It will be interesting to watch the Raptors "energy" level Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs. It was nonexistent at times in the loss to the Dallas Mavericks the other night and Raptor fans would hope that, at least early in the season, there won't be two clunkers in a row in regards to energy.
I can tell you one thing though, any loss is certainly not due to a lack of preparation. Marc Iavaroni, who is largely responsible for much of Toronto's defence sure has a game plan to try and combat the Spurs. It might be made a touch easier by the fact that Tony Parker probably will not play as a result of an ankle injury, but there is still a matter of Tim Duncan to worry about at both ends of the floor. According to Iavaroni, there will be whole bunch of different looks and personnel thrown at the perennial all-star. If you want the details, you can hear the entire interview if you tune in to the pregame show on the FAN 590 tonight.
As for the offensive side of the ball, you can bet the Raptors worked on one of the coverages that confounded them in Dallas. Bosh admitted it was something he hadn't seen before with the double team coming from a spot on the floor that he was not accustomed to seeing. The resulting confusion and hesitation made it difficult for both he and his teammates to score. Gregg Popovich is sure to have watched the game video and don't be surprised if the same type of defence is seen by Bosh and the Raptors Monday.
It's an important stretch of games for the Spurs who find themselves with a losing record right now at 2-3. There is hardly any cause for concern as they were 1-4 last year at this time and still managed to win 50 games for the 10th straight campaign. Only two other franchises, the Lakers and the Celtics, can lay claim to such a feat. Winning is no big thing in San Antonio as over the last 13 seasons, the Spurs have the best winning percentage, 671-286 (.702) of any team in the four major sports. In case you were curious the Detroit Red Wings are 551-236-129 (.672), the Denver Broncos are 123-76 (.618) and the New York Yankees rank fourth on the list at 1,273-829 (.606). Pretty impressive isn't it?
San Antonio will play 11 of its next 14 games at home but only leave the state once as there are road games in Dallas and Houston with the other being in Utah on December 7th. Time for the Spurs to put some notches in the left hand column as they will hit a stretch in the new year where they have 11 of 15 on the road including eight in a row in February.
Word is that Allen Iverson has left the team because of a real family issue and according to owner Michael Heisley, it should not be reported. With Iverson apparently considering retirement, you wonder how much of it is the personal issue or AI just chaffing at coming off the bench. The signing of Iverson was more than likely a move by management in Memphis to try and attract fans and put butts in the seats but it seems like it isn't working at home or on the road. Funny that one fan in Sacramento hollered out to Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins that "they bought tickets to see Iverson".
But it may work out for Iverson if this story out of New York, which is all speculative right now, should come to fruition. After all, Iverson did list the Knicks as one of his choices this off season during free agency.
Alright I'm sure you have either seen or heard about the incident last week at the AT&T Centre in San Antonio where Manu Ginobili swatted at bat out of mid air and killed it. He then picked it up and helped dispose of it and had to have a vaccine later to help protect him. Well, Sherman Hamilton, my broadcast partner, Eric Smith, and I are standing just in front of the tunnel where the visiting team enters the court and we spot this thing under the stands. Initially we thought it was the bat that Manu had knocked down but we later hear that Ginobili didn't kill the bat but merely stunned it. Apparently when the security guard at the AT&T centre took it away to dispose of it, he put it down for a short time to go and get something to put it in and when he came back it was gone.
