Category: In the News

Parker bruised in France’s win

By Nesha Starcevic
Associated Press

SIAULIAI, Lithuania — Despite playing for stretches without Tony Parker, France rallied with a big fourth quarter to beat Italy 91-84 Sunday night to advance to the second round of the European basketball championship.

The Spurs guard was kneed in the left thigh by Andrea Bargnani on the second play of the game, struggled through the first half and part of the third quarter before leaving the game for good.

“I am going to have treatment on it tonight and see if I can play (Monday against Serbia),” Parker said. “The doctor said I should not take a risk in the fourth quarter.”

Italy fell to 1-3 despite leading by seven at the end of the third quarter. But France outscored Italy 31-17 in the fourth, with Boris Diaw of the Charlotte Bobcats getting 21 points.

Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers added 20. France got 28 of its points from bench players.

In another game, Juan Carlos Navarro scored 22 points and defending champion Spain swept aside host Lithuania 91-79, an outcome that allowed Serbia and Germany to advance to the second round even before their later match.

Russia and Slovenia also advanced — the top three teams from each of the four groups do so.

Serbia, which lost in the final to Spain two years ago, joined France with a perfect 4-0 record in Group B by overcoming 25 points from Dirk Nowitzki to beat Germany 75-64. Germany is 2-2.

TD, Manu named among NBA’s top 10 over-30 players

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are both nearer to retirement than to their peak years when they helped lead the Spurs to three championships together.

Duncan had a part in four NBA titles with the franchise, while Ginobili joined him for the last three titles.

Both will go down in history among the handful of greatest players to ever play for the franchise. They likely will both have their numbers retired by the team and should end up in the Naismith  Basketball Hall of Fame when their careers conclude.

But Duncan and Ginobili still have some basketball to be played before they decide to retire.

That remaining talent led Orange County Register NBA reporter Kevin Deng to list both Duncan and Ginobili among the in a recent list for the newspaper’s website.

and  in his compilation of top players.

Here’s his list of the top 10 players 30 or older in the league.

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

2. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas

3. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers

4. Kevin Garnett, Boston

5. Paul Pierce, Boston

6. Zach Randolph, Memphis

7. Joe Johnson, Atlanta

8. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio

9. Tim Duncan San Antonio

10. Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers

11. Steve Nash, Phoenix

12. Luis Scola, Houston

13. David West, New Orleans

14. Caron Butler, Dallas

15. Ray Allen, Boston

16. Jason Kidd, Dallas  

17. Chauncey Billups, New York

18. Jason Terry, Dallas

19. Stephen Jackson, Milwaukee

20. Elton Brand, Philadelphia

It’s a strong list and the fact that Ginobili and Duncan are ranked as highly as they are indicates that they still have some basketball ability left to contribute to the Spurs.

How much, we don’t know. But over the rest of their careers, Spurs Nation should savor the contributions of these two players who have been so important to the franchise over the years.

Treading on hallowed ground: A trip to Estadio Manu Ginobili in Bahia Blanca

BAHIA BLANCA, Argentina — The gymnasium where Manu Ginobili developed the game that  has made him an NBA champion, Olympic champion and an NBA All-Star sits a few blocks from the center of Bahia Blanca, a town of nearly 300,000 in the Southeast corner of the province of Buenos Aires.

Ginobili was not the first star to be developed by the basketball club Bahiense del Norte, but he is the most celebrated, by far, and the gym has been re-named in his honor.

Ginobili’s friend, Dario Faure, came behind Ginobili on the Bahiense del Norte team by two years, and he understands the import of the tidy facility.

“This is hallowed ground,” said Faure, my guide on a tour of Bahia Blanca, along with another  Bahia Blancan and fluent English speaker, Federico Groppa, who filled in the gaps in my sincere, yet halting, attempts at speaking Spanish.

The three of us watched two teams of Bahia Blancan kids playing a “Mini A” League  game on Saturday morning, a game that included a lithe youngster with floppy black hair and a reckless style of play. It was, Groppa informed me, one of Ginobili’s nephews, the son of his oldest brother.