Tag: Tim Duncan

Rare 3-point sabbatical surprising for Ginobili

When he arrived at the bench with 5:12 remaining in Saturday’s game against the Jazz at the ATT Center, Manu Ginobili knew his work for the evening was over.

After a few moments, a second realization hit him: He had not attempted a 3-point shot.

Unable to recall the last game he had not launched at least one, he was surprised to discover the last time he had not attempted a 3-pointer was Game 4 of the Spurs’ 2008 first-round playoff series against the Suns.

“I thought it was going to be more, but I guess it’s just three seasons,” he said after Sunday’s practice.

Ginobili has taken 441 3-pointers this season, more than any of his teammates and already a career-high. Previously, his 389 attempts in 2007-08 had represented his busiest season from long range.

Ginobili had a simple explanation for his failure to launch on Saturday.

“I didn’t get the opportunity,” he said. “It’s not that I passed shots that I didn’t take. I was just guarded the whole time, and I tried to attack and find open teammates.

“I realized after I went to the bench for the last time that I hadn’t shot one, but it’s no big deal. Once in a while, it’s good not to force it. If you’re open, you shoot; if you’re not, you just drive it.”

The two-time All-Star understands his willingness to fire away from long range forces opponents to choose how to defend him. When a defense opts to guard him closely when he is at the 3-point line, driving lanes open.

“It’s not going to be every game like that,” Ginobili said. “Sometimes you do have to shoot it to keep the defense honest and guard you. Some teams just focus on not letting you get into the paint, so you have to punish them.

“I didn’t see the opportunity yesterday, so I didn’t take any.”

DUNCAN FRESH: With his minutes played at a career-low 28.4 per game, Tim Duncan says he has gotten to the brink of the playoffs with plenty of energy.

“I feel great,” he said after Saturday’s victory. “My ankle’s not 100 percent, but juice-wise I feel pretty energized.”

Duncan suffered a sprained left ankle against the Kings on March 21 but returned to the court March 31.

HOW MANY COACHES DOES IT TAKE? Tiago Splitter’s free-throw mechanics remain an ongoing project. The 6-foot-10 rookie has the lowest percentage (54.0) of any Spurs player who has attempted more than 10 free throws this season, but not because of lack of practice.

After Sunday’s brief session, Splitter stayed on the court for more than half an hour working on his form with shooting coach Chip Engelland. By the time most of his teammates had headed for the showers, Splitter was surrounded by five Spurs assistants.

More than No. 1 seed, Spurs seek momentum

ATLANTA — Sunday’s slump-busting 114-97 win over Phoenix brought laughter back to the Spurs’ locker room.

Players joked and cut up, basking in the end of a six-game losing streak that had begun to wear on all of them.

Leave it to Tim Duncan, the team’s captain and emotional touchstone, to bring the room back down.

“This,” he said, “was a good start.”

Translation: Hold the champagne shower. There is work to be done.

Now that the worst losing streak of Duncan’s career is over, the Spurs must set about the business of the rest of the season.

More than simply holding onto the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Spurs hope to use their final five games, beginning tonight in Atlanta, to establish momentum heading into the playoffs.

“We’re just going to play out the season, and whatever happens happens,” Duncan said. “We want to start playing like we want to play. That’s what matters.”

Having already secured their second Southwest Division championship in three seasons, and no worse than a No. 2 seed in the playoffs, the Spurs hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the L.A. Lakers for the conference’s top spot.

Though home-court advantage seems like an attractive carrot, winning for winning’s sake should be enough to drive the Spurs. They are 9-9 since the start of March, with six losses coming during the historic skid that began after Duncan went down with a sprained left ankle March 21.

“You don’t want to go into the playoffs losing,” guard George Hill said. “You want to go in with a happy mind.”

For the Spurs, the next five games are less about seeding and standings, and more about confidence-building.

Coach Gregg Popovich says Duncan’s injury, which cost the All-Star power forward four games, threw the team “off balance.” Sunday’s win over Phoenix was the first step in regaining equilibrium.

“Now, the most important game is Atlanta, because we have a chance to get better,” Popovich said. “That’s what all teams are trying to do — to get their execution down as the playoffs approach.”

Whether a team’s late-season momentum, or lack thereof, carries over to a playoff run remains a subject of debate.

In Duncan’s first 13 seasons, the Spurs won 74.4 percent of their games in March and April. Their worst close came in 2008-09, when they finished 15-10, then lost to Dallas in the first round of the playoffs.

Last season, Boston dropped seven of its final 10 games, then blasted a Miami team in the first round that had won 12 of its last 13.

Conversely, Phoenix went 17-4 over the final two months last year, a string of success coach Alvin Gentry believed helped propel the Suns into the Western Conference finals.

“When we went into the playoffs, we felt like we were playing better than anybody in the league,” Gentry said. “I think there’s a confidence about it. You get to the point where you think you’re going to win every series.”

Gentry, however, doesn’t think the playoff-tested Spurs, who boast four players with NBA championship rings and two others who have played in the Finals, need a strong finish to make a playoff run.

“These guys have been together eight, nine years,” Gentry said, referring to the Spurs’ core of Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. “They’re not going to go in thinking, ‘Oh no, we’re not playing well, we may lose.’”

Now in Atlanta and off of cloud nine, the Spurs would prefer not to take that chance. A powerful closing kick doesn’t guarantee a title, but it also couldn’t hurt.

“Going into the playoffs with a winning streak and playing the right way,” Hill said. “That’s going to be motivation for us.”

Spurs rookie Splitter gets down and dirty

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is no couch potato, but he does tune in for some occasional televiewing, so he knows what rookie center Tiago Splitter means when he describes his rugged play around the basket as “doing the dirty job.”

“Like that TV show,” said Popovich, a fan of “Dirty Jobs” on The Discovery Channel.

Splitter on Saturday scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in almost 19 minutes of dirty work against the Utah Jazz. Three of his five baskets came on offensive rebound putbacks as he banged bodies with Utah’s Al Jefferson, one of the league’s most physical inside players.

“Tiago just has that blue-collar steelworker sort of attitude,” Popovich said. “It’s like he’s right out of the steel mill, been working in there all his life and knows what it’s like to work. He’s unbelievable.”

Ten of Splitter’s points came in the fourth period, when he played the full 12 minutes and grabbed four offensive rebounds.

Inspiration to hit the offensive glass came from disappointment at the defensive end of the court.

“I got an opportunity to play today,” Splitter said, “and like I always do I try to go in there and defend and try hard. (Al) Jefferson was scoring every time, so I was kind of mad, but I tried to go to the other end and bang the rim and go after all the offensive rebounds and try to be smart.”

Splitter has been trying to improve his free-throw mechanics all season and took some positive feedback from making the two foul shots he attempted in the fourth.

“Last year (in the Spanish ACB League) I had strange mechanics, so we’re trying to get it better,” he said. “It’s hard to do in the middle of the season, of course, but we will have a long summer to work on that.”

Duncan milestone: When he drove past Jefferson on the left baseline and laid in a short shot with his right hand with 8:13 left in the third quarter, Spurs captain Tim Duncan passed the1,000-point mark for the 13th time in his 13 seasons.

“I never know how many points I have, but that’s great, I guess,” he said. “I probably should have done that a while ago, but it is what it is.”

Duncan has played less than any season — at 28.4 minutes per game, he is almost three minutes per game under his previous low of 31.3 set last season — and his scoring average (13.4) is the lowest of his career.

Scorching third: After shooting 82.4 percent in the third quarter of Wednesday’s victory over the Sacramento Kings, the Spurs made 12 of 15 shots, 80 percent, in Saturday’s third period.

They were on pace for their hottest quarter of the season before Utah rookie Derrick Favors blocked a Splitter shot with 48 seconds left. George Hill then missed a 3-point attempt that bounced off the rim with nine-tenths of a second left. Splitter tipped that shot in, just beating the quarter buzzer.