Tag: George Hill

Notes on a scorecard: Why Pop’s record is a big deal, even if he disagrees

Gregg Popovich looked like somebody had slipped him an exploding cigar during his post-game press conference.

The Spurs coach never has been one to show much ego or emotion about his own achievements.

So knowing Popovich like we do, it doesn’t surprise many that he didn’t seem overly excited about learning that he had passed Red Auerbach for second place for coaching victories with a single franchise.

After his team defeated Sacramento, 124-92, Wednesday night, Popovich now has 796 victories with the Spurs. It’s behind only Jerry Sloan’s 1,127 victories with the Utah Jazz, but tops the 795 wins earned by Red Auerbach from 1950-66 with the Boston Celtics.

His players were more excited about the honor than the veteran coach seemed to be.

“Pop doesn’t let us know his individual achievements,” Spurs guard George Hill said, laughing. “But I’ll have to congratulate him on that first time I see him tomorrow.”

Hill threatened to bring Popovich a cake to mark the achievement — even if he might not want to acknowledge his achievement.

“I think I should go buy a cake and come in and surprise him with a cake,” Hill said. “Somebody will have to give me the real stats so I’ll know what to put on the cake.”

Here are a few other notes and factoids from the Spurs’ third straight victory and their second victory of more than 17 points in their last two home games.

  • Manu Ginobili finished with 25 points for the 14th time this season. The Spurs are 13-1 in those games. He’s hit 57.1 percent from the field in his last two games. And he hit 4-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc against the Kings, snapping a streak where he hit 3-for-18 from beyond the arc (16.7 percent) in his previous five games. 
  • Tony Parker notched 15 points in only 26:35 — his 10th lowest game in terms of playing time this season. It continued a streak where he’s hit 51.5 percent from the field and averaged 20.3 points in his last six games. He also notched six rebounds and six assists. Park has produced 15 points, six rebounds and six assists in three games this season — all Spurs victories.
  • With 19 points,  Hill continued his recent surge that has included at least 19 points in four of his last seven games. During that period, Hill has hit 56.4 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from 3-point territory, 83.8 percent from the line and averaged 18.4 points per game.   
  • After he was shut out for  only the third time of the season last night in Atlanta , Gary Neal rebounded to scored 14 points on 6-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. It’s his third double-figure game in his last four.
  • Tim Duncan had a productive game filling up the stat sheet in limited playing time, notching 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Since returning from his injury five games ago, Duncan is averaging 16.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 blocked shots. He’s also shooting 64.6 percent and 78.2 from the foul line. All of that totals are better than his season average before the injury with the exception of  his blocked shots.
  • It also marked the sixth time this season that Duncan has notched at least 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks in a game. The Spurs are 6-0 in those games.
  • Richard Jefferson bounced back from his struggles against Atlanta to score nine points on 4-for-5 shooting. He was averaging only 7.3 points per game in his previous three games before Wednesday. But his shooting has been strong, including Wednesday’s game. He’s hit 60 percent from the field in his last three games.
  • After showing promise in recent games, Danny Green erupted for a career-high nine points in 12:38, hitting 4-for-7 from the field. In his last two games, he’s averaging 8.0 points, hitting 70 percent from the field and 66.7 percent of his 3-point shots.
  • Antonio McDyess had a productive night with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists. In his last three games, he’s averaging 8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists. As a starter, he’s averaging  6.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per  game in 15 games. During that period, the Spurs are 9-6.
  • Besides impressing Popovich with his hustle, DeJuan Blair produced six points, eight  rebounds and three assists. It came within one assist of matching his season high in assists and within one rebound of his high since being demoted from the starting lineup.
  • After picking up a DNP against Atlanta, Tiago Splitter played only 3:29 against Sacramento. He finished with four points, two rebounds and a steal in his limited time. It marked his shortest playing stint since notching 33 seconds March 9 against Detroit.
  • The Spurs set several season highs during their blistering second half. They notched 41 points in the third quarter for their highest scoring quarter of the season. They also hit 82.4 percent from the field in that quarter for their highest in a quarter this season. And their 73 points was the highest they’ve scored in any half this season, topping the 72 at Washington on Feb. 12.
  • San Antonio’s 124 points was their second-highest scoring game of the season, topped only by the 125 points against Miami on March 4.
  • The Spurs’ 60.5 field-goal percentage was their highest since hitting 64.3 percent against Detroit on March 9. Those are the only two times the Spurs have hit 60 percent or better from the field this season.
  • San Antonio’s 63.2 percent was tied for second this season in 3-point percentage, trailing only the 64.7 percent against the Clippers on Nov. 10. And after struggling from the foul line during the losing streak, the Spurs have hit at least 80 percent in back-to-back games for the first time since the Golden State and Denver games on March 19 and 21.
  • The Spurs also notched 36 fast-break points to tie their single-game high against Philadelphia on Nov. 11.
  • Their defense kicked in as they limited Sacramento to 39.8 percent from the field. It was their lowest defensive field-goal percentage since allowing Cleveland to hit 39.6 percent from the field on March 2. When the Spurs limit opponents to less than 40 percent shooting this season they are 14-1.
  • Nine of the 12 players on the Spurs’ playing roster had double-figure positive plus-minus scores. McDyess led the team at plus-25. Duncan was at plus-22. Parker was at plus-21. Ginobili was at plus-20. Jefferson was at plus-15. Hill was at plus-11. Only Matt Bonner at minus-2 had a negative score. The Spurs’ starters were a combined plus-103. The reserves were a plus-57.
  • All of the San Antonio players scored with the exception of Steve Novak. Da’Sean Butler, Chris Quinn and James Anderson all were inactive.

More than No. 1 seed, Spurs seek momentum

ATLANTA — Sunday’s slump-busting 114-97 win over Phoenix brought laughter back to the Spurs’ locker room.

Players joked and cut up, basking in the end of a six-game losing streak that had begun to wear on all of them.

Leave it to Tim Duncan, the team’s captain and emotional touchstone, to bring the room back down.

“This,” he said, “was a good start.”

Translation: Hold the champagne shower. There is work to be done.

Now that the worst losing streak of Duncan’s career is over, the Spurs must set about the business of the rest of the season.

More than simply holding onto the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Spurs hope to use their final five games, beginning tonight in Atlanta, to establish momentum heading into the playoffs.

“We’re just going to play out the season, and whatever happens happens,” Duncan said. “We want to start playing like we want to play. That’s what matters.”

Having already secured their second Southwest Division championship in three seasons, and no worse than a No. 2 seed in the playoffs, the Spurs hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the L.A. Lakers for the conference’s top spot.

Though home-court advantage seems like an attractive carrot, winning for winning’s sake should be enough to drive the Spurs. They are 9-9 since the start of March, with six losses coming during the historic skid that began after Duncan went down with a sprained left ankle March 21.

“You don’t want to go into the playoffs losing,” guard George Hill said. “You want to go in with a happy mind.”

For the Spurs, the next five games are less about seeding and standings, and more about confidence-building.

Coach Gregg Popovich says Duncan’s injury, which cost the All-Star power forward four games, threw the team “off balance.” Sunday’s win over Phoenix was the first step in regaining equilibrium.

“Now, the most important game is Atlanta, because we have a chance to get better,” Popovich said. “That’s what all teams are trying to do — to get their execution down as the playoffs approach.”

Whether a team’s late-season momentum, or lack thereof, carries over to a playoff run remains a subject of debate.

In Duncan’s first 13 seasons, the Spurs won 74.4 percent of their games in March and April. Their worst close came in 2008-09, when they finished 15-10, then lost to Dallas in the first round of the playoffs.

Last season, Boston dropped seven of its final 10 games, then blasted a Miami team in the first round that had won 12 of its last 13.

Conversely, Phoenix went 17-4 over the final two months last year, a string of success coach Alvin Gentry believed helped propel the Suns into the Western Conference finals.

“When we went into the playoffs, we felt like we were playing better than anybody in the league,” Gentry said. “I think there’s a confidence about it. You get to the point where you think you’re going to win every series.”

Gentry, however, doesn’t think the playoff-tested Spurs, who boast four players with NBA championship rings and two others who have played in the Finals, need a strong finish to make a playoff run.

“These guys have been together eight, nine years,” Gentry said, referring to the Spurs’ core of Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. “They’re not going to go in thinking, ‘Oh no, we’re not playing well, we may lose.’”

Now in Atlanta and off of cloud nine, the Spurs would prefer not to take that chance. A powerful closing kick doesn’t guarantee a title, but it also couldn’t hurt.

“Going into the playoffs with a winning streak and playing the right way,” Hill said. “That’s going to be motivation for us.”

Spurs rookie Splitter gets down and dirty

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is no couch potato, but he does tune in for some occasional televiewing, so he knows what rookie center Tiago Splitter means when he describes his rugged play around the basket as “doing the dirty job.”

“Like that TV show,” said Popovich, a fan of “Dirty Jobs” on The Discovery Channel.

Splitter on Saturday scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in almost 19 minutes of dirty work against the Utah Jazz. Three of his five baskets came on offensive rebound putbacks as he banged bodies with Utah’s Al Jefferson, one of the league’s most physical inside players.

“Tiago just has that blue-collar steelworker sort of attitude,” Popovich said. “It’s like he’s right out of the steel mill, been working in there all his life and knows what it’s like to work. He’s unbelievable.”

Ten of Splitter’s points came in the fourth period, when he played the full 12 minutes and grabbed four offensive rebounds.

Inspiration to hit the offensive glass came from disappointment at the defensive end of the court.

“I got an opportunity to play today,” Splitter said, “and like I always do I try to go in there and defend and try hard. (Al) Jefferson was scoring every time, so I was kind of mad, but I tried to go to the other end and bang the rim and go after all the offensive rebounds and try to be smart.”

Splitter has been trying to improve his free-throw mechanics all season and took some positive feedback from making the two foul shots he attempted in the fourth.

“Last year (in the Spanish ACB League) I had strange mechanics, so we’re trying to get it better,” he said. “It’s hard to do in the middle of the season, of course, but we will have a long summer to work on that.”

Duncan milestone: When he drove past Jefferson on the left baseline and laid in a short shot with his right hand with 8:13 left in the third quarter, Spurs captain Tim Duncan passed the1,000-point mark for the 13th time in his 13 seasons.

“I never know how many points I have, but that’s great, I guess,” he said. “I probably should have done that a while ago, but it is what it is.”

Duncan has played less than any season — at 28.4 minutes per game, he is almost three minutes per game under his previous low of 31.3 set last season — and his scoring average (13.4) is the lowest of his career.

Scorching third: After shooting 82.4 percent in the third quarter of Wednesday’s victory over the Sacramento Kings, the Spurs made 12 of 15 shots, 80 percent, in Saturday’s third period.

They were on pace for their hottest quarter of the season before Utah rookie Derrick Favors blocked a Splitter shot with 48 seconds left. George Hill then missed a 3-point attempt that bounced off the rim with nine-tenths of a second left. Splitter tipped that shot in, just beating the quarter buzzer.