River Walk Chronicles ♦ ///

[Fresh8]

Very nice loss to my favourite player of all-time

[dare]

2k's player comparison sucks. You got Lebron, Williams and Rose talent in the draft.

[Houndy]

Remember what Grinch said about the guy who was compared to Kobe and after the pre-draft workout was compared to Thabo Sefelosha or however you spell his name

[shadowgrin]

The comparison still sucks though. In no way should a white guy from Sweden ever be compared to LeBron, like in my association.

[kibaxx7]

♦ Bonjour, Spurs fans. Welcome back to the Spurs Monthly Report section, a five-part review of our season. Today, we're going to take a look back at December. We had a wonderful Christmas and we are leading the West with a 24-8 record. I remember when we were struggling at 3-2; despite being the team owner, I was being paid in McDonald's coupons. But things were about to change for our beloved Spurs. The struggles were about to come to an end as was Alonzo Gee's tenure as a Spur, with two separate 3-game winning streaks and then, winning 9 of the last 10 games of the year. By the time 2010 came to a close, we were back on the top of the conference and I was being paid in real money.

At the start of December, I was in a funk: a last-second loss to the Clippers at the STAPLES Center. Things were looking a little bleak, if you ask me, before a win over Minnesota at the AT&T on December 3 lifted everyone’s spirits up in the air. The next week, we topped the New Orleans Hornets behind Tim Duncan's 20 & 15 effort. On the following game, another excellent night from Duncan (20 & 13) and Manu Ginobili (22, 9/14 FGs) gave the Spurs a 24-point win over Golden State. After dropping a home game to Joe Johnson and his Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio went on to win their next eight contests, including triumphs over Portland, Milwaukee, at Denver (where Manu posted a triple-double), Memphis, Phoenix, again vs. the Nuggets (Manu buzzer-beater), a road win over Orlando and Dwight Howard (who makes Hulk look like a puppy when he plays against us) and Washington.

Enamored with some of Tony Parker's performances, and with the Frenchman publicly speaking on his desire to extend his deal with the organization, GM R.C. Buford started the negotiations, but we haven't seen an agreement yet. I would say there's at least another couple of chapters before the saga ends. One of the most entertaining ballgames of the first months of the season took place on December 28, when our beloved team faced Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. The Spurs dropped the contest, but Kobe and Manu waged an epic battle. Kobe dropped the best offensive game of the season with 55 points, and Manu scoring 25, but if Manu wasn't there, Kobe was going to score at least 70. With a huge home win over Dallas on the last game of 2010, we seemed to have righted the ship with the new year approaching. 2011 is going to be a great year.

♦ 2010, December 1 – Tiago Splitter @ Los Angeles Clippers: Baron Davis with the ball in his hands and a chance to win the game is dangerous. Getting two such chances for him is as good as a sure thing. The Clippers leader capped a 26-point, 10-assist night with a fadeaway jumper Wednesday night, lifting his team to a 102-101 overtime triumph over the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan had a chance with 0.8 left, but was blocked by DeAndre Jordan. Davis missed a 15-foot jumper at the regulation buzzer, allowing the Spurs to reach overtime with a 90-90 score, after having a 5-point lead evaporated. (...) San Antonio's Tony Parker hounded Davis the entire play, but coach Gregg Popovich took a gamble not sending a double-team on Davis. Davis' huge shot spoiled Tiago Splitter's effort for San Antonio; Splitter had the first 20-10 double-double of his career with a season-best 22 points and 10 rebounds, to go with three blocks. (Read More ... )

♦ 2010, December 8 - Tim Duncan vs. Golden State Warriors: The Spurs are on the run: in points, rebounds, bench points, and many more, and are running all the way to the West's best record. Tim Duncan posted his second 20-10 double-double in a row, Manu Ginobili scored 22 points and San Antonio romped again, their third victory in a row, this time in a 115-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. “We're just trying to be consistent with this way we've been playing,” coach Gregg Popovich said. This “push the ball” style for easy baskets helped the Spurs outscore the Warriors 56-52 in the paint, en route to their 4th victory in their last 5 contests. “These players can get up and down, so it makes my job easier just to throw the ball ahead and let them take a shot,” Tony Parker said, who had 7 assists. The Spurs -- 3-2 on November 6, and out of the West playoffs picture at that time -- has the first seed with a 15-6 record; the team is 2.5 games over .500 to charge up the West standings. The Lakers are just there, at 14-6, and the teams battle each other on December 28. “The consensus in the locker room is that we kind of want them to lose,” Ginobili joked. “We've got four games against them, so we've got to go out and win them, there's no other options. Right now, we're playing great basketball and we want to continue to do that.” (Read More ... )

♦ 2010, December 16 - Manu Ginobili @ Denver Nuggets: Manu Ginobili's scoring and passing are a given, but the Argentinian also prides himself on his rebounding. After he had zero rebounds in the win against Milwaukee last night, Ginobili had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for his first triple-double of the season, and the San Antonio Spurs maintained the No. 1 seed in the West with a 99-92 victory over the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. With Tim Duncan suffering a lower back strain with 7:37 left in the first quarter, Ginobili had to take the scoring; with Denver throwing double-teams at him, he passed to open teammates for easy shots and also was very clever in the boards. “That's when we're at our best, sharing the ball,” Ginobili said. Manu reached double digits in assists when he dished to Larry Hughes for a trey that gave San Antonio a 89-79 lead. He already had 10 rebounds. “We ran that last play for me to get the last dish, that was a great play design and Larry drained it,” Ginobili added. “It sucks to see Tim go down with another injury. I can say the injury big has hit us hard this season.” The Spurs had 20 assists on 32 field goals, were almost perfect from the free throw line (25-of-26) and their bench won, 29-15. (Read More ... )

♦ 2010, December 15 - Overcoming Michael Redd's vintage night vs. Milwaukee Bucks: Manu Ginobili carried the Spurs over his shoulders early -- Corey Maggette put them over the top down the stretch. Maggette sparked a decisive third-quarter run as San Antonio improved to 17-7 in a 98-81 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. In a highly entertaining game, the Spurs showed why they are leading the Western Conference, using a 16-6 run to start the game. The Bucks then led by as many as seven points in the second quarter, but George Hill posted 3 consecutive assists on a jumper by Larry Hughes, sandwiched between 3-pointers by Ginobili; a quick 8-0 run that gave the Spurs a one-point lead. The Argentinian made 5-of-7 shots (14 points) in a first half that ended with the Spurs holding a 52-46 lead. “George played great,” Hughes (6 points) said. “He is a great guy that knows how to command the ball so much; he drawed so much attention, that left most of us open for a lot of easy baskets.” Hill posted 12 points and 6 assists starting in place of Tony Parker. (...) Rookies Tiago Splitter and James Anderson added 8 points apiece. (Read More ... )

♦ 2010, December 23 - Three double-doubles, five players in double figures @ Orlando Magic: Tiago Splitter has become the indispensable player for the San Antonio Spurs. Regardless of the source of inspiration, and only a couple of games away from the return of Tim Duncan, the Brazilian gave a brilliant performance Thursday night, making 7-of-12 shots and scoring 19 points to go with 10 boards to carry the Spurs to a 97-90 victory over the Orlando Magic. The Spurs also got double-doubles from DeJuan Blair, with 16 points and 20 rebounds, and Matt Bonner (10 & 10). (...) Tony Parker said Splitter got rolling because he had open looks on his first few shots -- 6-of-7 in the first half, but 1-of-5 in the second, but the only stat Splitter cared about was making the winning streak bigger, specially with San Antonio coming back to the AT&T Center to battle Washington and the LA Lakers. (...) “We have two days to get rest and treatment before the game against the Wizards. It's the way it happens sometimes,” Blair said. “But I think I'll be a couple of games out. Good thing Tim makes his return.” (Read More ... )

♦ 2010, December 26 - Picking up Manu's shooting struggles vs. Washington Wizards: With some good execution down the stretch, specially in the third quarter, the San Antonio Spurs put a hold on the Washington Wizards' aspirations. Corey Maggette had 20 points and four assists, James Anderson added 15 points and the Spurs won the battle, 111-104 Sunday, sending the Wizards to its first loss in their last three games. The Wizards, who opened the season 4-6, are now 15-13, winning 7 of their last 10 contests. “That third period was a big difference for us. When it came down to the end of the game, we made our plays and good use of our defense to make sure we get the win for our fans,” Anderson said. Tony Parker finished with 15 points to go with five assists for San Antonio, and Manu Ginobili had 14 points and four assists, but struggled with his shot -- 3-of-12 from the field. The Argentinian was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. (Read More ... )

[kibaxx7]

Very nice loss to my favourite player of all-time

He torched me man. I'll get my revenge!

2k's player comparison sucks. You got Lebron, Williams and Rose talent in the draft.

Remember what Grinch said about the guy who was compared to Kobe and after the pre-draft workout was compared to Thabo Sefelosha or however you spell his name

The comparison still sucks though. In no way should a white guy from Sweden ever be compared to LeBron, like in my association.

Yeah, IMO they won't end up as near as those players, but I think they can contribute right away.

[thatwizardguy]

lol clevelands record on the road

[hova-]

I admire your duration on this one. I could not do all this standings stuff etc because it would get on my nerves writing down all this ish. The R2MVP already's getting on my nerves at times

Lovely update, good to see you rocking with your squad, but the Lakers already showed you how it can go.

[kibaxx7]

lol clevelands record on the road

They started with an acceptable record, but if I remember correctly they had a 11-game losing streak.

I admire your duration on this one. I could not do all this standings stuff etc because it would get on my nerves writing down all this ish. The R2MVP already's getting on my nerves at times

Lovely update, good to see you rocking with your squad, but the Lakers already showed you how it can go.

Thanks a lot man! What gets on my nerves sometimes is the video making. There are times were the transitions don't work properly and some parts of the vid show twice (I think it happened in the last Mavs video).

Part 2 tonight, then 2011 starts with a game against the Thunder!

[kibaxx7]

NEW YORK, January 1 -- The Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant and the Miami Heat's LeBron James today were named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Month presented by Sprite, respectively, for games played during December. This is the second Player of the Month award in a row for James. For every point scored by the players on the month, Sprite will donate $10 to charity. This month Sprite will donate $5,140 on behalf of Durant (514 points) and $3,980 on behalf of James (398 points). This philanthropic aspect builds on Sprite’s strong appeal to the nation’s best basketball players as an official partner of the NBA.

Durant is averaging a career-high 31.2 points per game (1st in the league), to go with 8.8 rebounds (26th), 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals (12th) in 34 games. He averaged 32.1 points on a whooping .542 shooting (184-for-339) and 8.5 rebounds to lead Oklahoma City to a 8-8 record, including three straight wins to finish the month. Durant's best nights in December were: 39 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks in a loss at Chicago, on December 6; the following game, at Minnesota, 38 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, five steals and two blocks; 24 points and 11 rebounds on December 19 against Phoenix; 24 points, ten boards, three dishes, four steals and five blocks in a win at Charlotte on December 21; 36 points and 11 rebounds in December 27, a win against Dallas; and last but not least, an all-around exhibition on December 29, in a win over New Jersey: 46 points, seven boards, two assists, three steals and five blocks.

In 34 games, James is averaging 24.3 points (6th in the league), 7.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists (13th) and 2.2 steals (9th) per game. Miami went 11-5 on December, as James averaged 24.8 points on .485 shooting from the floor (137-of-282), 7.1 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 16 games, and posting seven double-doubles in the process. Some of his best performances were: 35 points, eight boards, eight assists on December 10, a loss at Golden State; the following day, at Sacramento, with 22 points, six rebounds and 12 assists; December 18, at Washington, 17 points, 11 boards and nine assists; two days later, vs. Dallas, 30 points, seven boards, eight assists; Christmas Day, a tough loss at Los Angeles against the Lakers, but a near triple-double with 14 points, eight boards, 12 dimes; and on December 28, vs. the New York Knicks, with 20 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists and three steals.

NEW YORK, January 1 -- The Washington Wizards' John Wall and the Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month presented by T-Mobile, respectively, for games played during December. This is the second consecutive Player of the Month award for Wall. For every point scored by the players on the month, T-Mobile will donate $20 to charity. This month, T-Mobile will donate $6,080 on behalf of Wall (304 points) and $3,520 on behalf of Griffin (176 points). Check a more complete rookie report here; other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month were Philadelphia's Evan Turner, Minnesota's Wesley Johnson, Memphis' Xavier Henry, Golden State's Jeremy Lin and San Antonio's Tiago Splitter.

Wall leads the rookies in points per game (17.4 ppg), in assists (5.5 apg) and in steals (1.9 spg). He scored a career-high 29 points and 8 assists in the first game of December, a loss at Toronto; 20, 7 assists and 5 steals in a win at Sacramento (December 8), and he also had two double-doubles on the month: 15 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists in a non-expected win over the LA Lakers (December 14) and 16 points and 13 assists in a loss to San Antonio (December 26). The Wizards are making a case for a lower-seed in the playoffs, standing 6th in the East with a 16-15 record.

Griffin is 4th in scoring (11.8 ppg), while placing 2nd in rebounds (8.2 rpg), and 7th in blocks (0.6 bpg), and 5th in minutes (31.8 mpg) among rookies, but the Clippers stand 14th in the West, at 12-21. Griffin set a career-high of 21 points on the first game of the month, December 3 at Denver (21 points and 10 rebounds), the first of three double-doubles in a row: 20 points and 10 rebounds at Portland (December 5), and 11 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in a win against Sacramento (December 6).

[Houndy]

Wow, poor Leaveland.

The East and West suck this year. Charlotte at 14-17, 8th seed? Indiana 14-17, 7th seed?

And Utah is on fire, not like in my association where they're 0-4.

[thatwizardguy]

what happened to the wizards recap? i cant find it but it says you played it on your calender?

i see you wanted to hide the ass kicking wall gave u so i couldnt rip you even though im gonna because wall probably beasted it that day lol

[Lamrock]

No standout scorers on your team. Kind of like the 04 Pistons. Good to see Banana Splitter playing well for you

[kibaxx7]

Wow, poor Leaveland.

The East and West suck this year. Charlotte at 14-17, 8th seed? Indiana 14-17, 7th seed?

And Utah is on fire, not like in my association where they're 0-4.

Yep Cleveland is destroyed. And yeah, its a struggle right now, dunno if something like last year will happen (all West seeds with 50 wins). If I remember correctly, Utah was struggling here, something like 3-10, but they started a winning streak now with Iverson on board.

what happened to the wizards recap? i cant find it but it says you played it on your calender?

i see you wanted to hide the ass kicking wall gave u so i couldnt rip you even though im gonna because wall probably beasted it that day lol

Here. You can always look the first page index with the schedule Wall had 16 pts, 13 ast. Nice game.

No standout scorers on your team. Kind of like the 04 Pistons. Good to see Banana Splitter playing well for you

No problem for me as long we go all the way like those Pistons. Just saw the Award Races section, and Splitter is on the 6th Man race... might post a report later...

[kibaxx7]

[Lamrock]

Some high rebounding numbers there.

[Bucket]

31.2 rpg?

[kidgravity]

I knew that 'meka was good despite the injuries. but. yeah, the above comments speak for me

[kibaxx7]

Some high rebounding numbers there.

31.2 rpg?

I knew that 'meka was good despite the injuries. but. yeah, the above comments speak for me

My bad, forgot to edit that column. Edited Do you guys like the format? Please post any thoughts / comments about the design...

Will try to post the game against the Thunder tonight.

[hova-]

I like it. But the sticky tape effect on the logos just does not look right.

[Alpha_]

Where's Nash?

[kidgravity]

I like the format but I agree with hova that the tape does seem odd

[Justine.]

Just removed those ugly tapes, kinda ruined the formality. Durant is beasting and so his team. Glad to see Splitter is way better here than irl, I once thought him to be a contender for a ROY, well Sixth Man is good too.

[rise]

Where's Nash?

How is he not in either the free throw list, assist list or three point list???

[thatwizardguy]

Here. You can always look the first page index with the schedule Wall had 16 pts, 13 ast. Nice game.

Ah John Wall is sex on court