duncan228
12-04-2008, 02:04 AM
Spurs look to rebound against hot Nuggets (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_look_to_rebound_against_hot_Nuggets.html)
By Mike Monroe
DENVER — Less than 24 hours after being embarrassed at home by a Detroit team that had floundered since the trade that sent away its emotional rock, the Spurs' charter aircraft landed in the city the Pistons' erstwhile leader now calls home.
The Denver Nuggets are off to their best start since the 1976-77 team that was led by David Thompson won 13 of the first 19 games it played with a brown NBA basketball, rather than the ABA's red, white and blue version. They are 12-3 since three-time Pistons All-Star Chauncey Billups arrived and immediately began making a case for inclusion in this season's Most Valuable Player discussion.
By the time tonight's game at the Pepsi Center concludes, the Spurs should be the definitive benchmark for measuring which team truly got the better of the Nov. 3 deal that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.
Pistons coach Michael Curry acknowledged the difficulty he has had piecing together a post-trade player rotation, but Nuggets coach George Karl's biggest problem has been suppressing his glee at having Billups instead of Iverson.
The Spurs, though, made Detroit's end of the deal look ultra-positive in the second half of Tuesday's game. That's when the Pistons outscored them by 17 and cruised to an 89-77 victory that had Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hopping mad at his players' docile play.
Tonight they meet a Nuggets team that has been better in every area since Billups' arrival.
Spurs players are counting on their own reaction to their Tuesday night collapse to fuel them for a better run against a red-hot Nuggets team.
Roger Mason Jr., who has been handed Manu Ginobili's former role as an offensive spark off the bench, is less than a quarter of the way through his first season in silver and black, but he believes he knows what to expect from his veteran teammates tonight.
“I know the personalities on the team,” Mason said after Tuesday's loss, “and there's no quit in anybody, for one thing. There's a lot of competitiveness with a lot of the guys, for another. If you have those two things, then you know the next game you will come out with a sense of urgency.
“We're going to play harder Thursday, and everybody just has to look at himself. I feel like I'm going to play harder the next game, and the next guy is going to play harder, and so on, and so on.”
While they have vowed to give a better effort tonight, the Spurs understand they continue to go through an in-season transition while they re-integrate Ginobili and Tony Parker to the lineup after both endured lengthy injury absences.
The Nuggets have adapted seamlessly to Billups' arrival, but the Spurs have groped for consistency as Popovich has probed for workable lineups. The unit that started Tuesday's game at the AT&T Center — Parker, Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Michael Finley and Matt Bonner — was his eighth starting lineup in 17 games.
“Continuity comes when you get repetition,” Mason said. “Obviously, we haven't had it, but I think that would be a lame excuse to use for something like (Tuesday) night. We're all professionals. You put us out there with a ball, and we should be able to deliver.
“It's going to take a little bit of time, for sure, but I don't think that's anything major.”
Ginobili, who missed the first 12 games as he concluded his rehabilitation from offseason ankle surgery, made his first start of the season against the Pistons. Except for a few brief stints together in the previous two games, Tuesday's game marked the first time all season Popovich teamed his Big Three of Ginobili, Duncan and Parker.
Ginobili discounted the lack of lineup continuity as a factor in the back-to-back losses to Houston and Detroit.
“I don't think (our problem) is because of that,” said Ginobili. “We're just not playing well the last two games. As Pop said, we're a little soft. We made some runs here and there, but overall, the opponent has played better than us.
“We can take it against Houston on the road. They're a tough team defensively. But Detroit, at home, we should have done much better than this. I am upset, of course, as are all my teammates. So we've got to step up the next game.”
Notebook: Reserve forward Ime Udoka did not make the trip to Denver after reporting flu-like symptoms.
By Mike Monroe
DENVER — Less than 24 hours after being embarrassed at home by a Detroit team that had floundered since the trade that sent away its emotional rock, the Spurs' charter aircraft landed in the city the Pistons' erstwhile leader now calls home.
The Denver Nuggets are off to their best start since the 1976-77 team that was led by David Thompson won 13 of the first 19 games it played with a brown NBA basketball, rather than the ABA's red, white and blue version. They are 12-3 since three-time Pistons All-Star Chauncey Billups arrived and immediately began making a case for inclusion in this season's Most Valuable Player discussion.
By the time tonight's game at the Pepsi Center concludes, the Spurs should be the definitive benchmark for measuring which team truly got the better of the Nov. 3 deal that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.
Pistons coach Michael Curry acknowledged the difficulty he has had piecing together a post-trade player rotation, but Nuggets coach George Karl's biggest problem has been suppressing his glee at having Billups instead of Iverson.
The Spurs, though, made Detroit's end of the deal look ultra-positive in the second half of Tuesday's game. That's when the Pistons outscored them by 17 and cruised to an 89-77 victory that had Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hopping mad at his players' docile play.
Tonight they meet a Nuggets team that has been better in every area since Billups' arrival.
Spurs players are counting on their own reaction to their Tuesday night collapse to fuel them for a better run against a red-hot Nuggets team.
Roger Mason Jr., who has been handed Manu Ginobili's former role as an offensive spark off the bench, is less than a quarter of the way through his first season in silver and black, but he believes he knows what to expect from his veteran teammates tonight.
“I know the personalities on the team,” Mason said after Tuesday's loss, “and there's no quit in anybody, for one thing. There's a lot of competitiveness with a lot of the guys, for another. If you have those two things, then you know the next game you will come out with a sense of urgency.
“We're going to play harder Thursday, and everybody just has to look at himself. I feel like I'm going to play harder the next game, and the next guy is going to play harder, and so on, and so on.”
While they have vowed to give a better effort tonight, the Spurs understand they continue to go through an in-season transition while they re-integrate Ginobili and Tony Parker to the lineup after both endured lengthy injury absences.
The Nuggets have adapted seamlessly to Billups' arrival, but the Spurs have groped for consistency as Popovich has probed for workable lineups. The unit that started Tuesday's game at the AT&T Center — Parker, Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Michael Finley and Matt Bonner — was his eighth starting lineup in 17 games.
“Continuity comes when you get repetition,” Mason said. “Obviously, we haven't had it, but I think that would be a lame excuse to use for something like (Tuesday) night. We're all professionals. You put us out there with a ball, and we should be able to deliver.
“It's going to take a little bit of time, for sure, but I don't think that's anything major.”
Ginobili, who missed the first 12 games as he concluded his rehabilitation from offseason ankle surgery, made his first start of the season against the Pistons. Except for a few brief stints together in the previous two games, Tuesday's game marked the first time all season Popovich teamed his Big Three of Ginobili, Duncan and Parker.
Ginobili discounted the lack of lineup continuity as a factor in the back-to-back losses to Houston and Detroit.
“I don't think (our problem) is because of that,” said Ginobili. “We're just not playing well the last two games. As Pop said, we're a little soft. We made some runs here and there, but overall, the opponent has played better than us.
“We can take it against Houston on the road. They're a tough team defensively. But Detroit, at home, we should have done much better than this. I am upset, of course, as are all my teammates. So we've got to step up the next game.”
Notebook: Reserve forward Ime Udoka did not make the trip to Denver after reporting flu-like symptoms.