should be unbelievably fantastic news for the USA Men's Olympic Basketball team, the Spurs are asking Manu Ginobili to sit out the 2008 Olympic Games unless his left ankle, which slowed him down so much in the Spurs Western Conference loss to the Lakers, is completely healed. Ginobili led Argentina to a gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games, and is scheduled to carry the Argentine flag in the opening ceremonies of these Olympics.

This is a tough one. When these guys play in the Olympics or FIBA, they end up spending almost two solid years doing nothing but playing top-level basketball games. That takes a big toll on their health. Which takes a big toll on their NBA team. We'll see how it shakes down.

And when it does you can read about it right here at Odd Years. No more than 10 days late, I promise.

The Man from Ooey-Pooey

So it turns out IUPUI (Spurs rookie, George Hill's alma matter, for those just joining us) stands for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Evidentally it's a little like UTSA, except two major Universities share the same regional campus. Sort of like those Pizza Hut/KFC stores.

Actually I shouldn't compare this place to those blights on humanity. IUPUI, and especially their basketball program, sounds like a pretty classy operation. The S.A. Express-News did their homework on the place and offer a basic rundown, including the fact that the name is informally pronounced "ooey-pooey."

Express-News also has an article lauding Hill as a player whose NBA-ready skills flew right under the radar of many teams in the first round because of his lack of exposure at Mid-Level Division I school, IUPUI.

Ron Hunter, Hill's coach at the obscure Indianapolis college, has this word of advice for Spurs fans when it comes to their new rookie point guard: Remember the name, if not the school.

“I've always said some guys have ‘it' and some guys develop ‘it,'” Hunter said. “This guy was born with it. People have no idea how talented this kid is.”

It also presents Hill as a player whose personality is perfectly suited for the Spurs system, and illustrates how these two details are not mutually exclusive, as Hill actually passed up opportunities to play for powerhouse programs such as Temple, Indiana and Florida, for a chance to play closer to his ailing grandfather. Unfortunately his grandfather passed away only two months after Hill signed his letter of intent with IUPUI.

Coach Popovich often uses a term to describe the kind of player personality that makes the Spurs work so well. He looks for individuals who are "over themselves." When you take stock of the range of personas in the NBA, and consider how delicate the function of a championship caliber NBA squad must be, it makes sense that pop would value this quality so highly. It suggests a selflessness, and a lack of unneccessary distraction in a person.

In my opinion this is the quality that allowed the Celtics to be so great this season. The talent of their three superstars is undeniable; but we've seen plenty of teams stacked with superstars fall short of doing what the Celtics did. The '04 Lakers are probably the best example. Kobe and Shaq, along with Karl Malone and Gary Payton failed to do what Shaq and Kobe did three times with far inferior supporting casts. Shortly after that series everyone started to realize just now not "over themselves" those guys were--especially Kobe.

It's obviously not the only factor: Kobe and Shaq have one a hand-full of titles while being distractions from the purpose of their team. But it's not easy. And I agree with one of Travis's comments earlier--it helps when they don't call fouls on your 400lb player.

Anyway, it's great to hear that George is a Pop sort of player. And even more encouraging to hear how ready the Spurs and Hill's former coach think he is to come in and contribute basketball-wise.

One NBA scout, after watching Hill up close for much of the year, said he thought the guard could have started for any college team in the country...

“He's a freak of nature,” Hunter said. “He's a guy that could play three-straight NBA games, then go out and run a mile — and run it in five minutes.”

He should come in very handy if the NBA ever switches to a triple-header / foot race playoff format.

Charles Barkley Smelling a Fart

And other hilarious basketball bloopers:

The Last of the Millionaires

The amount of money a rookie makes from his first NBA contract is dependent on the order in which he is drafted. The number one draft pick makes the most of any rookie ($4,822,800 for Derrick Rose this year), and every player selected after the first pick makes less by increments that decrease from about $500,000 between the first and second pick (Michael Beasely will make $4,314,960 per year in his first contract) to about $7000 between the 29th and 30th pick (Indiana will pay DJ White $964,080 a year, while the Celtics owe JR Giddens $957,120).

So when you see some of these guys who expect to be drafted very high fall a bunch of spots (Mario Chalmers, for instance, was predicted to go in mid to late first round even in the latest mock drafts, but he fell all the way out of the first round to Miami by way of a trade with Minnesota--at 34th overall). It's a big deal for them, and not only because of pride. It could mean a difference of several hundred thousand, or even several million dollars.

Hoopshype.com has a chart that lists every salary for the players taken in the first round.

For what it's worth, our man George Hill is the last player in the draft to earn a million dollar payday at $1,006,200.

Perfect Timing, as Usual: or Tim Duncan's Tattoos

So...

Yeah.

It seems that a couple weeks after starting my big new fancypants Spurs Blog, the NBA season is now over.

Ha! Great.

I see this as a crucial time for Odd Years. I mean, right at the point where things were starting to pick up, starting to build steam--I had 3 comments last week!--there is a very real danger that I will not be able to think of anything to talk about.

I think Joni Mitchell had a song that explored similar themes. It was called "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" and if you think for a second that that song doesn't get you pumped up, you're kidding yourself. Just go to your nearest bar and find that song on the juke box. Press in the numbers for it and go stand on top of a table. Then see what happens. I'll spoil the surprise: interpretive dancing is what happens.

See? There I go, wandering into some sarcastic tangential side note that has nothing to do with the Spurs, or anything else really. Because there is nothing else to talk about!

Tim Duncan has a tattoo of a wizard on his chest. And of a jester on his back. He got them because he likes playing Dungeons and Dragons so much.

Your thoughts?

Washington Generals Prepare Class Action Lawsuit...

...against the Lakers of Los Angeles for infringement against the Generals trademarked ability to look foolish while playing basketball.

Lawyer Chet Gundleburger addressed the media early Wednesday Morning after witnessing the 39 point embarrassment handed to the "LakeShow" by last years worst team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics: "any of that look familiar? I mean, come on, jeez, guys, seriously. That was classic Globetrotter/Generals shtick! Am I the only one who noticed??"

Gundleburger points specifically to instances involving the Lakers standing around with frustrated looks on their faces; cowering while being dunked on; having no-look passes whizz by them; and getting their shorts pulled down to their ankles while at the free throw line.

NBA league officials point to the fact that Harlem Globetrotter games usually stay within at least 20 points or so.
\\\\

aww snap! Burned! You got STOLE, Lakers!

Just kidding, I don't really even hate this Lakers team. I kind of like them, even though they ousted my Spurs. I was just hoping for some competitive basketball. Seriously, 39 points? In the last game of the Finals? The Celtics really are that good. Way to go Boston.

But the game did make me contemplate one theory that's only slightly less silly than the Harlem Globetrotter comparison. You may want to stop reading here if you're tired of hearing about the reffing scandals in the NBA...

OK, still with me?

Do blowouts like this happen when refs aren't fixing the spread?? Just saying. Probably not. It's just a thought. But...If there have indeed been fixed games and fixed series, as disgraced former NBA ref Tim Donaghey claimed recently, a side-effect, as I understand it, would have been a greater tendency toward closer scores and longer series. With no guidance from the refs, is it the natural tendency for NBA Playoff games to be 20+ pt home team blowouts? That happened a lot in this year's playoffs.

Again, this theory is totally unsubstantiated, and only suggests that the Celtics demolition of the Lakers might be even more credible than it would have been in previous years.

Also, it's worth noting that this isn't the first time a best of 7 series has been finished with a blowout of similar proportion. The 1965 Championship ended in a 33-point game 5 blowout by the Boston Celtics over--you guessed it--the Los Angeles Lakers.

Even that was nothing too new. The Generals have been losing to the Globetrotters since the 20's.

Back In the High Life (Again)

On a wide set of bookshelves in a little-used loft area of my parent's house in San Antonio, there is a VHS cassette labeled "1987 NBA Finals: a Great Win Lakers!" It's a recording of Game 6 of that series, in which the Lakers closed out the Celtics to win the championship. I haven't popped this artifact into a VCR in probably close to 20 years. But from June of 1987 to some time in 1988, the tape got quite a bit of play at the Newman household.

Aside from demonstrating my predisposition for awkward wordy titles, the tape is significant because it is the one pro basketball event in my life that preceded my relationship with the Spurs. It's strange that it exists: for a short time, when I was 10 years old, I was a huge Lakers fan. It was my first taste of the NBA, and I remember being completely engrossed.

The game was amazing, but what really got me, what forced me to rewatch the tape so many times over the next few months, was what they played after the game. If this year's Finals end tonight--and they could, the Lakers are down 3-1 to the Celtics--you'll see a video montage of highlights set to one of this year's most popular songs. Usually it's hard to describe how much these suck. Maybe that's too strong an evaluation, but I have honestly never seen another one that really excites me or makes me want to watch it over even once--and that includes the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's video for the Spurs 2003 Championship. But in 1987 the montage commemorating that year's Finals was, for me, the height of the art form:

Steve Winwood.

"Back in the High Life Again."

I'm sure if you know this song, it is immediately obvious to you how incredible the montage must have been. You aren't wrong. It is full of glitz and class, and creates a sensation of accomplishment and uphoria; it's the sound of someone at the slow motion zenith of their life pursuit.

It didn't hurt that the highlights from that series still stand as some of the jazziest and most entertaining in any Finals since. But really. That song.

It's rare that you think of something as awesome as this video that isn't already on youtube. But unfortunately that is the case in this instance. This clip of the Top 10 plays of that series are the closest thing I can find to it.

I'm also including the actual music video for this classic hit song. Try turning the volume on the highlights all the way down and playing both of these at the same time. Maybe you'll have a small idea of the just what made me love this game so much as a 10 year old.





UPDATE: holy crap, it worked.

The Morning After: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the NBA

It's Over.

Last night the San Antonio Spurs were eliminated from the 2008 NBA Playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers, ending the Spurs quest for their first ever back-to-back championship.

And I'm OK.

Let me start out by saying I'm a fairly intense fan of these San Antonio Spurs. In 1992 my family moved to Kerrville, Texas, which is a little over an hour from San Antonio. David Robinson was in his first few years out of the Academy and could be compared, I think, to a narrower version of today's Dwight Howard. Just a total freak. I can remember him being likened to a 7 foot "gazelle," which I've heard used to describe other players, and didn't realize how strange a simile that is until I mentioned it to one of my female friends. Her response was laughter, and questioning the masculinity of anyone who would revel in such a descriptive--which I've noticed many non-sports lovers just love to do. This is probably an annoyance that dates back to fans of naked wrestling in ancient Greece. I just don't understand why they keep calling this homoerotic!

Anyway, yeah. I became a fan of Mr. Robinson, and of the Spurs as soon as I got to Kerrville. 8th Grade. I've been a badass Spurs fan ever since. Through playoff losses to Utah, playoff losses to Houston, playoff losses to plenty of other teams we obviously should have defeated; through the Alamo Dome years, the teal, the pink, the orange, the Worm, Nique's last stand, Vinny "Ski Instructor" Del Negro, playoff losses to Shaq and Kobe--and, of course, through the Spurs last 10 years of consistent dominance and 4 NBA championships--through all of this, I've been a pretty big Spurs fan.

They've been a steady source of both great joy, and misplaced, but very real and excruciating pain. To be honest, I'm not even proud of the way they make me feel sometimes. I don't know what the honest experience of other sports fans is like; but for me, watching the Spurs is either pure ecstasy, or complete, nearly uncontrollable fury.

It has made me call into question whether this is a love for the game, a healthy passion...or if it's a manifestation of some pent up rage. I mean, I'm not a violent person. But of course everyone has violence in them. And it makes sense that the more restrained and peaceful someone is, the more their natural aggression and primal violence needs to manifest itself somewhere. That isn't to say I go off the handle when the Spurs are losing. But I do inside. I sit there and flinch and stare off into space while I enact atrocious scenarios of carnage in my mind. Against the opposing players mostly...or their coach or fans. Or those refs! Brutal fantasies of snapping limbs, splitting skulls, tearing flesh. It's horrible. The only other time I get like that is when I drive. And sometimes when I play video games. But really only sports games...not murder and meyhem games...which tells something about games, and vicarious fantasy, I think.

I've been working on it...trying to become more zen about it...very consciously trying to remove myself from my over-involvement in the game. Reminding myself that I have no control over what happens; that I've been very lucky that the Spurs have given their fans 4 trophies in 9 years; and that anger like that can only hurt and embarrass me.

And last night, I let go. I did it. When the clock ran out, and the Spurs' season was over, I was able to nod, shrug, and toast a final "Go Spurs Go" of the season. All the murderous impulses left me, and I was at peace.

The Lakers were a better team. There were some close calls--like the game 1 collapse, and the uncalled foul against Brent Barry in Game 4. But the Spurs lost, and I was immediately okay with it. I didn't want to throw anything or mentally attack anyone.

It's a small victory. One that may only make sense to me. But as a result I feel like a better Spurs fan, and a slightly less derranged human being.

Go Spurs Go.