Gut Check for the Spurs

In a cruel twist of fate the Spurs come off the infamous Rodeo Road Trip into a very violent next two weeks. This includes two brutal back to backs, Finals contenders, and a horribly timed lack of Manu Ginobili. Don't get me wrong, Manu's health come playoff time is paramount, and Pop's insistence on the regular season as being something which must be survived, not conquered, has obviously proved well in the past. Still, looking at these next two weeks you can see why I wish #20 was suiting up.

This week: Tues: vs DAL, Wed: vs POR, Fri, vs CLE.

That's a pretty rowdy set for the week, including a nasty back to back with a resurgent Mavs team and the ever dangerous young Trailblazers (who of course just beat the Spurs in the BDL 2 on 2 Tourney) only to end with King James who would probably like a little revenge for the finals sweep. The Cavs have often had the Spurs # in the regular season as well. All things considered, I'd be hoping to go 2-1 here. I'm thinking Dallas is a very winnable game, and hopefully the Spurs can take one of the others. Granted I'd feel much better about the Blazers game if it wasnt the day after the Mavs game. The Cavs game is a toss up in my mind. Mo Williams and Z are both back and playing well, but can be neutralized. The question is whether or not LeBron goes into "alien cyborg from the future" mode and takes over the game, or if he feels like being "nonchalant, settle for jumper, not really caring" mode. While I'm hoping for the latter, and expect the Spurs D to try and force him into jumpers as they always seem to prefer, when LBJ feels like taking over very little can be done to stop him.

So there's this week. Surely next week will be a little easier right? Nope, it only get's worse:
Next week: Sun: @POR, Mon:@LAL, Wed: @DAL, Fri: vs WAS. Lordy Lordy Lordy, who did Pop and RC piss off to get these two weeks. If I'm going to put on my "objective" prediction cap, it looks like this. I think the Spurs can beat Portland again. At least they have a day off after the Cavs game, likely travelling up to POR on friday night post game leaving Saturday for a calm shootaround but mainly some rest. I dont see the Spurs beating the Lakers the next day with this schedule. This is not to say I don't think the Spurs can beat the Lakers. There is no doubt that the Lakers are having a better year, but the Spurs have already beaten them this year. However, this reeks of a game where the Spurs get down 11 or 12 early in the 4th and Pop packs it up, throws the young kids out for good minutes and takes the L. Nothing is more infuriating as a fan than when Pop does this, but with an older team and loftier goals, it really does make sense. Next, normally I'd say beating the Mavs twice in 2 weeks, now on their floor, would be tough. HOWEVAHHHHH, I will be in attendance in the AAC, meaning clearly the Spurs are winning as they wouldn't want me to have to cry myself to sleep. Finally the Spurs have a very winnable game against the Wizards to end the week. While they should beat them by oh, 25, I would not be surprised for a second if the Spurs dropped this one. What can I say? The Spurs have a habit of dropping games like this one that should be easy to get.

These next two weeks will be very important for the Spurs. While it is easy enough to say "Hey, 2nd place in the West, what's the worst that can happen?" the West is a strange beast this year. Yah, the Spurs sit in 2nd place, a rowdy 8 games back of the Lakers. But right now, just for kicks, the 6,7, and 8th place teams (a murderer's row of the Hornets, Mavs, and Jazz mind you) are all tied....at 12.5 games out, meaning 4.5 games back of San Antonio. Their record you ask, surely it's a game or 2 over .500 right? Try 11 games over .500. Even the Suns who sit in 9th have a record of 31-24. A bad two weeks doesn't just risk you dropping from 2nd to 3rd, ostensibly the Spurs could drop all the way to 8th!! Like I said earlier, Pop has shown he doesn't really care about being the #1 seed, the regular season is an 82 game grind that just needs to be slogged through en route to the month and a half to 2 months of the playoffs.

However, these next few weeks are important for several reasons. 1) There is the obvious threat of dropping deep down the Western Conference standings, 2) With Manu out, someone has to step up. Last week Matt Bonner decided to embrace his destiny and become the Gingery ball of 3 point doom that he is. Be it Bonner, RMJ (Dagger), or even one of the young guns, George Hill or Malik Harriston (who has been great in his limited time as a call up from the Toros), somebody needs to help Tim and Tony. 3) Finally find an answer to whether a move needs to be made to add some front court help. Bonner is nice offensively, but isnt exactly a banger down low. Fabricio Oberto has dealt w/ injuries all year and Kurt Thomas has mostly been a no show. My hope was that the Spurs would make a move before the trade deadline. My favorite rumor involved Marcus Camby. The thought of Camby and Duncan in the same lane on the same team is a dream come true. Sadly it never came to pass. Mikki Moore is still a free agent, but reports on a few sites and Twitter folk who have been reliable are saying he's off to Boston. This leaves two main options I can think of. First is that the Spurs sign Robert Horry again. Horry's name has popped up several times this year, altho not much lately for the Spurs. The most recent news I've heard regarding Big Shot is that the Cavs were actually thinking of signing Will Smith's doppleganger after their trade deadline moves failed to materialize. You will be hard pressed to find someone who loves Horry more than me, but I dont think it would be a good signing. The best thing Horry does is forces at least one defender out on him during late game inbounds. Horry is probably the most notable dagger-bringer of the last 20 years, having ripped the hearts out of team after team after team. But, at almost 39 years old, one has to wonder if he has been training since he last played and if he could still really contribute, or if he would just be taking up minutes. Don't think for a second I wouldn't love the signing if it happened, Horry has 7 rings, a wealth of experience, and tell me if you were opposing him if he got the ball w/ under 5 seconds you would even bother watching the shot. But at that age it's questionable, and plus, my favorite basketball streak eventually broke. That streak of course being that the NBA Champs had either Horry or another personal favorite, Steve Kerr, on the roster.

So if Big Shot is not the big answer, who is? Well, Malik Harriston has played well in his stint from the NBDL, so I think looking to the Toros is a good plan. 48 Minutes of Hell, a great only Spurs blog, had a great post about my main goal for the Spurs to sign: Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Their workup gives you all the details you need so I will leave it at this. Pops has been absolutely dominating the D-League. We are talking straight up man amongst boys style. The Spurs NEED to call this kid up. First off, he's a great fit in an area the Spurs need help. More importanly, if we don't somebody else will get him, and the Spurs can't afford to let this kid get away.

The next two weeks will be very interesting for the Spurs. While admittedly nervous, if the Spurs can go 4-3 or better over the next two weeks it will be a great victory. All I can say at this point is Go Spurs Go!

One last note, at the bottom you will see I added a new toy. While I've used it for over a year, I finally decided to sign up for Ballhype. It's a good site for sports blog perusing purposes, and I'm hoping to get a lil more exposure by adding my posts onto it. After several tries and help from a nice lady named Emily I finally got that shiny button aded on at the bottom. If you like what you read, do me a favor, click the button, and then I think click the up arrow on the new page. If not, that's fair...but you've hurt my feelings. As always I love hearing your thoughts so let me hear em. Gooooodnight now