The NBA season is once again upon us and it has come to my attention that many of you don’t waste your summers following NBA trades and free agent movement. So after seeing guys like Shaq in Cleveland, Artest in LA, Ariza in Houston and Matrix in Dallas, many of you have emailed me saying “When that happen, bro?” And the Australians among yall are all “WTF, mate?”
Well, mates, a lot of players relocated this summer. There is some very basic science out there supporting that. Trust me, pal. It’s actually a fact — it’s not even science.
We’ll continue to bring you up to speed with the best hard-hitting, postcard analysis you’ve come to expect from BTPH throughout the week, but in the meantime, listen to the most recent episode of The 8th Seed podcast to acclimate yourself with the new NBA landscape.
Here’s the lineup of participants in case you forgot: Me, Glenn Moore of the Dugout Sports Show, Jeff Garcia & Mike DeLeon from Project Spurs, John Karalis from Reds Army, Adam Best from Fansided, Zach Harper from Cowbell Kingdom / Talk Hoops, and Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass.
In other “Shit Yeah, The NBA Has Returned” news, be sure to watch the season premiere of The Basketball Jones, check Zach Harper’s Bustin’ a Recap to learn about all the opening night action you may have missed, and, if you really have way to much time on your hands, read “Too Many Words About the NBA: Preview Edition,” a rambling, oft-humorous, fairly informative chat session between me and the other Hardwood Paroxymers (Matt, Rob, Corn, Zach, Kyle and Trey).
Moore has an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade line in there that is amazing. First one to find it and then return here with the quote in the comments wins a pony.*
* (There will be no pony.)
The Jones is back. And Skeets is already getting posterized.
Known Associates:
Always Sunny,
Hardwood Paroxysm,
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,
Scarface,
The 8th Seed,
The Basketball Jones
Guess who’s bizzack? Still smell the crack in his clothes. (via Slam)
The Spurs guard, who missed the team’s first 12 games while recovering from September ankle surgery, will make his season debut tonight at Memphis, Popovich confirmed after this morning’s shootaround.
It was welcome news for Ginobili, who last week had targeted this very game for his return.
“It’s great to hear,” Ginobili said. “It’s been enough time.”
The world obviously needs more Manu in its life, so this is a great development — especially considering Pop was seemingly taking a hard line about letting the Argentine return to action before he was fully ready as recently as a few days ago.
For what it’s worth, Roger Mason has played admirably in Ginobli’s absence with scoring totals of 29, 26, 21, 18 and 18 in five of his last nine games, plus, ya know, drilling a game-winning three on November 17 against the Clippers. Honestly, other than the unrelenting brilliance of Tim Duncan, it has been Roger’s inspired play that has allowed San Antonio to tread water to the tune of a 6-6 record while missing Manu and Tony Parker for most of the year.
And Roger will continue to be leaned on as Manu plays his way into shape — something even he admits will take some time.
“I’m going to be out of shape, a little slower,” said Ginobili. “But those are things you only get from playing. I feel like it works better for me getting 10 minutes of playing time than [spending] 20 minutes on a treadmill.”
With preseason Western Conference darlings Utah, New Orleans and Portland all failing to impress thus far, the return of Manu — along with Tony presumably coming back before too long — could mean that the Spurs have another unexpected run in them, especially if Mason, George Hill and the resurgent Mike Finley can all continue providing solid perimeter play.
And since Manu’s in Tejas, you know what he’ll do right after the comeback game tonight, right? Fuck a fine ho and candy paint the ‘88.
Known Associates:
Frenchie,
Groundhog Day,
Manu,
Pop,
RMJ,
Scarface,
Spurs
