Tag: San Antonio Spurs

Ginobili saves day, lifts Argentina

By Mike Monroe
mmonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — With a berth in the 2012 Olympics on the line and down by eight points to Puerto Rico early in the third quarter, Manu Ginobili felt something in his gut he had not experienced in six years.

“It can be compared only to (NBA Finals) Game 7 in 2005,” said Ginobili, who helped the Spurs come from behind against the Detroit Pistons to win the NBA championship that year.

The star guard was at it again on Saturday, sparking a rally for Argentina that produced an 81-79 victory at Malvinas Argentinas Arena in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament.

As he had for the Spurs in the second half of that Game 7 in San Antonio, Ginobili fueled Argentina in the third quarter. This time, he made four 3-pointers in a stretch of less than five minutes, erasing Puerto Rico’s lead and setting up Argentina’s victory.

In the end, it took an errant 3-pointer by Puerto Rico’s J.J. Barea of the Dallas Mavericks at the final buzzer before Ginobili could savor victory.

“It was one of the toughest games I’ve ever played,” he said, “a game where you have no tomorrow, no revenge.

“Imagine what it would have been like to be eliminated at home in front of these amazing fans, my family and friends. It would have been really, really tough, probably one of the toughest losses of my career. So when I saw Barea’s shot hit the rim, I was so emotional. I lifted a big, huge backpack off my side.”

Ginobili scored only four points in the first half but had 19 in the second, with 12 of them coming on his 3-pointers in the third period. Overall, he made 6 of 7 shots from deep range.

Ginobili called the Olympic berth “an obligation” he and his teammates had made for themselves when they gathered for training camp for the tournament.

“We had everything on this, and we won our trip to London. Everything is beautiful. We have another game (today) and we want another championship. I haven’t won one since 2007.”

Argentina will play Brazil — an 83-76 winner over Dominican Republic in the other semifinal — in today’s championship match.

Spurs center Tiago Splitter, in foul trouble all game, played barely 11 minutes in the Olympic-clinching game. He scored only three points to go with three rebounds. In the end, it didn’t matter that he had a sub-par game.

“Personally, I didn’t make my best performance, but I am very happy,” he said. “This is something that I needed in my life, to play in the Olympic Games, not just for me, but also for Brazil basketball.”

Unraveling the Kawhi Leonard mystery

LAS VEGAS — There is perhaps no bigger mystery surrounding the Spurs’ roster-in-progress right now than Kawhi Leonard.

The Spurs acquired the former San Diego State star on draft night, using Gregg Popovich favorite George Hill as bait to lure the 15th pick away from Indiana. They had Leonard in town for a week, then bid goodbye to him July 1 when the league locked out the players. By executive order of commissioner David Stern, Spurs coaches and other team personnel have seen neither hide nor hair of their prized rookie since.

While Spurs fans (and, it is assumed, coaches) have been able to watch other pieces of that draft-day package play in international competition this summer — point guard Cory Joseph for Canada, big man Davis Bertans for Latvia and shooting guard Adam Hanga for Hungary — Leonard remains an off-the-grid enigma.

Leonard is the Spurs’ highest draft pick since taking Tim Duncan first overall in1997, and yet he remains something of an unknown.

For a scouting report on Leonard, how he is progressing and what he might contribute to the Spurs if and when the 2011-2012 season commences, we went to James Anderson, the second-year guard who has been training with his new teammate off and on since draft day.

Anderson’s take on Leonard, a the 6-foot-7 small forward: ”He’ll definitely add more energy and youth to our team. He has a lot of defensive skills. He can also get out and run the floor, and help us bring in more rebounds. He’ll help us out on both ends.”

Leonard’s offensive game remains a work in progress, according to those who have seen him this summer, but he did use a rebuilt shooting stroke to hit two of the four 3-pointers he attempted in a limited engagement at the Impact Basketball Competitive Training series in Las Vegas. Then, like Bigfoot, he disappeared into the mist (or home to San Diego) before most of the gathered media had descended on Sin City.

Joe Abunassar, a former college assistant coach turned trainer who has been working with Leonard at Impact Basketball since before the draft, says his protege is improving through playing.

“Kawhi’s an energy guy, very athletic,” Abunassar said. “His offensive game is constantly improving. He’s going to take some time to get used to the NBA system, but he’s going to be fine.”

Anderson says Leonard’s most readily recognizable NBA skill might be his rebounding. In two seasons at San Diego State, Leonard averaged 10.2 rebounds to go with 14.1 points, logged 40 double-doubles in 70 games, and had coach Steve Fisher calling him one of the most natural rebounding talents he’s ever had.

“He has a knack for the ball, you can already see it,” Anderson said. “His defensive tools will help us out. His youth, getting out and running the floor, it will bring us more firepower.”

What Leonard could use now is a training camp. By all accounts, Leonard has done well keeping in shape and improving individually during the lockout. None of that, however, is any substitute for the one-on-one indoctrination he could be receiving from Spurs coaches, if not for the labor impasse.

“We can teach him the general principles, but we’re not the Spurs’ coaching staff,” Abunassar said. “I think he can develop individually and get more confidence, but it’s going to take team practices to get him mentally ready to play.”

Eventually, the lockout will end and the Spurs’ prized draft pick will be allowed into the team’s training facility. Only then will Spurs coaches be able to judge for themselves how far Leonard has come.

Spurs assistant Brown leads Australia to an Olympic berth

Congratulations are in order to Spurs assistant Brett Brown who directed Australia to an the Olympic berth in the FIBA Oceania tournament.

Australia finished fourth in the Olympics in 1988, 1996 and 2000 and should have a good shot to surprise some teams next year in London.

They won the Oceania tournament without Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut, who didn’t play for the Boomers as he served as an assistant coach while recovering from an elbow injury.

“I think it’s relief, satisfaction, pride, a sense of accomplishment with the group,” Brown said. “It’s a fantastic group. It’s a fantastic accomplishment, there’s been a lot of work put into this by these guys. I look forward to moving forward with the group I think it’s got a lot of potential.”

Brown’s team did it in a way that mentor Gregg Popovich would have approved of.  

“We did it with our defense, we take a lot of pride in being a defensive program first,” Brown said. “In games like that if you don’t guard you have no chance.”

It seems like I’ve heard that comment a time or two from Popovich …

But Brown’s team did as expected by beating New Zealand with a strong effort from Kirk Penney, who was in the Spurs training camp last fall. Penney produced 17 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the victory.

“Since I took the job I knew we had to beat New Zealand,” Brown said. “What they do on the world stage, they are very well organized, they get the most out of their talent, they play hard, I have a lot of time for them. I think our depth did ultimately wear them down.”