On this episode of the Eighth Seed (or Sixth Seed, since we were missing John Karalis and Zach Harper), we discussed All-Star weekend becoming more lame and boring by the year and what the NBA can do to fix it.

We talked about the winners and losers of the NBA trade deadline, if the Jamison trade makes the Cavs the clear-cut favorites for the crown and which teams set themselves up to be players in free agency this offseason.

Each of the guys also gave an outlook on the second half of the season for their respective teams and apparently Rey Moralde thinks auto-tune should be for podcasters too.

The rest of the 8th Seed crew is:

Rey Moralde from The No Look Pass
Glenn Moore from The Dug Out Sports Show
Jared Wade from 8 Points, 9 Seconds & Both Teams Played Hard
Zach Harper from Cowbell Kingdom & Talk Hoops
John Karalis from Reds Army
Adam Best from Fansided

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Tonight the San Antonio Spurs will face the New York Knicks in San Antonio, so who better to turn to than an NBA Bloguin Brother, LIVES from Knicks Fanatics Blog for a gameday Q&A. Check out the Knicks Fanatics Blog for some of the best NY Knicks coverage on the net. Why? Well imagine a young Pam Grier, Sophia Loren and Jayne Kennedy in an old-school Knicks dance team. So worth the read.

In this Q&A, I ask him whether or not Lebron James will be a Knick, he wished Spurs fans warned Knicks fans about Mike D'Antoni, and breaks it down on what to expect from tonight's game from the Knicks. All this and much more!

Are Knick fans still holding out hope that LeBron James will be with the New York Knicks next season?

To a great extent Knick fandom is in absolute disarray which is what happens when your team is in absolute disarray and constantly losing.  Knicks fans are all over the place emotionally and intellectually. A few are still holding out hope against reality that New York is the ultimate destination for a basketball star regardless of money and the quality of the team.  I understand that even the team was still exploiting this hope by selling next year's season tickets as "LeBron Insurance." Yet, despite our longing optimism more and more New York fans are starting to see the reality over the marketing. LeBron James is most likely not coming to New York except to play a couple of games of horse against the Knicks and watch the Yankees.  

Mike D'Antoni. Your thoughts on what he has done for the Knicks and is he the right coach to lead this team back into the playoffs?

Ah, Mike D'Antoni.  Ye Spurs knew him well and were not neighborly enough to warn us.

Judge a coach by how he responds to pressure and difficulties, especially if he is the source of much of it.

Mike D'Antoni has suffered much under Donnie Walsh's 2010 plan which was really a concept more than a plan -- the concept was to get under the cap and pretend to be competitive towards the playoffs.  Donnie had hoped (and so had I quite frankly) that while he dismantled the team and turned it into expiring contracts, D'Antoni would shape those contracts into an exciting up-tempo product for the fans.  The notion was that an exciting product would tide us over until we got to the summer of 2010 and seduced one of the big three -- LeBron, Wade, Bosh.  Unfortunately, Donnie Walsh didn't really think this through when he hired a coach who skipped out on Phoenix because they lost confidence in his 7 Seconds of Less program and who avoided the Chicago Bulls because they doubted the efficacy of his "a great offense=a good defense" strategy. 

In all fairness to Mike, Walsh has built this team on malcontents and bench retreads.  The majority of his non-draft personnel decisions, including hiring Mike D'Antoni, has brought in someone either at odds with their previous employer, a player rotting and brooding on an opponent's bench (Chris Duhon, Al Harrington, Larry Hughes, Tracey McGrady) or someone damn near retired  (Jonathon Bender, Cuttino Mobley, Tracey McGrady).   Mike also came into an environment where he did not have his type of players.  He was forced to work with Walsh in a ridiculously elongated effort to kick out Stephon Marbury.  He never really warmed up to Nate Robinson and he thought that David Lee was not fast enough to play his type of ball. So you can say he did not have the tools.

Regardless, D'Antoni's job was to coach these players and create a team.  He did not.  Under the stress D'Antoni has revealed himself as the wrong coach for this city.  Beneath that smile and usually friendly (but competitive) demeanor, he can be mean-spirited and short sighted. He plays favorites and does not treat his team as a team. He treats his select players as a team. In this case, his pets have been Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. Stubbornly sticking with Chris Duhon as his starting point was just sheer arrogance and stupidity if winning was his goal.  His management of Nate Robinson, one of his most skilled players, was appalling.  His team's lack of defense is even more appalling and he very readily blames the players for his lack of preparation and his poor coaching. 

David Lee. I seriously love his game and was glad he was an NBA All-Star this year. Will he be out of a Knicks uniform next season?

I believe the main reason the Knicks worked so hard to clear so much cap space was not for a second max player.  Management was working on a math problem which indicated they did not have enough space to build a team AND get a high quality max free agent.  Without that flexibility, the Knicks would be unable to make a run at David Lee whose rights they are probably going to renounce in order to open their options.

I don't know David Lee, but lately he has been vocally frustrated at the criticism of his defense and it seems that he is tired of being blamed for D'Antoni's poor defense.  Lee knows he can get better, but he also understands that he is playing out of position every night at the five spot. For the Knick's David Lee at the five is suicidal, if not out right stupid.  Lee is right, he should not play the five night in and night out, but he does do an admirable job sometimes, especially when he has help,  the guards are rotating and staying in front of their man, and the team is communicating as a whole.  My bad, that usually doesn't happen.

Seriously, if I am David Lee, I leave the Knicks.  Mike D'Antoni has mis-used him and the Knicks did not treat him as he would have liked over the summer.  Although they gave him a larger contract than they were technically obligated to, it contained a bonus for the playoffs which the Knicks did not give him a real chance to achieve.  He should be pissed and they should give him the bonus anyway.  He has been a loyal soldier through horrid regimes and he has developed a new aspect of his game every year.  Many Knicks fans don't like him because of his lack of defensive skills and intensity, but I would not be surprised if he developed that part of his game over the summer.  I think any team that is really a team would love David Lee. He's a real baller.

What is the key match-up for Spurs and Knicks fans to watch out for tonight?

I'm not sure there is one key match-up since the Spurs, more than most teams, play as a unit not a collection of individuals.  I would focus on two different match-ups: David Lee against Tim Duncan and the opposing backcourts, Manu Ginobli and George Hill against Sergio Rodriguez and Toney Douglas.  If the Spurs run and pound the ball inside, I will go to sleep early tonight.  If Douglas and Rodriguez can run at all and keep the Spurs backcourt squeaking its heels on both ends of the court, I may go to sleep late and happy.  
 
What can Spurs fans expect to see from this Knicks team tonight and if you were coaching, what would your game plan be versus the Spurs?

Their are three keys, beyond showing up, to beating my Knicks.  The Spurs must play at least 2 1/2 quarters of solid defense, they must concentrate on scoring in the paint and not get lulled into trading treys and perimeter jumpers and they can dismantle and discombobulate the Knicks with up-tempo, fast break offense because the Knicks have no transition defense.  If the Spurs walk the ball up the court on offense, they can easily be at the mercy of our three point shooters. 

Spurs fans may get to see some spurts of great individual effort.  You will love David Lee's mid-range accuracy.  It is gorgeous to behold.  You might get Al Harrington at his one-on-one best.  His array of face-up spin moves to the basket are very nice when he is not out of control. You will get to see the athleticism of Bill Walker, who we just picked up from the Celtics.  If the Spurs don't play good defense (see the man, see the ball), he will slip his opponent and add to his personal highlight reel.

Hopefully, you will see some solid play from our youngin's, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Toney Douglas. If Wilson Chandler stays off the arc, he is a solid player with a nice game -- not dominant, but nice.  He needs a better defensive coach to take advantage of that athleticism. Hopefully, Gallinari is going to use these last few games to develop a game. He has talent to be more than a three-point set shot artist but he has been timid and needs the ball in his hand closer to the basket.  He is not practicing an array of mid-range shots and post moves to take advantage of mismatches.  For now however, if an opponent plays him close and is quick to the angles, he can easily disrupt Gallo. Toney Douglas simply needs time to play.  It's about time that D'Antoni gave him a real shot.

Arianné Villanueva is back and this time I join her for the latest Spurscast in Spanish. In this episode she recaps the past games for the Spurs and we get her opinion on Tony Parker's recent comments on playing for the French National team this summer.

Remember Project Spurs was the first Spurs blog to have a Spurs podcast and the first to have a Spanish podcast for Spanish speaking fans.

Arianné Villanueva y Jeff García vuelven y discuten los juegos de las últimas dos semanas de los Spurs. También comparten su opinión sobre los recientes rumores de que Tony Parker posiblemente no juegue para Francia este verano.

Y recuerden que Project Spurs fue la primera página de Internet en tener un podcast de Los Spurs y la primera en tener un podcast en español para los fanáticos de habla hispana.

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AccuScore Analyst

	CURRENT RECORD	FORECAST	PLAYOFF ODDS
San Antonio	36-24	49.3-32.7	98%
Oklahoma City	38-24	48.5-33.5	95%
Portland	37-28	46.5-35.5	89%
Memphis	32-31	39.6–41.4	3%

The Spurs, playing their first game without the injured Tony Parker, lost tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers despite LeBron James and Shaq not playing and Antawn Jamison getting hurt during the game. Final score 97-95. Spurs record drops to 36-25 and remain in seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race.

The Spurs were basically a two-man team with Manu Ginobili and George Hill leading the way with 38 and 23 points respectively. Aside from no one else contributing on the offensive end, defensively costly turnovers in the crucial moments of the fourth quarter doomed the Spurs. Not to mention poor execution on the offensive end and failing to hit the shots when it counted added to this Spurs loss.

Despite the poor fourth quarter, the Spurs had a shot to tie the game and send it into OT but Roger Mason missed a three that would have tied the game.

To go over other aspects of the game, I asked fellow Bloguin NBA blogger, Brendan Bowers of Stepien Rules, a few questions about tonight's game. Please check out Stepien Rules for the best Cavs coverage.

The Cavaliers are deep, and if anything, they have a number of guys more than capable of hitting shots offensively.  Daniel Gibson is a guy that can hit big shots as well as anybody in the NBA and he hit one tonight, while if the team's at full strength, he probably doesn't play.  Other guys stepped up and did the same, and I thought JJ Hickson was particularly aggressive as well offensively in a needed capacity.  As a team too, I think there's something to be said about wanting to show people that you are capable of winning a game against a good team without LeBron, and after losing to Milwaukee last time out, I think they made it a point to do so tonight...and they did.

Thanks to Brendan for participating in this Q&A.  To read my Q&A on the Spurs loss with Brendan click HERE to visit Stepien Rules.

Notes:

• Spurs shot 41.7% from the field, 34.5 % from the three-point line, and 68.2% from the free-throw line.
• Spurs committed 14 turnovers and grabbed 44 rebounds.
• Spurs bench scored 17 points.
• The Cavs had six players scoring in double digits.
• Richard Jefferson, Roger Mason, and Antonio McDyess had a bad game. RJ went 1-3 from the field and 0-2 from the three-point line finishing with three points in 28:26. Mason went 0-8 from the three-point line and 1-10 from the field scoring two points in 25:23. McDyess went 2-8 from the field and scored four points in 14:59.
• The Spurs will next play the New York Knicks in San Antonio this Wednesday.

 

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Spurs will call up Cedric Jackson from the NBDL Erie BayHawks to back up George Hill at point guard due to Tony Parker being out for six weeks due to hand injury.

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I think a few games rest for LeBron is not necessarily 'needed' but I have no problem with it, and think it could prove beneficial in the long-run.  One of the Cavaliers strength is there overall team depth from 1-12, and looking at the roster that way there's no deeper team than the Cavaliers.  When they get into the playoffs, that rotation will shrink down from 10-11 to 7 or 8, and while they might not be the deepest team in the NBA from 1-7, they are from 1-12, and there's no time like the present - regular season - to capitalize on that strength and save some miles on LBJ's tires, because come playoff time, they won't have that luxury.
Well James is just a better overall player both physically and mentally.  I think he learned from the first go round with the Spurs, and where he made his most dramatic personal development in the time since is mentally.  And as far as being a better player, I'd argue that he's even markedly better than he was last year when he won the MVP.  How the teams different is simply personnel.  Sans LeBron, that team had no business being in the NBA Finals and your Spurs made them acutely aware of that in four short match-ups. But this Cavs team doesn't start a backcourt that started Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic, and now has about 8 guys on this team that would have been improvements in the starting lineup over those two guys, as well as Gooden and Z.  And that's not even talking about a bench that gave big minutes to guys like Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones.
The Cavs PG's will look a ton better defensively than they would've trying to chase Parker all over the place.  If there's a weakness on this Cavs team its defensively from that position, and a guy like Parker could line up to have a field day against him.  With Parker out though, the Spurs will need to find another area to attack other than the Cavaliers weakest link defensively.  So it should be better with him out...for us, not you. Hope he can make it back for the Playoffs though.

Recently, it was announced that Denver Nuggets' head coach, George Karl, was diagnosed with throat and neck cancer. Unfortunately, this isn't his first bout with cancer. In 2005, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and won that battle.

Though he does coach an opposing Western Conference team, Spurs fans must not forget, he began his NBA playing and coaching career with the San Antonio Spurs.

He signed with the Spurs when the team was in the ABA in 1973 and his NBA career began when the Spurs were absorbed into the NBA in 1976.  While with the Spurs, he averaged 6.5 points, 3 assists, 1.4 rebounds, shot 46% from the three-point line in 16.9 minutes for the Spurs from 1973-1978. His best year was the 1974-75 season, when he averaged 8.1 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. It is funny, he considered himself more the ladies man than a basketball player while in the ABA. He retired from the Spurs in 1978 and began his coaching career with the team as an assistant coach.

That being said, he is a competitor and when it came to playing against his former team, he never held back. For example, in the 2005 playoffs and in particular, Manu Ginobili. Karl described Ginobili's game as "ugly," "hard to watch" and did not enjoy Manu's ability to draw the foul aka "flopping." But in the end, he set matters straight with Manu and said he was a great player.  Even this season, he was to the point about the reason the Spurs are having troubles on the court.

Karl is also close friend to Coach Popovich. They coached the 2002 USA Basketball Men's World Championship team. He has always remarked positively about Pop's relationship with Tim Duncan, and pokes fun of Pop's approach to coaching since he has a no-nonsense superstar in Duncan. Recently, Karl and Popovich had fun with the topic of limiting Duncan's minutes and Pop's love of wine. And even when he is pointing out the the issues with this years Spurs team, he said of Popovich "(Gregg Popovich) has tricks, he can mess with you."

Karl has had many battles on the court but they pale in comparison to his second battle with cancer. Today he goes for surgery to insert a feeding tube.

We here at Project Spurs wish him a full recovery in his second fight against cancer and hope the Spurs play against him and his team for many years to come. And though he may be coaching the Nuggets, he will always be a Spur.

All-NBA selections. Check. NBA All-Star. Check. NBA's Most Valuable Player. Check. Champion. Check.

Tim Duncan has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in his illustrious 12 year career. At the time of this article, including playoffs, he's played 40,755 minutes, scored 23,708 points and collected 12,975 rebounds, all in a Silver and Black jersey.

Obviously these numbers have increased but there's no argument that Duncan has given all his blood, sweat and tears to the franchise. But, as the saying goes, all great things must come to an end, and soon the Duncan era will come to an end.

So how will the Duncan era end? Will it end like the Robinson era? Hoisting the Larry O'Bryant trophy in the sky, showers of confetti raining down on the court. At that time, no Spur had meant more to San Antonio then David. Because of him, two things come to mind when you think of San Antonio: the Alamo and the Spurs. It was incredibly emotional to see David in his last moments as a Spur. I'd wouldn't be honest if I said I didn't cry. I think most of us did. How could you not? To see the Admiral go out on top, the person I most admired growing up, my hero, was an unforgettable moment in my life.

But will Duncan and his four championships simply ride off into the sunset headed for Springfield? He's still averaging a double-double with 19 points and 10.8 rebounds a game. And at 33-years-old, Duncan is still schooling younger players. But the Spurs are struggling, and with players like Dwight Howard, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony playing the best basketball of their careers, not to mention the Lakers and Mavericks adding pieces to their rosters that will keep them in contention for years, it seems Duncan might not make it back to the promise land.

The Spurs have shown they are willing to do what is necessary to surround Duncan with pieces he needs to get another title by acquiring Richard Jefferson and his 29.4 million dollar contract. Even though the acquisition of Jefferson hasn't panned out like we anticipated, the move by R.C. Buford shows the Spurs believe Duncan still has enough left in the tank to bring one more chip to the Alamo City. 

However, taking on Jefferson's huge contract has made it seemingly difficult to sign an All-Star caliber big man that can take the torch from Duncan and carry the Spurs into the future. But Buford and the Spurs front office are one of the best in the league.  So if this season doesn't end with a parade, don't count out next season.

Buford is one of the great General Managers in the NBA. He is unafraid of taking risks and understands that Duncan is still and an elite player and in the playoffs can still put up daunting statistics. Buford's mind, like rims on an Escalade, are constantly spinning. If he can surround Duncan with the right players, then Duncan could possibly get that fifth title.

The problem is that Duncan is 33. Five years ago, any player would have taken a pay cut to come play with the great Tim Duncan and win a championship. Is there still appeal to come play for an aging superstar? Especially when he plays in one of the smallest markets in the Association. I don't remember players lining up to play with Micheal Jordan when he was in Washington.

When the Duncan era ends, it truly will be the end of an era. When Duncan goes so will Popovich, and the future of Manu is still uncertain. Parker will still be in the prime of his career when his contract expires in 2011. If the Spurs aren't contenders, don't be surprised if he goes elsewhere and tries to win a ring.

I think the Mayans were predicting about the Spurs when they came up with their 2012 end of the world prophecy.

And that's exactly how it's going to feel. It's going to feel like the end of the world once Duncan is gone throughout Spurs nation. When he goes, so will the 50 plus win seasons, the excitement of the playoffs and the belief that any season could be our season.

How do I think the Duncan era will end? As much as it hurts me to say this, I don't think Duncan will get another ring. I believe he can win another ring, but don't think it's going to happen.

On a trip to San Antonio this past week, my father told me that attendance has dipped at Spurs games this season. Could be the current state of the economy in general or because of how poorly they have been playing. But what about those seasons when we win only 30 games, even 20? Are you going to still wear your Spurs gear? Keep the emblem on your car? Keep going to games? I will. And I'll love every second of it. Because the Spurs are more then numbers in the win and loss columns. Like they've been there for us, we'll need to be there for them.

I urge you, please. Please go to these games. We are blessed to have one of the All-Time greats playing in our own backyard. Please take your children, or your grandchildren, so they can say they were able to see Timmy. If you have the opportunity to go see him play, go. If tickets are five dollars, scrape some change up from your couch or car and hit the coin-star machine. If you can't pay for parking, take the park and ride, but please, be there.  Soon he'll be gone, and all we'll have left are our pictures, screen print jerseys and trading cards, but even those won't last forever. So take every chance you have to see Tim Duncan play. Because when his era ends, and all that's left is the banners hanging in the rafters, you'll want to be able to say you saw him. And memories, it's the memories that will last a lifetime.