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Bucks keep Spurs winless away from AT&T Center

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

MILWAUKEE — Winning on the road in the NBA is not an art, but a learned skill. That’s what Spurs coach Gregg Popovich believes.

It can take young players a while to come to grips with the intensity and focus needed to win games away from the comforts of home. On the road, every mistake is magnified, every possession hyper-critical.

As the Spurs proved in Tuesday’s 106-103 loss to Milwaukee at the Bradley Center, a game in which a rookie might have helped engineer a victory if not for late mistakes from the team’s most veteran hands, even old dogs can struggle to remember old tricks.

“We’ve always been able to go into places and keep our composure, make less mistakes than our opponents,” Tim Duncan said after the Spurs dropped to 0-4 on the road.

“We’re making too many mistakes right now.”

Stephen Jackson torched his old team for 34 points and eight assists, and Andrew Bogut had 14 points and 11 rebounds in his first game in more than a week, as the Bucks broke a five-game losing streak and kept the Spurs skidding on the road.

Down the stretch, many of the Spurs’ wounds were self-inflicted.

All-Star point guard Tony Parker made perhaps the game’s most momentous miscue in the final minute.

Down one, the Spurs (6-4) had a chance to take the lead when Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings poked the ball out of Parker’s hands to Jackson. The turnover gave way to a run-out dunk for Jennings and a three-point lead for the Bucks with 53.8 seconds to go.

On the Spurs’ next possession, Duncan ran over Bogut for an offensive foul, giving the ball back to Milwaukee.

Later, Duncan all but accused the Bucks center — playing his first game after missing four while dealing with a family emergency in his native Australia — of flopping.

“I enjoy banging with him,” Duncan said. “I don’t enjoy him falling down on the last play and them calling a charge.”

Even Popovich, he of 803 NBA victories, copped to choking in crunch time.

After Milwaukee’s final possession ended with a jump ball between Jackson and DeJuan Blair with 14.3 seconds left, which Blair won, Popovich wanted a timeout to set up a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

Instead of mentioning this desire to an official, Popovich tried in vain to have one of his players make the call.

Though the mad scramble that ensued produced an open, albeit unsuccessful, look for Richard Jefferson, Popovich believed a drawn-up play could have gotten something better.

“I should have been all over the official to get the timeout, and I didn’t do it,” Popovich said.

The Spurs’ mistakes, Duncan said, add up for opposing teams. Milwaukee (3-6) shot 51.8 percent, the third straight team to top 50 percent against the Spurs.

“They’re adding up into points, they’re adding up into high percentages,” Duncan said. “They’re adding up into losses.”

The late-game miscues ruined the first 20-point game of the season for Duncan, who also finished with eight rebounds and seven assists. It sullied a season-high 22 points for Parker, who ended with seven turnovers.

It turned a breakout game from rookie small forward Kawhi Leonard into a footnote. After backup point guard T.J. Ford strained a hamstring in the second quarter, shifting shooting guard Gary Neal to point, Leonard started the second half and produced season highs in points (19) and steals (four).

If young players have to learn to win on the road, class was in session for Leonard.

“Every time he gets into an NBA game, it’s going to be a lesson,” Popovich said.

The lessons continued for all the Spurs on Tuesday, not just the young ones. After another fruitless road trip, the Spurs will be back on their home floor tonight at the ATT Center, where they are 6-0.

“You have to play better on the road than you do at home,” Jefferson said. “We have yet to really do that.”

Their next chance comes Jan. 17 at Miami.

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Spurs vs. Bucks 20120110

Milwaukee Bucks’ Andrew Bogut (6) dunks over San Antonio Spurs’ DeJuan Blair during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, left, of France, drives against Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Andrew Bogut (6) drives against San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Stephen Jackson (5) reacts after drawing an offensive foul on San Antonio Spurs’ Tiago Splitter during the first half of an NBA basketball game ,Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Stephen Jackson, bottom, reacts after drawing an offensive foul on San Antonio Spurs’ Tiago Splitter (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ Gary Neal (14) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks’ Carlos Delfino (10) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, right, drives against Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Stephen Jackson (5) and San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, right, look at a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ Danny Green, right, drives against Milwaukee Bucks’ Tobias Harris during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ T.J. Ford grimaces after an injury against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Stephen Jackson (5) is fouled by San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 106-103. Jackson lead all scorers with 34 points. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Stephen Jackson(5) reacts against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 106-103. Jackson lead all scorers with 34 points. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, left, yells at Matt Bonner (15) during a time out against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 106-103. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings (3) battles San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, right, of France, for a loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 106-103. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

Milwaukee Bucks’ Andrew Bogut, left, reacts in front of San Antonio Spurs’ DeJuan Blair (45) and Richard Jefferson(24) at the end of the game in a NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 106-103. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) (AP)

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)

Ginobili-led Argentina team coveting another run at Olympic glory

By Mike Monroe

mikemonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — The photo is slightly out of focus but has been blown up to 6-by-8 feet.

That gives it a slightly hazy look, almost like it was shot through a thin film of gauze. It hangs over the entrance to Bahiense del Norte, the storied basketball club in Bahia Blanca, an industrial port city of 275,000 on the Atlantic coast, some 500 kilometers southwest of Mar del Plata, where today the finals of the FIBA Tournament of the Americas will take place.

Bahia Blancans know the faces, no matter how blurred, and they know the moment: Manu Ginobili, Pepe Sanchez and Alejandro Montecchia, teammates from the club and key members of Argentina’s 2004 Olympic basketball team. The photo depicts the three standing at center court in Athens, smiling, holding a large Argentine flag, gold medals hanging from their necks.

It is the proudest moment in the history of basketball in Argentina.

While most Argentines cling to the glory of their country’s World Cup soccer championships in 1978 and ’86 as the apex of national sports glory, in Bahia Blanca the greatest moment always will be on the Olympic basketball court in Athens.

There, the three friends and Bahiense del Norte teammates were part of a select group of basketball luminaries forever known in Argentina as the Generacion Dorada, the “Golden Generation.”

Today, six members of that 2004 national team — Ginobili, Sanchez, former Spurs center Fabricio Oberto, Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola, Philadelphia 76ers forward Andres Nocioni and Sacramento Kings guard Carlos Delfino — will play what likely will be their last game together on native soil.

Time waits for no man, not even a golden hero.

“It is highly likely that the (2012) Olympics in London is going to be my last championship tournament,” said Ginobili, the Spurs guard whose immense popularity in San Antonio pales compared to the reverence with which he is held in his home country.

“That’s why I really wanted to be here in Mar del Plata, and I really want to be in there next year. The game (Saturday) told us we are going. It’s very important to me. I really enjoyed my previous two Olympic Games, and I didn’t want to retire without making it again. I know I won’t make it to Rio (De Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games) when I am 39 years old, so this is a great opportunity.”

It was at the 2002 FIBA World Championships in Indianapolis that Americans first took notice of the audacious Argentines.

Scoring the first victory over a U.S. team made up entirely of NBA players, Argentina’s fast-breaking, slick-passing unit came within a clock tick of winning the gold medal. A tie-breaking basket in the finals against Serbia by Huge Sconoccini controversially was ruled to have been released after the final buzzer.

Serbia won in overtime. Argentines still believe their team had the title.

There was no controversial ending in Athens. In the semifinals, Argentina again defeated Team USA, a group that included Spurs captain Tim Duncan, with Gregg Popovich on the bench as an assistant coach.

Not even Bahia Blancans expected that outcome.

“I watched the game with one of my brothers at our home,” said 32-year-old Bahia Blanca native Federico Groppa, whose Liniers of Bahia Blanca basketball club was one of Bahiense del Norte’s rivals. “We came out to the streets celebrating, guys in cars blowing the horns, because nobody had expected this — maybe not even the guys on the national team.”

Ginobili believes the selfless play that has characterized the national team since the golden generation came together has been as meaningful as their success.

“I’m not going to disclose anything new by saying this group is very special,” he said. “We accomplished a lot of things on the court, but I probably think we accomplished more outside, in how we play as a team, how egos have never been an issue. On a team where you have five NBA players and people who on their own teams are big-time, and then they come to a national team, well, it may happen that there are problems. But we have never had them here.

“We have received many great compliments from people all over the world about our team and from other national teams that want to become like us. So it’s remarkable what we have accomplished.”

At 41, Leandro Ginobili is the oldest of the three basketball-playing Ginobili brothers. He knows his countrymen have seen egos at play on national soccer teams. This, he said, reinforces the character of the golden generation.

“It’s an example that the Argentine people must see,” Leandro Ginobili said. “A basketball team is a little society because, as a group, it must put together all the pieces and put the egos to the side and pursue a common objective. You can see Manu now plays like a playmaker. It doesn’t matter if he has six points, seven. If the team wins, all is nice. They all work together for the main objective.

“They are friends. They enjoy playing together, and the Argentine jersey fits them like a tattoo.”

Manu Ginobili doesn’t know what awaits at the golden generation’s last waltz in London. He understands it has a legacy to be cherished, no matter what.

“It’s the first team not being U.S., Yugoslavia or Russia to win the Olympic gold,” he said. “That is nothing to take lightly. Nobody probably in Argentina ever dreamed of winning gold in an Olympic Games.

“It’s hard to say now where we would be ranked — if there is a ranking — but I think we accomplished a lot of things. To make it to the semifinals in four consecutive tournaments is not an easy thing. We made it in Indianapolis, Athens, Japan (2007 World Championships) and Beijing.

“We are going to keep writing different chapters in the book in London; see if we can shoot for another medal. Then we’ll talk about it.”