Tag: Player

Leonard makes fast first impression

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard was the first player off Gregg Popovich’s bench in the team’s 95-82 season-opening victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night at the ATT Center, but it didn’t take him long to make an impact.

Entering the game with 6:57 left in the first quarter, Leonard’s first official statistic as an NBA player was a steal a minute after taking the court.

That his next statistic was a missed layup when he tried to turn the steal into a basket seemed somehow fitting. The Spurs gave up one of their top defenders, combo guard George Hill, in a draft-day trade because they believed Leonard could be an impact defender, rather than a ready-made scorer.

By game’s end, Leonard had taken nine shots in 13 minutes but missed seven and scored only six points. However, his energy and defense were vital as the Spurs gained their 25th victory in 36 NBA season openers.

“Kawhi is a very athletic individual,” Popovich said. “He’s got good size, good strength, and he possesses great length. It really helps him, and he’s active. He wants to be involved on the boards, running the floor and defensively. He’s not afraid to put up a shot.”

Leonard finished with six rebounds and two steals and declared his professional debut a success for the most important of reasons.

“We got our victory, and that’s what made it fun,” he said.

Admitting to pregame jitters, he attributed a pair of early turnovers to trying to play at too fast a pace.

“I was just trying to find the rhythm of an NBA game,” he said. “I was going a little bit too fast.”

His veteran teammates preached patience.

“It was his first official game,” point guard Tony Parker said. “You have to be patient.”

HOLT RELIEVED: Spurs managing general partner Peter Holt shared a hug and a laugh with Parker just before tipoff of a game played before a sellout crowd of 18,581.

“You had me scared over in France,” Parker told Holt, who served as chairman of the NBA owners labor relations committee and spent much of October and December in New York for negotiations with the players union.

Holt wished Parker luck in the opener before praising Spurs fans, who filled the arena to its capacity.

“I’ve got to tell you, that (lockout) wore me out,” he said. “I know why I never became a lawyer.

“At the end of the day, I’m just so happy we’re playing basketball again. These great fans here deserve it.”

HEISMAN WINNER IN THE HOUSE: Players from both the Baylor and Washington football teams that will play in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday attended the game, including Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III, the Heisman Trophy winner.

“The Heisman was in the house?” swingman Danny Green said. “Why didn’t someone tell us? I could have run up and talked to him.”

Spurs 9th in PBT’s first NBA power rankings

It’s never too early to start looking at power ratings — particularly with the season starting on Sunday.

Pro Basketball Talk’s weekly power ratings always are a must read.  It’s obvious they put a lot of thought into their weekly rankings of the NBA.

Kurt Helin starts the season with the Mavericks first in the league. I think the loss of Tyson Chandler will hurt them more than most and would be hesistant to place them at the top of my list. I might opt for Miami — despite the Heat’s NBA Finals loss to the Mavericks.

Helin tabs the . Here’s what he has to say about the Silver and Black:

“9. Spurs (61-21). They were the best team in the West last regular season, but they didn’t have the size up front to stop a team with a big front line in the playoffs. A team like Memphis. That hasn’t changed.”

Helin is right. The Spurs are depleted inside, particularly if Antonio McDyess makes good on his retirement threat and the Spurs don’t add another veteran player to replace him.

It’s a little much to expect Tiago Splitter to be able to make up for McDyess’ loss by himself. So the rationale having the Spurs in the bottom part of the top 10 probably is about right.

Manu, Pop ponder loss to Rockets

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

The long NBA lockout, which began in midsummer and stretched deep into the fall, allowed Manu Ginobili to spend quality time in Argentina, where he is one of the most popular personalities in his native land.

For the civic-minded Spurs guard, this interlude included a lot of personal appearances on behalf of many causes, including promoting a new book authored by mathematics professor Adrián Paenza.

Ginobili explained to his countrymen that he is hooked on math, so it seemed natural Thursday night when he turned to the most logical of disciplines to explain how the Spurs laid an egg in a 105-85 loss to the Rockets in Houston in their third game of the season.

Taking note of how surprised he had been at the excellence the Spurs had displayed in their first two games, both victories over talented teams, the two-time All-Star said a subpar performance probably should have been expected.

“My way of thinking now is that this is a typical case of regression to the mean,” he said. “We played an extremely good first two games, over the expectations, and today we were below. So it happens.”

Of course, the goal for the Spurs every season is to play far above the mean. They will try to ? get back on a better-than-average track tonight when they play the Utah Jazz at the ATT Center to close out the blink-of-an-eye 2011 portion of the 66-game 2011-12 season.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich — no stranger to higher math himself — seemed to agree with Ginobili that Thursday’s performance could be explained by something approaching science.

There was no postgame rant about lack of effort or poor execution. Rather, Popovich also applied an analytical approach to the game, going deep into his bench early and getting some on-the-job training for rookies Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph and second-year players Tiago Splitter and James Anderson. He kept team captain Tim Duncan, the team’s oldest player, on the bench throughout the second half.

Popovich regards Splitter and Anderson as virtual rookies because injuries cost them so much court time last season. He considers their early development vital to his team’s ability to cope with the grind of the compressed schedule.

“We’ve got some players that we had last year but weren’t available,” he said. “Tiago Splitter and James Anderson are like two new draft picks coming in, so we’re a deeper team that’s more prepared.”

Splitter admitted he was surprised when Popovich told him to take the court to start the second half in Duncan’s spot.

“Pop changed his mind so he could rest ‘TD’ for the next game,” he said. “I just think, ‘Well, just keep working out there and try to play good.’?”

Popovich said he was encouraged by Splitter’s performance. The Brazilian center logged nearly 25 minutes, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

“Tiago is a professional,” he said. “Last year he was hurt, so he couldn’t play. He’s been a great competitor and been on a lot of great teams in Europe, just like Luis (Scola) was before he came over.

“Tiago just knows how to play, and he’s the ultimate pro. He plays defense, he rebounds, he runs the floor, he’s unselfish. He’s just a blue-collar guy who works his butt off.”