Category: In the News

Hall of Fame’s 2011 class includes two former Spurs

A pair of former Spurs are headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Though their time in silver and black was relatively brief, Artis Gilmore and Dennis Rodman made marks as Spurs that can’t be overlooked by team historians.

Hall of Fame officials announced 10 new inductees, including the two former Spurs, at a ceremony on Monday afternoon in Houston. The class will be formally inducted in ceremonies in Springfield, Mass., in August.

A 7-foot-2 center from Jacksonville, Gilmore played for the Spurs near the end of his 15-year professional career. He amassed 3,671 rebounds and blocked 700 shots in five seasons (1982-87) with the Spurs, No. 3 all-time in the franchise’s NBA history in both categories.

Rodman, a defensive-minded power forward and rebounding specialist, played only two seasons for the Spurs but established team records that may never be broken. His single-season average of 17.3 rebounds in 1993-94 is No. 1 in Spurs history.

Former Spurs general manager Bob Bass brought both Gilmore and Rodman to the Spurs via trade.

“The reason we made the trade with Chicago (for Gilmore in July 1982) was because we couldn’t get past the Lakers and (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar,” Bass said. “Artis did a great job defending Jabbar, but we made that deal, and wouldn’t you know it, the Lakers got Magic Johnson in the draft, and we still couldn’t get past them.”

Rodman, Bass said, was brought to the Spurs because Robinson bore too much of the team’s rebounding load.

“We were 20-something in the league in rebounding,” he said, “but when we put him with David, we were one of the best in the league.”

Gilmore became the first player elected by a new Hall of Fame committee convened specifically to recognize the American Basketball Association. He played his entire ABA career with the Kentucky Colonels, helping them win the ABA title in 1975, when he was MVP of the league’s playoffs.

When the Colonels were disbanded after the amalgamation of the ABA into the NBA in 1976, Gilmore joined the Chicago Bulls. He was traded to the Spurs in July 1982. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, representing the Spurs three times.

Spurs Hall of Famer George Gervin played three seasons with Gilmore, nicknamed “The A-Train,” and recalled him as both a defensive force and a good friend.

“Artis was the most dominant big man in ABA history and the greatest shot blocker who ever played in the ABA,” Gervin said. “I know, because he blocked quite a few of my shots. What I remember most about Artis is what a great teammate he was.”

Other future inductees announced on Monday: former Warriors star Chris Mullin, one of the NBA’s all-time great shooters and a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team; former Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis, one of the most dominant big men in international basketball history; Olympic gold medalist and women’s star Teresa Edwards; former Harlem Globetrotters star Reece “Goose” Tatum; former Celtics swingman Tom “Satch” Sanders; Tex Winter, innovator of the triangle offense; Stanford women’s coach Tara VanDerveer; and Herb Magee, longtime coach at Philadelphia College of Textile Sciences, now Philadelphia University, and widely known as “the Shot Doctor.”

Hall of Fame Class of 2011

Teresa Edwards: First U.S. basketball player to participate in five Olympics, winning four gold medals and a bronze.

Artis Gilmore: Played five seasons with the Spurs. … Five-time All-Star in the ABA, six-time in the NBA. … 24,941 points ranks 20th all-time, 16,330 rebounds ranks fifth.

Herb Magee: Has won 922 games in 44 seasons at Division II Philadelphia University, the career leader for wins at the same institution for any level of college basketball.

Chris Mullin: Five-time NBA All-Star. … Two-time Olympic gold medalist and 17-season NBA veteran.

Dennis Rodman: Played two seasons with the Spurs. … Won three NBA titles with the Bulls and two with the Pistons. … Seven-time rebounding champ, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and seven-time All-Defensive first team.

Arvydas Sabonis: Center from Lithuania was considered one of the top international players in the world and played for the Portland Trail Blazers from 1995-2003.

Tom “Satch” Sanders: Elected as a contributor, played for the Boston Celtics from 1961-69 and later coached the Celtics and Harvard University. … Helped form several NBA player-development programs.

Reece “Goose” Tatum: Original clown prince of the Harlem Globetrotters. … Died in 1967.

Tara VanDerveer: Led Stanford to two national women’s championships and has an 826-198 record over a 32-year career.

Tex Winter: Coached in college and the pros from 1947-2006 and won nine NBA titles as an assistant. … Is considered an innovator of the triangle offense, which both the Bulls and Lakers used under Winter and Phil Jackson to claim league titles.

Source: Bloomberg News, basketball-reference.com

Is Ginobili return in the script?

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

A brace on his right arm limiting full extension of his sprained right elbow, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was on the court at the close of the Spurs practice session on Saturday, working on his shot.

It was enough to encourage teammates. Some now believe he will suit up for today’s playoff game at ATT Center against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Though his status for Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series hasn’t changed — head coach Gregg Popovich reiterated that his team’s No. 2 scorer remains doubtful — Ginobili has participated in preparations to make sure he is ready if he is cleared.

“He’s been practicing, doing the script,” said starting forward Richard Jefferson. “We haven’t gone full contact the last couple of days. For the most part, he’s been scripting and doing everything else and working out.”

Only the team’s medical staff and coaches will have final say on Ginobili’s availability, but point guard Tony Parker said Ginobili sitting out the game was inconceivable.

“To me,” Parker said, “it’s almost impossible that he’s not going to play.”

DEAR TIM: Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins had a simple message Saturday for Spurs captain Tim Duncan: We did not “tank” the last two games of the regular season so we could play the Spurs.

A victory in their season finale against the Clippers would have put the Grizzlies in the No. 7 seed in the Western playoffs, against the Lakers.

Duncan on Wednesday night told Express-News beat writer Jeff McDonald he believed the Grizzlies had chosen the Spurs as a first-round opponent by sitting leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph and starting forward Tony Allen in the final two games.

After running his team through a practice session at the ATT Center, Hollins looked straight into the TV cameras videotaping an interview and directed remarks to Duncan.

“I just want to say this for Tim Duncan: We did not tank the season so we can get the San Antonio Spurs,” Hollins said. “In fact, my thought process had nothing to do with the San Antonio Spurs. It had to do with us being healthy coming into this series, whatever series it was going to be. I was only concerned about our health.”

MEMPHIS CONNECTIONS: Spurs guard George Hill and Memphis guard Mike Conley grew up as friends and adversaries in Indianapolis. Hill starred at Broad Ripple High School.

Conley, two years Hill’s junior, played at Lawrence North High.

Spurs center DeJuan Blair and Memphis small forward Sam Young played two college seasons together at Pittsburgh from 2007 to 2009.

Staff writer Jeff McDonald contributed to this report.

Notes on a scorecard: Can the Spurs’ perimeter shooting carry them in the playoffs?

The Spurs finished up their home regular season schedule Saturday with the kind of game that has marked their season.

Their 57.7 percent shooting percentage was one of their best efforts of the season as they hit for eight 3-pointers en route to a 111-102 victory over Utah.

The Spurs already have broken the previous team record  for 3-pointers, set in 2008-09 with 625 3-pointers. They currently have 671 for the season.

If they maintain their current pace of about eight 3-pointers a game in their final two games of the season, they will finish among the top 21 teams in NBA history in terms of total 3-pointers made.

And that’s the rub. None of those teams have won a championship. The high for an NBA championship team was Houston in 1994-95 with 646 3-pointers.

Those long jumpers sometimes miss, leading to easy transition buckets on long rebounds by the other team. The Spurs have seen that happen occasionally this season.

It will be interesting to see if Gregg Popovich dials back the perimeter game and tries to win with a more balanced attack in the playoffs.

Past history shows that some kind of  transformation will be necessary to be able to win a championship.

But can this team change its stripes in the playoffs? We’ll have to wait and see, beginning next weekend.

Here are a few other notes and tidbits after the Spurs’ fourth straight victory after their season-worst six-game losing streak.

  • The Spurs featured seven players in double figures and almost had two more as George Hill (nine points) and Matt Bonner (seven points) just missed. The Spurs are now 3-0 when seven Spurs score in double figures and 2-1 in games where eight players reach double figures.
  • Richard Jefferson led the team with 20 points. It was his first 20-point effort since scoring 22 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 10.  Jefferson notched three 20-point efforts in the first seven games of the season and then produced a high of 19 over the next 72 games before Saturday night.
  • Jefferson also continued a recent shooting binge. He’s averaging 10.8 points in his last six games. And he’s shooting 61.5 percent from the field and 64.3 percent from 3-point range during the Spurs’ four-game winning streak.
  • Tiago Splitter finished with 13 points and eight rebounds – with 10 points and six rebounds in 12 minutes in the fourth quarter. It was Splitter’s fourth-highest scoring game of the season and tied for fifth in rebounds. His 18 minutes, 56 seconds of playing time was his most since making his last start against Portland on March 28 in a game where he produced 14 points and nine rebounds. In his previous four games before Saturday, Splitter was averaging 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds and three times in those four games he played 4:12 or less.
  • Tony Parker played 29:15 against the Jazz, marking the third time in four games he’s played 30 minutes or less. His 13 points and seven assists helped him continue a recent shooting surge since a 2-for-11 outing against Phoenix three games ago. Since then, Parker is averaging 18 points per game, shooting 60 percent from the field and averaging 5.7 assists per game.
  • DeJuan Blair got his first start since March 6, and produced 12 points and seven rebounds in 24:21. It marked his second-longest playing stint since his demotion. His 12 points marked his most since scoring 14 points in back-to-back games on March 11-12. Blair hit 6-for-9 from the field in a turnaround from a recent mini-slump where he had averaged 4.8 points and shot 37.9 percent from the field in his previous six games.
  • Manu Ginobili benefitted from some rest, playing only 27:21 to mark his third game in the last four with less than 30 minutes. Ginobili is averaging 18.3 points, shooting 58.8 percent from the field and averaging five assists in his last three games.
  • Ginobili failed to attempt a 3-pointer. It was the first game where he has failed to attempt a 3-pointer since Game 4 of the first round of the 2008 playoffs against Phoenix. He also notched six assists for the 36th time this season. When Ginobili has at least six assists, the Spurs are 27-9 (.750). In the rest of their games, they are 43-10 (.811).
  • Gary Neal’s recent surge continued with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. It marked his fourth double-figure scoring game in his last five games. During that span, he’s hitting 60.6 percent from the field and 60 percent of his 3-pointers.
  • Tim Duncan notched 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in 22:23. Before Saturday, in his five games since returning the lineup from his sprained ankle, Duncan was averaging 16.0 points and 8.8 rebounds.
  • Duncan had four blocked shots marking among his top nine games of the season in that statistic. In games where Duncan has blocked at least three shots this season, the Spurs are 26-0.  It marked the fifth time this season that he has produced at least 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in the same game.
  • Hill’s string of double-figure scoring games was snapped at three after scoring nine points. Hill had averaged 20.3 points in his previous three games, hitting 55.3 percent from the field during that span.
  • The Spurs had limited opponents to less than 30 points in 16 quarters before allowing Utah to score 30 points in the third quarter. The last time an opponent scored more than 30 came in the second quarter of the loss at Houston last week.
  • The Spurs hit 57.7 percent from the field after hitting 60.5 percent against Sacramento in their last game. They have hit at least 50 percent from the field in four of their last five games. In games where they have shot 50 percent or better this season, they are 26-4, including 16-0 at home.
  • San Antonio shot 75 percent from the field in the second quarter, coming close to their season high for the second quarter of 78.6 percent against Detroit on March 9. And they shot 80 percent from the field in the third quarter, just less than the 82.6 percent they shot in the third quarter against Sacramento on Wednesday night.
  • The Spurs allowed Utah to hit 53.8 percent from the field. It was the first time an opponent hit better than 50 percent since Boston hit 54.8 percent last week. When opponents hit 50 percent or etter, the Spurs are 7-13, including 4-4 at home.  
  • James Anderson and Danny Green did not play. Da’Sean Butler, Chris Quinn and Antonio McDyess were inactive.
  • Hill led the team with a plus-minus score  of plus-11. Jefferson was at plus-10. Duncan was plus-9. Splitter had the only negative score at minus-1. The San Antonio starters were plus-24. The bench was plus-21. Utah’s starters were minus-36 and the Jazz’s bench was minus-9.