Ed Helicopter Jones
10-30-2008, 05:04 PM
After the Hack-A-Shaq that Pop pulled five seconds into the season opener, I already had the feeling that the Spurs season is going to end very well. I'm feeling a 5th title based on Pop's badassedness alone.
I've pictured Pop ending the season just like he started it, laughing his ass off and giving the thumbs up sign to some dumb, confused, opposing bastard out on the floor as the final 5 ticks roll off the clock and the balloons and streamers start falling from the ceiling. Lock that image in your mind because you'll be seeing it again soon. Unlike prior seasons where Pop has deferred to his players and slinked off into oblivion during the post championship game interviews, this year Pop will have his cap on backwards, and, shirtless, he'll bust into every interview spraying champagne into the interviewer's face shouting "Spurs Rule!!!"...again giving the thumbs up to the camera. It's going to be freaking awesome!!
And that beard is totally cool, I'll be SO disappointed if that 'beast of badness' ever gets shaven. I'm personally going to abandon the razor myself soon in honor of his greatness. It screams "I'm a badass, and I don't give a crap what you think about me....I've given up shaving, and showering, and caring. I've got 4 rings, and I really don't care about winning for myself anymore...now I'm just winning to keep rings away from anyone else... Amen, halleluhah, pass the gravy....!!" Where Phil Jackson looks like KFC's Colonel Sanders when he has his beard, Pop looks like someone who might bomb a KFC should they forget to include the spork for his mashed potatoes at the drive-thru.
I'd like to see Pop pull some prank on every team we play this year. I'm totally awaiting the old "bucket full of confetti" trick that I'm certain he'll throw on Phil Jackson when the Spurs play LA, except for Phil, this new and improved Pop will likely dump a huge bucket of "badassedness" on him instead. Opposing teams will start to worry more about what Pop is going to pull next rather than stay focused on the game. 81 wins in the regular season is still a realistic possiblity at this point.
On a semi-serious note, from watching last night's game I concluded that if Fabricio Oberto played, I believe we win that game. I never saw Bonner or KT hit Tim with any sort of pass when TD was open, and their rotations and man defense, and pick and roll defense in the second half was downright awful. Oberto would have seen Timmy on a couple of those gimmes he was open for, and Oberto likely would have been able to sneak free underneath for a couple of easy drop-ins from Timmy late. Amare and Shaq beat us themselves in the 4th quarter...we had the rest of their team held pretty much in check. Oberto can't really defend those guys either, but at least he would have made a couple of heady plays to counteract their onslaught late in the game. KT and Bonner just looked like beaten dogs out there. And when I can point to Oberto being the difference between us beating or losing to the Suns, without even considering Manu's absence, I think it indicates we did ok, even in a loss.
Last night was my first chance to see Matt Bonner play this year. My only real take from last night is that Bonner appears to have no clutchness in him whatsoever. I think what makes Bonner so different from Robert Horry is that Horry can almost always make a single play that changes the complexion of a game. He could play 10 minutes, shoot 0-4, pull down 1 board, have two turnovers, but he'd make some big play, or get in an opposing player's head, in a way that would never show up on a stat sheet would mean more towards winning than Bonners 8 pts and 7 boards did last night. Danny Ferry did that for us at the end of his career to a lesser degree as well. But I'm not sure Bonner has any of that in him, at least not that I've seen.
I'm excited to see what Hill and Mahinmi bring. I think Pop may use Mason more than Fin once Manu is back, and I'll attribute that not to Pop's maturity as a coach, but to his incredible badassedness, and that of his beard as well.
Terry Porter was one of my favorite players, and he's a smart coach. He played to our weakness last night and it worked. But I'm going to venture a bet that this Spurs team is going to have a different complexion in the middle by the end of the season. I believe that Pop is such a badass now that he'll figure out how to even trade Bonner. He'll probably just scare the crap out of some poor opposing GM and force a trade at some point if things aren't working out. I'm willing to bet two or three KFC's on it.
And I like the youth movement, a lot. I like Mr. Mason, a lot. I'm excited to see Hill and Mahinmi get some minutes. I think this team has that nice mix of veterans and youth that served them so well during the previous four titles.
I usually wait until March to get excited about my Spurs, but I've got a good feeling this year right from the start. Thank you in advance Coach Pop. Thanks for your badassedness. You're the reason God made Oklahoma, errr San Antonio, and you give me hope for a great year!! Amen.
I've pictured Pop ending the season just like he started it, laughing his ass off and giving the thumbs up sign to some dumb, confused, opposing bastard out on the floor as the final 5 ticks roll off the clock and the balloons and streamers start falling from the ceiling. Lock that image in your mind because you'll be seeing it again soon. Unlike prior seasons where Pop has deferred to his players and slinked off into oblivion during the post championship game interviews, this year Pop will have his cap on backwards, and, shirtless, he'll bust into every interview spraying champagne into the interviewer's face shouting "Spurs Rule!!!"...again giving the thumbs up to the camera. It's going to be freaking awesome!!
And that beard is totally cool, I'll be SO disappointed if that 'beast of badness' ever gets shaven. I'm personally going to abandon the razor myself soon in honor of his greatness. It screams "I'm a badass, and I don't give a crap what you think about me....I've given up shaving, and showering, and caring. I've got 4 rings, and I really don't care about winning for myself anymore...now I'm just winning to keep rings away from anyone else... Amen, halleluhah, pass the gravy....!!" Where Phil Jackson looks like KFC's Colonel Sanders when he has his beard, Pop looks like someone who might bomb a KFC should they forget to include the spork for his mashed potatoes at the drive-thru.
I'd like to see Pop pull some prank on every team we play this year. I'm totally awaiting the old "bucket full of confetti" trick that I'm certain he'll throw on Phil Jackson when the Spurs play LA, except for Phil, this new and improved Pop will likely dump a huge bucket of "badassedness" on him instead. Opposing teams will start to worry more about what Pop is going to pull next rather than stay focused on the game. 81 wins in the regular season is still a realistic possiblity at this point.
On a semi-serious note, from watching last night's game I concluded that if Fabricio Oberto played, I believe we win that game. I never saw Bonner or KT hit Tim with any sort of pass when TD was open, and their rotations and man defense, and pick and roll defense in the second half was downright awful. Oberto would have seen Timmy on a couple of those gimmes he was open for, and Oberto likely would have been able to sneak free underneath for a couple of easy drop-ins from Timmy late. Amare and Shaq beat us themselves in the 4th quarter...we had the rest of their team held pretty much in check. Oberto can't really defend those guys either, but at least he would have made a couple of heady plays to counteract their onslaught late in the game. KT and Bonner just looked like beaten dogs out there. And when I can point to Oberto being the difference between us beating or losing to the Suns, without even considering Manu's absence, I think it indicates we did ok, even in a loss.
Last night was my first chance to see Matt Bonner play this year. My only real take from last night is that Bonner appears to have no clutchness in him whatsoever. I think what makes Bonner so different from Robert Horry is that Horry can almost always make a single play that changes the complexion of a game. He could play 10 minutes, shoot 0-4, pull down 1 board, have two turnovers, but he'd make some big play, or get in an opposing player's head, in a way that would never show up on a stat sheet would mean more towards winning than Bonners 8 pts and 7 boards did last night. Danny Ferry did that for us at the end of his career to a lesser degree as well. But I'm not sure Bonner has any of that in him, at least not that I've seen.
I'm excited to see what Hill and Mahinmi bring. I think Pop may use Mason more than Fin once Manu is back, and I'll attribute that not to Pop's maturity as a coach, but to his incredible badassedness, and that of his beard as well.
Terry Porter was one of my favorite players, and he's a smart coach. He played to our weakness last night and it worked. But I'm going to venture a bet that this Spurs team is going to have a different complexion in the middle by the end of the season. I believe that Pop is such a badass now that he'll figure out how to even trade Bonner. He'll probably just scare the crap out of some poor opposing GM and force a trade at some point if things aren't working out. I'm willing to bet two or three KFC's on it.
And I like the youth movement, a lot. I like Mr. Mason, a lot. I'm excited to see Hill and Mahinmi get some minutes. I think this team has that nice mix of veterans and youth that served them so well during the previous four titles.
I usually wait until March to get excited about my Spurs, but I've got a good feeling this year right from the start. Thank you in advance Coach Pop. Thanks for your badassedness. You're the reason God made Oklahoma, errr San Antonio, and you give me hope for a great year!! Amen.