Spurs off on their annual Rodeo Road Trip

The annual Rodeo Road trip for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs commences tonight with a game in Memphis and ends 19-days later, on February 23rd with a game against the Denver Nuggets.

Before the Spurs had a chance to begin their now famous road trip, the entire franchise received a scare when F/C Tim Duncan went down against the Washington Wizards last night at the AT&T Center.  It was such a moment that even Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman was concerned.

”That was scary when you see that,” Washington coach Randy Wittman said. ”Those are always the ones you don’t want to see when a guy falls into you while your feet are planted on the ground. I just talked to his doctors and they said he is going to be fine.”

Tony Parker spoke to reporters after the game.

“He’s fine, he’s fine,” Parker said. “It’s nothing big. I’m sure (coach Pop) is going to be very conscious about his knee and we’ll see.”

The Spurs will face Minnesota, Detroit, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland, Sacramento, LA Clippers, Golden State, Phoenix and Denver.

 

What the Spurs and Bobcats said after Friday’s game

The media services people for the Spurs were ready after the Spurs’ 102-72 victory over Charlotte Friday night.

Here’s a sampling of what was said in both locker rooms after the game.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

(Opening Question – Charlotte made you work for it tonight, didn’t they?)

“Yeah. They don’t have a great record obviously, but Coach Silas isn’t going to let them just walk out there and do nothing. They were aggressive. They went after it and did everything they could. We got hot there in the second half and had a good run and that was the game. But, they busted their butts all night long and worked very hard.”

(Is this a good opportunity to get Tiago, T.J. and Kawhi back in sync?)

“We didn’t want to play them too many minutes, but since we made some shots tonight we had some chances to get them out there. T.J. got some time and Kawhi and Danny with his shoulder and so on and so forth. So that was good to give them a little introduction back into the flow of things.”

(You had a lot of assists and made a lot of shots…)

“We’ve got a very unselfish group. They know that if the ball moves we’re a much better basketball team. We’re the kind of team that’s not like ‘give the ball to this guy and he’s going to score.’ We’re not built that way. We have to win as a group and they know that, so they move the ball well.”

(Do you like what you got out of Richard Jefferson tonight? Not just the points, but he had seven rebounds.)

“I loved the points out of Richard. That’s what Richard does best. I love when he catches and shoots and does what he does. I thought he was real aggressive defensively tonight. I thought he had a darn good defensive game. Corey’s (Maggette) a tough nut. He likes to drive, he’s real physical and that kind of thing. I thought Richard had one of his better games in that regard too.”

Spurs forward Richard Jefferson:

(Was tonight’s game really more about the Spurs?)

“Coach (Popovich) said a good thing right after we played Chicago, which is that Chicago was able to get one game in before they came to us. So you get the post-All Star break butterflies out. Tonight we came in, we were still a little rusty early on, but we were able to settle down and get it done.”

(Feelings on 3-point shooting tonight?)

“I have been trying to catch and shoot more the last few games. I was a little frustrated that Chicago game because I got into foul trouble early. But, Denver I felt like I had some good looks and at Utah I had some good looks late. So, the last few games I have been trying to be more consistent with just catching it and shooting it.”

(On the Spurs’ passing)

“Pop will lose his mind if you throw a bad pass to a shooter. Sometimes you have to do what you can with the defense. Especially, if you have the ability to give it to a shooter with his feet set and right in his pocket. That’s something we practice everyday.”

Spurs guard T.J. Ford:

(On the team’s growth?)

“Just trying to build that confidence as quick as possible. It felt good to kind of know the game was out of reach, but still getting back in the form of running the show out there. You just have to make sure you’re still doing the right things.”

(On Spurs still rebuilding chemistry?)

“We haven’t had practice time for people to build chemistry. So, we’re still learning on the fly. We have guys who have a certain kind of rhythm and know when they are going to touch the ball. Some guys like Gary (Neal), had the ball in his hands a lot more, so we’re all making adjustments. We just have to continue to progress.”

(How did you feel tonight?)

“I felt good, I felt better. Still have a ways to go to get totally in game shape, but I think it was a good job and I had a better performance today.”

Charlotte coach Paul Silas:

(When asked how do you combat the 3-point shooting of the Spurs?)

“It’s tough. They penetrate and we have to help, then they kick out. It always seems that they always make a lot against us. I’ve haven’t seem them make as many threes against other teams then they make against us. Then when you’re leading by as many points as they were there’s not a lot of pressure on you. Then you can always make more shots. If there’s pressure on you then you’re not going to make as many.”

(When asked about the Bobcats forcing 11 turnovers in the first half… )

“Yeah, we did and I thought we played very well. We just couldn’t make shots in the first half. We rebounded and we defended. They turned the ball over and what not. I thought when Eduardo Najera came in he really helped us a lot by knowing how to play basketball. But in the second half it went back to the way that it’s been. We just didn’t play well.”

(When asked not having Bismack Biyombo makes things challenging…)

“It does. Here again we need everybody here. Still you have to rely on the guys that are here. As long as they are playing really hard and giving it to you, then I don’t have a problem with it. We just didn’t seem to have it in the second half.”

Charlotte forward Corey Maggette:

(What happened after the first quarter…)

“We just did not shoot the ball well and that starts with myself. We have to be a better shooting team. The Spurs are one of the best shooting teams in the league, so it’s hard to beat them when we are not hitting shots. ”

(What was the difference?)

“I thought we played well in the first half, then we had turnovers in the second half. Their second group came in and demolished us and that’s the game. It just went downhill from there.”

(On team rebounding…)

“I think it all starts with myself, I have to be more aggressive and help our big men out. With a few of our big guys out, it hurts us a lot. Aggressively, everyone has to rebound. If one guy doesn’t go to the boards, it’s going to hurt us but we have to get better as a team.”

Charlotte forward Boris Diaw:

(Started out great, then what happened?)

“We did pretty well, but the Spurs also didn’t start off to good either. They were missing shots and we were in a rhythm. We played good defense and we moved the ball pretty well, then the Spurs put more intensity on the defensive side. They played good defense and it was tough for us to find easy shots.”

(What did the Spurs do differently in second half?)

“They adapted to what we were doing defensively and they found our gaps on defense to get better shots. They also ran better plays. Defensively, we just did not play as good in the second half.”

(On the play of his good friend Tony Parker…)

“It’s great for him. The thing with Tony is that he is always getting better. It surprises everybody else but this is the best he has been playing, so it shouldn’t be surprising anymore. He is doing great and I’m happy for him. He has become the focus of his team.”

Getting Spurs’ Ford in gear might signal shuffling

By Jeff McDonald

The playmaking guard is on the mend, ready to soon resume his place in the Spurs’ rotation after being out since early January.

His coaches are excited, because he brings a dynamic few others on the team possess. He is a player with eyes in the back of his head, a Mensa-level basketball IQ and the enjoyable propensity to thread passes through the eye of a needle.

Manu Ginobili? Well, yes.

But also T.J. Ford.

“I can’t wait for T.J. to get back to 100 percent,” reserve guard Gary Neal said of the Spurs’ backup point man. “That’s a lot of open shots for me.”

It also could mean fewer minutes for Neal, but more on that later.

Tonight against Denver, Ginobili is likely — though not guaranteed — to reboot his season after a second stint on the injured list. His strained oblique has healed, and he’s been practicing at full tilt since the All-Star break ended.

Ford has played two games since missing 24 with a torn left hamstring suffered Jan. 10 in Milwaukee. His return to full strength could cause coach Gregg Popovich to reshuffle his second unit.

Reintegrating Ginobili back into the rotation is a no-brainer. Finding time for Ford, at the expense of other reserves who have been playing well, will be Popovich’s challenge over the season’s final two months.

“We’ve been playing a different way without him,” Popovich said. “It’s always an adjustment to see if you want to change that willy-nilly.”

The Spurs signed Ford to a one-year veteran minimum deal in December with designs on giving him all the available minutes at backup point guard.

Through the first two weeks of the season, it seemed to be working out. A pass-first distributor whose unselfishness fueled the offense for the Spurs’ second unit, Ford — a former college player of the year at Texas — seemed content to find everyone else for open jumpers and layups.

“I think we had a nice little chemistry before I got injured,” Ford said. “I’ve got the concept of the offense. I know where everyone is supposed to be.”

When Ford limped off the floor in Milwaukee, it pressed Neal — a shooting guard by trade — into duty as Tony Parker’s primary backup.

Though it isn’t his natural position, Neal manned the point admirably, and even developed some Ford-like ESP with center Tiago Splitter on the pick-and-roll.

Ford’s return, in theory, could eat into some of Neal’s minutes at point guard. Ginobili’s impending comeback will place a premium on everyone else’s minutes on the wing.

Popovich certainly isn’t going to complain about finally getting guys healthy. But it does create quite a rotation puzzle going forward.

“When somebody comes back, it always changes the dynamic, and you don’t know how it’s going to change it,” Popovich said.

“There’s no right or wrong. You’ve just got to feel it and see what the circumstances are each night.”

Neal looks at the upcoming competition for minutes, behind both Ginobili and Parker, as a positive development.

“When you get your chance, you’re going to have to play great to stay in the game, because we have so many good guards,” Neal said.

Ford’s return hasn’t quite created a rotational ripple effect yet. Still searching for basketball shape, Ford logged eight minutes against Chicago and 16 against Charlotte.

In the blowout win over the Bobcats, Ford scored seven points, made all three field goals, had three assists but — in a testament to his rustiness — committed three turnovers.

“My job is to allow other guys to make plays,” Ford said. “It’s not about me making plays. My role is to control the second unit and make sure we’re productive for the time we’re out there.”

What that second unit ultimately looks like is a matter to be determined over the next few months.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN