Spurs at Bobcats Previews

[duncan228]

San Antonio (24-13) at Charlotte (17-19)
Game info: 7:00 pm EST Fri Jan 15, 2010
TV: FSSW, FSCR
By Brett Huston

Gregg Popovich decided to give Tim Duncan a rest in the San Antonio Spurs’ latest game, one night after the two-time MVP engineered a win over the defending champions.

After seeing what DeJuan Blair did in Duncan’s absence, Popovich might be inclined to rest his star more often.

The burly rookie’s breakout game lifted the Spurs to their third straight win, and with Duncan due back Friday night, they’ll look to remain perfect in their brief road history against the surging Charlotte Bobcats.

Popovich has given his top players nights off in the regular season on occasion, and after Duncan scored 25 points in a 105-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, his star sat on the bench in street clothes Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

The 37th overall pick in June made sure Duncan wouldn’t be missed too much. Blair, an All-American center last season at Pittsburgh who slipped in the draft due to his 6-foot-7 frame and concerns over his knees, had 28 points and 21 rebounds to lead San Antonio (24-13) to a 109-108 overtime victory over the Thunder.

“I’m going to take what he gave us tonight, and I don’t know how he did it,” Popovich said. “I have no clue what his moves are. He’s just a basketball player. He hustles his (tail) off, he’s got a nose for the ball, he’s got great hands and he does what you saw. We didn’t teach him any of it. He brought it all with him.”

Blair has started at center in 12 of the Spurs’ last 13 games, but his minutes have fluctuated. San Antonio is 11-4 when he scores at least eight points.

“We’re going to start resting Tim more in the second game of back-to-backs,” Popovich said.

Duncan had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists when Charlotte (17-19) visited San Antonio on Dec. 11, but the Bobcats had a chance to win heading into the fourth quarter, trailing 72-71. The Spurs, though, shot 71 percent in the final 12 minutes and overcame a season-high 28 turnovers to win 104-85.

Manu Ginobili paced San Antonio with 22 points and former Spur Stephen Jackson led Charlotte with 23.

Ginobili will be looking to atone for an 0-for-10 performance against Oklahoma City, and though he’s only averaged 11.8 points in the Spurs’ five games in Charlotte, they’ve never lost there.

San Antonio is 10-1 in the all-time series but could face a tough challenge in this visit. The Bobcats have scored exactly as many points as they’ve allowed through 36 games, but they’ve outscored opponents by an average of 5.8 points in going 14-4 at home.

Charlotte rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit en route to a fifth straight home win Tuesday, beating Houston 102-94 behind Jackson’s franchise-record and career-high 43 points.

“Every shot you take you feel like it’s going to go in,” Jackson told the NBA’s official Web site. “It’s one of those nights where everything felt good.”

Jackson, who wore out his welcome in Golden State and was traded in mid-November, has averaged 28.0 points as Charlotte’s gone 5-2 since Dec. 30.

“He’s about as bright as anybody I’ve ever coached,” Larry Brown said. “He’s in that difficult category, but he loves his teammates and he loves to play. And he’s made everybody better.”

Jackson’s big game Wednesday made up for an off night from Gerald Wallace, who was 2 of 10 and finished with nine points. The Bobcats, though, are 3-12 when Wallace scores 13 or fewer.

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Tim Duncan SA 20.1
Stephen Jackson Cha 19.9

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.4
Gerald Wallace Cha 11.5

Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.9
Raymond Felton Cha 5.2

[duncan228]

Gameday: Spurs at Bobcats
Charlotte Observer



Matchup to Watch

Tim Duncan versus Boris Diaw or Gerald Wallace: Former Wake Forest star Duncan continues to be one of the league's few 20-10 locks. He's going to get his, but the greater problem becomes when you have to send help to guard him, because Duncan is such a capable passer.

Observations

The Spurs have enviable depth with Manu Ginobili, Antonio McDyess and Roger Mason Jr., all coming off the bench.

Bobcats coach Larry Brown said he'll probably have to go deeper into his bench, particularly in his frontcourt, with the team playing back-to-back games, then a Monday afternoon game versus the Sacramento Kings.

Stephen Jackson is averaging 27.9 points in the past seven games. The Bobcats are 5-2 in that stretch.

The Bobcats have generally been a good rebounding team, but the Spurs drilled them in San Antonio by 15 boards.

Tap-ins

Duncan sat out Wednesday's narrow victory in Oklahoma City, not because he's injured, but because the Spurs are monitoring his minutes in anticipation of a long playoff run. Don't anticipate a similar strategy tonight - the Spurs had Thursday off.

Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair had 28 points and 21 rebounds versus the Thunder. Blair lasted until the 37th pick - seven picks into the second round - because of a history of knee problems.

Brown said the Bobcats "absolutely" would have drafted Blair if he had lasted three more slots to the 40th pick. Brown said the Bobcats thought Blair had lottery-pick talent, but his knees made him too much of a risk that early.

Did you know?

Now-Spur Keith Bogans is one of eight Bobcats from that original 2004-05 team still in the NBA. Gerald Wallace is the only one still in Charlotte. The others: Primoz Brezec and Jason Kapono (both with the 76ers), Malik Allen (Nuggets), Matt Carroll (Mavericks), Emeka Okafor (Hornets) and Kareem Rush (Clippers).

- Rick Bonnell

[Ditty]

the doees gerald wallace average 11 rebounds a game wow

should be a tough one bobcats play good at home

spurs still win by 8 96-88

[duncan228]

These Bobcats are getting hard to ignore
They're 14-4 at home and entertaining
By Tom Sorensen
Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Bobcats are 14-4 at home this season. Their best previous home record after 18 games is 10-8. These are the only seasons in which they were above .500 at this juncture.

I'm not sure what the difference is. Perhaps it's the fans. There were about 7,500 at Time Warner Cable Arena Tuesday for Charlotte's thrilling comeback victory against Houston.

Yet there were moments, and I promise I'm not exaggerating, when those 7,500 fans sounded like 7,600.

Being there reminded me how excited I used to get about the NBA when the Charlotte Hornets were here.

I promise I'm not going to liken the Bobcats to the Hornets. The Hornets were our first big-league team, and we cared enormously. On game nights 7,500 fans would be waiting outside the Charlotte Coliseum when the team opened its doors.

But the relationship between the town and the team went bad, and we became angry and then we grew bored. By the time the Hornets finally left for New Orleans, we volunteered to hold the door.

We didn't transfer our love for the Hornets when the Bobcats came to town six seasons ago. We transferred our apathy.

But these 2010 Bobcats are tough to ignore. They're entertaining, sound and solid. And when center Tyson Chandler returns - provided he sustains his health long enough to upgrade from guest to resident - Charlotte has the potential to upgrade from solid to pretty good.

The Bobcats have a tremendous opportunity to upgrade their profile this weekend. They will host San Antonio tonight and Phoenix Saturday.

Despite the paltry crowd Tuesday, those of us who were there loved it. This was a game in which, when you walked out of the gym, you wanted to find somebody who was there so you could talk about the game. Did you see? Could you believe? Is Stephen Jackson great?

Jackson is the first elite player the Bobcats have ever had. Larry Brown is a much better coach because in a close game he finally can call the play every coach craves: Stephen go out and win it.

For old-timers, this will be tantamount to blasphemy, but Jackson is as good in his way as former Charlotte Hornets Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning were in theirs.

Jackson scored 43 points against the Rockets and, importantly, he scored them on only 22 field-goal attempts. He added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Pump fakes, forays to the hoop, long shots, short shots - what Charlotte needed, Jackson gave.

It reminded me how I would walk out of the gym mesmerized by the work of Johnson, or of Muggsy Bogues or Dell Curry. (As effective as Mourning was, I was never a fan.)

In those days, no matter where you wound down after the game, you could always find somebody to talk about the Hornets.

The Bobcats have won five straight games at home. It'll be interesting to see what we talk about if they somehow make it seven.

[duncan228]

Brown on Blair and trade possibilities
Plenty of candid comments by Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown at practice Thursday.

On whether they would have chosen San Antonio Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair, had he lasted three more spots to the Bobcats' No. 40 overall pick: "Absolutely. Michael (Jordan) loved him. We all did, but there was an issue about his knee. To take a gamble with an early first-round pick, we all weighed, (knowing power forward) was a need of ours. They thought the risk might be too great (in the lottery), but with the second round, yeah. We had him rated really high. He was rated in the top 15.''

On the likelihood of making another trade this season: "Everybody is posturing themselves right now as the All-Star break (comes up and teams network). People are maybe not being real fair in what they want. I think when the (deadline) comes, you'll see some things (loosen up) around the league and hopefully we can improve.''

What's improved of late? "From a coaching aspect, I think we're doing a better job of figuring out how to utilize Boris (Diaw), now that we've got Stephen (Jackson). I think (Diaw's) play has gotten a lot better.

(on his concerns): "My biggest concern is the amount of minutes we've been playing guys. When you look that we've got a back-to-back (Friday and Saturday) and then a short turnaround to a Monday (afternoon) game, we've got to utilize our bench a little bit more. Not in the backcourt -- our backcourt is deep and very effective -- but we've got to get some other people playing.''

[HarlemHeat37]

, Jordan wanted to draft Blair?..that's horrible news..

[TDMVPDPOY]

, Jordan wanted to draft Blair?..that's horrible news..

jordan wants anyone man, too bad his not a good scout, kwame brown still looms

[duncan228]

Preview: Spurs at Bobcats

SPURS (24-13) at BOBCATS (17-19)

Time: 6 p.m.
TV: FSNSW
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - BOBCATS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 9th yr) - 20 Raymond Felton (6-1, 5th yr)

Parker has eclipsed 20 points in five of past six games.

SG - 10 Keith Bogans (6-5, 7th yr) - 1 Stephen Jackson (6-8, 10th yr)

Jackson 's 43 points vs. Houston were career high and franchise record.

SF - 24 Richard Jefferson (6-7, 9th yr) - 3 Gerald Wallace (6-7, 9th yr)

A late bloomer, Wallace has emerged as bona fide All-Star candidate.

PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 13th yr) - 32 Boris Diaw (6-8, 7th yr)

Duncan should be well rested after taking off game in OKC.

C - 45 DeJuan Blair (6-7, 1st yr) - 13 N. Mohammed (6-10, 12th yr)

Of Blair's 20-20 vs. OKC, Pop says, “I'm going to take that.”

RESERVES

SPURS

20 Manu Ginobili , G, 6-6, 8th yr
22 Marcus Haislip , F, 6-10, 4th yr
3 George Hill , G, 6-2, 2nd yr
28 Ian Mahinmi , C/F, 6-11, 3rd yr
8 Roger Mason Jr. , G, 6-5, 6th yr
24 A. McDyess , F, 6-10, 14th yr
42 Theo Ratliff , C, 6-10, 15th yr

BOBCATS

14 D.J. Augustin , G, 6-0, 2nd yr
4 Derrick Brown , F, 6-7, 1st yr
7 DeSagana Diop , C, 7-0, 9th yr
23 Stephen Graham , F, 6-6, 5th yr
15 Gerald Henderson , G, 6-5, 1st yr
2 Acie Law , G, 6-3, 3rd yr
22 Flip Murray , G, 6-3, 8th yr

COACHES

Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Bobcats: Larry Brown

INJURIES

Spurs: Michael Finley (sprained left ankle) and Matt Bonner (fractured right hand) are out.

Bobcats: Tyson Chandler (stress reaction, left foot) is out.

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS

Spurs: Malik Hairston, Bonner, Finley

Bobcats: Chandler , Alexis Ajinca

NOTABLE

Spurs are 15-4 since Dec. 9, tied with Cleveland for NBA's best record in that span. . . . . . Charlotte has won five of past six, and hasn't lost at home since Dec. 19 against Utah . . . . . . Spurs have never lost to the Bobcats in Charlotte , going 5-0 all-time.

-Jeff McDonald

[ElNono]

I have a bad feeling about this game... hope I'm wrong...
Oh well... I'll be watching from Texas!

[blkroadrunners]

Bobcats seem to play a lot of the elite teams in the league quite compe ively, and have had their success over some of them (ie Atlanta, Denver, Cleveland, LA Lakers last year). Hopefully the Spurs will stay focused, and come out to play for 48 minutes.

[timtonymanu]

Charlotte plays a lot better than their record shows. They have a scary starting 5. IMO, we should rest Timmy this game and save him for Memphis. Hopefully spurs will prevail.

[HarlemHeat37]

Why would Duncan rest again?..

[TDMVPDPOY]

cant wait to see jax expose someone

[tomtom]

Capn for 50

[duncan228]

Confident Bobcats have the look of a playoff team
By Mike Cranston

When this city was awarded an expansion team two years after the Hornets bolted town, there was little excitement. Not even Michael Jordan becoming a part-owner created buzz.

Six years in, the Bobcats have never been to the playoffs and the crowds still are thin. But there are things you can no longer say—they’re not boring and certainly no pushover.

With a Hall of Fame coach, a newly acquired scorer with much-needed swagger and an emerging player on the cusp of being an All-Star, the Larry Brown-led Bobcats are acting and looking like a legitimate playoff contender.

Consider their accomplishments since the calendar flipped to 2010: victories at Cleveland and Miami, and a surge that’s pushed their home record to 14-4. Gerald Wallace had an acrobatic, game-winning putback at the buzzer against Memphis last Saturday, and Stephen Jackson went for a franchise-record 43 points in Tuesday’s victory over Houston.

“Everything is starting to come together,” point guard Raymond Felton said Thursday.

After remaking the roster to Brown’s liking with five trades involving 15 players over the past 14 months, the versatile Bobcats (17-19) sit in seventh place in the Eastern Conference entering Friday’s home game against San Antonio.

“We have good people. There’s no jealousy here,” said Brown, in the second year of his record ninth NBA head coaching job. “Stephen is an unusual personality, but he’s a great teammate and he’s a good guy.”

Jackson’s acquisition on Nov. 16 from Golden State was the riskiest move Jordan has signed off on since becoming the team’s managing partner in 2006. A superior talent, Jackson had been feuding with Warriors coach Don Nelson. His past includes his role in the infamous brawl in Auburn Hills, Mich., and being accused of firing a gun into the air outside a strip club.

He’s been a model teammate so far in Charlotte, giving the Bobcats multiple scoring options.

“Gerald Wallace needed another guy to take some of the pressure off him,” Jackson said. “I fit in good in that role. I did it for Baron Davis (at Golden State). I made it easy because I’m easy to get along with. I know what it takes to be a great teammate.”

It’s clear Jackson and Wallace have clicked. When they’re not needling each other—Wallace jumped onto Jackson’s back as he was doing an interview Thursday — they’re giving opposing teams fits.

Wallace was averaging 13.7 points before Jackson arrived and 19.3 points since. Despite being just 6-foot-7, Wallace is fourth in the NBA in rebounding at 11.5 per game and a candidate for his first All-Star game.

“I always knew he played hard,” Jackson said. “But just to see the other aspects of his game. How great of a rebounder he is. How well of a teammate and a leader he is. How he plays hurt. He’s similar to me a lot.”

Jackson’s endless confidence was on display when he hit 15 of 22 shots and 10 of 11 free throws in the comeback win over Houston. He’s averaging 21.1 points in 27 games with Charlotte.

“He opens things up for everybody,” Brown said. “He’s a willing passer and a terrific passer. So if you double him and you’re open he’ll get you the ball. And he’s a much better defender than you can imagine.”

The Bobcats allow a league-low 92.9 points a game. The problem has been the Bobcats score the same amount, which ranks 28th, and have a tendency to go on turnover sprees.

That’s subsided in their current stretch of five wins in six games that’s coincided with better play from power forward Boris Diaw. He had struggled with his role since Jackson arrived.

“I think we’re figuring out ways to utilize Boris now,” Brown said. “It’s obvious Raymond, Jack and Gerald have played at a high level. But my biggest concern is the amount of minutes we’re playing guys.”

Brown hasn’t been shy about his request to Jordan and general manager Rod Higgins that Charlotte get another power forward to spell Diaw. The Bobcats have so much depth in the backcourt thanks to veteran Flip Murray’s offseason signing that rookie Gerald Henderson hasn’t played since Dec. 28. But Charlotte is painfully thin up front.

“Rod is aware of that. Michael is aware of that,” Brown said. “Everybody is posturing themselves right now. A lot of people are maybe not being real fair in what they want. But I think as the time comes you’ll see some things happening around the league and hopefully we can improve.”

The Bobcats still have two West Coast trips and 14 sets of back-to-back games. It means a playoff berth is far from guaranteed.

For owner Bob Johnson, who has been losing millions and looking to perhaps sell the team, a playoff appearance would be a much-needed boost. Charlotte hasn’t hosted a postseason game since the Hornets’ last season here in 2002.

“It’ll be bigger to guys like Gerald who’s been here for six years. It’ll be bigger for coach Brown. It’d be good for the organization, for Mr. Johnson and Michael Jordan to get the playoffs, finally,” Jackson said. “And to the city, also. That’s what they’ve been waiting for. Hopefully, we can bring that here.”

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Fri. Jan 15
San Antonio @ Charlotte: Mike Callahan; Jason Phillips; Olandis Poole

[duncan228]

Bobcats ready for back-to-back slate against two of West’s best
by Gordie Taylor
Bobcats Break

The Charlotte Bobcats (17-19) continue their six-game homestand with back-to-back games against the San Antonio Spurs (24-13) at 7 p.m. Friday and the Phoenix Suns (24-15) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“They’re two great teams,” said Stephen Jackson. “We feel confident we can play with anybody. San Antonio’s a good team, they’ve always been good the last couple of years, and Phoenix is a team that you really have to play great defense against.”

The Bobcats are coming off Tuesday’s 102-94 win against Houston, where they trailed 60-50 at halftime and shut down the Rockets by allowing 34 second-half points. Jackson scored a franchise-record 43 points on 68 percent shooting (15-for-22) in the victory.

“I think we play better at home,” said Jackson. “I think the thing about us is that we need to come out, establish our dominance at home and take it one game at a time. We can handle San Antonio Friday and worry about beating Phoenix on Saturday.”

Friday night will be the second meeting of the season between the Bobcats and the Spurs. The Spurs won the previous meeting on December 11, 2009 in San Antonio, 104-85. Jackson led all scorers that night with 23 points, while Manu Ginobili scored 22 off the bench for San Antonio.

The Spurs had the day off Thursday, but earned a109-108 overtime victory against Oklahoma City on Wednesday night. Tim Duncan got the night off to rest, but rookie DeJuan Blair had career highs with 28 points and 21 rebounds.

Bobcats Center Nazr Mohammed said there aren’t many adjustments or preparations that can get a team ready for the physical post play of Duncan, Blair and Phoenix’s Amar’e Stoudemire.

“You just have to go in with a mindset,” said Mohammed. “Going out there and trying to be physical, going out there to rebound, and playing as tough as you can.”

The Bobcats will go back to work Saturday night as the Phoenix Suns visit Time Warner Cable Arena. This will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

“I think we’re getting better,” said Brown “Playing without Tyson (Chandler) has been a challenge, but in a good way it’s helped that we’ve gotten other guys an opportunity to play.”

[duncan228]

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. San Antonio Spurs
by David Arnott
Rufus on Fire

The Big Picture: The San Antonio Spurs are riding a 3 game win streak heading into tonight’s game, the last one coming in an overtime thriller against the Thunder. Against the Thunder the Spurs played without Tim Duncan, who Greg Popovich will occasionally sit just to give him a break. But they didn’t need him thanks to an outstanding performance from rookie DeJuan Blair, who had career highs of 28 points and 21 rebounds. They look like they will give the Bobcats some tough compe ion.

Our Charlotte Bobcats are riding a 2 game win streak while winning 7 of their last 10 games. Their last game against the Houston Rockets showed again how defense can prevail in the end limiting the Rockets to 34 second half points and overcoming a 10 point halftime deficit. The Bobcats look to continue their home dominance against a tough Spurs team tonight.

Keys to Victory:

1. Win the rebounding battle against Blair and The Big Fundamental. Whoever is playing center needs to pull down his share of the boards. With Diaw’s recent uptick past 5 a game, and Gerald and Captain Jack holding their own, we could do this.

2. Defense, Defense, Defense. Enough said.

3. This game will be a boring game. It won’t be fast paced. It will be about fundamentals and defense, but in the end we will need a big play or out of somebody (Flip Murray from three, maybe) to get us separated.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton are such close friends (University of Arizona) that, apparently, Jefferson was at the Walton home the night Walton was drafted.

[Bukefal]

I like the bobcats, they do pretty well, have a nice team and it's fun watching them develop. I have respect for them. But Augustin is doing very ty lately, it seems like he is lost or something.

Anyway, we'll win this for sure. Let's hope for a good game

Go Spurs!!!

[duncan228]

San Antonio Spurs (24-13) at Charlotte Bobcats (17-19)

With a refreshed Tim Duncan back ready to go, the San Antonio Spurs take aim at a fourth straight victory when they visit a Charlotte Bobcats team that's also playing very well of late tonight at Time Warner Cable Arena.

San Antonio was able to extend its current winning streak despite head coach Gregg Popovich's decision to rest Duncan in Wednesday's game at Oklahoma City. Rookie DeJuan Blair helped compensate for the perennial All-Star's absence with a monster night in which the former University of Pittsburgh star recorded career bests of 28 points and 21 rebounds.

The Spurs came through with a 109-108 overtime win on Richard Jefferson's go- ahead basket with 9.1 seconds left.

Trailing by a point, Jefferson blocked a shot from the Thunder's Thabo Sefolosha in the closing seconds and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili drove the lane before losing possession. However, the standout guard was able to prevent the ball from going out of bounds by making a diving stop and passed it to George Hill, who subsequently found Jefferson for the game-winning shot.

Either team could have won," Popovich told the Spurs' official site afterward. "We were very fortunate, Manu saved it for us. That was pure good fortune."

Tony Parker also scored 28 points for San Antonio and added eight assists, with Hill contributing 16 points to the winning effort.

The 33-year-old Duncan played 40 minutes in the Spurs' previous game, a 105-85 home rout of the reigning world champion Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, and amassed 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Tonight's tilt will be the second test of a four-game road trip for San Antonio, which is 7-7 as the visitor this season but has won five of its last six away from home.

The Spurs have also prevailed in all five of their lifetime meetings with the Bobcats in Charlotte and have taken the last six overall matchups between these teams. San Antonio cruised to a 104-85 home triumph over the Bobcats on December 11 behind a 22-point performance from Ginobili.

Charlotte has won its last five outings at Time Warner Arena, however, and are 14-4 at home so far this season. In addition, the team posted its fifth victory in its last six overall games with Tuesday's 102-94 verdict over visiting Houston.

Stephen Jackson fueled the win by pouring in a career-high 43 points, with the veteran swingman making good on 15-of-20 field goal attempts and 10-of-11 tries from the foul line.

"He was great," Bobcats head coach Larry Brown said of Jackson. "Every phase of the game, especially the second half. He defended, made plays. He was phenomenal."

Charlotte also got a well-rounded game from Boris Diaw, who compiled 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Bobcats are in the midst of a six-game homestand that began with Saturday's 89-87 win over Memphis.

[the crimson blur]

Spurs are in a bit of a conundrum. The Bobcats are really good at home so sitting Timmy might be hard. However, if he is to sit at Memphis, we'd be forced into small ball against one of the best frontlines in the league.

I really don't know what we should do right now. I'm happy I am not the one making decisions

[murpjf88]

Spurs are in a bit of a conundrum. The Bobcats are really good at home so sitting Timmy might be hard. However, if he is to sit at Memphis, we'd be forced into small ball against one of the best frontlines in the league.

I really don't know what we should do right now. I'm happy I am not the one making decisions

If Duncan was held to around 20 minutes for tonight's game, maybe he can play about 20 minutes for the Memphis game. Otherwise, I would rather see him play big minutes against the Grizz because I feel the Spurs can hold their own against the Bobcats with or without Duncan.

[the crimson blur]

I just noticed that after the MEM game on Sat. the 16th we have a 2:30pm game on Mon. the 18th against the Hornets. Thats basically a b2b...The NBA has no mercy..

If Duncan was held to around 20 minutes for tonight's game, maybe he can play about 20 minutes for the Memphis game. Otherwise, I would rather see him play big minutes against the Grizz because I feel the Spurs can hold their own against the Bobcats with or without Duncan.

I'm wary of underestimating the Bobcats at home. They've taken out tons of good teams. They are playing their best ball of the season too.

[noob cake]

Bobcats are giant killers; killing Lakers and Celtics like nobody's business

Captain Jack decided to light up the Rockets for career high last time we played them.

[Spursmania]

I have a bad feeling about this game... hope I'm wrong...
Oh well... I'll be watching from Texas!

Good for you