Duncan lifts Spurs over Hawks

PF sets NBA Record

Tim Duncan has turned back the clock…again.  In last nights match between the Spurs and the Atlanta Hawks, Tim Duncan shot a last second shot to lift the Spurs to a 100-102 victory.  Duncan was key in the entire game with 23 points and 21 rebounds becoming the oldest player in NBA History to notch a 20/20 game.

“Tonight was good for (Duncan),” guard Manu Ginobili said, “but we never lost trust in him. We would be crazy if we did. It does feel good to see him coming back, especially over the past few games.”

The Hawks know exactly what to expect fro the likes of  Tim Duncan these days.

“We know the type of player he is,” Atlanta center Al Horford said. “He’s just a winner; he finds ways every time.”

The Spurs head out on the road to face the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night.  Great seats and tickets are still available!

 

Splitter struggles to score

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — If Spurs fans have been fretting about the unimpressive numbers center Tiago Splitter has been putting up in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich has an explanation.

“I just don’t see much offensive skill there,” said Goodrich, working as an analyst on ESPN’s English language telecasts of the games that will send the top two teams to the 2012 Olympic tournament in London next summer.

“For a guy who was supposed to be one of the best big men in this tournament, maybe the best, he’s really struggled.”

Indeed, Splitter’s offensive performance has been shockingly mediocre and inconsistent. The only NBA player on a very young Brazilian team, which scored a surprising 73-71 victory over host Argentina on Wednesday, Splitter totaled only 17 points in the four games that preceded a 17-point outburst in Brazil’s Thursday victory over Puerto Rico.

A player coach Gregg Popovich has called “a linchpin of the future” for the Spurs got off to a good start in the tournament. He made 7 of 8 shots and scored 17 points in Brazil’s first game, but since he has scored in double figures only once more in the six games that preceded the meeting with Puerto Rico.

He made 6 of 8 shots and scored 16 points, with 10 rebounds, in Brazil’s 79-74 victory over a Dominican Republic team that features Al Horford, the Atlanta Hawks’ two-time NBA All-Star center, and Charlie Villanueva, the Milwaukee Bucks veteran power forward. It was his most impressive performance of the two-week tournament, but he had struggled before breaking out against an undersized Puerto Rican team.

In Wednesday’s game against Manu Ginobili’s Argentine team, the 6-foot-11 center took only six shots — none from more than 5 feet from the basket — and missed them all. Three of them were blocked at the rim, including one by Ginobili and another by former Spurs center Fabricio Oberto, a solid post defender but never a renowned as a shot-blocker.

Splitter’s problems at the foul line also persist.

Though it is clear he is trying to adhere to the revamped free-throw stroke he learned last season from Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland, his official free-throw percentage through seven games is 42.4. Three converted free throws were disallowed by the referees because of lane violations by overaggressive teammates, clearly anticipating misses and trying to gain rebounding position.

Those show up as misses on Splitter’s stats, but adding them in raises his accuracy to only 51.5 percent.

The good news for the Spurs? Splitter’s work on the boards and on defense has been solid, if not spectacular. His rebounding average, 7.6 per game, is seventh best in the tournament.

Splitter takes solace in Brazil’s 7-1 record and its victory over archrival Argentina. He feels his defensive presence is more important to Brazil’s team goals than his offensive work, especially when the semifinals arrive Saturday. Olympic berths will go to the winners of the two semifinal games.

“We know that now is the time to play and now is when the games really matter,” Splitter said. “Of course, you have more pressure now. You have everything on the line.

“We have figured out how to (play) defense better. Coach (Ruben) Magnano wants us to have good defense and then start the fast break. That is the key to our game, so I am trying to contribute most on defense and start the fast break. I am not worrying about getting my points. I mostly try to (play) defense and rebound.”

Meanwhile, Splitter awaits the end of the NBA lockout so he can resume working on smoothing the rough edges that have been on display in Ginobili’s home country.

“The good thing with Tiago is that he worked on it right after the season,” Ginobili said. “He stayed for a month and a half in San Antonio and worked with the coaches before the lockout. But it really (stinks) that we can’t work out in our gym or even talk to Pop. It’s really crazy, but it is what it is.”

Scola leads Argentina to Americas title

By Mike Monroe
mmonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — By the final five minutes of Sunday’s FIBA Americas championship game, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili had a thick band of tape covering a gash on the bridge of his nose.

His teammate, Houston Rockets power forward Luis Scola, had a butterfly Band-Aid covering a cut on his left eyelid.

His legs so rubbery from having played six games in seven nights, Ginobili missed three of four from the free-throw line in the final 16.6 seconds, a rarity for the 90 percent shooter that the Spurs trust on the charity stripe in the final seconds of tight games.

When Scola finally secured an 80-75 victory for Argentina over archrival Brazil by making two free throws with less than a second remaining, Ginobili and the rest of the Argentine team found the energy to join their countrymen and sing along in a raucous chorus that filled the arena. Translated, the refrain went: “Go, go Argentina; go everyone to win; this group ? never stops supporting you.”

His gold medal still around his neck 30 minutes later, powder blue and white confetti still trapped in his thinning hair, the 34-year-old Spurs star encapsulated his feelings after achieving the goal he and his teammates had set for themselves this summer.

“Now it is a mix between exhaustion and excitement and happiness, of course,” said Ginobili, who scored only eight points on 2-for-9 shooting, including going 0 for 3 from 3-point range. “We’ve been together for 45 days just to accomplish this.

“It was not easy to play today. Yesterday (an 81-79 semifinal victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday that secured Argentina’s spot in the 2012 Olympic Games in London) was very tiring and emotional. Once we got that goal, coming here we made one further step, so we are very, very happy.”

Sunday’s victory was not much easier than the one on Saturday, which wasn’t secured until a last-second 3-point attempt by Puerto Rico’s J.J. Barea fell off the rim.

Ahead by 11 with just 46.6 seconds remaining, Argentina let the lead dwindle to 77-75 as Carlos Delfino, Guillermo Kammerichs and Ginobili missed four of six free throws, and Brazil scored on each ensuing possession.

Ginobili missed one of two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to give Brazil an opportunity to tie with a 3-pointer, but an errant pass ended up in Scola’s hands.

Fouled with six-tenths of a second remaining, Scola made both free throws, and the celebration began.

Scola was 12 of 18 from the field and scored 32 points, earning Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament. He led the tournament in scoring, averaging 21.4 points in 10 games.

Scola and Ginobili were named to the all-tournament team along with Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas, Dominican Republic center Al Horford and Puerto Rico guard Carlos Arroyo.

Spurs center Tiago Splitter, his playing time limited once again by foul trouble, made 5 of 10 shots and scored 12 points with five rebounds for Brazil.

“I think we played hard in this game,” Splitter said. “We tried to win, even though we got our goal yesterday to go to the Olympic Games. We made a heck of an effort to win this game, and I think you have to congratulate everybody who gave a lot to this team. We are very happy.”

As players from both teams congratulated one another at game’s end, Splitter and Ginobili shared a hug and mutual congratulations.

“He told me it was a hell of a game and we made them give an extra effort to try to win,” Splitter said. “We congratulated each other to be in the Olympic Games.”

Argentina’s Luis Scola, left, Brazil’s Tiago Splitter collide in their FIBA Americas Championship final in Mar del Plata, Argentina on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)