Category: In the News

Redemption shot boosts Bonner’s confidence

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Having made only 12 of 50 3-point shots in his previous 14 games, Spurs forward Matt Bonner missed his first long-distance attempt of Sunday’s game against the Suns at the ATT Center. It was a corner 3-point shot early in the second quarter, running his streak of consecutive 3-point misses to seven.

In need of a jolt of confidence, he got it when teammate Gary Neal passed up an open 3-pointer to get the ball to Bonner, uncovered at one of his favorite spots.

As he watched his shot settle into the net, Bonner said he felt like an innocent man who had escaped from prison after a sentence he hadn’t deserved.

“It was totally a ‘Shawshank Redemption’ shot,” he said. “I felt like I was riding down the coast of Mexico, looking at the Pacific Ocean.”

He was grateful to Neal, a 41.6 percent 3-point shooter who rarely turns down an open long-distance look.

“It’s our theme we’ve been preaching all year: Good to great,” Bonner said. “He had a good look but kicked it to me for a great look. If I’m in the same position, I’ll return the favor, and that goes for everybody on the team. We did a great job making the extra pass tonight, going from good looks to great looks.”

Neal admitted he rarely passes up an open-3-point shot.

“That wasn’t the first,” he said. “But there haven’t been many. I can’t make a living passing up open threes. But as long as I’m passing it to Matty, I’m good with it.”

Bonner made two more 3-pointers against the Suns, raising his league-leading percentage to 46.5.

He scored 16 points, his most productive offensive game since he made 6 of 7 threes and scored 18 points in the Spurs’ 125-95 victory over Miami on March 4.

It was his work on the offensive glass that most impressed Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, however. He had six offensive rebounds, two of them turned into put-back baskets. His 11 rebounds gave him his first double-double of the season.

“(That) was more impressive than him making a couple of threes,” Popovich said. “He was very, very active for us in that regard, and against Phoenix, it’s really important. But just in general, his pursuit of what we call 50-50 balls was real important, and he was great at it.”

HEAVY LIFTING: The Spurs followed Sunday’s game with a weightlifting session, opting for the strength and conditioning work after a noon start because the annual team photo is today. After that, they leave for Atlanta, where they play the Hawks on Tuesday.

GREEN DAY: The Spurs recalled swing man Danny Green from their Austin Toros NBA D-League team, but he was inactive for the game. Green played Saturday in the Toros’ season finale, scoring 19 points, with seven rebounds, before fouling out after 32 minutes. Appropriately enough, he was behind the bench on “Go Green Awareness Night,” part of the NBA’s environmental awareness week. Players for both teams wore “Go Green” warm-ups that had been made from re-cycled materials.

Contused Ginobili uncertain for Portland game

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Manu Ginobili left the locker room at the FedEx Forum on Sunday night and headed down a corridor toward the team bus, dragging his sore left leg behind him like luggage.

With Tim Duncan already on the shelf with a sprained left ankle, it was a sight the Spurs did not want to see.

Ginobili, the team’s leading scorer, suffered a left quadriceps contusion in the first half of the Spurs’ 111-104 loss to Memphis. The injury occurred in a collision with Grizzlies forward Marc Gasol.

Officially, Ginobili’s status for tonight’s rematch with Portland at the ATT Center is uncertain. Hobbling out of Memphis, however, he didn’t look like an NBA player less than 24 hours from his next game.

“I’ll get some rest and some treatment, and then we’ll see how it feels,” Ginobili said.

With less than 2 1/2 minutes to go in the second quarter, Gasol ambushed Ginobili on a trap. Unaware of the charging defender, Ginobili whirled, and Gasol’s knee caught him just above his own left knee.

Ginobili immediately collapsed in pain, then left for the locker room. He tried to return for the second half but lasted just 5:50 of the third quarter before leaving the game for good.

“At first, when I came to the bench, I thought I was going to be OK,” Ginobili said. “Then it stiffened up. I can’t put my full weight on it.”

The injury is not considered serious but is painful. Leaving the arena Sunday, Ginobili was hoping — perhaps against hope — that compression machines would provide adequate healing powers to allow him to play against Portland.

Hill’s 30: A silver lining in the cloud that seemed to follow the Spurs to Memphis was the play of reserve guard George Hill.

Afforded 32:02 of playing time with Ginobili out, Hill scored 30 points to equal a career high set against Houston on March 31 of last season.

It was a significant turnabout for Hill, who had 24 points in the three previous games combined and hadn’t enjoyed a 20-point game since March 2.

He said Sunday’s breakout did not occur because of Ginobili’s absence, but because of a recent conversation with coach Gregg Popovich.

“He just wanted me to play basketball and stop thinking so much, just have fun out there,” Hill said.

Popovich was pleased with a performance from Hill that included 12 free throw tries, of which he made 11, a testament to the guard’s assertiveness.

“I want George to continue to play with that kind of scoring mentality, because he’s good at it,” Popovich said.

Guess who?: With the Trail Blazers visiting the ATT Center tonight, the Spurs did watch film of their epic collapse in Portland on Friday, including Nicolas Batum’s game-winning alley-oop from Andre Miller.

Hill said it wasn’t the horror show people might assume.

“You always watch film to try to get better,” Hill said. “But it’s nothing we harped on.”

Asked if tonight were too soon to exact revenge for Friday’s heartbreak, Hill called it “just another game on the schedule.”

Spurs won’t strain for NBA’s top mark

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Goal No. 1 for the Spurs this season has been accomplished: securing the best record in the Western Conference and the corresponding home-court advantage through rounds one, two and three of the playoffs.

With three regular-season games to be played, goal No. 1-A — the best regular-season record in the league — remains reachable, but with slightly less urgency.

The team’s top scorer, guard Manu Ginobili, understands that coach Gregg Popovich now will practice prudence with the workloads of some of the team’s key players now that the West’s top record has been secured. That starts with today’s game against the Jazz at the ATT Center.

“The most important thing was clinching No. 1 in the West,” Ginobili said. “You never know, first, if you are going to make it to the Finals and then if the other (No. 1 Eastern seed) will make it to the Finals. We usually don’t care what happens in the East.

“Now that we are so close, of course we want to get it. The best way to do it is just to concentrate on the next opponent. Just concentrate on Utah. Then we’ll see.”

Point guard Tony Parker won’t fight Popovich if he wants to scale back the playing time for key players, just as long as all players get to suit up and maintain a modicum of pre-playoff rhythm.

He thinks the Spurs would rue losing the home-court edge over presumed Eastern No. 1 seed Chicago were both teams to advance to the NBA Finals.

“I think we should play, all of us,” he said. “We worked hard all season long to have the best record and we still have one game up on Chicago, so I think we should play all three and make sure we have home-court advantage for all the playoffs.

“I just think it helps, especially if you have a Game 7. We went through that in 2005. It’s better to have that game at home, not on the road. You saw what happened last year with the Lakers. It helps when you’re at home.”

The Spurs secured their third NBA title in 2005 by beating the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 at the ATT Center.

The Lakers defeated the Celtics in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

THIN MARGIN: The final three games will determine which of the starting guards will finish as the Spurs’ leading scorer. Ginobili and Parker go into tonight’s game separated by just hundredths of a point.

Officially, both players average 17.7 points per game. Ginobili is listed first because his average actually is 17.705, while Parker’s is 17.671 points per game.

MONEY WHISPERS: Though each Spurs player stands to get a substantial cut of the $346,105 the team would get from the NBA playoff pool if they finish with the best record in the league, Ginobili said money won’t be an overriding factor in the final three games.

“Of course, it’s important,” he said, “but when you are so close to accomplishing something that big, I think it’s more important for the main guys to rest and have your legs ready than getting extra money.

“The important thing is to be ready for the playoffs. We’ll see what Pop decides on how we approach the next games.”