This is just messed up...

[TDfan2007]

So I come home today to find that my little brother, a die hard Lakers fan, somehow has a pass to go to a Spurs practice AND game next Sunday and Monday! So while he's there living my dream, I'll be at home...:depressed:depressed:depressed

[edit] apparently there's a tiny chance that I'll get a pass too. If I do end up going, I'll make sure to take a ton of pictures and videos for you guys and let you know how it went.

[HarlemHeat37]

I'd say the worse news is the fact that you have a sibling that cheers for the Lakers..you have my condolences..

[angelbelow]

lol that sucks dude. hopefully you'll get to go too.

[TDfan2007]

I'd say the worse news is the fact that you have a sibling that cheers for the Lakers..you have my condolences..

ha, thanks. You can't imagine how bad I got it after that 04 series.

[baseline bum]

What kind of big brother are you? Give the kid an ass whooping for cheering for those bitches.

[Nathan Explosion]

So I come home today to find that my little brother, a die hard Lakers fan...

Take the thread title, and just that quote, and that's a thread unto itself.

You're right, that is messed up.

[Spur-Addict]

This thread is all sorts of depressing.

[exstatic]

What kind of Laker fan would even be interested in attending a Spurs practice? I think he's a "Laker fan" just to piss you off.

If anyone offered me a pass to a Laker practice, I'd first see if anyone wanted it, and if not, it would go into the trash.

[NRHector]

What kind of Laker fan would even be interested in attending a Spurs practice? I think he's a "Laker fan" just to piss you off.

If anyone offered me a pass to a Laker practice, I'd first see if anyone wanted it, and if not, it would go into the trash.:lol

[urunobili]

I'd kill the sucka... or kidnap him, leave him tied in a rope in your bedroom, get his passes and free him when you're back...

[Duncan2177]

So I come home today to find that my little brother, a die hard Lakers fan, somehow has a pass to go to a Spurs practice AND game next Sunday and Monday! So while he's there living my dream, I'll be at home...:depressed:depressed:depressed

[edit] apparently there's a tiny chance that I'll get a pass too. If I do end up going, I'll make sure to take a ton of pictures and videos for you guys and let you know how it went.

Why is he going to a spurs practice if he's a laker fan that seems awkward.

[Biggems]

so only a fan of the Spurs can go to Spurs practice? how often do we get to sit and watch NBA teams practice?

I hate the Lakers with a passion, but if I was in LA and got invited to one of their practices, I would so be there, if I didn't have any scheduling conflicts, such as work. Even then, I would try to take time off to attend.

We are talking NBA practices here. SA, LAL, Boston, Utah, NY, Orlando...oh yes and Memphis (only in hopes of seeing Jaric's totally better half). these are just some of the teams I would like to sit in and watch practice. I'd like to see how their coaches push them. I'd like to see how they work and even how they goof off with one another.

[TheDarkSide.]

damn that sucks, i don't get those kids rooting for the lakers in a spurs household, guess he didn't get to go to the spurs games with you and dad huh?

[TDfan2007]

I got the passes! I'll be going to the game tomorrow and the practice on Monday. I'll let you guys know how everything goes and I'll be sure to post pictures. Man I'm so excited!

[duncan228]

I got the passes! I'll be going to the game tomorrow and the practice on Monday. I'll let you guys know how everything goes and I'll be sure to post pictures. Man I'm so excited!

That's so cool! Have a blast! I'm excited for you and can't wait to hear how it goes.

[TDfan2007]

Okay so I'm back and boy was it a blast...except for the whole losing part. I'll start off with some random thoughts on the game and then describe the tour we got of the AT&T center:

Thoughts:

Overall the Spurs competed as hard as I've ever seen them compete in a regular season game and seeing that level of intensity live was a joy. The fans were amazing, and even though I was almost courtside, I was surrounded by what seemed like a bunch of average Joe fans who cheered very loud. Tony Parker's speed is incredible live, as is Kurt and Bruce's physicality. Unfortunately other things become really clear too, like the extent of Tim's knee problem and Michael Finley's inability to contribute ANYTHING if he's not scoring. Now I'll give you guys a player-by-player recap for all the guys I either really focused on or who really stood out. I'll post detailed thoughts on Tim later.


Tony Parker: Tony played as brilliant a first three quarters of basketball as one could ask from a point guard. Offensively, he picked his spots wisely, utilized his size/strength advantage on Brooks. He also did a great job of working the pick and pop/pick and roll with Tim, making money passes time after time. Defensively, Tony's ability to recover after being picked/fight around picks really stood out to me in the first half. He made life difficult for Brooks, but struggled against the bigger and more physical Lowry. However once the 4th quarter got started, Tony's shot selection took a turn for the worse. He took a few ill-advised/forced 3 pointers and his final shot of the game was a jumbled mess that was painful to watch. Even the layup that he took to give the Spurs a brief lead with 29 seconds left was off the wrong foot and against Yao while Tim was wide open right behind him

Ime Udoka: I just love how hard Ime competes every time he's on the court. He's all hustle and against the Rockets Ime acted as a huge spark off the bench, playing tough, physical defense and leaving it all on the court. Ime's shot was falling and his confidence was as high as I'd ever seen it. It was also fun to see him battle hard against Artest and Von Wafer. After Artest was done lighting up Michael Finley like a firecracker, Ime (along with Bruce) helped curtail Houston's beast of a SF.

Bruce Bowen: Thank God for Bruce Bowen, otherwise this game would have turned into the Ron Artest show. Bruce matched Artest's physicality with some of his own and made life difficult for Artest. On offense however, Bruce was a gaping hole and the Spurs' offense obviously suffered as a result. Still though, the defensive intensity he brings is unbelievable and a joy to watch in person. He IS very physical and many things he does are not legal, but he gets away with them due to his smarts in a way very similar to Michael Jordan. It should also be noted that our section and the section next to us began to chant "WE WANT BRUCE!" over and over again in the 3rd and we finally got our wish. Spurs fans have obviously not forgotten how effective Bruce can be.

Michael Finley: Michael Finley is truly a "hit or miss" player, in every sense of the word. Today he was all "miss." I can honestly say that I've never seen someone play that RELATIVELY poorly in a basketball game in my life. Finley just seemed completely outclassed and overwhelmed by everyone he played against. Artest, to put it gently, dominated Michael in a way that was just sad to see in person. Even Lowry blew by Finley for layups. From what I saw, Michael seemed VERY frustrated and didn't say a word to anyone. Lucky for the Spurs, Udoka played well and took some of Finley's minutes, otherwise things would have gotten even uglier.

Kurt Thomas: This guys is just plain tough and works so hard. Kurt did most of his work on Yao before the ball was even thrown in the giant's direction. Keeping Yao at a good distance from the goal and maintaining his position behind Yao. Kurt played as hard as his frame would allow, but Yao's height allowed him to repeatedly rise up over Kurt for "easy" jumpers. Offensively, Kurt was huge in cleaning up misses, grabbing several key offensive boards. He also set good screens as usual and moved the ball well. My only gripe is that sometimes he hesitated too much on open looks, but other than that Kurt played a fantastic game.

Pop: Pop coached a decent game for the most part, it's just hard to find the right rotation with Manu out and Gooden as a newcomer. I also think Pop has fallen victim to some of his player's inconsistencies, this seems to especially be the case with Roger. Several gripes of mine include putting Finley on Artest, not coming in with Bruce earlier, and the final play of the game. Pop seemed very relaxed until the 2nd half, when the increased defensive intensity gave way to some iffy calls that got visible reactions from him. Pop was also VERY visibly frustrated with the back-to-back defensive meltdowns that resulted in layups. All the frustration came to a boil when the Spurs obviously didn't execute their last inbounds play properly, resulting in Pop storming off the court and muttering to himself. I was also surprised to see Pop so visibly frustrated with Tim in the 2nd half. He repeatedly glared at Tim, and at one point just let Tim have it for poor effort on Defense. Pop seemed frustrated, but I think he was also happy with how the guys competed, just not with the execution down the stretch.

[ILoveOranges]

This thread is all sorts of depressing.

:(

[ILoveOranges]

I got the passes! I'll be going to the game tomorrow and the practice on Monday. I'll let you guys know how everything goes and I'll be sure to post pictures. Man I'm so excited!

:blah. Great commentary, it's sad to hear how frustrated Finley is though.

[TDfan2007]

As promised, here's my take on Tim during the game:

Warmups: Tim is usually a treat to watch during warm ups, but today he seemed even more relaxed that usual, almost giddy even. He was very playful and some of that probably had to stem from the fact that at that time his shot was basically automatic. It was amazing, I think I only saw him miss three times. Some of the more amusing moments included when he tried to play "soccer" with one of the balls. Another great moment was when he jumped up and down like a crazy witch doctor while playing one on one with Roger.

First half: Watching Tim in the first half was amazing. He was fluid, made quick decisions, let the jumper fly when he was open, and even shot well from the free throw line. I almost forgot that he was hurt as he certainly wasn't playing like it. Unfortunately I got a grim reminder when I saw him slightly clutch his knee while running down the court after a miss:depressed Defensively, Tim was pretty good. He got burned by Scola a couple of times and also was late on a few rotations, but other than that he played solid man and help D. The rebounding was lacking, but I'll give him a semi-pass as Houston really wasn't doing much missing in the first half.

Second half: With as well as Tim played in the first half, I was expecting things to go smoothly in the second. I was dead wrong. I didn't even recognize the player that played in the second half and it was damn scary and depressing to watch. Defensively, Tim was awful. He was repeatedly out of position and missed a lot of rotations, none bigger than the one which led to Scola's game-winning layup. Offensively, Tim was even worse. His confidence for whatever reason gone, Tim returned to the hesitant and slow Tim we've been watching since he returned from injury. A few rimmed out jumpers seemed to throw him out of rhythm and Tim was never able to recover. In the post, Tim only scored once off of a quick and solid move. That move, however, was sandwiched in between a bunch of slow and ineffective post shots that had not chance of going in.

Tim's Jekyl and Hyde performance was simply puzzling. It was like watching the real Tim play in the first half, and watching Tim's slow and untalented doppelganger play in the second. It was really disappointing as Tim could have had a huge game. Houston's game plan was obviously based on taking the lane away from Tony on pick and rolls and making Tim beat them with his jumper. Unfortunately, for whatever reason (knee problems, lack of confidence, etc.), Tim lost his rhythm and made Rick Adelman look like a genius.

With all that said, I still think this is a step in the right direction for Tim. That first half was promising, and hopefully, with more rest, he'll be able to keep that up for the entire game. Until then we all have to pray that we get our old MVP back,

[TDfan2007]

Sorry I took so long, but here are some videos from the last Spurs-Rockets game.


Tim and Roger playing "one on one"
ANWwB3D00KE



Tim shooting around
rQXLrO-XvoE

I also have pictures up on my facebook, but I'm not sure how to upload them...

[TDfan2007]

Oh and here's one of our visit to the AT&T center the day after the game. Being able to shoot Tim's banker on the same court he always does was AMAZING. I'm the one in the black shirt. The cameraman didn't get the rim on two of my shots, but I promise they went in ;)


kTC0MfI7mWQ

I also have pics of the locker room, but again, I'm awful with uploading images...don't know how.

[duncan228]

Thanks for the videos.

Slomo's 'how to' embed pics tutorial is here if it helps.

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99116

[alamo50]

Oh and here's one of our visit to the AT&T center the day after the game. Being able to shoot Tim's banker on the same court he always does was AMAZING. I'm the one in the black shirt. The cameraman didn't get the rim on two of my shots, but I promise they went in ;)


kTC0MfI7mWQ

I also have pics of the locker room, but again, I'm awful with uploading images...don't know how.

Now that is fucking cool!
How did your brother get those passes?

[Bukefal]

Wow!! Wish I was there

[urunobili]

Thanks for sharing!

[LoneStarState'sPride]

Man, I was at this game too (that's where my avatar pic was taken). Me and my friends were WAY up in the cheap seats, but it worked out just fine. Your analysis was spot on--but it was still awesome to go to the AT&T Center and cheer on the Silver and Black. Most exciting loss I've watched live!

[TDfan2007]

Now that is fucking cool!
How did your brother get those passes?

His friend's mom is apparently very well connected in San Antonio. I had no idea.