duncan228
10-04-2008, 12:21 AM
Spurs' Udoka getting chance to contribute (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/30456599.html)
Jeff McDonald - Express-News
It is not difficult to identify players amid their first training camp with the Spurs.
They all bear the same telltale marks: Eyes glassed over, brows furrowed, their faces twisted into the confused expression of a perpetually perplexed game-show contestant.
Ime Udoka recognizes that look. At this time last year, he saw it everyday in the mirror.
“Last year, I was unfamiliar with the all the plays, all the schemes — everything,” said Udoka, a 6-foot-6 swingman set to begin his second season in San Antonio. “It takes a while to get stuff under your belt and get comfortable.”
There is a prevalent notion — part myth, part reality — that players tend to flourish in their second season with the Spurs.
Udoka, the only second-year Spur on this year's roster, is looking forward to putting that theory to the test.
His opportunity should come quickly. With Manu Ginobili out until December and newcomer Roger Mason Jr. enduring that inevitable first-year learning curve, Udoka is in line for an expanded role to start the season.
Udoka averaged 5.8 points in his inaugural campaign with the Spurs, but seemed to hit another gear after the All-Star break. He shone especially bright in the Western Conference semifinals against New Orleans, a series in which he emerged as the Spurs' best reserve.
“There were times when he'd be more aggressive, and where he'd feel more comfortable at the offensive end of the court,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He found his place, and found his territory, and he wanted to exert what he can do.”
It took Udoka a while to get to that point.
After signing a free-agent deal with the Spurs last summer, simultaneously surrendering a starting gig with his hometown Portland Trail Blazers, Udoka experienced what many first-year students of Popovich's system had before him.
Namely, lots of sitting and lots of watching.
Udoka averaged little more than nine minutes a game through the first month of the season, and took four DNPs.
It was certainly a change of pace for Udoka, who signed with the Spurs in the summer after starting 75 games in Portland the season before.
“Pop isn't going to play guys until they're comfortable,” said Udoka, who is entering his fifth NBA season at age 31. “I heard that a lot coming in, that I was going to have to be patient and bide my time.”
It was out of necessity — with Ginobili and Brent Barry both nursing injuries in December — that Popovich finally looked his way.
He responded by stringing together a handful of solid games. By the second half of the season, when Ginobili got hurt again and Barry was on league-imposed sabbatical after a February trade to Seattle, Udoka was ready.
The brightest moments of Udoka's first season with the Spurs came in the second-round playoff series against the Hornets, in which he averaged 11.3 points and 21.4 minutes over the final four games.
“I think Ime really blossomed during the playoffs,” Bruce Bowen said. “That's what you want for guys who don't really get an opportunity during the regular season. You want them to be able to make an impact, and he did.”
There was no secret to Udoka's second-half surge. He simply knew what he was doing, and was getting the minutes to prove it.
“It was just me going out there and playing, and understanding everything,” Udoka said.
Udoka's goal for his second season in San Antonio is two-fold. First, he aims to pick up where he left off in the playoffs last season.
Popovich believes he will.
“Most people have more of an understanding of the program in the second season,” Popovich said. “I think he'll feel a lot more comfortable in a variety of situations.”
Udoka's second objective is to help guide the handful of the newest Spurs — guys like Mason, Salim Stoudamire, George Hill and Anthony Tolliver — through the same training-camp minefield he navigated last season.
“I'm just trying to help the new guys who are going through what I went through,” Udoka said.
He believes that he can.
“They'll be all right,” Udoka said. “Everybody catches on eventually.”
Udoka is living proof of that.
Jeff McDonald - Express-News
It is not difficult to identify players amid their first training camp with the Spurs.
They all bear the same telltale marks: Eyes glassed over, brows furrowed, their faces twisted into the confused expression of a perpetually perplexed game-show contestant.
Ime Udoka recognizes that look. At this time last year, he saw it everyday in the mirror.
“Last year, I was unfamiliar with the all the plays, all the schemes — everything,” said Udoka, a 6-foot-6 swingman set to begin his second season in San Antonio. “It takes a while to get stuff under your belt and get comfortable.”
There is a prevalent notion — part myth, part reality — that players tend to flourish in their second season with the Spurs.
Udoka, the only second-year Spur on this year's roster, is looking forward to putting that theory to the test.
His opportunity should come quickly. With Manu Ginobili out until December and newcomer Roger Mason Jr. enduring that inevitable first-year learning curve, Udoka is in line for an expanded role to start the season.
Udoka averaged 5.8 points in his inaugural campaign with the Spurs, but seemed to hit another gear after the All-Star break. He shone especially bright in the Western Conference semifinals against New Orleans, a series in which he emerged as the Spurs' best reserve.
“There were times when he'd be more aggressive, and where he'd feel more comfortable at the offensive end of the court,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He found his place, and found his territory, and he wanted to exert what he can do.”
It took Udoka a while to get to that point.
After signing a free-agent deal with the Spurs last summer, simultaneously surrendering a starting gig with his hometown Portland Trail Blazers, Udoka experienced what many first-year students of Popovich's system had before him.
Namely, lots of sitting and lots of watching.
Udoka averaged little more than nine minutes a game through the first month of the season, and took four DNPs.
It was certainly a change of pace for Udoka, who signed with the Spurs in the summer after starting 75 games in Portland the season before.
“Pop isn't going to play guys until they're comfortable,” said Udoka, who is entering his fifth NBA season at age 31. “I heard that a lot coming in, that I was going to have to be patient and bide my time.”
It was out of necessity — with Ginobili and Brent Barry both nursing injuries in December — that Popovich finally looked his way.
He responded by stringing together a handful of solid games. By the second half of the season, when Ginobili got hurt again and Barry was on league-imposed sabbatical after a February trade to Seattle, Udoka was ready.
The brightest moments of Udoka's first season with the Spurs came in the second-round playoff series against the Hornets, in which he averaged 11.3 points and 21.4 minutes over the final four games.
“I think Ime really blossomed during the playoffs,” Bruce Bowen said. “That's what you want for guys who don't really get an opportunity during the regular season. You want them to be able to make an impact, and he did.”
There was no secret to Udoka's second-half surge. He simply knew what he was doing, and was getting the minutes to prove it.
“It was just me going out there and playing, and understanding everything,” Udoka said.
Udoka's goal for his second season in San Antonio is two-fold. First, he aims to pick up where he left off in the playoffs last season.
Popovich believes he will.
“Most people have more of an understanding of the program in the second season,” Popovich said. “I think he'll feel a lot more comfortable in a variety of situations.”
Udoka's second objective is to help guide the handful of the newest Spurs — guys like Mason, Salim Stoudamire, George Hill and Anthony Tolliver — through the same training-camp minefield he navigated last season.
“I'm just trying to help the new guys who are going through what I went through,” Udoka said.
He believes that he can.
“They'll be all right,” Udoka said. “Everybody catches on eventually.”
Udoka is living proof of that.