Tag: Gregg Popovich

Spurs notebook: Ginobili feels for newcomers

Manu Ginobili can rest assured that, for the 11th season in a row, he’s going to make the Spurs’ roster.

Still, the two-time All-Star can’t help but sympathize with the handful of hopefuls who will not.

“You know a few of them are going to be cut, because we can’t have more than 15. It’s probably the worst part of the year, to see guys going through that. We just try to help everybody, and then it’s Pop’s decision,” Ginobili said of coach Gregg Popovich.

With a regular roster set at 14, the Spurs have room for only one more addition. The candidates for the job — center Eddy Curry, forwards Derrick Brown and Josh Powell and wing Wesley Witherspoon — all have had their moments during the preseason.

Witherspoon, an undrafted rookie from Memphis, led the Spurs with 17 points in Sunday’s win at Houston. Curry chipped in 10 points, making all five of his field goals.

“You see how hard they are working,” Ginobili said. “They’re doing their best to win that spot. They’re good guys doing a good job, so it’s going to be hard.”

Competition helps all: Regardless of how the competition for the final roster spot plays out, each of the Spurs’ big men figures to be much improved by the time the regular season begins because of the intense competition taking place.

DeJuan Blair, the three-year veteran who is in the final year of his contract, likes the various skills the newcomers bring to the practice battles.

“They’re doing excellent, developing every day,” Blair said. “Eddy is a big body, and Josh is more of a skill four-five, a great addition to the camp. I enjoy him there and also enjoy Ed being there.

“We all enjoy each other, and we all get along with each other. We want to help each other get better. It’s great having that daily competition. Ed is huge, and Josh is more of a guardable big you have to guard with your feet.

“It’s really good for Tim (Duncan) and me and the others to work out with them and bond with them a little bit.”

Relax, it’s an off day: With five days between preseason games and with Duncan having missed Monday’s practice with an illness, Popovich opted for a day of rest Tuesday.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

Staff writer Mike Monroe contributed to this report.

Spurs’ Mills happily back to work

By Mike Monroe

Back on the Spurs’ practice court Monday after missing a week with a sprained right ankle, backup point guard Patrick Mills worked on catching up with his teammates.

“You never want to be out too long with injuries,” said Mills, the Australian who will vie this season with Gary Neal, Cory Joseph and Nando De Colo for playing time behind Tony Parker.

“Mine was a little ankle sprain that recovered really well. I’ve been rehabbing the last week. I got a little itchy watching the last three games.

“You never want to be off the court, but I felt the stuff I did off the court — watching film, talking to the coaches, talking to the players — I still felt I was in the mix. All the new stuff that got put in, I made sure I understood all that.”

Watching three preseason games from a vantage point behind the Spurs’ bench gave Mills a good perspective on newcomer De Colo and much-improved second-year player Joseph.

“What Nando’s brought to our team is exactly what he’s good at and what he’s been great at playing internationally,” Mills said. “He’s got great vision. He sets up the team really well. His passing is unbelievable, which he’s shown the past few games. And he can shoot, as well.

“Cory’s come a long way from last year. He had a big summer. I think of all the stuff he did individually in the weight room and individually with the coaches. He got after it a lot, and you can see the stuff he put in (out on) the court. He’s becoming a real point guard.”

With Neal, the team’s top scorer (13.5 points per game) in the preseason, also off to a great start, Mills joked that he might have to shut up about how good De Colo and Joseph look.

“I don’t want to backtrack on all those compliments,” he said. “But the great thing about this environment is we’ve got a number of point guards that are really good, really solid. If nothing else, it’s going to make every one of us even better, the more we push ourselves.”

Early practice, early departure: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich changed his training camp practice schedule Monday to accommodate Matt Bonner’s annual golf tournament that benefits the Kids Sports Network.

He pushed up the start of practice by one hour, and when it ended, he and Bonner headed to TPC at San Antonio for the event.

No Duncan: Spurs captain Tim Duncan did not practice because of an undisclosed illness.

mikemonroe@express-news.net
Twitter: @Monroe_SA

Spurs notebook: Blair still attempting to fit in

Though he expressed doubt in July that the Spurs valued his services and no doubt he was being shopped to other teams, forward-center DeJuan Blair insisted he was not surprised to be back in training camp.

Blair’s doubt was fueled by his disappearance from the Spurs’ playing rotation in the playoffs, when he logged just 76 minutes in 10 of the club’s 14 postseason games.

During his participation in the U.S. Olympic team’s training camp in Las Vegas — Blair and teammate Kawhi Leonard were on the select team of young NBA players that helped prepare Team USA for the London Olympics — Blair told the Express-News he felt “torn down” by a postseason demotion that followed a starting role in 62 regular-season games. He was nearly certain the team would trade him, though he stressed that he did not ask for a trade.

There was no trade, and Monday, Blair reported to camp in decent condition and vowed to do what he can to regain a prominent role.

“I’ve got to go and try to figure out what this team wants from me and what they need from me,” he said. “I’ve got to use that as fuel to start my engine and just keep going. Right now, I’m just worrying about my body and getting ready for training camp.”

Asked directly if he preferred ending up elsewhere, Blair was evasive.

“I’m here,” he said.

They’re free: Reserve big man Tiago Splitter did his best Tuesday to ignore the nightmare of his horrid foul shooting in last season’s playoffs as he discussed one of the holes in his game. After a season of steady improvement from the foul line — he finished the regular season at 69.1 percent, a big improvement from the 58.2 percent he shot in seven seasons in the Spanish League — Splitter made only 16 of 43 postseason foul shots (37.2 percent).

“I’m always going to work on that,” he said. “Last season, I improved way more than the first season and struggled a little bit in the end. It was more confidence stuff than other things.”

Sloan visits: Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan, winner of 1,221 games as coach of the Bulls and Jazz, was a visitor at Tuesday’s first session of training camp. Long a role model for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Sloan retired 54 games into the 2010-11 season.

Open scrimmage: The Spurs will hold an open intrasquad scrimmage at the ATT Center tonight. The public is invited free of charge.

Tipoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m., with fan activities starting at 6:30 p.m.

There’s a preseason game on tap Saturday at the ATT Center against Italian League power Montepaschi Siena, winner of six straight Italian League titles.

mikemonroe@express-news.net

Twitter: @Monroe_SA

Key dates

Today: Intrasquad scrimmage (free admission, open seating) — 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Saturday: First preseason game — vs. Montepaschi Siena, 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Oct. 31: Regular-season opener — @Hornets, 7 p.m., KENS NBA TV

Nov. 1: Home opener — vs. Thunder, 8:30 p.m., TNT