Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Spurs Rule

I watched pieces of the game tonight in San Antonio against Charlotte. Let me tell you - not terribly impressive. The Spurs held the Bobcats to a season-low 65 points, but dude, it was the Bobcats.

The Spurs are my team. I tell people often that there are two things to keep in mind if you are going to be a Spurs fan. Number 1: Never worry about the win/loss record until after the All-Star break. Number 2: Never worry about the score until the end of the 3rd quarter. After watching them for a few years I've learned that they don't usually turn the heat on until late. All-Star weekend tends to be the point of the season that they really get rolling, especially since the two weeks prior to the break are spent on the road while the rodeo inhabits the AT&T Center. The road-trip gets everyone to gel, the All-Star break gives 'em a breather, and then it's time to start killing. The game tonight held true to the standard rules, but it wasn't pretty. The Spurs won, and they won it mostly in the fourth. Defense helped the Spurs tonight, but their shooting percentage sure didn't. This is not a game that I feel bad for barely watching.

Up next for the Spurs are the T-Wolves. We'll see if that game is any more impressive. Hornets follow and that one won't be anywhere near as easy.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Back to it...I hope.

Today is the day after All-Star Weekend. It is also my birthday. Both occasions give me reason to look back, and examine what has come before while taking a look at what I hope is to come. I started this blog at the beginning of the NBA season with every intention of posting regular commentary on the 07-08 season. Obviously things didn't go the way I expected. Before I get to the basketball stuff, I'll tell you a little bit about the things that have been happening in my life that have kept me away from the keyboard, because I know you care.

This year I decided against ordering NBA League Pass after having it for the past two. When I have the option of watching basketball every night of the week, sometimes 4 or 5 games in one day, then I watch basketball every night of the week, sometimes 4 or 5 games in one day. While this hasn't been that big of a deal in the past, I moved in with my girlfriend in November, and I felt that much time in front of the t.v. might not be a great way to get our home in order. I like spending time with her, I like being able to have focused conversations with her, and I like being able to interact with her and her son, at times other than commercial breaks. She is a great woman, but still a woman, and doesn't care enough about basketball to watch it for four to twelve hours on a daily basis. Add to that the cost of League Pass against the costs of building a home together, and you'll start to see why I decided to let it go for a year. There are a lot of teams and players that I haven't seen at all this season, so most of my knowledge of the league comes from reading about the games on-line.

I've also been bogged down at work to the point of mental collapse. For almost two months now I've been working 10 - 12 hour days with no lunch breaks, and often going in on weekends. I would really like to find another job with less demands on my time and my brain, but if you see the above paragraph, you'll also see that a job change right now could be a major set-back. I'm typing this at 8:20 p.m., and when I'm done, I've brought work home with me that will keep me up well into the night.

I've had an ex-wife come out of the buried past and she was talking about wanting to see me, talk to me, get back together, etc. That was some seriously out-of-left-field stuff that I hadn't expected.

I feel like I've gotten a lot older this year. I've had a great time, made new friends, and experienced new things. I'm happy with most aspects of my life, but whenever I have really good things going on, it casts a brighter light on the things that I'm not happy with, and I stress the fuck out.

Writing is what I really like to do. I feel that I'm reasonably good at it, and I had hoped to use my blog to exercise that writing muscle on a near-daily schedule. It didn't work out that way over the past four months, but I'm going to try to get it back on track.

NOW, the NBA stuff. Finally.

The first half of this season has been a blast. The West is insane, with more competition and uncertainty than I've previously seen. There's really no way to feel confident in predicting which eight teams are going to make the play-offs. Will Portland hang on? Can the Nuggets live up to the potential that everyone thinks they have? Did the Suns already set? Are my Spurs finally as old as everyone says they are, or are they sticking to the slow and steady plan they seem to use every year? Are the Lakers back? With the trades that have been flying, and probably a few more to come, the second half of the season is going to be a real dogfight in the West. In the East, the only story is how far Boston is going to go. Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland are the only other teams that I think pose a threat, and even they have to hope for an upset against the Celtics. KG has fire in his belly that an abdominal strain isn't about to get rid of.

I want to talk about the big trades that we've seen so far but I think I'll save that for tomorrow. I also want to talk about my hierarchy of favorites. Right now I'm tired, and I have work to do.