Spurs "Odd" Bid in Trouble

Before I get to the headline, let's put the college basketball season to rest. Hopefully you guys caught my diary last night which may have cost me cool points with my girlfriend but was fun nonetheless. Here's the box score from last night, and like I said during the game the most eye-popping number was the turnovers. 21 for Michigan State, just about a turnover every two minutes. Can't win games, especially big games against a superior team, with numbers like that. The shooting was pretty bad, too, but thanks to a better-played second half those numbers, poor as they were, became inflated. The Spartans had to rally to get to 40%.

Anyway, Carolina fan or not, you have to feel good for Tyler Hansborough. Until this game, he had one of the most decorated careers in college basketball history without a championship. So much for that.


Now I can finally return my attention to the NBA, where the Dallas Mavericks have a chance to move up to as high as sixth in the West after spending the majority of the season in the eight spot. They've got the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, followed by a home and home with New Orleans that will ultimately decide their fate. My prediction? 2-1 in those three games gets them at least the seventh spot. Anywhere but eight. As much Mavs' fans want to remain optimistic, even I, Mavs' fan extraordinaire, have to admit that they're probably not beating the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game series. They'd be underdogs against Houston, Denver or San Antonio, but it wouldn't be out of the question to win a series against any one of those teams.

But, my buried lead is this: as a fan I'm rooting for the Mavs to get to that sixth spot, because news broke today that Manu Ginobili, an integral part of the Spurs' championship runs in odd years, is done for the year after re-aggravating a right ankle injury. No playoffs for Ginobili, in my opinion, means no chance at a title for the Spurs. It's that simple.

Poor Manu. First he misses 44 games at the start of the season after hurting his left ankle during the Olympics. That healed, and then he had a stress reaction in his right distal fibula (I'll have to ask my athletic trainer/physical therapist/girl feeler-upper friend Hakeem about that one, but I assume it has to do with his right ankle). And now, back since Mar. 25, he's suffered another setback.

Rudy Tomjanovich once said, "Never underestimate the heart of a champion." But, whoever gets that sixth seed will not show any sympathy for the wounded San Antonio Spurs.