Tag: San Antonio Spurs

Spurs’ Anderson showing skills

By Tim Griffin
tgriffin@express-news.net

If Chauncey Billups’ whining at the end of the third quarter Wednesday was any indication, James Anderson is returning a favor for a lot of guards around the NBA.

Anderson dropped in a three-point play on the final sequence of the third quarter, hitting a 14-foot jumper and a foul shot that prompted some complaining by Billups.

“I played a little bit with Chauncey in the summer in Vegas and kind of picked up on some of his stuff,” Anderson said. “It felt good to give him some.”

With Gary Neal out of the rotation as he recovers from an appendectomy, Anderson had his second straight strong game as the Spurs’ first backcourt reserve. Anderson scored 12 points in 21 minutes, building on a nine-point effort against Memphis in the opener.

It represented a big turnaround from Anderson’s rookie season, when he struggled finding a place in the rotation as he battled injuries.

“Anytime I get in, I want to show them what I can do,” Anderson said. “If the minutes are there and I get to step on the floor, I’m going to play hard on both ends.”

Anderson’s fast start has caught the attention of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

“James is playing with a lot of confidence and aggressiveness, and he’s got a lot of that pent-up after basically sitting out the whole year last year with injuries,” Popovich said. “He’s jumped on this opportunity and done a real nice job.”

Better shooting: The Spurs had a strong turnaround after shooting only 39.8 percent from the field against Memphis in the opener, making 56.3 percent vs. the Clippers.

They were especially potent in the pivotal third quarter when four consecutive baskets by Tony Parker and Anderson’s late basket helped put the game away. San Antonio finished the third quarter hitting 76.2 percent from the field.

“We made a lot of shots,” said Manu Ginobili, who led the team with 24 points. “I don’t think it’s normal after two games and a very short training camp to have this kind of percentage like today. But they went in.”

Welcome rest: The Spurs were able to rest Parker in the fourth quarter and limit Tim Duncan to only 2:44 with the game safely at hand. It was an ideal ending to the first part of the Spurs’ first back-to-back of the season. They play tonight in Houston.

“You wouldn’t trade it, that’s for sure,” Popovich said.

A learning experience: The 1994-95 Spurs team was laden with future coaches. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was among a group that included New Jersey coach Avery Johnson, Boston coach Doc Rivers and Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person.

“We’ve got a lot of students of the game, I guess you would say,” Del Negro said. “Those guys are good friends of mine and colleagues. We bounce things off each other, and we’re all very competitive, but I always want those guys to do well, just not when they’re playing us.”

Replacing Manu a group effort

The Spurs had yet to play the Timberwolves in their first game of 2012 on Monday night, so the loss of leading scorer Manu Ginobili to a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand was still half a day away.

Point guard Tony Parker watched as Ginobili put up a few final jumpers at the team’s morning shootaround at the Target Center, then took a seat and discussed how vital Ginobili had been to a 3-1 start Parker deemed encouraging.

There was improvement still to be made on defense, the three-time All-Star said, but the team’s offensive efficiency early on after such a short training camp had been better than anyone expected.

“Offensively we’re playing really well,” he said, “especially Manu. He’s making shots and playing really well. Really, everybody is playing well, but Manu is already playing like an All-Star, and we are all feeding off him.”

About 10 hours later, Parker was shaking his head and wondering why the basketball gods had cursed Ginobili, and the Spurs, yet again.

“It’s a tough break, literally,” Parker said in a grim locker room after the 106-96 loss.

Beginning with tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors at the ATT Center, the Spurs will have to find ways to win without their Argentine heart and soul, whose timeline for a return has yet to be determined.

If the history of other NBA players who have suffered the same injury on their shooting hand is an indication, it will be at least a month before Parker and his teammates can expect to see Ginobili in uniform again.

Parker suffered a similar injury on his right (shooting) hand on March 6, 2010 — a non-displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal — but returned sooner than initially predicted. He missed exactly one month, returning April 6. The Spurs played 16 games while Parker was sidelined.

Chicago’s Carlos Boozer suffered a fractured fifth metacarpal on his right hand a few days before the Bulls went to training camp last season. He was sidelined for eight weeks, missing the entire preseason and the first 15 games of the regular season.

With a compressed schedule in this post-lockout season, one month’s worth of games would require the Spurs to play 17 games without Ginobili.

James Anderson, the 6-foot-6 second-year guard from Oklahoma State, will move into Ginobili’s spot in the starting lineup for tonight’s game, promising to get in extra work at every opportunity in an attempt to minimize the impact of Ginobili’s loss.

Gary Neal, an All-Rookie First Team selection last season, will return to the lineup tonight after recovering from an appendectomy he underwent Dec. 12. He went through a couple of practices with the Spurs Development League team, the Austin Toros, but doesn’t know what his role will be tonight.

“My role is to be the best basketball player I can be with the time I do get, whether it’s 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 30 minutes,” he said.

“Just try to help the team win games.”

Neither Neal nor Anderson are under any illusion about replacing what Ginobili means to the Spurs, and their teammates aren’t expecting that from them, either.

“You can’t replace a guy like Manu,” said small forward Richard Jefferson, who is second on the team in 3-pointers made behind Ginobili.

What they must do, Jefferson said, is not shrink from the opportunity and responsibility of having to do more.

“We’re just going to have to step up and use this as an opportunity for a lot of the new guys getting minutes for the first time, (rookie) Kawhi (Leonard), James. It’s a good opportunity for them, plus we’ve got Gary Neal coming back, and he can help with some of the scoring load.

“But Manu’s got those intangibles, the defense, the big plays, the big shots. We just have to do it as a team now.”

Svelte Barkley sparkles on Tonight Show appearance

Charles Barkley looks like he’s found “The Fountain of Youth.”

Adhering to the Weight Watchers weight-loss program helped Barkley to drop to 50 pounds as he prepared for TNT’s Dec. 25 opening games.

“I lost 35 on Weight Watchers,” Barkley said. “I am the first guy for them. I feel good about that. Me and Jennifer Hudson. They just wanted a couple of good-looking people to advertise their products.”

Barkley told Jay Leno on NBC-TV’s Tonight Show that he’s had other chances with weight-loss products.

“I had other opportunities to other products,” Barkley said. “But I don’t think you can give a fat person a little meal and think they won’t cheat.”

Barkley said he rarely ate vegetables before his Weight Watchers conversion. And when he did, he ate starches like potates, rice and corn.

“You can’t really cheat,” Barkley said about his new weight program. “I eat cauliflower, brussle sprouts, asparagus. You know, I hadn’t any of those things. I’m not going to stand out here and lie to you and tell you they are good, but they are all right.”

Barkley held court on a variety of other subjects. Here are some of the best bits:

On his weight loss: “What I hate more than anything in the world is when every fat black guy who is bald comes up to me and says he looks like me. Clearly, I’m not as good looking as I think I am.”

On Dwight Howard’s impression of Barkley: “He thinks he’s funny. The only thing funny is his team.”

On teammates’ wives tattling leading to Kobe Bryant’s divorce: “That’s never good for a team. You keep the wives and girlfriends away from each other.”

Barkley on Tim Tebow: “I’m a fan of Tim Tebow, but I’m Tebowed out. I like Tim Tebow and wish him the best, but there are other things in the world.”

Here’s a look at the interview, courtesy of NBC.com.