Category: In the News

Notes on a scorecard: Whatever happened to San Antonio’s vaunted defense?

Remember back in the glory days of the San Antonio Spurs?

You recall that era don’t you? Back when “The Twin Towers” of David Robinson and Tim Duncan made shooting a nightmare for Spurs opponents.

Even after Robinson retired, the Spurs found serviceable replacements like Rasho Nesterovic, Nazr Mohammed, Francisco Elson  and Fabricio Oberto to make it tough inside.

And Bruce Bowen, of course, flashed the kind of legendary skills that enabled him to harrass the leading scorers of his era as one of the best on-ball defenders in NBA history.

Those days have never appeared farther away than over the last 20 games or so as the Spurs have evolved into their new order.

They are winning as much as any team in the NBA this season. But the defense had taken a big step back along the way.

In Monday’s 100-92 loss to Portland, Portland shot 52.3 percent from the field. It marked the third time in the Spurs’ four-game losing streak that opponents have topped 50 percent. Opponents have topped 50 percent in four of  six games and six of eight contests.

The strong recent shooting has been bad enough. But a more telling statistic can be found in the minimums that opponents have shot during the recent games. Since limiting Cleveland to 39.6 percent on March 2, the Spurs have allowed every opponent to shot at least 45.2 percent from the field — a span of 13 games.  

For the month of March, Spurs opponents are hitting 48.3 percent from the field. It’s a trend that a distinct retreat from most Gregg Popovich teams that traditionally improve defensively after the All-Star break.

It’s a vexing problem as the playoffs near, particularly as no jump-shooting team has been able to win an NBA title in recent history.

The Spurs will have to pick up their defense if they want to make a long playoff run this season. 

Here are a few other notes and tidbits from the first game where either Duncan, Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili wasn’t in the starting lineup since the final regular season game last season.

  • George Hill led the team in scoring for the second straight game, scoring 27 points. His two-game, 57-point scoring binge over the last two games is the largest two-game production in his career. He’s hitting 62.5 percent from the field and 76.2 percent from the line during that span.
  • Tiago Splitter had a strong game again, notching 14 points and nine rebounds in 28:21 — his longest playing stint of his career. It was his third-highest scoring game and tied for his second-highest rebounding game. During his last six games, he’s averaging 9.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field.
  • Some nights shooters have the kind of game that Gary Neal struggled through Monday night. His 3-for-14 shooting effort — including 2-for-10 in the fourth quarter — represented one of his 10 worst shooting nights of the season.
  • The team could have used more of Neal after  he hit two of his first three shots to start the fourth quarter. From there, he missed his final seven shots. Neal matched his career high with two steals. And his shooting effort ended a recent spree where he’s hit 58.6 percent from the field, shot 62.5 percent from beyond the 3-point line and averaged 15 points in his last three games.
  • Danny Green showed some of the talent that made him one of the top players on North Carolina’s 2009 national championship team as he produced two dunks and a 3-pointer in his 3-for-3 shooting effort. His seven points and 20:15 in playing time both were career highs.
  • DeJuan Blair was limited to three points and five rebounds. His three points were his smallest scoring effort since scoring two points on March 18.  Blair has failed to score in double figures for the last seven games. It’s his longest streak of non-double figure scoring games since starting the season with seven games without double figures. But most significantly, his minutes played are up over last season, but his scoring, rebounding and shooting all have dipped from his rookie season.
  • The Spurs did  show  some defensive improvement during stages of the Portland game. After allowing 58 points in the paint against Memphis Sunday night, they permitted only 34 against Portland. And they limited the Trail Blazers to nine points in the third quarter — lowest production in any quarter by an opponent this season. But they then allowed the Trail Blazers to score 33 points — tied for second-most by an opponent this season — in the pivotal fourth quarter.
  • San Antonio had only three players with positive plus-minus scores with James Anderson at plus-7, Chris Quinn at plus-3 and Steve Novak at plus-2. Neal had the worst score at minus-16, Matt Bonner was at minus-10, Splitter was at minus-8 and Richard Jefferson was at minus-8.

Hill helps Spurs get over the hump

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

As the losses piled up to unthinkable heights, and the Spurs’ once unapproachable lead in the Western Conference dwindled to next to nothing, Matt Bonner found himself looking back in time and across an ocean for perspective.

Playing for an Italian team, Sicilia Messina, as a professional rookie in 2003, Bonner not only endured a losing streak longer than the one the Spurs ended Sunday with a 114-97 demolition of Phoenix. His team finished dead last.

“It wasn’t my fault though,” Bonner said. “The team went bankrupt, and a couple guys stopped showing up.”

Say this much about the Spurs’ six-game losing streak, the club’s longest since 1996-97: At least the checks still cleared.

The frustration-venting that occurred Sunday at the ATT Center was more priceless than any paycheck for the Spurs, even if it came at the expense of a Suns team now eliminated from playoff contention.

George Hill scored 29 points, Bonner broke out of a personal slump of his own, and the Spurs’ bench sparked the team’s first victory since a March 21 win over Golden State that only feels like last season.

After the win, which came with Suns guard Steve Nash at home with the flu, the Spurs ? got bonus help from Denver, which ended the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak. That pushed the Spurs’ cushion in the West back to 2 1/2 games.

The Spurs (58-19) clinched the Southwest Division when Dallas went on to lose at Portland on Sunday night. It’s the club’s 17th division crown overall.

More than that, it gave the Spurs assurance that the team that won 57 of its first 70 games still lurked somewhere inside them.

“It’s all about confidence,” Bonner said. “We lost some during the losing streak. Hopefully, we got some of it back.”

The Spurs, who led by as many as 31, got 63 points off the bench, including Bonner’s first double-double of the season (16 points, 11 rebounds) and 15 points from Gary Neal.

The Spurs’ star, however, was a reserve who had combined for 11 points the previous two games.

Cajoling Hill to revert to his shoot-first roots, coach Gregg Popovich approached the third-year guard with a specific piece of instruction.

“He said, ‘You need to be the Indiana George,’” Hill said.

Hill had little trouble deciphering that code.

“Play like I did in high school and college,” said Hill, the Indianapolis native and IUPUI alum.

Instead, Hill went back to playing like he did last week, when he dumped 57 points on Memphis and Portland. Hill shot 10 of 16, including 4 of 7 from the 3-point line, and by halftime had more points (24) than he’d totaled in all but two other games this season.

“He gave us what Manu (Ginobili) used to give us coming off the bench,” Popovich said.

Hill’s early explosion, which included 11 points in the final 2:01 of the first quarter, boosted the Spurs to a 70-46 lead at intermission, the Suns’ largest halftime deficit of the season.

“We got knocked on our heels early,” said Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry, whose team is lottery-bound one year after sweeping the Spurs from the second round of the playoffs. “When you get that kind of separation, it’s hard to work your way back.”

A victory in their pocket, the weight of the longest losing streak of the Tim Duncan era off their shoulders and the West’s No. 1 seed still in their possession, the Spurs depart for Atlanta fully aware of more work to be done over the final five games.

Still, the Spurs took time to celebrate Sunday. For the first time in 13 days, winning beat losing.

“Losing six in a row, after winning so many games all year, wears on you mentally,” Bonner said. “First and foremost, (it was) get the win, end the losing streak, and try to build off that confidence.”

For Bonner, Sunday meant something else. For the first time in a while, being penniless in Italy did not feel like the good old days.

What the Spurs and Warriors said after Monday’s game

Here, courtesy of the good folks with the Spurs’ media services offices, is a post-game sampling of comments after San Antonio’s 111-96 triumph over Golden State Monday night.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

(When asked about the Spurs’ defense after his technical in the third quarter)

“It happens against a team like Golden State that can score points and they’re such a good shooting team.  I thought we were in a lull defensively.  We got into their game and we shot a multitude of three’s without much defense on the other end.  We had a break in the action to talk about the defense and I thought they did a good job of coming back to it.  Steve Novak was great tonight.  He really gave us the energy we needed.  Unfortunately Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili) needed to be on the court as long as they were.  If everybody on the bench would have shown, but we had a couple of guys who need to step-up their games as we get down the stretch and into the playoffs.  I thought (Antonio) McDyess and Tiago (Splitter) were solid for us and Steve Novak was on fire. I just need the bench to be more consistent and I don’t think they’ve been as consistent as I would like in the last five, six or seven games, even though we won a few.”

(on the lift Tiago Splitter gave the team with Tim Duncan going out of the game)

“Well Tiago (Splitter) is going to give you that every night.  He’s going to bust his butt to rebound and play defense.  He’s going to give you that grunt (work) that every team needs and every coach loves.  That’s nothing different from him that’s just what he does.”

(when asked if there was an update on Tim Duncan’s injury)

“X-rays were negative, but he’ll obviously be out a while.”

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili

(On Tim Duncan’s injury)

“Bad timing.  Hopefully it’s nothing really bad, but I saw him in pain and he’s not one of those guys that’s going to pretend or do that if he’s not hurting.  It’s bad, but hopefully it’s just a couple games and he’ll be back soon.”

(On what the Spurs will do without Tim Duncan)

“It’s really hard to tell.  You never know.  I’m guessing that Pop is going to be extra cautious knowing that in three weeks or four, I don’t know how far the playoffs are, but it’s not that far, so he’s going to be extra cautious, but we need him in the court and we’ll see what the doctor says.”

(On Tiago Splitter’s play tonight)

“It’s a great opportunity for him.  It’s the first time this happened all year long.  You never want it to happen, but if you want an opportunity, Tiago is going to be in a great spot now.  He’s going to probably start and have a lot of minutes so it’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for.  So hopefully he does good and gets more comfortable out there.”

(On Tiago Splitter’s confidence level over the last two games)

“Today he had a very good game.  In the first half, he played a couple one-on-ones, he passed the ball very well.  As I said probably a million times, he’s a good player, he understands the game, he’s solid, reliable.  He just has to be out there and feel confident and know that the team trusts him.  That’s what happened to me, what happened to everyone that comes here for the first time.  So he’s going to give us a big hand.”

(On if playing with the first unit will help Tiago Splitter)

“Of course, it makes it easier because Tony (Parker) and me draw attention and if he (Splitter) rolls, we’re going to give him the ball and he’s going to be able to finish or kick it to the wing and he’s really good doing it, so he’ll be fine.”

Spurs guard Tony Parker

(On what he’s thinking when seeing Tim Duncan go down)

“It’s no fun, especially when you can see it in his face that he’s hurting, so hopefully it’s not going to be too long.”

(On what the Spurs will have to do while Tim Duncan is out)

“Play a little bit faster, a lot of pick and rolls with myself and Manu (Ginobili), and just try to get everybody else to pick it up and be aggressive.”

(On his play tonight distributing the basketball)

“I was just trying to be aggressive.  My teammates were making shots and on the pick and rolls, I was finding them, my teammates Steve Novak, Matt Bonner, Tiago (Splitter) was doing a good job running to the basket, Manu (Ginobili) was super aggressive, so everybody picked it up tonight.”

Spurs forward/center Antonio McDyess

(On seeing Tim Duncan go down tonight)

“Actually I was scared that he did real damage as in broke it, fractured it, or something.  I was just happy to see it was just a severe sprain because I actually thought it was worse.  When you looked up at the jumbotron, it looked like his foot really turned and his ankle was on the court, so I’m just happy it wasn’t broken.”

(On how Tiago Splitter handled himself with getting more minutes)

“He did a great job.  He came off the bench with a lot of energy, played hard, rebounded, almost had a double-double in the first half, so he did great picking up the slack, but I think with Tim (Duncan) out, everybody is going to have to pick up the slack, the bench, the starters.  Everyone’s just going to have to pick up the slack from him being out.  It was just good that everybody came in as a group and got shots and did their job.”

Warriors coach Keith Smart

(On effort on the second night of a back to back)

“One thing that this team has shown is that they create a great reputation of how they will compete and play regardless of the back to back or they play a bad game one night—they have shown all year that the effort is going to be there.  Even when they are down within the game they have shown urgency to get themselves back into the game.  Once you get back into the game it comes down to a little know how and little nuances of controlling the tempo of the game.  Now you have gotten yourself back in to just a six-point lead and now that quick shot is not necessary and all the drive without vision is not there.  Then you get something really good going.  And that’s the growth part that you will develop over time.”

(On the Spurs’ loss of (Tim) Duncan and the effect it had on the game)

“Well they did make a lot of 3-pointers, so tonight their game was pretty much out on the perimeter.  But in tough games you would hope Tim (Duncan) is alright.  You don’t want to see a good guy like that getting hurt.  When he is in the game and it is close, then they will be going down to him which puts your team in a bind.  But that wasn’t the case tonight because we didn’t have any big guys.  But we were doing all we could tonight.  My guys worked their tails off, off of a back to back- flying in and getting ready to play against a good team that cuts hard and moves hard.  I thought we did that tonight, but we didn’t do that last night in Dallas.  I thought we did that and they tried to do everything that I wanted.  The game plan, they tried to do it and I know that they can do it because they have done it in the past.  We just didn’t get the results we wanted.  This was a test and it was a good game that we played.  Now we move on to Houston. ”

(On guys stepping up from the bench)

“Early on our big guys weren’t playing too well offensively.  Ginobili doesn’t slouch on defense and he will make you work really hard for the ball.  Parker also has the ability to make you work.  You have to catch out higher on the floor, so the help must be in a sooner position rather than a later position.  So that is the privilege of having a “1” and a “2” player.  Richard Jefferson is also another player. So you take three of our best scorers right away, and they are going to make them catch the ball a little bit out of their comfort zone.  But I felt we got that a little bit under control later on.  Our bench has played very well over the past few weeks, which has given us the ability to be down by 20 or more and yet get the game close. They always say, “Let’s get it down to seven.”

Warriors guard Acie Law

(On how the team just doesn’t give up)

“We can score the ball pretty good. We just got to finish it out defensively. It’s been a long season and it’s a work in progress. Hopefully we can get better but I mean to your question, we won’t give up, we are going to continue to fight it out.”

(Playing in a back-to-back tonight, did that impact the team’s performance?)

“I’m not going to make an excuse. There a damn good team, one of the best teams in the league, probably going to compete for a championship, we just got to figure it out. Got to try and finish up strong and go from there.”

(On the second unit’s performance tonight)

“Our second unit comes in and scraps, just try and make plays, hustle plays, and things of that nature. We were able to do that and chip away, but unfortunately with them being the veteran ball club that they are, they continued to stay with it, didn’t get rattled, made plays when they had to, and won the ball game.”

 Warriors guard Monta Ellis

(On the overall performance of the team tonight)

 “It was cool. We didn’t shoot the ball well at first, but we were still right there in the game. They made some shots; I think they hit every open shot, besides the first quarter. They hit every shot they had; I mean it was just a good ball club. We fought hard to get ourselves back in the game and they just made plays down the stretch.”

(Why weren’t you able to get going tonight?)

“It’s like that sometimes. I had all good looks. It felt good. It just wasn’t going down for me tonight.”

(What the team could improve on going forward?)

“We really just have to stay together, play hard every night, that’s it.”