Tag: Gregg Popovich

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.

Redemption shot boosts Bonner’s confidence

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Having made only 12 of 50 3-point shots in his previous 14 games, Spurs forward Matt Bonner missed his first long-distance attempt of Sunday’s game against the Suns at the ATT Center. It was a corner 3-point shot early in the second quarter, running his streak of consecutive 3-point misses to seven.

In need of a jolt of confidence, he got it when teammate Gary Neal passed up an open 3-pointer to get the ball to Bonner, uncovered at one of his favorite spots.

As he watched his shot settle into the net, Bonner said he felt like an innocent man who had escaped from prison after a sentence he hadn’t deserved.

“It was totally a ‘Shawshank Redemption’ shot,” he said. “I felt like I was riding down the coast of Mexico, looking at the Pacific Ocean.”

He was grateful to Neal, a 41.6 percent 3-point shooter who rarely turns down an open long-distance look.

“It’s our theme we’ve been preaching all year: Good to great,” Bonner said. “He had a good look but kicked it to me for a great look. If I’m in the same position, I’ll return the favor, and that goes for everybody on the team. We did a great job making the extra pass tonight, going from good looks to great looks.”

Neal admitted he rarely passes up an open-3-point shot.

“That wasn’t the first,” he said. “But there haven’t been many. I can’t make a living passing up open threes. But as long as I’m passing it to Matty, I’m good with it.”

Bonner made two more 3-pointers against the Suns, raising his league-leading percentage to 46.5.

He scored 16 points, his most productive offensive game since he made 6 of 7 threes and scored 18 points in the Spurs’ 125-95 victory over Miami on March 4.

It was his work on the offensive glass that most impressed Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, however. He had six offensive rebounds, two of them turned into put-back baskets. His 11 rebounds gave him his first double-double of the season.

“(That) was more impressive than him making a couple of threes,” Popovich said. “He was very, very active for us in that regard, and against Phoenix, it’s really important. But just in general, his pursuit of what we call 50-50 balls was real important, and he was great at it.”

HEAVY LIFTING: The Spurs followed Sunday’s game with a weightlifting session, opting for the strength and conditioning work after a noon start because the annual team photo is today. After that, they leave for Atlanta, where they play the Hawks on Tuesday.

GREEN DAY: The Spurs recalled swing man Danny Green from their Austin Toros NBA D-League team, but he was inactive for the game. Green played Saturday in the Toros’ season finale, scoring 19 points, with seven rebounds, before fouling out after 32 minutes. Appropriately enough, he was behind the bench on “Go Green Awareness Night,” part of the NBA’s environmental awareness week. Players for both teams wore “Go Green” warm-ups that had been made from re-cycled materials.

Contused Ginobili uncertain for Portland game

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Manu Ginobili left the locker room at the FedEx Forum on Sunday night and headed down a corridor toward the team bus, dragging his sore left leg behind him like luggage.

With Tim Duncan already on the shelf with a sprained left ankle, it was a sight the Spurs did not want to see.

Ginobili, the team’s leading scorer, suffered a left quadriceps contusion in the first half of the Spurs’ 111-104 loss to Memphis. The injury occurred in a collision with Grizzlies forward Marc Gasol.

Officially, Ginobili’s status for tonight’s rematch with Portland at the ATT Center is uncertain. Hobbling out of Memphis, however, he didn’t look like an NBA player less than 24 hours from his next game.

“I’ll get some rest and some treatment, and then we’ll see how it feels,” Ginobili said.

With less than 2 1/2 minutes to go in the second quarter, Gasol ambushed Ginobili on a trap. Unaware of the charging defender, Ginobili whirled, and Gasol’s knee caught him just above his own left knee.

Ginobili immediately collapsed in pain, then left for the locker room. He tried to return for the second half but lasted just 5:50 of the third quarter before leaving the game for good.

“At first, when I came to the bench, I thought I was going to be OK,” Ginobili said. “Then it stiffened up. I can’t put my full weight on it.”

The injury is not considered serious but is painful. Leaving the arena Sunday, Ginobili was hoping — perhaps against hope — that compression machines would provide adequate healing powers to allow him to play against Portland.

Hill’s 30: A silver lining in the cloud that seemed to follow the Spurs to Memphis was the play of reserve guard George Hill.

Afforded 32:02 of playing time with Ginobili out, Hill scored 30 points to equal a career high set against Houston on March 31 of last season.

It was a significant turnabout for Hill, who had 24 points in the three previous games combined and hadn’t enjoyed a 20-point game since March 2.

He said Sunday’s breakout did not occur because of Ginobili’s absence, but because of a recent conversation with coach Gregg Popovich.

“He just wanted me to play basketball and stop thinking so much, just have fun out there,” Hill said.

Popovich was pleased with a performance from Hill that included 12 free throw tries, of which he made 11, a testament to the guard’s assertiveness.

“I want George to continue to play with that kind of scoring mentality, because he’s good at it,” Popovich said.

Guess who?: With the Trail Blazers visiting the ATT Center tonight, the Spurs did watch film of their epic collapse in Portland on Friday, including Nicolas Batum’s game-winning alley-oop from Andre Miller.

Hill said it wasn’t the horror show people might assume.

“You always watch film to try to get better,” Hill said. “But it’s nothing we harped on.”

Asked if tonight were too soon to exact revenge for Friday’s heartbreak, Hill called it “just another game on the schedule.”