Head of Barstool Sports does not know who Tim Duncan is. Dave Portnoy could not recognize a picture of Tim Duncan.
On December 16th, Dave Portnoy appeared on his podcast “BFFs” along with 18 year old co-host Josh Richards. In which the two played a generational gap game called “Zoomer vs Boomer.” A picture of Tim Duncan was shown and both hosts did not know who Duncan was. Portnoy said that he couldn’t remember but he did mention Duncan’s college and team. He did eventually end up getting it when Richards said Duncan’s first name. Coming from a head of a sports company and die hard Boston sports fan this is one that he should have known. Especially after Boston was projected to draft Duncan in the 1998 NBA Draft.
Although Barstool Sports has done a poor job of covering the NBA in recent years, Duncan is one of the best players of all time. Even though he was a lowkey player and did not have much finesse he is still the best power forward ever according to many NBA experts.
Since Portnoy did end up getting it eventually it was sad to see him struggle to remember for a minute. Portnoy did end up joking at the end of his podcast in which he said “I’m going to get roasted for forgetting Tim Duncan’s name.”
Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone reportedly called San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and asked “how do I stop Kawhi Leonard” this according to sources close to the two. This news broke shortly after Mike Malone’s Denver Nuggets came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Malone and Popovich reportedly speak frequently but Malone and Popovich speak about non basketball related subjects. It wasn’t until Malone found himself down 3-1 in the series when he decided to ask. The two reportedly had a two hour call regarding the subject, afterall it was the monster Popovich created. Clearly Popovich’s advice worked as Leonard has looked relatively average in the past three games as he has not looked like the Leonard fans are used to seeing.
Popovich drafted Leonard in 2011 and won an NBA championship together in 2014. Leonard was traded away from San Antonio in 2018 after a big fiasco that occured between both parties. Leonard went on to win a championship with the Toronto Raptors the same year of being traded and signed with the Los angeles Clippers this past off-season. It’s safe to say that Malone used his connections in this case as it seemed to work, proving that asking for help isn’t always a bad thing.
The road to saving the playoff streak begins this Friday, July 31st. I speak for all basketball fans, and I can’t wait, but to be completely honest, I do not look forward to possibly seeing the playoff streak end. We will go over a brief overview of each Spurs game on their schedule, and get my projection on if the Spurs win that game or not.
The Kings are the first team the Spurs will play in the NBA restart and it should be a close one. The Kings are favored to win. Both teams played each other twice this season and split. Both teams will be without key players, the Kings will be without star forward Marvin Bagley and the Spurs will be without LaMarcus Aldridge and Trey Lyles. I don’t see the Spurs losing this game and I believe it will be tougher for the Kings to play without Bagley than it will be for the Spurs to play without Aldridge. Plus I feel extremely comfortable having White and Murray back and splitting time guarding De’Aaron Fox. With that being said, the Spurs will start off 1-0.
The Spurs will have to be on their “A game” when they play against the Memphis Grizzlies. Both Dejounte Murray and Derrick White will have to play excellent defense on star Grizzlies guard, Ja Morant. The key in this game will be taking Morant away. If the Spurs are able to do that, they should win as Memphis’s system runs through Morant and Justise Winslow. The Spurs faced the Grizzlies three times this season and lost twice. Everything changes in the bubble though. I expect this game to head into overtime, but I feel extremely comfortable with my defensive backcourt. Look for Popovich to go with an effective lineup that will include Mills, Murray, White, DeRozan and Gay/Poeltl to be effective. If it does, Spurs win this game.
As off as this may sound, I believe the Spurs will beat the 76ers since this could be a game that former Spurs Assistant coach, and now 76ers head coach, Brett Brown, gives to Popovich in order to help him out a bit. Look for the 76ers to be trying multiple different things in this game as they prepare for the playoffs. The Spurs should come out with a win against the 76ers. 3-0
The rematch from last year’s first round playoff series. I’m going to just leave it at this. I don’t care how good Bol Bol, Jokic, or Murray are doing. The Spurs will win if one thing and one thing only happens, and it’s what cost the Spurs last season, that is if Demar Derozan makes smart decisions with the basketball they win. That being said, I believe Demar will try to do too much, and I see the Spurs losing this game. Leaving the Spurs with a record of 3-1 by the half point of their short season.
The Spurs play the Jazz twice in their eight game schedule. The second time will be the last game which will be important. As a Spurs fan, you want to hope that the Jazz are still having issues from within by the time the Spurs play them. The Spurs won both games this season which is a good sign and an even better sign is that they won them by more than twenty points. I don’t expect the Spurs to win by that much again but it’s one of those games that worry on paper but once the games starts, everything is ok. The Spurs should come out with a win, not by twenty points, but more like less than 10.
The Pelicans game will be the most important game in their schedule. This will be the game that will get the most attention as Pelicans superstar, Zion Williamson, will most likely be playing. Most picked the Pelicans to be that team that makes the playoffs. The Spurs were able to beat Zion and the Pelicans in his debut. It comes down to if the Spurs have the bodies to stop Zion and the Pelicans. In my opinion, the Spurs should look for a player not named Zion or Lonzo Ball to try to beat them. Throughout Lonzo’s career, he has been known as a “Spurs killer.” The ball will be up to Rudy Gay and Patty Mills in this game as they might have to come to the Spurs’ rescue if they want to keep the streak alive. This game decides who makes that final playoff spot, or at the very least, gives one a big view as to who will make the final spot. It’s one of those games where one has to choose if they prefer youth or wisdom. As a fan, I want to pick the Spurs to win this game, but it could be a game where Popovich coordinates the perfect game plan and his team just is not able to execute it. For that reason, I’m picking the Pelicans to win this game.
The Houston Rockets game feels like a blowout. The Rockets will either blow out the Spurs, or the Spurs will win a very close one. They split the series with each other, but something tells me if the Spurs are in trouble, and on the brink of elimination this could be Mike D’antoni’s opportunity to finally get his revenge on Popovich. Popovich has always eliminated any D’antoni coached team throughout the years. History has a way of repeating itself, and Popovich and the Spurs will not let D’Antoni exact his revenge as Westbrook and Harden will have a brick night out on the court that will rocket the Spurs to victory.
By my projections, San Antonio will head into the final game against the Jazz with a 5-2 record. If the Spurs clinched a spot in the playoffs by this time, then they will lose this game. If not, then look for a game that will be decided by five points or less.
In review, my prediction came out to the Spurs coming out with a record of 5-2. I left the final game in mystery as that game will be decided by what goes on in the rest of the league. I believe this year’s Spurs caught a break on the schedule since they don’t have to face the big dogs of the Western conference outside of the Denver Nuggets, a game that is up in the air. Not playing the Portland Trail Blazers or the Phoenix Suns was big as well as both those teams have had the Spurs number. I do not want to see the streak end and a side of me does not think it ends in Orlando, but one can’t help, but have that feeling in the back of their mind.
The San Antonio Spurs season resumes on July 31st against the Sacramento Kings in Orlando, Florida at Disney World. The Spurs will look to keep their 22-year playoff appearance streak alive. The Spurs will play eight games in order to try and extend the streak. Each game will be due or die.
As we know the season was suspended due to the global pandemic. The NBA set up a plan for the restart of the season, 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams will play eight regular-season seeding games before a possible play-in series. The play-in tournament will include the No. 8 and No. 9 teams in a conference — if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of the eighth. In that case, the No. 9 seed would need to beat the No. 8 seed twice to earn the playoff berth, while the No. 8 would need one win from the two potential games. After that, the NBA will start its standard 16-team, four-round postseason, with the seeding games counting for playoff standings.
The Spurs will be without star player LaMarcus Aldridge after having season ending shoulder surgery. However, the Spurs recently signed free-agent Cody Zeller to give the team some size. Another change to the Spurs as we resumes the season is Lonnie Walker IV’s new haircut. Which might take most fans time to adjust to as he cut his infamous hairstyle. The restart will begin against the Kings; the eight teams the Spurs will be playing after are the Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz twice. Key factor as well is that there will be no Spurs Nation in attendance. However, players of other teams are allowed to attend the games and Spurs fans can only hope that former players like Boban Marjonovic, Aron Baynes and maybe if there’s hope the fun guy that now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers shows up.
This years 2019-2020 NBA season for the San Antonio Spurs will definitely be better than last seasons drama filled year because of one player Dejounte Murray. Tim Duncan is back, but as an assistant coach. Derrick White will look to become San Antonio’s next Manu Ginobili and hopefully win the 6th man of the year award.Then the last thing is that Demar DeRozan is playing in a contract year and last time he did that he went absolutely nuts and had a career year.
Last season the Spurs went 48-34. It easy for the second year in a row when the Spurs won less than 50 games. It was drama and injury filled especially with the Kawhi Leonard drama and Dejoute Murray injury, plus Manu Ginobili retiring and Tony Parker leaving to go play with the Charlotte Hornets. Then they were playing the entire season without a point guard in a system that revolves around that position. Having too many new players learning the ins and outs of a complex system. During the playoffs it was too many unnecessary shots, deep two’s and isolation. Although they did manage to take the number two seed Denver Nuggets to seven games it was definitely a series they should have won. But in game seven you also know that if Bryn Forbes is your best player in that game you’re most likely not gonna win.
This year’s Spurs team like mentioned before should be significantly better, not only are they more familiar with Greg Popovich’s system, more youthful with there three rookies, and a term that always seems to be used with the Spurs more experienced. Although they did lose Davis Bertans in the offseason due to some uncertainty of Marcus Morris coming to San Antonio or not. The most important thing is that the Spurs get their point guard back. After Dejounte Murray was sidelined last season with a torn ACL. In popovich’s system the point guard is the most important position because everything revolves around that position, it what keeps everything flowing, and I you watched the Spurs last season they played the entire season without a point guard and the system was not flowing like it should have. Demar DeRozan is more at home with Popovich’s system and in San Antonio. Last season he was still not over the Toronto Raptors trading him to San Antonio. He found himself in isolation a lot and disappeared in games as he seemed to just do what he did in Toronto, but Popovich seemed to be ok with it, almost as if Popovich understood what Derozan was doing. The Spurs have not had a homerun player like Derozan in there history and Demar is in a contract year, so I only expect him to go off this season. The 2nd member of the core three Derrick White made a name for himself last season as he had a phenomenal series against the Denver Nuggets and played on Team USA were he got some good experience and will only continue to progress and get more minutes as he will look to fill in the 6th man role. The fountain of youth has turned into the splash of youth into the riverwalk as the Spurs drafted two first round picks this past draft Keldon Johnson and Luka Samanic although they will be in the dog house until they learn Popovich’s system and will be up in down between Austin and San Antonio just like every Spurs rookie that came before them. Also keep an eye out for Lonnie Walker Jr who is the third member of the Spurs core three as his play will continue to force Popovich to play him as he is coming off a phenomenal preseason. My projection for the Spurs regular season record to be this season is 52- 30.
Matchups and how far well get- For the Spurs the playoff seed number does not matter whatsoever, what does matter though is the match up. The match up for the Spurs will dictate how far they go. The matchups that the Spurs should be licking their chops for are the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trailblazers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers. Yes the last two teams I mentioned are the Clippers and Rockets too teams that according to most experts will win the finals and are significantly better than the Spurs. Well let’s talk about the Rockets first, not only are they too reliable on the three point shot but Russell Westbrook will cost them to beat themselves and that is what I am banking on too happen. No disrespect to James Harden as the guy can absolutely ball and in the words of Tony Parker “no one wants to play James Harden he’s too good.” but he is going to need to need to take the ball away from his best friend Westbrook. Onto the Clippers no one knows Kawhi Leonard better than Popovich. He is the one who created the beast that some people call Thanos as he goes around and destroys dynasties. If the Spurs get a chance to play the Clippers this is exactly what is going to happen if everyone is healthy. Not only will Demar DeRozan have a chip on his shoulder against the Clippers are there is some sort of beef between him and Kawhi but Aldridge, Murray, DeRozan and get will chirp with Kawhi which will make him uncomfortable and will find Kawhi to give up the ball a lot as for his running mate Paul George well if you look at his previous games against the Spurs he has had some of his worst games against them ever, and in the playoffs in the Western Conference he is not the same player he is in the regular season. The Clippers will rely on players like Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverly to beat San Antonio and I this case should have the Spurs winning in 5-6 games. The Denver Nuggets are a perfect first round matchup as I guarantee they do not want the rematch as the barely escaped the last series. With Dejounte Murray back a player who can keep up with the other Murray, Jamal Murray who had a great series last season against the Spurs because the Spurs guard depth was so thin and the guards on the roster outside of Derrick White were a bad matchup. Also the Nuggets don’t want to play Derrick White in the playoffs again as he likes to tear down rims in Denver. Don’t believe me? Just ask Paul Millsap. As for the other teams mentioned there are all maybe they make the playoffs teams. I know I mentioned the Portland Trailblazers as well swept and “Dame Time” will turn into LaSharkus time.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 26: Head Coach Gregg Popovich, and Jayson Tatum #10 of USA talk during the game against Canada on August 26, 2019 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
The San Antonio Spurs have had an unknown history of stealing top players from the Boston Celtics. They stole both Tim Duncan and Tony Parker away from the Celtics, both future Hall of Famers. Duncan went on to play nineteen seasons in the NBA, won five championships with the Spurs and became the best power forward in NBA history amongst multiple MVPs and more accomplishments. As for Parker he played seventeen seasons in the NBA sixteen of which were with the Spurs. He won 4 championships and way apart of the Spurs dynamics big three and has one NBA finals MVP, he is also apart of the most winningest duo in NBA history along with long time teammate Manu Ginobili. The steal for the Spurs is young Celtics star Forward Jayson Tatum.
As of right now it sounds crazy to even think that Tatum would leave Boston. In Boston there has been nothing but drama and based off of Tatum’s personality he does not seem to like it. His first season was phenomenal, he carried the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals and it took a spectacular performance by Lebron James to defeat the Celtics. Last season was drama filled with point guard Kyrie Irving coming back from injury and caused Tatum not have such a great year and at times disappear from games. Although, Irving left this off season to the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics signed free agent Kemba Walker who both statistically and statistically is the same type of player as Irving. Celtics fans were being very harsh to Tatum over his tweet and fandom about the St Louis Blues. The Blues and Bruins played in the Stanley Cup this past NHL season. Tatum who is from St Louis did not get any nice words from Boston fans as they tweeted him some not so nice things. The Celtics do not exactly have a team to build around Tatum, they have Jaylen Brown who is a young player and a player who has shown some promise, recently signed a four year extension but personally as like most people around the league believe he is just an average player. The Celtics are essentially filled with two proven veterans, Tatum, Brown, a few unproven rookies with no promise who will most likely be two way players and as for the remaining roster spots, well they will be filled with the uncertainty of one year contracts. Can’t forget about head coach Brad Stevens but let’s be real Stevens ain’t no damn Greg Popovich no matter how many more years Popovich wants to continue coaching.
On the other hand, San Antonio has been known to be completely drama free team and is only a two hour flight away from Tatum’s hometown St Louis. They have a winning culture, an established core, structure as an organization and a young nucleus. Tatum played on Team USA this past summer a team that featured the entire Spurs staff and Derrick White on the team. Knowing Popovich he gave Tatum a sneak peak into what it would be like to play for him. Tatum spoke very highly about Popovich and talked about how great of a player White is and how he would love to continue playing with him. Plus a little bit of overreaction but they say a picture says a thousand words and every picture posted when Tatum was around someone in the Spurs organization their was nothing but smiles and he has not been doing much of that in Boston.
Tim Duncan is officially the new assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs. This move took some by surprise but others just figured that Duncan is in the Spurs facility everyday so he might as well get paid for it. Spurs head coach Greg Popovich said in an interview “ for so long I’ve been Tim Duncan’s assistant so the least I could do is repay the favor.” Tim Duncan will sit in the 2nd row behind coach Pop, he won’t get special treatment he will be treated the same way as all of Pops other assistants.
Duncan is expected by mot to at some point become the head coach of the Spurs especially with Popovich going up in age. Duncan has been known for showing up to practises and working out with former teammate LaMarcus Aldridge and was recently recorded working out with point guard Dejounte Murray so it seems like Duncan wasted no time to get to work.
For us the fans Duncan being back on the team is great it brings back joy and lets them know that somebody actually wants to be in San Antonio or in Duncan’s case stay in. Most recently the Spurs lost two assistant coaches and even had free agent Marcus Morris change his mind and sign with the New York Knicks. Personally I am looking forward to see how Duncan does and to be able to go to the games and watching him and if possible get his autograph since he is the only one I need to complete my big 3 collection.
The San Antonio Spurs signed two free agents this off-season both were forwards. The newest Spurs are Demarre Caroll and Marcus Morris. Both players will look to bring veteran leadership, help space the floor and make the Spurs a deeper team. Carrol signed a 3 year 21 million dollar deal and Morris signed a 2 year 20 million dollar deal.
In order for the Spurs to sign Caroll and Morris they had to let go of Quincy Pondexter, Dante Cunningham and trade Davis Bertans to the Washington Wizards in order to create cap space for Carrol. It really upsets me that the Spurs let go of Bertans he was a sniper from the three point line and the Spurs best three point shooter last season. He was a defensive liability which is perhaps the reason on why he was let go. Caroll gives them more of a presence on the defensive side of the ball and he is capable of hitting 3’s. Marcus Morris is still a signing I do not understand he is a trailblazer around the NBA he has been on multiple teams and has been known to get in multiple fights just like his twin brother Markief Morris. I don’t think that is a good personality to mix in especially with a tight Spurs team. I can see Popovich playing him at Center when he wants to set up a small line up but other than that I can’t see him anywhere but the bench because he is not particularly big like most bigs.
The list of players who made the All-NBA Defensive team came out yesterday and if I may say there were some snubs. The first all defensive team included Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Oklahoma City forward Paul George, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, and Milwaukee Bucks teammates forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and guard Eric Bledsoe. The second team included New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, and Golden State Warriors teammates guard Klay Thompson and forward Draymond Green.
There are 3 players that should absolutely 100 percent be on any of these teams, those players are Toronto Raptors guard Danny Green, Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, and San Antonio Spurs guard Derrick White. Let’s talk about Danny green first to me he should have been on the team because he is Toronto’s best defensive player during games. Yes I said it, as good as Kawhi Leonard is he usually doesn’t start to guard the opposing team’s best player until the fourth quarter because he has to carry so much of the offensive load throughout the game. It is Green who has to do it the majority of the game. To me he replaces Marcus Smart on the first team.
Patrick Beverly is just a dog on the defensive end literally was the fight in the Clippers this season and doesn’t back down from anybody. There is no way someone can tell me that Eric Bledsoe was better than him defensively this season not to mention Bledsoe had Giannis to help him out who did Beverly have?
The fact that Derrick White did not even make the 2nd team is absolutely hysterical. Jrue Holiday did not have a better season than White this season. Yes White missed some games in the beginning of the season due to injury but let’s talk about the year he had. Not only did he guard the opposing team’s best guard in every game as a 2nd year player but absolutely shut down both Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook in there match-ups against one another not to mention that he limited Steph Curry at home twice this season as well.
Trying to get an NBA players autograph can be to some one of the hardest things to do at a sporting event. Personally I would say I’m a pro at it. Especially when it comes to going to San Antonio Spurs games. I personally prefer the Staples Center in Los Angeles, AT&T Center in San Antonio and Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix because they are the ones I am most familiar with.
The first thing I do before attending every game is make sure I buy my tickets near the player tunnels usually the road team tunnels are easier to get autographs and pictures in. The night before I do my background on every player and coach on both teams, I want to make sure I am familiar with them I also look up live streams of previous warm ups of games to get an idea of when each player likes to shoot around. You also want to make sure that you have some sort of apparel of the team, if you do have a jersey I have noticed it does better if it is a current player on the team, pictures also do well. Something else I do just in case so I am able to move my seat around is that I Photoshop a Spurs vs Phoenix Suns ticket with a different seat section. I usually do it the night before and at times I will do it in the arena. I have noticed that the Suns and Spurs staff will just look at it making it that much easier. That is how I was able to meet Sean Elliott and Matt Bonner.
You want to arrive at the arena as soon as possible I recommend you get there between forty five to half an hour before the gates are open just so u can rush to the tunnel. One you are in the arena you will run into Spurs fans you will become instantly become friends with some of them, Some of my best friends I have met at Spurs games. You also want to become aware of where the event staff is and instantly become cool with them. Most of the time when you are near the tunnels those are not your seats so what i have noticed is that some will let you be there just for warm ups but sometimes some won’t so just bringa twenty just in case. You want to see who out warming up. The most important thing about being near the tunnel is that you have to make your presence felt and be loud and very vocal. When players come out to warm up I recommend saying something catchy just so u can get them to notice you. I know a line that always works for me is that I tell them that a play the night before was sick and that I want them to do it again tonight or that the year before they told me they would sign my jersey. That last line has worked for me the past four years on Patty Mills. When the players do come up be loud and stretch out to the player as much as possible say anything besides the players name because everyone will be doing that. Since the Spurs have lots of international players what I do is look up how to say certain phrases in their native language which I have noticed players are more inclined to you if you do so.
There will be some fans who will only be here for a specific players autograph which for me has benefited me because they are usually the nicest ones and at times deals go down. For instance if I am closest to the tunnel and the guy behind me ask me like a half hour before if when Bruce Bowen comes up if he could slide in and get his autograph most of the time people would let him in but other times he may give u the jersey and you may get it signed for him. Majority of the time because of that nice gesture you may not have to pay for food that night.
Lastly once the game starts you want to be loud and enjoy the game, also stay as long as possible after the game because you are able to meet some of the players families which is cool. This past December I met Demar Derozan’s family who took a video of me to show Demar and Patty Mills girlfriend who took a picture with me because I was wearing a “Bala Pat” headband, also in October I met Davis Bertans parents who were mad cool we actually split nachos. In 2012 I had sat next to Kawhi Leonard’s mom Kim who was a really nice lady. Another thing too that is important if you are going to a game and want to be around it all day. Is to find what hotel the players are staying in usually its within a four block radius. There is a website that shall be remained nameless that shows all of it. If you are not able to find it just walk around the stadium for about a half hour after the game. I actually met Derrick White just outside of LA Live doing that he was mad cool and waited for my phone to restart. If someone is wearing a hoodie try and look to see who it is because that is what White was wearing. If you do find the hotel and wait for the players early enough before they go to morning shootaround which is usually between 7-10 am they will be easier to get then because there is less competition. Some players will be super cool about it when i was about 11 Stephen Jackson bought me and about 7 other Spurs fans breakfast.
At the end of the day if you don’t get one players autograph it’s not the end of the world. I still have not been able to get Tim Duncan’s autograph and as much as it haunts me nothing will happen if I don’t. I have gotten the whole team autographs twice and some players like Tony Parker, Patty Mills, Tiago Splitter, Danny Green, and Stephen Jackson as well as coaches like Ettore Messina will recognize you and make it easier.
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