The Waiting Game

The San Antonio Spurs have vanquished the Jazz in four games, giving them the advantage of having rest before the Conference Semifinals, the Spurs are looking at either a match up between the Memphis Grizzlies or  the Los Angeles Clippers, every Spurs fan remembers the atrocity of the 2011 playoffs,and want revenge against the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are currently down two games to three against the Clippers and will both will face off for game six in the Staples Center, in Los Angeles; Memphis has home-court advantage, and should they force game seven, they will be back in the Fed-Ex Forum.

Against the Clippers, during the regular season, the Spurs took two out of three from the Clippers, the lone loss against the Clips was without team MVP Tony Parker, along with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili getting minimal minutes on the court, dropping that game by a score of 120-108. The other two the Spurs won by scores of 115-90 in San Antonio, and 103-100 in the Staples Center; the Clippers primary scoring duo of Chris Paul and Blake Griffon are easily contained by the Spurs' defense, the Spurs' defense has since improved since the last meetings and the team has improved overall.

Luckily for the Spurs, the Clippers will be limping into the following round, taking a beating from Memphis and will be more tired out after game six, and even more so if the Grizzlies should push a game seven. The Grizzlies are not as beat up as the Clippers, but fatigue will certainly be a factor working against the Grizzlies; the Spurs are on multiple days rest, possibly the longest rest they have had since the start of the season.

Over four games during the regular season, the Spurs took all four games and swept them thoroughly; winning three of four by at least ten points. The Spurs are ready and waiting for the Grizzlies, there are far too many things to list that are different from this Spurs' team than last years.
The main point is that the Spurs have added size to compete with Zach Randolph, the prime culprit in the elimination of the Spurs during the postseason last year.

Regardless of who  the Spurs face this upcoming series, the Spurs are ready for whoever they face, and absolutely know exactly what they are going up against and Coach of the Year, Greg Popovich is more than ready to lead his team through this round, onto the Western Conference Finals.

- Richard Perez

Altuve the All-Star

Around this time last year, Jose Altuve was in AA Corpus Christi, silently climbing up the rank, yet nobody really knew who he was, but nonetheless, Altuve was lighting up the Texas League. Standing at only five feet five inches tall, Jose Altuve, hailing from Venezuela was denied after his first try-out, why? He was deemed to be too short to play, but the young 16 year old Altuve did not allow this set back to hold him down. He eventually worked hard enough to be looked at by the Astros and given an opportunity, and he took that opportunity and ran with it, Altuve wrecked shop during 2011, starting his season at Single A level Lancaster, batting .408, 13 doubles, seven triples, and five home runs. He also had an On-Base % of .451, Slugging %.606 and OPS of 1.057, earning him a midseason call up to Double A Corpus Christi of the Texas League, Altuve posted very similar numbers for the Hooks.

The young 21 year-old Altuve played well enough, that he earned a spot on the 2011 All-Star Futures game in Phoenix, Arizona, where he played for Team World, the only Astros’ prospect to earn the honor that year. Shortly after the Futures game, Altuve was called up by to the Major Leagues from Corpus Christi, skipping the Triple A level entirely, on July 19, 2011, making his debut the following day, and it was magic from then on.  Altuve, just a month after his debut, hits his very first Major League home run, with an inside-the-park home run, running through a David Clark stop sign, the first Astros inside-the-parker since Adam Everett in 2003. The home run was the first hit of the first inning, Altuve is the first Astros player to get his first Major League home run on an inside-the-park home run since pitcher Butch Henry in 1992. He is also the first Astros player to lead off a game with an inside-the-park home run since Bill Doran in 1987. Al

In this season so far, Altuve has been leading the Astros and thus far, the MVP for the Astros squad, leading them now that J.D Martinez has fallen into a slump of recently, but Altuve picked up where Martinez left off, hitting .348, and having even over .400 earlier in the season. Altuve is nominated for the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City, he could potentially be the eighth player to be featured in the Futures game, and the All-Star game the following year, if he makes the honor, he will become the first Astros’ player to achieve the honor.

Altuve will continue to have his detractors who will look at the stat sheet, size him up and say, “He can’t keep this up.” No big deal. He’s heard that before.

He just thinks back to the conversation he had with the Astros scout who decided to take a chance on him at that tryout six years ago. “Just do what you know how to do,” Altuve was told.

“This,” Altuve answered, gesturing to the field, “is what I know how to do.”

And now he’s found a home in Houston.

- Richard Perez

Root Root Root for the Hooks!

The Double A affiliate for the Houston Astros Corpus Christi Hooks has been on fire, as of late, behind stellar pitching from pitchers Jared Cosart, Jose Cisnero, Arncenio Leon, Jason Stoffel, Erik Abreu, and Brett Olberholtzer. The pitching staff the Hooks have had all time in their short existence, the Hooks have played amazing, lights out ball this season, going on a five game winning streak to improve their record to 10-8 after going on a four game losing streak. Last season, the Hooks were not much to brag about, but in only the first 20 games, they have played better baseball in the start of the season than all of last year. Not surprising though, after new Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow stated that he wants to build the franchise from the ground up, by getting star prospects and having them grow and develop in the farm system. It seems that the initiative is already paying off for Luhnow and company as the Hooks are steam rolling on their five game winning streak, taking three of four from Frisco and taking the first two games from Midland, decimating both offensively and defensively, allowing three or less runs in every game.

Condensed Consequences

In the condensed NBA season this year due to the lockout, or work stoppage, many teams are forced to play a number of games, in as many of nights. The exhaustion shows this early in the season, as the Spurs have lost all the games where they traveled the night after had a game, first a loss to Houston after a prominent beating of the Clippers in San Antonio.

An hour flight from San Antonio to Houston, but nearly not enough to fully rest, throwing their rest rituals out of whack. In the game versus Houston, the Spurs looked like a shadow of themselves as the Rockets made quick work of the Spurs.

The following consecutive game night was a home stand against the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks, winning both games and winning them rather easily, the thought sprung into my head that this would be a litmus test for the team as they had their first consecutive night home stand.
The game versus Golden State had the Warriors fly in after a lose in Phoenix two days earlier, not having to face the Spurs on consecutive nights, so they came in with rather fresh legs and as well rested as they could have been, but the Mavericks, however, came in to San Antonio fresh from a win versus those same Phoenix Suns on their home-court in the American Airlines Arena.

The Mavericks came in worn out and tired off of a flight from Dallas, and lacked the necessary rest to play a team who had a well night's rest after a win in San Antonio, Dallas, who looked defeated from tip-off, hardly put up a challenge against the Spurs, only scoring 29 in the ENTIRE FIRST HALF, the Spurs scored 31 in the First quarter alone! So, the test can be invalidated due to facing a weak opponent on the second night, but nothing should taken away from the Spurs in that game.

Now, on to Oklahoma City, the Spurs kept up with the Thunder for majority of the game, but could not overcome the strong Thunder team; off of a flight to Oklahoma City, the Spurs fresh, or stale if you'd prefer, off of a win versus the Denver Nuggets at home, fatigue showed late in the second half of the game as the Nuggets nearly staged a comeback, dwindling what was what a 20 point lead down to two late in the fourth quarter. A high scoring game it was for the Spurs as they held off the Nuggets 121-117, with seven players in double figures scoring wise, the Spurs beat their season high 115 that they hung on the Los Angeles Clippers. An amazing team effort against the Nuggets to say the very least.

Against Oklahoma City, San Antonio had five players in double digits, lead by Gary Neal with 18, but simply could not hang with the high-octane Thunder on such short rest, nor could they defend them, allowing six Thunder players to attain at least 1o, led by their big man, Kevin Durant who put up 21 on the Spurs defense, followed closely but James Harden who also put up 20 points.
Tired Spurs are not the best Spurs, so as we've learned from these losses, it's a very winnable game, not all is lost when traveling on back to back nights, the entire Spurs line-up have to contribute to the win, it was a slow night for many of the Spurs, but as the season goes on, it's only going to get tougher, with tougher times, comes adaptation. It's time the Spurs learn to deal with the fatigue, because these games are essential, and could hold dire importance later in the season, the Spurs have time to work out the kinks of traveling, and get a rhythm for later in the season. There is no need to hit the panic button; keep calm and carry on, San Antonio.

- Richard Perez

Set Back, Amazing Recovery

After a sluggish start in the first half against the Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs came out in the second half with a fire lit under them, the Warriors had out played the Spurs throughout the entire first half and went into half time with a rather commanding lead. A deflating loss versus the Minnesota Timberwolves took its toll on the Spurs, losing their spark plug player, and game MVP in the first few games, Manu Ginobili. Ginobili who broke his fifth metacarpal on his left hand while reaching in for a ball against a driving Timberwolves' player, causing the injury to his hand, forcing him to leave the game.

Ginobili, who had been the driving force behind the Spurs' offense, will undergo surgery Thursday to repair it, consequently, he will miss up to two months, possibly more to rehab the injury and get back into the rhythm. In his absence, Danny Green will fill in, as well as new addition to the Spurs' roster, NBA journeyman Ike Diogu. Diogu, at 6'9 has played on four different teams in his young career. Adding much needed size to the Spurs' roster, quite a bit of pressure will be taken off of Tim Duncan and focused on Diogu.

While Diogu learns the ins and outs of the Spurs' system, the task of filling in Ginobili's major role has fallen into the lap of the entire Spurs team, and in the game against Golden State, many of the Spurs stepped up to fill the role, making a team effort to propel themselves to victory after the Warriors built a decent lead at halftime and into the third quarter, but the resilience of the Spurs showed as TJ Ford and the young gun Danny Green made head-ways up and down the court.

Every Spur who was on the court scored at least one basket, with four in double digits, Tony Parker with 21, Richard Jefferson scored 17, Duncan netted 15 (getting a double double with 11 rebounds), and DeJuan Blair made 12 points. With the high scoring potential of Ginobili out, the rest of the line up will have to score more in order to make up for the lost points, multiple players in double digit scoring is the key to victory for the Spurs.

A minimum of at least 5 players need to score double digits, and points off the bench is dire the success of the team, as these back to back games are hell on the legs of the players.
Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks roll into town, an always tough game between two bitter rivals, while the Mavs are having their own struggles as well, it does not mean that they will be an easy game. The Mavericks always play tough and fresh off a two game win streak, they are looking to hit three. The Spurs are going to be tested against the Mavs, and have a great opportunity to win, but have to keep playing the way they have played in recent games.

Despite this game being their third in four days, the Spurs are on a home stand till Saturday when the Denver Nuggets will roll into town, the back to back games are made worse by traveling, losing rest due to having to catch a flight and constant moving about and not being able to fully rest, but a well deserved night's rest in the Alamo City is what the Spurs need to rest and prepare mentally for the back to back game.

Unlike their previous back to back game where the team took a one hour flight to Houston, the players can rest up and better prepare themselves, the home stand back to back games will be the mental foundations for the players to get themselves prepared for a traveling back to back game.
- Richard Perez

New Look; Same Result

Almost seemingly doomed to forever be the other team in Los Angeles, the Clippers shocked the basketball world as they acquired New Orléans Hornets' guard, Chris Paul, the same player whose trade NBA Commissioner David Stern halted when Paul was to be dealt to the Lakers. In a game that would be a litmus test for the Spurs team as they tested this newly formed threat in the conference, the Clippers' powerhouse Blake Griffin had a good team behind him to help take some of the focus from him, with Paul and fellow new arrival Chauncey Billups, some of the focus taken off Griffin as Paul and Billups can light up the scoreboard.

Not at all phased by the Clipper's daunting new line-up, the Spurs took the challenge head on and came out victorious as Manu Ginobili and DeJuan Blair toasted the Clipper defense, Ginobili, scoring 24 points including five 3-pointers to propel, and the first eleven points for the Spurs who started the game very sluggish. Blair, who had the opportunity to guard and go against Griffin, lit him up for 20 points and managed to snag away a total of six rebounds, four of those six offensive rebounds.

The defense of the Spurs held the Clippers to just below 40% shooting, despite allowing Griffin to rack up 28 points, Paul was held to a meager 3-10 only scoring 10 points. Aside from Griffin's 28, none of the Clippers managed to score more than 12 points, effectively held in check by the tight Spurs' defense. Forfeiting three steals, and committing 12 turnovers to the Spurs defense, all three steals ended up as points for the Spurs.

Many Spurs fans felt so against having Richard Jefferson on the team and celebrating when early news came about during the off-season that he was to be released and amnestied, I was one of those people who was anti-Jefferson, but after the effort put forth tonight and the game against Memphis, i have since recanted my statements and love what Richard Jefferson has done. On a little hot streak these past few games and making me a believer in him.

Although I do have my doubts of him, but Jefferson has convinced me to believe in him, sinking 8-9 shots from the field, and 3-4 from three-point range, ranking up 19 total points. He played the game with a sense of urgency, as if somebody had lit a fire under him, I seriously doubt it, but maybe he was tipped off about a non-believer being in attendance at the AT&T Center, and he wanted to convert me, and he certainly has converted me. I firmly believe that Jefferson will have a career year this season, and earn his pay check, showing exactly why we are paying him $30 million dollars.

With two great wins under them, the Spurs hit the road, bound for Houston to take on the Rockets in the Toyota Center, a team that the Spurs played against and split the two preseason games between them, but now with the Big Three playing more minutes and team chemistry higher than in the preseason, the game against the Rockets is a should win for this team and will prove to be a good game as the Rockets are not the pushovers they've been in recent years.

- Richard Perez

Bonus Picture, I thought this was pretty funny!

Young Body, Veteran Effort

In his first ever NBA Regular Season game, Kawhi Leonard played with the heart and presence of a seasoned veteran on the court. Although he did make a few rookie mistakes, he played his heart out. Leonard, picked 15th overall by the Indiana Pacer's first pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, was traded along with two other players for George Hill - a move that turned many Spurs fans into skeptics. However, after last night's performance, Leonard has shown the potential to be a powerhouse in the years to come

Playing smart and going after loose balls, making second efforts on a busted play, or doing something any other rookie might not have done or even thought of in the situation, but Leonard did, the amazing three-point shot he made after Manu Ginobili's stellar behind-the-back pass to him capped off his hot start to his inaugural NBA season, and summarized the theme of the night for the gifted, young, and talented Leonard.

Leonard is showing exactly why the Spur’s front office traded for him by coming up with two major steals and going the length of the court on one. This man has great presence of mind and knows how to react in certain situations. Leonard can shoot, play amazing defense, and fight for rebounds. At this time, Leonard is the total package. Yet, one question for Leonard remains; can he be consistent and continue to play like this throughout the year?

Tiago Splitter is another young player, who although he did not have as great a night as Leonard, he still played to the best of his abilities. In only his second year in the league, the experience of having his first NBA season under his belt shown through the entire game. However, Splitter passed up shots he could have taken, in addition to missing a rebound. Yet, despite the errors, he made the best of it and put forth the effort of a player who is well versed in the league.

Splitter played in other professional leagues in the years past, the result being his creation of an astounding résumé. Regardless of his training the Spanish and European leagues, nothing can quite compare to the stiff, elite competition that the NBA is known for. However, let’s not look past his professional basketball history. Splitter has won numerous gold medals with the Brazilian national team, and his global training shows in his play. Drawing from this, Splitter utilizes what he has learned in the past and contributes a great team effort, eventhough he may not present an astounding individual effort. 

His help in getting the Spurs to conquer the Memphis Grizzlies is to be commended. Splitter walked off the court in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation in the AT&T Center, no doubt basking in the love pouring forth from the Spurs’ fans.

Third year player DeJuan Blair, had a positive and productive night as well, contributing to the Spurs' win, not anything to gloat about statistically, but made his presence felt on the court, and got points when needed, coming up in a must score situation. Blair, who has had a decorated tenure in the NBA thus far, earning Co-MVP in the NBA Rookie Challenge, and making the Second NBA All-Rookie Team.

Only playing two years in college at the University of Pittsburgh, he entered the NBA Draft after his sophomore year, a talented young player despite being so young, he has proved his worth and has exceeded expectations, drafted in the second round, 37th overall by the Spurs, Blair is making a home for himself in San Antonio, and is becoming a fixture in the Spurs lineup, and will hopefully stay there for many seasons to come.

With the aid of Leonard, Splitter, and Blair, it was an excellent opening night for the entire Spurs team. Led by Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, also known as the Big Three of San Antonio, last night’s game is a great indication of what is to come this season. The Spurs were once thought to be too old, and were seen as declining in their performance. However, last night has put to rest those statements and the Spurs have yet again utilized their small market and have gotten younger under the radar of the league’s watchful eye. The Spurs’ front office is certainly one of the best in the league by prospecting foreign talent and showing how valuable these new players are to success.

The Spurs have high expectations this year, not just from themselves but from their fans and the city of San Antonio. After last night’s success, the Spurs look willing and able to take the league by storm and raise another banner in the Alamo City

- Richard Perez