Tag: DeJuan Blair

Ginobili named as No. 3 on NBA’s toughman list

To anybody who was watching the Spurs’ playoff series with Memphis, it really doesn’t come as much of a shock.

Manu Ginobili, simply stated, is a tough physical player.

Ginobili played the final five games of the Memphis series with what amounted to a broken arm. Because his team needed him, Ginobili wrapped his injured limb in a brace that appeared to be borrowed from the movie “Rollerball” and played his games.

No complaints, no fanfare.

Vintage Manu.

Sean Sweeney of Dime Magazine.com must have been watching, after voting Ginobili to No. 3 on his list of the. His award is named in honor of the former Utah forward Matt Harpring, who played through his share of physical ailments during his 11-season career.

Here’s what Sweeney had to say about Ginobili’s performance in that series and his ability to persevere through pain throughout his career.

“3. Manu Ginobili – Flopping aside, I’ve learned to respect Ginobili over the years. He went from annoying to awesome. I could watch him play all day now. Remember during this postseason when Rajon Rondo was being celebrated as the next Willis Reed? “I can’t believe this! What heart! He’s playing with one arm!”

“Well Ginobili ACTUALLY WAS playing with one arm. And he still gave Memphis 20 a night. Ginobili doesn’t care about the critics or the love. He’s just a nasty competitor (and rarely says a word about it all).

“In my opinion, he’s easily one of the toughest players who’s ever played this game.”

Truer words have never been written about “El Contusion,” who certainly qualifies as one of the toughest players in NBA history, much less among those in this generation.

Here is Sweeney’s list of the NBA’s fiercest 10 players.

1. Kobe Bryant

2. Steve Nash

3. Manu Ginobili

4. Dirk Nowitzki

5. Paul Pierce

6. Wesley Matthews

7. Carl Landry

8. Grant Hill

9.  Anthony Carter

10. Udonis Haslem 

Sweeney also mentions that  he could have included DeJuan Blair on his list somewhere.

But interestingly enough, despite all the publicity during the playoffs Rondo is nowhere on his list.

Parker says he’s committed to Spurs

Spurs guard Tony Parker says he didn’t make controversial comments to French reporters about his team’s inability to contend for an NBA championship.

Appearing at the Spurs summer camp at the University of the Incarnate Word on Tuesday, Parker said he remains committed to the team. He also said that the Spurs could contend for a fifth NBA title as long as he remains together with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

Despite pessimistic comments to French reporters last month in Paris, Parker was decidedly more upbeat on Tuesday.

“I’m in a great situation. I love the Spurs. I love being a Spur. I re-signed four years,” Parker said. “If I didn’t think we could win a championship, I wouldn’t have re-signed four years.”

Parker signed a four-year contract extension last October that will stretch through the end of the 2014-15 season.

While appearing before French reporters last month, Parker painted a gloomier picture of the franchise’s future shortly after the Spurs’ first-round playoff elimination by Memphis.

“I don’t think this current team will play for the title in the future,” Parker told French reporters. “We are aging. We must be realistic. It was sort of our last chance this season.”

Parker denied making those comments — even though there was video evidence of the remarks — and said they might have been blown out of proportion by the media.

He also said that questions about his loyalty to the Spurs are similarly out of line.

“I don’t have to justify anything,” Parker said. “The only thing I care (about) is Pop, Timmy, Manu and my teammates obviously.”

Parker turned 29 last month and is the youngest of the club’s “Big Three.” He said he has not talked to any team officials or coach Gregg Popovich since making his comments.

Tony Parker speaks to youngsters attending the Spurs Basketball Camp at Incarnate Word on Tuesday. (Billy Calzada/gcalzada@express-news.net)

“No, they don’t need to contact me,” Parker said, chuckling. “Pop doesn’t have time. He’s drinking wine and having fun. He doesn’t have time right now.”

The Spurs notched the best record in the Western Conference, winning the Southwest Division with a 61-21 mark. Parker said the Spurs can contend again with some help from the draft and continued development of young players such as Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair and George Hill.

“I think with a couple of tweaks and a couple of guys that we can improve our team and will be fine,” Parker said.

He’s not as confident about settling a potential lockout by the looming July 1 deadline.

“We don’t know what will happen,” he said. “Maybe we can find an agreement, and we won’t miss games. Hopefully, we’ll start on time.”

The lockout also could make it costly for Parker to obtain insurance to join the French national team in the European championships this summer.

The French Basketball Federation is working to obtain insurance that would enable French NBA players such as Parker, Boris Diaw and Joakim Noah to play by guaranteeing their NBA contracts.

“If there’s no insurance, obviously the Spurs are my priority,” Parker said. “If there’s no insurance, I won’t play because the Spurs are No. 1 on my list. But if I’m insured, I’ll definitely play with the national team.”

Blog brother lists the Spurs’ untouchables and others who could be swapped this summer

I always like new and different graphical ways of explaining stories.

B Diddy of Air Alamo.com had an intriguing look at the Spurs roster in terms of their .

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splittler and yes, even Tony Parker were listed as near untouchables by Diddy on his graphic. DeJuan Blair, Matt Bonner and Richard Jefferson weren’t nearly as fortunate in their ratings.

It was an intriguing way of breaking down the Spurs’ roster heading into the summer. And it will be interesting to see how closely the strategies of Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford match Diddy’s approximations.

Here are a few other takes from across the blogosphere about the Spurs and a variety of NBA topics.

  • Eric Freeman of Yahoo.com’s Ball Don’t Lie Blog compliments  Ginobili’s toughness in .
  • Pounding the Rock.com’s Big 50 gives Popovich  and for his work during the season.   
  • All-around athlete Erin Rambo of Euclid, Ohio, tells the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that .
  • From the department of potential Spurs roster additions, Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spells out the reasons why Josh Smith .
  • And Nick Underhill of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican wonders if the in Boston.
  • Alley Oop of Spurslocker.com predicts thatsome day.
  • Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports that VCU’s Jamie Skeen, a 6-foot-8 forward,during last week’s draft combine in Chicago.
  • Jeff Washburn of the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier reports that Dallas forward Brian Cardinal is attempting to become the fifth former Purdue player to play for an NBA champion. One of them is Glenn Robinson, .
  • B Diddy of Air Alamo.com haswith the 29th pick in his mock draft.
  • Ginobili picks in an interview with the Argentinian publication  translated by Jeff Garcia of Project Spurs.com. 
  • Spursfan4life of Spurs Dynasty.com has six reasons why he.
  • Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman liked the move by Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks of in the fourth quarter against Dallas in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
  • Veteran San Diego Tribune columnist Nick Canepa isn’t including Dirk Nowitzki.