UngsungBlog: A (Fantasy) Sports Blog

Quick thoughts regarding Spurs-Lakers Game Two:

- There isn’t much I could say about tonight’s game.  With the game tied at 37, Doug Collins made the point that the Spurs, despite their shooting woes, were “close.”  That’s when the Lakers rattled off a 9-0 run that was the start of the Spurs’ second-half collapse.

(I’m watching the replay of the game on TNT right now, and I’m still in shock by that rejection by Farmar.  No, it was not Tayshaun Prince-esque, but it was pretty sweet nonetheless.)

Fisher rebounded nicely.  Odom was very good, though he did commit two bad offensive fouls.  Gasol still worries me, especially with the way Duncan has dominated him in the first two games (I thought Gasol’s two early fouls were going to crush the Lakers’ chances).  Most importantly, the Lakers backcourt reserves—Farmer and Vujacic—played excellent ball.  And was that a Trevor Ariza sighting?

(Tangent:  Please, TNT announcers…enough with the jokes about The Bill Engvall Show and House of Payne.  Very funny.)

If I’m a Spurs fan, I’m worried sick about Manu Ginobili.  I’m starting to think that the ankle is MUCH worse than he’s letting on.  Without a 100% Manu, I don’t see any way the Spurs beat the Lakers four times in five games.

Laker fans, on the other hand, should worry about the following:

1) Duncan’s continued dominance of Gasol.  I expect Duncan to carry his team to victory in at least one of the next two games in San Antonio.

2) The Spurs’ outside shooting.  Finley, Bowen, Barry, and Horry are going to drain outside shots sooner or later, no?

3) Tony Parker’s gonna play a complete game sooner or later, right?  And if Manu Ginobili suddenly gets healthy…

I’m probably going to skip blogging about the NBA for the next couple of days (quick-hitters only, if anything), just to get some non-sports thoughts out of the way.

Tags: doug collins, los angeles lakers, manu ginobili, san antonio spurs, trevor ariza, wii fit, wnba by Peter
No Comments »

Quick-hitters:

- Awesome. Time Warner just aired a commercial touting their awesome picture quality.

The commercial (and the channel it aired on) was snowy…when there was actually a picture. In fact, my entire High Definition lineup is now out.

You rule, Time Warner!

- Current rebate-o-meter: $1,350. I got some spending cash in the mail today :D.

(I also have $500 in rebates or so that need to be filed by next week. :P)

- During the Dodgers-Reds game earlier tonight, Vin Scully mentioned that STL Cardinals’ 1B Albert Pujols “took out the whole Padres’ battery” tonight.

I thought he meant it figuratively!

- Tim Duncan was nearly unstoppable. Tony Parker played great for three quarters (there’s an APB out on him now; where did he go in the fourth?).

Manu Ginobili? Next question.

As soon as the Spurs got out to their twenty point lead, I couldn’t help but start wondering if the Spurs were just going to sweep the Lakers right out of the playoffs. Duncan was ridiculously efficient (if one can be “ridiculously efficient”), and Tony Parker carved the Lakers up. Most importantly, as TNT analyst Doug Collins pointed out, the Spurs did not have a dry spell in the first half. Really, the Spurs could easily have been up by double figures at the half.

Predictably, thanks to the announcer hex, the Spurs cooled off and the Lakers made their push. Not surprisingly, the push was led by the MVP. Even at the end of the third, when the Spurs still had a seven point lead, I thought the Spurs were in control of the game. Little did I expect the Spurs’ drought to extend into the fourth. Did you see that stat late in the fourth? The Spurs went 5-for-25 with 7 TOs??? The San Antonio Spurs?

As far as the officiating is concerned…next question :P. To say Kobe got away with a few things would be a slight understatement. And didn’t Manu get absolutely mauled on the second to last Spurs’ possession, or are playground scrums perfectly legal now? Speaking of Manu, I’ve never seen so many “What, me?” looks in a single game! Even Michael Finley had that look on one play! Maybe I’m just not watching Spurs’ games closely enough.

Excellent point by Kenny Smith in the postgame show: (paraphrasing) You don’t know how many times you’ll get an exceptional performance by Kobe, but you know the Spurs will bring their game consistently. If we replayed this exact game 100 times, the Spurs probably win 75% of the time.

Tags: kobe bryant, los angeles lakers, manu ginobili, san antonio spurs, tim duncan, time warner, tony parker by Peter
No Comments »