Project Spurs: How it feels to be a winner

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Project Spurs: How it feels to be a winner

Written by CB Jack

Tuesday, 27 January 2009 11:53

I was approached by Michael at Project Spurs to do a Q/A. Oh man did I have some questions for him.

You can read my responses to his questions here.

TBJ: What does it feel like to win a game in San Antonio, we've never experienced that, so maybe you can just share a little of the emotions tied to something of that magnitude? What will happen first. The Jazz winning in San Antonio, or the USA electing a Mormon president?

PS: Feels a lot better than losing, that's for sure. But to be honest, it's great. I've been to more Spurs games where they've won, most recently game 1of the playoff series between the Suns and Spurs and I'll never forget that though. With the stockpile of young talent the Jazz are developing to go along with Williams, Boozer, Okur and the rest, I think we'll see the Jazz win in SA first.

TBJ: With David Stern as your witness, is Manu the worst flopper in the league? and is Tim Duncan the most boring player in the NBA?

PS: Some of our readers and podcast listeners don't like the fact that I'm not a homer and tell it how I see it. Does Manu flop? Sure, but so do so many other players. Manu just gets more attention for it because honestly he's a better player and hurts teams a lot more than say Anderson Varejao, Raja Bell, Derek Fisher, Reggie Evans and others. Varejao consistently leads the NBA in drawing offensive fouls, so I think it's him. I really don't blame any of them. All-time though, I might put Stockton on a top ten list. Even Vlade Divac once said that Stockton was the best, but he never really got called out on it because he had the choirboy image. As far as Duncan, it's hard to answer that. I got a chance to see Duncan behind closed doors in the locker room with teammates and at practices and he's a very funny guy, but when he gets on the court, he's all about business. I'm a fan of basketball in the purest form, which is why I also like the WNBA, so I appreciate and like watching Duncan go to work. If you're looking for flash and sportscenter highlights, Duncan is not your guy.

TBJ: It must be boring to be a Spurs fan and win all the time. Do you ever wish that for just one year that can tank and go to the lottery. Just so you feel like you have something to watch and look forward to in the summer? Are you sick of winning?

PS: Spurs fans are spoiled and want to win every year. A year in which the Spurs do not win a title is considered a failure, so no, we aren't close to sick of winning. As for the summer, I actually enjoy the summer. We always stay busy in the summer at Project Spurs coming up with possible trade scenarios, looking at free agents, profiling possible draft picks and all new training camp players, so I actually enjoy the offseason, but I'm an NBA nut.

TBJ: Who had the worst logo. The old Spurs logo with the teal/pink/orange stripes? Or the Jazz logo with the purple mountains?

PS: The fiesta-colored logo by far. Whoever came up with that, the 96 all-star jerseys and the idea to have Los Spurs on the front of the Spurs jerseys for Hispanic Heritage night should have been fired.

TBJ: If you could create an All-Star Team using just the Spurs and Jazz rosters, who would start at what position and why? Also who would be 6th man and who would you want coaching?

PS: I'm not sure if you are talking about current players or all-time, but I'll go with current. I'm gonna mix things up a bit and change some players positions, but I think this gives you the best overall team. At point, I'd go with Tony, Deron at shooting guard because he's taller and stronger and could probably defend pretty well at the two. Manu at small forward, Boozer at power forward, Duncan at center and Memo or Mason as sixth man. Also, as much as I respect Jerry Sloan, I would have Pop coaching.

Thanks to Project Spurs. I hope we didn't take too much of his WNBA time for this Q/A.

My prediction: Jazz by 4

Comments (20) Add Comment

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written by moneyman memo, January 27, 2009

Freaking awesome questions, CBJ! Especially the one about the ugliest logos...hahahaha. And great responses by Project Spurs - the 96 all-star jerseys were truly hideous.

I still don't understand the following:

- The Nuggets lose their best defensive player and one of the best in the league for the last 10 years in Camby and get nothing in return prior to the start of the season. They trade Iverson for Billups, but Chauncey is not the defender that he used to be. So how the hell is it that they are better at defense now (even without Melo) than they have been for the past 3-4 years?

- The Spurs lose Barry to the Rockets, Horry to retirement, and Bowen's previously stellar defense to age and injuries. They sign and start a gunner not known for defense (Mason), play a late 1st round rookie in a major back-up role, suffer major injuries to Ginobili and Parker to start the season, and start Matt Bonner. Yet they are still a solid defensive team in the NBA.

- The Jazz have as their coach one of the best defenders to ever play in the NBA. They have one of the league leader in steals last season returning at the starting two-guard (Brewer). They have an all-world defender in AK47, and they traded Hart for a ball hawk in Brevin Knight. And they are SUCKTASTIC at defense.

I don't know if I can even watch tonight.

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written by CB Jack, January 27, 2009

Excellent points MoneyMan. But more important, where the H-Fire have you been? You used to be such a constant with your witty comments and great insight. Come back MoneyMan....come back.

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written by moneyman memo, January 27, 2009

I think you're confusing me with Booner, CB. He makes the witty comments and provides the insight - I just laugh at his jokes and say, "Great one, Booner. Love the pessimism."

I haven't been around because Booner stopped sending me checks. He must have needed some esteem-boosting, so now I'm back!

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written by boyd, January 27, 2009

I'll give you some answers if you want them, Money Man:

1-The Nuggets have actually only made a miniscule improvement on deffense from last year, check the numbers: (defensive and offensive efficiency are measurements of how many points a team gives up (defensive) or scores (offensive) per 100 possesions.)

07-08 Defensive Efficiency 103.2
08-09 Defensive Efficiency 103.0

Offensively, they have stayed about the same as well:

07-08 Offensive Efficiency 107.6
08-09 Offensive Efficiency 107.3

The big difference is pace factor (number of possesion a team uses per game)

07-08 Pace 102.3
08-09 Denver 97.2

Denver is using 5 less possesions per game. They are playing much more slowly. And the facts are that Denver only projects to a single win or at most 2 more than they had last year. In other words: Thier improvement is overatted, at best, particularly on the defensive end where they actually give up nearly identical numbers of points per 100 possesions.

2-Again, a simple look beyone the obvious and fairly misleading stat of ppg given up helps you to understand what has really happened with the Spurs.

07-08 Off E 104.7
08-09 Off E 105.5

The Spurs have gotten better on offense.

07-08 Def E 99.5
08-09 Def E 101.9

That's a fairly significant 2.4 points per 100 possesions, which can add up over a season. So the truth is, the Spurs HAVE gotten worse on defense, despite still being an excellent team. Why are they so good? Scheme and talent. They play as an excellent whole unit, and they always have the amazing defense of Tim Duncan at the back to help make up mistakes. (also, Barry for Mason is an upgrade defensively and Hill, the rookie is a big, physical defender for a guard.)

3-Everyone squaks about the Defense, which is admittedly bad, but the real story for Utah (besides the injuries, obviously), has been a decline in Offensive Efficiency. On D:

07-08 Defensive E 104.0
08-09 Defensive E 103.9

The Jazz have been about the same defensively as last year. (about 12th in the league.) But looking at the offense:

07-08 Offensive E 110.8
08-09 Offensive E 106.3

That is a humungous 4.5 points per 100 possesion difference. I attribute most of that to the loss of Boozer and relative ineffectiveness due to injury of Williams for the first 30 or so games. So, the real issue with the Jazz has been offense, which was awesome last year.

As for the Jazz D, you can't overcome the fact that they don't have a big intimidator on the back line like Boston, San Antonio and Orlando. Also, they foul more than any team in the league. That DOES go back to Sloan. If they could just stop fouling and put hands up, they would improve defensively.

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written by Scrumtrulescent, January 27, 2009

you play defense with your feet! haha

that was way too many numbers, but it's hard to argue with statistics. That said, the Jazz haven't lost a regular season home game to the Spurs since Apr 4, 2006.

Speaking from strictly a statistical perspective, I don't think the Jazz will lose 4 straight. At least I HOPE they won't...

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written by CB Jack, January 27, 2009

I think I need a new mouse scroll after reading that comment. Good numbers boyd. I would be interested to see how the numbers have changed since AI left and Chauncy arrived?

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written by Hammy, January 27, 2009

I may be a little crazy in thinking this, but it seems as though the Jazz have fouled less this year than they did last year. Outside of the usual Kobe hackfest I think that the foul shot disparity is about equal for the Jazz and their opponent each game. Do you have any stats to back that up?

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written by moneyman memo, January 27, 2009

Great analysis, boyd. I had not looked behind the numbers like that, but it really is interesting to see how much perception can cloud reality. One thing I know - a win tonight would probably be the first "big" win of the season. We seriously haven't had one this year yet.

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written by Scrumtrulescent, January 27, 2009

@ Detroit, both Portland games, Dallas, Phoenix. There are some "big" wins

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written by CB Jack, January 27, 2009

While I would consider them "important" wins, I wouldn't call them "Big" wins. I think Big wins come from SA, LAL, Boston, Denver.

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written by Hammy, January 27, 2009

I would give the Portland wins "Big" status because they owned us last year, but both of them were at home so they are just Big and not Huge. Speaking of road games, have the Jazz one a single significant road game yet this year? Without looking it up I would bet that the Jazz have not beat a team outside of Detroit that is over .500 on the road. And even that game is looking less impressive by the minute.

Also, I would not get too caught up in the numbers of offesive and deffensive effeciency here. They do tell a story, but not the whole story. Numbers like that are completely indifferent to players playing hurt, missing games dues to injuries or playing back to backs. I know over time that the numbers will give you a pretty good idea of who a team is, but you need to combine them with the good old eye-ball test for a complete picture.

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written by Hammy, January 27, 2009

And my eye-balls are telling me that the Jazz are playing scared, lazy, tenetive basketball. As for tonights game, you will know the outcome of the game within the first 6 minutes of the first quarter. If the Jazz are down by 10 or more, they lose by 15+.

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written by boyd, January 27, 2009

Hammy-in fact, the Jazz are fouling less than last year. Last season, the Jazz fouled opponents on 39.3% of all Field goal attempts, by far more than the second worst team Indiana at 35.8% This year, the Jazz are fouling on 34.0% of all field goal attempts. That is quite a significant number. If they could get that number down to the league average (30%) they may pick up a point or half a point on their offensive efficiency (granted that many fouls are commited at the rim and teams will shoot a reasonably high percentage on those shots anyway).

The defensive efficiency hasn't improved as much as could be expected due to the fewer fouls, but this can almost assuredly be attributed to the fact that Williams has been unhealthy most of the year, Okur has missed several games, boozer is out, and Kirilenko has also missed a chunk of games. If they get healthy and keep their foul rate where it is right now, they will probably be better than they were last year.

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written by CB Jack, January 27, 2009

Boozer is out?

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written by moneyman memo, January 27, 2009

Hammy - remember how you changed your username in frustration from Boozers Hammy? When was that? Maybe it's time to shorten it again. Or maybe change it to "Boozers Strained Quadriceps"

It might stop the bleeding...

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written by boyd, January 27, 2009

I've never understood all the hate for Boozer. I mean, he's kind of a dick, but he's a great player. I mean, that first season by all reports he really jacked up his hammy, and then this year he needed freaking surgery to repair his knee. No one wants surgery do they? Maybe I'm insane.

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written by Carlos Boozer, January 27, 2009

I do. Surgery and bitches both.

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written by Scrumtrulescent, January 28, 2009

I am one of the lone non-Boozer haters. I don't believe for one second that he's milking his injury or that he's sitting out because he doesn't want to play here etc. But I'm in the minority.

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written by boyd, January 28, 2009

It just doesn't make sense. If this guy is all about the money, like people want to say, why would he let himself go under the knife? That just doesn't jive with commen sense.