Games of Note

The schedule for the upcoming season is out today.  As a “blogger” I am required to obsessively pour over every detail of the slate to tell you what it means.  However, since I not very good at this, I am instead going to point out a few games that I took note of the first time I scanned down the list.To my mind, we get to the first game of note about a week in, when the Spurs first face the foes that ousted them from the playoffs last season the Phoenix Suns.  This will give us our first chance at revenge, but also our first chance to see how the changes that both teams have made this off-season affect the match-ups.

Sliding down the schedule a couple of weeks (Nov.14^th), brings the Spurs to the OKC.  This is an important game in my mind because it pits the Western Conference Team-of-the-Future against the battle-hardened team that has been-there/ done-that and hopes to do it again really soon. (Wow, I think my sex addict 12 step program isn’t quite working out.)  Last season, the Spurs handled the Thunder well going 3 and 1 against them.  Hopefully they can keep up that pace because the West is always tough.

December 20^th through January 1^stpresents the Spurs with a pretty tough stretch of games both home and away.  The versus runs like this: Phoenix, Denver, Orlando, Washington, Lakers, Dallas, OKC. Thankfully there is only one back-to-back in that stretch.  This is probably what most would consider the first really trying time of the ’10-’11 schedule.  If you are like me, you’re hoping that the Spurs come out of it on a roll grabbing four out of the seven games (at least).

In keeping with the recent pattern that has the Spurs playing a super-tough back nine, almost every game after the All-star Break is a game of note.  Some a little more so than others of course, a prime example is the one-two punch of the cHEAT on March 4^thfollowed by the Lakers on the 6^th.  The consolation there is that the games are in SA.  Ten days later, Timmy and the crew take their talents to South Beach to meet the Wade and the LeBronettes for what could be the last time of the season.  My wishful thinking puts them in the Finals for an epic seven game series, but like Grandma always used to say “don’t count your chickens ‘till they’re fried.”

Finally, the Bat-Tan-Death-March of the season comes to a long awaited close in what should be just the start of a trying month of April with games against: Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Sacramento, Utah, Lakers, and Phoenix again.  Making it through that stretch healthy will be the most important thing, but going into the post season on roll would be good too, if’n they drop the last three it may take a game or two to get their mojo back in Round One. (knock on wood)

Now if only October 27^th would get here already!

p.s. 22 of these games will ne nationally televised