Tag: Danny Green

Popovich named NBA’s best coach in landslide

























































<!– –>

By Dan McCarney

Coming off his second NBA Coach of the Year award, Gregg Popovich has added another honor to his résumé — landslide selection as the league’s best coach in an anonymous survey of general managers.

Popovich took 80 percent of the vote, according to NBA.com. It marked the fourth time in the past six years he’s finished atop the poll, which is conducted annually.

Popovich also finished first in the categories of best people manager/motivator and making the best in-game adjustments.

He took second in best offensive and defensive schemes, tying Minnesota coach Rick Adelman in the former category.

Popovich’s lead deputy, Mike Budenholzer, was named the league’s second-best assistant coach, finishing narrowly behind Brian Shaw of Indiana. Colleague Brett Brown also received a vote.

Multiple Spurs players were recognized across a broad array of categories:

– Kawhi Leonard — tied for second, player most likely to have a breakout season.

– Tim Duncan — tied for second, highest basketball IQ; tied for third, best leader; also received votes, best power forward; also received votes, toughest player.

– Manu Ginobili — third, best at moving without the ball; sixth, highest basketball IQ; also received votes, best shooting guard; also received votes, best international player; also received votes, toughest player.

– Tony Parker — fourth, best point guard; also received votes, best international player; also received votes, fastest with the ball.

– Tiago Splitter — also received votes, international player most likely to have a breakout season.

– Matt Bonner — also received votes, makes the most of limited natural ability.

– Danny Green — also received votes, makes the most of limited natural ability.

The Spurs tied with Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers as the fourth-most entertaining team to watch.

Despite being a nearly unanimous pick to win the Southwest Division — general managers cannot select their own team or players — the Spurs did not receive any votes to win the Western Conference.

The Miami Heat were picked by 21 of 30 GMs to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. GMs have successfully predicted five of the last 10 champions, including San Antonio in 2004-05 and 2006-07.

dmccarney@express-news.net
Twitter: @danmccarneySAEN

Danny Green’s summer vacation

Not to stereotype, but antique shopping would not seem to be high on the list of summer activities for a young NBA player having just signed a multi-million dollar contract on the heels of his breakout season.

(Can you imagine, say, DeMarcus Cousins scouring shops for the perfect 18th-century French armoire to set off his guest bedroom?)

That was one of the many things Spurs guard Danny Green did during a busy summer vacation in which he bought a home, vacationed in the Canary Islands, picked up boxing and headed to Moscow for an event with NBA’s Basketball Without Borders, where he also took time to take in the sights and, of course, shop.

: “Not many crazy, interesting things happened during these trips, but it was good to experience different cultures. They do many things differently over there, such as using different terminology when measuring distance, height, weight, temperature, etc. I had a great opportunity to sightsee a lot in Russia and shop for antiques.”

Will be curious to ask the always-affable Danny about what he picked up. (Shipping costs from Moscow have to be ridiculous.)

Also included in the piece are Chase Budinger, Jimmer Fredette, Reggie Jackson and Mo Williams. Fredette had the best anecdote, recounting how he realized that the shoes he was signing for a young fan were actually a pair he’d thrown into the dumpster behind his dorm during his freshman year at BYU.

dmccarney@express-news.net

Twitter:

‘Spoon’ fed: Undrafted rookie leads Spurs past Houston


































<!– –>

By Jeff McDonald

HOUSTON – When Spurs coach Gregg Popovich first informed Wesley Witherspoon he’d be in the starting lineup for Sunday afternoon’s preseason matinee at Houston, the rookie from Memphis tried to stay stone-faced.

All the while, his stomach was performing a gymnastics routine straight out of the Summer Olympics.

“Somersaults, cartwheels and everything else,” Witherspoon said. “The emotions were definitely flying.”

One day, Witherspoon will be able to tell his grandchildren he not only started next to Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, but he also outscored them.

With Popovich opting to give his top two small forwards — Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson — the day off, Witherspoon pumped in a team-high 17 points in the Spurs’ 116-107 victory at the Toyota Center.

Gifted with his first extended playing time of the preseason, the 22-year-old undrafted free agent buried 6 of 9 shots — including a pair of 3-pointers — and hauled in four rebounds.

“The veteran guys tell us young guys to stay ready,” Witherspoon said. “You never know when your number’s going to be called. This was one of those cases.”

Aside from Witherspoon, Popovich used his regular starting lineup Sunday.

Duncan and Parker lasted a quarter, staking the Spurs to a 27-16 lead, before their coach gave them the rest of the afternoon off, too.

Returning from a two-game respite while dealing with a sore right heel, Manu Ginobili — the third leg of the Spurs’ Big Three — contributed 11 points and three assists off the bench. More importantly, he logged nearly 18 minutes of playing time and came out no worse for wear.

The Spurs — who also got 16 points out of DeJuan Blair and 15 from formerly slumping shooting guard Danny Green — led nearly wire to wire in handing the Rockets their first preseason loss.

“The good thing is, we really moved the ball well and got a lot of people involved,” Ginobili said. “Defensively, we’ve got a lot to do to get where we want to.”

The new-look Rockets, whose offseason makeover included the acquisition of point guard Jeremy Lin, big man Omer Asik and reserve guard Carlos Delfino, spent much of the first half in disarray.

Lin, last season’s Cinderella storyline, finished 1 of 10 with one assist in little more than 25 minutes. The Spurs held Houston to 43.2 percent shooting, and squeezed 21 points from 15 Rockets turnovers.

As an example of how he hopes the rebuilt Rockets will one day learn to play, Houston coach Kevin McHale pointed to the visitors in silver and black.

“The Spurs are a smart, disciplined team,” McHale said. “They know what they want to give you, and they know what they want to take away. We didn’t take what they gave us, and we attacked what they wanted to take away. That’s the worst-case scenario.”

Even as the Spurs improved to 3-1 in the preseason, Ginobili said the team remains a work in progress.

“We’ve just been working together for 10 days,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”

If Sunday was the end for Witherspoon, he at least went out in style.

The Spurs have only one roster spot available, and are well-stocked at Witherspoon’s position. Most likely, cut day is coming soon for Witherspoon. Deep down, he probably knows it.

But for one stunning Sunday afternoon in Houston, he was a rookie starting among NBA All-Stars. And if you squinted just right, it was difficult to tell which was which.

“I grew up watching those guys, watched them win championships,” Witherspoon said. “To be on the same team as them is a blessing.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN