Thank You Spurs
As you can see from the date of my last post, it's been a while since I posted an entry. All in all, it's a combination of me having busy with school and laziness to post a new entry.
It has not been a great year for me in terms of sports. First, the USC Trojans lost to Texas in the Rose bowl. Two, The Colorado Avalanche got swept by the Mighty Ducks in the Western Semis. Now, the Spurs lost to the Mavs in game 7.
I'll focus this entry on my beloved Spurs.
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I just came back from my friend's place watching the Spurs-Mavs Game 7. What a heart-breaking lost for the Spurs. After Manu Ginobili nailed the 3pter to give the Spurs a 3 point lead, I thought the Spurs have the game in the bags already. Sadly, Dirk Nowitzki was able to force the game into overtime and win it from there. So here it is... I send my congratulations to the Mavs for making this an epic series. It's just that the Spurs didn't come out on top this time. :(
Being a die-hard Spurs fan, I always predict the Spurs to win at the start of the season. Sadly, I think the signs that the Spurs can't win it all are there all year long. Although the Spurs finished with the 2nd best record in the NBA, the team as a whole was riddled with injuries. Tim Duncan played the whole year with plantar fasciitis. Manu Ginobili has been battling with numerous ankle sprains. Add to that, the new players signed for this year didn't pan out as expected. Other than Tim Duncan, the front court is really thin. Nazr and Rasho haven't really improved from the 2004-2005 Season.
Being the optimist as I have always been, I believe that this lost does not equate to an end of an 'era'. If you look at the Spurs roster, the core is signed for atleast till 2009. Duncan, Parker, Manu will be back. I believe Finley is signed for the next 2 years. I seriously think that the Spurs only need a couple of roster moves and it will be back on top next year.
First, I think Nick Van Exel is gone. The Spurs can either decide to officially make Beno the back up point guard or sign another veteran point guard. Second, The front court problems can be solved by either letting Nazr Mohammed go as a free agent or by signing and trading him to another team. Third, the Spurs have multiple draft picks stashed away in Europe. By recent scouting reports, some of these draft picks have been doing really well. Luis Scola and Javtokas have been doing really well in Europe. Both of these guys are athletic power forwards. If the spurs is able to sign these guys, then it will definitely add depth to the spurs frontcourt. Remember last February, the Spurs almost made a deal for JR Smith but it just got nixed because it didn't make the Trade deadline. I don't see any reason for the spurs to not jump start this deal this summer again.
Hopefully at the end of the summer the Spurs will have a roster like:
C: Rasho, Scola/Javtokas, Another Bigman
PF: Duncan, Horry, Oberto
SF: Bowen, Finley
SG: Manu, JR Smith
PG: Parker, Beno, Another PG
Whatever happens, GO SPURS GO! Thank you for the wonderful 2005-2006 ride.
It has not been a great year for me in terms of sports. First, the USC Trojans lost to Texas in the Rose bowl. Two, The Colorado Avalanche got swept by the Mighty Ducks in the Western Semis. Now, the Spurs lost to the Mavs in game 7.
I'll focus this entry on my beloved Spurs.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I just came back from my friend's place watching the Spurs-Mavs Game 7. What a heart-breaking lost for the Spurs. After Manu Ginobili nailed the 3pter to give the Spurs a 3 point lead, I thought the Spurs have the game in the bags already. Sadly, Dirk Nowitzki was able to force the game into overtime and win it from there. So here it is... I send my congratulations to the Mavs for making this an epic series. It's just that the Spurs didn't come out on top this time. :(
Being a die-hard Spurs fan, I always predict the Spurs to win at the start of the season. Sadly, I think the signs that the Spurs can't win it all are there all year long. Although the Spurs finished with the 2nd best record in the NBA, the team as a whole was riddled with injuries. Tim Duncan played the whole year with plantar fasciitis. Manu Ginobili has been battling with numerous ankle sprains. Add to that, the new players signed for this year didn't pan out as expected. Other than Tim Duncan, the front court is really thin. Nazr and Rasho haven't really improved from the 2004-2005 Season.
Being the optimist as I have always been, I believe that this lost does not equate to an end of an 'era'. If you look at the Spurs roster, the core is signed for atleast till 2009. Duncan, Parker, Manu will be back. I believe Finley is signed for the next 2 years. I seriously think that the Spurs only need a couple of roster moves and it will be back on top next year.
First, I think Nick Van Exel is gone. The Spurs can either decide to officially make Beno the back up point guard or sign another veteran point guard. Second, The front court problems can be solved by either letting Nazr Mohammed go as a free agent or by signing and trading him to another team. Third, the Spurs have multiple draft picks stashed away in Europe. By recent scouting reports, some of these draft picks have been doing really well. Luis Scola and Javtokas have been doing really well in Europe. Both of these guys are athletic power forwards. If the spurs is able to sign these guys, then it will definitely add depth to the spurs frontcourt. Remember last February, the Spurs almost made a deal for JR Smith but it just got nixed because it didn't make the Trade deadline. I don't see any reason for the spurs to not jump start this deal this summer again.
Hopefully at the end of the summer the Spurs will have a roster like:
C: Rasho, Scola/Javtokas, Another Bigman
PF: Duncan, Horry, Oberto
SF: Bowen, Finley
SG: Manu, JR Smith
PG: Parker, Beno, Another PG
Whatever happens, GO SPURS GO! Thank you for the wonderful 2005-2006 ride.
