Sporting Madness

The San Antonio Spurs are kind of good. They've won four NBA titles in the last 15 years and been a consistent threat over that time, but the interesting thing is that their identity has changed dramatically over that period; they started with the twin towers of David Robinson and Tim Duncan , then evolved into the Big Three of Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili , and now (thanks to Parker's injury) are perhaps in the throes of another transition. Parker's loss hasn't hurt them anywhere near as much as many would have expected, though, and one of the reasons why is the play of George Hill , who's the subject of my Stacheketball column this week. Hill's a fascinating guy, but not your traditional NBA star; he stands 6'2'' and weighs 180 pounds, and he went to the little-known Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. Check out the piece for more background on him and a few thoughts on why he's a nice fit for the Spurs. Also, ther...

(Photo from SLAM Online ) The end of tonight's Spurs-Lakers clash featured a use of the Stern Button (credit for which goes to the brilliant Matt McHale of Basketbawful ) if I've ever seen one. The Spurs were down by two with a couple seconds left, grabbed the ball under their own basket and quickly called timeout, giving them possession in Lakers' territory. Robert Horry inbounds the ball to Brent Barry, who is in excellent position for a three, but can't get it off cleanly while receiving a flying elbow to the head from one Derek Fisher of the Lakers. He still chucks it up at the buzzer, expecting the foul, but then turns in disbelief to see the officials with their whistles already returned to their jewel-encrusted cases in preparation for the trip to L.A. for Game Five, perhaps subtly prompted by a couple shocks from the Stern Button. Now, instead of a 2-2 series where anything could happen, the Lakers have an almost insurmountable 3-1 lead, and Emperor Palpatine, ...