Tag: Manu Ginobili

Duncan in the post remains a reliable option for Spurs

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

MIAMI — When the Spurs needed a big basket late in Saturday’s victory at Houston, they pulled a page from the past.

They tossed the ball to Tim Duncan in the low post, stood back and watched him go to work.

Duncan rewarded his team with a post-up basket on Chuck Hayes to break a 117-117 tie with 1:09 to go and followed with a pair of free throws on the Spurs’ next possession.

For Duncan, in the midst of the lowest-scoring season of his Hall of Fame career, it’s not about scoring 20 points per game anymore. It’s about scoring two points when it most matters.

“He’s not the guy we just give the ball to over and over,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “In some parts of the game, we’re going to do it, but not as constant as we used to.”

In his 14th season at age 34, Duncan has become a role player in the Spurs’ offense, which is enjoying its most productive season of his tenure. He is averaging 13.3 points heading into tonight’s rematch with Miami, and his minutes (28:36) and touches (11.2 field-goal attempts) per game have dropped to career-low levels.

Duncan has joked to teammates that, sometimes, it feels like all he’s doing his running wind sprints throughout the course of a game.

“I still say if Tim was playing his normal 35 minutes, getting 20 touches a night, his numbers would be higher,” forward Richard Jefferson said. “But he’d get worn down quicker. We have the luxury of resting him.”

Or, put another way, the Spurs have the luxury of saving Duncan until they need him most.

A KING’S FOOTNOTE: Tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena, Spurs guard Chris Quinn will meet up with an old nemesis. In 2002, while a senior at Coffman High in Dublin, Ohio, Quinn finished runner-up for the state’s prestigious Mr. Basketball honors.

First place instead went to a junior at St. Mary’s-St. Vincent in Akron named LeBron James.

Quinn averaged 22.5 points per game that season at Coffman but doesn’t mind being the middle victim in James’ run of three-consecutive Mr. Basketball prizes. James, after all, went on to become a two-time NBA MVP, and counting.

“I guess if there’s someone to lose to in that kind of thing, he’s not a bad person to lose to,” said Quinn, who spent the first 2 1/2 seasons of his career with Miami. “I guess I’m an interesting footnote.”

CENTER OF ATTENTION: Though it’s come in a small sample size, coach Gregg Popovich likes what he’s seen so far from his latest starting lineup, with 6-foot-9 veteran Antonio McDyess replacing the shorter DeJuan Blair at center.

The move was made for defensive purposes, with an eye toward how the Spurs might defend some of the Western Conference’s better power forwards in the playoffs.

“It’s a good starting defensive group,” Popovich said. “(McDyess) matches up well with four-men on other teams. We want to take a look at that and get in a rhythm with that lineup.”

Blair hasn’t exactly been forgotten in the lineup switch. He is coming off back-to-back 14-point games as a reserve.

Ginobili feels Blair’s pain over midseason benching

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Removed from the starting lineup for the first time all season, Spurs forward DeJuan Blair was in no mood to speak with reporters after Thursday’s practice session.

If Blair’s reluctance to talk indicated unease about being replaced by veteran Antonio McDyess for Wednesday’s game against the Pistons, he can expect to get a pep talk soon from a teammate who understands what it feels like to go from starter to reserve.

“I’ve got to say it’s not easy for a guy like him, starting for 63 games, being the center of the leader in the NBA,” said guard Manu Ginobili, well acquainted with coach Gregg Popovich’s tactical maneuvers. “He’s young. He’s got to adjust, but he’s a great kid. He wants to win. He’s going to do good.”

No Spur can relate to Blair’s discomfort more than Ginobili. A starter and key contributor from 2002-03 through 2005-06, he was asked to take a reserve role in 2006-07. Then, he came off the bench for the final 35 regular-season games in which he played, and all 20 games of a playoff run that ended with the team’s fourth NBA title.

“I’m never shocked by a lineup change with Pop,” Ginobili said. “Probably with the record we have right now, you probably thought he would hold it. But he thought it was best for the team, and he went ahead and did it.”

McDyess has been a mentor for Blair in the young forward’s first two seasons in the NBA. When he returned to the Spurs bench after being introduced with the rest of the starters for Wednesday’s game against the Pistons, Blair welcomed him with a hug.

Ginobili took that as a good sign, but will monitor Blair’s mood and speak to him if he believes an encouraging word is required.

“We’re probably going to see how he feels, if he’s down or does not feel good about it,” Ginobili said. “One of us will probably talk (to him), but he’s been here for a while. He’s seen me going back to the bench .?.?. during the playoffs. I don’t see a reason why he should take it bad.”

LET THEM EAT CAKE: McDyess wielded a cake slicer at midcourt of the team’s practice site Thursday, doling out slices of a cake that celebrated his 1,000th game as an NBA player.

“That is impressive,” teammate Richard Jefferson said of McDyess’ milestone. “We didn’t make him cut the cake, but we made him give a speech.”

Both McDyess and Spurs captain Tim Duncan have reached the 1,000-game plateau. In only one other season, 1999-2000, have the Spurs had two players with at least 1,000 career games, Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey.