Sunday, April 23, 2006

Two flames

Two flames
Originally uploaded by SuperDaveNM.

I took this macro yesterday of a candle I have with two wicks burning. I really like this... very nice colors.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Spurs Dominate Kings

SPURS: Playoff Central 2006

The San Antonio Spurs looked every bit the best team in the Western Conference on Saturday night as they crushed the Sacramento Kings 122-88 at the AT&T Center.

Spurs Playoff Blog 2006: Game 1

A Closer Look: Playoff Preparation

*Parker, Spurs race past Kings in series opener*

Box Score

Spurs Home

Kings Home

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- In their postseason opener, the San Antonio Spurs looked very familiar. Unfortunately, so did the Sacramento Kings.

Sparked by Tony Parker, the Spurs began defense of their NBA title with a resounding 122-88 victory over the Kings in the opener of their Western Conference first-round series.

Seeking their fourth title in eight years, the top-seeded Spurs appeared thoroughly prepared for a run at repeating as champions. They were unrelenting against the eighth-seeded Kings, who reverted to their defenseless approach prior to the arrival of Ron Artest.

Parker scored 23 of his 25 points in the first half, when the Spurs shot a searing 68 percent (26-of-38) from the field and tallied a season-high 73 points, turning the second half into garbage time.

Nazr Mohammed added 18 points for the Spurs, who had seven players in double figures, led by as many as 37 points and finished at 57.5 percent (42-of-73). They already are ahead of their postseason pace of last year, when they lost Game One at home to Denver.

Since the acquisition of Artest on January 26, Sacramento had discovered defense, going 26-14 while allowing just 94.3 points per game. Artest went so far as to boldly predict that the Kings would win the championship.

However, that defense disappeared as Parker penetrated at will, scoring and setting up teammates. He scored 16 points in the first quarter as San Antonio sped to a 32-24 lead.

The onslaught began in the second quarter, when the Spurs scored 41 points and built the lead to 73-39 at halftime. Robert Horry scored five points in an 8-0 spurt that opened the period, Nick Van Exel had nine in a 14-0 burst midway through and Parker tallied seven in a 12-4 run that closed the quarter.

The Kings got no closer than 24 points in the second half and suffered the worst playoff loss in team history, eclipsing a 30-point setback to Utah in 1999. They will try again here Tuesday night.

Van Exel and Tim Duncan scored 11 points apiece for the Spurs, who played no one more than 25 minutes. They held a 51-32 advantage in rebounds.

Mike Bibby scored 17 points and Artest added 16 for the Kings, who shot 39 percent (33-of-84).

Friday, April 21, 2006

Enjoying life in the fast lane

Spur Of The Moment

Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com

Asked
about Tony Parker's season, Tim Duncan credited Eva Longoria, whose
presence initially concerned the Spurs. "When you're happy," Duncan
told the SA Express-News, "you play good basketball."

ESPN.com - NBA - SPECIAL WEEKEND EDITION Enjoying life in the fast lane

By Marc Stein, ESPN.com

Editor's
note: ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein supplies each item for this
around-the-league notebook edition of the Daily Dime.

No one really catches up with Tony Parker. Not this season.

Moving faster than ever, and finally shaking what even he describes as
"my not being consistent," Parker has already realized one goal with
his season-long flurry of layups.

"The challenge," he told me back in December, "is to do this for the whole year."

It started early and has lasted for 75 games. We've gotten only
occasional looks at Parker's improving jump shot because he continues
to rack up points in the paint at a ridiculous rate for a point guard.

Yet when you ask Parker to stop and sit down for a chat, you learn that
the Frenchman -- who also has managed somehow to domesticate a
"Desperate Housewives" wild child -- isn't terribly impressed by all
this. He confesses a need to do this throughout the playoffs, too, to
validate his rise to All-Star status.

For himself.

Parker hasn't forgotten his late-round struggles in the past three postseasons ... or the Spurs' flirtations with Jason Kidd
before awarding him a six-year, $66 million contract ... or the fact
that San Antonio failed in its first two attempts to repeat as NBA
champion.

"There's still another level to this," Parker says.

He spoke openly about his plans to get there in a recent chat in Los Angeles. Nine highlights of that conversation with No. 9:

Parker on how closely the Spurs have followed the Mavericks in the chase for the West's No. 1 seed:

"Every day. Basically every day. Every day we talk about Dallas and see
what they did the game before, how they're playing, what's the ranking,
are we still ahead? It's just fun. It's a good race."

On which of the two Texas rivals needs home-court advantage more in their forthcoming second-round showdown:

"I think Dallas. We proved in the past that we can win big games on the
road. ... [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] always says, 'If we get it,
fine.' But the main thing for us is that we stay healthy. If we can
stay healthy, I think we can win big games on the road."

On being described by Popovich and Tim Duncan as San Antonio's most consistent player after four up-and-down seasons:

"I think I'm just getting more mature. I think that's the only reason.
I know everybody now. I feel comfortable in the system. I feel
comfortable with Pop. I just knew that, after we won the championship
last year, the next level for me was the All-Star level. ... The Spurs,
they didn't know if I can go to that next level. So I wanted to show
them that they can have a lot of confidence in me, that I was not
satisfied with my contract or [that] we've got two championships. I
wanted to get their respect as a player."

On improving his jump shot with new shooting coach Chip Engelland:

"It's going to be a learning process. I did a lot of good stuff this
year, [but] I still think I can do better to try to get to that Chauncey Billups level or that Steve Nash
level. That's where I want to get and that's going to take, I think,
three or four years. So when I'll be 26 or 27, I think that's when my
shot's going to mature. But I feel more comfortable. Every shot I'm
taking at least has a chance to make it."

On whether people forget that he's only 23:

"I think even Pop sometimes forgets. They want me to improve so fast,
and sometimes you can't go [faster than] experience. [But] Pop did a
great job with me, pushing me when I first came, [at] 19, being hard on
me. So now we're seeing the results of it."

On how much he still has to prove to himself in the playoffs after
poor showings in the late stages of San Antonio's last three postseason
runs:

"There's always a lot of people [who are] going to criticize me for
what I did [before]. ... I know a lot of people can't wait to see if
I'm going to do the same thing I did in [past] playoffs. And I'll be
ready. It's a good challenge for me."

On how much pressure the Spurs feel to win their first back-to-back championships after failing to do so twice before:

"I think Pop, he just told us right at the beginning [of the season],
'We need to repeat.' We're the only team that won a championship [that]
didn't repeat, basically."

On how much grief he gets from teammates for the tabloid coverage of his relationship with Eva Longoria:

"My teammates never say nothing. They never tease me. They see her [all
the] time, so they don't care that she travels with us. We're one of
the only teams in the NBA [that] lets us travel with wives or
girlfriends. They all talk to her, so they know she's not a crazy
woman."

On his ability to shrug at the increased scrutiny that comes with his newfound celebrity ... on and off the floor:

"How do you want me to complain? I got a great life. Great basketball
team, great teammates, winning championships and a great girlfriend. I
can't complain."

Big Fundamental Problem

Chris Birck/NBAE/Getty Images

Tony Parker's individual success aside, he still believes the Spurs' title hopes revolve around a healthy Tim Duncan
*******************************************************

One more question for No. 9: How far away from 100 percent is Tim Duncan?

"I think he's getting better and better," Tony Parker
says. "The last couple games, he started dunking again. I think he's
feeling better. I'd say he's, like, 85 percent. I don't see him going
as fast as he used to with his pump fakes and when he's doing his
moves. But I think he's improving. I think he's starting to get in
playoff mode."

Actually...

We've got one more: Can
San Antonio win it all if Duncan, plagued by a season-long bout with
plantar fasciitis, is only 85 percent?

"That's a tough question," Parker said. "We need Timmy. We're going
nowhere if Timmy's not 100 percent. If he's 85 percent, I don't know.
It's going to be tough."

Duncan's 11 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's loss to Sacramento marked the sixth
time this season that he was held below 15 points and 10 boards in a
game in which he logged at least 30 minutes. It happened to Duncan only
once in the five previous seasons.

Of course, as the Spurs are relieved to know, there are no
back-to-backs in the playoffs, and Duncan's troubles are generally seen
in the second half of back-to-backs.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Spurs rout Jazz, earn top seed in Western Conference

TO ALL THE "SWEET TATERS" IN MY LIFE

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Home-court advantage and some rested players could mean a lot when the playoffs start.

The defending champion San Antonio Spurs got both Monday night.

Manu Ginobili scored 18 points and Tim Duncan added 16 to help the Spurs clinch the Southwest Division title and the best record in the Western Conference with a 115-82 rout of the Utah Jazz.

The Spurs earned the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

"It's great to get [home court] wrapped up," Duncan said. "I'm feeling good right now -- feeling healthy. I think we all feel pretty good right now, and that's the main thing."

San Antonio (62-19) took a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter and led by 36 points, allowing the Spurs to rest their starters as the playoffs draw near.

Duncan hit 7-of-13 shots and had five rebounds in 22 minutes. He left the game and did not return with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter when the Spurs had a 14-point lead. Ginobili played 25 minutes.

The Spurs' bench scored 65 points, including 16 by Brent Barry.

Andrei Kirilenko sat out because of lower back spasms for the Jazz, who have lost two in a row.

Deron Williams led Utah (40-41) with 18 points.

The Spurs showed playoff form, shooting 57 percent from the field compared to 43 percent for Utah.

"They got about everything they wanted tonight," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "They were playing in such a comfort zone that we couldn't even begin to shut them down."

The Spurs can't catch Detroit for the best record in the league, but San Antonio still can accomplish something by beating Houston in the final regular-season game Wednesday. The Spurs can break a franchise record for wins in a season.

The 1994-95 team won 62 games. The Spurs had the home-court advantage but lost to Houston in the Western Conference finals.

"Nobody is going to turn down home court," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I've said that about 1,000 times over the years. Nobody is going to give it up, but it doesn't ensure anything. We've had it before and got knocked out. It's not a sure bet."

Utah, which will finish the season Wednesday night at home against Golden State, has finished with a .500 record or better 21 times in the past 22 seasons.

Utah had a 16-13 lead 9:39 into the game. But the Spurs went on a 13-1 run during the next 2:42.

San Antonio led 26-17 with 39 seconds left in the quarter when Ginobili sank a 3-pointer. It was the third straight 3-point basket for the Spurs in a span of 54 seconds.

The Jazz cut the Spurs' lead to five points just more than a minute into the second quarter, but San Antonio went on another dominant run, outscoring Utah 27-12 during the next 10:11.

The Spurs' reserves led the way, hitting 11 of their first 16 shots and outscoring the Utah bench 28-2 in the first half.

Barry ended the game 7-of-10 from the floor. Robert Horry was 3-of-3 from 3-point territory.

"We're going to need more from guys like Brent and myself as we progress through the playoffs," Horry said.

Game notes
Utah guard Devin Brown, who played for the Spurs the past three seasons, was presented with his NBA championship ring before the game. ... Jazz guard Milt Palacio missed his third straight game because of inflammation in his left knee. ... Utah enter Carlos Boozer had scored more than 20 points in seven of his past eight games, but he was limited to eight points in 32 minutes by the Spurs.