Tag: Stephen Jackson

Classic Duncan rewind keeps Spurs going strong

By Jeff McDonald

The brace strapped to Tim Duncan’s left knee has become a semi-permanent accoutrement, like an unwelcome piece of his wardrobe.

The Spurs’ power forward wears it on the court and often off of it, to play and to practice but also to watch cartoons with his kids.

There have been whispers in NBA circles about the level of degeneration in that knee, and questions about how many more years Duncan, less than two weeks from blowing out the candles on birthday No. 36, can continue to play on it.

Even on days when the pain is at its worst, Duncan’s teammates have never heard him complain — about the knee or any of the other natural aches that come with being a 30-something still toiling at a kids’ game.

“He’s not one that’s going to be crying about it,” guard Manu Ginobili said.

In the throes of his 15th NBA season, Duncan has been content to let his play serve as his daily medical report.

He says he is feeling well enough to make a run at a fifth NBA championship. And when it comes to Duncan, longtime teammates say, seeing is believing.

Just check the game tape.

“We’ve seen a few dunks in traffic lately,” Ginobili said. “He’s running in transition better. You can see he’s really feeling good.”

Since the All-Star break, Duncan is averaging close to 17 points and 10 rebounds. He has 30 dunks, already surpassing what he racked up in a full 82 games last season.

Duncan is coming off a 28-point, 12-rebound opus in Thursday’s victory over Memphis that rates as one of his top performances of the season.

It would be gross hyperbole to suggest that Duncan has at times resembled the two-time MVP winner from early last decade. But that hasn’t stopped some from suggesting it.

“Out of the last three years, this is the best I’ve seen him move and play,” said forward Stephen Jackson, a member of the Spurs’ 2003 title team. “He’s definitely showing flashes of the old Tim from when I was here last time.”

Duncan is in the final season of the contract extension he signed four months after the 2007 NBA Finals. He is not expected to meet with Spurs management to discuss his future plans until after the playoffs.

Heading down the home stretch of April — which continues tonight with a visit from a Phoenix team that has played foil for some of Duncan’s best games — the greatest player in Spurs history doesn’t appear to be in line for a retirement pension any time soon.

Like Suns point guard Steve Nash, on pace to again lead the NBA in assists at the overripe age of 38, Duncan is enjoying the fruits of a lockout-shortened campaign.

His numbers per 36 minutes — 19.2 points, 11.5 rebounds — are nearly identical to what he produced in 2005-06, at age 30.

“Timmy’s had a really fine year,” said coach Gregg Popovich, who calls it an oversight that Duncan was left off the All-Star team for the first time in his career. “(Against Memphis), he surpassed that. He stepped it up to a whole other level. He was phenomenal.”

It was a far cry from last April, when Duncan — hobbling through a failed playoff series against the Grizzlies on a bad knee and an ankle sprained late in the regular season — seemed a few weeks away from being fitted for a Rascal and AARP card.

This season, a refreshed Duncan has the Spurs within one victory of clinching their 18th division title and in position to claim the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the second straight season.

With Popovich meticulously rationing his minutes, and occasionally giving him a night off (once under the infamous heading of “DND-Old”), Duncan has discovered a fountain of youth.

“I feel good,” Duncan said. “I’ve felt good all year.”

His teammates believe him. No stranger to the injury list himself, Ginobili does not discount the mental value of playing pain free.

“That changes everything for a player,” Ginobili said. “When you are healthy, your head stops thinking about that and starts thinking about the game. That’s an important thing.”

For Duncan, there are still nine games left in the regular season, plus a playoff run to navigate.

After that, he will turn his attention toward next season. Though he hasn’t committed to anything, most expect Duncan — health willing — to delay retirement and re-up for another tour of duty with the only NBA team he has ever known.

For a few years now, Duncan has offered the same boilerplate response when asked the same inevitable question about how long he intends to keep playing:

“Until the wheels fall off.”

With his wheels firmly in place for now, Duncan keeps quietly rolling on.

jmcdonald @express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

Five quick takes: Why deep bench should have Spurs surging for playoffs

As he watched Gregg Popovich alternate his players Wednesday night almost like a grandmaster would play a chess board, Spurs television analyst Sean Elliott couldn’t keep from raving about the Spurs’ deep bench.

Popovich used Wednesday’s 117-112 victory almost like a laboratory, utilizing 11 players in the first quarter alone.

Elliott raved at one point that the Spurs’ bench could be better than the team’s starters. And while that bit of hyperbole might be a little exaggerated, deadline trades and free agent-signings have placed this team in a better position heading into the latter part of the season and the playoffs than in recent memory.

Spurs captain Tim Duncan agreed he’s never had a supporting cast throughout his team like this one.

“This is as deep as I’ve ever had a team here,” Duncan told reporters after the Spurs’ victory in Sacramento. “We’re using everybody possible. And that’s been great, especially in the condensed season.”

For the first time since the trade deadline, Popovich had a complete roster at his disposal. And he got contributions from throughout his bench, which outscored Sacramento 55-20 in Wednesday’s game.

Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points in his first back-to-back game since recovering from a hip flexor. Tiago Splitter produced seven points and six rebounds, all coming in a productive stint in the first quarter. Gary Neal shot his way out of a recent slump by hitting all four shots in the second half for 13 points after missing his first four shots. Stephen Jackson scored six points in 16 minutes in the second half when he received most of the playing time. And Boris Diaw didn’t score, but he grabbed four rebounds,dished off two assists and was a pest defensively.

“I really trust that unit,” Ginobili told FOX Sports Southwest. “We’re going to hustle and we’re versatile, we’re long and we can switch a lot. I think whenever we get used to playing with each other, we have a very special unit.”

That development could be the best part of this late-season transformation. The Spurs’ depth should make them more ready to withstand injuries like Ginobili’s late broken arm that helped derail the team’s playoff chances last season. If a starter goes down with an injury this season, the Spurs are better able to overcome the absence.

“I’m really excited about how we’re playing now,” Ginobili said. “I think we’re going to make things happen.”

The transformation will continue over the final 17 games of the regular season as the Spurs prepare for the playoffs. It should have them more ready than in any season since their last championship in 2007.

Here’s a look at a few other takes from a game where the Spurs’ offensive production bailed them out in the second half for a tough victory against the pesky Kings.

  • Patty Mills gave a strong demonstration of what he can bring coming off the bench as a backup to Tony Parker. Mills hit a deep corner three and was determined to push the pace when he was out there. He’ll be a useful part of the rotation very soon.
  • DeMarcus Cousins has the kind of talent that had Duncan raving after the young Sacramento center challenged him with 25 points and 11 rebounds. But as far as complaining and scowling, it looks that Cousins has taken the honor of the NBA’s surliest big man that has been vacant since Rasheed Wallace retired.
  • The early development of Kawhi Leonard has been greater than the Spurs could have ever imagined during his rookie season. And his 18-point, nine-rebound effort Wednesday might have been one of his best games of the season. He was disruptive on defense, more comfortable and controlled on fast breaks and confident shooting when he had his opportunities. And after he gets a chance to work with the team this summer and a full training camp, he could get scary good very quickly.
  • We run a weekly survey of power rankings from the NBA writers around the nation each week to gauge what the national perception of the Spurs is. I’m curious to see what they have to say after five victories in the last six nights, including the first back-to-back-to-back sweep for the team in 34 years. The Spurs don’t have the NBA’s best record at this point of the season. But they are playing the best basketball in the league. It will be interesting to see if that is reflected in anybody’s rankings early next week.

Spurs notebook: Popovich says rest, energy trump victories

With the regular season down to its final 14 games — to be played over the next 20 days — coach Gregg Popovich insists the Spurs’ depth is more important than it has been all season.

“Going down the stretch here we’re a lot more concerned with health and energy than we are wins and losses, as long as we’re theoretically getting better,” he said.

“I’d like to see us get better defensively in certain ways. As long as we’re trying, as long as we’re on that path, our health and our energy are more important than anything, because in the West, anybody can beat anybody, one through eight.”

The Spurs are one of two teams in the league with 10 players averaging more than 20 minutes per game. Stephen Jackson, who joined the team on March 17 after a trade deadline deal with the Golden State Warriors, isn’t playing quite as much as the player he replaced, Richard Jefferson, but he is averaging 22.1 minutes per game for the nine games he has played in silver and black this season.

Popovich understands the depth will make for some difficult decisions when he shortens his player rotations for the playoffs, as he always does.

“Rotations always get a little shorter at that time,” Popovich said, “but that’s just the way it is.”

Popovich didn’t rest any of his key players in the back-to-back set that produced Tuesday-Wednesday victories in Cleveland and Boston, but newcomers Boris Diaw and Patrick Mills didn’t see any court time in the second game, against the Celtics.

While the Australian Mills came to the team with an advantage of having played the Spurs offense as a member of the Australian national team, which is coached by Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown, Diaw acknowledged it will take some time to learn the team’s plays.

“I don’t have a timeline for learning everything, but it’s getting better every game, game to game,” he said. “There are times I’m in the wrong spot on the floor. There’s still some of that, so it’s going to take a little bit.

“What’s important is that I get to know my teammates, them getting to know me and just learning to play together so we can be the most efficient as possible. That’s what I’m trying to do right now, just getting things right and getting to know everyone on the court.”

What’s in a name? Though he’s grown accustomed to being called “Patty” by nearly everyone around the NBA, Mills said he much prefers to called by his given name, rather than the truncated nickname.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “Either one is all right, but if you really want to know which I prefer, well, it’s Patrick.”

Mills was the Spurs’ top scorer in Tuesday’s blowout victory over the Cavaliers, scoring 20 points to become the 11th different player to lead the team in scoring this season.

mikemonroe@express-news.net

Twitter: @Monroe_SA