Tag: Gregg Popovich

What the Spurs and Kings said after Wednesday’s game

Here, courtesy of the quick transcribers in the Spurs’ media services office, is a sampling of the post-game comments from the Spurs and Kings after San Antonio’s 124-92 victory Wednesday night at the ATT Center.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

(On positive feedback to DeJuan (Blair) after diving for a loose ball and starting a fast break)

“Coaches love that sort of thing.  That kind of effort is above and beyond.  You have someone like that trying to get minutes and be on the floor and show you what you can do, that he can play the complete game.  That is impressive to any coach, so I was really happy for him that he did that.  It fires up the team, giving the team confidence in him.  So it is a win win for everybody.”

(On offense in second half, especially in the third quarter)

“I don’t really have any idea.  I didn’t really watch the offense too much.  We have been concentrating on the defense.  That is where we really need to improve the most.  Last night and tonight we played very good defense, and it fueled the offense that you saw.  That is where it all starts for us.  I thought we had great focus tonight after a back to back, where one might think we are the tired team.”

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili

(On how the team feels now with their magic number being one)

“Of course it’s better because we know we have a big chance on Saturday against the Jazz.  We were a little worried.  We knew it wasn’t the end of the world to finish second, but at the same time after the kind of season we had, we wanted it.  We got a great opportunity, it’s not over yet, and we definitely want to get the next one.”

(On what the three-game winning streak has done for the team’s confidence)

“We knew we were not going to lose every single game for the remainder of the season.  We had a few good games that we just couldn’t win, so it wasn’t that we were just playing terrible.  We had a better schedule in the last three games.  We had a pretty important game in Atlanta that we won and that kind of got us going and then we got lucky that the Lakers lost against the Jazz and that gave us an extra game to be able to close it next game.”

(On the offensive surge in the third quarter)

“We played much better.  We pushed the ball a little bit more and defensively I think we were pretty good in the first half too.  But the key was to move the ball, attack quick, we made a few shots, so we had the whole package in the third quarter.”

(On if the defense fueled the offense)

“Sometimes I think it’s both ways.  Sometimes defense fuels offense and sometimes when you make three threes in a row, everybody’s pumped up and the defense is more aggressive, more energetic.  So it goes both ways sometimes.”

Spurs guard George Hill

(On what was the difference in the third quarter)

“Just getting set.  I knew we needed a little bit of fire power coming off the bench, a little aggressiveness, so I just tried to come in and give a spark.  I think it kind of helped and at the same time, it got other people going too.”

(On the perimeter game tonight)

“Just taking open shots.  I think we had a lot of great looks and they fell.  Each game is not going to be the same looks but fortunately that was the game plan Sacramento went to and it opened up a whole bunch of corner threes and things like that.”

(On what Coach Pop said at halftime)

“He said we’re playing pretty good defense with the lack of giving up a couple offensive rebounds, but at the same time he wants to push the tempo since we know that they score a lot.  Our thing was if we can get the most second chance points and get the rebound and push it, it’ll open the game up and that’s what happened.”

Kings coach Paul Westphal

(Thoughts on the game)

“My overall assessment is that the Spurs are very, very good. We hung with them real well in the first half, not turning the ball over too much or shooting the ball very well. I thought our defense was good in the first half, except for our transition defense. When they got out and ran, we didn’t have too much defense for that, and in the second half, our defense wasn’t very good, our offense wasn’t efficient, and they hit every shot. They just blew us out in the third quarter.”

(On what to say to the players)

“Move on to the next game. It didn’t go our way tonight, we got beat by a great team, did some good things, learned from the bad things, get your rest, and we’ve got another game to finish this trip 2-1.”

(On the positives that come from this loss)

“There’s lot’s of positives. We played a very good first half. We showed that we can defend, we got good shots, didn’t always make them, but that’s basketball. In the third quarter, the roof fell in, but that doesn’t mean everything was bad.”

(On how to bounce back)

“We don’t lose our confidence because we just lost to the best team in the league. We did some good things, caused things to go the other way. Whatever team makes 12 out of 19 threes and gets to the line as much as they do, it’s not necessarily going to be a good result.”

Kings guard Tyreke Evans

(On the third quarter)

“We didn’t make shots. They did and they got a lot of points off the fast break and that’s what killed us.”

 (On why the Spurs are so dangerous)

“They make shots and they run their offense. They just play together; they’re a veteran team. They finish those quarters out.”

(On how the Spurs create so many open shots)

“They cut hard and swing the ball side to side. They set picks and make the defense move side to side. It’s hard. One time down the court we played great defense and they still hit a floater. It was good defense but they just move the ball so much.”

(On what they could have done differently defensively in the third quarter)

“I think we were playing pretty hard. They were out there moving the ball side to side and running the pick-and-rolls. They were making us help on defense and then they were finding the open guys and making their shots.”

(On Tony’s role in the offense)

“Tony Parker; it starts with him. Once he gets out in the open and gets a couple layups, that get’s them going. They start running because they know when he’s running he’s going to get a layup and get them the ball for an open look.”

Kings center Samuel Dalembert

(On the third quarter)

“In the first half everything was working. That’s how the game goes though. This game has ups and downs. The Spurs weren’t missing anything. They were hitting everything. They pulled away from us. Starting in the third quarter and going all the way to the fourth quarter they just kept pulling away and hitting their shots. We tried everything we could; we fought, but we just couldn’t get back in the game.”

(On the Spurs’ shooting tonight)

“What we’re taught is to run great 3-point shooters off the line. We were doing that and they were just ripping through and doing a one-dribble pull-up and knocking down their jump shots. Sometimes you just have to go in and give them a hard foul to try and get those guys out of their rhythm. But tonight the whole team was in rhythm; everybody was making shots.”

(On what they can take away from a game like this)

“I really wouldn’t say you can take anything away from this game because we lost. We just have to come back more mentally prepared from the beginning to the end of the game. We just have to keep playing and growing as a team. Hopefully things will work out in the end.”

Battier’s shot puts Spurs in early hole

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

Spurs forward Matt Bonner never saw the decisive 3-pointer leave Shane Battier’s hand, much less it ripping through the net.

“I had Zach Randolph’s elbow in my mouth at the time,” Bonner said.

Bonner had a better view of 3-point tries from George Hill and Richard Jefferson that could have salvaged Sunday’s Game 1 against Memphis for the Spurs.

“Both looked good,” Bonner said.

Both bounced off.

The difference in the Spurs’ 101-98 playoff-opening loss to Memphis at the ATT Center was the difference in a lot of games and a lot of series.

Three players toed the 3-point stripe in the final 30 seconds. One of them made the shot. The others didn’t.

Battier’s 3-pointer with 23.9 seconds left provided the go-ahead points for eighth-seeded Memphis, which earned the first playoff win in club history.

In defeat, the Spurs became the first No. 1 seed to lose Game 1 of a first-round series since the 2007 Dallas Mavericks, who later in that opening matchup with Golden State became the only top seed in the best-of-7 era to be bounced in the first round.

“We didn’t do enough down the stretch,” said Spurs forward Tim Duncan, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds. “That was the game right there.”

Playing without guard Manu Ginobili, out with a sprained right elbow, the Spurs faced the rare task of needing to steal Game 1 on their home floor.

Had it not been for Battier, they might have.

Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds for Memphis, 0-12 in playoff games before Sunday, while Marc Gasol had 24 points and nine rebounds.

But the game’s biggest shot came from the guy they call “Granddaddy Shane.” Battier, a 32-year-old original Memphis Grizzlie who returned in a February trade from Houston, knows what the win meant to fans back home.

“I know Beale Street will be a fun place tonight,” Battier said.

Meanwhile, back in San Antonio, they might has well shut down the Riverwalk until Game 2 on Wednesday.

The Spurs, at least, have been here before. They have now lost six straight Game 1s, rallying to win two of the previous five series.

Last season, the Spurs recovered from a Game 1 loss at Dallas to win that first-round series in six games.

“We understand the challenges that are in front of us,” said Jefferson, who had 13 points and six rebounds. “To get where we want to get, it’s not going to be easy.”

Much went right for the Spurs in Game 1, which — depending on perspective — made the loss more or less palatable to them.

They outrebounded the Grizzlies 40-38, including an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass, won the second-chance battle 15-5 and attempted 47 foul shots (though, in another story, they missed 11).

Given all that, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t see a crying need for sweeping changes heading into Game 2.

“It wasn’t like we got beat by 25,” Popovich said.

Tony Parker finished with 20 points to lead the Spurs but was 4 of 16 from the field. It was his defensive error that freed Battier long enough to swish the deciding 3-pointer.

Before Battier could break the Spurs’ hearts, he watched Bonner nearly do the same to the Grizzlies.

Channeling his inner Robert Horry, Bonner nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Spurs a 96-94 lead with 1:28 to go.

“You were like going, ‘Uh-oh, here we go again,’ ” Battier said. “How many times have the Spurs done that in big games in this facility?”

Hill made a pair of free throws to push the Spurs ahead by four with 1:06 to play and suddenly, the Spurs seemed poised to do to the Grizzlies what the East’s top seed, Chicago, did to eighth-seeded Indiana the day before.

Down the stretch, however, it was the team without a playoff victory to its name — and not the team that had hung four banners in the rafters — that locked down the game.

After Battier’s 3-pointer put Memphis ahead 99-98, Hill missed an open look in the right corner. After a pair of Tony Allen foul shots pushed the Grizzlies’ edge to three points, Jefferson back-rimmed a shot from the top of the key as time expired.

“I had a great look,” Jefferson said. “Just didn’t knock it down.”

Hill framed his own misfire, part of a 2-for-7 outing, in similar terms.

“It felt good,” he said, “but it didn’t go my way.”

Three players lined up 3-pointers late Sunday afternoon. Only one of them went down. And the Grizzlies have a 1-0 series lead because of it.

Is Ginobili return in the script?

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

A brace on his right arm limiting full extension of his sprained right elbow, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was on the court at the close of the Spurs practice session on Saturday, working on his shot.

It was enough to encourage teammates. Some now believe he will suit up for today’s playoff game at ATT Center against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Though his status for Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series hasn’t changed — head coach Gregg Popovich reiterated that his team’s No. 2 scorer remains doubtful — Ginobili has participated in preparations to make sure he is ready if he is cleared.

“He’s been practicing, doing the script,” said starting forward Richard Jefferson. “We haven’t gone full contact the last couple of days. For the most part, he’s been scripting and doing everything else and working out.”

Only the team’s medical staff and coaches will have final say on Ginobili’s availability, but point guard Tony Parker said Ginobili sitting out the game was inconceivable.

“To me,” Parker said, “it’s almost impossible that he’s not going to play.”

DEAR TIM: Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins had a simple message Saturday for Spurs captain Tim Duncan: We did not “tank” the last two games of the regular season so we could play the Spurs.

A victory in their season finale against the Clippers would have put the Grizzlies in the No. 7 seed in the Western playoffs, against the Lakers.

Duncan on Wednesday night told Express-News beat writer Jeff McDonald he believed the Grizzlies had chosen the Spurs as a first-round opponent by sitting leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph and starting forward Tony Allen in the final two games.

After running his team through a practice session at the ATT Center, Hollins looked straight into the TV cameras videotaping an interview and directed remarks to Duncan.

“I just want to say this for Tim Duncan: We did not tank the season so we can get the San Antonio Spurs,” Hollins said. “In fact, my thought process had nothing to do with the San Antonio Spurs. It had to do with us being healthy coming into this series, whatever series it was going to be. I was only concerned about our health.”

MEMPHIS CONNECTIONS: Spurs guard George Hill and Memphis guard Mike Conley grew up as friends and adversaries in Indianapolis. Hill starred at Broad Ripple High School.

Conley, two years Hill’s junior, played at Lawrence North High.

Spurs center DeJuan Blair and Memphis small forward Sam Young played two college seasons together at Pittsburgh from 2007 to 2009.

Staff writer Jeff McDonald contributed to this report.