Category: In the News

Personals have Popovich in foul mood

Nobody could blame Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for being in a foul mood after he watched the Grizzlies manhandle his team in the second half of Monday’s Game 4 at FedEx Forum in Memphis.

In fact, fouls committed by the Spurs in the pivotal first four minutes of the third quarter seemed to bother Popovich as much, or more, than any aspect of a 104-86 loss that has the Spurs on the brink of elimination from the playoffs.

The Spurs committed three turnovers during the Grizzlies’ game-turning 14-0 run to start the third, but Popovich was more surprised by his team’s inability to defend without fouling.

Rookie center Tiago Splitter started the Grizzlies’ parade to the foul line when he committed a shooting foul against Marc Gasol just 42 seconds into the period. He committed a second shooting foul, on guard Mike Conley, 73 seconds later. In between, Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili picked up personals, so George Hill’s foul on Tony Allen with 9:19 remaining in the quarter put the Grizzlies in the bonus for the remainder of the period.

By quarter’s end, Memphis had shot 12 free throws and made 10.

“I would never expect that we would play that badly to start the third quarter in a game that we were playing pretty well in overall and actually leading and have an opportunity to play those first minutes just in a solid manner,” Popovich said.

“So sure, I was surprised, more about the fouls than the turnovers. We’ve been capable of turnovers before, but we’ve been a great team all year as far as not fouling, so that was really out of character.”

Ginobili, whose only personal of the game came in the third-period foul fest, had no good explanation for the spate of fouls.

“Usually they are the team that fouls a lot and sends us to the line early,” he said. “In that third quarter, in three minutes they were in bonus and we kept fouling in bad situations. So we gave them the ball and said, ‘OK, you score from the line.’ And offensively, we were just dry. Those two things compounded for a horrible third quarter.”

HOLLINS HOLLERS: The inspiration for the Grizzlies’ third-quarter surge apparently came from head coach Lionel Hollins.

Players described an irate head coach challenging them to play with more intensity and physicality from the outset of the second half.

“He ripped us,” Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo told reporters.

Leading scorer Zach Randolph verified Mayo’s account, saying Hollins “definitely had some choice words.”

Hollins enjoyed the response he got.

“The second half,” he said, “was just incredible to watch. It was an incredible performance in the third and fourth quarters. From the second quarter on, our defense just kept getting better and better and more aggressive.”

GRIZZLIES WARY: The Grizzlies gathered as a team at center court after Monday’s victory to steel their resolve for tonight’s Game 5 at the ATT Center.

“We understand that we have not won anything yet,” Gasol said. “It was a good game. We know how loud their place can get, and we need to be ready.”

Manu doubtful for playoff opener

Their first-round playoff opponent finally decided, Spurs coaches went to work Thursday piecing together the beginnings of a game plan for the Memphis Grizzlies.

The team’s most pressing concern, however, was not something that could be solved by any combination Xs and Os, only ice and rest.

An MRI exam revealed guard Manu Ginobili has a sprained right elbow, and the Spurs are preparing to open the playoffs without him.

Ginobili is officially listed as doubtful for Game 1 on Sunday at the ATT Center, leaving his teammates to seize onto the semantics that “doubtful” does not mean “out.”

“Hopefully he can be ready to go once the playoffs start,” Tim Duncan said. “You cross your fingers and hope for that.”

Ginobili was injured in the first quarter of the Spurs’ 106-103 season-ending loss at Phoenix on Wednesday, when he collided awkwardly with Suns forward Grant Hill while cutting off a Duncan screen.

His injury throws a wild card into the matchup between the top-seeded Spurs (61-21) and eighth-seeded Grizzlies (46-36).

Throughout NBA postseason history, No. 1 seed has advanced in 51 of 54 first-round series. Since 2003, when the first-round format switched to a best-of-seven series, the No. 8 seed has moved on to the second round just once — in 2007, when Golden State upset Dallas.

With Ginobili and his 17.4 points per game possibly out for at least Game 1, and with Memphis a more rugged draw than the garden-variety eight seed, the Spurs are still favorites, but vulnerable.

“It’s going to be a tough, physical series,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said. “We’ll be ready.”

Even before a bum elbow threatened to rob the Spurs of their second-leading scorer, there were signs Memphis wanted this matchup. Eschewing a chance to elevate to the No. 7 seed, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins rested starters — including bruising star forward Zach Randolph — in each of the final two games of the regular season.

At least one prominent Spurs player noticed.

“Obviously, they’ve chosen their matchup,” Duncan said.

There are reasons for Memphis to bullseye the Spurs. The Grizzlies split four games against them during the regular season, losing one in overtime. In addition, Randolph has been a load for the Spurs to handle, averaging 23 points and 14.8 rebounds against them this season.

In hindsight, perhaps Hollins made the right call simply in keeping his most important players out of harm’s way.

Ginobili’s injury might have opened the door for the Grizzlies to make franchise history. Memphis is 0-12 all-time in playoffs, having been swept in all three of its previous appearances — including in 2004 by the Spurs.

After Wednesday’s game in Phoenix, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich defended his use of Ginobili and other regulars in a fairly meaningless finale, saying he wanted to keep his starters in fighting shape heading toward the playoffs.

“They needed to get a good run, and they did, so they can keep a rhythm,” Popovich said.

Duncan, too, refused to play Monday morning quarterback.

“You can’t predict anything, and there’s no reason to second guess,” he said. “I don’t think any one of us is going to do that.”

All the Spurs can do now is look to the future, which in the short term means the prospect of opening the playoffs without Ginobili.

The spacious nature of the playoff schedule could aid his recovery. With Game 2 not until Wednesday, Ginobili could ice his elbow for a full week and miss just one game.

For now, the Spurs just need Ginobili to get well. The Xs and Os, much like their chances for advancement, look better with him than without him.

“If he isn’t able to play in the playoffs, it’s going to be devastating for us,” Antonio McDyess said. “We definitely don’t want to see that happen.”

Splitter solid in playoff debut

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After watching the first three games of the Spurs-Grizzlies playoff series, Spurs rookie center Tiago Splitter finally made his postseason debut in Monday’s Game 4.

His performance turned out to be one of the few bright spots for the Spurs. The 25-year-old rookie from Brazil logged 21 minutes and 32 seconds and scored 10 points, with nine rebounds. He made 5 of 9 shots and committed only one turnover.

“I thought he was wonderful,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I thought he did a lot of good things out there.”

Popovich opened the second half with Splitter on the court instead of veteran Antonio McDyess, but Popovich said that was a tactical decision only.

“Antonio had three (first-half) fouls, and you need him at the end of the game to guard Zach (Randolph),” he said. “We didn’t want to start Antonio for that reason.”

Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins admitted to some surprise at seeing Splitter on the floor but said his presence didn’t change anything about his team’s game plan.

“As the series goes on, teams start making adjustments,” he said, “and sure enough he comes out and is playing. I talked about him before and what his game was, and he played pretty decent for them. They decided to go with him and go bigger than (DeJuan) Blair.”

NO MESSAGE: Blair was one of four substitutions with 5:43 left in the game and the Spurs trailing by 20. He came in along with Splitter, Danny Green, and Steve Novak, joining rookie Gary Neal, and the Spurs finished the game without a starter on the floor.

The rationale, said Popovich, was not to send any sort of message to his key players, but to get them some rest.

“What would that message be?” he said. “We’re going to play again in a couple days, and I didn’t see us getting back into that game.

“There’s no sense leaving those guys out there to do it. They’ll need their juice for the next game.”

SECURITY INCREASED: After encountering problems with rowdy Grizzlies fans as they exited the team bus to return to their hotel following Saturday’s Game 3, the Spurs requested, and received, an increased security detail before departing the hotel for Game 4.

“We spoke to the appropriate hotel personnel about the problems, and there were no more problems tonight,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said.

WORTH NOTING: Grizzlies starting forward Tony Allen trimmed the shaggy beard he had been cultivating for more than a month, declaring he had to make a change because he did not like how he had played in Game 3, when he fouled out … The Grizzlies forbade fans on Monday from bringing into the arena the giant face cut-out of Tony Parker’s former wife, Eva Longoria, depicted wearing a Grizzlies headband, that had been on display during Game 3. A Grizzlies spokesperson said the team deemed the display inappropriate and said the club regretted its appearance in Game 3 … Spurs captain Tim Duncan turned 35 on Monday.