Breaking: Spurs’ Guard, Tony Parker is Out for the Rest of the Playoffs

by SportsWhat's Hot
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Photo: www.sports.yahoo.com

San Antonio Spurs Guard, Tony Parker (34 yrs) ruptured his left quadriceps tendon last night in the 4th quarter versus the Houston Rockets. It was a non-contact injury. He could not put any weight on the leg when it occurred after jumping to drive a floater over Rockets’ Patrick Beverley. Teammates, Dewayne Dedmon and Dejounte Murray carried him off the court.

The team has announced that he will miss the remainder of the Playoffs.

The series is now tied at 1-1 and will go to Houston for the next 2 games, starting this Friday.

This was a devastating blow to the Spurs and probably the end of a brilliant Playoff era.

Although Tony averaged 10.1 points-per-game in the regular season, which was his lowest since his rookie 2001-2002 season, when it’s the Playoffs he steps up, regardless of his age.

He averaged the 2nd highest points for the Spurs during the Playoffs so far with 15.9. Don’t forget he helped to send the Grizzlies home with 27 points and Vintage Tony P play.

The Spurs have no money to buy a guard in the off-season and cannot apply for a career-ending injury until 1 year after the injury.

The Spurs will be likely to look to Patty Mills to step up, but besides scoring, he has a lot of maturity to do with regards to facilitating ball movement and plays.

It’s surely sad to see him go out like this. A timeline on his possible return is not yet determined.

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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- Taken from http://www.nba.com/playoffs/

NBA Playoffs 2015 Update including why the Spurs lost and more!

by Sports
- Taken from http://www.nba.com/playoffs/
– Taken from http://www.nba.com/playoffs/

The LA Clippers eliminated Defending Champs, the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 last Saturday night in LA, 111-109. The game was well fought by the Spurs but they were still just a shadow of themselves. Props to the Clippers with the best starters in the league and having Griffin and CP3 really show up for them not only during the series but towards the end of the game when it mattered the most. The Spurs just failed to come into top form this season. They were nowhere near and imagine they were still so competitive. It was obvious they could not get a rhythm going and shooters, especially Danny Green, did not get fully into their zone as yet. Coach Pop made huge errors by taking out Marco Belinelli when he was hot in their must-win, Game 6 and scoring 3s were a struggle and also by not giving young, Patty Mills more play. Danny Green who has not been hot all series should have stayed out and Belinelli should have been given the opportunity to stretch the lead for the Spurs. Then Danny Green could return to defend the lead and facilitate more plays since that is not Belinelli’s forte. The old legs of those such as Tony Parker, have a lot of experience but the bench should have been given an opportunity to win Game 6 for them at home. Pop should not have worried about crushing egos if he was, because players like Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are so humble that they would have been genuinely happy for the bench winning Game 6, thus the series for them and furthermore would appreciate the rest. The odds were totally against them to win Game 7 in LA even though the home court advantage didn’t seem to matter for either team earlier in the series. Those few moments throughout the series when they played ‘Spurs ball’ with their on point ball movement and shot execution, they were untouchable by the Clippers. There is still no other team with that quality ball movement and it will surely be missed for the rest of the Playoffs. The Spurs have made it to the last 3 Western Conference Finals and last two NBA Finals. They have had a good run and hopefully they have more in them. Even though they were not at the top of their game, tremendous effort was shown and they were still able to entertain and be a force to reckon with. Chris Paul emotionally paid great respect to one of his idols as a kid, Tim Duncan at the end of Game 7 and Suga is sure the Clippers will reach the Western Conference finals to face the Warriors. The Rockets are a quality team and so are the Grizzlies, but even though the series promises some excitement, they may fall short.

The Grizzlies and Rockets are already down 1-0. The Clippers are surely on a high with a 117-101 win in the Rocket’s house last night with less than 48 hours rest and CP3 sitting on the bench with a hamstring strain. The Hack-a-Howard versus Hack-a-Jordan showdown has also begun. Who will learn how to shoot some free throws first?! My money is on DeAndre Jordan after his head start with the Spurs.

Oh wait, there is an Eastern Conference going on as well, almost forgot. The Wizards may upset the Hawks taking them to a Game 6 or 7. The Wizards rallied from a 12 point deficit in the 3rd to beat the Hawks in Atlanta, 104-98 in Game 1. The Cavs are likely to beat the Bulls even though the Bulls may jump out at them to a 2-0 start with the absence of their Kevin Love and J.R. Smith.  The return of D. Rose is a huge factor and should prove to be a competitive series. Despite Irving’s 30 points, the Bulls still beat the Cavs last night in Game 1, 99-92 with D. Rose scoring 25 points.

The Spurs-Clippers series may be the best match up that the NBA Playoffs 2015 will see, if not, it will surely be remembered and thankfully Game 7 saved last Saturday night, giving us the kind of entertainment we expected, which the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight failed to deliver.

Congratulations to the 5-time NBA Champions, the San Antonio SPURS !!!

by What's Hot

Congratulations to the San Antonio SPURS for their 5th NBA Championship title in franchise history, joining the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls as the only team to accomplish that feat. The Spurs won the series 4-1 last Sunday night in blowout fashion with a final score of 104 to the Miami Heat’s, 87.

LeBron James had a blazing start in the first quarter and ended with a commendable 31 points, but nothing could stop or stand in the way of the Spurs achieving their redemption title as it slipped through their fingers last year. This rematch was also a big hit with television viewers compared to last year. The unselfishness, teamwork and ball movement of the Spurs was phenomenal with superb execution. All players made a significant contribution to the title, however out of so much talent, an MVP had to be chosen, young Kawhi Leonard who scored 22 points in the final game. Imagine what he could have done if he wasn’t in foul trouble.

Special mention also has to be made to veterans Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Tim Duncan is now the all-time Double-Doubles leader in NBA Playoffs history passing Magic Johnson and also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabar to set the all-time record for most minutes played in play off history.

One word, GINOBILIIIIII! Manu redeemed himself majorly after 2 years of horrible inconsistency, but showed everyone how hard he is on himself and how much of a true competitor he is by both facilitating unforgettable plays and scoring huge necessary shots.

Tony Parker had his ups and downs this season and didn’t even score until the 4th quarter in Sunday’s game, but once he started scoring he was on fire. His style of play and speed is always a beauty to watch and he said this was the sweetest victory for him yet.

So what’s next?! According to Tony Parker and Owner, Peter Holt, the Spurs should be back to try to defend their title next year. Tim and Manu may play until they die. Gregg Popovich would also like to coach beyond this year. Congrats to him as well for an excellent season, many years of great coaching and the ability to bond with all players. The relationship Pop has with the Spurs is on a different level compared to other teams.

So until next year, Go Spurs Go!

Watch “San Antonio Spurs Tribute to The Beautiful Game” on You Tube by clicking on the link below:

 

 

 

Lack of Respect for Outspoken Female Sports Fans

by SportsWhat's Hot

Growing up in the sports world with a father as a former West Indies Cricket player and having a mother with the television on the NBA Playoffs or Wimbledon instead of Lifetime or Home and Garden TV, I had no choice but to grow up loving sports in general as well.

I had my own cricket bat from about 4 years old to go and practice at the Kensington Cricket club. I was a tomboy, used to be on the Track team, I played Tennis, I am a frequent fan at the stadium for Athletics. You name it. But over the years, though I enjoy most sports, my favourite sport to watch is Basketball. It gets me the most emotional. I will go to a bar alone and watch it, I will forego meeting family at the airport, my studies back in the day used to be delayed, not to mention last year I left my own Surprise Birthday party to catch the second half of the game without opposing fans present. My Birthday is in early June, helllooooo.

Over the years, whether its general face to face conversation or social media, I have noticed initially that men are surprised that I may even make a comment on a sport. It is either ignored, gasped at with surprise or faced with the question of ‘What do you know? You watch sports? or Is it your partner’s team that you are defending?’ Then after a short debate on a topic, they tend to realise I actually do know something about sports. I am not an expert, but anyone, whether male or female that not only watches a sport but follows a sport, listens and understands the commentary or has actually played the sport themself should be free to make any sensible statement or argument about the sport, a match, the players, the team or the coach. Thankfully my actual friends unlike ‘social media friends’ know how competitive I am and how serious I can take a game or anything for that matter.

Most of us are busy, so may not know 100% of the stats but as a fan should know enough and appreciate the sport enough to make certain statements. I have been in many enjoyable ‘social media wars’ over sports but this year the comments faced so far take the cake. They are not even worth a ‘war’ but a mere shut down because there is no argument put forward, just careless, senseless remarks. Ironically, these comments on my posts have just begun in the end part of round one of the NBA Playoffs. Where were the comments on my posts ALL season? Have they even been watching?! This led me to start thinking that it might not only be because I am an outspoken fan but because I am an outspoken female fan. How is it that when my male friends show support for teams that couldn’t even make the playoffs or were eliminated already do not face these kinds of comments? Isn’t the current success of women in this country and larger female to male ratio at the Universities an indication that women also have the inclination to have good perception and views once interested in any particular subject? At least one culprit admitted that they just saw my post and was playing devil’s advocate. That I can acknowledge. But to say a team is ‘lame’ twice with no reason is beyond me. The defending Western Conference Champions whose four NBA championships are the fourth most in history behind only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls. Yes, the San Antonio Spurs that I have been a fan of from 1999. The same team who has made the playoffs every year since they drafted Tim Duncan. The team that went on a 19-0 winning streak during this season. The stats could take up a whole book. But ‘lame’? You must be kidding me. Any average Jo that watches basketball seriously should have respect for the Spurs team and their fans too. Now if its the personality of the players one finds ‘lame’, I could somewhat understand that. Everyone is not going to swing on a hoop like a monkey or beat their chests, want to fight and have lots of tattoos. They may simply choose to give a long stare like Timmy Duncan or roar like Tony Parker. The Spurs do have soft personalities, they are not an extremely physical team. Manu is not as great as he used to be, I can hardly shout GINOBILIIIIIII anymore, and wish he would wear glue on his hands sometimes. However there is nothing that can deny the displayed quality and potential of the team from their passes, Timmy Duncan’s ability to obtain core rebounds, Parker’s drive down the lane, now you see him now you don’t, score!!!!

So people may not want Timmy on a cereal box anymore or have Tony speaking a lot in an American ad with his French accent, but the Spurs are a great team. They are a dynasty. Whether they are eliminated in the first round this year or not, the ball is round and they are better than the majority of the teams out there, if not the best. In the Playoffs, its who wants it most, who is the most hungry. There is no way to pin point who deserves a ring more than the other, the talent and effort this season has been phenomenal. Let a girl support her team in peace. I love this game!