Despite a fantastic regular season, the Spurs are in rebuild mode

Last night the San Antonio Spurs lost very badly to the Houston Rockets, 99 - 126. I think there remains a good chance that they win the series. And there will always be a little voice in my heart that says they can win the title. But if I'm honest, the Spurs are in a rebuild mode. They are in just as much of a rebuild mode as many teams that missed the playoffs entirely.  Vital pieces need to be added.  I won't go so far as to say they are in the same boat as the Lakers or the Sixers, but the overall term can be used for each team. However, unlike those obvious rebuilding projects, the Spurs rebuild is deceptive:

It looks like 61 regular season wins.

It looks like the best regular season defensive rating in the league.

It looks like landing a #2 seed in the loaded Western Conference.

It looks like Kawhi Leonard putting up an MVP-worthy season.

But don't let those signs fool you into thinking the Spurs are championship-ready. 

Last year when the Spurs were dismantled by the Thunder I was very disappointed, but I also knew that the better team had won.  San Antonio took a 2-1 series lead by riding Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge’s combined scoring average of 57.6 points per game in the first three matchups.  In the following three games those numbered teetered off to 42.3 and San Antonio dropped all three losing the series 2-4.  The Spurs simply didn't have a healthy premiere point guard or enough young firepower on the wings. Durant and Westbrook had ripped the reigns away from Leonard and Aldridge combining for an average of 59.3 points over the last three games.  Rim protection was lacking and Steven Adams ruled the paint like a bully in a sandbox.  As a Spurs fan, it was a sobering experience made even more potent by Tim Duncan’s retirement two months later in July.  But at least we knew what roles the team needed to fill for a championship the next year.

In the offseason the Spurs revitalized the point with... a raw, athletic rookie in Dejounte Murray? They added rangy athletic wings such as... rookies Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes? They locked down the paint by signing old man Pau Gasol and Dewayne Dedmon?  That is what rebuilding looks like.  Adding undeveloped young talent and older veterans to ease the transition.  Yet I never think to associate the word “rebuild” with the Spurs because they have been winning 50+ games every season going back to when Hoya-legend Bill Clinton was in the White House.  Yet now, this postseason the Spurs have the same exact problems against the Rockets that they had against the Thunder in 2016, except they have brought three promising rookies along for the ride.

If the Spurs are going to win with Kawhi and LaMarcus, then they need a star middleman between the two.  Unlike many fans, I have not given up on LaMarcus Aldridge.  However, I do believe he can only be maximized as a third-option scorer.  That is why striking out on Kevin Durant continues to looks like a massive loss for an otherwise championship-ready Spurs roster. 

Ultimately, I'll enjoy this series and hope the Spurs can make enough adjustments to handle the Rockets’ high-powered offense. But I wouldn't be too surprised if Houston continues to feast on this Spurs squad, closing the series in 6 games or so.  If that happens I'll be  sad for the guys, especially Kawhi, but I won't be as disappointed as last year. Because I also wouldn't at all be surprised if in a year or two, we are witnessing a perfectly crafted Spurs team led by peak-Kawhi Leonard. I wouldn't be surprised if Dejounte Murray has developed into a Shaun Livingston-esque point guard to lead the second unit with Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes ready for catch-and-shoot threes. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Point-God Chris Paul signs with San Antonio and finds a post-prime renaissance under Pop's system. 

Most importantly, I wouldn't be surprised if in the next couple of years I look back and think, "wow, those disappointing playoff exits were part of a process for something great".   Right now, as a Spurs fan, I need to trust the process.  But not the kitschy kind of “Trust the Process” that has defined the tanking-rebuild in Philadelphia.  I’m talking about trusting that the Spurs will continue to win while adding pieces and building on the basketball culture that has developed out in the southernmost parts of the Lone Star State.  Let’s not lose faith and keep the bigger picture in mind, but still go out and crush the Rockets in game 2 tomorrow.  Go Spurs Go!

"The Lost City of Z" Review

OP-ROB RATING: BENCH

“The Lost City of Z” opens in the green pastures of Ireland, where a young man named Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) is stationed with the Royal War Office.  Fawcett is a sharp and capable soldier, yet he fails to gain advancement because of his father’s reputation as a gambler and a drunk.  Fawcett’s fortune’s rise when he receives a surveying appointment from the Royal Geographical Society that could restore his family name.  The task is to discover the source of the Rio Verde in Amazonia (modern day Bolivia/Brazil).  Fawcett accepts the lengthy challenge, leaving behind his pregnant wife Nina (Sienna Miller) and toddler Jack (Tom Mulheron).  On the journey Fawcett is accompanied by a crew, including Henry Costin (Robert Pattinson), a gruff and experienced surveyor. The rigors of Amazonia prove to be extremely precarious.  For example, while rafting up river the crew is periodically attacked by bow-and-arrow wielding natives who linger behind bushes on the banks of the Rio Verde.  In one instance a man is shot and falls into the river to be mauled by piranhas. Despite the dangers, Fawcett and Costin succeed in their mission to discover the source of the Rio Verde, mostly thanks to a knowledgeable native guide.  Over the course of the trip the guide mumbles a few things to Fawcett regarding a once-great city deep in the jungle.  Fawcett shrugs off the comments until, at the source of the river, he finds several pieces of pottery and some engravings on trees. 

Upon returning home Fawcett is hailed as a hero and the foremost explorer in Britain.  With his family name restored, Fawcett has the ability to live his life uninhibited. However, throughout the rest of the film he returns to Amazonia two more times, with a stint in World War I in between.  The reason for his subsequent explorations is a fascination with finding the lost city the native guide spoke of.  Fawcett becomes more and more obsessed with finding the city he refers to as “Z”.  His British peers sneer and scoff at the idea of a great city buried in the jungle, and there are more than a few scenes in which Fawcett urges his compatriots not to underestimate the “savages”. 

As a film, "The List City of Z" is undeniably well done. Hunnam is believably resolute as Percy Fawcett for most of the film. His choppy, assured early 20th century British dialogue is executed consistently. However, as Fawcett's delusions become clearer Hunnam tends to oversell it.  Sienna Miller is more impressive as Nina.  Her scorn of the search for Z slowly evolves into reluctant approval.  By the end of the film she is equally as invested as her husband, who has been mostly absent because of his quest for glory.  As the signs build up that Fawcett's mission is far-fetched, and destructive to his family, we never question the conviction of the main characters motivations.  For the most part we believe that they believe. 

 The cinematography is equally as steady and authentic. Throughout the film the camera just glides along the intriguing landscapes of Ireland, Britain, and Amazonia.  The camera’s omniscience doesn’t lead to any surprises or shaky shots.  One could argue the technique is simple, crisp, and unassuming.  However, I have a feeling the camerawork is meant to add to the impending sense that Fawcett’s mission is doomed.  His ultimate fate is as certain from the opening scene to the final credits.  What is equally interesting is how the matter-of-factness of the film contrasts with Fawcett’s growing delusion about finding the lost city.  On the second exploration in Amazonia, Fawcett and Costin are invited to hang out with a tribe of cannibals.  While in their village, Fawcett spots a small patch of cultivated land.  Upon seeing it, Fawcett points it out to Costin and exclaims that this agricultural feat must mean that Z exists!  After Fawcett shuffles away there is a split second in which Costin turns to the camera and stares blankly, expressing his and the audiences skepticism. 

Unfortunately, as the film drags on and Fawcett grows more obsessed with the vanished city, the subtleties that made the scene with Costin so effective also vanish.  On Fawcett’s final expedition to Amazonia he brings Jack (Tom Holland) who has now grown up.  In one of the final scenes the two are taken hostage by group of natives.  As the captors discuss what to do with them, Fawcett tells his son that, “whatever happens, it is our destiny.”  With your eldest son’s head so close to the literal chopping block, one wishes that Fawcett could have come up with some better words.  

“The Lost City of Z” amounts to a well made, yet ultimately fruitless adventure.  The most significant aspect of the film are Fawcett’s motivations and the effect they have on his family and friends. There are much better movies, such as “There Will Be Blood”, that explore the same kind destructiveness that can be caused by unbridled ambition.  Perhaps it is fitting that the final impression of the “The Lost City of Z” coincides with Fawcett’s own expedition.  A few screen titles at the end of the film tell us that Fawcett disappeared along with Jack on that final expedition, and a lost city of Z was never found.  In the end, “The Lost City of Z” is an overdrawn film that never really hits a full stride.  On a rainy spring day, moviegoers would be wise to explore elsewhere.

"After the Storm" Review

OP-ROB RATING: ALL-STAR

Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) is a middle-aged novelist who started a promising career by publishing an award-winning book called “The Empty Table”. He has since been married, had a child, fallen into debt, and gotten a divorce.  Now his career as a novelist seems like a footnote in comparison to his other problems. Kyoko (Yōko Maki) is Ryota’s ex-wife; she works in real estate and has custody of Shingo (Taiyô Yoshizawa), Ryota’s twelve-year-old son. While Kyoko seems cold, she just wants what is best for Shingo and herself.  Shingo is a quiet youngster who plays baseball, it is fitting that instead of swinging aimlessly for home runs, he always tries to draw a walk.  It is he that has the complicated task of keeping a relationship with his estranged father. Tying the three together is Ryota’s grandmother, Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki), who in her fun-loving appeal manages to keep a relationship with all of them.  These are the main characters in Hirokazu Koreeda’s new film “After the Storm”, which has hardly anything to do with storms.

The story swirls around its flawed main character, Ryota, who is masterfully portrayed by Hiroshi Abe.  On the surface, he seems like a despicable character.  A divorced gambling addict on the verge of being evicted from his tiny one room apartment, Ryota spends his days doing the sleazy work of a private detective, sometimes spying for clients and other times spying on his ex-wife.  In a vexing scene, Ryota secures a decent commission only to gamble it all away at the cycling racetrack.  Without a doubt, Ryota is a deadbeat dad who deserves little sympathy.  However, it is impossible not to feel something for the downtrodden novelist.  In Abe’s long, unshaven, and weathered face you can see goodness and a desire to do the right thing.  It takes a skilled director-actor pair to generate this kind of unearned sympathy for such a disappointing character.  Within Ryota there is also a metaphor for the deceiving nature of gambling.  As Ryota assures his detective colleague, if he wins at the track he can buy cleats and a baseball glove for Shingo and pay for rent.  The desire is true, but the treacherousness of gambling robs it of any virtue.

            Where “After the Storm” hit me personally, was in its message about dreams and responsibility.  As a college student, it seems as you get closer and closer to graduation people stray from their passions and focus their efforts on preparation for “the real world”.  It is easy to scoff at these people and view them as sellouts.  But the real world is undoubtedly coming, and when the unsuccessful dreamers cant buy baseball cleats for their children they may wish they had been more practical during college.  Life changes, and with it your desires and obligations change.  The comedic, high-energy senior Yoshiko has more than a few wise musings on this topic throughout the film.  Your dreams do not take priority over your family.  This resonates within the character of Ryota, who has never swallowed that pill.  In one scene Yoshiko tells her “late blooming” son to “hurry up, or I’ll haunt you!” as she staggers toward him like a ghost.  In another scene Ryota faces this problem quite starkly when he is given an opportunity to write for a Manga comic book.  He turns it down out of pride, and out of his dream of becoming a self-sufficient novelist.  It is a damning symbol of irony that Ryota’s one award-winning book is called “The Empty Table”.

“After the Storm” does not do anything groundbreaking.  There are no gimmicks or twists.  The cinematography is simple and unstylized.  And while there are grand analyses of human nature that arise from the story, Koreeda never thumps them over our head.  In one particular scene midway through the movie, Ryota excitedly takes Shingo to a lottery kiosk to buy tickets.  Ryota explains that his father had taken him to do the same as a child.  It was at this moment that you could hear the air get sucked out of theater, as there was a collective sigh from the audience.  Unprompted by a musical buildup or a dramatic flashback, Koreeda delivers a stinging example how the sins of the father can affect a generation through modest words and expressions.  

In the end, “After the Storm” does not leave you feeling excited or inspired like a family-drama such as ”Little Miss Sunshine” would.  What it does make you feel is hope for man stuck in generation-old habits and a debilitating urge to regain what he has lost forever.  As Shingo asks Ryota, “Are you who you wanted to be?” his father replies, “I’m not. Not yet.”  If you look closely, there are enough signs throughout the film to suggest he might be on the way.