benefactor
02-02-2010, 09:10 PM
As the annual Rodeo Road Trip approaches there is very little to be certain about when looking at the Spurs. The search for consistency over the past three weeks has yielded very little that can be considered fruitful. After two wins over solid teams on back to back nights, the Spurs go on to lose five out of the next six…with three losses in a row at home. They follow that up with two more solid wins and yet another disappointing home loss. Right now it looks like this team is nowhere near it needs to be to be competitive in the playoffs and contender discussion is not even on the radar. In a recent article Tim Duncan has said that this is the most important RRT yet. No truer words have been spoken. This two and a half week stretch will likely make or break this team for the rest of the season. The Spurs are in desperate need of the mental toughness and focus on both ends of the floor that has driven the Tim Duncan era to four titles. Role players need to step up, big names need to play big and most importantly the whole team needs to come together defensively in recognition of what has earned this team its success over the years.
The eight teams on this years RRT are a contrast of extremes. Half of them are arguably some of the worst teams in the league, while the other half consists of some of the best teams in the league. I have taken some time to preview each team on the schedule to see how the Spurs match up and what the potential outcome might be.
Sacramento
The Kings are losing games at a staggering rate right now. Since being within a game of .500 on December 21st, they have lost 15 of their last 18 games. The return of Kevin Martin doesn’t seem to have helped any, as they are 1-8 with him back in the lineup. In the game at San Antonio , Tony Parker destroyed the Kings with 18pts and 11 assists and Richard Jefferson had a fantastic game with 23pts, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Manu also added 20pts off the bench. The flipside of that coin is that the Spurs allowed the Kings to drop 106 points on them and shoot 53%. Without Parker, the defense will need to be much better and the Spurs will need a repeat of the effort given by Manu and RJ. Don’t let the record fool you here, the Kings are a dangerous team with a lot of talent and are fully capable of an upset if the Spurs do not bring their A game. This game is a good starting test to see where the teams focus is.
Portland
The Blazers are in many ways are similar to the Spurs. They came into season with high expectations only to have them dashed through various sets of circumstances…the biggest one being the injury bug. Losing Oden, Przybilla and Outlaw has been tough, but nothing has been tougher than dealing with losing Brandon Roy. Roy has only played in one game since January 15th and during that stretch the Blazers have gone 5-5, including three straight losses before getting things back on track against Dallas and Charlotte. Roy is expected not to make the trip to Utah and will be re-evaluated before the game with the Spurs on Thursday. The Blazers, however, have shown that they do not need their superstar to take down the Spurs. In the last meeting in San Antonio , Jerryd Bayless did the best Roy impression imaginable, dropping 31pts and 7 assists. To add insult to injury, the Spurs allowed the corpse of Juwan Howard to go for a double/double. To win this game the Spurs front line players not named Tim Duncan must step up. Blair and McDyess need to dominate the glass and punish the Blazers depleted front line on both ends. Speaking of Duncan , it will be interesting how Pop handles him on this back to back. One tends to wonder if sitting him/limiting him in Sacramento might be the better choice over sitting him in Portland .
L.A. Clippers
The Clippers are a bit of an enigma. Oozing with talent, they at times look like they could beat anyone…and other times they just look like the same old Clippers. Coming out of Christmas, the Clip show look poised to become consistent as they rolled off a 5-1 record which included wins over Boston , Portland and their big brother in the other locker room. But all that came to a screeching halt as they quickly lost 4 games in a row en route to going 3-9 over their next 12 games. The most recent stretch of 4 losses in a row is especially disheartening, as they were blown out by bottom feeders Minnesota and New Jersey . The Spurs have thrashed the Clippers in their first two meetings this season. In the most recent game, not a single starter was needed for 30 minutes to get the job done. In short, the Spurs really have no reason to lose this game. This might be a good target game to get Parker back in the lineup so he can find his legs a little bit before the more difficult upcoming games.
L.A. Lakers
Though the Lakers haven’t been quite as dominant as of late, they are still in a class by themselves. They are back at full strength and that is trouble for any team. As we all know, the Spurs celebrated a win over the Lakers in the first meeting. The Lakers team that came to San Antonio was without Kobe in the 4th quarter and had no Pau Gasol. This game is completely different, as a full strength Lakers team will be waiting at Staples to avenge the loss they took in the Alamo City . The loss the Lakers took to the Grizzlies sheds a lot of light on how to beat them. Even though they didn’t shoot well, Memphis worked the Lakers on the glass and did a good job of getting to free throw line. They only allowed the Lakers to pull down 5 offensive rebounds while pulling down 12 of their own. To do this, the Spurs need Dejuan Blair to stay on the floor and contribute. He looked horrible in the first outing and only wound up playing seven minutes. His rebounding and hustle around the rim will be needed to keep the Lakers off the offensive glass and to get on the offensive glass for put backs and extra possessions. Antonio McDyess will also need to add to his current string of good games and knock down those open jumpers and rebound efficiently. The wings will need to be in attack mode to try to get the Lakers bigs in foul trouble. If the Spurs do these things and stay disciplined on the defensive end they have a shot at coming out of L.A. with a victory.
Denver
The Nuggets are once again in the mix at the top of the West. After some inconsistency at the end of the year the Nuggets have blazed through January, going 12-3 for the month. What’s even scarier is that Carmelo Anthony only played in six of those games. One of those games he didn’t play in was at the AT&T Center, where the Nuggets handed the Spurs a disappointing loss. Missed shots and an overall lack of defensive focus cost the Spurs dearly in a game that could have easily went their way. Now the Spurs will have to face the Nuggets with Carmelo(he is expect to play Wednesday against the Suns) in an arena where they are 22-3 this season. It’s not going out on a limb to say that the Spurs will need to play a near perfect basketball game to get this win. One can only hope that Parker will be back and will be healthy enough to be effective.
Indiana
After a walk through murderers row, the last few games of the trip get substantially easier. This all begins with the Pacers. There is no softening the blow here, the Pacers are just a bad team. Even with star forward Danny Granger back in the lineup they have lost 7 of their last 9 and have lost by double digits in all of those losses except one. The Spurs won the first game but did not play well enough to deserve the victory. In one of the Spurs infamous third quarters, they allowed the Pacers to outscore them 38-20, which led to the Spurs clamping down on them in the fourth to eek out a one point win. The team has come to a point in the season where that type of play is no longer acceptable if they want to consider themselves any sort of legit playoff threat. This should be a win going away.
Philadelphia
The Sixers share a similar record with the Pacers but they have still shown themselves to be a dangerous team from time to time, as they have beaten Denver(in Denver) and Dallas both in the past month. With athletic players and explosive scorers, the Sixers can make life hell for even the best teams. The Spurs played a sloppy game with 18 turnovers in the first game against the Sixers, but countered that with a good defensive effort against a pretty bad defensive team. They will need to summon that same sort of effort to take the game in Philly. Blair should again be able to be a factor in this game, as he lit up the Sixers at the AT&T to the tune of 11pts, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in only 17 minutes. Just like the Pacers game, this is one the Spurs cannot afford to lose. They need to come in focused and get out with a convincing win.
Detroit
The final game of the trip is a match up with a storied past that has now become nothing more than other game on the schedule. The once great core of the Pistons is now a shell of itself as the team heads down the road of transition...a road that the Spurs are standing at the on ramp to. After hovering around .500 in early December, the Pistons went on epic losing streak of 13 games to effectively end their season in January. In the midst of that streak was a game in San Antonio that was actually competitive up to the 4th quarter. In that final stanza the Spurs forced 8 turnovers and outscored the Pistons 35-17 en route to a 20 point blowout. The Pistons are now in the middle of yet another 5 game losing streak and don’t look to be righting the ship anytime soon. The Spurs should take this game comfortably and head on back to the Alamo City...hopefully with their heads held high.
Some would look at this trip and say that a 5-3 record could be considered a success. I would disagree if those five wins were against the bad/mediocre teams and the losses were against the good teams. In order for this team to convince anyone that they are still in the mix among the better teams I think they have to beat at least one of those teams during this stretch. Now is the time to put all the mental inconsistencies behind them and play like the team we have seen flashes of. Here’s to turning the corner. Go Spurs Go!
The eight teams on this years RRT are a contrast of extremes. Half of them are arguably some of the worst teams in the league, while the other half consists of some of the best teams in the league. I have taken some time to preview each team on the schedule to see how the Spurs match up and what the potential outcome might be.
Sacramento
The Kings are losing games at a staggering rate right now. Since being within a game of .500 on December 21st, they have lost 15 of their last 18 games. The return of Kevin Martin doesn’t seem to have helped any, as they are 1-8 with him back in the lineup. In the game at San Antonio , Tony Parker destroyed the Kings with 18pts and 11 assists and Richard Jefferson had a fantastic game with 23pts, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Manu also added 20pts off the bench. The flipside of that coin is that the Spurs allowed the Kings to drop 106 points on them and shoot 53%. Without Parker, the defense will need to be much better and the Spurs will need a repeat of the effort given by Manu and RJ. Don’t let the record fool you here, the Kings are a dangerous team with a lot of talent and are fully capable of an upset if the Spurs do not bring their A game. This game is a good starting test to see where the teams focus is.
Portland
The Blazers are in many ways are similar to the Spurs. They came into season with high expectations only to have them dashed through various sets of circumstances…the biggest one being the injury bug. Losing Oden, Przybilla and Outlaw has been tough, but nothing has been tougher than dealing with losing Brandon Roy. Roy has only played in one game since January 15th and during that stretch the Blazers have gone 5-5, including three straight losses before getting things back on track against Dallas and Charlotte. Roy is expected not to make the trip to Utah and will be re-evaluated before the game with the Spurs on Thursday. The Blazers, however, have shown that they do not need their superstar to take down the Spurs. In the last meeting in San Antonio , Jerryd Bayless did the best Roy impression imaginable, dropping 31pts and 7 assists. To add insult to injury, the Spurs allowed the corpse of Juwan Howard to go for a double/double. To win this game the Spurs front line players not named Tim Duncan must step up. Blair and McDyess need to dominate the glass and punish the Blazers depleted front line on both ends. Speaking of Duncan , it will be interesting how Pop handles him on this back to back. One tends to wonder if sitting him/limiting him in Sacramento might be the better choice over sitting him in Portland .
L.A. Clippers
The Clippers are a bit of an enigma. Oozing with talent, they at times look like they could beat anyone…and other times they just look like the same old Clippers. Coming out of Christmas, the Clip show look poised to become consistent as they rolled off a 5-1 record which included wins over Boston , Portland and their big brother in the other locker room. But all that came to a screeching halt as they quickly lost 4 games in a row en route to going 3-9 over their next 12 games. The most recent stretch of 4 losses in a row is especially disheartening, as they were blown out by bottom feeders Minnesota and New Jersey . The Spurs have thrashed the Clippers in their first two meetings this season. In the most recent game, not a single starter was needed for 30 minutes to get the job done. In short, the Spurs really have no reason to lose this game. This might be a good target game to get Parker back in the lineup so he can find his legs a little bit before the more difficult upcoming games.
L.A. Lakers
Though the Lakers haven’t been quite as dominant as of late, they are still in a class by themselves. They are back at full strength and that is trouble for any team. As we all know, the Spurs celebrated a win over the Lakers in the first meeting. The Lakers team that came to San Antonio was without Kobe in the 4th quarter and had no Pau Gasol. This game is completely different, as a full strength Lakers team will be waiting at Staples to avenge the loss they took in the Alamo City . The loss the Lakers took to the Grizzlies sheds a lot of light on how to beat them. Even though they didn’t shoot well, Memphis worked the Lakers on the glass and did a good job of getting to free throw line. They only allowed the Lakers to pull down 5 offensive rebounds while pulling down 12 of their own. To do this, the Spurs need Dejuan Blair to stay on the floor and contribute. He looked horrible in the first outing and only wound up playing seven minutes. His rebounding and hustle around the rim will be needed to keep the Lakers off the offensive glass and to get on the offensive glass for put backs and extra possessions. Antonio McDyess will also need to add to his current string of good games and knock down those open jumpers and rebound efficiently. The wings will need to be in attack mode to try to get the Lakers bigs in foul trouble. If the Spurs do these things and stay disciplined on the defensive end they have a shot at coming out of L.A. with a victory.
Denver
The Nuggets are once again in the mix at the top of the West. After some inconsistency at the end of the year the Nuggets have blazed through January, going 12-3 for the month. What’s even scarier is that Carmelo Anthony only played in six of those games. One of those games he didn’t play in was at the AT&T Center, where the Nuggets handed the Spurs a disappointing loss. Missed shots and an overall lack of defensive focus cost the Spurs dearly in a game that could have easily went their way. Now the Spurs will have to face the Nuggets with Carmelo(he is expect to play Wednesday against the Suns) in an arena where they are 22-3 this season. It’s not going out on a limb to say that the Spurs will need to play a near perfect basketball game to get this win. One can only hope that Parker will be back and will be healthy enough to be effective.
Indiana
After a walk through murderers row, the last few games of the trip get substantially easier. This all begins with the Pacers. There is no softening the blow here, the Pacers are just a bad team. Even with star forward Danny Granger back in the lineup they have lost 7 of their last 9 and have lost by double digits in all of those losses except one. The Spurs won the first game but did not play well enough to deserve the victory. In one of the Spurs infamous third quarters, they allowed the Pacers to outscore them 38-20, which led to the Spurs clamping down on them in the fourth to eek out a one point win. The team has come to a point in the season where that type of play is no longer acceptable if they want to consider themselves any sort of legit playoff threat. This should be a win going away.
Philadelphia
The Sixers share a similar record with the Pacers but they have still shown themselves to be a dangerous team from time to time, as they have beaten Denver(in Denver) and Dallas both in the past month. With athletic players and explosive scorers, the Sixers can make life hell for even the best teams. The Spurs played a sloppy game with 18 turnovers in the first game against the Sixers, but countered that with a good defensive effort against a pretty bad defensive team. They will need to summon that same sort of effort to take the game in Philly. Blair should again be able to be a factor in this game, as he lit up the Sixers at the AT&T to the tune of 11pts, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in only 17 minutes. Just like the Pacers game, this is one the Spurs cannot afford to lose. They need to come in focused and get out with a convincing win.
Detroit
The final game of the trip is a match up with a storied past that has now become nothing more than other game on the schedule. The once great core of the Pistons is now a shell of itself as the team heads down the road of transition...a road that the Spurs are standing at the on ramp to. After hovering around .500 in early December, the Pistons went on epic losing streak of 13 games to effectively end their season in January. In the midst of that streak was a game in San Antonio that was actually competitive up to the 4th quarter. In that final stanza the Spurs forced 8 turnovers and outscored the Pistons 35-17 en route to a 20 point blowout. The Pistons are now in the middle of yet another 5 game losing streak and don’t look to be righting the ship anytime soon. The Spurs should take this game comfortably and head on back to the Alamo City...hopefully with their heads held high.
Some would look at this trip and say that a 5-3 record could be considered a success. I would disagree if those five wins were against the bad/mediocre teams and the losses were against the good teams. In order for this team to convince anyone that they are still in the mix among the better teams I think they have to beat at least one of those teams during this stretch. Now is the time to put all the mental inconsistencies behind them and play like the team we have seen flashes of. Here’s to turning the corner. Go Spurs Go!