Tag: Tiago Splitter

Spurs notebook: Blair still attempting to fit in

Though he expressed doubt in July that the Spurs valued his services and no doubt he was being shopped to other teams, forward-center DeJuan Blair insisted he was not surprised to be back in training camp.

Blair’s doubt was fueled by his disappearance from the Spurs’ playing rotation in the playoffs, when he logged just 76 minutes in 10 of the club’s 14 postseason games.

During his participation in the U.S. Olympic team’s training camp in Las Vegas — Blair and teammate Kawhi Leonard were on the select team of young NBA players that helped prepare Team USA for the London Olympics — Blair told the Express-News he felt “torn down” by a postseason demotion that followed a starting role in 62 regular-season games. He was nearly certain the team would trade him, though he stressed that he did not ask for a trade.

There was no trade, and Monday, Blair reported to camp in decent condition and vowed to do what he can to regain a prominent role.

“I’ve got to go and try to figure out what this team wants from me and what they need from me,” he said. “I’ve got to use that as fuel to start my engine and just keep going. Right now, I’m just worrying about my body and getting ready for training camp.”

Asked directly if he preferred ending up elsewhere, Blair was evasive.

“I’m here,” he said.

They’re free: Reserve big man Tiago Splitter did his best Tuesday to ignore the nightmare of his horrid foul shooting in last season’s playoffs as he discussed one of the holes in his game. After a season of steady improvement from the foul line — he finished the regular season at 69.1 percent, a big improvement from the 58.2 percent he shot in seven seasons in the Spanish League — Splitter made only 16 of 43 postseason foul shots (37.2 percent).

“I’m always going to work on that,” he said. “Last season, I improved way more than the first season and struggled a little bit in the end. It was more confidence stuff than other things.”

Sloan visits: Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan, winner of 1,221 games as coach of the Bulls and Jazz, was a visitor at Tuesday’s first session of training camp. Long a role model for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Sloan retired 54 games into the 2010-11 season.

Open scrimmage: The Spurs will hold an open intrasquad scrimmage at the ATT Center tonight. The public is invited free of charge.

Tipoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m., with fan activities starting at 6:30 p.m.

There’s a preseason game on tap Saturday at the ATT Center against Italian League power Montepaschi Siena, winner of six straight Italian League titles.

mikemonroe@express-news.net

Twitter: @Monroe_SA

Key dates

Today: Intrasquad scrimmage (free admission, open seating) — 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Saturday: First preseason game — vs. Montepaschi Siena, 7:30 p.m., ATT Center

Oct. 31: Regular-season opener — @Hornets, 7 p.m., KENS NBA TV

Nov. 1: Home opener — vs. Thunder, 8:30 p.m., TNT

Supporting cast provided Spurs with huge value

With a shallow-pocketed owner and limited revenue steams, the Spurs have few peers when it comes to stretching dollars.

Combine that with their savvy front office, and it comes as no surprise that the team got massive value last season from their supporting cast — defined as everyone not named Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Indeed, not only were those players generally productive, in most cases they vastly outperformed their contracts.

Just look at the numbers dug up in this , using a formula involving win shares and individual salaries. (Follow the link for more details, and the complete table.)

Tiago Splitter and Matt Bonner outperformed their contracts by nearly double. Guys like Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and DeJuan Blair were even better, playing as much as EIGHT TIMES better than their deals would suggest.

On the flip side, Duncan is suggested to have been overpaid by almost $12 million, but that’s what happens with aging superstars. And he still didn’t even , as compiled by CNBC.

Veteran Spurs club takes Game 1 from Clippers

Duncan posts another double-double

NBA pundits have long claimed that Spurs PF Tim Duncan is in the twilight of his career.  Don’t tell Tim Duncan that.

Duncan was again his normally spectacularly fundamental self in game 1 of the Western Conference Semi-finals against the Los Angeles Clippers. But fans who actually follow the Spurs know this is nothing new…he’s been doing it for 15 seasons.

“He’s played like that all year long,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in the post game press conference. “He’s not going to do anything that’s going to be on a highlight film for TV, but a highlight film for coaches possibly. Just being solid, making a great pass, playing the defense that he did; he’s the anchor.”

Clippers PF Kenyon Martin, who faced Duncan in the 2003 NBA Finals as a New Jersey Net has seen it all before.

“Nothing changes about the Spurs,”  Martin said at the post game press conference. “They just keep doing what they do and Duncan does what he does.”

But it is not just the veteran Duncan who is standing out this season.  Coach Popovich has repeatedly said that this is PG Tony Parker’s finest season and  Manu Ginobili credits the coaches for putting together such a deep team.

“We are optimistic,” Manu Ginobili said. “We had a few great additions late in the season to make us even better. Our defense is slowly improving. I think Boris (Diaw) is doing a great job, Tiago (Splitter) too. Stephen Jackson is putting a lot of character in that defense, getting some big boards.  I think we are a little better. But the league is so tough and anybody can beat another team. We’ve got to stay humble and think only on the next opponent. We can’t be thinking now about the Finals, because it wouldn’t help.”

Former Spurs guard and current Clippers head coach can do nothing but agree.

“It’s easy to get guys to talk about their role, but what he does is that he gets guys to accept their role,” Del Negro said. “Everyone knows that Tim,  Manu and Tony drives the ship. He guides it, and the other guys fit their roles and do their jobs. And that’s why I think they’ve had consistent success.”

Whatever the reason for their success, Clippers Center/Forward Blake Griffin has called on his team to step up to the challenge and at least make the Spurs work for it.

“We’ve got to be able to lock down and stop easy baskets and wide-open three’s,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. “We’ve got to make it a little tougher on them.”

Be sure to catch Game 2 Thursday night from San Antonio