Maddux Sports Blog

Rough break for the Spurs tonight – pun intended. Tony Parker broke his hand, and he’s out for up to six weeks – the rest of the regular season, in other words. The Spurs aren’t exactly locked into a playoff spot – they are just one game out of eighth place in the West, and though there is a gap between them and Houston, Memphis, and New Orleans – the teams out of the playoffs – but it’s not an insurmountable lead if the Spurs don’t keep their act together. Without Parker this isn’t the same team (obviously), so this will be very interesting to watch. There’s a very good chance, though, that the public will overcompensate for this injury – at least in the short term. George Hill is a competent player who is putting up some solid numbers (11.7 ppg), and he’s more than capable of stepping up, playing more, and doing it well. The Spurs have already had to play 10 games without Parker this year thanks to various ailments, and the team is 5-5 in those games. The Spurs aren’t likely to self-destruct in the short term without Parker, so there could be value.

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It’s too early to fully decide for now, but I think it’s safe to say that Richard Jefferson in San Antonio isn’t working as well it seemed like it would. He has seen the same basic amount of playing time that he has in the past, but his production has dropped by seven points from last year, and is his lowest since he was a rookie in 2001. Three of the last four years he has averaged about 20 points or more per game. This year he has only topped 20 points three times. The Spurs have limped out of the gate at just 10-9 after a win last night, and they have been mostly lousy on the road and against good competition. It doesn’t really matter how he does now as long as the team makes the playoffs, but clearly the chemistry isn’t working yet.

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I was reminded of an incredible stat while reading Peter King this morning – at least five different NFL teams have made the playoffs after not making them the year before in each of the last 13 years. Considering that there are only 12 playoff teams that is truly incredible. The flip-side of that, of course, is that at least five playoff teams from one year haven’t made it the next. The short handicapping lesson to take from that – last year means almost nothing.

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I find something poetic about trades that help both teams get better – even if I don’t really care about either team involved. that’s definitely the case in the NBA today. The Spurs found a way to get much more competitive next year, and the Bucks sacrificed some scoring now for some real payroll flexibility next year, and they added some real veteran presence in the meantime. If you missed the deal, the Spurs picked up Richard Jefferson, and in exchange they gave up Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto.

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The third seed San Antonio Spurs (54-28) meet the sixth seed Dallas Mavericks (50-32) in the initial round of the Western Conference playoffs. This year, the Spurs and Mavs split their four-game season series with San Antonio winning a wild 133-126 overtime contest.

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Amazing how close the Heisman was. Fitting. The only shame is that Graham Harrell wasn’t more competitive. He had a lousy game, but a heck of a season.

I have noticed a trend this year – I watch a college basketball game, get impressed by the team playing, write nice things about them, then they go out and get beat at their earliest possible opportunity. First Duke, and now Gonzaga. Arizona looked very good in the win. As a service to all of you, I will be sure to let you know what games I watch as soon as I watch them so you can fade who I like.

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Here are two things that I’m thinking about concerning the conference finals.

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Mondays aren’t supposed to be busy days on the sports front, but this one certainly was. Here are five things that caught my eye today:

1. It was covered here by someone else earlier tonight, but I have to touch on Jon Lester again. Impressive on a couple of fronts – Boston having two no-hitters in less than a year, Jason Varitek catching both games, Lester’s story. It would be an even better story if it had have been against a major league team instead of the Triple-A adequate Kansas City Royals. Based on what I wrote here last week I’ll be taking a very close look at Lester next time out.

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