PreSeason Opener Loss

Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen, and Michael Finley were there for the San Antonio Spurs but just as audiences. The three Spurs stars sat on the sideline to watch the game against fellow-Texan team, Houston Rockets, but wearing street clothes. Maybe Gregg Popovich, Spurs head coach, just didn't want to his three stars to get too tired before the regular season. But apart from keeping his stars healthy, Pop also wanted to watch how his young guns would execute their play, win or lose. "If we win, nobody cares, and if we lose nobody cares," said Spurs head coach.

The Rockets blasted the Spurs out of their way by winning 85-78. Ron Artest gave the boost for his team with 18 points and three blocks. Ex-Blazers, Von Wafer, added 14 pts while Luis Scola continued to do his thang! and finishing with 13 pts. Tracy McGrady was out with an injury. But he's really not what made the Rockets more special this season, it's the ex-Spurs, Brent Barry, who hasn't stretched out his muscles yet with three pts and eight assists.

On the Spurs' side, t'was Malik Hairston who's showed flair on the offensive end with 10 points and followed by Tony Parker adding eight pts with only 13 mins playing time. Ime Udoka also had his share of seven rebounds and Fabricio Oberto with seven pts. Kurt Thomas, Ian Mahinmi, and Salim Stoudamire, were out because of injuries.

The Spurs' preseason opener proves that there still a lot to improve, particularly on the defensive end. The Rockets, with a huge number of turnovers, has outrebounded the Spurs. Apart from that, the Brent-less Spurs were outscored beyond the arc by their rival. But Pop appears to be relax and confident with his team and I think that should be enough to keep the Spurs fan happy even with Manu Ginobili out.