Tag: In the News

Expect lots of ‘small ball’ from short-handed Spurs

By Mike Monroe

SALT LAKE CITY — The Spurs had just lost Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter during an otherwise stirring Saturday road win over the Clippers, but the team’s leading scorer and lone All-Star found a way to remain upbeat.

“We’re used to playing without Manu now because we already played 22 games without him,” said Tony Parker, whose 30 points and 10 assists became an afterthought after Gary Neal’s 3-point heroics in the Spurs’ 10th consecutive victory. “In that sense, it’s a comfort, but let me be clear: I still want Manu on the floor.”

Barring a minor miracle, Ginobili won’t be on the floor until after the All-Star break. He returned to San Antonio on Sunday and will have an MRI exam on his strained left oblique (rib muscle) today.

The absence of Splitter — the 6-10 center from Brazil who’s been having a breakout season — might be a greater challenge during the final three games of the nine-game rodeo road trip.

Splitter suffered a strained right calf in the first half Saturday when he pump-faked Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin into the air and drew a foul when Griffin crashed into him as he went up for a shot.

Splitter remained with the team when it traveled to Utah for tonight’s game against the Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.

The Spurs have not given an update on Splitter’s condition. Based on coach Gregg Popovich’s comments after Saturday’s game, it does not seem likely he would hurry Splitter back into action, especially with the All-Star break coming up this weekend.

The loss of Splitter leaves the Spurs with only three legitimate big men: team captain Tim Duncan, undersized starting center DeJuan Blair and reserve Matt Bonner.

The solution is apparent.

“We’ll probably end up having to play a decent amount of ‘small ball,’?” Popovich said.

An early adapter to the small-ball concept pioneered in the NBA by one of his mentors, Don Nelson, Popovich often has employed lineups this season using only one legitimate front-court player. While he enjoys the tactical advantage such lineups often produce, circumstance has made them a strategic necessity.

After Splitter departed Saturday’s game, Popovich leaned heavily on the 35-year-old Duncan, the 13-time All-Star who has upped his production from last season despite playing a career-low 27.8 minutes per game.

Duncan logged a season-high 41 minutes and 20 seconds in Saturday’s overtime victory and grabbed 17 rebounds, matching a season high.

It was his longest stint in a regular-season game since Feb. 2, 2009, when he scored 32 points and had 15 rebounds in a road victory over the Golden State Warriors. He put in several 40-plus minute performances against Dallas in 2009 and 2010 playoff series, including 42:52 as the Spurs closed out the Mavericks in the first round April 29, 2010.

Popovich ruled out increasing Duncan’s workload, no matter how many games Splitter may miss.

“That wouldn’t be very wise,” he said. “The way he played (Saturday), those minutes, you can’t do that very often. That wouldn’t be wise for the future.”

Duncan is willing to do whatever is asked of him, but he understands the wisdom of conserving his energy for the postseason.

“I’ll give all that I can, but I don’t know what that may be,” he said. “Pop’s always been great about keeping our minutes down, especially in this compressed season.

“We have this halftime coming up with the All-Star break. We have three more games before the break and, hopefully, we can keep it together, whatever that means.”

Like Parker, Duncan believes the young players who thrived during the 22 games Ginobili missed with a hand injury have gained the requisite confidence needed to carry them through this latest misfortune.

“It helps that we’ve been through it already,” he said. “We found a way to get it together and keep it together without guys before. Hopefully, this will be the same.”

mikemonroe@express-news.net

Game rewind: Duncan turns back clock for another vintage effort

Tim Duncan used to be able to carry the Spurs in a manner befitting one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history.

Those glimpses don’t come along as often as they used to. And when they do, they assuredly are something special for Spurs Nation to savor.

Duncan had one of those games Monday night in the Spurs’ 89-84 victory over Memphis, dominating the game inside in the fourth quarter to help nail down the Spurs’ season-best fifth consecutive victory.

“Tim has been playing well lately. He’s feeling good,” Spurs point guard Tony Parker told  reporters after the game. “His knee is doing well. Hopefully, he will stay like that.”

The Spurs captain produced 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Spurs’ victory.

” That’s a great game from Timmy — 19 and 17,” Parker said, chuckling. “Those are big numbers at 45 years old.”

Duncan, who will turn 36 on April 26, isn’t quite there yet.

And thankfully for his team, he can still occasionally provide the kind of lift that used to be expected.

Here are a few other highlights from the first game of the Spurs’ Rodeo Road Trip.  

The game, simply stated: The Spurs employed a tenacious defensive effort and big games from Parker and Duncan to win at Memphis for the second Monday night in a row against the tired Grizzlies.

Where the game was won: After Memphis jumped on the Spurs for a 25-6 run to end the third quarter and claim a six-point lead, the Spurs defense picked up. San Antonio limited  Memphis to a season-low 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies shot only 20 percent from the field.

Closing it out: The Spurs took the lead for good on Parker’s layup with 5:10 left. After Memphis had closed within one when Danny Green was whistled for goaltending on O.J. Mayo’s short jumper, Mayo missed the enusing foul shot. Duncan then put the game away with a critical three-point play and a dunk that iced the victory.

Player of the game I: It was just like old times for Duncan, who provided 19 points, and season-best totals for the Spurs of 17 rebounds and five blocks. He was especially big in the fourth quarter with nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks to lead the comeback.

Player of the game II: Parker struggled a little in the second half with only six points, but he still finished with team-high totals of 21 points and seven assists.

Player of the game III:  Memphis center Marc Gasol bounced  back after a struggling performance Sunday in Boston to lead the Grizzlies with 22 points and nine rebounds. He had as many turnovers  as points — seven — in the Grizzlies’ loss to the Celtics.

Most unsung: Matt Bonner came off the bench to score eight points and provide three rebounds. And he even came up with some strong defense by running at Rudy Gay’s potential game-tying 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds left.

Attendance: Is some of the bloom off the Grizzlies after their recent struggles that has seen them lose seven of their last nine games? The game attracted a crowd of 13,527 to the FedEx Forum — Memphis’ second-smallest crowd of the season and nearly 1,600 below the crowd the Spurs attracted for a game against them seven nights ago on a similar Monday night.   

Did you notice I: Mike Conley’s bank-shot 3-pointer was an answer to a Memphis prayer with 1:10 left to pull them within 87-84. The best show of emotion after that shot by a Spur came by Manu Ginobili, who fell back in his chair in amazement after the lucky shot.

Did you notice II: After failing to play in the first three quarters, Gregg Popovich turned to James Anderson for 7:35 in the fourth quarter. Anderson botched a layup, but later provided a critical 3-pointer that helped kick-start the Spurs offense.

Stat of the game:  The Spurs limited Memphis to 11 points in the fourth quarter. It was the Grizzlies’ lowest scoring quarter of the season and the lowest scoring quarter for a Spurs’ opponent.

Stat of the game II: Duncan grabbed 17 rebounds to set the Spurs season high after grabbing 15 and setting the team’s previous high Saturday night against Oklahoma City. It marked his first back-to-back games with at least 15 rebounds since Dec. 16-Dec. 19, 2009 — a period of more than two years.   

Stat of the game III: Parker scored 21 points to mark the 12th time in the 21 games since Ginobili was injured that Parker has topped 20 points. And with his 42 points against Oklahoma City Saturday night, his 63 points in the last two games are the most in consecutive games  since he went for 69 points in the final two games of the Spurs’ first-round 2009 playoff loss to Dallas.

Stat of the game IV: The Spurs notched 15 assists — tied for their second-lowest total of the season.

Stat of the game V: Sparked by Duncan’s big game inside, the Spurs matched their season high with nine blocked shots. It was previously recorded in their overtime victory over Houston on Jan. 11.

Weird stat of the game: Duncan has blocked at least five shots in 133 playoff and regular season games in his 1,254-game career. His two most recent times before Monday both came against the Grizzlies in games last Feb. 27 and April 23.

Not a good sign: Struggling against Memphis’ ball pressure, the Spurs contributed 19 turnovers to come within one of their season high of 20 against Atlanta on Jan. 25.

Not a good sign II: After hitting their first five 3-pointers of the game Monday, the Spurs finished the game 2 for 11 from beyond the arc.  

Best plus/minus scores: Anderson was plus-9, DeJuan Blair was plus-7 and Duncan was plus-6.

Worst plus/minus scores: Bonner was minus-5 and Kawhi Leonard was minus-4. They were the only Spurs players with negative scores.

Quote of the game: “It was tough. A couple of guys were fatigued from playing a lot of heavy minutes. It was one of those games that slipped away from us,” Gay on the Grizzlies’ late collapse after playing Sunday in Boston.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will continue the Rodeo Road Trip Wednesday night in Philadelphia and Saturday night at New Jersey. The Grizzlies will have their next three games at home as they face Minnesota without Kevin Love on Wednesday, Indiana on Friday and Utah on Sunday.

Injuries: Ginobili missed his 21st game (Spurs record 14-7) after undergoing surgery for a fractured fifth left metacarpal.  T.J. Ford missed his 16th game (Spurs record 11-5) with a torn left hamstring. Memphis played without starting guard Tony Allen, who missed his second game with a sore left hip and knee. Memphis All-Star forward Zach Randolph missed his 21st game (Grizzlies record 11-10) with a torn right MCL. Memphis forward Darrell Arthur (torn right Achilles) is out for the season.

Blacktop aids Green’s NBA survival

NEW YORK — The shots went up one by one over the course of a week, all of them with the same result.

At one point over a four-game stretch, Spurs guard Danny Green had missed 17 in a row, the kind of misfiring streak that can crush a young player, much less a 24-year-old journeyman still playing for a contract and a career.

As the misses piled up, Green did not flinch. He did not blink. He did not betray much emotion at all.

“Just got to keep shooting,” Green said.

It is a fearlessness forged on the famed blacktops of New York City, where Green spent his formative years learning the game from basketball’s toughest crowd.

At Rucker Park, for example, the timid are eaten alive. Or worse, forgotten altogether.

“On a playground court, if you’re scared to shoot, you’ll be known as a non-threat,” Green said. “And then you won’t get picked up to play.”

Green grew up in the Long Island hamlet of North Babylon, equidistant between the posh celebrity hangouts of the Hamptons and the gray hardscrabble of the city.

There is no question where Green spent most of his time as a youth.

The tattoo on the inside of Green’s right wrist, one of scores etched across his body, says it all: “Made in New York.”

“The city,” he said, “is like Mecca.”

In his third NBA season, and second with the Spurs, Green has emerged as a key piece of coach Gregg Popovich’s rotation. In 22 games with star guard Manu Ginobili sidelined with a broken hand, Green averaged 24.4 minutes.

For the season, Green — a roster afterthought coming into training camp — has averaged 7.4 points, including games of 24 against Denver and 20 against Miami.

Now that Ginobili has returned, the 6-foot-6 Green — who has made two straight starts — aims to keep a grip on playing time.

He won’t go back to the end of the bench without a fight. From the time Green arrived in San Antonio late last season, Popovich admired his willingness to “let it fly.”

“It does show certain confidence in one’s abilities,” Popovich said. “He’s not awed by the challenge of making it in the NBA. It’s important you see someone has that in their system, that fire.”

Raised by a single father, Danny Sr., after his mother left, Green enjoyed a comfortable suburban existence on Long Island, where he starred at St. Mary’s High School before joining a future national championship team at North Carolina.

In 2006, just after Green’s freshman season at UNC, his father — a high school basketball coach — was arrested in conjunction with a massive drug raid, during which authorities confiscated 420 pounds of cocaine.

Green Sr. spent two years in prison for what the family says was a case of mistaken identity.

Perhaps the younger Green shows no fear on the basketball court because he knows what real fear is. There was a chance Green Sr. could have done 20 years.

Another of Green’s tattoos — an enormous portrait of him and his father together spanning the breadth of his back — commemorates that feeling.

“Just so I never forget,” he said.

Neither has Green forgotten the lessons of the New York City blacktop, which still guide him today.

“You’ve got to have a kind of attitude,” Green said. “Some of those guys are real dirty, physical. They talk a lot of trash. That’s what New York basketball is about.”

Green’s teammates have been equal parts surprised and impressed with his rapid ascension.

Brought to San Antonio twice last season on the recommendation of vice president of basketball operations Danny Ferry, who as general manager in Cleveland drafted him 46th overall in 2009, Green got his big break this season, on Jan. 4.

With Golden State’s Monta Ellis going nuts on the Spurs in Ginobili’s first game out, Popovich turned to Green, who at this time last season was in the Development League. Ellis finished with 38 points, but Green limited him to 4-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter as the Spurs rallied for a victory.

“It couldn’t happen to a better person,” small forward Richard Jefferson said. “The only thing I ever tell him is to slow down a bit, because he gets so excited. He’s a young kid playing well.”

Defense got Green on the floor, and defense is what kept him there throughout an 0-for-17 shooting slump.

Having the courage to step up and shoot No. 18 only aided his cause.

When that shot finally went in Saturday in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from where Green’s game was born, a weight was lifted.

Green finished with 10 points in the win over the Nets, making half of his eight field goals and a pair of 3-pointers.

He figures the inhabitants of the New York City playgrounds, the toughest crowd in sports, would approve.

“You don’t want to let anybody disrespect your game,” Green said. “That’s probably one of the biggest things you learn growing up in New York.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net