Tag: Gregg Popovich

Game rewind: These aren’t the same ol’ T-Wolves are they?

Remember the days when the Minnesota Timberwolves  were a frolic  in the park for the Spurs?

The Spurs came into the season with a 16-game winning streak over the once-moribund Timberwolves. David Robinson and Tony Parker took turns in setting the Target Center’s scoring record. Minnesota seemed to quake at the very mention of Silver and Black in previous seasons.

The arrival of veteran coach Rick Adelman and mercurial rookie point guard Ricky Rubio seems to have changed all that. Minnesota notched another impressive victory Friday with an 87-79 triumph over the Spurs — the second in the first 32 days of the season after they had not beaten San Antonio for a period of 1,725 days.

It’s Minnesota’s ninth victory of the season. The Timberwolves have beaten Dallas twice, San Antonio twice and notched  a road victory at the Los Angeles Clippers in their highlights so far this season.

Considering that the franchise had averaged 16 victories in their last two seasons and had lost at least 50 games in each of their last five years, it’s a big step of progress.

If you don’t believe it, just ask Gregg Popovich and the Spurs how far the Timberwolves have come.

Game analysis: The Timberwolves mashed the ball inside and came up with a strong defensive effort down the stretch to continue the Spurs’ road woes, limiting the Spurs to one field goal over the final seven minutes.

Where the game was won: After Gary Neal drilled a 3-pointer that gave the Spurs a 79-77 with 3:33 left, the Spurs would not score again as Minnesota put the game away with a 10-0 run. The Spurs missed their final seven shots as Rubio tied the game with two foul shots, but Minnesota ahead with a pullup jumper and then hit Kevin Love for a layup that helped ice the victory.  

Bring on the bench: The Spurs’ bench had a second straight strong game, outscoring Minnesota’s bench 38-27. Matt Bonner (13 points, three 3-pointers) and Tiago Splitter (12 points, seven rebounds, three assists) were instrumental in providing big efforts again Friday night. 

Player of the game I: Rubio is showing some strong development as he orchestrates Minnesota’s defense. He matched his career high with 18 points and added 10 assists — his eighth double-double this season and third in his last four games. And after hitting only 6 of 26 shots in his last two games, he rebounded to produce 7 of 12 from the field against the Spurs, including nine points in the fourth quarter.

Player of the game II:Love started slowly as he scored  only six points on 1-for-5 shooting in the first half. But he bounced back to become a force in the second half and finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

Player of the game III:  Parker led the Spurs with 20 points, three rebounds and three assists.  It marked his ninth 20-point game this season and eighth game with at least 20 points since Manu Ginobili was injured.

Most unsung: The Spurs had no answer for massive 290-pound Nikola Pekovic, who started in place of Darko Milicic. Pekovic clogged up the middle as he scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.

Did you notice: After starting the game with 10 points in the first quarter, Richard Jefferson failed to score during the rest of the game.

Did you notice II: Of San Antonio’s final missed seven shots, five different players accounted for the misses. 

Did you notice III: A game after piling up a season-high 29 assists against Atlanta, the Spurs produced only 17 against the Timberwolves. It was their lowest total since their loss at Houston on Dec. 29.

Stat of the game: The Spurs were limited to 79 points in the loss — lowest total since a 77-71 loss at Philadelphia last Feb. 11.

Stat of the game II : After entering the fourth quarter tied at 64, the Spurs proceded to shoot 27.8 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. It was their lowest in a fourth quarter this season.

Stat of the game III: Thanks to strong performances from Love and Pekovic, the Timberwolves had a 50-26 edge in points in the paint and an 8-4 edge in second-chance points. The minus-24 differential in the paint was the largest single-game deficit of the season for the Spurs.

Weird stat of the game: The Spurs grabbed only two offensive rebounds in the game. It ranks as one of their three lowest single-game offensive rebounding games since 1985-86. It was their fewest offensive rebounds in a game since grabbing no offensive rebounds in a victory over Utah on Jan. 23, 2002.

Weird stat of the game II: The Spurs blocked eight shots, compared to one by Minnesota. In the previous three games, the Spurs blocked six shots and had 24 shots rejected.

Best plus/minus scores: DeJuan Blair was plus-3, Bonner was plus-2 and Parker was plus-1.

Worst plus/minus scores: Splitter was minus-16, Jefferson was minus-10 and Cory Joseph was minus-9.

Quote of the game: “This city is ready to explode. You can feel it,” Love, to the Associated Press about the excitement about surrounding the Timberwolves.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs have the day off  before traveling to Dallas on Sunday and Monday in Memphis. Minnesota hosts the Lakers on Sunday and will travel to Houston on Monday.

Injuries: Ginobili missed his 15th game (Spurs record 9-6) after undergoing surgery for a fractured fifth left metacarpal.  T.J. Ford missed his 10th game (Spurs record 6-4) with a torn left hamstring. Minnesota starting center  Milicic missed the game with flu-like symptoms. Guard J.J. Barea (sprained left ankle), guard Malcolm Lee (knee surgery) and Brad Miller (microfracture knee surgery) all missed Friday’s game.

Game rewind: Baby steps leading to better Spurs defense

One of the biggest concerns that Gregg Popovich had throughout the early part of the season was his struggling defense.

At one point, Popovich ripped his current players for the worst defensive effort during his coaching tenure.

And that might have been the case when the Spurs were singed for 58.2 percent in an earlier loss to Miami, 50.6 percent and 55.7 percent in losses to Houston and 50.6 percent to lowly New Orleans. That game might have been the low point as they allowed the Hornets to top 100 points for the first time all season in a narrow two-point victory.

Since that game, the Spurs have played noticeably better. Only one team has topped 100 points during the last six games. The Spurs have limited opponents to an average of 86 points and 43.2 field goal shooting after permitting an average of 96.4 points and 46.3 percent in the first 18 games of the season.

And the Spurs’ defense in their most recent game against New Orleans was much improved as they held the Hornets to 44.6 shooting in an impressive 93-81 victory Thursday night at the ATT Center.

San Antonio was particularly strong in the fourth quarter, limiting the Hornets to 13 points and 28.6 percent. Both totals ranked among their best this  season in fourth-quarter defense.

“I think we had a great run as our defense stepped up a little bit,” Spurs forward Tiago Splitter said. 

It’s ben a nice run. But the Spurs will be tested against an Oklahoma City team that ranks among the top three teams offensively in scoring and field-goal percentage.

It will be a truer test for San Antonio’s defense than any previous game in the recent surge.

Among the highlights of the victory over the Hornets include the following.

Game analysis: The Spurs finally broke away in the fourth quarter after a gritty start against an undermanned New Orleans team missing its top two scoring threats in Jarrett Jack and Eric Gordon.

Where the game was won: The Spurs blew the game open with a 14-2 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter. It started on Gary Neal’s 3-pointer to close the third quarter and also included four points and three assists from Tony Parker — one a behind-the-back pass to Matt Bonner for a clutch 3-pointer to cap the run.

Closing it out: The Spurs defense punctuated the victory by limiting New Orleans without a point for more than five minutes at the end of the game. After Trevor Ariza’s 3-pointer pulled the Hornets within 84-77  with 6:01 left, they missed their next eight shots with two turnovers before Carl Landry hit a jumper to pull them to 93-79 with 43.4 seconds left.

Player of the game I: We again saw Tim Duncan inside more, resulting in more shots around the basket en route to game-high totals of 19 points and nine rebounds. Unlike his season-best 28-point effort against the Hornets on Jan. 23, Duncan was a beast in the paint.

Player of the game II: Parker notched 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished off seven assists. He scored only two points in the first half, but finished with a flourish with eight points and four assists in the fourth quarter.

Player of the game III: Landry kept New Orleans close  for most of the game with 17 points on 8 of 12 shooting, although he was limited to only two points in the fourth quarter.  

Most unsung: Splitter’s work with Parker was critical in the fourth quarter. It helped him score seven of his 16 points in the quarter to help put the game away as they abused New Orleans’ defense with a steady dose of pick-and-roll plays.

Did you notice I: The Spurs had surprising difficulty running their offense, picking up two 24-second violations and nearly picking up another one. They had difficulty at times getting a shot up quickly in the possession and at times resulted for poor choices at the end of the possession.

Did you notice II: Like in the past several games, the Spurs’ lineup in crunch time late in the fourth quarter has Duncan and Splitter playing together. They were together for a closing 8-0 spurt that put the game away.  

Stat of the game:  After missing 14 of their first 15 3-pointers, the Spurs finished by hitting three of  their last four 3-point shots.

Stat of the game II: The Spurs limited New Orleans to 13 points in the fourth quarter. It was the lowest total this season for the Spurs except for 12 points allowed at Minnesota on Jan. 2.

Stat of the game III: New Orleans was limited to 28.6 percent in the fourth quarter, enduring scoring droughts of 3:19 and 5:18 during the quarter.

Stat of the game IV: New Orleans starting forwards Ariza and Jason Smith clanked through a combined 4 for 21 shooting night and were limited to 11 points.

Stat of the game V: Since going 0 for 2 Jan. 5 against Dallas, Splitter has hit 69.7 percent from  the field over his last 17 games. He was 7 for 9 against New Orleans Thursday night.

Weird stat of the game: Before the fourth quarter, the largest lead for either team was four points.

Not a good sign: DeJuan Blair missed several easy jumpers as he went 1 for 6 from the field and scored only three points. He’s averaging 3.6 points and shooting 33.3 percent in his last five games.

Best plus/minus scores: Splitter was plus-13, and Duncan, Neal and Danny Green all were plus-11.

Worst plus/minus scores: James Anderson and Kawhi Leonard were the only Spurs were minus-4 — the only Spurs with negative scores.

Quote of the game: ”He was wicked spry,” Bonner , on the recent athleticism exhibited by 35-year-old Tim Duncan.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will meet Oklahoma City, the NBA team with the best record, Saturday night at the ATT Center. They then embark for the Rodeo Road Trip with starting games Monday night in Memphis and Wednesday in Philadelphia. New Orleans travels Saturday to Detroit before home games Monday against Sacramento, Wedneday against Chicago and Feb. 10 against Portland.

Injuries: Manu Ginobili missed his 19th game (Spurs record 12-7) after undergoing surgery for a fractured fifth left metacarpal.  T.J. Ford missed his 14th game (Spurs record 9-5) with a torn left hamstring. New Orleans played without leading scorers Gordon (right knee contusion) and Jack (sore knee).

Ginobili’s injury hasn’t broken Spurs’ resolve

MINNEAPOLIS — As the Spurs’ charter flight lifted off from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport late on the night of Jan. 2, uncertainty was in the air.

In the back of the team plane, All-Star guard Manu Ginobili sat with his newly broken left hand in a splint. His fifth metacarpal had been fractured in a 106-96 loss to Minnesota hours earlier. A timetable for his return was unknown.

Meanwhile, the remaining Spurs braced for unseen turbulence ahead.

“Very pensive,” is how forward Matt Bonner described that flight back to Texas. “Obviously, there was that kind of unknown question mark.”

Tonight at the Target Center, the Spurs return to the scene of the incident for a rematch with the fast-rising Timberwolves. The nosedive many expected in light of Ginobili’s latest injury hasn’t happened yet.

The Spurs are 9-5 since Ginobili went on the inactive list after swiping a little too vigorously at Minnesota’s Anthony Tolliver.

Though their status in the standings remains a day-to-day, win-to-win proposition, they left home for Minnesota and the start of a rugged three-game road trip in first place in the Southwest Division and third in the Western Conference.

“We have confidence in each other, confidence in our coaching staff and our system,” Bonner said. “It was just a matter of having other people step up.”

What the Spurs (12-7) couldn’t have known as they left Minnesota broken and beaten earlier this month was that 24-year-old swingman Danny Green was a bona fide NBA rotation player.

That second-year center Tiago Splitter was a burgeoning playmaker on the Spurs’ second unit. That Kawhi Leonard, a 20-year-old rookie a month into his NBA career, could make an impact doing the unenviable — starting for Ginobili.

Yes, the whole thing still feels fragile, as if stitched together with bailing wire, and the Spurs could be one bad road trip away from a tailspin. But for now, they have survived the first three weeks with Ginobili in a sport coat.

Three down, and perhaps just three more weeks to go.

“I don’t know why, but I always thought things were going to work out,” said Green, a third-year forward who has been the surprise of the Spurs’ season so far. “We have a good team here, a pretty good foundation. When one guy goes down, another guy steps in.”

Point guard Tony Parker recalls a sense of urgency in the wake of Ginobili’s injury.

“We didn’t panic,” Parker said, before chuckling. “I’m not going to say I knew Danny Green was going to play like that, but we didn’t panic.”

Coach Gregg Popovich credits All-Star forward Tim Duncan, the team’s captain and, at 35, its oldest player, for helping keep the Spurs’ season together after Ginobili went down.

Bonner agrees.

“We all feed off his leadership and consistency,” Bonner said.

It is a role Duncan can fill even on nights his shot isn’t falling, or when Popovich is limiting his minutes.

“I’m still a big part of this team,” Duncan said. “I want to be a leader on and off the floor. I want Pop and the rest of the guys to count on me to do that.”

That’s not to say the Spurs don’t miss Ginobili. They do, especially on the road when the degree of difficulty gets exponentially higher.

Including a pair of road losses with Ginobili on the floor, the Spurs are 2-6 away from the ATT Center this season.

“Not having Manu is huge,” Popovich said. “He gives everybody a lot of confidence, especially on the road when things are not going well. Manu seems to have a knack for scoring at those times, or doing something else to change momentum.”

Though the future is still very much up in the air until Ginobili is back in uniform, the Spurs tonight hope to demonstrate how far they’ve come since last leaving Minnesota.

“I didn’t have any doubts,” Green said. “I figured we’d be fine. Everybody else doubted us, but I didn’t have any.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net