duncan228
02-04-2009, 01:31 AM
‘Legitimately banged-up' Ginobili sits (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Legitimately_banged-up_Ginobili_sits.html)
Jeff McDonald
DENVER — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has not often been accused of coddling his players. Popovich, however, does admit to worrying often about Manu Ginobili's health.
“We're not going to go very far without him,” Popovich said. “So it's important to protect him to some degree.”
Popovich was all about protection Tuesday, when he opted to give Ginobili the night off in a 104-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Popovich also chose to rest All-Stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and veteran Michael Finley, providing them a break after Monday's energy-sapping victory at Golden State went to overtime.
Ginobili is the only one of those four Popovich described as “legitimately banged-up.” El Contusion, it seems, has a hip contusion, suffered in Monday night's victory over the Warriors.
Perhaps as a show of how bruised Ginobili really was, he did not dispute his coach's prescription for a day off.
“Usually, I would try to argue with him,” Ginobili said. “This time, I didn't. I woke up really sore.”
Ginobili took his first lump in the second quarter against the Warriors, when he fell awkwardly in an unsuccessful attempt to block a Corey Maggette layup. He fell hard again on the Spurs' last possession of regulation, drawing a foul on Ronny Turiaf and making two free throws to send the game to overtime.
Ginobili ultimately ended up pouring in a season-high 32 points. He didn't get the chance at an encore in Denver. His coach wouldn't let him.
“With all the away games and the travel we've had, and the travel we have coming up, and with what he went through last night, this is the perfect time to give him a break,” Popovich said.
Ginobili expects to be available when the Spurs play next, on Sunday at Boston.
Streak-breaker: Finley did not play for just the sixth time in 294 games since joining the Spurs before the 2005-06 season.
In doing so, he broke a string of 284 consecutive games played, the fourth-longest active streak in the league.
Lineup fun: The unavailability three starters obviously required Popovich to get creative with his starting five.
George Hill started at point guard for the first time since Nov. 19, Bruce Bowen got his first start at small forward since Nov. 28 and Kurt Thomas logged just his second start since Nov. 7.
Another first: Afforded 20 minutes of playing time with the Spurs short-handed, rookie swingman Malik Hairston logged his first NBA points.
His first basket came on a dunk, off a feed from Roger Mason Jr., early in the first quarter.
“What it does is give you a little confidence,” said Hairston, who did not score in his first two appearances this season. “I got a lot of support from the bench and the other guys, so it was fun.”
Hairston finished as the Spurs' second-leading scorer with 12 points, and made six of eight field goals.
Another Duncan fan: Count Nuggets coach George Karl among those who believes Duncan has stepped up his game this season.
“He's playing as well as he's been playing for three years, in my opinion,” Karl said. “He's now back to being an MVP candidate.”
Jeff McDonald
DENVER — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has not often been accused of coddling his players. Popovich, however, does admit to worrying often about Manu Ginobili's health.
“We're not going to go very far without him,” Popovich said. “So it's important to protect him to some degree.”
Popovich was all about protection Tuesday, when he opted to give Ginobili the night off in a 104-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Popovich also chose to rest All-Stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and veteran Michael Finley, providing them a break after Monday's energy-sapping victory at Golden State went to overtime.
Ginobili is the only one of those four Popovich described as “legitimately banged-up.” El Contusion, it seems, has a hip contusion, suffered in Monday night's victory over the Warriors.
Perhaps as a show of how bruised Ginobili really was, he did not dispute his coach's prescription for a day off.
“Usually, I would try to argue with him,” Ginobili said. “This time, I didn't. I woke up really sore.”
Ginobili took his first lump in the second quarter against the Warriors, when he fell awkwardly in an unsuccessful attempt to block a Corey Maggette layup. He fell hard again on the Spurs' last possession of regulation, drawing a foul on Ronny Turiaf and making two free throws to send the game to overtime.
Ginobili ultimately ended up pouring in a season-high 32 points. He didn't get the chance at an encore in Denver. His coach wouldn't let him.
“With all the away games and the travel we've had, and the travel we have coming up, and with what he went through last night, this is the perfect time to give him a break,” Popovich said.
Ginobili expects to be available when the Spurs play next, on Sunday at Boston.
Streak-breaker: Finley did not play for just the sixth time in 294 games since joining the Spurs before the 2005-06 season.
In doing so, he broke a string of 284 consecutive games played, the fourth-longest active streak in the league.
Lineup fun: The unavailability three starters obviously required Popovich to get creative with his starting five.
George Hill started at point guard for the first time since Nov. 19, Bruce Bowen got his first start at small forward since Nov. 28 and Kurt Thomas logged just his second start since Nov. 7.
Another first: Afforded 20 minutes of playing time with the Spurs short-handed, rookie swingman Malik Hairston logged his first NBA points.
His first basket came on a dunk, off a feed from Roger Mason Jr., early in the first quarter.
“What it does is give you a little confidence,” said Hairston, who did not score in his first two appearances this season. “I got a lot of support from the bench and the other guys, so it was fun.”
Hairston finished as the Spurs' second-leading scorer with 12 points, and made six of eight field goals.
Another Duncan fan: Count Nuggets coach George Karl among those who believes Duncan has stepped up his game this season.
“He's playing as well as he's been playing for three years, in my opinion,” Karl said. “He's now back to being an MVP candidate.”